Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 33

STOCK INDEXES DOW JONES 30 Si? 500 1080.95 NYSE composite 563.58 -5 56 Am Index 847.97 0.93 NASDAQ composltt 1716.24 Dow Jonei Transportation 27 1 4.2 1 1 7.08 Dow Jones Utilities 273.64 Russell 2,000 458.44 Wllshlrt 5,000 10,099.260 MARKET DETAILS IN MARKETLINE, 2E FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2002 Dayton Daily News SECTION UB gets grant to develop fuel-cell technology Hydrogen-powered car touted turbine, which produces the electricity. The combustion needed to produce the heat also leads to the production of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, the chemicals that harm the environment. Fuel cell engines reduce the process to two steps, passing hydrogen through a polymer membrane into oxygen. In the process, protons are thrown off, producing electricity. A fuel cell works like a battery, with an companies have or are planning prototypes of fuel cell cars, widespread use may still be decades away.

There are many hurdles before the internal combustion engine is exiled to the junkyard. Turning gas stations into hydrogen stations would be time-consuming and expensive if the nation wanted to wean itself off foreign oiL There are also stubborn problems to work out with the fuel cell solve the nation's energy supply and environmental problems at the same time-Bush called for the development of a fuel cell car, which uses hydrogen the most abundant fuel in the universe to create electricity to power the cars. Unlike gasoline-powered cars, which create a wide variety of chemicals that pollute the air, fuel cell cars emit only water from the tailpipe. Although all of the major car senior research engineer in the metals and ceramics division of the University of Dayton Research Institute, is examining how design can improve performance. Sarwan Sandhu, professor of chemical and materials engineering, works with mathematical modeling to look at how protons move in a fuel cell.

Producing energy, whether in a car or a power plant, has always been a three-step process. Heat combustion is used to propel a mechanical device, like a technology itself. Three University of Dayton researchers have won a $148,000 grant from the Ohio Board of Regents to tackle some of those problems. "Lots of work has been done, but a lot needs to be done," said Gerald Keil of the UD chemistry department "But it does have automotive applications." The UD researchers are coming at the problems of fuel cells from three directions. Keil is looking at the chemistry.

Binod Kumar, a By Dale Dempsey Dayton Daily News DAYTON In his State of the Union' speech, President Bush called it the Freedom Car. And at first glance it appears to be the best of both worlds helping Please see TECHNOLOGY6E rtgssDni I N. I maw Key indicators up 0.6 percent Leading indicators Here is a look at the Index of Leading Economic Indicators. Seasonally adjusted 1996-100 114 112' 110 lnllHiil Willi 108 106 104 102 Change from previous month Jan. 40.6 Dec.

41.3 Nov. 0.8 100 FMAMJJASONDJ 2001 2002 JIM WITMERDAYT0N DAILY NEWS DWIGHT T. JOHNSON, (left) Ron Wine (center) and J.P. Nauseef have been named to key posts with the Miami Valley Economic Development Coalition. AP SOURCE: Conference Board By Martin Crutsinger Associated Prat WASHINGTON The recession is shaping up as one of the shortest and mildest on record.

In fact, it may already have ended, private economists said Thursday, based on various upbeat reports. The Conference Board reported that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators, a key gauge of future activity, shot up 0.6 percent in January, its fourth consecutive monthly increase. "The strong signal from the indicators is that the recession is ending and that the recovery could be more vigorous than earlier anticipated," said Ken Goldstein, a senior economist with the New York-based industry group that issues the index. While the leading index was flashing signals of a rebound, another report Thursday showed that that last year's slowdown may not have been as severe as first believed. The Commerce Department reported that the nation's trade deficit narrowed by 11.4 percent in December to $25.3 billion, its best showing since September.

This unexpectedly large improvement sent economists scurrying to upwardly revise their estimates for overall economic activity in the fourth quarter. Many said the gross domestic product may have risen by 1 percent in the October-December quarter, based on the stronger trade showing, instead of the originally reported 0.2 percent increase. Kevin Hassett an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the statistics will show that the recession actually ended in November. The National Bureau of Economic Research, the official arbiter of when recessions begin and end, has said the downturn began in March, Coalition revamps mission Economic development group focuses on technology, jobs related to Fright-Pat Challenges "We've got to do a better job of making sure the Dayton region embraces the opportunities in this emerging economy." "We need to increase the political clout of the Dayton region." The region can complement downtown's growth by attracting high value technology and manufacturing businesses to boost the economy. ending a record 10-year stretch of prosperity.

The bureau is not expected to issue a ruling on the end of the downturn for several more months. If current indications hold up and the third quarter, when the GDP fell at a 1.3 percent rate, is the only negative period, the drop in economic output during the recession will be a small 0.3 percent making this the mildest recession in U.S. history. That record has been held by the 1969-70 recession, which also ended a long expansion, when GDP fell by 0.6 percent The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose to 383,000 last week. The trade report showed that the deficit for the entire year shrank to $346.3 billion, the first improvement in six years, reflecting the recession's impact on Americans demand for foreign goods.

executives to head offices focused on entrepreneurial business development, and public policygovernment relations. The coalition operates with a $2 million annual budget and has membership that includes 130 Miami Valley companies and local governments in 10 area counties. The coalition also operates the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority, which helps finance industrial development and works with the Dayton Regional Development Alliance and its president, Steve Lake. Please see COALITION6E consultant who helped organize Dayton's i-Zone, a network of information technology groups, was named vice president for Aerospace, Defense and Technology. Wine said Nauseef primary focus will be retention and expansion of programs, contracts and jobs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Nauseef replaces Daniel J. Curtis, a vice president of public affairs, who joined KPMG Peak Marwick, a consulting firm at Wright-Patterson. Johnson succeeds Jeff Hank, vice president of business development who joined Brady Ware Schoenfeld an accounting firm, to form Brady Ware Capital a venture capital company. Wine said he plans to hire two more By Jim Bohman Dayton Daily News The Miami' Valley Economic Development Coalition on Thursday named two Dayton executives to key posts as the organization revamps its mission of retaining and adding jobs in the Dayton area. Dwight Johnson, 62, retired president of Scitex Digital Printing Inc.

of Kettering, was named vice president and director of the regional technology council, according to Ron Wine, coalition president Johnson will also be executive director of the Dayton Engineering and Science Foundation. J.P. Nauseef, 35, a Deloitte Touche 2News: Rhode Island company buying station Dayton outlet part of 6-station deal Ruling may reshape media industry H5- Kip Mi KMMI WWMie Briefcase BUSINESS NEWS AT A GLANCE Elder-Beerman sees loss of about $1 million MORAINE Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. said Thursday it will incur a loss of $900,000 to $1.3 million, or 8 cents to 11 cents a share, for fiscal 2001. The results include $4.5 million in pretax charges related to Shoebi-lee's default and subsequent bankruptcy and $3.2 million of expenses related to the retirement of former Chief Executive Frederick J.

Mer-shad. Excluding those charges, Elder-Beerman said it would have reported net income of $3.6 million to $4 million, or 33 cents to 36 cents per share. Elder-Beerman will release fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on March 21. ONLINE UPDATES Visit our online partner for stock quotes, Investing tools, career advice, job listings, local business news and Clark Howard. www.actlvtdiyton.com very well with LIN stations," said Deborah Jacobson, investor representative for LIN.

"We felt we could help them reduce expenses and improve coverage of local news. After taking over the management, it made sense to simplify structures and bring Sunrise stations in house." David LaFrance, Channel 2's vice president and general manager, had a meeting with station staffers Thursday afternoon to tell them of the company's bid to purchase the local ABC affiliate. "I think LIN's purchase of the station is going to be outstanding for Channel 2," LaFrance said. "It is a large company with successful TV stations in other markets." LIN owns 26 stations nationwide and manages four others. Company officials already had a meeting with Channel 2 employees after the management agreement was announced," La France said.

Please see STATION6E brought by a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner would allow cable operators to own broadcast networks, allowing huge combinations such as AOL and NBC or Comcast Corp. and Walt Disney Co. The court also ordered the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider a rule that forbids a single company from owning stations that collectively reach more than 35 percent of the national audience. The FCC was already leaning toward relaxing that rule, and the court's decision gives FCC chairman Michael Powell more power to make the change. Broascasting analysts said the ruling could accelerate talks among media companies looking to swap or sell TV stations since Viacom Inc.

and News which are both currently over the ownership cap, could resume buying stations if the limit is raised. By Seth Sutel Associated Press NEW YORK A court ruling throwing out rules on broadcast and cable TV ownership could trigger a new wave of colossal mergers that would reshape the top ranks of the media industry. While no one is saying whether any specific deals are about to take place, the point is: Now they can. And, as longtime media analyst Tom Wolzien of Sanford C. Bernstein Co.

said, "things have a tendency to happen once they're allowed." The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a decision handed down Tuesday, threw out long-standing rules that forbid one company from owning cable TV systems and a broadcast TV station in the same market. The ruling in the suit, which was By Bob Batz and Jason Roberson Dayton Daily News Last month, Rhode Island-based LIN Television Corp. announced an agreement to manage Dayton's WDTN-TV (Channel 2). Now LIN will buy Channel 2 and five other stations from Sunrise Broadcasting Inc.

The other stations involved in the deal are in Toledo, Abilene and San Angelo, Texas, Flint, and Providence, R.I. Terms call for all of Sunrise's outstanding shares to be converted into LIN shares, representing about 3.4 percent of the combined company. The transaction is expected to be completed by spring, pending regulatory approval. "Sunrise stations regionally fit Patient power One of America's most trusted physicians tells you how to get the information you need. In Parade.

CONTACT US Cuitomtr strvlco: 222-5700. Business tdltor, Jim Dillon: 225-731 1, jlmdilloncoxohio Buslntss department fax: 225-7330. Postal addrtss: 45 S. Ludlow Dayton, Ohio 45402..