Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 77

D9 old Silver 10 ylvia Porter 10 ivestor's Guide 10 tock Quotations 11 ocal Securities 12 Asbury Park Press March 30, 1983 Great Adventure Prouble Shooter says 3.2 expected million to visit Cheating the aged THE MOST COMMON frauds perpetrated against the aged, listed here yesterday, are by no means the only ones senior citizens should know about. Sen. John Heinz, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, said committee members have learned of a number of other frauds with significant impact on the elderly. Anyone, in fact, may lose money to these schemes. Abuse of trust schemes involve the exploitation of a position of authority andor trust such as misuse of funds by bankers, trustees, relatives or laywers, who may control an older person's money.

Public or private officials, such as nursing home operators, may also misuse the funds of elderly clients. JACKSON TOWNSHIP Officials at Six Flags Great Adventure say they expect to attract more than 3.2 million visitors during the season that begins tomorrow. Glenn Vallach, park spokesman, said the combination amusement park-safari ticket will cost $15.25, up $1 from last year. Amusement park only tickets are safari only tickets are priced at $5.25. Vallach attributed the price increase for the combination ticket to a new amusement tax imposed by the township.

Township officials said the municipality expects to collect about $1 million from the tax. A new ride that offers the sensation of falling from a 13-story building will be featured as the amusement and safari park opens for weekends until the end of the month. Park officials also plan to open two more new attractions in May. FreeFall, a 130-foot vertical steel track premieres tomorrow. Other new attractions at the theme park off Route 571 include Parachuter's Perch and a Water Ski Spectacular on the park's Great Lake.

The 130-foot FreeFall, the newest thrill ride at the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park and safari in Jackson Township, sends riders plummeting braking system stops the ride. Home sales off, but that were not provided as claimed. While the immediate victim of such a fraud is usually a government program, the cumulative effect of such abuses may be to withdraw public support for needed programs. False, misleading advertising involves the use of untrue or deceptive promotional techniques. Typically it involves advertising as a "sale" item a product that is really sold at the regular or a higher price, falsely claiming an attribute that the goods or service doesn't possess, misstatement of the true cost of merchandise or service by, for example, using confusing payment provisions that the consumer will not understand.

FORTUNE TELLING swindles are the favorite of gypsy confidence artists who may go under the title of fortune teller, reader, adviser, seer, or medium, healer, spiritualist, or palm reader, card reader of psychic. The classic scheme is to tell the victims who ask for a reading that there are "evil spirts' on their money causing bad fortune. The fortune teller then "blesses" the victim's money, which is never seen again. Lawsuit frauds, commonly called "sewer service" frauds, occur when merchandising, home repair or other frauds rely on the use of lawsuits for collecting payments from their victims. The usual tactic is not to inform the customer that a lawsuit has been filed.

This is accomplished by such techniques as dropping the official summons or subpoena "down the sewer" instead of delivering it to the customer who is being sued. The effect of this "sewer service" is to deny the customer any opportunity to contest the lawsuit The elderly may be especially vulnerable to this type of action, since the charge that an elderly person really did receive a summons (but forgot it) may be believed by court personnel. MISSING HEIRS confidence games involve the false notification of victims that they may be related to a wealthy person who is recently deceased. For a fee, the confidence artist claims he or she will perform a genealogy search which is never performed or performed in a cursory manner. Patents and inventions frauds induce victims to submit costly tees under the belief that his "invention" la "Important" and "should be patented" to avoid competition.

Unscrupulous patent research and assistance firms usually find their customers through advertising in newspapers. One company collected fees from many thousands of "inventors" but could prove only one product was ever sold, and that was for a couple hundred dollars. Vacation package deceptions attack elderly customers on fixed incomes who hope to travel at reduced prices. The reason prices are "cheap" is that meals are In unattractive restaurants and the hotels used are run down and in out-of-the-way places. Vanity publishing schemes induce people to pay to "publish" songs or books they have written.

Sometimes, earthward at 55 mph. A computerized industry lion compared with $3.57 billion the month before. The deficit last year was a record $42.6 billion. The value of U.S. oil imports from all sources plunged 32.7 percent from January to a seasonally adjusted $3.19 billion.

The volume of oil imports fell 29.5 percent to 104.7 million barrels. The average price paid was $30.49 a barrel compared with $31.92 in January, a reflection of declining world oil prices. In other economic developments yesterday: The Conference Board said its help-wanted advertising index, an economic indicator sensitive to changes in demand for labor, remained unchanged in February. It was the third consecutive month of no change. Kenneth Goldstein, an economist for the research group, said the level- The Associated Press SALES OF NEW single-family houses fell 5.9 percent last month, but economists say the U.S.

housing industry remains on course to financial recovery. The drop reported yesterday by the Commerce Department followed a 12.7 percent surge the month before. Separately, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. foreign trade deficit rose slightly last month to $3.58 billion, mainly because of a sharp rise in imports of Japanese goods. Nearly two-thirds of the deficit was in U.S.-Japan trade.

In its home sales report, the government said the seasonally adjusted rate of sales was 558,000 houses, compared with 593,000 in January. The February rate, though lower than the month before, was 48.8 percent higher than in February 1982. Parachuter's Perch, a 250-foot-high ride similar to the one used at the 1939 World's Fair and later at Coney Island, N.Y., is the world's tallest ride and may be the highest structure in New Jersey, Vallach said. The parachute ride, still under construction, is scheduled to open May 1. On this ride, passengers will be hoisted slowly up the tower on a cable attached to a seat and dropped, allowing them to glide toward earth at 25 mph beneath a parachute.

On May 21, a family oriented ski show featuring 16 professional water skiers will open on the park's natural lake. A newly built stand on the lake's shore will allow approximately 4,000 persons to watch the show. The skiers will perform four to five shows a day during the season. The New Jersey State Fair will also be returning to the park on Sept. 9 for 10 days.

The park will be open tomorrow and Sunday and the following weekend. Daily openings begin April 29. "The rate of new home sales recorded during February is further evidence that the housing recovery is picking up momentum with each passing month," said Harry Pryde, president of the National Association of Home Builders. Michael Sumichrast, chief economist for the home builders group, said he saw "a very, very good chance" that mortgage interest rates would start falling again before long. "Builders are still very bullish," he said.

The median sales price, meanwhile, rose to a record $75,100 in February from a revised $74,200 the month before. In its report on the U.S. trade deficit, the government said the gap in trade with Japan soared $888 million to $2.22 billion from $1.33 billion in January. The overall trade deficit was $3.58 bil Careers been involved in and now feels strong enough to launch a boycott of the nation's third largest insurance company. As discrimination suits become more common and office unions more visible, employers still feel the benefits bite about one-third of payroll dollars, or $540 billion in 1982.

As reported by the Bureau of National Affairs the vast majority of U.S. employers did not increase their employee travel and meal allowances last year and do not plan to raise them in 1983. The going rate for use of a personal car on company business is 20 cents per mile. Companies that set per-diem meal limits during travel pay a median of $24 per day. In-town meals are lower $4 for lunch and $5 for dinner.

Top dollar for overtime meals is $10 for lunch and $15 for dinner. READERS: New edition! "A Working Woman's Guide to Her Job Rights" has been revised by the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Labor Department. A single free copy of the 54-page booklet is available to readers who move fast while a preview supply is still available. (Later, the booklet will sell for $4.50.) To obtain, enclose a gummed, self-addressed mailing label of a size large enough not to be mistaken for confetti and send to Joyce Lain Kennedy at this newspaper.

Ask for "Woman's Job Rights." Offer ends May 1. ADVANCE FEE schemes demand "down payments" in return for a promised service, which the confidence man or woman has no intention of delivering or repaying. The phony fee may be called a "returnable deposit." Appliance and TV repair hoaxes involve tricks, such as overcharging for services performed, charging tor services and parts not used, performing services or repairs not wanted or needed, and failure to repair until the warranty expires. Bait and switch advertising occurs when a customer is "baited" into a store with a "special offer" and then talked into buying a higher priced product providing more profit to the seller. Buyers clubs schemes guarantee that the club "members" will purchase merchandise and services at reduced rates.

The victim or mark then finds their coupons don't really result in lower prices or that the storeowner, restaurant or service-provider will not honor the coupons. CHAIN LETTERS and referral frauds induce the unwary to part with money or property on the promise they will make money through bringing others into the chain. First-tier victims usually believe that those whom they involve in the scheme (second-tier victims) will make money but since second-tier victims can only make money by involving third-tier victims and so on, the scheme must eventually collapse. Generally, only the fraud operators who manage the scheme make money on it Deceptive entry schemes combine confidence artist techniques with traditional methods of robbery. It's done by using a phony approach to the victim to find out where he or she keeps cash and then returning later when the victim isn't home.

One common artifice involves confidence artists posing as Social Security doctors to check an ment, such as arthritis, and pickpocketing the victim while "checking" him or her. DISCOUNTER deceptions employ claims that during a project such as furnace repair or rewiring, quantities of material were charged in the homeowner's name but never paid for, and that "the supply bouse" now holds a lien on the property. The confidence artist says he represents a bonding company, and can get the lien released if the homeowner will put up the money to pay for the material charged in his name. False claims are fraudulent written claims for the services or goods No lunch hour given PeoplExpress may buy 727s By JOYCE LAIN KENNEDY Recently yon said that employees are not legally entitled to time-off benefits, that benefits are negotiated and usually expressed in nniofl contracts or company policy. What about a lunch hour for one who works eight hoars? Tell the boss you may be indispensable but you are not indefatigable.

The dreary answer is there's no federal requirement that you be given a lunch hour (or a vacation), says authority Elmer EUentuck, senior editor of White Collar Management, a monthly legal report. EUentuck suggests checking with your state labor department to be certain there are no state laws affecting the issue. Employee rights continue to be hotly debated, often in court. One area certain to receive greater attention in years ahead is the issue of advancement for qualified women. A ticking time bomb is the graphic description of one analyst.

Why? Many thousands of former homemakers with college degrees have slipped into the Job market as clerks and technicians. Promotions have been slow in coming and many firms worry about being accused of discrimination against women who often have the same Jobs as men with less education. Others worry about growing unionization among the largely unorganized 20 million office and clerical workers in the country. The two-year-old union, District 925, a part of the Service Employees International Union, has won all nine elections it has the offer may be to "help" them develop their "talent." The operator of the scheme may imply a promise of national advertising, book reviews, distribution, special marketing services or radio-play of songs but not so concretely that he can be held to it. Victims are left with a few copies of a printed and scored song arrangement, or a number of copies of books which established publishers won't look at because of their source.

on course ing off of the index after a surge last fall indicated slow but steady improvement is under way in the economy. "i The Labor Department said 65,000 jobs were available through various state employment services as of Feb. 1, much of the work in the clerical and sales fields. The department's survey showed openings in January had risen by 14 pert cent from December but remained 4 percent lower than a year ago. Oil industry sources in Great Britain said Oman, a relatively small oil exporting country, reduced its official price $5 a barrel, to $29, in line with the lower reference price set two weeks ago by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Oman is not a member of OPEC but is an ally of Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf neighbors. would also allow Braniff to begin ground service work on the planes it is selling to PeoplExpress. Braniff is scheduled to file a reorganization before Flowers by April 4. Braniff's secured creditors, who had opposed the sales at a hearing in Flowers' court yesterday, embraced the plan in light of the higher offer by in-PeoplExpress, said lawyer Sander, Esserman. -P- But Hugh Ray, a lawyer represent-ing Braniff's secured insurance company lenders, remained opposed to the' deal.

He said his clients believed Braniff could draw a better price at auction. Ray said he did not know if clients would appeal Flowers' ruling. lo The lease of the 747 is for five -x years, expiring Sept. 30, 1988, and PeoplExpress has the right to termi- the lease at the end of one year, a spokesman said. The carrier will pay Braniff $50,000 a month from delivery until Sept.

30., and $25,000 monthly for the length of the term, with a purchase option, the agreement states. computer by Tandy and can be expanded to store up to about 32,800 characters. In addition, the Model 100 is seen aS.an important step In combining personal computers with telecommunications. The machine can plug directly into standard telephone Jack, and by using its "TELCOM" program, the user can ther. automatically dial up a connection into, a data base provided by information networks for retrieving stock quotes or electronic mail, Tandy said.

"1' "With the Model 100, it may become a common experience to see the person next to you reading the latest Dow Jones re ports, not from the traditional printed mat ter, but from a small computer which ceives details over the telephone from an" information network such as CompuServe' (a unit of HAR Block Bates said. There are other portable computers -now on the market, some smaller than the Model 100, but many have to be program, med from scratch by the user. Tandy Is taking an opposite approach by pre-pro-1 gramming its computer to handle several basic functions, and raising the ease of use. The Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas A federal judge approved the sale of 20 Braniff International Boeing 727s to PeoplExpress Airlines yesterday after the New Jersey carrier raised its cash offer to appease Braniff 's creditors. U.S.

Bankruptcy Judge John Flowers also gave his blessing to PeoplExpress' plan to lease a Braniff 747 for a proposed Newark to London route. After the approval, representatives from both airlines completed the agreements. Braniff Chairman Howard Putnam said that Flowers' ruling was "good for creditors, good for the estate." Flowers' approval came after Harold Pareti, managing officer with PeoplExpress of Newark, N.J., increased the carrier's offer for the 727-200s from $4 million to $4.2 million each. A new 727 costs about $16 million. Braniff bought its planes from 1973 to 1978.

Putnam said the favorable ruling Portable unveiled Here come big cars 7 fpEfj THE AMERICAN motorist's romance Jith Detroit's bigger, roomier cars is wanning up again as fuel prices drop and gas supplies remain plentiful. I The big cars' return to prominence prompted Consumer Reports auto engi-aeers to take a closer look at the 1983 Cadillac Sedan DeVille and Chevrolet Caprice Classic two of General Motors large-sized offerings. Cadillac DeVille body is essentially the lame as those of GM's Buick EQectra and pidsmobUe 98. The four-door sedan tested was equipped with a 4.1 liter aluminum V-8 engine with fuel injection, automatic transmission, power steering and power brakes. also had air-conditioning, power-operated individual driver's seat, tilt steering fheel, power door locks, power windows and an AMFM stereo radio.

The auto engineers Judged that the DelDie's automatic transmission performed aoothly, but shifts Into and out of over-ve were frequent and annoying. While it handled well in normal driving, it felt sjuggish and vague in abrupt maneuvers and hard turns. The Cadillac's ride was generally very Comfortable and, for the most part, very quiet However, the auto engineers found the Chevrolet's ride to be a bit quieter. I The Caprice Classic is the bestflelling Urge car made. Its basic body is the same as that used for the Buick LeSabre and Qldsmobile Delta 88.

While a V-6 engine is standard, the four-door sedan tested was equipped with the optional five-liter V-8. It also had the same standard package and options as-the Cadillac. The Chevrolet's V-8 started and ran iyeU In an weather. The auto engineers Consumer Reports said that its spirited acceleration reminded them of older V-8 cars. It delivered 31 miles-per-gallon in expressway driving; 14 mpg in city driving.

The DeVille wasn't very far behind, with 27 mpg for expressway driving and 12 mpg in city traffic. The auto engineers Judged that the Caprice Classic handled competently overall. It responded more quickly to its power steering than the Cadillac. The Chevrolet's ride was nearly as comfortable as the Cadillac's on good roads but wasn't quite as roomy in the rear seat. Nevertheless, the engineers Judged that, with the right options, the Chevrolet Caprice Classic can be almost as luxurious as the Cadillac and with better fuel mileage and better acceleration.

While the Cadillac was roomy and had a slight edge over other large-sized cars tested, Consumer Reports auto engineers found It difficult to recommend. Based on the experiences reported by owners in Consumers Unions' annual questionnaire, the 1983 Cadillac DeVille and Fleetwood models will prove less reliable than the average car. The auto engineers are particularly leery of the mechanical reliability of the new aluminum V-8 engine. The auto engineers say that while the Chevrolet Caprice Classic may not be any more reliable, overall, than the Cadillac, at least its engine Isn't a trouble spot. This syndicated colima by the editors of Container Reports magaiioe appears Moaday, Wednesday aad Satarday.

The Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas A battery-powered portable computer that fits in a briefcase and can retrieve outside data via a telephone hookup was introduced yesterday by Tandy Corp. Tandy said its TRS-80 Model 100, with a suggested list price of $799, is designed as a "micro executive workstation" and will be marketed through its 8,700 Radio Shack stores. The computer weighs four pounds, measures 12 by 8 by 2 inches, and can be operated comfortably on the lap where it takes up no more room than an opened book, said Tandy spokesman Sid Bates. The Model 100 includes a display screen showing eight rows of 40 characters each, and it can show text, numbers or graphics. Its keyboard is full-sized with a layout similar to a standard typewriter.

Tandy's new computer comes with five built-in programs for word processing, storing address and telephone directories, and other chores. It comes with internal storage capacity of about 8,200 characters, Associated Press This to the new TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer unveiled by the Tandy Corp. yesterday, The battery-powered unit fits inside a briefcase and carries its own basic programs and capability to connect directly into standard telephone jack. The unit weighs four pounds and measures 12 by 84 by 2 inches. It has a suggested list price starting at $799.

The basic model comes with an internal storage capacity of about 8,200 characters, but it can be expanded to store up to about 32,800 characters. 7.