The Michigan Daily-Thursday, November 18, 1982--Page 3 Climate right for new business, experts say Student Locater By K. TIMOTHY MANTYLA 0 At a time when most businesses are bundling up against the cold economic climate, several experts are predicting sunshine, saying now is an excellent time to expand or even start a business. Despite high interest rates and a bleak outlook for the nation's economy, these business observers, including several successful entrepreneurs and one University professor, say that the resent economic slump has actually reated many opportunities for private businesses. A lack of effective com- petition, an abundance of investment ioney, and an attitude among many would-be entrepreneurs that they have nothing to lose have all combined to make this an attractive time to start an enterprise. "IN GENERAL. there's one thing businesses have to watch," said business school Prof. Paul McCracken. "There is a danger because of preoc- rupation with the problems and pessimism of the moment. Strange as this may seem, now is a very good time to start a business." McCracken's optimism was echoed by Thomas Monaghan, owner of the successful Domino's Pizza chain. 'The timing is better than ever (to open a new business)," Monaghan said pt a recent business school conference. "It's so easy to compete with what's out here." Monaghan started his pizza chain with one store in Ypsilanti in 1960, and built it into a nation-wide chain with 'more than 800 stores. "Now, over 50 percent of all pizzas delivered in the United States are Domino's pizzas," he said, adding that success in business depends on "a belief that it will work, and persistence." HE SAID THAT expansion or entry into a field is made easier now because most businesses are poorly managed, an opinion shared by University graduate Fred Alger, owner of a $1- billion New York investment firm. "Management is everything," Alger said, adding that he increased his com- pany's assets from $7 million in 1964 tomore than $1 billion this year. Alger said that there is a "surfeit" of venture capital-money waiting to be invested-available to businesses, though he failed to discuss the role in- terest rates play in the investment market. ANN ARBOR accountant Charles Rubin agreed with Alger, but said "un- fortunately, not much of the capital is available in Ann Arbor." Rubin said his firm has been a con- sultant to many local businesses and has recently helped several to expand their operations. "I don't think there's as much expan- sion as there was in the past," Rubin said, but many people are thinking about starting a business. This happens when things aredown. Many are trying in the sense of 'what is there to lose?' " APPARENTLY, that attitude is spreading, according to Carol Roberts of the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commer- ce. She reported that her office has See EXPERTS, Page 6 operators have your number By BARBARA MISLE Parents worry when their kids go to college, especially when they neglect to call home. One University student's father tried unsuccessfully to call him for a week, and finally called Student locater to ask the operator to find his son. The operator explained she couldn't leave her desk to search for him. Not all callers take Student Locater's services so literally, but there is little doubt that the operators' work makes life easier for everyone-especially the people who just can't seem to motivate themselves to pick up a directory. "PEOPLE appreciate the service we provide and aren't bashful to speak up and say so," said Jan Batalucco, office manager of the University's Telephone Communications department. Batalucco supervises the 14 full-time and three part-time operators who work at the Telephone Communications office in the Public Safety Building on Church street. The operators have close to 70,000 microfilmed numbers for students, faculty, and hospital personnel at their fingertips. When a request for a num- ber comes in, they place a sheet of microfilm into a microfiche reader and scan the screen to find the number. THE NUMBERS are updated every two weeks from personnel and depar- tment lists along with copies of every telephone service order in the Univer- sity, Batalucco said. "Unless a department informs us of a number change, there is no way we can know," Batalucco said. Batalucco insists her employees are courteous, regardless of the nature of the call. "The most important quality for an operator is patience," she said, and with an average of 6,000 calls a day some of them are bound to be difficult. "THERE HAVE been some problems with late-night callers who are inebriated or under the influence of a chemical substance," Baralucco said. "You can tell mostly in the manner in which they speak. After a while you come to know those callers, and you can tell when they actually do need assistance." Operators are taught to handle in- toxiated callers as soon as they begin their jobs. Even though many of them See STUDENT, Page 6 Daily Photo by JEFF SCHRIER Student Locater operator Helen Ducharme uses her microfiche reader to find a student's telephone number. Amway officials claim they were framed -HPPENING- Highlight Today is Oxfam America's ninth annual Fast for a World Harvest. Oxfam invites everyone to fast and donate the money saved by not eating to support their self-help development projects. Those interested in fasting and/or making a donation should sign up between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the School of Natural Resources, the School of Public Health, or the fishbowl. Films CG-Nashville, 6:30 & 9:30 p.m., Lorch. Mediatrics-Singin' in the Rain, 7 p.m., Swingtime, 9 p.m., Nat. Sci. CFT-The Big Sleep, 7:340 p.m., To Have and Have Not, 5:45 & 9:30 p.m., Michigan Theatre. AAFC-German Documentary Films, 7:30 p.m., Aud. A, Angell. Women's Studies-With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade, 12 p.m., Aud. C, Angell.. Eumenical Campus Center-FESTAC '77, 7:30 p.m., Rackham Am- phitheatre. Public Health-What Price Health?, 12:05 p.m., M2525SPH II. Performances Ark-Cathy Fink and Magpie, 9 p.m., 1421 Hill. UAC Musket-Runaways, 8 p.m., Power Center. Michigan Union Arts Program-Wanda Middleton, soprano, 12:15 p.m., Pendleton Room, Union. Theatre & Drama-The Trojan Women, 8 p.m., New Trueblood Arena. Speakers Medicinal Chem.-Alexander Weis, "Dihydroazines: What Are They Good For and Recent Advances in Their Chemical Behavior," 4 p.m., 3554 CC Lit- tle. ME/AM-R. Dibble, "Simultaneous LDV and Laser Raman Scattering Applied to Reactive Turbulent Fluid Dynamics," 3:45 p.m., 133 Chrysler Center. Japanese Studies-Jenny Corbett, "The Current Economics Situation in Japan," 12 p.m., Commons Room, Lane. Communication-Michael Pacanowski, "Organizational Communication as Cultural Performance," 1 p.m., 2035 Frieze. Vision/Hearing-Claudia Stuermer, "The Order of Retinal Axons in the Goldfish Optic Tectum,"12:15 p.m., 2055 MHRI. Economic Development-David Gordon, "Settler Agriculture in Kenya & Zimbabwe: Problems of Transition," 12:10 p.m., 340U Lorch. Biological Sciences-Steve Heideman, "Organization & Funstion of Microtutules: Clues from Their Polarity Orientation," noon, 1139 Nat. Sci. Western European Studies-Gisele Podbielski, "The Italian Economy Today and the Special Problems," 4 p.m., 5208 Angell Hall. Computing Center-Mark Hersey, "IBM PC & MTS," 3:30-5 p.m., 171 BSAD. Art-Rudolf Arnheim, "Objective Values," 7:30 p.m., Art & Arch. Hall, N. Campus. Chemistry-Ching Shan Li, "Conducting Polymers," 4 p.m., 1200 Chem. Ann Arbor Democratic Party-Tom Blessing, former County Drain Com- missioner on the Allen Creek Drain, 7:30 p.m., Ann Arbor Public Library, 343 S. Fifth. Meetings Me. Cntr. Bible Study-Mtg., 12:30 p.m., F2230 Mott Children's Hospital. Campus Crusade for Christ-Mtg., 7 p.m., 2003 Angell Hall. Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship-Mtg., 7 p.m., Union. Sailing Club-Mtg., followed by shore school lectures, 7:45 p.m., 311 W. Eng. Graduate Employee's Organization-Mtg., 7:45 p.m., E. Conference Rm., Rackham. Alliance of Lesbian and Gay Male Social Work Students-Mtg., 5:15 p.m., 2075 Frieze. Regents-Mtg., 11 a.m., Regents Rm., Fleming Admin. Bldg. New England Literature Program-mass meeting, 8 p.m., Aud. D, Angell Hall. Ann Arbor Libertarian League-Mtg., 7:30 p.m., basement of Dominick's, 812 Monroe. Miscellaneous Scottish Country Dancing-beginning class, 7 p.m., intermediate class, 8 p.m., Union. Puerto Rico Association-open house for new members, 8 p.m., Pendleton Room, Michigan Union. ISMRRD-Conference, "Applied Techniques in Behavior Management," 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Chrysler Ctr. League-Int. Night, Vienna, 5-7:15 p.m., Michigan League. Museum of Art-Art Break, Karin Bonde, "Esther Before Ahasuerus,"; Guercino, 12:10 p.m.-12:30 p.m., Museum of Art. Library Science - Convocation, Jane Ann Hannigan, 1:30 p.m., Hussey GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (UPI) - Founders of the Amway direct selling empire said, yesterday a for- mer Amway employee and "certain persons in the Canadian government" prompted fraud charges against them and their company in Canada. President Richard DeVos and Chairman Jay Van Andel, two other executives and the company's Canadian subsidiary were charged in Ottawa with conspiring to defraud the Canadian government of more than $28 million from 1965 to 1980. "AMWAY Corporation and its executives are totally innocent of any wrongdoing and do not owe the Canadian government one cent in extra customs duties," the founders said at a news conference yesterday. "There was no fraud, no coverup, no conspiracy to defraud Revenue Canada," DeVos said. "Certain persons in the Canadian government have been wrongly trying to impose millions of dollars in duties on Amway," Van Andel said. DEVOS SAID that "violates the spirit and letter of free trade," and charged Amway was "a victim of an anti-American trade war by . . . certain officials in the Canadian government." DeVos and Van Andel, who founded Amway in 1959, said the Canadian government was fully aware of how they exported to Canada and valued goods to establish customs and tariff duties. The fraud counts said the founders and vice presidents William Halliday Jr. and C. Dale Discher created a trail of false invoices to mislead Canadian customs on the value of products shipped into Canada for sale by Amway distributors. Prof. criticizes treatment of black students at 'U' (Continued from Page 1) Part of the solution of this problem, according to Yates, is the expansion of CULS, which is currently under budget review. Ther is a need, he said, to "bring together the special interests and needs of the students into cohesive groups, and provide them with options which insure that they will have a high probability of graduating from college with the degree they want." He said this means increased emphasis on peer counseling, career orientation, and course tutorial programs. "The support of the entire faculty,'' Yates said, "is essential in order to do a better job of educating the black student and providing a better quality of education while he attends the University." After the lecture, Wilton Barham, associate director of CULS, said he agreed with Yates on the need for bet- ter individual counseling and more focused instructional programs. BE IN THE FOREFRONT OF TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY Air Force scientific engineering of- ficers plan tomor- row's weapon systems. If you have a scientific or engineering de- gree, you can join a dynamic team. See your ideas ma- terialize. Contact an Air Force recruiter today. MSgt. Dave Walters 561-3405 n A greatv y of We iiI Yates ... demands more aid to CULS Senate panel passes divestment (Continued from Page 1) autonomous control over how the in- stitution uses its funds. But State Rep. Perry Bullard (D-Ann Arbor), the bill's sponsor, says the state has the authority to enforce what he considers civil rights legislation. BOTH MICHIGAN State University and Eastern Michigan University already have pulled their investments from companies working in South Africa. The University of Michigan policy adopted in 1978 asks companies to "work toward the enhancement of political, economic, and social rights for their employees in South Africa." If the University determines that a com- Corrections An article in yesterday's Daily ("Counseling review hits high gear") containedtatypographical error which changed the word "not" into "now." Robert Sauve, an assistant to the vice president for academic affairs, ac- tually said the counseling review was not set up specifically to look for budget cuts. An article in the Nov. 16, 1982 Daily ("Mayor retreats: Ann Arbor will keep $5 pot law") reported that a study on ef- fects of marijuana decriminalization was made through the Institute of Social Research. The study, conducted by researcher Richard Stuart, is not af- filiated with ISR. legislation pany is not making sufficient progress for its workers, officials say, it will divest from that firm. The University has divested from only one such com- pany in four years. Supporters of the legislation passed by the Judiciary Committee maintain that the presence of U.S. corporations in South Africa supports the economy of a racist government. Further, they say, these companies will only leave South Africa if investors protest the firms' practice by divesting. THE REGENTS say the University can serve South African blacks more by trying to influence the companies in which it invests to work for social progress in the country. University Regent Thomas Roach (D-Saline) said last night he would oppose University compliance with the bill. "I don't think it's constitutional, and I think our response (to the South African situation) is better than Michigan State's" Roach said. The bill, which passed the House last May, includes an amendment that also would ban investments in companies that deal in the Soviet Union. Full Senate action is expected before the end of the month, according to a Bullard aide. THE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS ARE A GREAT (313)261-LSA TWAY TO GET FAST RESULTS CALL 764-0557 Pilot pens! You have to hold onto them wth two hands. -Rodney Dongerfield "Get your claws 'f yPltp n . I don't get no respect!" ~People just hove a hunger for my Pilot Fineflner. You know why. nno&v~A AS ILI EEEFA EIt" Eu~lurEt I m