The Bakersfield Californian from Bakersfield, California • Page 53

54 May 18, 1977 Shr gahrrafa 16 OlalifDrtitan Many firms found galling consumers NEW YORK (AP) When consumers are asked what industries should be investigated or changed, more than a third point their fingers at food manufacturers, hospitals, the medical profession, oil producers and automakers, according to a survey made public today. Nevertheless, business leaders are "alarmingly" out of touch with their complaints, the report found. It said more than half of the representative sample of Americans felt that general product quality had fallen in the last 10 years. "Consumerism at the Crossroads." compiled from personal interviews with more than 1.500 adult consumers and 522 government, business and consumer affairs representatives, was prepared by Louis Harris Associates. Harvard University Professor Stephen Greyser and Steven Diamond of the Marketing Science Institute, a nonprofit research organization associated with the Harvard Business School.

While inflation is the No. 1 anxiety, the report said. American people also are "deeply troubled by the perceived failures of companies, their products and their services. "They are worried about poor quality, dangerous products, misleading advertising and labeling, and the apparent lack of concern shown by companies for legitimate consumer interests "The study serves as a clear early warning signal to business." observed public opinion analyst Lou Harris, if business reacts slowly and grudgingly to consumer demands and fails to live up to consumer expectations, the call for far-reaching changes in the management and regulation of business may become irresistible. "Not only are the perceptions of the business group consistently at odds with those of the public and the (consumer) activists, but the gap between their perceptions is often alarmingly wide," Harris said.

"There is widespread recognition that the regulation of business is not satisfactory and needs reform," Harris added. ''And there is a widespread desire to involve people outside the federal government consumer activists, individual consumers and business itself in the process." When consumers were asked what industries they would like to see investigated or changed, the most common answers were: food manufacturers, with 45 per cent of the public's vote; hospitals, 44 per cent: the medical profession. 42 per cent: the oil industry. 39 per cent, and car manufacturers. 38 per cent.

The study also found the public doesn't alway see eye-to-eye with consumer advocates. For example, only 37 per cent of the public polled thinks consumer advocates should focus on electric utilities, while 73 per cent of the activists target the utilities. Similarly. 61 per cent of the consumer advocates picked out the nuclear power industry, compared with only 19 per cent of the public. On the basis of the study, it appeared that "consumerism is here to stay." Harvard's Greyse said, and consumers are saying they want a fairer deal in the marketplace 50 per cent feel they are getting a worse deal today than they did a decade ago.

The survey was commissioned by Sentry Insurance, a worldwide insurance group headquartered in Stevens Point. "to guide the company's search for new products and services." Some of the other attitudes the study uncovered are: per cent of the consumers questioned believe the quality of most products has deteriorated over the last 10 years. per cent of Americans believe most guarantees and warrantees are inadequate: 46 per cent believe they are written mainly for the protection of the manufacturers and 54 per cent believe they are not understandable. 54 per cent claim that newspapers, magazines and tv do not give enough attention to consumer affairs, while 6 per cent think too much attention is focused on the subject. per cent of Americans say they would support the goals of a consumer boycott and 13 per cent say they would actively participate.

per cent worry a great deal because of "the failure of many companies to live up to their claims made in advertising." per cent believe think most or all of television advertising is seriously misleading; and 28 per cent hold similar views about media advertising. cent per of the public believes that if a company's advertising is proven false, the company should be forced to correct such statements in its future advertising. Oilfields news By BILL RINTOl'L Californiaii Oil Editor Chevron U.S.A. has a pair of exploratory wells on tap for the West Side, including one in the strip separating the Buena Vista field from the Elk Hills field and another off the southwest flank of the Midway-Sunset field A depth of about 8.500 feet is expected to tell the story at Chevron's No. 324X on Sec.

9, 31S-23E. located from the northwest corner 2.650 feet south and 1.350 feet east. The drill site lies one mile north of production in the Buena Vista Front area of the Buena Vista field and two miles southwest of the nearest completed well in the Elk Hills field. The target is the Stevens sand. Adding interest to the play is a recent Navy find off the south flank of the Elk Hills field.

Navy last December tested Stevens sand at No. 342-2B. getting a flow at a rate of 1,500 barrels daily from the interval at 6.3276.399 feet. The find came at a site two and one-half miles northeast of where Chevron will look. Chevron's other wildcat is No.

82Xon Sec. 27. 32S-23E. located from the northeast comer 835 feet south and 210 feet west. A depth of 1.000 feet is expected to tell the story.

The drill site lies one and one-half miles southwest of Taft. Other new work for the Midway-Sunset field includes Chevron's WW No. 1 on Sec. 30, 12N-23W. a service well; Fred S.

Holmes' Kerr No. 7 on Sec. 13. 31S-22E. located from the southwest corner 1.880 feet north and 1.850 feet east; and six wells for Mobil on the Nevada property on Sec.

25, 32S-23E. Atlantic Richfield ny lias pdii ui localiurib IUI the Wheeler Ridge field, including B.M. Stansbury A No. 112-28 on Sec. 28.

l'lN- 20W. located from the northwest corner 1.170 feet south and 215 feet east; and B.M. Stansbury A No. 143-28. located from the same corner ,465 feet south and 1,801 feet east.

Tcnncco Oil Company added a second deep well to its string in the Pleito field, completing No. 2-25 on the pump tor 327 barrels a day of oil, 77 barrels a day of water and 92,000 cubic feet per day of gas. The well is a follow-up to Tenneco's No. 125 on Sec. 25, 11.V21W, which was completed last year to reactivate the Pleito field.

Loffland Brothers Company's Rig No. 6 handled the drilling assignment and moved to drill Tenneco's No. 3-25. Tenneco announced four promotions. Howard Musgrove has been promoted and trasferred to division geological engineer in the Pacific Coast Division, Bakersfield.

He formerly was geological engineering supervisor in the Midland, Texas, office. Robert A. Bowie, formerly production engineering supervisor, has been promoted to division production engineer in the Lafayette, offshore division. Glen D. Flowers, formerly senior geologist, was promoted to geological supervisor in the Gulf Coast division, Houston.

James A. McC'allum, formerly staff geologist in Frontier Projects, was promoted and transferred to division geologist in the Rocky Mountain division, Denver. Banker cites 'invasion' SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The consumer financial field long the domain of banks, credit unions and savings and loan associations is being invaded by department stores, oil firms and other businesses, according to a bank official. Speaking at the National Association of Mutual Savings Banks here yesterday. Maurice Mann, president of Federal Home Loan Bank of ban 1 oUlli bdlli.w must realize "their common foe is not one another, but the entire gamut of nonfian- cial and nondeposit institutions that compete for the consumer's dollar." Mann said several department stores and oil companies already are providing consumer financial services.

He noted that oil firms offer credit Intercity bus fares rise WASHINGTON (APi It's costing bus riders more to travel this week, although the 5 per cent increase in ticket prices is less than the bus companies wanted. Higher passenger fares were approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission last weekend for intercity bus routes. The bus companies had sought a 7 per cent hike. The interstate bus firms were allowed a 6 per cent fare increase in March. The ICC rejected the 7 per cent ticket price hike last Friday, telling the carriers they could file for the 5 per cent passenger hike on a 24- hour notice.

That notice was filed Saturday and the higher fares took effect Sunday, an ICC spokesman said. The commission also approved the bus companies' request for a 7 per cent increase in cargo fares. As an example of the new passenger rates, a one-way ticket between Washington and Philadelphia goes from $10.60 to $11.15 on Greyhound. Between New York and Washington on Trail- ways the fare increases from $18.20 to $19.05. The new fares apply only to charter routes, because the major bus firms offer maximum $50 fares for distance travel.

These programs, offering one-way tickets anywhere in the country for $50, are unaffected by the rate hike North Sea terminal due SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Petrolane, Incorporated, the nation's largest distributor of liquid petroleum gas, said Monday it will build a marine terminal in Europe to receive LP gas from the North Sea oil fields. R.J. Munzer. board chairman, said the terminal will be built near Rotterdam in the Netherlands. "The new terminal will permit a significant extension of the company's existing activities in Europe." Munzer said Potted plants are gold mine for Charles Lockerby who sells device which tells owners when to water them, Lockerby, holding one of his Moister Minders, said sales have been incredible.

Product was outgrowth of class exercise at Stanford University. (UPI Telephoto) Renoir goes for $600,000 London art dealer flops in first U.S. auction NEW YORK (AP) Challenging Sotheby Parke Bernet for leadership in the dog- eat-dog international art world, Christie's of London suffered what most independent dealers considered a disaster in its first New York sale. Of 50 impressionist paintings by some of the world's most famous artists put up for sale. 28 had to be withdrawn because bids were nowhere near the minimum prices set by their owners.

The Monday night sale, in Christie's new galleries at the Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue brought in only $4,172 million when at least $7 million had been expected By contrast. Sotheby's got $6.83 million for an impressionist sale of similar size and quality last week. Collectors and dealers alike were dismayed, cause the rivalry between the world's two premier art auctioneers was regarded here as a great boost for New York's virtually unchallenged claim to be the art capital of the world. They feared that sellers would consign their goods to Sotheby's, thinking that firm more likely to get them a better price. Many felt that Christie's might revise its policy of charging both sellers and buyers a 10 per cent fee.

No other auction house in America charges buyers a fee. Raymond Klein, a Philadelphia collector, got one of the year's great bargains He bought Renoir's "Reclining Bather" for $600,000. But he had to pay Christie's a $60.000 commission. Before the sale, which dragged along at a laggarrily pace, the ing's value had been estimated at up to $1 million. "I would have gone higher.

I would have gone to a mil lion." said Klein, a retired investor who already owns works by Picasso and Utril- lo. Asked how he felt about getting it for so much less, he said: "I'm very proud. I'm very happy. And I'm very, very lucky." Asked where they would hang it. Mrs.

Klein replied. "We have a picture gallery and a drawing room. It will fit in either." The black-tie auction attracted mostly dealers and some serious collectors. Art circles said many big collectors had flown to England for the dispersal of the Rothschild collection by a descendant, the Earl of Rosebery Industry index shows economy getting better WASHINGTON (AP) Another healthy gain in industrial output in April, despite a fall-off in auto production, shows the nation's economy is continuing upward. As the output of the nation's factories, mines and utilities expands, more jobs open up and sales and profits increase.

The Federal Reserve Board reported Monday that industrial production over-all was up eight-tenths of 1 per cent in March, the third consecutive month of growth Although the gain was below the March gain of 1.4 per cent, it still was a healthy increase. The one negative aspect to the report was a 4 per cent decline in auto assemblies during the month to an annual rate of 9.3 million units. The board blamed the decline on strikes at some auto plants and on an apparent reluctance by automakers to add to their relatively large inventories of small cars. The production of other durable consumer goods advanced strongly during the City rules LOS ANGELES (AP) No one running for election to a city post can directly seek political contributions from municipal employes under an ordinance passed by the City Council. Such a prohibition already- applied to incumbents, but not challengers in city elec- 'tions.

The ordinance was passed Wednesday. month, as did the output of nondurable consumer goods, urable goods, such as furniture and appliances, have a life expectancy of at least three years; while ble goods, including food and textiles, have a shorter useful period. The board said production of business equipment increased eight-tenths of 1 per cent, output of construction supplies gained seven-tenths of 1 per cent and materials production jumped 1.2 per cent. Output of iron and steel rose sharply for the third successive month, the board said. The board's industrial production index in April stood at 136.1 per cent of the 1967 average.

Total output in April was 6 per cent above a year earlier. Car of the future predicted by GM DETROIT (AP) If you're shopping for a new General Motors car in 1985, you may discover. are no more V8 engines. fourth car is powered by a diesel engine, which gets better fuel economy than a gasoline engine. "large" cars will weigh 300 pounds less than today's compacts.

cars will have front-wheel drive to increase interior space. will take a minimum 15 to 18 seconds for a GM car to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour, including the sporty Corvette, compared with a minimum 10- to 12-second range today. may be larger even though the vehicle is smaller. Those are some of the observations contained in a report GM recently submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency asked for a "hypothetical scenario" of what cars in the 1981-85 period would be like as a result of federal fuel economy laws which require new cars to average 27.5 miles per gallon in 1985.

The auto makers' 1977 car fleets average between 16 and 19 mpg. GM, the nation's largest auto maker, has made public portions of its report. Ford Motor Company has not released its report, and Chryler's was not immediately available. However, Ford and Chrysler are expected to go the same route as GM, which builds more than half the vehicles produced in the United States. GM cautioned that its conclusions do not represent final product plans, noting that "there is no guarantee that the consumer will buy the products.

autombile design is going to be changed more radically in the next several years than in any comparable period in the past." the company said in a letter accompanying its report. GM said it based its scenario on assumptions that the industry would get some relief from proposed toughening of emissions standards, and that there would be no major technological break-throughs. Since fuel economy is affected more by a vehicle's weight than any other factor. GM said its basic approach to better mileage is to make its cars smaller and lighter with smaller engines. Here are some of GM's trends: WEIGHT: The average GM car, which currently weighs 4.200 pounds, will weigh 3.100 in 1985.

The firm's intermediates, which average 4.500 pounds, will shed 900 pounds in 1981 and another 500 pounds in 1984. Full-sized cars, which were made smaller for 1977, will get smaller again in 1983. with their weight going down from a current 4.240 pounds to 3.550 on the average. GASOLINE ENGINES: The V8. so called because its eight cylinders are in a V-configuration, will be dropped for all 1983 GM cars except the Corvette, which loses the V8 in 1984.

Currently, three of four new cars are being bought with a V8. By 1985. GM's biggest engine will be a 3.8 liter V6. The firm estimates two-thirds of its 1985 cars will be built with four-cylinder engines, (he rest with six cylinders DIESELS: GM is introducing a diesel-powered Oldsmobile this fall, with expected sales of 50.000. or 1 per cent of total production.

If the engine proves to be popular, diesels will account for 5 per cent of total GM car output in 1981. and increase each following year by 5 per cent until reaching a 25 per cent share in 1985. GM cautions that the 25 per cent figure may be "overly optimistic." PRICE: GM wouldn't comment on prices specifically, but it said costs would go up a good indication of what will happen to prices. GM said the cost increase is due to changes needed to maintain a car's safety, performance and durability traits as it gets smaller and the use of new lightweight materials that are more expensive GM said it spent $1.1 billion to make its full-size cars smaller for 1977. and that was "as modest a program as possible." "As we go forward, downsizing may require the use of front wheel drive components, all new engines, all new transmissions, etc.

"he cost of such programs will be substantially higher than out 1977 program, which was largely able to utilize many carryover mechanical components." Ag record hit in San Diego SAN DIEGO (AP)-Led by tomatoes, eggs and avocados, San Diego county had record gross agricultural, production of $322.9 million last year, according to final statistics for 1976. The findings, announced by Kenneth Little the county's agriculture commissioner, show the county is 20th in the country in gross returns for the year. Little said the figure for last year is well ahead of early projections in which statisticians underestimated wholesale prices growers would receive for tomatoes, eggs and avocados. The other agricultural commodities in the top 10 revenue producers for the county were milk, Valencia oranges, lemons, strawberries, carnations, beef cattle and celery. Special Limited Edition Ford Granada Specially priced California's best-selling car gets even better.

New Limited Edition models are specially priced and specially equipped with extras Flight bench seat White sidewall tires Vinyl roof More, much more stereo HABERFELDE FORD 1400 ST. Bakersfield, Ca..