At about ten minutes past 10 a.m. on the first day the store opened, a customer walked into the Indian Motorcycle dealership on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks and plunked down his credit card. He had picked out the bike he wanted while peering through the window of the store the night before a two-tone, yellow and white Chief with its trademark Indian head sculpture perched on sleek, rounded fenders, and sparkling with chrome. The bike costs nearly $24,000. Since that morning in May, many more customers have pressed their noses to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the dealership, the first to open in Los Angeles since Indian Motorcycle Co. resumed making bikes after nearly a half century. The store has sold about 65 bikes, an especially impressive number considering that most of the buyers had never ridden an Indian motorcycle before. “A lot of people buying them are buying them because of the name,” said Tim Gailey, co-owner of the Indian Motorcycle Los Angeles outlet, who serves as vice president of operations. “How many companies can go dormant for 47 years and people still know the name?” A Canadian native, Gailey had a dealership in Montana with another motorcycle company when he secured the rights to the Los Angeles territory. He picked the Ventura Boulevard location after going on a drive through the San Fernando Valley because he liked the facade of the store, a neo-Roman design that looks something like a chi-chi Rodeo Drive boutique. “I said, ‘Man, that would be the most beautiful motorcycle store because it wouldn’t look like a motorcycle store,'” Gailey said. The Ventura Boulevard showroom is among the first 200 dealerships opened across the country since Indian Motorcycle resumed production last year. Gailey opened a second store on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles last month. So far, the store’s sales have been limited by the factory’s production output a mere 1,000 motorcycles were made last year, and this year the company hopes to boost production to 4,000 units. But Indian Motorcycle Los Angeles has already caught on with motorcycle enthusiasts. Although Gailey demurs if asked, it’s been reported that Shaquille O’Neal bought one. So did Arnold Schwarzenegger. George Clooney has several. “We all go to motorcycle meets and if you don’t have a Harley-Davidson, you shouldn’t show up,” said Jay Belson, president of ReMax on the Boulevard in Sherman Oaks and the owner of a new Indian Chief. “But since I bought this Indian, I haven’t been on the Harley. When I’ve taken it to the meets, I’m the star. Here you are in a meet, some (of the Harleys) are freaked out with the paint and chrome, and everybody wants to talk about my Indian.” Authentic American brand For the growing number of motorcycle riders, America had been a one-horse town, with Harley-Davidson Inc. the only U.S.-made ride. Indian’s homegrown legacy (the name was chosen in far different, less politically correct times to depict its distinctly American heritage) rivals that of its main competitor. “What Indian enjoys is the ability to be an authentic American brand,” said Walt Behnke, senior vice president for marketing at Indian Motorcycle Co. “It was the racing rival to Harley-Davidson for most of its years. Many American companies have to make up that history. The burden on us is to live up to it.” The original Indian Motorcycle Co., founded in 1901, predated the Model T Ford. In 1907, the New York City police bought the bikes to chase down runaway horses. (They also liked the left-hand throttle, which freed their right hands to draw their guns.) Pancho Villa rode one. The bikes became part of the war effort during both world wars. They broke competitive records and won numerous industry awards. “We get guys who stand at the window and stare,” said Gailey. “You know why? They’re remembering. The history of the bike itself is phenomenal, so you get people who stand and stare and reminisce.” Many baby boomers, who comprise most motorcycle riders today, remember stories told by their fathers and uncles about Indian bikes. So deeply are those memories etched in the minds of the World War II generation and their children that when Gailey opened his shop, neighbors brought photographs in black and white of their relatives posing with the bikes. Many now hang framed in the showroom. But in 1953, the original Springfield, Mass.-based company went belly up after losing its competitive battle with the automobile and its chief rival, the Harley. Trademark rights to the company wound through the court system for years until two contenders remained: Eller Industries Inc., a Niwot, Colo.-based company, and several Canadian investors who had acquired California Motorcycle Co., a tiny maker based in Gilroy, Calif. Courtroom escapade When the judge in a U.S. District Court in Denver asked the two companies to return with a prototype motorcycle, Eller showed up with a drawing. The other guys from Gilroy rode a newly minted Indian, its engine revving, into the courtroom. “Since the basis (of a trademark-right decision) is who can produce an operating vehicle, the one with the smoke and the noise won,” said Behnke. The newly resurrected Indian Motorcycle Co. hired a mostly American management team and went to work, fueled by a growing market for bikes. Since 1960, when about 60,000 motorcycles were sold in the U.S., sales of motorcycles and all-terrain bikes have jumped to more than 800,000. The market continues to expand by about 20 percent each year, Behnke said. “It’s more of a lifestyle than recreation,” Behnke said. “Particularly as Harley-Davidson defined it, you travel together, go to events together. It becomes this common bond, like boating or surfing.” The company’s two styles are modeled after the original motorcycles with updated technology and V-Twin engines. The Scout, a smaller sports model, retails for about $19,500. The Chief, known in the industry as a “heavy cruiser,” sells for $23,900. Indian Motorcycle expects to have about 300 dealerships by next year, when production should increase to 25,000 units and the number of styles will be expanded. Unlike Harley-Davidson, Indian motorcycles were absent from the scene during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, when biking, on the tailwind of films like “The Wild One” and “Easy Rider,” became tainted with images of an underworld subculture. “We’re not limited to a certain kind of consumer, so I think there’s a wide-open pasture for Indian to explore,” Behnke said. Back at the Sherman Oaks showroom, Gailey has already expanded the store, leasing 1,500 square feet adjacent to the original 3,000-square-foot space for a clothing boutique with Indian-branded leather jackets, jeans, T-shirts and accessories. Clothing sales account for about 35 percent of the store’s net profits, Gailey said. The interest in the clothing line is one more sign of the nostalgia surrounding the Indian name, and an indication of the promise of the rekindled brand, Gailey said. “The legend wouldn’t die,” he said. “And now, with the growth of biking, we have another V-Twin motorcycle.”

While pundits debate whether the economy may be cooling, one company is gearing up to take advantage of the worst-case scenario. RealtyTrac Inc. has just rolled out a national program to provide brokers and homebuyers with foreclosure listings over the Internet. The Westlake Village-based company, which operates as RealtyTrac.com, has entered an agreement with DataQuick Information Systems, a large real estate information service in La Jolla, which will provide national listings of homes in, or about to go into, foreclosure. “(The information) hasn’t been readily available,” said Derek White, co-founder and chief executive of the company. “We’re the first mover in the pre-foreclosure market on the national level.” Foreclosures have always been attractive to homebuyers because these houses can usually be purchased at distressed prices. But in recent years, as the economy has soared, the number of foreclosed homes in California has reached an eight-year low, limiting the market for such properties. White and others believe that situation could change dramatically in the next few years. “We think (the number of foreclosures) is going to double,” White said. “Because the economy has been very good, people are overextended, and now that the economy is changing, if you bump these (mortgage) payments up you’ve got some major problems.” RealtyTrac.com operates like many of the real estate sites currently on the Internet. Users pay a “day pass” fee of $7.95 or a monthly fee that averages $60, depending on the region and the availability of properties in the area. For the price, users get access to the foreclosure listings. Lack of listings Buyers can search the directory by location and by characteristics of the property, such as the number of bedrooms. They can also access foreclosure specialists who will help to negotiate with the owners in default or with lending institutions, if it is a bank-owned property. Monthly subscribers receive e-mail updates on new listings. Since RealtyTrac first launched in 1994 with a database limited to Los Angeles and San Diego counties, the company has been hampered by a lack of listings. In the second quarter ended June 30, the number of California homes that went into foreclosure dropped to 21,400, 15.6 percent less than were foreclosed upon during the year-earlier quarter, according to DataQuick. In Los Angeles County, there were 3,331 home foreclosures in the second quarter, according to the Real Estate Research Council. RealtyTrac has been listing about 100 foreclosures a day in L.A. County of late, about one-third fewer than the 300-plus foreclosures the company tracked in the late 1990s. The waning market, coupled with the cost of starting up the operation, have left RealtyTrac operating in the red. “We’ve been through a lot of trials and tribulations,” White said. He would not disclose revenues or the number of subscribers RealtyTrac has so far attracted. But the alliance reached in February, making RealtyTrac the only Internet site with access to DataQuick’s extensive national listings, could help expand the company’s appeal and reach. RealtyTrac launched the national service late in July, after spending about $1 million on software and hardware enhancements, along with communications technology to handle the expanded services. White concedes there are other sources of information on foreclosures, but he said they are often very time-consuming or incomplete. Trouble on horizon? Don Parret, editor of The Daily Commerce, took issue with that assertion. The Daily Commerce, an L.A.-based newspaper published by the Daily Journal Corp., for decades has been publishing foreclosure listings for properties in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange and Riverside counties. Redloc.com, the company’s Web site, publishes foreclosures within three to five days from the date of filing. Parret was not familiar with RealtyTrac, but he added that the service is not likely to impact his operations. “The Daily Commerce has been around for almost a century, and we’re the No. 1 newspaper that publishes these notices of default and trustee sales in the five-county area,” Parret said. “I believe we’re the most comprehensive.” Regardless of which is more comprehensive, RealtyTrac and The Daily Commerce may both soon have more foreclosure listings. The hot real estate market has made the supply of homes scarce, forcing prices up and leaving buyers with expensive mortgages. So far, the strong economy has kept the wolf from the door in most cases, but further interest rate hikes and, in the L.A. area, a possible screen actors’ strike in Hollywood, could deflate the earning power of some of these homeowners in the future, said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. “There are a lot of people who have mortgages that are skating on thin ice,” Kyser said. “I think there may be a huge market (of foreclosed properties in the months ahead).”

With the pace of business and residential migration to Valencia continuing unabated, it was only a matter of time before the market for retail properties started to heat up as well. Which is precisely what happened when Newhall Land and Farming Co. put four properties zoned for retail development on the block recently. The land offering drew seven bidders, according to brokers handling the sale, with a single buyer emerging as the winner of all four. Hopkins Real Estate Group in Newport Beach is in escrow to acquire enough land to build retail space totaling about 220,000 square feet, according to Fred Stemmler, president of the company. When the sale goes through, Hopkins will begin construction on four neighborhood shopping centers: Valencia Village, a 30,000-square-foot mini-mall at Dickason Street and Copperhill Drive; High Ridge Crossing, a 70,000-square-foot development at Newhall Ranch Road and Copperhill; Seco Canyon Plaza, a 75,000-square-foot complex at Seco Canyon Road and Copperhill; and Riverview Place, a 45,000-square-foot mall at Via Princessa and the Sierra Highway. “It’s such a dense area,” said Bert Abel, a broker with Grubb & Ellis Co., explaining the interest the project drew. Two of the centers are located next to the Valencia Industrial Center, with 9 million square feet of commercial space that is fully occupied. Nearby, a large residential development is under construction. Abel represented the buyer and seller in the deal, along with Mitch Bayat, Ray Bayat and John Cserkuti. The purchase price for the four parcels ranged between $15 a square foot and $17 a square foot, Abel said. Officials at Hopkins, which is also developing retail projects in San Bernardino, San Diego and Signal Hill, finds the Santa Clarita Valley market an appealing place for new retail centers. “We love the area. We like the idea of a planned community where there are some barriers to entry. We also like the idea of working in multiple areas in such a planned community,” Stemmler said. Said Abel, “We selected Hopkins because they gave us the best price with a willingness to take all four deals.” Although precise plans on how the parcels will be developed have not yet been hammered out, some of the projects will likely be neighborhood shopping centers with drug and other convenience stores, while the others will be larger retail centers that include national chains. The four escrows are expected to close on a staggered schedule, with the first due next month. New Deal for Broker Real estate developers who come before the North Valley Area Planning Commission are likely to see a familiar face. George Stavaris, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield Inc., has been appointed to the commission, one of seven such bodies set up as a result of charter reform efforts. “My own philosophical goal was to become knowledgeable in zoning laws,” said Stavaris of his interest in joining the commission. “I am new to Cushman & Wakefield and commercial real estate and this is an invaluable education. Stavaris headed up his family-owned business, Hercules Painting and Decorating, before he made the transition to real estate about a year ago. He was nominated to the commission by the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, in which he also serves on the land-use committee. The North Valley commission, which includes Panorama City, Sun Valley, Chatsworth, Arleta and North Hills, has so far heard three proposals. “So far, so good,” he said. “We’ve been able to get the issues through and this brings (decision-making) back to a local level.” Chatsworth Lease Maxwell Alarm Screens Manufacture, a maker of alarm screens and signage for industrial use, has leased a 28,000-square-foot facility in Chatsworth. Maxwell, which has operated from facilities in the city of San Fernando and Santa Monica, will consolidate its executive offices and production plant at the new location at 20327 Nordhoff St. Tim Foutz, a broker with NAI Capital Commercial, represented the landlord, Harris-Nevell Family Partnership. Maxwell was represented by Jerry Scullin of Delphi Business Properties. Telecommunications Expansion Global Telecomm Systems Inc. has leased 17,841 square feet of office space at 9310 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Chatworth. The telecommunications company will be using the space to expand its facilities. Tim Foutz, a broker with NAI Capital Commercial, represented the landlord, the Tribune Topanga Group. Sam Tooch, an independent broker, represented Global Telecomm. Universal City Lease Software developer Trivision Technologies has expanded to a 9,000-square-foot office space in Universal City. The company, which makes software for school administrators, had been located in two Studio City locations. The lease on the new facility, at 3330 Cahuenga Blvd. West, is valued at $1.3 million, said Duane Cody, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield who represented Trivision. News and Notes Alpro Millworking Inc. has acquired a 14,000-square-foot industrial facility at 13901 Saticoy St. in Van Nuys for $520,000. Ron Feder at R.J. Feder & Associates Inc. represented the seller, the Scar Family Trust. Goodwill Industries of Southern California leased 9,500 square feet of retail space at 14670 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. Liz Evans and Mark Ranftle of NAI Capital Commercial represented Goodwill. Newark Electronics, a distributor of components, leased 3,121 square feet of office space at 550 St. Charles Drive in Thousand Oaks. Staff reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 710-2731 or by e-mail at [email protected].

The symptoms are familiar to all those who live in cities where the air is polluted: aching lungs, wheezing, coughing, headache. Millions of residents of the South Coast Basin (which includes Los Angeles, Orange, and parts of San Bernardino and Riverside counties) breathe dirty air some one-third the days of the year. Ozone levels here, or what most refer to as smog, are often twice the federal health standard. In 1997, the standard was exceeded on 98 days at one or more Basin locations, most frequently in the east San Gabriel Valley. What does all of this polluted air do to the body? The answer depends on the situation. How long a person is exposed to pollution, the type and concentration, the place, time and day, temperature, weather and more. But one thing is certain: Smog is harmful to your health. Lungs are ozone’s primary target. Studies on animals show that ozone damages cells in the lung’s airways, causing inflammation and swelling. It also reduces the respiratory system’s ability to fight infection and remove foreign particles. Ozone may pose a particular health threat to those who already suffer from respiratory problems such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. About 10% of the basin’s approximately 14 million residents fit into this category. Ozone may also pose a health threat to the young, elderly and cardiovascular patients. Ozone affects healthy people as well. In 1990, the State Air Resources Board established a new health advisory level in response to mounting evidence that smog affects healthy, exercising adults at lower levels than previously believed. Now, a health advisory is issued at .15 parts per million (on the pollutant standards index) before a first stage smog alert is called when ozone levels reach .20 ppm. During a health advisory, everyone, including healthy adults and children are advised to avoid prolonged, vigorous outdoor exercise. Susceptible individuals, including those with heart or lung disease, should avoid outdoor activities until the advisory is cancelled. Sources of Smog The sources of pollution include emissions from on-road vehicles, non-road vehicles like planes, ships and trains, industries, and even small businesses and households where polluting products are used. Ozone, an invisible gas, is not emitted directly into the air, but forms when nitrogen oxides from fuel combustion and volatile organic gases from evaporated petroleum products react in the presence of sunshine. Ozone levels are highest during the warm months when there is strong sunshine, high temperatures and an inversion layer. Nitrogen oxides are produced when fossil fuels are burned in motor vehicles, power plants, furnaces and turbines. Carbon monoxide is a by-product of combustion that comes almost entirely from motor vehicles. Fine particulates, which are emitted directly as smoke and diesel soot and form in the air out of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, obscure visibility and can be inhaled deep into the lungs. Historical Perspective During the early years of World War II, Los Angeles residents began to realize the consequences of an increasingly industrialized area. Investigations began to determine the cause of resident’s eye irritation, crop damage, severe reductions in visibility and the rapid deterioration of rubber products. “Smog” became a familiar word and everyday presence and scientists and medical personnel began to look at its effects on public health. In the mid-1950s, the state of California’s Public Health division started to step up its efforts to define the problem of how and where smog forms, as well as address the health concerns associated with exposure to smog. Ozone levels were reaching peaks of .68 parts per million, more than six times the federal health standard. Early efforts to study the health effects of exposure to air pollution focused on acute exposure episodes. Only recently have the long-term exposure effects been addressed. In a 1956 survey sent out by the Los Angeles County Medical Association, physicians reported the following: F 94.7% recognized the existence of a “smog complex” involving eye irritation, irritation of the respiratory tract, chest pains, cough, shortness of breath, nausea and headache; F 56.1% have “authenticated cases of individuals leaving this area solely because of smog”; F 43.3% have recommended that patients move from the area on account of the effect of smog on their health; F 86.7% have observed that patients with respiratory diseases are more susceptible to smog than healthy adults; F 68% believe that patients with cardiac diseases are more susceptible to smog than healthy adults; F 89.6% have noticed patients with allergies are more susceptible to smog than healthy adults; and F 81.3% believe that smog is a contributing factor to cancer of the lungs and air passages. Children and smog A 1984 study conducted by Dr. Kay Kilburn, M.D., Professor of Medicine at USC showed that children raised in the South Coast Air Basin suffer a 10% to 15% decrease in lung function compared to children who grow up where the air is less polluted. The California Air Resources Board has concluded that “since the lungs of children are not fully developed, early damage to the respiratory tract could increase the risk of respiratory disease in adult life.” Jane Hall’s 1989 study on the health effects of air pollution on residents of the South Coast Air Basin estimated that school-age children, who represent only 20% of the basin’s population, experience more than 40% of the symptoms associated with ozone. Because of their physiology, children are much more likely than adults to develop smog-related lung damage. For their body size, children inhale several times more air than adults, and they breathe faster, particularly during strenuous physical activity. In addition, they spend more time outdoors than any other segment of the population according to the AQMD study. Dr. Robert F. Phalen, Ph.D., professor of community and environmental medicine and director of the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory at the University of California, Irvine, says that when children exercise, they tend to breathe through their mouths. According to Phalen, mouth-breathing bypasses the natural filtering of air pollutants by the nose and allows large volumes of polluted air to affect the more sensitive areas of children’s lungs which are still developing. Studies show that children exposed to summer ozone pollution year in, year out, have a greater susceptibility to respiratory infections because chronic exposure to smog impairs their immune system. Research findings also suggest that, even if children do not show symptoms while exercising in unhealthful air, they are likely to suffer a loss in lung function compared to youngsters who grow up where the air is less polluted. Air quality standards and health State and federal governments have set health standards for pollutants, specifying levels beyond which the air is unhealthful. California’s state standards for air pollutants are more stringent than the federal government’s. It is up to each individual state to determine if they want to set tougher standards. Standards are set to provide an adequate margin of safety in the protection of public health. Under the federal Clean Air Act, EPA must base standards solely on health considerations and not economics or technology. The standards for pollutants in California include: Ozone (one-hour average) Federal = Not to exceed .12 ppm (parts per million) more than one day per year. That means no more than .12 of a volume of ozone per million volumes of air. State = Not to equal or exceed .09 ppm Carbon Monoxide Federal = Not to exceed 35 ppm for one-hour average; 9.4 ppm for eight-hour average State = Not to exceed 20 ppm for one-hour average; 9 ppm for eight-hour average PM 10 (particles 10 micrometers millionths of a meter or less in diameter) Federal = 150 micrograms per cubic meter of air for 24-hour average (arithmetic mean); 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air for annual average (arithmetic mean) State = 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air for 24-hour average; 30 micrograms per cubic meter of air for annual average (geometric mean). Nitrogen Dioxide Federal = .52 ppm for one-hour average State = .25 for one-hour average Smog episodes and what they mean Various levels of smog episodes are reported for the pollutant ozone. The declaration of a first, second or third stage smog alert is based on the degree of health risk. The protective actions help to reduce exposure to unhealthful levels of ozone, but those who are especially sensitive should contact their physician for more specific advice. Generally, in the event of a smog alert, outdoor activities should be scheduled for morning or early evening hours to avoid the mid-day peak when ozone levels are at their highest. Hourly updates on air pollution levels are available to the public through the AQMD’s toll-free, taped telephone information service. The number for residents of Los Angeles is (800) 242-4022. AQMD also provides a live, toll-free line at (800) 242-4666, where callers can ask specific questions about air pollution conditions. Information for this article was provided by the AQMD.

Clearly, finding a balance between one’s work and personal life is important to workers today for a myriad of reasons. Whether they are new parents, students, caretakers for elder relatives or have simply reached a point in their lives where they are financially stable and want more leisure time, today’s employees demand greater flexibility from employers than ever before. Why should employers concern themselves with this issue? A willingness to work with employees in developing solutions for work-life challenges demonstrates their value and importance to the organization and can often mean the difference between retaining and losing talented staff. The following statistics illustrate how much of a priority work-life balance has become to today’s workforce: A Gallop Poll found that 90% of employees say work-life benefits are as important to them as health insurance. 60% of employees surveyed in a Work/Family Directions Study said the key reason they accepted their current position was its effect on their personal/family life. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, mothers of preschool children represent the fastest growing segment of the workforce. The 1999 Emerging Workforce Study, conducted by Spherion Corporation (formerly known as Interim Services, Inc.) and Louis Harris & Associates, Inc., found that people who feel their work-life balance has improved over the last five years report a higher level of job satisfaction, increased employee loyalty and a higher level of trust in their employers than those who feel it is worse. All of these items impact employee retention, a critical issue in today’s tight labor markets. Companies that want to attract and retain the best talent are increasingly recognizing that it is a good business decision to help employees find the balance they seek. How can employers address this issue? Open communication between managers and employees about the company’s business priorities and the employee’s personal priorities are key. The next step is to work together to ensure both sets of priorities are met and to be open to experimentation in how employees get their jobs done. Following are a few options some relatively new that employers are offering today. Not all will be appropriate for every organization, and each situation needs to be evaluated independently. Flexible scheduling Flexible scheduling allowing workers to vary the times they begin and end their day , often makes a critical difference to people with outside obligations, such as those who must take or pick up a child from school, and is clearly on the rise, with the percent of workers on flexible schedules nearly doubling in six years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In May 1997, the most recent year for which data is available, about 28% of full-time wage and salary workers had flexible work schedules. This proportion, which represents about 25 million workers, is up significantly from the 15% recorded in the previous survey of May 1991. Reduced workweek and job sharing Sometimes great employees with a proven track record need to scale back their hours due to personal reasons. In addition to simply reducing hours when possible, job sharing is another option. This occurs when two people work as a team, each on a part-time basis, to fulfill the work usually handled by one full-time employee. A study of 1,020 U.S. employers by Hewitt Associates, found that 37% of employers offered job sharing as an option in 1997. Telecommuting According to an estimate from the Gartner Group, there will be 30 million tele-workers in the United States next year, and more than 130 million worldwide by 2003. Allowing employees to telecommute or work from home is possible for a number of jobs that require predominantly phone and/or computer work. Many employers today are experimenting with this option by allowing employees with special circumstances to telecommute on a full-time basis or a few days a week, depending on the nature of their positions. Other companies allow employees to work from home on a short-term basis, such as when they are recuperating from an illness that prevents them from coming into the office. In addition to these options, many employers find providing on-site concierge services like daycare, dry-cleaning, work-out facilities, travel planning and car washing services help people balance their lives by reducing the responsibilities they must attend to after hours. While some of these services are cost-prohibitive for small and mid-sized companies, others are easy to set up with a local vendor, and all contribute to the overall impression that you, the employer, care about your employees and helping them improve their work-life balance. Nicole Buckley (District Director, Spherion Staffing Group, 805-494-5020), Seta Shaghoian (Business Development Manager, Spherion Legal Group, 213-688-8770) and Larry Singer (Account Executive, Spherion Technology Architects, 213-351-6508) are with Spherion, the Workforce Architects.

A young man sets off to make his mark in the world, then returns home to find it near ruin, and vows to restore his homeland’s past glory. It sounds like the plot line for a telenovela, those prime-time soap operas that are the staples of Spanish-language television. But it’s actually a real-life drama playing out at Spanish-language station KVEA-TV Channel 52 in Burbank. Last month, Fernando Lopez returned to the Telemundo Group Inc.-owned station, where he had begun his career 15 years ago. His new job as vice president and general manager is to bring the station back to its glory days and improve upon its woefully low ratings. A news veteran who has worked both in Spanish- and English-language television, Lopez is planning a blitz that will double the station’s news-gathering and broadcasting resources, and he has a number of other programming changes in the works. But to reverse KVEA’s troubles, he will also have to go mano a mano with the other Spanish-language stations in the market: KWHY-TV Channel 22, an independent that has emerged recently as an aggressive competitor, and KMEX-TV Channel 34, a Univision Communications Inc.-owned behemoth that commands the vast majority of the Spanish-language viewing audience. “Almost 80 percent of the viewership has been into Univision for a long time,” said Sira D. Galan, media supervisor at Zubi Advertising Inc., an agency that specializes in the Latino marketplace. “But the landscape is changing right now. The three stations are very aggressive and they’re really fighting for viewership.” In July, KVEA averaged a 1.3 rating and a 3 share in the Los Angeles TV market, according to Nielsen Media Research. (“Rating” represents the percentage of total TV households tuned in; “share” represents the percentage of the current viewing audience that is watching that channel.) Its prime-time average was a 1.4 rating with a 2 share. Although the size of KVEA’s total audience has nearly doubled since November 1999, the station’s viewership still pales in comparison to that of its chief rival, KMEX, with a 3.9 rating and 9 share overall and a 6.4 rating and 10 share in prime time. And while KVEA is beating KWHY in overall ratings, it is lagging behind that station in prime-time ratings, which were 1.5 with a 3 share for KWHY in July. Observers blame KVEA’s problems on a decision by its parent network about two years ago to add English-language programming and change its core lineup. Hoping to capture the growing population of bilingual Latinos, Telemundo revamped its programming to what Lopez calls “an anglicized format” of sitcoms and one-hour action dramas. The Spanish-language audience has always shown a decided preference for telenovelas, serials that extend over several months and often have Cinderella-like themes. The revamped shows, low-budget Spanish-language retreads of such American hits from the ’70s as “Starsky & Hutch” and “One Day at a Time,” could not compete, Lopez said. “Novelas and movies are a touch of their home country, and Latinos like to feel close to their home culture,” said Lopez, who likens his return to KVEA to a homecoming. “It’s just that we are Mexicanos. That’s who we are.” Late last year, Telemundo dropped the strategy, returning telenovelas and classic Latino movies to its lineup. Ratings immediately improved, as did advertising revenues. Although Lopez declined to disclose specific financial figures, he said that by early August, KVEA had taken in as much in advertising revenue this year as it did in all of last year. But while KVEA’s four prime-time telenovelas have helped restore some of the station’s lost viewership, there’s still a lot of rebuilding to do. When Lopez last worked at the station in 1992, KVEA was the top-ranked Spanish-language station in L.A., with 60 percent of the Spanish viewing audience, compared to KMEX, which had 40 percent of the market at the time, according to Ken Hansely, research director at the Telemundo station. Soon after, however, Univision inked a deal that gave it the exclusive right to broadcast programming created by Televisa, Mexico’s major television network. With Telemundo forced to go to secondary markets for programming, KVEA’s lead began to slip away, and by early this year, the station’s share had plummeted to a mere 24 percent of L.A.’s Spanish-language audience. Lopez, who began his career as an intern at KVEA, left the station for another job and returned in 1992 as news director, has moved through the television ranks as a producer and news executive at KMEX, KTMD (the Telemundo TV affiliate in Houston), KNBC-TV Channel 4 and KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles. Most recently, he served as assistant news director for KCBS-TV Channel 2. He is focusing most of his initial efforts on building KVEA’s news programming. The station will double its operating budget and the size of its news staff, which now numbers about 35, adding reporters, anchors and producers to its ranks. “It will take a couple of million dollars just to get things going, and that’s just touching the surface,” Lopez said. The station currently produces only two half-hour news shows. That’s because KMEX pretty much owns the Spanish-language news market, thanks to a two-hour early-morning news program and an award-winning evening news program. Beginning next year, KVEA will add a one-hour broadcast at 6 a.m. and a half-hour broadcast at 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday to its current weekday news shows at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. In addition, Lopez said, he will begin offering news at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on weekends. KVEA’s news will include investigative pieces and consumer reports, along the lines of KCBS’s Special Assignment division that exposed unsanitary conditions at L.A. restaurants. “That changed the eating habits for everybody,” Lopez said. “I want to do the same kinds of things, but in Spanish and do it as good, if not better.” News programming is especially important, partially because Spanish-language audiences hunger for information about international events affecting the Latino community that are not covered in depth at English-speaking stations. Newscasts are also seen as critical to a Spanish-language channel’s success because they help strengthen viewership for shows that come before and after the news program. “If you have a very good news operation, people will come and see you,” Lopez said. “Once they come and see you, they sample the rest of the programming. That’s key.” Industry experts said KVEA has a good shot at a comeback despite the dominant position held by Univision. The Spanish-speaking market is growing rapidly in Southern California, and KVEA stands to benefit if it can offer the right programming mix. “I think the market is waiting to see the new life at Telemundo,” said Anita Santiago, president of Anita Santiago Advertising Inc., an advertising agency that specializes in the Latino market. “There’s not that many choices in Spanish. Yeah, Telemundo lost footing. But it still has a place in people’s hearts.”

Man diFd not evolve with computers. Had our ancestors used e-mail and word processing programs to survive, chances are that we all would have rubber fingers today. But hunting, gathering and fighting for survival rarely required sitting all day moving only wrists and fingers. Doctors, occupational therapists and physical therapists have seen the casualties of computer-related work. At clinics specializing in occupational disorders, about half of the patients seen are there as a result of cumulative trauma disorders, or CTDs, caused by working too much , or not smart enough , on computers.s. Most workers with CTDs, also called repetitive stress disorders, are restored to full mobility after modifying their work site, modifying their work habits and physical therapy. As with many illnesses, the sooner a problem is identified, the more likely a full recovery. A vast majority of cases that turn out to be disasters were treatable at the start. In general, employers are attuned to the fact that ignoring these problems can be detrimental to business. There is generally big interest from management in dealing with (CTDs) adequately. There is the cost, but also on a human level, as one person about another. Employers are generally receptive if we point out a workstation change, or ask for restricted hours during therapy. Because if they aren’t, it is going to cost them upwards of $100,000 by the time they are done with a case of severe carpal tunnel. There is huge impetus to get the problem over with quickly because costs add up. While just one piece of the puzzle, an ergonomically correct workstation can improve painful situations quickly. Workers should be seated so that all parts are at right angles. Feet are on the floor, knees are bent 45 degrees, back is straight, elbows are bent 45 degrees. Wrists should be bent at a slight “negative tilt,” or about ten degrees up , the most natural-feeling position , and should be supported with a wrist rest.t. Modifying an existing workstation can be as simple as by purchasing a $28 “desk extender,” a tray that fits under the keyboard extending a wrist rest beyond the edge of the desk, or as expensively as with a $3,000 adjustable table, footrest, split keyboard, track ball or ergonomic mouse with wrist rest, hard copy holder, and $600 chair. The key is to make the workstation as adjustable as possible. A number of companies manufacture a variety of pillows, desk extenders, adjustable keyboard trays, and other products to modify existing workstations. People don’t know that they can go into their computer and increase or decrease their mouse tracking speed. Those that have the mouse set too slow, for instance, often expend too much energy repeatedly pushing the mouse across its pad. The company showroom, open by appointment only, displays a range of adaptive workstation equipment from chairs to variously sized pillows, to desks and glare screens. Meanwhile, workers can modify their own habits. Take five minutes every half hour rather than 10-minute breaks every hour. In addition to getting out of the chair, stretching arm, back and leg muscles and resting eyes, workers should work on their overall physical health. The best thing workers can do is to keep good general health and posture, stay the right weight, don’t smoke, drink or use drugs. Pay attention to warning signs, the doctors advise. If complaining of consistent pain, loss of grip strength, loss of dexterity, pain that wakes them up at night, numbness, cramps or spasms, workers should at least be examined by a physician. However, some soreness or aching is probably reasonable for what they do. The key to all these problems is prevention. By the time I see someone in physical therapy it is too late. Someone should have warned them, and the problem should have been prevented. The more knowledge workers have the better. We live in a ‘fix-it’ society, but it is the individual’s responsibility to prevent CTDs from becoming a problem. A physical therapist, once recommended by a doctor, will evaluate a patient and identify a specific problem, whether it is a compressed disk in the neck, damaged tendons or other tissue, a blood-flow problem, or something else. Wrists and hands see the most computer terminal-related injuries, but headaches, radiating pain, back, shoulder and neck pains also are common. A workstation has to be set up to serve the worker. People are all different sizes. You have to fit the situation to the person, not the other way around. Ellie Park is a personal trainer and work fitness specialist based in Sherman Oaks.

Top Banks in SFV

In a last-ditch effort to save its 33-year-old local business newscast, Harriscope of Los Angeles is launching its “Business News 22” onto the Internet. The Encino-based program will be renamed Biznews1.com and broadcast simultaneously to an Internet and television audience, a move the company hopes will boost viewership and generate enough revenues to keep the struggling program afloat. “Business news on television, whether it be CNBC or local shows, has a shrinking audience, no doubt about it,” said Buzz Harris, president of Harriscope, which owns “Business News 22.” “We noticed that people were going to the Internet for business news. Without (the Internet option), we would have probably sold ‘Business News 22.'” “Business News 22” had been broadcasting on KWHY-TV Channel 22 since 1967, but last October the show was bumped when KWHY, which is owned by Harriscope, switched to an all-Spanish format in a bid to boost the station’s revenues. “Business News 22” moved to KJLA-TV Channel 44 in the San Fernando Valley and various other stations around Los Angeles, but its viewership plummeted. KWHY can be accessed by 3.3 million households in the L.A. TV market, whereas KJLA is in just 1.7 million cable homes. A new model Around that time, production company executive Wayne Lepoff began talks with Harris about launching the show on the Net to target business people during market hours (6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in L.A.) when most people are at work. “Business News 22” had been broadcasting on television during those hours with a focus on L.A. companies. Lepoff said the idea for the Web site was to catch business people at work, when they are most eager for business news, and expand to a national audience in an inexpensive way. “The financial markets are open during the business day and most people at work don’t have a TV, but they all have computers,” Lepoff said. “I think people have a tendency to want to be spoon-fed information rather than read it on a Web site.” Biznews1.com was formed to launch the show on the Web as a division of Harriscope, with Lepoff serving as chief executive of the operation. On May 21, Biznews1.com officially launched amid a sea of competition. A host of sites already offer market updates and business news online, some originated by broadcast heavyweights like CNBC. But Lepoff believes the streaming video on his site will push people to seek out Biznews1. “Here’s the ability to get a capsulated report at any moment,” he said. “It’s unique in the fact that you can get the video and sit and watch.” Rather than focus on Los Angeles companies and regional business news, the station changed its focus to a broader, nationally oriented business format. The Internet site is advertiser-supported through banner ads and commercials broadcast in streaming video between news segments. The company is also in talks with local news stations across the country to license its video for business news segments for their Web sites. The site plans to offer expanded financial information and possibly a monthly pay service for more in-depth financial analysis and research, Lepoff said. The site has also added a chat portion where viewers can talk with each other about the latest financial news. So far, the site gets about 1.8 million hits a month, Lepoff said. Later this fall he will unveil a nationwide ad campaign to drum up more business. Uncertain environment Biznews1 faces substantial obstacles. The advertiser-supported business model has yet to prove itself on the Internet, and the show’s TV operation is losing money meaning it needs revenues from the Internet side to support the broadcast side. For most TV organizations with Web sites, the television business supports the Internet operation. “Our goal is, if we continue to build the Internet product, we can continue to be on broadcast and the Internet,” Lepoff said. “Business News 22” pays a fee for its airtime on KJLA, keeping the revenue it takes in for advertising sales during the show. Daniel Crowe, KJLA’s vice president of programming and sales, said he’s uncertain how long the program will be able to remain on the air. “We’d like to have them, the program has merit and value,” Crowe said. “But they have to buy time from us and they couldn’t afford Channel 22, which they owned, and they had to move. Buying time is a tough way to go at any station in L.A.” “Business News 22” didn’t turn a profit on television until the 1980s, when Harriscope bought KWHY nearly 20 years after the news show launched. Harris said the company is financially committed to Biznews1.com and doesn’t plan to look outside for venture funding or accrue large debt. For now, the company doesn’t have high financial expectations. “We know this is a gamble,” Harris said. “For 30 years, we’ve produced pretty inexpensive content. We’re being very cautious. We’ll see, though. If business doesn’t support it, then we too will disappear.”

Peter Paul has handled the financial affairs of Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. Now he’s the strategist who’s building the multimedia cartoon empire of Stan Lee. Last year, Peter Paul joined with Stan Lee the creator of “The X-Men,” “Spider-Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Fantastic Four” and other classic comics to create a new online content firm called Stan Lee Media Inc. Lee is famous for breathing life into his characters, but it is Paul who is transforming those creations into a business empire. Says Lee, “I couldn’t do this without him.” The company’s first project, an episodic tale about a team of superheroes and villains called “7th Portal,” is already screaming out of the gate. Former Sony Pictures Chairman Mark Canton has signed on to develop “7th Portal” into a movie, Paramount Pictures is creating an amusement park ride based on the webisode, and Fox Latin America and Fox Kids Latin America will translate the series into television programming, magazines and other media throughout South America. Soon to come are two new webisodes based on the pop sensation the Back Street Boys and hip-hop artist Mary J. Blige, which Paul also hopes to turn into television series. Like most Internet startups, Stan Lee Media is still in the red (the company reported a net loss of nearly $8 million for the last 12 months), but Paul has been hard at work developing partnerships aimed at turning Lee’s characters and stories into full-blown franchises, with television and feature film adaptations, as well as a variety of licensing and merchandising deals. On the heels of the runaway success of the 20th Century Fox feature film “The X-Men,” based on Lee’s creation, he hopes to create the first Internet-based, global entertainment company. A former attorney representing the likes of Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol, Paul is the No. 2 man under Stan Lee, handling strategic planning and business development. Question: What is Stan Lee Media? Answer: As a start-up Internet-based branded content creation, production, distribution and marketing company, we’re really the Disney of the 21st century. Instead of a feature animation company (as Disney started out), we are an Internet, Flash animation company. (Flash is a software program used for viewing Internet animation.) Q: That’s a tall order. How do you plan to compete with powerhouses like Disney? A: As multinationals consolidate their positions in distributing content over various technologies satellite, cable, DSL, broadband the one thing that’s given the highest value is global branded content. What does that mean? It means that the entertainment you’re delivering to a global audience is recognizable in some form by that audience already, without having to spend the time and the money to get the recognition factor necessary to appeal to that audience. We are in a historically unique position in this. Stan is recognized in 100 countries and 27 languages for three generations. By liberating him from an exclusive lifetime arrangement with Marvel (Comics), he has become his own independent brand. And there’s no one else like that. Q: What has the runaway success of “The X-Men” movie done for the company? A: “X-Men” is the first bona fide, big-budget adaptation of one of Stan’s franchises to the big screen, and it ratified the notion that his creations have the ability to build large audiences. It enhances his credibility in Hollywood and elsewhere, shows that his characters still have legs, and makes it easier to sell a movie because a Stan Lee creation applied to the big screen was a blockbuster. “Spider-Man” is being developed by Sony for $250 million; “The Incredible Hulk” is being developed at Universal for $150 million. Q: Why did you choose the Internet as the starting point for your projects? A: Flash animation on the Internet reaches a universe of 240 million Flash-enabled Web users simultaneously. There is no other medium that gives access to that universe at that cost in the world. Q: Is the “7th Portal” movie a done deal? A: Mark Canton is producing it. He’ll announce the studio (distributor) and the writer within the next 30 days. Q: How has Wall Street’s disillusionment with Internet content affected your stock price? A: We’ve been closing consistently between $10.13 and $10.50 (a share). We haven’t clarified our story yet, and because people sometimes confuse us with a dot-com company or a content company, we’ve been painted with the same brush. That hasn’t helped in getting our message out. We now have a new CEO (Kenneth S. Williams) who built Sony Pictures Imageworks’ digital studio division and was at Columbia Pictures Industries for 18 years with an impressive finance background, so I think we’re building a management team that’s critical to Wall Street. Q: Why do you think Stan Lee’s characters have had such staying power? A: Stan Lee’s mythic characters resonate, especially with adolescents who look for guides through the angst of establishing self identity and direction in the transition to adulthood. The mythos of regional cultures used to offer adolescents guideposts by examining the way that mythic figures dealt with obstacles. Superheroes have become the modern-day Hindu, Greek and Scandinavian mythic figures. So it’s not just fantasy. Stan revolutionized superheroes as regular people that have to deal with the responsibilities of a superpower, and that resonates with this adolescent audience. Q: How did you get involved in the entertainment business? A: I think it was Salvador Dali’s fault. I worked with him for a couple of years. I negotiated deals for him, and probably that experience and spending time with Andy Warhol got me interested in this. But I think underneath it all, I have this artistic need to use real-life experiences as a canvas instead of paints and ceramics. I apply my art through business promotion, and I think it was catalyzed by having the good fortune to spend time with one of the greatest geniuses of all time (Dali). Q: How did you hook up with Stan Lee? A: Jimmy Stewart and I started a foundation called American Spirit Foundation. For American Spirit, we needed somebody that related to kids. I started reading these comic books and I thought it was amazing. We tried to pull together a coalition of groups to reach kids that didn’t pay attention to those old-fashioned dialogs that teachers spew out. Stan and I became close friends from that point (in 1987).