The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 66

THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1995 Short sellers hold their ground Barrick, Bank of Montreal see big increases ANVARI old ways are dying CONTINUED FROM PAGE El BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS pocket the difference. A large short position in a company's stock can indicate that investors expect the stock to fall. Alternatively, others might interpret an increase in short interest as a sign that a stock might actually climb, because the borrowed shares must eventually be bought back. Larger short positions can also result from arbitrage trades tied to pend-ingmergersandacquisitions. The five largest short positions were in methanol producer Methanex forest-products companies Domtar Inc.

of Montreal and Cascades gold producer Barrick Gold and oil and gas producer Petro-Canada. The five biggest increases in short interest occurred in Barrick Gold, Bank of Montreal, Tiomin Resources Hudson's Bay and National Bank of Canada. The five biggest declines in short interest occurred in Nova Teck Chesbar Resources Do-fasco and Semi-Tech Corp. Short interest in stocks traded on the Montreal Exchange was unchanged in the second half of November, the exchange said. The number of borrowed shares that were sold totalled 86.4 million on Nov.

30, unchanged from 86.4 million on Nov. 15. In a short sale, an investor borrows stock from a broker and sells it, betting the price will decline so he can buy the stock back, return it to the lender and BuybackatCott TORONTO Cott Corp. said it filed with the Toronto Stock Exchange to buy back up to 4.02 million, or 6.6 per cent, of its common shares over the next 12 months. The Toronto-based maker of private-label soft drinks and food has seen its share price decline 46 per cent from a year ago, amid disappointing earnings and a perception that the private-label market has weak growth prospects.

It's also seen some of its share of the Canadian soft drink market fall to rivals Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. Cott's stock rose 25 cents to $7.50 in Toronto yesterday. Under the buyback, Cott proposes to purchase up to 1.21 million, or 2 per cent, of its 60.5 million shares every 30 days. Cott said that excluding purchases made by trustees under Cott's employee-stock incentive plans, the company hasn't repurchased shares during the past 12 months.

Royal Bank sells TORONTO The Royal Bank of Canada said it has sold 3 million common shares of Central Capital Corp. more meaningful to people." Echoing? the sentiment that the change profieS is not simply a matter of coping witlf budget cuts, Concordia's rector, Fred, erick Lowy, said the budget comp'res sion "will force changes that are deslr able in their own right." And so we see a professor of contem'-porary dance struggling with how the concepts of continuous quality im: provement can be used to enhance dent services, a professor of chemistry participating in the challenges of of-" fering courses via a professor of engineering trying to in- terpret the results of the latest market survey or a professor of forestry tempting to establish a new joint co'dop-" erative program with industry. Internally, there is a genuine effort to use the best features of the existing structure to facili- A-rv tate the necessary changes. The Smaller 4ri guild-inspired me- dieval notion of DUagetS' the university as a self-governing "wMforCe'-- community of scholars is still the rhnnopi. 'Met Nanny' prevents youngsters from ogling online pornography acquired previously in the course of the ongoing restructuring of that company.

The shares were sold privately. Terms were not disclosed. The bank said it now dominant organizational paradigm on which are superimposed the labor-union arrangements of the industrial age. The that are A in theirs. Net Nanny shuts the whole thing down and the kid has to get Mom's help to turn the computer back on," Ross said.

"It puts all control in the terminal owner's hand. It's not my right to tell you what you should or shouldn't let your children see." The purpose of Net Nanny and programs like the competing SurfWatch is to counteract the fallacy that Washington, or any other government, can censor a "global network built to withstand a nuclear holocaust," said Jay Friedland, vice-president of Sur-fwatch Software Inc. The Internet branched out in 1979 from a military communications network designed to keep lines open to Europe in the event of wan It now links 30 million users. SurfWatch, based in Los Altos, differs from Net Nanny in that adults don't have to type in which words and online areas they don't want children to see. The company has identified some 2,000 sites that aren't "child friendly" and it constantly updates its software to catch new pornography entering the system.

Using an onoff switch, parents can choose whether they want these areas ruled out or not. "Many parents just don't have the patience to type in all the commands needed to block access," said Fried-land. Ross said U.S. government efforts to label what's obscene and provide fines of up to $100,000 U.S. won't necessarily stop kids from gaining access to such material, as a lot of it originates overseas.

He added that parents need to be taught to be more computer-literate and understand that "95 percent of the Net is superb and only 5 percent raises questions." "Net Nanny was designed with two major goals, one is to protect children and the second is to protect freedom of speech. Censorship should come from the computer operator alone, not from the state." Trove's stock last traded on Dec. 20, when it closed down 15 cents at 95 cents a share. The stock's price has ranged from 23 cents to $2.25 in the past year. Net Nanny's site is accessible on the World Wide Web at http:www.net-nanny.com.netnanny.

SurfWatch's site is at http:www.surfwatch.com. WILLIAM J. WILLITTS BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS VANCOUVER A Canadian software entrepreneur has beaten Big Brother to the punch. Trove Investment Corp. has released a computer program that stops children from accessing pornography and other objectionable material on the Internet, hoping to capitalize on parental concerns before governments legislate cyber-censorship.

The software, called Net Nanny, is designed to filter out the "darker side of the said Gordon Ross, president of the Vancouver-based company Among those in Ross's sights: World Wide Web pages, chat lines, and news groups dealing with pedophilia, incest, neo-Nazism or racism, as well as formulas for bombs and drugs. U.S. congressional committees passed bills this year that would impose fines and prison terms for people making "indecent" material available to minors on online services. The legislation has become part of a much larger telecommunications-overhaul law that is still being considered. In Ottawa, Solicitor General Herb Gray said he's concerned with ready access to hate literature on the Net and is "reviewing" whether any action should be taken.

With Net Nanny, adults can type in key words, phrases and other data that they want to make taboo. Whenever these items are displayed, the computer stops operating. "Every time 'What's your or a word such as 'sex' crosses the screen, old ways are being turned around to OWU right: achieve the same results as those of the much-applauded modern concept of participatory management. Exfer- nally, what was unthinkable is happen ing. The universities are setting aside their traditional rivalries and are1 working hard to co-operate to eliminate.

duplications and introduce efficiencies' in their teaching, research and admin-? istrative activities. As we approach the new there's great hope that the universities will be able to continue to generate the, scientific knowledge that keeps the' Canadian economy competitive and to educate the young and the old as in- formed citizens who are also well-trained for the scarce and globally-, cherished jobs of the information age. Above all, they'd be here to act as much needed critics in the profound-political, social, and ethical debates that lie ahead. Mohsen Anvari is dean of the faculty of commerce and administratioHot Concordia University. Airline introduces bookings via Internet SEATTLE Alaska Air Group Inc.

said it is the first U.S. airline to let passengers book and purchase tickets over the Internet. Customers can book flights, purchase tickets with a credit card and get reservation confirmations via a modem-equipped computer. The booking system lets passengers choose from different prices and flight itineraries, while allowing them to view information about the cities the airline services. Alaska Air Group is an affiliate of Alaska Airlines.

BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS owns 145,889 common shares of Central Capital, which is a Toronto-based holding company. Jilbey to issue shares Jilbey Exploration Ltd. said it has completed a private placement with Endurance Investments under which Jilbey will issue 1.2 million units for total proceeds of $180,000. Jilbey said each unit consists of one common share and one-half of a warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at 20 cents for 18 months.

Propeeds will be used for working capital, it said. Jilbey, based in North Bay, was the secohd-most-active junior mining stock on the Montreal Exchange yesterday, gaining 3.5 cents to close at 15.5 cents. Crown Life case moves REGINA Crown Life Insurance Co. said a U.S. federal court has transferred a $50-million (U.S.) lawsuit accusing the company of deceptive and fraudulent sales practices back to the Texas State Court system.

The Federal Court in Austin, made the decision on the basis that the legal proceedings were at an advanced stage and should be concluded at the state level. On Oct. 30, the Regina-based insurer declared itself a "foreign state" in an attempt to squelch the $50 million Texas jury award against it and move about 25 other lawsuits concerning the company's sales practices into U.S. federal courts from state courts. The company was able to declare itself a "foreign state" after a Saskatchewan government agency acquired an unspecified amount of nonvoting equity stock in Haro Financial a closely held investment company that owns 64 per cent of Crown Life's shares.

Cancer therapy okayed VANCOUVER -QLT Photothera-peutics Inc. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its Photofrin therapy, which kills cancer cells in the throat using simple light, for sale in the U.S. The approval makes Photofrin the first of a new type of cancer treatment called photodynamic therapy, where patients get a drug to make their tumors light-sensitive. The light then kills the cancer cells.

QLT is trying to develop other light-activated drugs to treat cancer and other diseases. BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS. DOW JONES Alberta oil spill could last four weeks CM CALGARY HERALD MOTOROLA NOKIA HUDIOK3K is) very compact only 7 oz. MVX850 WORLD'S SMALLEST PHONE ELITE WORLD'S LIGHTEST PHONE large display An oil-well leak southwest of Edmonton could spill about 1,000 barrels per day for up to four weeks before attempts to halt the flow are successful, Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. said yesterday The Calgary-based company has contained, collected and started trucking off site the oil that has reached the surface while continuing efforts to find a solution to stem its flow, spokesman Vince Rodych said.

But problems with the 16-year-old well won't be easily solved. Amoco is also conducting tests on the local environment to determine the extent of the contamination. The spill is a result of "a wellbore casing failure," the company said, referring to the structure in the ground through which oil is pumped from its reservoir. The problem began late Dec. 21.

Oil and natural gas reach the surface via the outside of the well's piping and through fissures in the ground extending to the surface. "There's a column of gas about 30 feet in the air and pools of oil where it's been bubbling to the surface," Rodych described, adding that the gas had not been ignited. "There is a light oil mist that's also coming up with the gas flow and it's dissipating in the air and settling in the snow and on (a nearby) residence." One family living near the lease has been temporarily moved. Power and gas in the area have been turned off, Rodych said. Efforts to stem the flow of oil and sweet gas by pumping mud to the bottom of the hole have been unsuccessful, Rodych added.

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For the next six months, Bennett wrote, Tundra's operations will change "very little" as the salespeople already in place continue selling the books and stock is reprinted according to demand. He wrote: "We expect that the sales force will take over on July 1, 1996. In the meantime our plan is to find the best specialist children's editor we can, to work with May Cutler to help us publish those children's books which are now under contract, and to take over the impossible job of filling May Cutler's shoes." Cutler started Tundra to produce 12 bilingual booklets on the arts for Expo '67, and while in the early years Tundra focused on poetry and novels, Cutler gravitated towards children's books with strong visuals. In 1973, Tundra published the childhood classic A Prairie Boy's Winter by William Kurelek, the first of seven Kurelek books. In the late '70s, Cutler brought out award-winning books by Yukon artist Ted Harrison.

A Tundra book, The Last Quest of Gilgamesh, by St. Laurent writer Ludmila Zeman, won the Governor General's prize in November for children's illustration. WE BUY SELL USED PHONES (Member of the Better Business Bureau) 'Activation requlmd Soma conditions apply. CfllUor details Flowers for All Occasions Insurance, Investment and Tax Strategies for Families, Seniors and Small Business smith mim- BROS. Mi florist icm'tstDGfiffiniiiifiiZ I 1 jt i jr jp Around the corner Jfo INSURANCE INVESTMENTS 2KK) Mansfield Street, Suite 300, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2Y9 Iclcpnone (51-1) 286-7925 Fax: (511) 288-3020' rtKlH.M) 1 1 1 1 WUKLII jmml itffifJ ffffiS II APPROVED 2t9 St.

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