The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 35

THE TAMPA TRIBUNE Wednesday, November 30, 1994 Mi weather cuts vegetable smpply The Bottom Line Mickie Valente By PAUL POWER Jr. Tribune Staff Writer TAMPA Poor weather for farming in California and Florida this season is playing havoc with the price of salad items such as lettuce, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and cucumbers. "There's not enough corn to even talk about a market price," said H.B. Buchanan, a U.S. Department of Agriculture market analyst in Orlando.

"Corn was so devastated in Florida by Tropical Storm Gordon that in many areas, there is no corn available," said Publix Super Markets spokeswoman Jennifer Bush. It may be a week to 10 days before ample fresh corn supplies are available to Publix from Mexican producers, Bush said. Corn is harvested in late fall only as a spe- the United States in January and February. Gordon's aftermath, combined with cold and wet weather in California which has delayed harvests, have put a double wham-my on consumer vegetable prices. Florida and California account for 77 percent of the area harvested for fall vegetables and melons, studies show, not counting onions.

Prices at Publix for green beans and pole beans have risen to $1.79 a pound, up from pre-Gordon sales prices of 79 cents a pound. Yellow squash rose to $1.69 from 89 cents at Publix, which operates 468 stores in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. "My people tell me that things are a little sticky with some supplies, but it's not really that unusual," added Bruce Baxter, marketing director for Winn-Dixie Stores. Specialty crops, such as the carambola, were affected, too, said James Killibrew at Baird Produce in Tampa. Prices for South Florida carambolas, which are cut into star-shaped pieces and are prized as a garnish by some restaurants, have doubled following Gordon, Killibrew said.

Economists point out that the gyrations in price for the salad items will subside as production at farms returns to normal. "These prices are only a temporary disruption," said the USDA's Gary Lucier. In fact, potatoes, onions, processing tomatoes and processing sweet corn all yielded record crops in 1994, a new report said. Lucier said that means good news for grocery shoppers. The bumper crops in those commodities should more than offset high costs today for produce such as broccoli, beans and peas.

The lessons from Jenny Craig case CLIFF McBRIOETribune photo The price of carambolas has doubled. cialty item. Florida grows more than 15 percent of the nation's annual vegetable supply, and 90 percent of the fresh fruits and vegetables in News flash: Three men who worked at Jenny Craig diet centers and claim they were victims of demeaning jobs, A lack of advancement, and lewd comments about such things as "tight buns" have won one small victory, according to The Wall Street Journal. The three men, who are part of a group dubbed The Boston Eight, got a favorable ruling from a Massachusetts agency in their pleading to prove they were victims of sexual discrimination. And so it should be.

Though Jenny Craig denies the complaints, the men's allegations are backed up by several former women workers at the diet centers where they were employed. And whether state mediators find they were, in fact, victims or not, their case certainly seems to be worthy of a full hearing before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Among their complaints, as told to the Journal, were the fact they individually were subjected to suggestive comments about their biceps, eyes and "tight buns." One woman supervisor even asked one man if he could fix her car. Another told him she had dreamed about him naked. Dressed the same The men also complained because they were made to wear the same uniforms as the women: white coats and pale blue Jenny Craig neck scarves.

While these types of complaints might sound painfully familiar to some women who have been the brunt of lewd jokes and harassment in male-dominated workplaces, there's at least one common complaint that seems to be missing here: no one is suggesting that the men were "asking for it." Ironically, however, one of their women supporters in the case says they were asking for one thing that might have spurred the verbal abuse. They wanted to earn more money and they wanted to earn it more quickly than allowed in this woman-oriented company. Their main argument for earning more? They had families. And, as men, they have more than likely become accustomed to the assumption that they would get paid more (since the average woman gets paid 30 percent less for equal work). Discrimination by any name, sexual or economic, may not be the same, but apparently, it can have the precisely the same symptoms.

Telemarketer to add 200 Tampa jobs By JEAN GRUSS Tribune Staff Writer TAMPA The Signature Group, an insurance and consumer club marketer, announced Tuesday it will open a second telemarketing center in Tampa and add about 200 employees to its payroll. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Montgomery Ward is scheduled to open the second facility at the Crosstown Industrial Park in Tampa on Dec. 9. The Signature Group employs 150 people at an existing facility on West Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa with a payroll of about $1 million, said Pat Hudson, telemarketing facility manager for the company. That operation was established here in 1990.

The new facility will employ about 150 people in mostly part-time telemarketing jobs and another 50 in full-time administrative positions. The staff increase, which includes both full-time and part-time positions, will boost the company's total payroll here to $2.6 million, Most of the jobs will be local hires, except for four managers. Hudson said the new office space is leased from the Largo-based Rosewood Corp. and the terms were negotiated through the brokerage firm Grubb Ellis of Florida Inc. He declined to give further details on the lease.

The Signature Group credited the quality of local labor as one of the reasons it chose Tampa for its expansion. "The skilled work force is the biggest plus we've had here," Hudson said. Additionally, Hudson said the company has benefited from local suppliers of goods and services ranging from telephones to staples. "They've all been super," he said. Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce officials were pleased with The Signature Group's expansion plans.

Although chamber staff could not be reached directly, Chamber Chairman Timothy Guzzle said in a prepared statement that the company's expansion plan "enhances our reputation as an area where new ideas are developed by forward-thinking companies." Part of the move to open a second facility is aimed at consolidating the company's administrative tasks to one office locally. Currently, each of The Signature Group's 13 calling centers nationwide have their own administrative offices. The company's current center will become The Signature Group's first "satellite calling center" with the new location becoming the decision-making unit. In addition to marketing the Montgomery Ward credit card file, The Signature Group does direct telemarketing for such companies as American Express, Citibank and Mobil Oil. The 28-year-old company plans to open four additional calling centers next year.

The company's consumer club products include a dental plan, an auto club and an attorney referral network. Group members get discounts on services. Turner Entertainment Co Used with permission The Cartoon Network draws on a library of 8,500 animated features, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Turner's Cartoon Network has become a surprise hit Ratings leaders for basic cable television in the third quarter: Network Rating1 Share2 TBS 1.2 Ti Nickelodeon 1.1- 3.7 USA 1.1 3.5 TNT 0.9 3.0 Cartoon Network 0.8 2.8 Arts Entertainment 0.8 2.2 CNN 0.7 22 ESPN 0.7 2.4 Lifetime 0.7 1.8 WGN 0.6 T9 'One rating point equals percent of all households that get the network. 'A share point represents percent of all television sets in use at the time.

the number of households it reaches, to 11.6 million, and it turned a profit within 18 months of its launch, which is highly unusual in television programming. All this for a network that Turner Broadcasting itself originally thought "would be more of a niche service," says Kitsie Riggall, a Turner vice president. Not that "Home Improvement," the highest-rated show on television, needs to worry. For all its good fortune, the Cartoon Network still faces growing pains. Its audience, for example, doesn't always mesh with its advertisers' needs: Fully one-third of its viewers are age 18 or older, a bit beyond the Toys Us stage.

And the network's efforts to expand overseas have run into some unusual hurdles. Porky Pig offends Muslim viewers, for instance. Still, the channel, perhaps more than other cable networks, should benefit from a Federal Communications Commission decision earlier this month that gave cable television operators greater, flexibility to raise rates when they add channels. A Wall Street Journal Report When Yasser Arafat was thinking about moving from Tunis to the Gaza Strip earlier this year, he discovered that the Gaza Strip didn't show the Cartoon Network. "Well, I'm not going then," the Palestine Liberation Organization leader told Eason Jordan, who had delivered the bad news.

Arafat is "a 'Tom Jerry fanatic," explains Jordan, a senior vice president at Cable News Network, which, like the Cartoon Network, is owned by Turner Broadcasting System Inc. The Palestinian leader is only one of the more prominent fans of what has become a surprising success for Turner Broadcasting. Just 25 months old, the Cartoon Network which draws on a library of 8,500 animated features, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week was the fifth-highest-rated channel in cable television in the third quarter. That put it ahead of such stalwarts as ESPN, the all-sports network, and CNN. The channel this year nearly doubled Sources: Turner Broadcasting System, A G.

Nielsen "Channels like Cartoon that don't cost a lot and have high consumer appeal should do quite well" as cable companies expand their offerings, says Tom Wolzien, an analyst with Sanford C. See CARTOON, Page 8 Court appoints receiver to take over Marada wi ir Fines fund the future: We may start seeing many more minority companies crop up thanks to the greediness of U.S. oil companies. The U.S. Department of Energy has made a $3.5 million deposit into an innovative program designed to help businesses owned by minorities and women across the country.

At a time when the federal government is screaming about budget deficits (who can still remember a time when it wasn't), such a gift might seem like manna from heaven for small business owners. But it's not. It might be better dubbed gifts from the greedy. The $3.5 million, every penny of it, comes from the oil companies that have been fined for overcharging customers. When the fines are paid to the department, it deposits the money into banks such as NationsBank of Florida, which has joined forces with other business leaders to expand the Bank Deposit Financial Assistance Program.

Growing assets Since the fund began in 1980, it has grown almost fourfold from $53 million to $204 million. And the NationsBank agreement expands the deposit program by making it available to minority financial institutions located in 28 states and two U.S. territories. "This creative partnership with NationsBank of Florida will significantly assist minority banks seeking to enhance their lending ability in minority communities," said Corlis S. Moody, director of the department's program administration office, when announcing the pact.

The federal assistance program allows NationsBank to act as the department's trustee in purchasing certificates of deposit worth up to $95,000 from participating minority financial institutions nationwide. Theme park to update playground By LISA BACKMAN Tribune Staff Writer TAMPA Busch Gardens will open a dragon-themed playground next spring in which adults and kids will play together in a tree-house, miniature Ferris wheel and miniature log ride. The 1 i2-acre playground, to be called "Land of the Dragons," will replace Dwarf Village and will be the park's main new attraction next year, Busch spokeswoman Margaret Retzlaff said. Dwarf Village, which opened in the Bird Gardens area of the Tampa theme park in 1983, needed updating to allow adults and children to play together on rides. Dwarf Village featured small rides primarily suited for children, Retzlaff said.

Busch announced plans for Land of the Dragons on Tuesday, Inviting children from the Safety-Land Day Nursery in Tampa to sponge paint dragons on the boards surrounding the construction site. Busch is donating a plush toy for every dragon painted to the Tampa Bay Toys for Tots cam- Busch Gardens photo A dragon character named Dumphrey greets children from Safety-Land Day Nursery in Tampa, who were on hand to paint the walls around the construction area. Busch Gardens donated a toy for each dragon painted to Toys for Tots, collected by Marine Staff Sgt. Young, left, and Sgt. Quedera.

By REX HENDERSON Tribune Staff Writer TAMPA A court-appointed receiver has seized control of Marada Global Corp. and its sister companies, which are accused of running an investment scam from offices in Clearwater. U.S. District Judge Ralph Nim-mons ordered Tampa lawyer Charles Stutts to take over the company at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission. It appears that the funds of the investors in the Marada entities are in jeopardy," Nimmons' order said.

"Various principals of the Marada entities have ted numerous securities laws violations, and a receiver is necessary to ensure that funds of investors remain protected." Marada "continues to deny there has been any fraud or securities violation," said Robert Wiggins, attorney for the firm. He characterized the receivership as a "positive step" for the company because it did not include an order of dissolution or distribution of the funds. The SEC, however, has not asked for those steps. The SEC claims that three Marada companies collected more than $2 million from investors, telling them that the money would be used to launch an airline and gambling empire based in the Caribbean. The airline and gambling rights claimed by the company were a fiction, the SEC said in court documents.

Meanwhile, high-pressure sales" operations received commissions of 40 percent of investors' "money and much of the rest went to Marada accounts overseas. Stutts said he has taken possession of Marada offices in Clearwater, and examined documents stored there. So far, he has been unable to locate the company's bank records. After deducting the securities sales commissions, Stutts said he is looking for about $1.5 million In investors' money. Wiggins said Hatfield kept the firm's bank records in the Cayman Islands, where he transferred at least $300,000.

The SEC is also battling Hatfield for control of those offshore accounts in Cayman Island courts. I paign. Interactive rides are becoming increasingly popular at theme parks, said Donna Ross, executive vice president of the Florida Attractions Association, a Tallahassee-based trade group. "Theme parks are moving away from simulator rides, where you just look at something, to interactive rides, where you participate," Ross said. "What a great idea to make it interactive for adults who are young at heart." Land of the Dragons will feature a dragon character named Dumphrey, Busch's Retzlaff said.

The dragon theme is carried throughout the area, she said. The treehouse will be three-stories high and will have a stairway up to it and a slide down from it. The log ride will be a water ride. i You can reach Mickie Valente through Prodigy e-mail at trib02c or via the Internet at trib02cprodigy.com. You can write her at The Tampa Tribune, P.O.

Box 191, Tampa, Fla. 33606, or post messages on the bulletin boards on Tampa Bay Online, the Tribune's computer online service on Prodigy. 1'- i.