The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 23

Ths Markets C4 Tuesday, July 21, 1992 First to go layoffs in Japan hit women hardest i On Media Advertising Your Money a The Atlanta Journal Business in Brief a Dow average NASDAQ Prime rate 6.0 i i The Atlanta Constitution The Cost of Maria Sapoita 26-week T-bills 314 In the News C5. Clean Air Fii clhDe ifely to By Martin Crutsinger ASSOCIATED PRESS i ashington When Federal Reserve I Chairman Alan Greenspan delivers his midvear assessment of the economy to-' day, no one will be listening more closely thatft ueorgeousn. i But analysts said Monday that Dr, Green span's congressional testimony may provide lit tle comfort to a president who has seen his stand ing in the polls plummet along with the economy. I VA' '-t Many analysts said they expect the Fed chief. to deliver a rather somber forecast, predicting that the recovery will strengthen in coming months but that growth will remain anemic.

i "Greenspan will emphasize that he is trying to ease credit enough to keep the economy from 1 going into a nose dive and achieve at least a mod- est amount of growth. Under the circumstances, that is the best he can do," said David Jones, iul economist at Aubrey G. Lanston Co. Such a forecast is not likely to sit well with Mr. Bush as he faces an election less than four 'j months away.

The president has said he expects his standing in the polls to improve as the econo- my does, but recent economic news has been bad. i Bad news on Jobs The jobless rate the most politically sensi tive of all economic barometers has shot up by 0.6 of a percentage point in the past two months, reaching an eight-year high of 7.8 percent. When the latest unemployment report was issued July 2, the Fed cut its discount rate, the interest it charges banks, to a 29-year low of 3 percent. said they don't rule out further Developer pays tribute to the American Indian All his life, developer Thomas G. Cousins has held a deep fascination for the culture and the plight of the American Indian.

In some inexplicable way, Mr. Cousins has had a spiritual bond with Native Americans. "We came and took their land. This was their country," Mr. Cousins said.

"I respect their respect for the environment. They were very, very sad about the way we treated the environment We killed off the buffalo. And we as a nation still violate the environment." So now in his own way, Mr. Cousins is giving something back to the American Indian. Last week, he unveiled "Eagle Domain," a 15-foot bronze figure on a 30-foot granite base, that is showcased in his Wildwood Office Park off Windy Hill Road in Cobb County.

1 Mr. Cousins spent six years working with New York artist Muriel Castanis on the sculpture. They had to battle with both his joint-venture partners and associates, who were against commissioning the piece and favored a more traditional work of art. "I wanted something that would speak to where we are, on the edge of the Chattahoochee National Forest This land was the land of the Indians starting with prehistoric Indians to Cherokee Indians," Mr. Cousins said.

"I can just feel them out there." At first, Ms. Castanis didn't catch on to what Mr. Cousins wanted. He had vaguely mentioned something about Indians, but she thought of Atlanta and the phoenix rising from the ashes. She made three phoenix pieces and showed them to Atlanta gallery owner David Heath.

But Mr. Heath told her politely that Mr. Cousins was really hoping for an American Indian. So she became immersed in Native American culture. She decided to do a bronze sculpture of a cloth drape that was a composite of costumes of Georgia's five major tribes.

Spirit of an Native American In describing the piece with the artist last week, Mr. Cousins said it first reminded him of the "ghost of an Indian." "Don't call it a ghost," Ms. Castanis corrected. "Call it the spirit of an Indian." Early on, others were not as taken with the piece as Mr. Cousins.

But he was encouraged to go ahead with it when Gudmund Vigtel, former director of Atlanta's High Museum, liked the artist's model. Mr. Cousins would not reveal how much he is spending on the work. "It certainly is worth more than what it cost," he said. Ever since he can remember, Mr.

Cousins has had an affinity for Native Americans. "From the time I played cowboys and Indians, I was the Indian who got shot by the older boys," Mr. Cousins said. And this is not the first time Mr. Cousins has blended his respect for the American Indian with his appreciation for art.

Hanging on the walls of his corporate office i in Wildwood are portraits of American Indian chiefs painted in the 1800s by Henry Inman. "Those portraits are of Indian chiefs who were painted when they came to Washington to sign peace treaties," he said. "I still get mad I when I tell the story. We made peace treaties with the Indians and promptly broke them." i Maria Saporta's coumn appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. rate cuts, but only if the economy remains gloomy.

'i Fed will look like it has its head in the sand if Chairman Greenspan doesn't take serious note of the recent data that has been so negative' NicxARROYOstaif David Robb stands inside the 256-foot-tall fiberglass stack at Georgia Power's Plant Yates. New technology at the coal-burning plant is designed to comply with the Clean Air Act. said Allen Sinai, Boston chief economist I "There has been a distinct loss of momentum as we move through the summer, raising increasing questions over whether the economy is slip-J' ping back into recession," Dr. Sinai said. said one reason they believe will avoid sounding too cheery is that events have not borne out his more optimistic forecasts of two previous appearances.

Economist David Wyss of DRI-McGraw Hill Inc. predicted the Fed chief "will say that the re- covery is alive and well despite rumors to contrary" while conceding problems exist. i PS i It liivi. I The Environmental Protection Acwcy ha listed 24 mcl i Includirj Atlanta, as having to meet ozone standards 9 years. The worst offenders have the most time to attain ttan6rJs beoise their problems are so Severe that they ft ks, i.

z. '1 Mervyn to open pt 1 i Years to attain ozone standards: three new stores; one unit closing Source: Environmental Protection Agency Law brings new expenses for industries Compliance will reshape economy By Nancy Nethery STAFF WRITER Bill Reed wiped charcoal grit from the green marble table in his office at Atlanta-based Royal Oak Enterprises Inc. "It's an occupational hazard," said the president of the maker of charcoal briquettes. But Mr. Reed faces another cleanup, one that can't be accomplished with just the flick of his hand.

The company, which employs 60 in Atlanta, is calculating what it must spend and how it must change operations to comply with the 1990 Clean Air Act. That sweeping federal law, addresses everything from acid rain to ozone, with deadlines for most requirements falling between now and 2005. In conference rooms nationwide, executives are taking a hard look at the law and at the bottom line, making choices that will reshape the economy. At Royal Oak, that means thinking twice about building another plant and weighing the cost of changes to current facilities. For Georgia Power, it means rate increases and scheduling down time for plants that provide the Southeast with most of its power.

Nationwide, the costs are considerable: By 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates the price of implementing the act at $20 billion to $25 billion a year, or about 2.7 per- STAFF By Sonla Murray STAFF WRITER Mervyn's, which sold its Akers Mill location to Sports Authority said Monday that it plans to expand in metro Atlanta with three new -stores in Alpharetta, East Cobb and Austell. The announcement comes at a time when even the city's larger and more established tailers are struggling to attract recession-weary, consumers to their existing stores. But the Hayward, department" store fays despite current conditions, it wants to be a major player in the Atlanta retail community once the economy turns around. "We don't think we should wait until that happens to expand," said Mervyn's district manager1 Aubrey Avery. f'We've done a lot of research from a real estate standpoint, and we believe this is a very viable and booming market for us.

"When you look at the other retailers, like a Macy's or a Rich's, they have twice the units that we have," he said. "We think we have the customer base to support that kind of size as well. No one can doubt that Atlanta doesn't have potential for a lot of future The Atlanta department store lineup is also awaiting the arrival of Parisian Inc. this fall, making that retail sector more competitive. Mervyn's is currently in negotiations for sites in Alpharetta's North Point Mall, East Cobb at Merchant's Walk, and a developing strip center in Austell.

Those locations are expected to open over the next two years. The Akers Mill site will close July 25 and reopen as Sports Authority in spring 1993. Mervyn's 85 employees there will either be offered positions in other stores or a severance package. Mervyn's has five other stores in the Atlanta area. It is a division of Dayton Hudson Corp.

mm ti 1 1 -i it's ure out how to meet the national standards, which involves second-guessing regulators who have yet to finalize the rules. In this atmosphere of uncertainty, Royal Oak is considering whether to add a new plant Tougher air-quality standards "adds capital considerations to a new plant that makes it harder to justify," Mr. Reed said. "We can either do it at a higher cost that is passed on to consumers or make the choice not to do it" For some companies, the toughened regulations are an opportunity to make a virtue out of necessity. Amoco has installed vapor recovery systems on all its metro Atlanta service stations cent of the U.S.

gross national product. It's impossible to say how much of that cost will be borne directly by companies, said Rob Brenner, director of the EPA's office of policy analysis and review in Washington, D.C. Some of the cost will be passed on to consumers through higher prices, he said. And some of it companies will have to absorb, lowering profits and crimping their ability to grow. Hard chokes Royal Oak has been on the giving side of the equation.

The company reformulated some of its lighter fluid to conform with California's stringent air-quality standards. But now Royal Oak must flg- i I BECKY NASHStafl Thomas G. Cousins and artist Muriel Castanis at the unveiling of "Eagle Domain" in Wildwood Office Park. Please see CLEAN, C8.