The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 3

Modesto Bee San JoaquinTuolumne Edition Thursday September 15 Metro Set non Bid to land UC Modesto gains steam Directoractor Robert Conrad uses a megaphone to give instructions during filming at Debbie NodaThe Bee UOP stadium in Stockton Cameras rolling at UOP stadium Actor Conrad directing television movie based on Tiger football team By MICHAEL WINTERS Bee start waiter When University of California regents meet next month contingents from Central Valley cities will be in the audience listening hard for news about a new UC campus Modesto will be in the first row The effort to steer UC to Stan islaus County is just gaining steam the first meeting of 22 campus activists was Wednesday in Modesto They promised a tireless effort for perhaps four years the time it could take regents to choose a new city The largest campuses are at capacity while enrollment continues to set records One solution is a new campus university officials say Mayor Carol Whiteside a UC Davis graduate and spearhead of the committee predicted regents would announce the drive for a new campus when they meet in San Francisco Oct 20 place it goes the um versity does good things for the community said Burton Pike a 1957 UC Berkeley graduate and co-chairman of the committee Modesto can you imagine the prestige The campus would more likely be outside the city on land yet to be identified committee members said lame Cromwell Chamlier of Commerce economic development director said a campus promises jobs and education for the volley where unemployment is chronic It could generate more than $2 million in economic activity in eluding spin-off jobs in other industries she said talking to a number of Si! icon Valley electronics companies if we had a UC campus here they'd probably be here in a minute Cromwell said major concern is whether they can attract the kind of workers they need "A campus would fie a tremendous thing for the community In his annual report in June University President David Gard Demetras upheld an argument by Steven A Clair of Stockton Cohagan attorney lair said Wednesday he was pleased with the decision "Assuming it was libel and I'm not saying it was the plaintiff could have refused to run it" Clair said The judge also dismissed the paper slander suit which was based on statements Cohagan By LISA ROSS Bee staff writer STOCKTON Louis Armani-no took a short journey back in time Tuesday during his daily bicycle ride through the campus of the University of the Pacific As Armanino pedaled down Pershing Avenue the sight of trucks and cameras caught his attention and drew him to stadium where he saw one of Jhis favorite actors Robert Conrad doing what he did more than five decades ago Conrad was playing a reserve quarterback for a television movie he is starring in and directing brings back a lot of memories" said Armanino who was the reserve quarterback for football team in 1932 was the smallest and the youngest guy on the team" Armanino said have any football experience But they needed 22 men They twisted my arm and persuaded me to come plight is a little different than He is the smallest and oldest player on the team In the movie scheduled to be shown on CBS in late November or early December Conrad is a 53-year-old retired Stockton tire salesman who goes back to college and makes the football team as a reserve quarterback He is called in to play after the quarterback is injured and does so well that he leads UOP to a winning season said producer Glenn Banner However success come without pain He In the ad which appeared in the form of a letter to the editor Cohagan charged that the paper had Victoria Royster of Tracy by intentionally running a badly garbled story on Royster in its May 25 edition The story appeared a week before the June 7 primary election in which Royster finished third in a three-way county supervisor race The paper denied those char nor called growth and ethnic di versify the system's major challenges as the century ends Both uuues seem to bode well for a 1 0h UC campus in the Cen tra! Valley Fnrollment applications ue up 4 percent this fall from a war before after seven sears of record enrollment A new campus would take the pressure off existing campuses and spread the system outward from its Bay area and Southern California concentrations today Though the valley has state universities in Fresno Bakersfield and Turlock It is without a research oriented UC ampus Don Dali a California State University business professor and former business dean satd a UC campus would enhance the Turlock campus rather than harm it because of the distinct roles of the two universities Fthmc diversify would tie promoted by a valley campus promoters argue because of the many minority students here that cannot afford to attend distant campuses The committee Wednesday named other advantages mclud mg a low cost of living for professors and staff nearness to the Hay area and fast population growth Potential problems lom in the lack of ready land for a campus Cromwell said Opposition if it comes will he from farmers who could lose land to a new campus or find themselves farming next to it committee members said Regents if they act next month will set the selection pro cess in motion next year and choose a campus site in 112 Whiteside forecast the campos is expected lo he in operation by the year 2000 A coalition of cities between Merced and Bakersfield is months ahead of Modesto in (hr effort to lure the campus They may have an ally In newly elect ed regents chairman leo Kolll-gian of Fresno Politics may have as much lo do with the decision as good planning Whiteside cautioned legedly made in the newspaper office that were heard by employees and unidentified non-employees But Demetras said the newspa per has the nght to resubmit the slander suit with specifics on what Cohagan said and identify mg the non employer Roger hrimp of Modesto attorney for the Escalon news pa per could not be reached for comment consolidated with other laiura plants In Denver Albuquerque and Kaysviile Utah Christine Tilton a spokeswoman for Borden Inc said the final decision on the closure of the plant rests on the outcome of negotiations between company and union representative She declined further comment At a special meeting Saturday leaders of Teamster Urnon local 4 19 said their Last resort lo keep the plant open would he io call for a consumer boycott of the company snack food products That would require assistance of the company other VM) employees throughout the state who would not lose their Job according to union officials Burke said the chamber is offering lo lend a helping hand to two (aura Scudder's employee who are planning lo launch a city-wide petition drive to keep (he plant open Neither of the two employees Linda lowland and Elaune Foster could be reached Wednesday for comment Judge throws out libel suit against advertiser almost becomes estranged from his wife who is piaved by Jennifer News that Conrad who is known best for his role as James West in the Wild is making a movie here has drawn hundreds of spectators to stadium Filming began earlier this week Conrad also is known for his roles in Squadron" and Mountain Rangers" a good actor" said Charles Helwig who skipped work Tuesday to get Conrad's autograph not worn out like a lot of actors and actresses because he produces non-repetitious Armanino who has been one of fans for the past 10 to 15 years said he just wanted to catch a glimpse of him in per it was libel was the plaintiff could ges however printed a new error-free story on June 1 and then filed the libel suit against Cohagan who had campaigned for Royster in the Escalon area that's for sure" Burbank students have never been completely without toilets this year according to Rich have two septic tanks one on each side of the school" said Rich "So when one tank backs up we have still the tank on the other side of the school son "I wanted to take a look at him" Armanino said has had wide exposure but he's a pretty clean-cut family man lies not divorcing like a lot of people Nearly 700 students and Stockton residents who have flocked to UOP to see the star have landed positions as extras and production assistants Ban tier said During halftime show at UOP Conrad and his crew will provide the entertainment as they film a segment of the crowd for the movie In addition to filming at the stadium some of the shooting for the movie will be done at the Stoc kton Country Club Brannon Tires and a private home Banner said and I'm not saying it have refused to run attorney Steven A Clair Demetras ruled this week that The Times had no grounds to sue for libel in that the paper did not have to run the advertisement In making the ruling Tuesday But Ousdahl said it's just a matter of time before the whole system goes belly up could be next month it could be next yea he said "We would rather be fire preventers than firefighters See Page B-2 BURBANK Tracy chamber stands behind effort to keep potato chip plant open By BRYCE WHITE Bee staff writer STOCKTON San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Stephen Demetras has tossed out a libel suit filed by The Escalon Times against Gladys Cohagan of Escalon Cohagan was so miffed at typographical errors in a news story that she paid $546 for a full-page ad June 1 to criticize the paper Problems at Burbank By DIANE NELSON Bee staff writer Teachers at Burbank Elementary School sometimes cringe when they hear that fateful question: I go to the bathroom?" When the septic tank is backed up like it has on four occasions since school started Aug 30 a trip to the bathroom becomes a cross-campus search to find a toilet that works And when the rains come the whole septic system will go kaput according to Scott Ousdahl director of operations for the Modesto City Schools District be able to pump fast enough to keep even one toilet he said Modesto City Schools Trustees on Monday declared a state of emergency allowing school officials to abandon the 40-year-old septic system and connect into the city's sewer line just grateful the city is going to let us tie into its system or the kids might have to use portable toilets" said Ousdahl By LISA ROSS Bw sUS TRACY The Chamber of Commerce is offering its support to local I aura official and employees in hopes of preventing the closure of the firm plant here The plant employs 326 hourly and Ik salaried workers The chamber's executive board decided Wednesday morning to write a letter to the head of Borden Inc which owns Laura Scudder's manufacturer of potato chips tortilla chips and cheese flavored products letting them know we're standing behind them all we can to keep the plant open" said Dr Erwin Burke president of the chamber "We want to know tf there ts anything that we can do to help" Richard Brodkin vice president and general manager of the Anaheim-based company announced last Thursday that the racy plant may be shut down in stages starting Nov 8 and continuing until Jan 31 Brodkin said the plant's manufacturing operations would be Ai Gotub The Bee Burbank school principal Fred Rich examines work that was done lo a septic tank Burbank school located on Paradise Road has no sprinkler system So the only way to keep the landscape green is to saturate it with water "And every time we water the lawn the leach line overflows" said Principal Fred Rich "We water the lawn anymore.