Michigan Engineering:
The University of Michigan College of Engineering is ranked among the top engineering schools in the country. At more than $130 million annually, its engineering research budget is one of largest of any public university. Michigan Engineering is home to 11 academic departments and a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. The college plays a leading role in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and hosts the world class Lurie Nanofabrication Facility. Michigan Engineering’s premier scholarship, international scale and multidisciplinary scope combine to create The Michigan Difference. Find out more at http://www.engin.umich.edu/.

The addition of Web services to Cielo Clinic will enable third-party software partners with applications such as electronic medical records (EMR) or provider portals to integrate Cielo’s clinical decision support functionality into their application’s native graphical user interface. By doing so, a third-party application can be enhanced with clinical prompt-and-remind functionality driven by Cielo Clinic’s proprietary rules engine that is based on the latest in evidence-based medicine care guidelines. Clinicians using this feature will be prompted at the point-of-care regarding each patient’s then-current care needs from a chronic disease management perspective.

“Many of our customers tell us they’d like to integrate our clinical prompt-and-remind solutions with other healthcare IT applications,” noted Christopher King, senior vice president of product and operations. “Cielo is really focused on collaborating with complementary application vendors. Now, providers and health systems can preserve their investment in EMR and other health IT solutions, while at the same time leveraging a state-of-the-art chronic disease management system.“

About Cielo MedSolutions
Cielo MedSolutions (pronounced “see EL oh,” Spanish for sky or heaven - http://www.cielomedsolutions.com/) is a rapidly-growing provider of healthcare software and Web applications. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Cielo is pioneering a new category of healthcare IT known as clinical quality management systems (CQMS). The company’s web-based Cielo Clinic^TM software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering helps ambulatory care providers proactively improve, document and report on clinical care and supports initiatives such as patient-centered medical homes, pay-for-performance programs, clinical integration, quality improvement and clinical scorecarding.

Financial Highlights for the Second Quarter Ended September 26, 2008

– Net sales for the quarter were $8.2 million, an increase of $1.7 million, or 25%, compared to revenues for the quarter ended September 28, 2007. The increase was driven by military and Industrial/NDT markets. Net sales for the year to date were $16.0 million, an increase of $3.3 million, or 26%, compared to the prior year to date period. The increase was broad based across four of its five markets off-set by a reduction in medical revenues.

– Gross profit margin for Q2 2009 was 44% of sales compared to 42% for the quarter ended September 28, 2007. This improvement in gross profit margin was due primarily to favorable product mix attributable to increased revenues from military and homeland security markets. Gross profit margin for the year to date was 46% compared to 41% for the prior year to date period, driven by favorable product mix attributable to increased revenues from military, telecommunications and homeland security markets.

– Operating loss for the quarter was $225,000 as compared to an operating loss of $768,000 for the quarter ended September 28, 2007. Operating income year to date was $14,000 compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million for the prior year to date period.

– GAAP net loss for the quarter was $326,000, or $.01 per diluted share, as compared to a GAAP net loss of $1.9 million, or $.09 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 28, 2007. GAAP net loss year to date was $179,000 or $.01 per diluted share, as compared to $3.8 million, or $.19 per diluted share, for the prior year period.

– The Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 was $307,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, as compared to a Non-GAAP net loss of $86,000, or $.00 per diluted share, for the comparable quarter ended September 28, 2007. The Company reported year to date Non-GAAP net income of $1.2 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, as compared to a Non-GAAP loss of $350,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the comparable prior year period.

– On an EBITDA basis (which is defined as GAAP earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), the Company reported EBITDA of $559,000 for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 as compared to EBITDA of $15,000 for the quarter ended September 28, 2007. For the year to date, the Company reported EBITDA of $1.6 million as compared to a negative EBITDA of $324,000 for the comparable prior year period.

Richard Kurtz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased with the results of the second quarter. The balance and strength of our three product platforms continues to give us the ability to meet our growth targets in this challenging economic environment. As we’ve stated previously, our market opportunities and product platforms compliment each another, and each product platform gives us a solid foundation to grow. In the second quarter, the strongest growth came from our military, industrial and homeland security markets. We continue to believe we are in a strong multi-year growth period, but can still experience uneven quarterly revenue growth in our product platforms as our customers continue to test, qualify and deploy next-generation 40G HSOR and terahertz systems. We expect to continue to see fluctuations in our customers’ spending in any given quarter due primarily to slower new product introductions and reduced capital expenditures due to current macro economic conditions. Looking ahead we continue to be cautiously optimistic and are taking a prudently cautious view of guidance for the balance of the year. As a result we are continuing to hold to our revenue growth target of 30% year over year.”

The Company will hold a conference call to discuss the results for the second quarter ended September 26, 2008 on Monday, November 10, 2008, at 5:00 PM EST. Participants can dial into the conference call at 888-713-4217 (617-213-4869 for international) using the pass code 81504349. The call will be webcast live by CCBN and can be accessed at Advanced Photonix’s web site at http://investor.advancedphotonix.com/or at http://www.earnings.com/. An audio replay of the call will be available shortly thereafter the same day and will remain on-line for two weeks. The replay number is 888-286-8010 (617-801-6888 for international) using pass code 13151357.

The DreamFactory Suite of enterprise-class project management, document management and data collaboration applications are deployed across leading cloud computing platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Salesforce.com, Intuit Partner Platform and Cisco WebEx Connect. This allows the millions of businesses already utilizing these platforms to access enterprise-class collaboration applications integrated with existing, valuable business data, as well as the ability to move that data across platforms.

The DreamFactory applications are native to cloud platforms, making the user experience faster and more secure, since there is no additional server or data center in between the desktop and the cloud.

Acquiring DreamFactory is Airfoil’s entrance into the cloud computing market. “This emerging information technology field is garnering major media and investor attention this year, so we’re so excited to work with DreamFactory,” stated Sue Barnes, General Manager of the Mountain View office. “Our work will allow us to leverage experience and expand relationships with media covering Web-based information technology as well.”

Along with providing media and awards support, Airfoil is also researching various speaking opportunities for DreamFactory. Airfoil is working with DreamFactory’s partners such as Intuit and Salesforce.com to elevate awareness of DreamFactory’s profile as cloudware provider.

About Airfoil Public Relations, Inc. (http://www.airfoilpr.com/)
Airfoil, with offices in Detroit and Mountain View, Calif., is an independent IT PR firm that specializes in marketing communications and public relations for both emerging and established brands. Established in 2000, Airfoil was named 2007 Technology Agency of the Year by the Holmes Report; is ranked 10th among O’Dwyer’s top 50 technology PR firms; and had been recognized by PR Week as one of its Top 100 PR firms. Airfoil was also a recipient of the PR Week Boutique PR Agency of the Year Honorable Mention. For more information about Airfoil Public Relations, please call 866.AIR.FOIL.

“The dramatic slowdown of the global economy, continued tightening of the credit markets and unprecedented volatility in the foreign exchange and commodity markets combined to have a significant negative impact on our results in the third quarter,” commented Ed Buker, Chairman, President and CEO of Tecumseh Products. “Although our bottom-line performance for the quarter was clearly impacted by recent economic events, we took immediate action to address those outside forces, including reducing our global headcount over the course of the quarter by about 1,200 people. Going forward, we will continue to take the steps necessary for Tecumseh to address the current global economic slowdown while positioning the Company for gains in efficiency and profitability once the global economy begins to recover. In the interim, our intensive cost cutting to size our business to current volumes combined with aggressive cash management should enable us to navigate the current economic uncertainties and continue to pursue our long-term strategic plan.”

With respect to global economic activity, the recent decline, which may ultimately become a global recession precipitated by the financial crisis, has had a detrimental effect on Tecumseh’s sales volumes. This decline has been marked by a deterioration of credit availability for consumers and customers, increased borrowing rates for those who are able to secure lines of credit, slowdowns in the housing market, and double-digit inflation rates in some countries where the Company’s business is concentrated. Any one of these factors, taken independently, would have an adverse impact on sales volumes; combined, the impact has been significant. Although Tecumseh is a global business, and declines in economic activity that affect only certain regional markets are often balanced against greater growth in other parts of the globe, the current slowdown is affecting all of the Company’s global markets with nearly equal severity. In the first half of 2008, consistent with expectations, the Company began to see a slowdown when compared to prior periods. As a result of the conditions described above, this trend continued at an accelerated pace in the third quarter of the year and based upon customer actions evidence suggests that the fourth quarter will see an even greater decline in activity. The Company does not currently expect market conditions to improve before mid-2009. Accordingly, it has accelerated certain restructuring activities which involve the idling of underutilized assets and further reductions in employment levels throughout the world.

Consolidated net sales from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2008 decreased to $256.2 million from $278.4 million in 2007. Sales of compressors for air conditioning and other applications declined by $13.6 million, due to softer economic conditions, higher customer inventory levels and cooler-than-normal weather in many markets. Sales for refrigeration & freezer applications declined by $9.6 million, associated primarily with a downturn in market volumes as well as market share, most substantially in North America and India. Compressors for commercial applications reported a slight increase in sales of $1.0 million. For these applications, price increases and currency effects more than offset declines in unit volumes due to softer economic conditions and lower shipments to customers in light of higher inventory balances. Expressed in unit volumes, compressors for commercial and aftermarket applications (52% of sales dollars) declined by 26.9% when compared to 2007, refrigeration & freezer applications (33% of sales dollars) declined by 13.8%, and air conditioning applications (15% of sales dollars) declined by 49.5%.

Cost of sales was $238.7 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2008 compared to $244.4 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2007. As a percentage of net sales, cost of sales was 93.2% and 87.8% in the third quarters of 2008 and 2007, respectively. In dollar terms, gross margin declined $16.5 million to $17.5 million in 2008 compared with $34.0 million in the third quarter of 2007.

Current year margin was favorably impacted by selling price advances of $7.0 million. However, as discussed above, unit volumes declined substantially when compared to the third quarter of 2007, resulting in unfavorable overhead absorption rates. These declines were partially offset by an improved mix of higher-margin product, but the net impact of these factors resulted in a decline of $11.1 million in 2008 when compared to prior year results. The effect of foreign currency exchange unfavorably impacted results for the current quarter by $8.6 million, which included $3.7 million for losses recognized in the Company’s income statement from the re-measurement of foreign denominated assets & liabilities in Brazil and the mark to market of ineffective hedges in India, which resulted from the rapid devaluation of these currencies at the end of the quarter. Unfavorable commodity costs of $3.7 million and unfavorable purchasing, productivity and other costs of $0.1 million also affected gross margins in the quarter.

Selling, general and administrative (”SG&A”) expenses were $33.7 million and $28.8 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2008 and 2007 respectively. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses were 13.1% in the third quarter of 2008 compared to 10.3% in the third quarter of 2007. The Company recorded expenditures of approximately $5.1 million in the third quarter of 2008 for one-time professional fees, which included consulting services for strategic planning and legal fees for corporate governance issues. This expenditure constituted an increase of $2.7 million in professional fees incurred for one-time projects when compared to the same period in 2007. The remaining $2.2 million increase in administrative cost was largely reflective of costs recognized in continuing operations that were previously allocated to businesses that are now discontinued operations.

Buker continued: “Clearly, the most significant challenge facing our Company in the third quarter came from the dramatic slowdown of the global economy, which had a sizable negative impact on our sales and margins. Beyond the global economic conditions that diminished demand for our compressors, we also had to contend with the tangential impact of the increasingly tight global credit environment on our customers. As a result of reduced levels of available credit and financing sources, we saw many customers delaying orders in efforts to reduce inventory levels, even as we faced pressure from suppliers to accelerate payments or face higher financing costs.”

Losses from continuing operations were $36.5 million in the current quarter, compared to a profit of $2.2 million in the prior year third quarter. Included in 2008 results were $16.2 million in impairments, restructuring charges, and other items. The majority of these expenses were as a result of the acceleration of the Company’s plans for consolidating and relocating certain of its global manufacturing capabilities, in light of the pronounced softening of demand resulting from the current global financial conditions. The expense was recognized in Brazil ($11.9 million), North America ($3.7 million), and India ($0.6 million).

Financial performance in 2008 was favorably impacted by a $1.0 million improvement in net interest expense when compared to third quarter 2007. This improvement is attributable to the interest earned on substantially higher levels of cash and short-term investments in 2008.

Buker said: “In an environment characterized by recessionary forces impacting both the developed and emerging markets, combined with a dearth of available credit from banks and traditional funding sources, it is clearer than ever that our balance sheet restructuring of 2007 was the right move for Tecumseh. As a result of our efforts to increase cash, the Company has adequate resources to withstand the slowdown, without needing to tap other sources of capital.”

Consolidated net sales from continuing operations in the first three quarters of 2008 decreased to $805.2 million from $864.7 million in 2007. Sales of compressors used in commercial applications increased by $18.4 million; these increases were primarily the result of pricing advances and currency impacts. These increases in sales were offset by declines in sales of compressors used in refrigeration & freezer applications of $56.0 million, which were associated primarily with a downturn in market volumes as well as market share, predominantly in North America, India and Europe. Sales of compressors for air conditioning applications and all other applications also declined by $21.9 million. Expressed in unit volumes, compressors for commercial and aftermarket applications (52% of sales dollars) declined by 13.9% when compared to 2007, refrigeration & freezer applications (32% of sales dollars) declined by 25.3%, and air conditioning applications (16% of sales dollars) declined by 25.2%.

Cost of sales was $708.6 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2008, as compared to $760.5 million in the same period of 2007. As a percentage of net sales, cost of sales was 88.0% and 87.9% in the first nine months of 2008 and 2007, respectively. Gross margin declined by $7.6 million in 2008 when compared to the same period of 2007, from $104.2 million in 2007 to $96.6 million in 2008.

Current year margin was favorably impacted by selling price advances of $32.7 million. However, although an improved mix of higher-margin product contributed favorably to 2008 year-to-date results, this favorable mix was not sufficient to fully offset volume declines and lower overhead absorption, resulting in a net reduction to 2008 margin of $23.6 million. The effect of foreign currency exchange unfavorably impacted results for 2008 by $23.5 million when compared to the prior year, including $5.7 million for losses from the re-measurement of foreign denominated assets & liabilities in Brazil and the mark to market of ineffective hedges in India. Increased commodity costs accounted for $13.1 million of the gross margin decline. These unfavorable trends were somewhat offset by gains in productivity, purchasing costs and other improvements of $15.6 million, as well as gains on the sale of an airplane and the Company’s former airport facility of $4.2 million.

Selling, general and administrative (”SG&A”) expenses were $99.6 million or 12.4% of net sales in the first three quarters of 2008 as compared to $97.7 million or 11.3% of sales in the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007. While the Company incurred approximately $11.1 million in 2008 for one-time professional fees, which included consulting services for strategic planning and legal fees for corporate governance issues, this figure represented a $6.2 million reduction in professional fees incurred for one-time projects when compared to 2007. This improvement was offset by $8.1 million in increased administrative costs, which was primarily reflective of costs recognized in continuing operations that were previously allocated to businesses that are now discontinued operations.

Net loss from continuing operations was $36.3 million through the first three quarters of 2008, compared to a loss of $8.2 million in the same period of 2007. Results for 2008 were impacted by $20.0 million in impairments, restructuring charges, and other items. These charges included $20.0 million in excise tax expense on the proceeds received from the reversion of the Company’s former salaried retirement plan, $15.2 million in charges for impairment of buildings and machinery in the third quarter of 2008 as discussed above, and a curtailment loss on the Company’s hourly pension plan of $3.9 million. The Company also recorded expense of $6.9 million related to severance costs for previously announced on-going restructuring activities. Offsetting these expenses were a curtailment gain related to an hourly postretirement benefit plan ($19.1 million) due to reductions in future service cost related to the closure of manufacturing operations in Tecumseh, Michigan, a settlement gain on the sale of annuity contracts for the former salaried retirement plan ($6.3 million), and a gain on the sale of a facility in Dundee, Michigan ($0.6 million).

Financial performance in 2008 was favorably impacted by a $2.7 million improvement in interest expense when compared to 2007. Interest income also improved by $3.1 million in 2008 due to the interest earned on substantially higher levels of cash and short-term investments in the current year.

As of Sept. 30, 2008, the Company reported total cash and cash equivalents of $126.1 million. In the third quarter of 2008, cash used by operations amounted to $55.6 million. The most significant uses of cash during the quarter involved working capital requirements, particularly payables and accrued expenses (a use of $33.1 million) as well as accounts receivable (a use of $13.2 million). In the case of payables, the Company accelerated payments to many cash- and credit-constrained suppliers during the period, in order to avoid interest rate charges on outstanding balances. With regard to accounts receivable, the Company reduced the amount of discounted receivables by $31.0 million during the period, which increased the net receivables recorded on the balance sheet, and also avoided unnecessary interest expense. The remaining cash use was primarily attributable to cash net losses, which were a result of the economic downturn adversely affecting sales volumes combined with higher steel costs. In each of these instances, Tecumseh’s favorable cash position allowed it to address unfavorable market conditions without incurring the cost of escalating interest rates or drawing upon lines of credit. These cash uses were somewhat offset by the Company’s aggressive efforts to reduce its inventory balances, which provided cash of $16.5 million during the quarter.

Subsequent to the end of the third quarter, the Company has also begun to receive cash refunds from the Brazilian government for pre-paid non-income taxes. As of the end of October, and based upon the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Brazilian real as of the end of the third quarter, the Company had received approximately $53.5 million in refunds. Further refunds are expected by the end of 2008 and into 2009. Due to the recent volatility in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Brazilian real, the actual amounts received as expressed in U.S. dollars will vary depending on the exchange rate at the time of receipt or future reporting date.

In the aggregate, cash balances have increased by $49.3 million when compared to the end of 2007. The most significant elements of this increase in cash were the net proceeds of $80.0 million realized from the reversion of the Company’s salaried retirement plan and $22.6 million in proceeds from the sale of assets. These increases were offset in part by reductions in discounted accounts receivable of $39.8 million at international locations.

Tecumseh reported that the condition of the global economy as discussed above, as well as commodity costs, key currency rates and weather had a significant impact on its business operations through the first three quarters of the year.

Certain key commodities, including copper, have seen significant fluctuations in pricing since the beginning of the year; copper prices increased by more than 30% through July and then dropped 22.3% in August and September. As of Sept. 30, 2008, the Company held more than 80% of its total projected copper requirements for the remainder of 2008 in the form of forward purchase contracts and futures, which will provide it with substantial (though not total) protection from any resurgence in price during the remainder of the year but also will detract from the ability to benefit from price decreases. In addition, the Company expects the cost of steel and other purchased materials to be more costly in 2008 versus 2007. As of Sept. 30, 2008, the Company’s steel costs had risen by 65.5% since the beginning of this year and by 77.8% when compared to Jan. 1, 2007. Increases in the price of steel are particularly detrimental to the Company’s profitability, as there is currently no well-established market for hedging the cost of steel used in its products. In the aggregate and after consideration for the recent rapid escalation in steel costs, the Company expects the total 2008 cost of its purchased materials for the full year, including the impact of its hedging activities, to be approximately $48 million more than the prior year, depending on commodity cost levels in the remaining three months of 2008. As a partial means of addressing the escalating costs of commodities, the Company has implemented price increases, most of which have already taken effect with the remainder becoming effective over the final quarter of this year.

“Throughout 2008, we have made significant strides in hedging currency and commodity exposure, but in the third quarter, volatility in commodity and currency markets had a detrimental effect on our profitability,” said James Nicholson, Chief Financial Officer of Tecumseh Products. “As the prices of hedged inputs such as copper declined in the third quarter, we did not fully realize the benefit of the falling price, while other inputs that do not have effective hedging vehicles continued to rise, notably, the type of steel used in our production. On the currency side, as the rupee, real and euro fell against the dollar, re-measurement of assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies further reduced profitability in the quarter. Despite the unprecedented volatility we experienced in recent months, we will remain disciplined in our approach to managing commodity and currency risks. In the long run, we will benefit from these trends if they continue.”

The Brazilian real, the euro and the Indian rupee continue to show significant volatility against the U.S. dollar. While the Company has considerable forward purchase contracts to cover its exposure to additional fluctuations in value during the year, it expects the changes in foreign currency exchange rates, after giving consideration to its contracts and including the impact of balance sheet re-measurement of assets and liabilities held in an underlying currency other than the dollar, to have a negative financial impact totaling approximately $37 million when compared to 2007; further strengthening of the dollar against the real could result in additional re-measurement losses.

As a partial means of offsetting these conditions, the Company said it intends to continue to implement further cost reductions and consolidation of productive capacity. During the third quarter, the Company reduced its total global headcount by approximately 1,200 people, and expects to initiate further actions in the fourth quarter.

“With more than $120 million in cash and equivalents and minimal debt, we believe we have adequate resources available to withstand the current economic weakness, but we will remain highly disciplined in our use of cash,” continued Buker. “We will continue to hold the line on capital expenditures, though we may incur costs to shift production and adjust our current capacity levels to better reflect global demand and resulting revenue levels. We are holding to our capital expenditure run rate projections of $20 to $25 million as an average annualized basis; in the near term, we anticipate total capital investments of $10 to $15 million in 2008, but with a carryover of approximately $10 million into the upcoming year they may be as high as $35 million in 2009. These expenditures will be managed carefully and will be dependent upon economic conditions throughout the year.”

If you have absolutely no need to advertise, or don’t even own a business you can still support their cause by donating. Once again Simply visit  their contact us page at www.bill-board.us , scroll down to the bottom and use the “Donate ” feature provided by PayPals secure checkout process. 

“Our goal is to raise over $50,000 for charities during the holidays, help use beat this goal by far! I want to personally thank you in advance for your support of Bill-board.us, and allowing our company to raise record amounts of donations for charities and organizations around the world, at the same time become the nations leading online advertisement portal, providing consumers with major discounts, promotions, offers and giveaways.” (Dylan Borland, President and Investment Coordinator)  

The RESTORE-CLI clinical trial is a prospective, controlled, randomized, double-blind, multi-center study that is reviewed quarterly by a sponsor-appointed, independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB). The DSMB is composed of third-party experts in vascular surgery, cardiovascular medicine, stem cell research and biostatistics. The DSMB has unblinded access to all available patient data. They review patient safety as well as efficacy information on an ongoing basis. At their September 24, 2008 meeting, the independent DSMB unanimously recommended continuation of the study.

“Treating the 30th patient in the RESTORE-CLI trial is a significant clinical accomplishment for Aastrom as we are now able to target the timing for the next milestone — reporting interim data from this first set of critically ill patients,” said George Dunbar, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aastrom. “These patients face a high risk of major limb amputation and may benefit from Aastrom’s VRC treatment.”

Approximately 10 million people in the U.S. suffer from PAD; of this group, 900,000 suffer from the most severe form, CLI, which leads to 100,000 amputations per year. PAD is a chronic disease that progressively restricts blood flow in the limbs and can lead to serious medical complications. This disease is often associated with other clinical conditions, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity and stroke. The term CLI is used to describe patients with chronic ischemia-induced pain (even at rest), ulcers, tissue loss or gangrene in the limbs. CLI represents the end stage for PAD patients.

About Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.
Aastrom is a leader in the development of autologous cell products for the repair or regeneration of human tissue. The Company’s proprietary Tissue Repair Cell (TRC) technology involves the use of a patient’s own cells to manufacture products to treat a range of chronic diseases and serious injuries. Aastrom’s TRC-based products contain increased numbers of stem and early progenitor cells, produced from a small amount of bone marrow collected from the patient. The TRC technology platform has positioned Aastrom to advance multiple products into clinical development. Ongoing development activities are focused on applying TRC technology to cardiac and vascular tissue regeneration. The Company is currently focused on cardiovascular regeneration and is conducting a Phase II clinical trial with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients (the IMPACT-DCM trial) and a Phase IIb clinical trial with critical limb ischemia patients (the RESTORE-CLI trial).

As of Sunday, 18,470 independent voters will cast a ballot for Democrat Barack Obama, while only 1,623 independents will vote for Republican John McCain. In total, 151,416 pizza tracker poll participants are voting for Obama vs. 93,718 who plan to vote for McCain.

Key Stats

Total participants, Oct. 7 - Oct. 26, 2008: 295,805

Number identifying themselves as Democrats: 132,946

Number identifying themselves as Republicans: 92,095

Number identifying themselves Independent: 66,671

Number who took the poll but didn’t answer the party affiliation question: 4,093

Number voting for Barack Obama: 151,416

Number voting for John McCain: 93,718

Number of independents voting for Obama: 18,470

Number of independents voting for McCain: 1,623

Number still undecided: 42,187

More than 40,000 more Democrats than Republicans took part in poll.

Swing states all leaning toward Obama, but inconclusive because more Democrats participated in poll vs. those identifying themselves as Republicans.

The initial goal of the Pizza Tracker poll: determine if customers who self-identify as Democrat, Republican or Undecided share more than just political affiliations: do they also share tendencies when it comes to ordering pizza? The answer has been a resounding yes. By comparing customers’ orders with their answers to three poll questions, Domino’s has found:

Republicans

Spend more per order than other consumers. –

They rely on credit cards to pay more than other consumers. –

They tend to order two large pizzas at a time, and they’re usually specialty pizzas.

They are more likely to order online, and more likely to pick up their orders.

Democrats

Rely on delivery more than Republicans.

Pay cash more than other consumers.

Like more variety with their orders, opting for side items, chicken and beverages more than Republicans.

Domino’s Pizza Tracker poll appears on www.dominos.com as soon as online customers click the “submit order” button on their computer screen. Domino’s Pizza last week also unveiled http://poll.dominos.com, a site that tracks voter choices by state in two categories: who consumers are going to vote for, and which of Domino’s new line of oven baked sandwich is being ordered most that day. The maps are updated every 60 seconds. For 14 consecutive days, the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich has been ordered most often, and has been the leading “vote-getter” in 35 states.

Will the Domino’s Pizza Tracker Poll prove to be accurate come Election Night? We’ll find out Nov. 4. We suggest you settle in at home, order a pizza and a sandwich and watch history unfold.

About Domino’s Pizza(R)
Founded in 1960, Domino’s Pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery. Domino’s is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “DPZ.” Through its primarily locally-owned and operated franchised system, Domino’s operates a network of 8,671 franchised and Company-owned stores in the United States and 60 international markets. The Domino’s Pizza(R) brand, named a Megabrand by Advertising Age magazine, had global retail sales of over $5.4 billion in 2007, comprised of $3.2 billion domestically and $2.2 billion internationally. During the second quarter of 2008, the Domino’s Pizza(R) brand had global retail sales of $1.3 billion, comprised of approximately $717 million domestically and approximately $589 million internationally. Domino’s Pizza was named “Chain of the Year” by Pizza Today magazine, the leading publication of the pizza industry. Customers can place orders online in English and Spanish by visiting www.dominos.com or from a Web-enabled cell phone by visiting mobile.dominos.com. More information on the Company, in English and Spanish, can be found

Con-way Freight, a less-than-truckload (LTL) freight carrier and the largest subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), announced today that William R. Wynne has been promoted to Vice President, Marketing.

A veteran marketing executive with over 20 years of experience, Mr. Wynne joined Con-way Freight in September 2007 as director of marketing. In his current position, he is responsible for directing the activities of Con-way Freight’s marketing organization, including resource planning and strategy development, market research, customer segmentation analysis and positioning, advertising and sales promotion programs, and execution of integrated marketing campaigns to achieve sales objectives.

“Bill’s experience and skills have been instrumental in improving our marketing effectiveness and driving increasing awareness of Con-way’s Freight’s value throughout our customer base,” said John G. Labrie, president, Con-way Freight. “This is well-deserved recognition of the innovation and leadership he’s brought to our team, which has elevated the performance and return from this key business function.”

Prior to joining Con-way Freight, Mr. Wynne advanced through increasingly responsible positions with Ford Motor Company, most recently as head of marketing for Ford Racing Technology. During his tenure at Ford he completed management assignments with franchising and incentives, manufacturing and fleet operations, import/export operations, distribution and dealer/customer relations. Prior to joining Ford, Mr. Wynne gained diverse experience in various marketing roles across several other industries, including logistics and distribution, computer services, convenience retailing, restaurant and hospitality.

“Bill has been a great addition to Con-way’s marketing team,” said Tom Nightingale, vice president of communications and chief marketing officer for Con-way Inc., the parent company of Con-way Freight. “He’s brought new perspective and keen focus on critical marketing initiatives that have driven great results for the Con-way Freight organization.”

Mr. Wynne earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business. He also holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Mr. Wynne’s outside affiliations include a part-time teaching position as adjunct professor of marketing at Eastern Michigan University, as well as membership in the Transportation Marketing and Communications Association, and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).

Mr. Wynne resides in Ann Arbor with his wife, Susan. He is located at Con-way Freight’s general office in Ann Arbor.

The proposed settlement will expand access to books in the Google Book Search project. Google Book Search is an ambitious project to digitize the print collections of the world’s greatest libraries and make them searchable via the Internet. The project will make it possible for libraries to preserve millions of books and assure numerous other public and academic benefits.

“It will now be possible, even easy, for anyone to access these great collections from anywhere in the United States,” said University of Michigan’s Paul Courant, university librarian and Harold T. Shapiro Collegiate Professor of Public Policy. “This is an extraordinary accomplishment.”

While the three libraries were not parties in the lawsuit, Google requested extensive input from them on issues of importance to library and university communities.

“With other libraries, those of the University of California and the University of Michigan, we have been negotiating for almost two years with Google and the plaintiffs to shape this agreement for the public good,” said Michael Keller, Stanford’s university librarian, director of Academic Information Resources, founder/publisher of HighWire Press, and publisher of the Stanford University Press. “We believe that the proposed settlement offers significant benefits for readers everywhere and therefore society as a whole, providing easy access to texts via Google to libraries throughout the country, and expanding dramatically the amount of material that can be freely read (not just searched) by the public.”

“Millions of books are held in our libraries as a public trust,” said Daniel Greenstein, vice provost at the University of California. “This settlement will help provide broad access to them as well as other public benefits, and it also promises to promote innovation in scholarship. For these reasons, UC is pleased to have given input along with Universities of Michigan and Stanford in support of the public good, and we look forward to playing a continuing role by contributing UC library volumes to the development of this rich online resource.”

The universities were not direct parties to the agreement, and there are some aspects of it the universities would change; however they believe it is favorable overall to the principles and intentions that led them to join the program as early as 2004.

“The settlement promises to change profoundly the level of access that may be afforded to the printed cultural record, so much of which is presently available to those who are able to visit one of the world’s great libraries,” Keller said. “The democratic impulses-the access to knowledge-are simply too compelling to ignore. They at once appeal to and reflect the respective missions of our three institutions.”

“The settlement agreement provides an unprecedented and extraordinarily valuable service to the American public, the opportunity to search and preview millions of books online. This is a service that libraries, because of copyright restrictions, could not offer on their own and goes well beyond what would have been possible, even if Google had prevailed in defending the lawsuits,” Courant said.

Among the important benefits to higher education are:

• Free full text access at public libraries around the country.
• Free preview and ability to either find the book at a local library or through a consumer purchase.
• A first-ever database of both in-copyright and out-of-copyright (public domain) works on which scholars can conduct advanced research (known as the “the research corpus”). For example, a corpus of this sort will allow scholars in the field of comparative linguistics to conduct specialized large scale analysis of language, looking for trends over time and expanding our understanding of language and culture.
• Enabling the sharing of public domain works among scholars, students and institutions. Not only will scholars and students at other universities be able to read these online, but this will make it possible to provide large numbers of texts to individuals wishing to perform research.
• Institutional subscriptions providing access to in-copyright, out-of-print books.
• Working copies of partner libraries’ contributed works for searching and Web services complementary to Google’s.
• Accommodated services for persons with print disabilities-making it possible for persons with print disabilities to view or have text read with the use of reader technology.
• Digital copies of works digitized by Google provided to the partner libraries for long term preservation purposes. This is important because university libraries are tasked by the public to be repositories of human knowledge and information.

It is important to note that neither the proposed settlement nor the universities’ support of it effectuate their full participation in the new arrangement. Each of the universities has a cooperative agreement in place with Google that remains in effect. Each now must negotiate and execute amendments to those agreements that reflect the terms and conditions described in the settlement. Any final decision to continue contributing to Google Book Search will be made after negotiation and finalization of such an amended agreement. Each university is working toward that end and expects to participate in the project under the proposed settlement.