Star-Gazette from Elmira, New York • 18

6C Wednesday, May 14, 2008, Star-Gazette, stargazette.com Managing Editor Lois Wilson, (607) 271-8284, lowilsonstargazette.com LOCAL BRIEFS Corning Inc. lauded for aiding black colleges 1 1 'J fr WILLIAMS VAUGHN Williams said in a statement Building relationships with the historically black institutions also helps Corning Inc. with its recruiting efforts, Vaughn said. Corning Inc. will receive a certificate of merit and will be recognized in the June 2008 Dean's Edition of U.S.

Black Engineer and Information Technology. Other businesses named to the list include Boeing, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Caterpillar. Government agencies, including NASA and the National Institutes of Health, also were honored. Vaughn said the honor recognizes the work led by Coming's Awareness Quality Improvement Team and Project Upward two company efforts to recruit and retain a diverse work force.

Project Upward also works to build interest in science among schoolchildren. Jimmie Williams, who chairs the Awareness Quality Improvement Team, said Corning Inc. sponsors five key institutions Howard University, North Carolina State University, City College in New York City, Florida University and Jackson State Uni versity in Mississippi The sponsorships help offset the costs for students and professors to attend conferences on science and technology. They also can include research grants or gifts of equipment for use in laboratories, internships with Corning Inc. and exposure to Corning engineers and scientists.

"This honor demonstrates that Corning is doing the right thing, recognizing that there are top students coming from historically black colleges and universities and that this is a talent pool we need to tap for diversity and innovation," Star-Gazette CORNING For the sixth consecutive year, Corning Inc. has been named a top corporate supporter of historically black colleges and universities. The Twin Tiers' largest employer was chosen for the honor by the deans of engineering programs at 11 historically black institutions and the corporate-academic alliance known as Advancing Minorities Interest in Engineering. The award-winning companies were identified in a survey by U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology Maga- zine.

"We have consistently been a benchmark for relationship building with historically black colleges and universities for about a decade," said Mark D. Vaughn, Corning Inc's manager of diversity recruiting and technical talent pipelining. Paterson calls for tougher laws on toys Discount retailers report solid profits HORSEHEADS Hardinge names new board chairman The board of directors at Hardinge Inc. recently voted to separate the positions of chairman of the board and chief executive officer. As a result, Kyle Seymour, 47, replaces J.

Patrick Ervin as board chairman. Ervin retains his titles of president and CEO. Seymour has been a Hardinge director since 2004. He spent 13 years as an executive with Cincinnati Milacron and the UNOVA Corp. Seymour is chairman, president and CEO of Xtek which makes custom machine and heat-treated industrial components.

NORTHERN TIER Blue Ridge Cable adds WETM-2 to lineup WETM-TV in Elmira said Tuesday that Blue Ridge Cable has picked up WETM-2 to air on its system in Tioga County, Pa, beginning Thursday. WETM-2 broadcasts WETM 18 News at Ten, some Yankees games, Elmira Jackals hockey, high school sports, plus syndicated and local programming. WETM-2 will be on Blue Ridge Cable Channel 8 Mansfield and Wellsboro, plus some other communities along the U.S. Route 6 corridor. CORNING Discounts offered for tourism week The Corning Area Chamber of Commerce and the Information Center of Corning are marking National Tourism Week, 1 which runs through Sunday, by offering a 30 percent discount on some Corning souvenirs at the information center.

TIOGA COUNTY, N.Y. Business plans are focus of workshop The Tioga County Rural Economic Area Partnership and Tioga County Economic Development and Planning will offer a free workshop, "Let's Write Your Business Plan," from 530 to 830 pjn. Thursday and May 22 at the county administrative building, 56 Main St. in Owego. Registration: Call (607) 687-8255.

By Dan Osburn Gannett News Service ALBANY Gov. David Paterson proposed legislation Tuesday that he said would protect children from dangerous toys, furniture and other products through stronger recalls and labeling laws. The "Children's Product Safety and Recall Effectiveness Act of 2008" would prohibit manufacturers, distributors and retailers from selling recalled children's products in New York. Currently, there is no regulation on selling products for which a recall has been issued, Paterson said. "Most parents will be shocked to learn that dangerous toys and other children's products are readily available for sale in stores even after they have been recalled," Paterson said in a statement The legislation would help to ensure that recalled goods don't end up in the hands of children or sold to secondhand stores, Paterson said.

The bill would also require manufacturers and distributors of children's toys and other products to notify consumers, distributors and retailers, as well as the state Attorney General's Office and the state Consumer Protection Board of any recalls or warnings. Deborah Sturm Rausch, spokeswoman for the state Consumer Protection Board, said that under the new legislation, the board would be "the agency that will be responsible to assuring recall checks are done, that stores, manufacturers and distributors comply with the legislation once it's passed." 1- 13JK18 aria K'jii'jBwi IN THE WORLD Wal-Mart and TJX appear to benefit as Americans struggle. By Anne D'lnnocenzio The Associated Press NEW YORK Solid first-quarter profits from discounters Wal-Mart and TJX show that more Americans are hunting for bargains as they struggle to cover their monthly credit card payments, put food on the table and gas in the family car. Wal-Mart Stores the world's largest retailer, posted a 6.9 percent increase in first-quarter profits, helped by improved customer service, better inventory control and strong international sales. The results beat Wall Street's projections by a penny, but the company issued a cautious outlook for the current quarter and warned that the economy would be a "critical factor" in 2008.

TJX which operates stores under the T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods names, said its first-quarter profits rose almost 20 percent, meeting analysts' projections. But lower investment income and costs from European expansion left TJX's profit margin slightly below the company's expectations. Wal-Mart shares fell $137, or about 2.4 percent, to $56.65. TJX shares slipped $1.49, or about 4.6 percent, to $30.65.

The pair of earnings reports was released as The Commerce Department announced The Associated Pre: The outside of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter is seen last month in Maumelle, Ark. of slowing with Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer driving season, just 10 days away, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Median home prices drop in many cities WASHINGTON Median home prices fell in 100 of 149 cities surveyed during the first three months of this year while 46 states saw declining sales, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Nationally, the median home price the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less fell to $196300. The Associated Press Yahoo rises with report of possible proxy fight NEW YORK Yahoo Inc.

shares rose Tuesday on a CNBC report indicating that billionaire investor Carl Icahn could start a proxy fight with the struggling Internet icon. Yahoo's stock rose $130, or 5.15 percent, to $26.56. In the past year, the stock has traded between $1858 and $34.08. Gasoline prices at the pump jump above $3.73 NEW YORK -The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline rose 1.4 cents overnight to a record $3,732 a gallon Tuesday, and the advance shows little sign credit cards, suggesting to some analysts that many consumers now only have enough money to cover their monthly credit card payments, plus food, fuel and other basics. Shoppers also may be near their credit card limit; a number of banks, including Bank of America Corp.

are reducing limits on credit cards. that retail sales dipped 02 percent last month. Commerce also said sales at department stores were down 0.1 percent, indicating that tough economic times may be pushing people to seek out bargains at giant discount stores. Wal-Mart said that since the third quarter of last year fewer sales were being made with Stock Exchange Highlights To find out the latest price of any stock or mutual fund, go to www.stargazette.com. Market Review 7 NYSE Dow AMEX Nasdaq Li Precious Metals Gold (NY Merc spot, troy oz.) $868.50 Silver (NY Merc spot, troy oz.) $16,763 Currencies Foreign currency in dollars: British Pound $1.9459 Canadian Dollar $.9967 Euro $1.5480 Japanese Yen $.009500 mum iwiruwfe Last: 12832.18 Chg: YTD chg: 12mo chg: Last: 9410.46 Chg: YTD chg: 12mo chg: Last: 2355.11 Chg: YTD chg: 12mochg: 4.65 Last: 2495.12 Chg: 6.63 YTD chg: 12mo chg: Last: 1403.04 Chg: YTD chg: 12mo chg: (Ml) 215-5545 yj Dow record high close: 14164.53, Oct.

9, 2007 Mutual Funds Stocks of Local Interest YTD YTD YTD Daily Daily Daily Name NAV Chg Name NAV Chg Name NAV Chg American Funds AmcapA 19.03 Fidelity BIChGrow 42.34 .02 Janus Twenty 79.32 American Funds BalA 18.45 Fidelity CapApr 25.43 .01 Janus Worldwid 51.58 .01 American Funds BondA 12.79 Fidelity Contra 69.18 .06 John Hancock StrlncA 6.46 American Funds CaplncBuA 60.02 Fidelity DivGrow 27.93 .01 Legg Mason ValuePr 51.94 American Funds CapWIdBdA 20.40 Fidelity Eqlnc 51.95 Lord Abbett AffilialA 13.17 American Funds CpWIdGrIA 43.22 Fidelity Eqlnc II 21.57 Lord Abbett CoreLrgCpA 29.49 American Funds EurPacGrA 49.29 Fidelity Fidelity 37.90 Lord Abbett IncmA 2.62 American Funds FundmlnvA 41.58 .03 Fidelity Fifty 20.84 .20 Lord Abbett IntlCorEqA 14.87 American Funds GrowAmerA 33.64 .07 Fidelity GNMA 10.93 Lord Abbett MidCpValA 16.72 .03 American Funds HilncA 11.62 Fidelity LatinAm 69.14 .42 Lord Abbett NatlTaxFA 10.69 American Funds HilncMuA 14.57 Fidelity LowPriStk 41.10 .15 Lord Abbett ResSmCpA 27.97 .25 American Funds IncAmerA 18.46 Fidelity Magellan 86.65 MFS HighlncA 3.60 American Funds IntBdAmA 13.22 Fidelity MidCap 28.72 .21 MainStay HiYldCorA 5.97 American Funds InvCoAmA 31.26 Fidelity OTC 48.73 .15 MainStay HiYtdCorB 5.94 American Funds LtdTmTxEA 15.18 Fidelity Puritan 18.31 Morgan Stanley Instl EmgMktl 32.31 .16 American Funds MutualA 27.41 Fidelity SEAsia 33.84 .29 Munder Funds IntemetA 23.05 .13 American Funds NewEconA 25.36 .02 Fidelity Trend 65.34 Oppenheimer GlobA 69.21 American Funds NewPerspA 32.95 Fidelity Value 73.73 .25 Oppenheimer MainStrA 35.29 .02 American Funds SmCpWIdA 37.90 Fidelity Worldwid 20.81 .03 Putnam GlbEqB 9.99 American Funds TaxEBdAmA 12.12 Fidelity Advisor Growlncl 19.82 .02 Putnam GrowlncA 14.61 American Funds USGovSecA 13.59 Fidelity Select Electron 42.29 .29 Rowe Price Eqtylnc 26.22 American Funds WAMutlnvA 32.15 Fidelity Select Energy 71.81 1.19 Van Kampen GrowlncA 20.14 DWS-Scudder GlbTS 27.84 Fidelity Select EnergySvc 108.19 1.85 Vanguard 500 129.43 DWS-Scudder IntIS 68.01 FrankTemp-Franklin Income A 2.53 Vanguard Europeldx 38.45 DWS-Scudder LgCapValA 20.98 .12 FrankTemp-Franklin Utils A 13.90 Vanguard GNMA 10.35 Davis NYVenIB 37.41 .05 FrankTemp-Mutual Oual 21.13 .06 Vanguard Growthldx 32.39 .08 Delaware Invest LgValA 16.71 JPMorgan GrolncA 30.82 Vanguard MidCp 20.49 .15 Dodge Cox IntlStk 44.42 .04 JPMorgan MdCpGrSel Vanguard MorgAdml 58.85 .29 Dodge Cox Stock 125.71 Janus Bal 25.62 Vanguard Valueldx 24.52 Dreyfus Growlnc 15.08 Janus Contrarian 18.47 Vanguard Wndsrll 29.69 Dreyfus IntMuBd 13.13 Janus Growlnc 35.15 .06 Wasatch IntlGr 18.52 Dreyfus Premier GNMA 14.44 Janus Janus 30.96 .01 Wasatch MicroCap 5.12 .02 Fidelity Bal 19.26 .01 Janus Research 30.21 .09 Wells Fargo SmCapValZ 30.11 .20 Name Ex Div Yld PE last Chg Chg Name Ex Div Yld PE Last Chg Chg he NY 1.60 4.1 19 39.26 .15 EgyEast NY 1.24 5.0 15 24.66 .18 AbtLab NY 1.44 2.6 22 54.401.62 Exelon NY 2.00 2.4 21 83.44 2.2 AtcatelLuc NY 7.35 .28 .4 ExxonMbl NY 1.60 1.8 12 89.68 .49 Allstate NY 1.64 3.3 8 49.69 FPL Grp NY 1.78 2.8 18 64.72 Altrias NY 1.16 5.3 15 21.92 .34 Fastenal NA .50 1.0 31 50.79 25.7 AmExp NY .72 1.5 15 49.01 FordM NY 8.23 .08 22.3 AmlntlGp NY .88 2.2 39.16 .79 Gannett NY 1.60 5.2 7 30.64 .57 Anheusr NY 1.32 2.5 18 52.05 .44 GenElec NY 1.24 3.8 15 32.33 BkofAm NY 2.56 7.0 15 36,61 GnMotr NY 1.00 5.0 20.20 BestBuy NY .52 1.2 14 43.63 GrtAIIPac NY 25.49 BlackD NY 1.68 2.5 9 66.42 HSBC NY 4.55 5.2 53 87.02 .34 4.0 BrdpntSec NA 2.51 .04112.7 Hallibrtn NY .36 .7 13 48.791.35 28.7 Chevron NY 2.60 2.7 11 97.73 .37 4.7 Hardinge NA .20 1.4 18 13.98 ChFnCp OBB1.00 3.7 13 26,75 NA HarrisCorpNY .60 1.0 20 58.881.54 Cisco NA 20 25.89 .05 Headwatrs NY 10.65 Citigrp NY 1.28 5.6 23.03 HomeDp NY .90 3.1 12 28.75 .11 6.7 CitizSNthn NA .96 5.3 15 18.25 3.5 Honwlllntl NY 1.10 1.8 18 60.83 .85 CocaCI NY 1.52 2.7 21 56.50 .10 IngerRd NY .72 1.6 3 44.43 .75 CmtyBkSy NY .84 3.3 17 25.30 27.3 Intel NA .56 2.4 20 23.76 .12 Coming NY 20 .8 15 25.78 7.5 IBM NY 2.00 1.6 17 126.581.34 17.1 Covance NY 29 82.91 IntPap NY 1.00 3.8 13 26.10 Creelnc NA 66 24.51 .06 Iomega NY 3.83 10.4 Disney NY .35 1.0 15 34.33 6.4 JPMorgCh NY 1.52 3.3 12 45.48-1.76 5.1 DomRess NY 1.58 3.5 10 44.93 JohnJn NY 1.84 2.8 17 66.41 DowChm NY 1.68 4.0 14 41.76 5.9 LeggMasonNY .96 1.7 31 55.34 DresserR NY 29 40.05 .62 2,6 LillyEli NY 1.88 4.0 15 47.55 DuPont NY 1.64 3.3 14 49.01 11.2 LockhdM NY 1.68 1.5 15 108.50 1.53 3.1 DukeEngy NY .88 4.7 14 18.59 Lowes NY .32 1.3 13 24.39 7.8 EKodak NY .50 3.0 7 16.94 Manulif gs NY .96 37.86 .32 Eaton NY 2.00 2.3 13 87.35 .12 Marathon sNY .96 1.8 9 53,50 .16 ElmrSv NA .88 5.0 16 17.481.23 McDnlds NY 1.50 2.5 28 61.17 .30 38 Name Ex Div Yld PE Last Chg Chg Merck NY 1.52 3.9 17 39.17 MetLife NY .74 1.2 12 61.31 Microsoft NA .44 1.5 17 29.78 MorgStan NY 1.08 2.3 27 46.61-1.04 NY CmtyB NY 1.00 5.3 21 19.03 .03 8.2 NiSource NY .92 5.1 11 17.94 Nucor NY 1.28 1.6 16 81.39 .05 37.4 PPL Corp NY 1.34 2.8 14 48.41 .17 Penney NY .80 1.8 9 44.05 .1 PepsiBott NY .68 2.1 14 33.12 .15 Pfizer NY 1.28 6.4 18 19.97 .06 PhilMorn NY 1.84 3.5 19 52.46 6.2 ProctGam NY 1.60 2.4 20 65.73 .38 Prudent! NY 1.15 1.6 13 73.86-1.37 QstDiag NY .40 .8 26 49.75 SearsHldgsNA 16 94.34 SenecaB NA 9 20.56-1.79 SovrgnBcpNY 8.60 .42 Sysco NY .88 2.9 18 30.84 Target NY .56 1.1 16 53.25 6.5 USAirwy NY 6 6.98 UPSB NY 1.80 2.5 13 70.80 .38 .1 USSteel NY 1.00 .6 24 173.411.63 43.4 UtdTech NY 1.28 1.7 17 74.92 .35 VerizonCmNY 1,72 4.5 19 38,11 .05 Wachovia NY 1.50 5.4 14 27.79 -26 9 WalMart NY .95 1.7 17 56.65-1.37 19.2 Walgrn NY .38 1.1 17 35.46 -69 WeisMk NY 1.16 3.5 19 33.01 .48 Weyerh NY 2.40 3.7 64.34 .19 -127 Xerox NY .17 1.2 21 14.47 .17.