Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1984-06-07

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76th Year No. 223 Good Morning! It's Thursday, June 7, 1984 2 Sections 14 Pages 25 Cents
3 issues
on ballot
in August
Lottery vote
in November
JEFFERSON CITY ( UPI) Gov.
Christopher Bond Wednesday placed
three proposed state constitutional
amendments on the ballot for the
Aug 7 primary election in order to
avoid controversy surrounding other
issues on the November ballot
In doing so, the governor gained
political advantage aimed at win-ning
voters' approval of Amend-ments
2, 4 and 6, which involve eco-nomic
development Avoided was
the public controversy over ballot is-sues
that is expected to occur in No-vember
with the lottery proposal
and a citizens' initiative petition to
enact a state law banning the use of
nuclear power plants in Missouri.
Proposed amendments that will be
voted on in August are :
Amendment No. 2 to establish a
one- tent- h cent state sales tax to pro-mote
soil and water conservation
projects and to support state parks.
Amendment No 4 to allow Kan-sas
City to issue bonds for municipal
improvements within special devel-opment
districts.
Amendment No. 6 to create a
Missouri Department of Economic
Development The amendment was
part of Bond's legislative package
this year.
" A new cabinet- leve- l department
will strengthen the state's efforts to
encourage new and expanding indus-try
in Missouri and create jobs for
our people," Bond said in a news re-lease
issued by his office.
" This department is vital to our
ability to compete with other states
to attract industry."
Under Missouri law, state consti-tutional
amendments are automat-ically
placed on the November gen-eral
election ballot unless the
governor schedules a special elec-tion.
To place Amendments 2, 4 and 6
on the primary ballot, Bond sched-uled
a special election to be held at
the same time as the Aug. 7 primary
election.
" By placing three of the ballot is-sues
in August and leaving the other
three in November, more focus can
be placed on the pros and cons of
each issue," Bond said.
Proposed constitutional amend-ments
that will be voted on at the
Nov. 6 general election are :
Amendment No. 1 allowing lo-cal
governments to grant cost of liv-ing
increases to all beneficiaries of
their retirement systems.
k Amendment No. 3 allowing the
General Assembly to authorize the
state, counties, cities and other polit-ical
subdivisions to provide health
insurance benefits for officers, em-ployees
and their departments.
Amendment No. 5 authorizing
the operation of a state lottery.
Additional controversy could re-sult
from two other proposals that
might appear on the November bal-lot.
An initiative petition currently is
being circulated to gather the signa-tures
needed to require a statewide
vote in November to legalize pan- mutu- el
betting on horse racing. If
the petition drive is successful, the
proposition would be on the same
ballot with the lottery, thus requir-ing
voters to decide two disputed is-sues
involving legalized gambling.
Another initiative petition drive is
under way to put on the November
election ballot a proposal requiring
the Missouri Public Service Com-mission
to phase in electric rate in-creases.
The proposal also would
stipulate that ratepayers would not
have to pay for a nuclear plant until
the federal government has ap-proved
a method to permanently dis-pose
of high- lev- el radioactive nucle-ar
waste
The deadline for submitting the
two inuative petitions is July 6.
Bill Kennedy puts a piece of telephone pole into the CAT scanner. sh. o. v. nu
Scanning quality of trees, poles
pioneered by 2 UMC engineers
By Ernie Gutierrez
Mlssourian staff writer
Someday soon, foresters and utili-ty
company repair crews might be
able to use a portable CAT ( compu-terized
axial tomographic) scanner
to examine the msides of trees and
utility poles.
At least that is the dream of two
University researchers. One year af-ter
receiving a CAT scanner as a gift
from University Hospital, BUI Mill-er,
associate professor of nuclear en-gineering,
and Bill Kennedy, assist-ant
professor of nuclear engineering
and radiology, are ready to take
their show on the road, so to speak.
They are seeking funds to build a
prototype of a portable scanner they
believe could determine the condi-tion
of wooden utility poles or the
health and quality of trees.
A CAT scanner consists of a radia-tion
source, a set of detectors and a
computer that controls the operation
of the machine and processes its Sig-nals.
The photons radiant energy
such as X- ra- ys pass from the ra-diation
source through the object
into the detectors. Depending on the
density of the object being exam-ined,
more or fewer photons pass
through the material and are de-tected,
giving a computerized image
of the object
Some of the objects studied by
Miller and Kennedy are wooden util
ity poles The utility industry has es-timated
that 2 million utility poles a
year require replacement at an av-erage
cost of $ 500 a pole. The meth-ods
used to determine the soundness
of a wooden pole range from tapping
the pole with a hammer and listen-ing
to the resulting sound, to shoot-ing
a steel pin into the pole, to using
ultrasound devices.
Miller and Kennedy said that by
using a fixed gamma- ra- y source, a
detector and a microprocessor, a
complete scan can be made in the
field in a relatively short time and
with accuracy.
" The bulk of the hardware con-nected
with a CAT scanner is used to
generate the X- ray- s necessary to
penetrate the material being stud-ied,"
Miller said. " In a portable
unit, all that hardware would be re-placed
by the radioactive source. "
Because the need for accuracy in
testing a utility pole is not as critical
as when testing a human brain, Mil-ler
said the researchers have an ad-vantage.
" We can get by with less resolu-tion
and that means that we can use
less radiation and lighter compo-nents,"
he said.
The possible uses of such non- destructi- ve
tests are almost unlimited,
according to Kennnedy. " We foresee
the use of a portable unit to deter-mine
the health or quality of stand-ing
or cut amber, or the field testing
of most any object, particularly if
reflected rays are also used on larg-er
objects."
Kennedy also sees such a portable
scanner, with the appropriate radia-tion
source, used by industry to de-termine
the internal state of solid
materials such as electric motor
parts, metal shafts and plastics.
" Materials suspected of defects
could be examined quickly and on-line
without the need to disassemble
the machinery," he said
The researchers decided to use
such a sophisticated apparatus for
testing everyday objects after at-tempting
to see what kind of image
they could get from a piece of wood
left behind by a graduate student
" We were so pleased with the
image we got that we contacted
some researchers in the forestry de-partment
and they suggested that
the utility companies might be inter-ested
in looking at a testing proce-dure
that could be used on utility
poles," Miller said
Miller and Kennedy are optimistic
about the ways m which a portable
scanner can be used in the future.
" Besides the many industrial uses
contemplated, we believe that people
with such diverse research interests
as foresters and archaeologists could
use a device light enough to be car-ried
to field investigations," Miller
said
Farmland ready
for negotiations
on MIA merger
ByC A Briceno
Mlssourian staff writer
After two days of deliberations,
the board of directors of Farmland
Industries of Kansas Citv, Mo,
unanimously voted Wednesday to
" direct management to prepare a
definitive plan for reorganization or
consolidation with MFA Inc "
Iist Wednesday, the board of the
financially troubled MFA met in Co-lumbia
and voted 27-- 2 to begin merg-er
talks with Farmland, the nation's
largest supply and marketing coop-erative
Now that Farmland's board has
agreed to talk merger, negotiations
on the terms will begin immediately
Although no specific timetable has
been established. Farmland's 22- mem- ber
board has called for man-agement
' to begin negotiations at
once with the objective of reporting
to the board as soon as possible,"
according to Bill Matteson, Farm-land's
vice president of communica-tions
The goal of the plan, Matteson
said, is for ' better utilization of as-sets,
employees and other resources
of the organization and to make ef-fective
furnishings of supplies and
services to members and marketing
our members farm products "
MFA employs more than 300 per-sons
in Columbia and more than 1,- 6- 00
in Missouri Many of them are
expected to lose their jobs once the
merger is finalized
Matteson said Farmland's man-agement
will conduct a thorough stu-dy
that " will deal with all aspects on
how both cooperatives will fit togeth-er."
In the event of a " reorganization"
in which MFA agrees to settle liabili-ties
for less than their book value,
more than 16,000 Missouri farm fam-ilies
who own $ 60 million in MFA
bonds almost certainly will suffer
losses.
Asked whether Farmland will pay
full value on liabilities, Matteson
said: " I can't comment on that at
this tune. It's too early to tell what
willhappea"
The reorganization is being fol-lowed
closely by thousands of farm-ers
who have a financial, as well as
an emotional, stake in the future of
MFA.
At least one Missouri farmer is not
worried
" I don't have any fear that I will
lose anything," said Everett C. Bil-lings,
a livestock and gram farmer
and MFA member from Green
Ridge, a wink- of- a- to- wn near Seda- li- a.
Billings owns MFA bonds
" I'm trusting my directors and my
elected delegates to make the right
decisions. I place accountability on
my directors. But I think they will
come through," Billings added
Donald Street, assistant to the ad-ministrator
of the U S. Department
of Agriculture's Cooperative Service
in Washington, D C , said in a phone
interview Wednesdav that ov en-tiling
is negotiable - empimits
value of assets Everything is fair
game "
Still, Street said I would Ik sur-prised
if thev could negotoatt or net a
discount on the debt '
Regarding MFA's bonds he said
' They ( MFA) have commitments
for the face value of the bonds Thev
have fixed obligations to their cred-itors
I would be very surprised if
they write them ( the obligations)
down "
Street added. " I'm not sure, but
the only time liabilities can be re-duced
or not taken on face value is if
the cooperative files for bankrupt-cy
"
In any event, if the Farmland- MF- A
merger goes through without a
hitch, it will be the largest in U S co-operative
history
MFA is the 14th largest supplv and
marketing cooperative in the United
States The resulting enbtv will rank
among the top 65 industrial compa-nies
in the country , according to For-tune
500
Iast year, Farmland had sales of
$ 4 7 billion MFA's sales were $ 680
million, down from $ 1 billion in sales
in 1980 Farmland serves more than
500,000 farmers in 19 states, scat-tered
as far away as Texas, Colora-do,
Indiana and Ixiuisiana
MFA serves 70,000 farmers, most
of whom reside in Missouri, but it
also has members in Arkansas, Illi-nois,
Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ten-nessee
and Kentucky In 1981, the co-operative
served members through
84 local retail cooperatives and 115
company- owne- d retail outlets
In 1982 and 1983, however, MFA
closed or consolidated 37 retail ex-changes
and 15 bulk fertilizer facili-ties
The merger comes at a time when
MFA is struggling through its worst
year in recent history As of March
31, the cooperative had suffered a
net loss of $ 12.7 million In 1982, MFA
lost $ 15 7 Losses totaled $ 3 6 million
last year. I. ast year's loss would
have exceeded $ 10 million if MFA
had not sold its soybean processing
plantm Mexico, Mo
In addition, and potentially more
perilous, the cooperative had a neg-ative
working capital of $ 8 6 million
in March If the firm had finished its
fiscal year ending June 30 with un-paid
bills, any creditor could have
taken the cooperative into bankrupt-cy
court
" The tune that happens, the only
choice left is to file for protection un-der
Chapter 11," said an insider fa-miliar
with the merger negotiations
The source also claims that MFA
was " forced" by the St louis Bank
for Cooperatives to seek a merger
with Farmland
Similarly, MFA's current liabili-ties,
those due within a year, exceed
$ 150 million
Current assets amount to approxi-mately
$ 142 million
Concoction
Homemade fertilizer sweetened pot
TALLAHASSEE, Fla ( UPI) --
A man arrested for growing 192
marijuana plants in his back yard
garden told police he only was
testing an experimental fertilizer
and had not planned to smoke the
stuff.
Charles C. Brown, 36, was
growing the marijuana plants
among tomato and okra plants
behind his house in a residential
area, police said
Brown told officers he was ex-perimenting
with a homemade
fertilizer made of fish heads, fish
guts, blood and rainwater Police
said they found a covered barrel
containing the mixture
Brown also said he was going to
give the marijuana to friends
when it matured
It appeared Brown tried to dis-guise
the marijuana by planting
it close to tomato plants, which
have similar leaves, police said
More marijuana was growing
alongside okra plants under an
oak tree
Burlap bags were hung on the
fence to shield the garden, police
said, but the marijuana plants
were tall enough to be spotted
from ( he street
Police said the marijuana was
worth a bout $ 200,000
ByStsveVlssar
Mlssourian staff writer
Columbia has a problem: more capital im-provement
projects in the works than it has
dollars to spend.
' To balance the preliminary budget for
' 1985, the city postponed 17 capital im-provement
projects until 1S86 and 1987. Pro-jected
costs for the projects have risen about
$ 800 000
" There isn't a crisis," First Ward Coun--
cilman Al Tacker says. " There simply isn't
i
t
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enough money this year. These projects can
be paid for in the future when the money is
available."
City Finance Director Harold Boldt does
not think there is a crisis either.
" You can afford them if the people are
willing to pay for them," Boldt says in refer-ence
to postponed street projects.
But he does believe deferring projects has
serious drawbacks because balancing the
budget in that manner " represents a false
sense of security."
" You feel good because it's balanced but
you've got to look over your shoulder" he
says, " and that is what I want to emphasize
to the council."
Boldt says postponing projects will not
make the money magically appear; the city
will face the same problems next year
" If the money was available, we wouldr't
have to defer projects in the first place,"
Boldt says.
Sooner or later the council will have to
come to grips with the shortage and make
some difficult decisions, Boldt says
" The council can do two things: delete the
projects, which is often difficult politically
once citizens have approved them, or they
can use bond financing," Boldt says
Political obstacles are one reason Tacker
does not support a new general bond for pub-lic
works at this tune.
" A bond has to be tied to a source of reve-nue
to pay for it, and that means a tax in- crease," he says
Tacker says he prefers to promote pro-jects
like the new senior citizens' center and
the development of the storm sewer system,
before going to the voters for more money
for streets.
Boldt says deferring costs means higher
prices for projects because of Inflation and
increased construction costs.
Meanwhile, he adds, city funds from the 1982 general bond for road improvements are being spent faster than anticipated be--
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