Iwamura got off to a solid start hitting

This donation to INEN, which is the largest public cancer hospital inPeru, consists of life-saving medicines valued at over $500,000. Ambassador McKinley stated, "The event we are celebrating today is veryimportant for several reasons.First, because this donation is the light ofhope for many cancer patients in Peru who, due to the large quantity ofmedicines being donated today, will have access to life-saving treatment.Inaddition, this event is very special because it underscores the importance ofpublic-private partnerships and the concrete gains that can be achieved withthese partnerships to meet the critical health care needs of our citizens."Eduardo Nieto, President, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Latin America, commented,"Wyeth is dedicated to aiding patients in need, and we are honored to bepartnering with NCC in this initiative to provide oncology medicines tounderserved patients in Peru.""National Cancer Coalition is pleased that this new program with WyethPharmaceuticals will lead to greater oncology resources for patients in thedeveloping world.Through this donation, it is anticipated that over 100Peruvian leukemia patients will be helped at INEN this year.NCC looksforward to expanding our medicine donation initiatives with Wyeth, as wejointly seek to help patients who would otherwise lack access to theirrequired specialty medicines," stated Robert B. Landry, President of NCC.Inthe last five years, NCC has provided over $9 million worth of donated cancermedicines to INEN hospitals.National Cancer Coalition, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, supportscancer relief, research and educational programs throughout the world.TheCoalition's international medical assistance program, termed NCC Cares,provides requested pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and hospital suppliesto public hospitals and local humanitarian organizations that help needypatients in over 40 developing countries around the world. For additional information, please contact National Cancer Coalition at:919-821-2182 or visit our website at http:// Cancer CoalitionNational Cancer Coalition, 1-919-821-2182. However, for much of the day, it looked like the Twins might have achieved an offseason before the season even officially ended.Iwamura got off to a solid start, hitting .310/.377/.406 before tearing his ACL in May. One might think that such a line might earn him a shot at producing that well over a whole season, and had the Rays infield not performed so well without him, it might have.Even missing as much time as he did, Iwamura was the Rays' sixth most productive offensive player, and he can play multiple infield positions, so how did he find himself as the Rays mostexpendable pieceThe simple answer is that of the five players above him in terms of VORP, three (Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, and Ben Zobrist) play the positions that Iwamura could play, and of those, Iwamura was the most expensive.Did the Twins really miss the boat hereIwamura was certainly a player on my radar as one who could be a decent investment for the Twins if they decided to improve second base. However, his greatest asset was his comparatively lower price.A league average defender by both UZR and FRAA, Iwamura was worth about two wins over the course of each of his first two full seasons.

By comparison, Carlos Gomez was worth about two wins, though that was due almost exclusively to his being a superlative defender. Michael Cuddyer was worth a bit more, around 2.5 wins, but is also in the neighborhood.Iwamura would have been a decent player to acquire, but I don't see him being a big difference maker for this team Even the price may not have been as good asadvertised. Sure, a midlevel reliever isn't much to give up in a trade, but Iwamura will make $4.25 next season, slightly more than Jason Kubel or Nick Punto will make. Rather than give up someone like Jose Mijares (likely who the Rays would have asked for) and then pay a reasonably large salary, the Twins are better off doing one or the other.There are impact players available via trade and a fair number of midlevel talents that will be free agents, many of whom will be worth as much to the Twins as Iwamura would have been.While missing out on Akinori Iwamura might be disappointing, it's far from a killer miss for the Twins All that matters now is whom they actually acquire.. CHAPEL HILL, N.C.(Business Wire)On January 25th the Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) will be welcomingits third class of Log21 participants.

Log21: Logistics for the 21st Century isa week-long executive education program designed for 30 early-career, highpotential logisticians from the defense industry, the military, and theDepartment of Defense (DoD). To date, registrants represent the following organizations: Agility Defense &Government Services, Inc.; BAE Systems, Inc.; The Boeing Company; LockheedMartin Corporation; Robbins-Gioia, LLC; Defense Logistics Agency; U.S AirForce; U.S Army; U.S Coast Guard; U.S Marine Corps, and the U.S Navy.Limited space is still available. The applied curriculum covers topicssuch as technology insertion, life cycle design, public/private partnerships,performance based logistics (PBL), and contract negotiations. During the weekparticipants will have the opportunity to learn from the following speakers: DoD Mr. Keith Seaman, Deputy Defense Business Systems Acquisition Executive,Business Transformation Agency (BTA) MG Vincent Boles, Deputy G-4, U.S Army (USA) Mr. George Topic, Deputy Director for Strategic Logistics, J-4 LTG Chris Christianson, USA (Ret), former Director for Logistics, J-4 andcurrent IDB Executive FellowAcademic Dr. Wendell Gilland, Associate Professor of Operations, Technology andInnovation Management (OTIM), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills(UNCs) Kenan Flagler Business School Dr.