Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1979-03-21

              STATS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
HITT & LQKRY aT. GERV
COLUMBIA t MQ, 6520I
7 1 st Year No. 161 GihmI Marniitul It's II rtlmsriaw March 2 1. 1 979 4 Section 38 Pu& o 1 5 ( nt
10- year--
old Lisa Bewick watches the show -- ""
Public greets spring
at MFA celebration
By Cathy Standing
Mlssoorian staff writer
An uninformed driver traveling
down West Broadway Tuesday night
might have wondered if last week-end's
circus really had left town.
Clowns and laughing people, most
holding colorful balloons, spent the
warm evening milling around the
lawn of the MFA Insurance Cos. build-ing
at 1817 W. Broadway.
Columbians young and old alike
were celebrating the ' official"
arrival of spring, which MFA marked
by turning on its fountain for the first
time this year.
Perhaps even more interesting than
the fountain, however, were the
people and preparations behind the
annual event.
The clowns were made- u- p MFA
employees who had volunteered or
had been drafted to pass out about
6,000 balloons and as many packages
of flower seeds to spectators.
Other MFA employees inside the
building quickly finished filling
balloons with helium as the Hickman
, -
High School band began to play
outside. One whole hallway in what
normally is a businesslike office was
transformed into a long balloon- and- stringmaz- e.
As guests milled around the lawn,
children played with balloons and the
anticipation mounted. One MFA
employee, Jim Huckabay, sat alone in
the MFA basement fan room,
patiently awaiting his signal to turn
on the fountain to provide the
evening's featured entertainment.
Hundreds of people come each year
to welcome spring by watching the
colorful waters rise for the first time.
This year the event was as popular as
ever. After everyone waited a short
time, Gene Madden, the man in
charge of the evening, gave Huckabay
the signal from outside. The waters
rose a second later, exactly as
planned, spotlighted in blue and
orange.
A loud cheer from the crowd ex-pressed
unanimous appreciation,
signaling that spring had come once
again.
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MFA custodian E. W. Buckner prepares balloons 1
Rain, snow mark spring's arrival
United Press International
A snowstorm the last hurrah of one
of the worst winters in history swept
across the Southwest Tuesday and rain
and warm weather bolstered the threat
of major spring flooding in the nation's
midsection.
Spring arrived late Tuesday in most
of the country, but folks in the Eastern
time zone had to wait until Wednesday.
The National Weather Service
reported the vernal equinox marking
the official beginning of spring oc-curred
at 11 : 22 p. m. CST Wednesday.
Rain spread over the lower elevations
of the Southwest. Rain also fell in the
South and across much of the Midwest.
Flash flood watches and warnings were
posted for South Texas.
Persistent rains fed already glutted
rivers and streams across the nation's
midsection, where runoff from the
winter's record snows and spring rains
is expected to trigger some of the worst
flooding on record.
Flood warnings remained in the Rock
River Basin of Illinois as the Rock,
Pecatonica and Kishwaukee rivers
continued to rise. Some roads were
closed but no major flood damage was
reported.
The Fox River pushed over its banks
in Illinois' Kane and McHenry counties,
causing minor flooding in low- lyi- ng
areas. A flood warning covered the
entire length of the Fox River in
Illinois.
Fog covered much of northern Illinois
where a farmer discovered wreckage of
a small plane that crashed near
DeKalb, killing six men. Authorities
said the accident may have occurred as
early as 1 a. m. Monday and gone unde-tected
because of dense fog that
blanketed the area since the weekend.
A winter storm brewing in the South-west
spread snow over higher
elevations of New Mexico, Arizona,
Utah, Nevada and Southern California.
Monticello, Utah, reported up to 10
inches ( 25 centimeters) of new snow.
Interstate 70 was snowpacked and
dangerous in the Fremont, Utah. area.
Roads in the Flagstaff, Ariz., area also
were packed with snow.
Winter storm warnings were in effect
for the mountains of Arizona and heavy
snow warnings were issued for the
mountains of New Mexico and
Colorado.
Wind- whippe- d snow pushed over
North Dakota and parts of South
Dakota, making travel hazardous.
U. S.- Saii- di ties strained
By YouseffM. Ibrahim
New York Times
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia The United
States' relationship with Saudi Arabia,
once a model of understanding and co-ordination,
has grown clouded with
question marks and, from the Saudi
perspective at least, many unpleasant
surprises.
" We have been observing the United
States' actions over the past year and at
every turn of events asking ourselves,
' Why are they doing this? " said a
Saudi deputy minister who is a senior
spokesman for the government here.
" People out there are beginning to
wonder if the Americans know what
they are doing."
Insight
The questions, he said, were many.
" Why is the United States stepping
from one fiasco to another? In Ethiopia,
in Somalia, in Afghanistan, the United
States left the field to the Russians
without as much as an attempt to stop
them. We persuaded the Somalis to kick
the Russians out, and we were stunned
when the United States refused to give
mem weapons with which they could
resist a Soviet- inspire- d aggression
from Ethiopia."
Then, he said, the United States failed
to anticipate what happened in Iran or
to give advice to the shah until it was
too late to rescue the situation. " Now
the United States is doing it again," he
said. " It is pushing a Middle East peace
agreement that is bound to fail. When
this happens and we have told the
Americans that it will happen it will
only add to the unrest in this region and
further damage America's real in-terests."
He said Saudi Arabia was only
" mildly impressed" with the United
States' action in supporting Yemen
against its Marxist neighbor, Southern
Yemen, adding that " it took a long time
to get some movement there and a lot of
prodding."
Saudi officials who are critical of the
( See SAUDIS, Page 16A)
. -
Ira town
today
4 pan. State auditor James An-tonio
speaks, University
Memorial Union auditorium.
7: 36 p. m. " TV Dinner
Theatre," University Studio
Theater.
8: 15 pan. Esterhazy Quartet
performs with pianist Santiago
Rodriguez, University Fine Arts
Recital Hall.
Movie listings on Page ISA
Index
Classified 1M2A
CooksTV 9B
Ojphriao
People MB
I Becaed MA
Sports " A
Huge profits
of firms irk
White House
WASHINGTON ( UPI) - Profits
earned by U. S. business firms during
the first three months of President
Carter's anti- inflati- on drive surged by
26.4 percent over the same period a
year earlier, the government reported
Tuesday.
The jump for the final quarter of 1978
was the biggest for a comparable
period in nearly three decades and
drew sharp White House criticism of
the business world.
Hamilton Jordan, the president's top
domestic adviser, said the administra-tion
would " take steps to deal with
this." He did not give details.
" We think profits are unnecessarily
high," Jordan told a National Press
Club audience. " It makes it very dif-ficult
to go to labor unions and ask them
to abide by our 7 percent guideline
when profits are that high."
Alfred Kahn. the administration's
chief inflation monitor, said the large
profits boost " puts business on trial in
the eyes of the American people" and
" underscores the importance of our
intensified price monitoring activity."
" The very large increase in profits
. . . will strengthen the widespread
belief that many American businesses
aren't assuming their full responsibility
to fight inflation," said Kahn.
This was promptly disputed by the
U. S. Chamber of Commerce, the busi-ness
lobby. " The profits data cannot be
used as a scapegoat for bad govern-ment
policies that are causing in-flation,"
said Jack Carlson, the
chamber's chief economist
AFL- CI- O president George Meany
was expected to comment today on the
booming profits.
Even before the Commerce Depart-ment
released the figures, Kahn used
the word " catastrophe" to describe the
profits situation.
While these higher earnings could
benefit the economy as a whole, the
report came at a particularly touchy
time for the administration, which is
hammering away at unions to abide by
its voluntary 7 percent wage guideline.
" After labor takes one look at these
figures, we may be in big trouble." said
one administration official. " We've got
our fingers crossed."
Unions argue it would be unfair for
their members to accept lower wage
settlements while inflation is raging at
double- dig- it levels, and the new profits
report surely will stiffen their position
even more.
The Commerce Department said tax
profits earned by U. S. business firms
during the October- Decemb- er period of
1978 were at an annual rate of $ 225.3
billion 26.4 percent above the same
period a year before.
Even more signficantly. this surge
came just as Carter's voluntary wage- pric- e
guidelines were put in place.
The percentage increase was the
largest for a fourth- quart- er period
since 1950, when profits skyrocketed by
84 percent, the Commerce Department
said.
The new report also contained these
other fourth- quart- er developments:
The overall economy grew at an
annual rate of 6.9 percent, after ad-justment
for inflation considerably
stronger than previously believed.
v Inflation accelerated at an 8.2
percent annual rate during the fourth
quarter, up slightly from the 8.1 percent
initially reported.
The Commerce Department said that
in addition to the year- to- ye- ar com-parison,
corporate profits earned
during the fourth quarter were 9.7
percent higher than in the previous
three months a compounded annual
rate of 44.8 percent.
Kahn. chairman of the Council on
Wage and Price Stability, could barely
control his anger during a recent
speech in Chicago discussing corporate
profits.
" At a time when the president has
called on all of us to show restraint and
we are asking labor to settle for what
looks at the moment like a decline in
real income," he said, " reports of
record- hig- h corporate profits are
almost as much of a catastrophe" as
the recent sharp surges in wholesale
and consumer prices.
Those profits, coupled with higher
prices, he said, have many people
convinced " the business community
has not been doing its share in the anti- inflati- on
fight . . . and may not care."
The administration has received re-ports
that the Teamsters union is
seeking wage increases of 13 to 15
percent over the first year of a new
contract with the trucking industry and
33 to 35 percent over three years.
Kahn has warned the government
may move rapidly to deregulate the
trucking industry if the Teamsters win
such a large contract.
House gives M. U. $ 152 million
including 6A salary increase
State capital bureau
JEFFERSON CITY With summary speed, the House
tentatively approved Tuesday a $ 152 million operating
budget for the University of Missouri campuses, including
a 6.5 percent pay raise for faculty and staff.
The University budget was part of an appropriations
package that included the entire Department of Higher
Education budget.
After 30 minutes of discussion, the House passed the
budget, which represents a $ 14 million increase over last
year, on a voice vote. The figure is a compromise between
the $ 155 million requested by the University and the $ 147.6
million recommended by Gov. Joseph Teasdale.
The House is expected to give final approval to the
budget Thursday.
During discussion of the bill. Rep. Thomas Zych. D- S- t.
Louis, asked House Appropriations Chairman Wayne
Goode. D- Norma-ndy,
if the committee had considered the
issue of University football ticket prices in making its
decision.
But Goode said the committee had not discussed the
tickets. " That's a separate issue," he said.
The only other discussion came when Rep. Paul Page, R- Leba- non,
proposed a $ 700,000 cut in the recommended ap-propriation
of $ 2.4 million to Harris- Stow- e College in St.
Louis.
The proposal was defeated 70 to 81.
Downtown board promises political voice
By Mark Pawlosky
Missoarian staff writer
At its first meeting Tuesday night,
the board, of directors of the newly
created special downtown tax district
indicated it will voice strong opinions in
political issues involving the downtown
area.
The members, who were sworn in by
Columbia Mayor Les Proctor,
generally favored proposals that would
strengthen , the downtown area eco-nomically
as well as physically.
" We are a special- intere- st group
representing a special area in
Columbia,' said Mark Landrum,
president of First National Bank and
Trust Co. and newly elected chairman
of the committee.
" And I wonder if we shouldn't act like
a special- intere- st group where political
positions are concerned?" be asked five
of the eigM board members present. "
Landrum, with support from the
board, favored letting the candidates
for the City Council election know
where the board stands on downtown
issues, and, if possible, influence the
candidates' stands on the issues.
" I tMnk one detrimental thing is if we
take a position not in favor of the
council. After the election, they may
say the hell with you guys and wipe us
out," Landrum said.
Proctor was at the meeting to give
the board members a brief description
of their duties. Along with Landrum,
the board is made up of several well- know- n
Columbians.
Dave Bear in, a local attorney,
created public clamor last year when
he tore down the canopy in front of the
buildings he owns along Broadway at
Eighth Street.
Larry Hamman, owner of Rainbows,
a specialty shop on Ninth Street, has
been vocal about the problems that face
downtown, and he believes that if some-thing
isn't done to improve the down-town
area, businesses as well as resi-dents
will suffer.
" I think the forming of the special tax
district is very important to Columbia.
Columbia is at a make or break point,
and if steps aren't taken to help it, the
area could be seriously hurt," Hamman
said.
Other members on the board are
Warren Dalton, a retired downtown
merchant; David Rogers, attorney;
Lee Ann Duncan, owner of the Bird
Cage Gift Shop; Sidney Neate, retired
merchant; Red Weir, owner of the Red
Weir Athletic Supplies, and Jose Lind-ner.
In addition to electing Landrum
chairman, the board also selected
Rogers as vice chairman and Lindner
as secretary.
In forming the board's policy, Lan-drum
and Dalton wanted to make sure
that projects proposed are well thought
out. Dalton said the mistakes made in
constructing the downtown loop should
not be repeated.
" I think we have to re- educ- ate the
public and tell them that we want them
shopping back in downtown. We lost 20
percent of the downtown traffic when
the loop was put up. We need a
marketing plan and good publicity,"
Dalton said.
Landrum, who supported the loop
because he thought it meant the preser-vation
of downtown, disagreed with
Dalton's approach to the problem.
" Parking, not selling, is the main
purpose of this committee," he said.
Landrum said the best way to ap-proach
and solve the problems con-fronting
the board, is to have on- goi- ng
communication with the board's
constituents, who he identified as down-town
residents and merchants.
" I think we have an obligation to be
forthright and open to solutions and
opinions of our constituents. I hope to
have quite a bit of constituent input,"
he said.
Monday night, the City Council
directed the board to report on down-town
parking needs within 60 days. The
district gets its money from charging a
property tax on downtown businesses.
It also may levy additional property
and business license taxes to fund
downtown improvements.
The board also approved holding its
meetings the second Tuesday of each
month at 7. p. m. at the Coanty- Cit- y
Building. The board will bold a special
meeting at 7 p. m. Tuesday in the
County- Cit- y Building.
Weir, Hamman and Neate were
absent from the first meeting.