Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 56

COURIER-POST lIV7Ll0fi(7 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1985 1 UE public Franklin Computer will. go ROUNDUP Dow climbs 4.82 in quiet trading NEW YORK Stock prices edged higher in quiet trading yesterday with most of the gain coming in the opening hour. Retail, UP 877 firm's chairman. "As equity owners, they should be on board as we embark on the adventure of the second wave in the personal computer market." Franklin expects to distribute another 180,000 shares of stock to unsecured creditors before the end of the year. The creditors, who will own about 1 0 percent of the company, also will recei vesome cash reimbursement for their claims.

The rest of Franklin is owned by company management and Renaissance Technologies a New York venture capital firm. Franklin also said yesterday it had acquired Cord Electronics a Westbury, N.Y.-based importer of computer parts, for an undisclosed price. (SEC) before selling stock publicly. For Franklin, however, the stock distribution was approved as part of its reorganization plan by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia.

The shares will go only to unsecured creditors, whose debts are not backed by such collateral as land or machines. By issuing the stock now, Franklin hopes to enhance its visibility as it prepares to launch a new line of Apple-compatible computers. Called the ACE 2000 series, the new personal computers will be introduced next week. "Weexpeditedthis(stock)issuancesothatour past creditors would have tangible evidence of their ownership interests in Franklin as our new products are unveiled," said Morton David, the occur as soon as they are received their market value will not be known. The price would have to be $100 a share for creditors to recoup their claims though the stock's price is likely to be far lower initially.

"The important thing about being a public company is the name recognition it gives you in the marketplace," said Gregory Winsky, the firm's vice president and general counsel. "It really gives the company a little more prestige to be a publicly traded firm." Franklin, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last February, comes by its new public status in a roundabout way. Normally, a firm going public must first file a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission By JEAN WALLACE Of the Courier-Post Franklin Computer on the road to recovery after emerging from bankruptcy, announced yesterday it soon will become a publicly traded company. The Pennsauken computer maker will issue 70,000 shares of common stock this week to about 550 creditors, a step toward retiring its debts. The creditors, owed about $7 million, will receive one share of stock for each 1 00 they are owed.

The process will make Franklin a public company, as creditors begin trading their shares in the over-the-counter market. However, until the first creditor sells his shares which could SHAKES paper, drug and chemical issues paced the advances, while airline and precious- Unchanged MM ISSUES TRADED Z007 metal stocks retreated. Prices opened ahead and then steadied for most of the session. The Dow Jones aver DOWN 626 KYSf Indfi 109.01 0.42 SJPComo 188.100.79 Demand for $3990 Yugoslav car soars Dow Jones M.1.322.474.82 age of 30 industrials, for example, gained 4.82 to 1,322.47 after drifting between 1,320 and 1,323 during the final three hours. Big Board volume swelled to 82.14 million shares from 70.29 million in the previous session.

AMR, the parent of American Airlines, tumbled 2 to 45 in heavy trading and led other airline issues lower after the brokerage firm Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. cut its third-quarter and full-year earnings estimates for AMR. On the upside, Cessna Aircraft jumped 4 to 25, a 52-week high. Cessna officials weren't immediately available to comment on the gain. child of American entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin, hopes to deliver 360,000 Yugos to 277 U.S.

dealers by 1989. Hundreds of Yugos have arrived at dealerships from Massachusetts to Maryland. "We got 10 of them Saturday, and not a single one is left," said Bruno Nardelli, a dealer at Lannan Chevrolet and Oldsmobile in the Boston suburb of Woburn. The Yugo, which looks like an early Volkswagen Rabbit, has a 1.1-liter four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive and steel-belted radial tires. The car comes with a full-size spare tire, rear window washer-wiper and defroster, but no radio.

The Yugo's biggest selling point its price is due in part to the strong dollar and the rapid devaluation of Yugoslav currency in recent years. Workers at the Zastava car plant in Yugoslavia earn about $100 a month, and most of the car's components are made on site. The Yugo is not without its problems. Its acceleration "is at the very, very end of acceptability on the expressway," said Arvid Jouppi, an independent auto industry analyst in Detroit. The car goes from zero to 55 mph in a slow 13.4 seconds.

Louis Ross, vice president for domestic auto operations at Ford Motor Co. recently said carmakers in a free country can't compete with the Yugo's $3,990 price tag. By SUZANNE WETLAUFER Associated Press BOSTON The Yugo is here and auto dealers said yesterday demand for the $3,990 Yugoslavian import is so high customers are putting down cash without even a test drive. Dealers in Michigan, Florida and Massachusetts said they have been bombarded with requests for the 137-inch-long subcompact, the cheapest new car in America, selling for about 1 ,000 less than its nearest competitor, the Sprint, a minicar from Japan. "People are just buying it from a picture in a brochure," said Richard Loehr a dealer in Kalamazoo, who was expecting his first Yugo shipment yesterday.

"We've never had a car like this." Loehr said he has received deposits on orders for 124 Yugos, which will take him six months to fill, and hundreds of customers have visited the showroom to look at photographs of the first Eastern European car marketed in America. In Winter Haven, Luke Potter Dodge sold 1 1 Yugos sight-unseen and has a waiting list of 140 customers. Jonas Halperin, senior vice president of Yugo America Inc. of Mont-vale, N. said about 4 0,000 Yugos will be shipped to 1 60 dealers nation wide in the next year.

The company, the brain IBB vfl $2.25 million penalty imposed on Calif, bank WASHINGTON The Treasury Dept. said it had imposed a record $2.25 million in penalties against Crocker National Bank of San Francisco for failing to report almost $4 billion in cash transactions as required by law. Officials said the bank committed 7,877 reporting violations from 1980 to 1984. Banks are legally required to report all cash transactions above $10,000. The case marked the sixth time this Associated Press The Yugo, shown during a test drive yesterday, has started arriving in America.

year the government has penalized banks for failure to report under the law. Toys 'IT Us 2nd quarter net income up 1 percent ROCHELLE PARK Toys Us Inc. said yesterday net income for the Lorimar may buy 1 5 percent of Warner stock second quarter was $11.8 million, or 14 Nation registers first big decline in poverty in 10 years cents per share, up 1 percent from $11.6 million, or 14 cents per share, for the year-ago period. Sales for the quarter ended Aug. 5 were $349.9 million, up 19 percent from $293.8 million in the same period last year.

Net earnings in the first half of the year rose to $24 million, or 28 cents per share. up 13 percent from last year's $21.2 million, or 25 cents per share. 40 Yesterday CITYFED FINANCIAL Corp. of RUPERT MURDOCH former Warner suitor Palm Beach, completing a planned stock dividend, said it will issue 8 million sharesof its new SeriesC junior preferred stock today to holders of CityFed common stock as of Aug. 5.

GANNETT publisher of 86 or 35.5 million people. The poverty threshhold for an urban family of four was 1 0,609 last year, up from $10,178 a year earlier. The rate is slightly lower for rural families. The drop in poverty had been widely anticipated, but Rep. Robert Garcia, chairman of the House subcommittee which oversees the Census Bureau, said the figures really showed little economic improvement for minorities.

"At first glance, the Census Bureau's findings look good," he said in a statement. "But if you digbelow the surface, it becomes evident that the plight of minorities, especially Hispanics and blacks, has not dramatically improved." Enid Kassner of the National Council of Senior Citizens said, "It certainly is good news to see that poverty is declining, but there still is a very serious problem." By ROGER GILLOTT Associated Press CULVER CITY, Calif. Lorimar, the entertainment and advertising conglomerate that earlier this year lost a $1.02 billion bid to buy Multimedia said yesterday it may buy up to 1 5 percent of WarnerCommuni-cations Inc. At current prices, that could cost Lorimar about $312.5 million or more than twice its shareholder equity of $137 million. Lorimar made the disclosure, required under provisions of the antitrust Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

in a confidential filing with the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Justice Department and New York-based Warner, said spokeswoman Carol Henry. "The sole purpose (of the filing) was to notify the government that we may seek to purchase up to 1 5 percent of Warner," Henry said. The news sent Warner's stock up by $1.50 to $31.25. Lorimar's stock closed at $34.87, down 50 cents.

Warner, in a two-sentence statement, said simply that it had been informed by Lorimar that the California company intends to acquire in excess of $15 million worth of Warner stock but less than 1 5 percent of the shares outstanding. Warner spokesman Geoffrey Miller declined further comment Henry said the stock purchases by Lorimar are being made "for investment purposes" but declined to say how much money Lorimar intends to spend. She declined to say if Lorimar may later seek more stock or might seek control. She also declined to say if executives of Lorimar have held discussions with officials of Chris-Craft Industries which was brought in Associated Press The improving economy helped 1.8 million Americans climb above the poverty level, as the United States registered its first significant decline in poverty in almost 10 years, the Census Bureau said yesterday. "There was a very significant increase in income and decrease in poverty in 1984," said Gordon W.

Green who is in charge of socioeco nomic statistics for the Census Bureau. "Economic recovery and (the reduced level of) inflation are important factors in the continuing decline of poverty," he said. Green said the national poverty rate declined nearly one percentage point to 14.4 percent, or 33.7 million people living below the poverty line. The poverty rate in 1983 was 15.3 percent, daily newspapers including the Courier- Post, probably will offer this week to buy the Evening News Association, which owns the Detroit News, a major share about a year ago as a "white knight" to protect Warner from a takeover bid by financier Rupert Murdoch and since then has been increasing its stake. Chris-Craft now controls 29.4 percent of Warner.

Lorimar, producer of such popular TV shows as "Dallas," and "Falcon Crest," has cash and securities on hand worth $70 million as of its latest SEC filing dated April 27. "They are acting like a kid with money burning a hole in their pocket," said Lee Isgur, an industry analyst with PaineWebber in New York. holder in the family-owned association said. NON-FARM business productivity rose at an annual rate of 1 percent in the secondquarterof 1985, the Labor Department said, with especially strong gains in the manufacturing sector due to import competition. SYLVIA PORTER Vocational training key to success in flourishing technical fields private vocational school varies considerably with some so inferior that neither their facilities nor their equipment is adequate.

Some even make promises of job placement they can't fulfill. ITT Ed ucational Services, an Indianapolis-based subsidiary of ITT, advises that you research all your options before choosing. "Make certain that the school you're considering can demonstrate that it is operating within the guidelines established by the Department of Education and according to the ethical standards required by its accrediting commissions," counsels Bruce Hedstrom, director of quality assurance at ITT Educational Services. He offers these guidelines: State licensing: Generally, proprietary schools must be licensed by a post-secondary-school licensing bureau to operate. If you're in doubt check with your state Department of Education.

Accreditation. This means the school has voluntarily passed a thorough examination of its curriculum, facilities, equipment and staff by a Department of Education agency. Only 25 percent of the 10,000 proprietary schools in the United States are accredited. Accreditation should be listed in the school's catalog but double-check with the trade and technical associations in Washington. Keep in mind: Only accredited schools are eligible to provide access to financial aid for students who demonstrate need.

Curriculum: Be sure the courses and training program cover every aspect of your career choice. Meet with the instructors in advance to assess their professional experience. Ask the admissionsof icer bow many students actually finished the course you're considering. Facilities and Equipment Does the Of 20 careers that will show the most rapid employment growth in the next decade, an overwhelming majority of 1 4 will specifically require vocational training. These 20, selected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, include: electrical and electronics technicians; computer systems analysts; computer programmers; and health-care technicians.

These are the flourishing fields, and if you want to train for them and what better signals for opportunities could I gi veyou? you'll find the training available at most accredited private trade or technical schools. There are about 10,000 career schools in the United States. To be accepted into one, you probably will need a high school diploma or the equivalent, in some instances, work experience can waive that requirement Unlike most traditional educational institu schoolhavealaborshopsetupwhichresembles a real work situation? Can you use the setup? Employment assistance: Be wary of schools that promise jobs. Only employers can do that But you should get valuable assistance in all aspects of job hunting from resumes to interviews. Refund policy: All accredited schools should have written policies that state how much money will be returned if you dropout and when you can expect the refund.

These facts should be easily available. If you're going in for vocational training, these guidelines will help you find the promising career you seek. A good source for locating vocational schools anywhere in the S. is the American Trade School Directory, which you can find in most public libraries. Jane Bryant Quinn is on vacation.

Her column will return upon her return. tions, trade and technical schools specialize exclusively in training students to fill existing jobs. Almost all vocational programs feature a no-nonsense approach to career education, using hands-on training methods to teach practical job skills. Students take only courses that relate directly to their chosen careers. From start to finish, there is no wasted time: Classes meet five days a week and continue through the summer, time is split between classroom lectures and practical training.

Theaveragediplomaprogrammnsoneyear, the most advanced degree courses take up to three years to complete. Nearly all training centers offer day and evening classes, so you, a student can combine study with a part-time or full-time job. How do you select the right school? Start by recognizing that the quality of education at a.