Page 12-Thursday, January 31, 1980- -The Michigan Daily
I
(in'- sti-tco'-shn)
American Institution,
noun. Religion. The Fam-
ily. Baseball. The Press.
Free Enterprise. Meijer
is an American Institu-
tion, too. We've become
that with the help of the
last one, free enterprise.
Meijer succeeds because
we have the selection of
quality products and well-
known brands you want.
" o And Meijer Thrifty Acres
has prices you can afford.
Meijer wants to be a part
of your institution: col-
- lege. No matter what
brands you choose, you'll
save money at Meijer.
Money that you'd probably
spend more of at that
- specialty shop near cam-
pus. Money, to spend on
other institutions, like
Saturday Night.
{ A-A
Ax education initself
Six miles southeast of campus on Carpenter Road.
AD SAYS T.V. MORE PROFITABLE THAN MOBIL:
Networks reject oil ad
NEW YORK (AP) - What is more
profitable - an oil company or a
television network? Mobil Corp. says a
network is, and it made a television
commercial saying so. The networks
say they will not run the commercial.
"I think it's 'censorship," Mobil
Executive Vice-President Herbert
Schmertz said yesterday. "I don't think
their motivation is to censor, but that is
the result."
THE NETWORKS said the decision
to reject the ad was based on long-
standing policies against airing com-
mercials on controversial public issues
and had nothing to do with the
discussion of their profits. NBC also
challenged the relevance of the com-
parison.
The Mobil commercial, which, has
run on local stations in New York,
Washington, and Los Angeles, features
a well-dressed man, described by Mobil
as a "security analyst-type," saying'
Mobil's profits were "big," but then
noting that Mobil spent more than $2.5
billion last year to find and produce oil
and gas.
"To get profits in perspective," the
man in the commercial says, "business
analysts look at percentages, just as
you do when you open a savings ac-
count. Over the years, Mobil has earned
about the same profit percentage on
money invested as the average for all.
manufacturing industries - and less
than for ABC, CBS and NBC."
THE COMMERCIAL did not back up
the statement, but in newspaper ads
Mobil cited various figures on return on
stockholders' equity - the amount of
profit divided by the amount of money
invested by shareholders.
In 1978, according to Fortune
Magazine, ABC had a return of 21.6 per
cent on total profits of $135.6 million;
CBS's return was 21.0 per cent on
profits of $198.1 million; and RCA Corp.
had a return of 17.4 per cent on earnings
of $278.4 million. RCA owns NBC, but
does not provide separate financial
details on the network. Mobil's return
was 12.6 per cent, but profits were $1.13
billion, reflecting its larger size...
There are differences in methods of
computing return on shareholders'
equity. This year Mobil changed ac-
counting procedures, and as a result
concluded that its return on
shareholders' equity was 13.0 per cent
in 1978, a figure that grew to 20.8 per
cent in 1979 as earnings rose to $2.01
billion. RCA's profits were $283.8
million for 1979, but it did not release a
figure on stockholder's equity. CBS and
ABC have not released 1979 earnings.
NBC, IN A statement read by a
spokesman, cited its policy that "par-
tisan viewpoints on important issues,
such as oil company profits, are presen-
ted in news and public affai
programs,'produced by disinterest
news professionals and not in paid
commercials."
"Mobil's attempt to compare oil
company profits with the return on in-
vested capital of the television net-
works had no bearing on our decision,
and in our judgment injects wholly ex-
traneous arguments into Mobil's defen-
se of its profits," the statement added.
"Comparing, network rofits to oil
company profits adds little to publ*
understanding," NBC said, "but to set
the Mobil argument in proper perspec-
tive, it is worth noting that Mobil's af-
ter-tax profits in 1978 were more than
one-third greater than the total pre-tax
profits of the three network companies
combined."
Olympic site change
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From AP and UPI
The Carter administration wants to
make sure American athletes can show
their skills but does not want the United
States to be the site of an alternative to
the Moscow Olympic Games, a
congressional panel was told yester-
day.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Olympic official
said yesterday it's too late to provide an
alternative this year to the site and
such a move would kill the competition.
NELSON LEDSKY, deputy assistant
secretary of state for congressional
relations, said: "We want our athletes
to be able to compete. They have
worked very hard, often for years, to
perfect their skills."
But he also said the administration is
determined that the Soviet Union must
withdraw its military forces frem
Afghanistan or face a refusal by the
U:S. to take part in the Moscow com-
petition.
In a speech to a House Commerce
subcommittee, F. Don Miller,
executive director of the U.S. olympic"
Committee, said, "The schism it would
cause throughout the world would be
the demise of the modern Olympic
movement."
THE U.S., according to an ad-
ministration official, would prefer to
have the Olympics held in a Third
World nation.in order to generate the
widest possible support.
In New York, a Rockland County
resident filed suit yesterday in an effort
to block Soviet participation in the win-
ter Olympic Games in Lake Placid next
month.
RESUMES
THESES - DISSERTATIONS
COVER LETTERS
REPORTS
SOFT COVER BINDING
24-HOUR TURN AROUND
THE TYPING POOL
612 SOUTH FOREST
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48104
(313) 665-9843
OFFICE HOURS
MONDAY THRU FRIDAY
10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Stanley Dale, Jr., who filed in
Manhattan's U.S. District Court, asked
the court to issue an order barring
federal authorities from granting entry
visas to the Soviet team and revoking
any permits already issued.
Search f01
survivors,
eancelled
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (APY-The
search for 17 crewmembers missing *
ter the collision of a Coast Guard cutte
and an oil tanker was called off late
yesterday as survivors of the tragedy
headed for home and authorities
prepared to open a formal inquiry.
"Giving up is a word I would not
use," said Capt. Marshal Gilbert,
commander of the Coast Guard station
here. "We have terminated the search
because we feel there is almost no
likelihood of recovering more bodies.'
SIX BODIES had been recovee
earlier at the mouth of Tampa Bay.
Seventeen crewmembers were still
missing even though the search was
expanded yesterday into snake-infested
swamps bordering the Bay.
Twenty-seven crewmembers sur-
vived.
"We will continue diving operations.
for salvage purposes," Gilbert said.
MANGROVE SWAMPS were sear-
ched in the lingering hope that sur-.
vivors might have drifted in by clingin*
to life jackets.
The 180-foot Blackthorn .sank in 50
feet of water Monday night after
colliding with the 65-foot oil tanker
Capricorn.
Late yesterday afternoon the Coast
Guard flew '10 surviving crewmembers
back to Galveston, the Blackthorn's
home' port. Thirteen others were
allowed to return to homes elsewhere in
the country. Four officers remain
here to testify at the formal inquiry.
ADM. PAUL Yost, the Coast Guard's
Eighth District commander from New
Orleans, talked to survivors and
families of the missing men yesterday;
"They as, 'Is there any chance my
son is alive'?" Yost said. "I tell them
we're still searching.'
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