The Minneapolis Star from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 4

4A The Minneapolis Star Friday, March 2, 1979 till confused? Just tarn si pf wi Hubbard's response: "Nonsense." He acknowledged problems with Channel 3's late-afternoon scheduling, and conceded that he expected an initial slight decline for KSTP's 6 p.m. newscasts. But he said "Good Morning America" has been registering gains in the early morning, and predicted that ABC's "World News Tonight" eventually would overtake the CBS and NBC evening newscasts. Channel 11 is the greatest variable in the new network equation. As an independent owned by Metromedia WTCN has had a reputation for smart business management, if not for a deep-felt commitment to public service.

In any case, WTCN has been one of the most financially successful independent stations in the nation. WTCN has been spending $4 million to prepare for its affiliation with NBC. Most of that money has gone into upgrading its previously lightweight news operation. General manager Robert Fransen has confidently expressed his station's goal to overtake Channels 4 and 5 in news ratings within two years. New reporters, hired largely from stations in the south, already have been appearing on Channel 1 1 newscasts.

New equipment was still being assembled this week, as WTCN prepares for its conversion Monday from film to the more flexible electronic news gathering, based on videotape. Sophisticated weather-radar gear has been installed at WTCN's Golden Valley headquarters, and a news set, designed by a San Diego firm, is ready for use. The set's centerpiece is a 35-foot-long desk to showcase the news, weather and sports announcers. A valance of lights is situated above and behind the desk, and there is emblazoned WTCN's new nickname for the 6 and 10 p.m. reports News-Center 11.

Fronting the WTCN news team will be James Dyer at the anchor position, Glenn Burns on weather and Bob Kurtz on sports. All are new to the Twin Cities; Dyer is (Stations, from Page 1a) network, NBC. WCCO managers have been circulating the results of research, compiled by the station, intended to show that Channel 4 will be the beneficiary of Monday's affiliation switches. The reasoning is that when stations changed their network affiliations in several other cities, stations not Involved In the affiliation switches registered audience gains. Station manager James Rupp and other WCCO executives also say that KSTP will inherit locally lower ratings with ABC's "Good Morning America" show than with NBC's "Today" show; that ABC's late-night schedule is a poor substitute for NBC's "Tonight" show; that KSTP has an unsolved history of weak ratings in the early fringe (late afternoon) period, and that ABC's third-rated evening news program will weaken the ratings strength of KSTP's 6 p.m.

"Eyewitness News." He added that Channel 11 should be helped at 6 p.m. by a strong news lead-in from NBC. And, he added, there is chance that the "Tonight" show on NBC would draw a number of viewers from KSTP to the WTCN newscast at 10 p.m. But Channel 4 and Channel 5 are well established as the two high-powered TV news operations In the Twin Cities, and have strong, traditional viewer Identification for their news products. They are formidable bastions for an upstart to try to storm.

So, according to the source, the mood of advertisers remains cautious. The affiliation switches constitute a monumental change. Until the dust settles, all predictions about the station rankings must be regarded as speculative. "It'll take a few (ratings) sweeps to really get track records on the products, the source said. "I'm anxious to see what's going to transpire." Bob Kurtz James Dyer Glenn Burns Fronting WTCN's NewsCenter 11 Last year for VW bug? Nobody can say (VW, from Page 1a) nitely the last" model ever to be made.

They use words like "investment" and the phrase "collector's item." McDonald Volkswagen Saab, Inver Grove Heights, has even advertised the VW convertible as "the last of a breed." The news that there might be a 1980 model came as a bit of a shock to several of those dealers and salesmen. Beverly Durfey, a saleswoman at Los Angeles' Downtown Motors, said the Beetle convertibles were "selling like crazy. There's not enough supply. We're asking plenty for them, let me tell you. Whatever they come in (to the dealership) at, they're adding a thousand (dollars) over the window (sticker) price on them all over California, and some are even more." She added, "We were told at the VW meeting downtown a couple of months ago that this is the last year." When told that Volkswagen of America headquarters in Engle-wood Cliffs, N.J., said the company has not yet made a decision, Durfey was dumbfounded.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked. "If they lied to me, I'll quit. If they lie to me and we lie to the customers, then we're all a bunch of liars. I'll write to the head of VW!" Jack Peters, general manager of West Side Volkswagen, St. Louis Park, said: "I can't explain it You kind of wonder what's going on.

I guess I'll just have to tell my people here this may not be the last model year." Williamson offered no explanation why dealers and salesmen are telling customers there will be no more Beetles. "Dealers are independent businessmen," he said. "And I don't know that they are (making such statements)." Asked for a firm statement on whether there would be a 1980 Beetle, Williamson said, "You won't get one from me." Who told dealers and salesmen there would be no more? "I wouldn't know," Williamson said. It is known, however, who told dealers throughout VW's Chicago sales region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and North and South Dakota) that 1979 was the last year for Beetles. They were told by Jules Bauduc, regional distribution manager.

And Bauduc says he was told by Volkswagen of America headquarters. Bauduc said he wrote and mailed from Virginia, Burns from Florida and Kurtz from Colorado. They've been doing practice newscasts at Channel 11 since Feb. 12, and tapes of the practice sessions are Impressive. "I think we can get good news audiences regardless of what the network (NBC) does," Fransen said much as $40,000 for them and now they can barely sell them." He added, "In any case, I don't think Volkswagen of America real- ly cares.

They wouldn't stoop to (deliberate misrepresentation) just to sell another 2,000 cars. They're not making much on those cars anyhow." Hattie Ahrenhoiz was upset when she learned the Beetle she and her husband bought with pride might not be the last one. "Well, really," she said. "It's kind of disappointing. Probably we wouldn't have bought it if we'd known there would be another chance.

I really don't know what to make of it all." No matter when he Beetle's demise, it has already outsold all other automobile models in the world. Henry Ford's Model of which about 15 million were sold, is it's nearest competitor. The Beetle surpassed that record in 1972 and by the end of 1978, a total of 19.535,469 had rolled off the assembly lines. Since the first two Beetles arrived here In 1949, almost 3 million Americans overcame their initial distaste for the "pregnant roller-skate" to buy them. The Beetle was born in the mind of world-renowned auto designer Ferdinand Porsche, who early in the 1920s dreamed of a cheap car for the masses.

bans and armed by the Soviets are still warding off nightly assaults by neighboring Somali Irregulars aiming to wrap the disputed Oga-den province Into their own land. The Ethiopians also are trying to crush Eritrean separatists seeking their own state. Across the Red Sea, at the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, South Yemen, backed by Moscow, claims that its forces have taken the three North Yemen leaded-unleaded price gap of 4.4 cents to remain constant despite the rules change. But the department, which got approval from the Environmental Protection Agency before adopting the change, said it will propose additional regulations soon to make sure the gap does not increase. Environmentalists opposed the gasoline tilt for fear it would lead more drivers to switch to regular gasoline and cause more air pollution.

In a related development yesterday, independent oil producers called for the administration to remove price controls from U.S. crude oil starting this spring. They said such a move would cause no yesterday. "I think KSTP has been a good example of that." A source said the advertising community has been hearing good reports about how Dyer, Burns and Kurtz interact on camera, and added that he thought it was "very possible for a third news team to compete successfully in this market." It took Adolph Hitler, however, to get Porsche's car off the ground. With strident demands for "a people's car," Hitler stamped out opposition by existing German automotive manufacturers and a factory was built just before World War II.

Production did not begin in earnest until after the war, however. Americans In the early 1950s were were suspicious of a "Nazi" car and later were too involved with flashy fins and heavy chrome to take the Beetle seriously. The 330 VWs sold in 1950 were lost among the almost seven million other cars Americans bought that year, according to Walter Nelson's book, "The Small Wonder." Since then, Beetles have achieved a certain mystique with such feats as partially successful crossings of the English channel (the Beetle was fitted with a propeller and its front wheels served as rudders) and triumphs in grueling desert crossings. People have been swept away in them In flash floods only to come safely and dryly to rest. Beetles Inspire devotion among their owners.

As Ahrenhoiz said, "I've always had a soft spot In my heart for this little Beetle. "Just something about the way they look. The thing looks like one of the family, kind of reminds you of a favorite chair. towns on their border and that an internal revolt against the Washington-backed government of North Yemen Is growing. Washington sees the fighting as a bid by Moscow to replace the conservative regime in North Yemen witn a Marxist-oriented government that would extend Soviet influence further in the Mideast and the Horn of Africa.

In Chad, the opposing forces of President Felix Malloum and Pre- more than an additional 5-cent increase in the cost of gasoline. Jack Allen, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said his group asked President Carter to wipe out controls holding U.S. oil prices far below the world level since the early 1970s. Allen said removing controls would result in 400,000 barrels of extra oil production daily by 1981 and 2 million dally by 1985. "By October 1981, phased decontrol would result In a cumulative increase In the price of gasoline of about 5 cents, perhaps less than the increase that OPEC price Increases will cause this year," the association told Carter In a letter.

Dan Drexler of McDonald Volkswagen Saab said: "Definitely the last year It will be a collector's Hem and Americans have a way of waiting until the last minute. If you buy now, you'll be money ahead." And West Side VW salesman Tom Jurva has bought one '79 Beetle convertible and hopes to buy another for investment purposes. "I plan to hang on to it for two years, see how far it will go." But buying the last VW Beetle convertible, regardless of whether It '8 1979 or 1980 or any other year, is not that good an investment Idea, says one car buff. 'A nice car, but An engineer for a major U.S. auto manufacturer and longtime analyst of the auto industy, the buff wanted to remain anonymous.

"Calling a VW Beetle a classic is like calling a milk truck horse a thoroughbred. At best, it really can only be called a special interest car," he said. "As a person who has been In the automobile business for 30 years and has been Interested in the old car movement for 20 weeeelr-do! "It's a nice car, but I wouldn't buy one with the intention of making any money off it. It's like last year's Indy pace car and the Eldorado convertible. People paid as grip on Uganda.

The trouble began last fall when Amin tried to annex a slice of Tanzanian territory he claimed for Uganda. Now he is fighting for survival. Rhodeslan bombers have been hitting guerrilla bases in Mozambique, Zambia and Angola. The guerrillas have been fighting Prime Minister Ian Smith and white rule of Rhodesia for more than six years. Ethiopian troops helped by Cu SUr Illustration by Lynette Amdt "It stands there, humble, unassuming, faithful.

It just says, 'I'm ready to take you wherever you want to And Elaine Steele, 29, Hudson, said, "This is a little convertible we can afford. We're a young couple starting out. We just fell In love with these little VWs. The thing is, they're sooooo cute!" But the end is in sight. The air-cooled engine has difficulty meeting U.S.

pollution standards. The gas mileage that once made it so attractive now looks sad compared with new competitors. And front-wheel drive is today's way to go. "In its hey-day, it had no competition, but it's a little stale now," said Paul McNamara, assistant Chicago VW regional manager. "The importers were losing money on the last Beetles we brought In.

The last few years have been difficult for us, with the severe devaluation of the dollar. The ratio of Deutschmarks to dollars went from like four to one down to two to one." The VW Rabbit, Introduced In 1975 to the United States, is VW's new people's car. Just look at the price tag. A rabbit is about $4,700 and the Beetle convertible Is about $6,500. VW's most expensive passenger car, a Dasher station wagon, is only $1,250 more than the Beetle.

The lowly Beetle. mier Hissen Habre are observing a cease-fire that took effect a week ago, but diplomats in N'Djamena, the capital, believe a full-scale civil war will result. At the root of Chad's crisis is age-old hostility between nearly 2 million Moslem Arabs herders In central Chad led by Habre and 2.3 million black Christian or Anlmist fanners In the south led by Malloum. In North Africa, Morocco Is fighting Pollsarlo guerrillas for control of the former Spanish Sahara. Morocco and Mauretanla annexed the territory two years ago.

This led not only to fighting but also to a lineup between France, Morocco and Mauretanla on the one side and Algeria and Libya on the other. In South America, Argentina and Chile have raised war alarms tn their dispute over ownership of three tiny Islands in the Beagle Channel, at the tip of toe continent. And this year" Is the 100th anniversary of a war in which Chile swallowed Bolivia's land corridor to the sea and a chunk of Peru. Bolivia has set 1979 as the deadline for recovering Its access to the sea, while Peru is prepared for possible hostilities. Wars, terrorism flare all around the world in August to all dealers the 1979 standard order deck.

The deck, a listing of available models and equipment, said in describing the 1979 Beetle, nice array of colors highlight this model for its last production run in 1979." "That means the '79 model year would basically be the last year for the convertible," Bauduc explained. "What can I tell you? We get our information from the home office in New Jersey and all the information we've got is that this is the last year." But according to Williamson, "The final decision, as far as I know, hasn't been made." Requests to VW's national sales manager, William Young, for additional information were funneled back to Williamson. VW sales personnel's remarks to prospective customers clearly indicate sales representatives were misled: Linda Schroeder of Columbia Heights Motors said: "Definitely '79 is the last year. In two years, people will be crying to get it away from you if you take care of this car." Ernie Schmidt of Autohaus Fort Gary Winnipeg, said, "definitely the last year people are buying them and saving them and someday they're going to be worth a small fortune." goes on. In the latest effort, President Carter is meeting again with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

The intensity, seriousness and scope of a number of the conflicts are difficult for outsiders to gauge because of the limited access they have to information on the hostilities. In Africa, a mixed force of Tan-zanians and dissident Ugandans are loosening President Amln's may raise gasoline prices with taxes on crude oti and gasoline, asked Schlesinger: "Are you trying to accomplish (indirectly) what you were unable to accomplish through legislation?" The energy secretary denied doing so. Analysts at the price regulatory administration estimated average gasoline prices would increase 9 cents in the next two years under the old rules and 12.4 cents under the tilt formula. By contrast, they said, removing controls on gasoline prices would cause a 12.8-cent increase. They said the 3.4 cent increase caused by the tilt formula will cost the average American family about $24 per year.

unleaded to $1 a gallon (Conflict, from Page 1a) ity continues in southern Thailand and Malaysia and has sprung up against the new pro-Soviet government in Afghanistan. Iran and its 33.5 million people is still In search of a permanent solution to the upheavals resulting from the overthrow of the shah. The search for permanent peace between Israel and Its Arab foes Fuel plan (Prices, from Ptge 1 a) gasoline prices, which fall between the price of leaded premium and leaded regular, might rise to $1 a gallon within a year to 18 months. He based that prediction on an increase to $18 to $20 a barrel for foreign oil, which he said is possible. Schlesinger said yesterday that his prediction wasn't intended as a signal to oil companies to raise prices.

The prediction was criticized by Sen. Walter Huddleston, who said the remark Itself might encourage price increases. Huddleston, saying that the Carter administration in 1977 and In 1978 unsuccessfully sought to raise The Energy Department was able to adopt the revised pricing formula on IU own. Had the department decided instead to remove federal price controls from gasoline the only major petroleum product still under such controlsIt would have required a congressional review. The major potential problem with the gasoline tilt formula Is a potential increase in the gap between leaded and unleaded gasoline prices, which might cause more drivers to use leaded gasoline in cars designed to burn only unleaded fuel because of environmental regulations, department officials said.

Analysts said they expect the.