The Michigan Daily-Thursday, July 16, 1981-Page 5 S&L 'S PAYCHECK CAN'T COVER ITS BILLS S&Ls in financial squeeze From the Associated Press The nation's savings and loan associations are in the same predicament as a family with a paycheck that won't cover the bills. The interest the S&Ls are earning on their loans is less than the interest they have to pay on deposits. A big part of the problem, for families and bankers, is inflation. Inflation that cuts buying power and boosts interest rates. The families and the bankers have to earn more or spend less. "BREAK THE back of inflation," says Rollin Barnard, president of the U.S. League of Savings Associations. "That is the most important thing that anybody, including God, can do," Bar- nard said in an interview yesterday. Richard Pratt, the chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, said Tuesday that 80 percent of the 4,700 federally chartered savings and loan associations in the country are operating at a loss. He said one-third of them are "not viable" under present economic conditions. If things don't get better,-they won't survive. The squeeze on the S&Ls - which ac- count for almost half all residential mortgage lending - has put a squeeze on the housing industry. The S&Ls have less money to lend, and the money they do have is so expensive that many would-be homebuyers can't afford it. THE BANK board, which regulates the S&Ls, is proposing a number of changes in the law to make it easier for the thrift institutions to compete for money and customers by offering new services. The new customers - and the new deposits - won't do much good, however, if the S&Ls have to pay more to attract them than they can charge on loans. That's where something called the "all-savers certificate" comes in. The interest would be exempt from federal income taxes, up to a maximum of $2,000 for a married couple. The current income tax deduction of up to $400 for interest and dividends would be cut to a maximum of $200 and would be limited to dividends only. Financial institutions could pay less than they do now on many deposits. Savers - particularly in high tax brackets - would keep more of the in- terest they earn. Man caught in Florida charged with selling secrets (Continued from gagee 3 medium build, appeared unshaken as Betz argued for high bond at the U.S. District Court session, saying money and escape plans were ready to help Helmich flee prosecution. "This individual is an extreme risk to flee the charges alleged against him," Betz told U.S. Magistrate Howard Snyder, who set the bond. "Our investigation has determined that there were funds put away for his use outside the United States . . ." "THIS DEFENDANT received certain honors, in- cluding the rank of colonel in the Soviet Army," Betz said. Helmich, telling the magistrate that he was broke, asked for and received a court-appointed counsel. Arraignment was set for thiscmorning. The indictment accused Helmich of selling the Soviets secret information, including parts and ser- vice manuals for American military coding equip- ment known as the KL-7 Cryptosystem which he operated while an Army warrant officer from 1954 to 1966. MOST OF THE deals allegedly took place while Helmich was based in Paris, the indictment charged. But as late as August 1980, Helmich received money from the Soviets "in consideration of his com- municating, delivering and transmitting documents, instruments and information" to hide the conspiracy from American authorities, the charges said. The indictment said that while Helmich worked in the Army's Signal Corps at Paris in January 1963, he contacted Russian agents at the Soviet Embassy there and delivered classified information he had ob- tamned while on duty as a warrant officer. He was trained in "espionage tradecraft, including photography, secret, writing and methods of clan- destine communications," the indictment said. ,:N'.:: x. ... . .... . . . ....... .. .. .. .. .. . Paid Advertisement Paid Advertisement Paid Advertisement MEMORIAL SERVICE for CHEN WEN-CHEN, Ph.D. LATE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF STATISTICS OF CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY Time: Saturday, July 18, 1981 1 P.M. Place: Memorial Christian Church Tappan and Hill Streets (U of Michigan Campus) Ann Arbor, Michigan Born in Taipei, Taiwan. Graduated from National Taiwan University in 1972 (B.S. In Mathematics). Came to University of Michigan in September 1975. Completed Ph.D. in Statistics, University of Michigan in 1978. Remark by DR. BRUCE HILL, U-M statistics professor and chairman of Chen's dissertation committee: "The most outstand- ing student I've seen in 21 years." Appointed Assistant Professor of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University in September 1978. Visited Taiwan on May 20, 1981. Scheduled to return to U.S. on July 1, 1981. Detained for interrogation by Garrison Command (secret police) of Nationalist Chinese Government in Taiwan for 12 hours on July 2, 1981, only hours before his death. Found dead on the campus of National Taiwan University on the morning of July 3, 1981. Local newspaper reported that he was probably murdered. Statement by DR. RICHARD CYERT, President of Carnegie Mellon University: "All of the circumstances point to a situation in which Chen was killed by the Nationalist Chinese because of his political views." Sponsored by Formosan Association for Human Rights, Michigan Chapters. Paid Advertisement Paid Advertisemnent Paid Advertisement.