Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1982-06-27

              STATE HISTORIC L GOCIEIT
liITT & E. OWHY 137. GSR'
' COLUMBIA, l&' s. 65 2'; I
74th Year - No. 242 Good Morning! It's Sunday; June 27. 1982 6 Sections - 70 Pages - 50 Cents
Columbia's iSltljs
Many have difficult times financially
By Diane Soiov
Missourian staff writer
The net worth- to- ass- et ratio of two of the
six savings and loan associations doing busi-ness
in Columbia sank, below 3 percent? in
1981 the Federal Home Loan Bank Board's
rule- of- thu- mb indication of minimum capital
adequacy.
Mid- Misso- uri Savings and Loan, whose Co-lumbia
branch is at 507 Business Loop 70,
dropped from a net worth- to- ass- et ratioof
3.01 to 2.08 percent in 1981 while losing
$ 533,237. Capital Savings and Loan Associa-tion,
with a branch at 501 E. Broadway, had
its net worth- to- ass- et ratio drop from 3.5- to- 2.- 28
percent. Capital lost $ 1,661,962 in 1981.
The six savings and loan associations with
offices in Columbia suffered losses of more
than $ 45.6 million in 1981, according to fig-ures
compiled by the Federal Home Loan
' Bank Board, the federal regulatory agency.
In that, the Columbia associations have
plenty of company. Nationally, persistently- hig- h
interest rates have squeezed savings
and loans, historically the nation's major
home lenders. The associations hold many
longterm mortgages at low interest ratesr At
the same time, they are paying dramatically
higher interest rates to savers.
The net worth- to- ass- et ratio is an indica-tion
of a company's reserve position the
accumulation of retained earnings. It ' de-termined
by combining the assets of all com-pany
branches and dividing it into the net
worth the amount of money that the com-pany
is actually worth once its liabilites " have
been deducted. ( The figures used in thus sto-ry
are for the combined operations of the as-sociations,
not just the Columbia branches. )
All Columbia's savings and loan
associations are members of the
Federal Savings and Loan
Insurance Corp., which insures
all amounts up to $ 100,000.
Persons with more than
$ 100,000 in deposit can put
them in separate accounts.
Last year, because so many associations'
net worth- to- asse- t ratio continued to drop,
the Federal Home Loan Bank Board lowered
the danger level from 4 percent to the pre-sent
3 ' percent. Although this ratio it is only
one factor considered by the FHLBB in spot-ting
troubled S& Ls, it is a figure that is care-fully
monitored by the regulatory agency.
The average net worth- to- ass- et ratio of Co-lumbia's
six S& Ls was 3.6 percent in 1981,
down from an average of 4.67 percent the
previous year.
According to Don Wende of the FHLBB re-gional
office in Des Moines, Iowa, the aver-age
net worth- to- ass- et ratio of all of Mis-souri's
savings and loan associations was 3.7
percent in 1981. The average ratio for the
five- sta- te region of Missouri, Minnesota,
Iowa and the Dakotas was 4.1 percent in
1981.
The FSLIC sometimes forces ailing institu-tions
to merge with healthy ones to avoid liq-uidation
when the depletion of a company's
reserves appears imminent. Nationwide,
there were 139 mergers in 1980 and 294 in
1981, about one- quart- er of which were forced
by the FSLIC. Marriages are forced when a
company's net worth drops to zero; for-merly,
it was done when the net worth- to- ass- et
ratio hit 1 percent.
While none of the Columbia associations
are at this level, some will be approaching
zero net . worth if the rate of loss recorded
during the last six months of 1981 continues.
According to Walter Johnson, a University
economics professor, the losses for the sec-ond
half of 1981 should be used because " if
one wishes to calculate the rate at which
capital is being eroded, one should take, ob-viously,
the most recent financial statements
and convert the loss rate to an annual rate."
Most are watching current economic con-ditions
closely. Bill Witting, Mid- Missou- ri
Savings and Loan executive vice president,
is concerned about the low reserves, but he
said Mid- Misso- uri has strengths it can count
on.
" We hang our hat on current income,"
Witting said. " Our income posture is proba-bly
one of the best in the state. We intend to
survive these conditions." Witting said he
was not worried about a forced merger.
But if Mid- Misso- uri continues to lose at the
same rate as the last half of 1981, it would
have zero net worth in 23 months.
Although Witting acknowledgf- r- . Mid- Mis- sou- ri's
losses, he optimistically pointed to
the company's $ 38,800 profit for the first five
months of 1982.
Capital Savings and Loan Association, lo- -
S& L finances in brief
Assets ( in millions)
Association 1977 i 1978 1979 1980 1961
Boone National i5! i ' 314 3ti 32S 323
Community Federal 1.287.9 1.500.7 1.775.5 2.194.6 2 552 8
Farm & Home 1.679.1 1.942.1 2.137.2 2.258.4 2.296.7
Mid- Missou- ri 46.4 5Z6 57i 591 glT
St. Louis Federal 194.2 221.5 237.4 249 0 257 6
Capital 117.4 144.0 154.8 162.7 163 1
Net worth ( in millions)
1977 1978 1979 1980 198T
Boone National 2.2 2.4 2.6 2 4 2 1 Community Federal 80.0 9l! 9 104.8 108 0 031
Farm & Home 761 905 " 106.3 109.1 85 i
Mid- Missou- ri T3 TE ill Tli
St. Louis Federal 8.7 10.3 12.3 116 9 i
Capital j3JB 4 5 5A 37
BCooomnmeuCNniiatytioFneadl eral Net w1679o.. Z23rZ13thasset ra! 673t. i. Z71o02() 1859.. 719910 1479.982025 161986" 1 77
Farm & Home 4.53 4.66 4.97 4 83 3 70
Mid- Missou- ri 281 2.94 3.19 301 203
St. Louis Federal 4.49 4.66 5.18 4 67 352
Capital 325 325 344 331 2 28
" Net income" ( earnings)
1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
Boone National 194,551 213.982 214.511 -- 202.895 -- 322 313
Community Federal 9,584.920 13.152.590 12.940.507 -- 4.398.508 -- 16 579 830
Farm & Home 11,583,286 14,415.120 15.799.863 2.824.413 -- 24.037701
Mid- Missou- ri 352.259 243.569 334.341 -- 16.719 .533 237
St. Louis Federal 1,509.390 1.616.207 2.191.842 -- 690 425 -- 2 540 955
Capital 648.554 864.807 638.685 60.623 -- 1 661 '. 962
1 1
cated at 501 E. Broadway, also has been ex-periencing
some hard times lately.
Although combined assets for Capital rose
almost $ 1 million from 1980 to more than $ 163
million in December, 1981, its net worth
dropped from $ 5.4 million in 1980 to $ 3.7 mil-lion
in December, 1981. If Capital continues
at its rate of loss of the second half of last
year, it will reach zero net worth in 19
months.
" We're at the bottom of the mountain, and
i
we're on the way up." said A. Ross Smith,
manager of Capital's Columbia branch.
St. Louis Federal Savings and Ixjan. 901 E.
Broadway, with 1981 assets of more than
$ 257.6 million and losses totaling $ 2,540,955.
witnessed a decline in its net worth- to- ass- et
ratio from 4.67 percent in 1980 to 3.52 percent
in 1981.
St. Louis Federal will reach a zero net
( See FARM, P. 8A)
Travis Mutrux, 6, shares trie thrill of victory with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ross Charles Mutrux.
Day of erawlers and lioppers
Kids cheer turtles and frogs on in olympiad
ByTedSiegel
Missourian staff writer
Insurance is not considered an exciting field,
but for four hours Saturday the east parking lot
of Shelter Insurance Cos. literally was jumping.
The lot was the site of the " First" Annual Tur-tle
and Frog Races, co- sponso- red by Shelter and
the Howard Family Institute. About 130 en-trants
ranging in age from 2 toover 21
brought their leapers and crawlers in hopes of
securing a trophy and a day in the limelight.
Don Howard of the non- pro- fit institute said,
" This is going to be a yearly event. And we in-vited
frogs and turtles from every other county
in the state. . . . the big hoppers and the big
movers to come to the big C, Columbia."
Sir Spot, a turtle entered by Melissa- Weibl- e, 4,
was rescued from the fast lane of the highway to
compete. Sir Spot was a late replacement for a
Lander's Turtle that Melissa's mother, Sandy
Weible, of Ashland, had returned to the wild af-ter
discovering it is an endangered species.
" This is really Sir Spot n," she said.
Eight- year- o- ld Michael Curtis and his mother,
Susan, had a little trouble getting his turtle,
Lightning, to the races. " We almost lost him to-day,"
he said. " One minute he was sitting right
next to us, and the next minute he was in the
flower garden."
One of the few ' veterans of the turtle racing
circuit in attendance was 10- year--
old Amanda
Krause. Amanda, the daughter of Bill and
Winfred Krause, ' 107 Edgewood Ave., entered
both a turtle, Racer, and a frog, Small. Racer
had a win at a library contest under his belt and
was used to the pre- rac- e commotion. Amanda's
training strategy: " I just let ' em play around."
Frogs and turtles traveled to the races ; n con-tainers
ranging from boxes and bags to large
coolers. Jacob Hunter, 5, brought his frog, Su-sie,
in a wire trap big enough to hold her. A
large, muscular frog, Susie faced a particularly
difficult challenge: She has only three legs. But
Jacob was not toe concerned by her handicap.
" He jumps," said Jacob, . who attended the
event with his mother, Pam Hunter, 3405 Bonny
Linn Drive;
Kermit was not in attendance Saturday, but
the'moppets who participated certainly had lots
of fun. They brought to the races about 100 tur--,
ties and 20 frogs, which competed fiercely for
treasured ribbons and trophies.
In the turtle division, Denise, trained by 6- yea-r-
old
Travis Mutrux, walked away with first
place. Travis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ross C. Mu-trux,
56 Rustic Meadows, said he knew that
Denise would win " because my turtle was so
fast."
Top honors in the frog category went to Hyaku
Japanese for " hurry up" and his owner,
Daniel Lipscombs, IVz. Hyaku's triple- jum- p to-tal
of six feet ( 1.8 meters) easily outdistanced
other frogs. Daniel's father, Skip, had flown his
family up from Douglass County for the races,
after catching Hyaku at 3 a. m. Saturday.
The event's sponsors learned too late that bull
frog and green frog hunting season does not
start until Wednesday night. But fears that use
of illegal frogs would cast a shadow over the
races were abated when Daryl E. Billings, state
department of conservation agent, announced
that agents would not collect any frogs until af-ter
the races. Billings said the contraband frogs
would be taken to Rocky Forks Lake wildlife
area, where they can continue their breeding.
" The kids, we're not going to worry about
them," Billings said.
Next year's races will be held after the season
begins.
Proceeds from the sale of refreshments, T- shi- rts
and frog and turtle ceramics are slated to
fund community education programs run by the
institute. These include alcohol and drug abuse
programs and family counseling.
All in all, the amphibian olympiad was
marred by one mishap: An over- enthusias- tic
contestant stomped on his frog.
Milling around
In the tiny town of Owensville a mill
was built in 1893 that grew to be the
center of the town's activities. Today,
the building is still being usecLJjut for
an altogether different purposed Read
the cover story about this scenic town
and its mill in today's Vibrations.
Inside today In town today
2 p. m. The musical " South Pacific" is being
performed by the Columbia Entertainment
Company at Rock Bridge High School.
3 p. m. Missouri Honors Choir will give a free
concert in Jesse Hall at the University.
7 p. m. The Dixieland Five will give a free con-cert
in Shelter Gardens at 1817 W. Broadway.
. 7: 30 p. m. Shakespeare's " A Midsummer
Night's Dream" will be performed at the Maple- woo- d
Barn Community Theater in Nif ong Park.
Index
Business 5- 7- C
Classified . MB
Opinion 4C
People . . ... 1- 3- C
Sports 1-- 3B
Economic woes
Three weeks after the apparent peace
of the Versailles economic summit, re-lations
between the United States and
Western Europe are at their lowest
point in a decade. European heads of
state meet Monday to discuss the prob-lems.
Read the analysis on Page6B.
State panel probes
poor limo service
at Regional Airport
By Paul Shannon
Missourian staff writer
A battle in airport limo service is
being fought at Columbia Regional
Airport.
Columbia Cab Co., owned by Cliff
and Marie Shull, became the sole
provider of limousine service at the
airport after a competitor was
forced out of business in early 1981.
The competitor, Jim Lam, withdrew
after squabbles with the Shulls that
included fights in the terminal and
police swooping down on drivers and
a limousine being run off a road.
Now others would like to force the
Shulls out of business. The Public
Service Commission, a state govern-ment
watchdog agency on compa-nies
providing public transportation,
is investigating the Shulls.
" There is a fight brewing, because
Shull will protest when they file a de-cision,"
says Jay Johnson, public in-formation
officer foi the commis-sion.
No timetable has been set for
PSC action.
Columbia Cab now is using as its
limo a brown, late model Ford Coun-try
Squire station wagon with bald
tires, washed- ou- t paneling and a bro-ken
front grill. Driver Paul Shull, 19- year--
old
son of the company owners,
says his parents normally provide
service with a van but, because of
slower business in the summer, they
use the wagon.
Airport Manager A. O. " Pete"
Cappadony calls the wagon an " eye-sore
that looks like it is waiting for a
tow."
Paul says he did not know about
the commission's investigation until
he was told by a Missourian reporter
last week. Johnson counters that the
Shulls know they are under investi-gation.
Paul also was told the statements
made on the limo service and of the
efforts to force Columbia Cab out of
the airport. Shull was told of the re-peated
efforts to contact his parents
and was asked to have them contact
the Missourian to tell their side of
the story.
The elder Shulls did not respond.
Nor have they returned any tele-phone
calls.
The Public Service Commission
has a thick file of informal com-plaints
about Columbia Cab, accord-ing
to Johnson.
One complainant, Kenneth E.
Gamble, 1103 Victoria Ave., says
that he had one of the wildest rides
( See COMPLAINTS, P. 8A)
Rape law reform :
What are the effects?
By Bill Kates Jr.
Missourian staff writer
JEFFERSON CITY In 1980, the
Missouri legislature passed a rape
law designed to get more rape con-victions
and longer sentences for
convicted rapists.
But nearly two years later, law en-forcement
and prison officials are
not sure what effect, if any, the re-forms
have had.
Are first time and repeat rapists
being sentenced to longer prison
terms? Are fewer persons charged
with rape being allowed to plead
guilty to lesser charges? Has there
been an increase in the percentage of
successful rape prosecutions?
All these questions remain un-answered.
The Corrections Division,
Attorney General's office, Board of
Probation and State Courts Adminis- -
Insight
tration office all say they are unable
to obtain the statistical information
needed to answer such questions.
The public information officer for
the Division of Corrections, Don Sch- roeg- er,
said 253 inmates were com-mitted
for sexual offenses in 1981.
About 90 percent of those were rape
offenses. That figure is nearly dou-ble
the 132 inmates committed in
1979. These figures suggest an in-crease
in convictions, Schroeger
said, but are hardly conclusive
alone.
Although lacking hard informa-tion,
prosecutors said they believe
the criminal justice system has got--
( See MOSELEY, P. 8A)