By WADE DANIELS Staff Reporter Boeing Co. will likely be subjected to a rising number of personal injury lawsuits as a result of a new study that found abnormally high rates of cancer among workers at its Rocketdyne facility near Simi Valley, as well as residents living near the facility. “I certainly think there will be additional suits and the study is an energizing factor, said Dan Hirsch, a member of a state-appointed oversight panel on the study, which was funded by the state and conducted by UCLA. Helen Zukin, a West Los Angeles attorney, is preparing a number of personal injury suits against Rocketdyne on behalf of people who worked for independent contractors at the facility and people who live near the site. Rocketdyne spokesman Dan Beck said no facility worker or neighbor was ever exposed to radiation above federal limits. The UCLA study, released Sept. 11, examined incidences of cancer among those who may have been exposed to radiation at the Rocketdyne facility, where nuclear testing was conducted from 1950 to 1989. The study looked at sets of 4,563 and 2,297 current and past employees (out of about 50,000 workers during those years). It found that workers with the “highest levels” of exposure experienced a cancer death rate three times that of those with minor exposure. It also concluded that exposure at the facility was responsible for 27.3 percent of cancer deaths among those exposed to any measurable radiation. A companion report on the health effects of chemical exposure at the Rocketdyne facility is expected early next year, which could further expose Boeing to personal injury liability. Both studies were ordered by state health officials to assess the need for a larger and more involved study of the possible effects of Rocketdyne’s facility on the health of residents of adjacent communities. Rocketdyne officials question the validity of the report. “The sample groups they are drawing from for the report are too small to draw broad conclusions,” said Beck. “Our panel of medicine and science experts found areas of the study open to interpretation.” Ultimately, Beck said, the findings don’t point out any inordinate health damage from radiation exposure at the test site. Boeing acquired Rocketdyne this year from Rockwell International Corp., which means it inherits liability stemming from Rocketdyne’s past operations. The report may have national implications, said Hirsch. It and similar studies will be used as evidence to support the contention that allowable levels of radiation exposure under federal law are far too high. “This and studies at other nuclear testing sites show that low-level radiation exposure is as much as 10 times more dangerous than previously thought,” said Hirsch, who is also president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a non-profit California organization aiding communities adjacent to nuclear sites. The study recommends that standards be significantly tightened. Since the study was released, Hirsch and UCLA epidemiologists have spoken with federal energy officials about tightening federal standards, but no action has yet been taken, he said.

Lacter/oct.edit/`1stjc/mike2nd Hd– Standing Still Anyone who lives and works in the San Fernando Valley is accustomed to nasty traffic snarls, but the last few weeks have been especially cruel and unusual. On the morning of Sept. 24, as remnants of Tropical Storm Nora drifted into Southern California, Valley freeways and roadways became virtual parking lots. Normal commutes of 30 to 45 minutes turned into two or three-hour ordeals an unnerving taste of what may be in store during the much-awaited El Ni & #324;o winter. Of course, traffic had been a bear well before that rainy Wednesday. On even an average weekday morning, all points leading in or out of the 405-101 interchange (as well as the adjacent shortcuts) are so clogged with cars that it’s a wonder anyone gets anywhere. As for the freeways, the San Diego (405)/Ventura (101) interchange averages 536,500 vehicles a day, a 3.5 percent increase from 1991. For the same time period, the Glendale (134)/Ventura (101) junction has seen an 8.3 percent jump in traffic. Some of the recent congestion is seasonal, including the annual back-to-school tie-ups caused by parents unable to make carpool arrangements. (If past form prevails, schedules will be adjusted and traffic should improve … just in time for the holiday season rush.) But horrendous traffic is spurred by more than bad weather and seasons. A study prepared for state Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, projects that East-West Valley rush-hour trips will eventually average 10 miles per hour, slowing from the current 21 mph. Even allowing for a miscalculation say 16 mph instead of 10 it’s a scary prospect. And the causes are not very mysterious. To live and work in L.A. generally involves driving in L.A. Putting aside the usual cultural stereotypes, the town is simply too spread out to depend on any mode of transit other than your own four wheels. Ten or 15 years ago, that reality could have been addressed head-on by politicians and community leaders; instead, billions were squandered on the misguided notion that all roads would lead to underground rail. With the subway system fast becoming an L.A. joke, it’s time to assess the area’s transportation alternatives. And, sorry to say, the most obvious answer additional freeway lanes is, in many cases, no longer affordable or even practical. That leaves the less obvious possibilities, such as incentives for businesses that stagger their work shifts (10 to 7 instead of 8 to 5, as an example); a greater use of satellite offices (keeping those Valley commuters crawling over the hill each morning on this side of Mulholland); and opening up the parking lanes of major Valley thoroughfares during rush hour periods. Even more novel ideas should be considered, including rush-hour toll charges, turning certain canyon roads into all-diamond (carpool only) roadways, and a light-rail system running east-west across the Valley. Of course, no transportation alternative stands much chance of success without the willingness of Angelenos to consider other ways of getting from here to there. So far, the tendency has been more to grouse than to act.

BOB HOWARD NBC has snagged one of the few available full floors of office space in the Burbank Media District, leasing the 18,000-square-foot top floor of the Central Park at Toluca Lake building on West Olive Avenue. The network plans to move its TV syndication and distribution department there, said Jack O’Neill, vice president of facilities for NBC, so the department can be close to NBC’s TV production facilities. The 5-year, $2.75 million lease will involve the relocation of about 25 people, including senior level executives of the department, O’Neill said. Paul Stockwell of Julien J. Studley Inc., the lead broker representing NBC in the deal, said the space is within walking distance of NBC Studios. The area surrounding NBC Studios “doesn’t have much off-lot office space like the area near Disney and Warner and some of the other studios,” Stockwell said. He said NBC was fortunate to find the 18,000 square feet because the space until recently had been occupied by two other tenants. But one of those tenants relocated to another floor in the building and the other chose not to renew when its lease expired, Stockwell said. Finding one contiguous block of 18,000 square feet was tough, Stockwell said, because the office vacancy rate is only about 2 percent in the neighborhood where NBC needed space and about 4 percent for the Media District as a whole. That low vacancy rate is one of the factors prompting L.A.-based developer J.H. Snyder Co. to schedule a November groundbreaking for a 585,000-square-foot office project adjacent to the NBC Studios lot. The six-story building, which will cost an estimated $140 million, is slated to be completed in the summer of 1999. Sherman Oaks buy Los Angeles-based investment partnership Mani Brothers LLC has bought the Sanwa Bank building on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks for $9 million, according to Bob Safai of Santa Monica-based brokerage Madison Partners, which represented Mani Brothers in the deal. The price paid for the four-story, 61,435-square-foot building works out to $146 per square foot and illustrates that prices paid for Class A office buildings in the San Fernando Valley are rising steadily, said Safai, who added that the building was renovated in 1994 and is 86 percent leased. Joseph Mani of Mani Brothers said the price is “near the top of the market” for comparable buildings in the San Fernando Valley, but that it still represents a good deal. “It’s close to top at the moment, but the market is growing and I think you’ll see the prices going higher,” he said. Mani said the sale was an “off-market” deal, meaning his company was able to buy it through private negotiations without having to compete in an open-bidding process. “Most of the deals like this today are going through a bidding process, but we arranged to buy it without having to compete with the REITs,” Mani said. Mani Brothers is a family-owned investment partnership that tends to buy properties to hold for the long-term and is expanding its L.A.-area portfolio. The company’s holdings include industrial properties in downtown Los Angeles as well as office and retail properties in Hermosa Beach and Santa Monica, including Portofino Plaza at Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica. Manufacturer’s move E-M Corp. is relocating its Sepulveda-based Kal-Guard Coatings aerospace manufacturing operations to a 26,700-square-foot plant in Chatsworth, where it has signed a 10-year, $1.6 million lease, according to Scott Caswell of Delphi Business Properties, who represented the company in the deal. The property is on Superior Street near DeSoto Avenue. Kal-Guard produces specialty coatings and lubricants used by the aerospace industry for a variety of purposes, according to Bob Weible, vice president at E-M. Weible said Kal-Guard will more than double the size of its operations with the move to Chatsworth. The company will move 100 workers over from its Sepulveda location, he said, and expects to hire between 20 and 30 additional workers once the division gets settled into the new building. Weible said Kal-Guard also plans to build an additional 5,500 square feet of office space at the new site, which he said will be a more efficient operation because it has more electrical power as well as higher ceilings that permit more warehouse storage. According to Caswell, the Kal-Guard expansion is one of a number of recent deals that suggest manufacturing is making a comeback in the Valley. He said Chatsworth-based Aware Products Inc., a manufacturer of hair and skin care products, recently leased more than 26,000 square feet on Deering Avenue near Canoga Avenue in Chatworth, an expansion to the 53,000 square feet the company already occupies in a nearby building. Caswell said Sylmar-based BEI Sensors and Systems Co., which makes motion sensors installed in Cadillacs as well as sensors for other commercial and government uses, recently hired him to seek expansion space of up to 100,000 square feet for the company’s growing operations, now housed in a 65,000-square-foot facility. Van Nuys acquisition Sherman Oaks-based DMP Properties, an investment group, has purchased the 50,000-square-foot Hayvenhurst Business Park in Van Nuys for $2.45 million, according to Gary DiMartino of Grubb & Ellis Co., who represented both the buyer and the seller, New York-based Brookhill Group.

Entertainment Basil Iwanyk has been named vice president of production at Burbank-based Warner Bros. Iwanyk will oversee motion picture development and production. He previously was production executive at the studio. The Warner Music Group has named Robert Emmer senior vice president for business affairs. Emmer was previously executive vice president for Rhino Entertainment Co. Emmer will be involved in a variety of business affairs, including acquisitions and strategic alliances, out of the Music Group’s Burbank offices. Diane Medina has been named director of diversity programs at Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. In this new position, Medina will oversee efforts to reach out to minority communities and increase the company’s diversity. She previously was director of diversity programs and community relations at KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles. Billye Sluyter has been promoted to manager of merchandising services at Universal Music & Distribution. Sluyter will oversee national merchandising activities, and serve as a liaison between the company’s labels and field staff. She previously was national merchandising coordinator. She will be based in Universal City. Disney Interactive has promoted Dominique Bourse to vice president of international business. In that role, the Burbank-based Bourse will be responsible for developing software business in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Sean Mitchell has been promoted to vice president of marketing at Disney Licensing, which is part of Disney Consumer Products. Mitchell will oversee a licensing marketing group that includes filmed-entertainment properties as well as brand marketing teams for Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. Prior to his promotion, he was director of marketing for Filmed-Entertainment Properties. He will be based in Burbank. David A. Neuman has been named president of Walt Disney Network Television and president of Touchstone Television. He previously was president of Walt Disney Television. He will be responsible for developing prime-time programming for all six broadcast television networks. Charles Hirschhorn has been named president of Walt Disney Television and executive vice president production of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. He was previously vice president of development for Fox Broadcasting Co. He will oversee direct-to-video activities and animation. Both Neuman and Hirschhorn will be based in Burbank. Terry Dunning has been named as director of sales at KCBS-TV Channel 2. He previously worked as General Sales Manager. He will oversee the sales staff as well as broadcast operations and sales service. He will be based in Los Angeles. Finance Shulamith Philosoph has been promoted to vice president at Union Bank of California in Panorama City, where she will oversee the SelectBenefit division. Prior to her promotion, she was assistant vice president in the SelectBenefit division. She will be based in Panorama City. Health Care Blue Cross of California has named Alan Katz senior vice president of sales for individual and small group services. He previously was vice president of market development at ChannelPoint Inc. He will be based in Woodland Hills. William C. Cook has been named vice president of procurement at Woodland Hills-based WellPoint Health Networks Inc. In this newly created position, Cook will be responsible for establishing a purchasing operation for the company. He previously worked as manager of purchasing for EuroDisney theme park in France. High Tech Tekelec, the Calabasas-based telecommunications company, has named Gordon Werner as its new general manager. Werner will oversee the Network Switching Division. He previously was vice president of global sales at NetEdge Systems Inc. Insurance Samuel J. Harris has joined GSCO, an insurance provider for the business and legal profession, as director of business development. Harris will assist in securing new markets and developing products, programs and services. He previously was director at The Paradigm Group, a management consulting company. He will be based in Woodland Hills. Real Estate Robert H. Osbrink has been named senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis Co. In his new position, Osbrink will serve as regional manager of the company’s five Los Angeles County locations. He previously was regional manager of the company’s Orange County/Inland Empire brokerage operations. He will be based in Torrance. Retail Dennis Adomaitis has been promoted to executive vice president of international operations at Burbank-based Warner Bros. Studio Stores. Adomaitis will supervise the company’s owned-and-operated stores in foreign countries. He previously was senior vice president of international operations.

Veto School District Bill Gov. Wilson should veto Senate Bill 1258, which would make it virtually impossible to break up the L.A. Unified School District or any other school district. It is without question that there is waste and lack of accountability from administrators, principals and school teachers at all levels in the LAUSD. The abysmal test scores make this all too plain. Parents work hard for their money and they, as well as the rest of society, are entitled to value for their money. Without the ability to effectively guide our children’s education at a local level, there can be no representative democracy. The expanded authority granted to charter schools is not a substitute for being able to ultimately control our own educational destiny. Additionally, the options to retain both charter schools and portions of the LEARN program will still be available following the breakup of the LAUSD. Sen. John Vasconcellos’ bill is based on an offensive intellectual premise: that people are incapable of judging the success and failure of education and that professional “experts” invariably know best. I reject that categorically. California needs an educated work force. We need better educated people to make welfare reform work and we must have more educational success to help prevent crime. We must restore to children of all backgrounds the hope that they will lead better lives than their own parents a hope that their parents had themselves when they were young. For all of these reasons, and more, Gov. Wilson should Veto SB 1258. DOLORES BENDER WHITE President, Reseda-Tarzana Republican Women’s Federated Member, California Republican State Central Committee

By SARA FISHER Staff Reporter The key to success for restaurants in the San Fernando Valley seems to be serving large portions at reasonable prices. “The basic rule in the Valley has always been to give a lot of value for the money,” said Merrill Schindler, editor of the Zagat Survey, the popular restaurant guide. “Any fancy restaurant has run into the same problem in the Valley: When people want a fancy meal, they tend to go into the city. When they’re eating near home, they want a lot of food without spending a lot of money,” he said. A look at the List of top-grossing restaurants in the Valley confirms this dictum. Jerry’s Famous Deli has successfully followed the formula. Its flagship restaurant in Studio City and its other two locations in the Valley are all among the top 10 largest grossing restaurants in the area. “People are eating out more often now that the economy is improving, and people obviously like our food and ambiance,” said Christine Sterling, chief financial officer for Jerry’s Famous Deli. Jerry’s is also popular on the Hollywood circuit. “We get the entire cast of ‘Seinfeld’ after they finish taping, said Al Garfinkle, executive general manager at Jerry’s. Garfinkle began rattling off the names of other celebrity customers: “John Travolta, Sylvestor Stallone, Ernest Borgnine we get everyone,” he said. The top-grossing Valley restaurant for the second year in a row is Gladstone’s Universal Hollywood, at $10.2 million. Posting a modest increase in sales from 1995 to 1996, Gladstone’s easily outpaces the Studio City Jerry’s, the second highest-grossing restaurant. Gladstone’s also offers generous portions at moderate prices, and its strategic location makes it convenient for the tourists and locals that flood Universal CityWalk throughout the week. “Gladstone’s is exciting,” said Schindler. “There’s always a lot of activity, the place is crowded, and you get both tourists and locals looking to be entertained.” Don Ricardos Restaurants has turned the “more bang for your buck” philosophy into its mantra. Don Ricardos posted the most significant gain on the List. Its sales stood at $6.15 million, up $1.55 million in one year to register as the fourth highest grossing restaurant in the area. Store managers attribute the restaurants’ growth to an aggressive advertising campaign that involved distributing coupons to the community. Ventura Boulevard continues to be the epicenter for restaurants. Twelve of the top-grossing restaurants are located on Ventura Boulevard, with the restaurants stretching from Woodland Hills to Studio City. Also, while all types of cuisine are represented on the List, American is overwhelmingly the most popular. Thirteen of the 25 restaurants listed describe themselves as serving American cuisine. Of those, five are delis. Bistro Garden at Coldwater represents the exception to the rule. Serving French/Continental food at higher prices, Bistro Garden’s gross has remained steady over the last couple of years.

By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter Recognizing that their campus is mere miles from the heart of the entertainment business the biggest employer in the San Fernando Valley Cal State Northridge officials are looking to retool their curriculum to make it more geared to the industry. Deans in the colleges of the arts, business and computer science as well as professors from those schools are meeting with alumni and others in the industry to decide how to change their classes and internship programs. Among the future possibilities for the program dubbed the “Entertainment Industry Institute” are new classes, certificate programs and new bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. “From an academic perspective, there are some unique aspects of the industry that don’t exist in other industries,” said William Hosek, dean of CSUN’s College of Business, Administration and Economics. Hosek said show business is set apart because it combines artistic, technical and organizational skills, and it involves short-term projects. A group of eight faculty members from the three colleges are meeting on a weekly basis and are scheduled to issue recommendations to the university at the end of the spring semester in May. The university has allocated $200,000 to developing the program. Philip Handler, dean of the College of Arts, Media and Communication, said development of the program is unusual in that it combines the three disciplines of arts, business and computer science. “In academic life, it’s very easy to get locked into your own discipline,” Handler said. Bill Allen, president and chief executive of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley and a former MTM Entertainment and CBS network executive, said that Cal State Northridge’s program is “long overdue,” since USC and Santa Monica College already have similar programs up and running. “I really applaud what they are doing at CSUN because they are our Valley university and entertainment has become our No. 1 industry in terms of jobs,” he said. Many entertainment industry companies, particularly in the fast-growing multimedia and software fields, have had to recruit outside the area and often outside the country for their workers, Allen said. “If you can get more people trained, and trained in our region, that lowers the cost of doing business in our region,” Allen said. Shinny Anderson, 25, a CSUN senior who has done work for Walt Disney Co.’s Imagineering unit and completed an internship at DreamWorks SKG, said it is important to have numerous skills. “The more you know, the more money you can command, and the more patches you can wear,” said Anderson. “When you’re creating something, you can understand the dynamics of the other disciplines.” Anderson created his own major at the university combining classes in animation, civil engineering and interior, industrial and structural design. The skills those classes offer, he said, are what he needs in order to succeed at a company like Disney or DreamWorks. “What I did was create something that allows me to express and display any idea within any platform in any medium,” he said. Anderson said it was necessary to create his own major because CSUN, unlike Santa Monica College or CalArts, does not yet offer what is needed to be successful in the entertainment industry. “Our school isn’t there yet,” he said. “We’re kind of lagging behind.” Handler hopes to start implementing the simplest changes suggested by the faculty group such as better internships next year, but said a new major is at least two years away. But William Toutant, associate dean in the College of Arts, Media and Communication and a member of the faculty group, said much of the curriculum CSUN already offers may be molded to serve students hoping to work in the entertainment industry. “I think we want to examine our own curriculum as it stands now to see where it fits in to what the industry seems to need,” he said.

MEL POTESHMAN To protect your assets and your family’s financial security, review your insurance coverage. An insurance review will provide you with greater peace of mind and may free up some cash that you can use to build your bank account. Make sure your homeowners’ policy covers the current replacement value of your home (the amount it would cost to rebuild your house), not its market value. Be sure the contents of your home are adequately insured. If you own valuable collectibles, jewelry or expensive antique furniture, you may need additional protection. If you operate a home-based business, check to see if your policy covers the business equipment or inventory you have in your home. Depending on the value of the equipment and inventory, you may need to get a rider to your current policy or obtain a separate policy. Also, be aware that homeowners’ policies do not cover business liability. You’ll need to get separate coverage for that. Generally, you should have a disability policy that replaces at least 60 percent of your monthly earned income in the event that you become sick or injured and are unable to work. If you have an employer-provided plan, check the benefit amount to determine if it would adequately provide for you and your family. If not, you’ll need to supplement your employer’s plan with an individual policy. The best coverage is “own-occupation coverage,” which guarantees benefit payments if you are unable to perform the substantial and material duties of your profession. You’ll want a policy that has: – A waiting period of no more than 60 to 90 days and that provides lifetime benefits or, at a minimum, benefits until age 65. – A cost-of-living adjustment rider that protects future benefits from inflation. – A non-cancellation clause. – A future insurability option to increase insurance coverage if income rises. Disability payments are taxable if your employer pays the premiums but non-taxable if paid by you. You may want to trade off another employer benefit and pay your disability premiums yourself, if possible. If you haven’t taken the time to analyze the costs and benefits of your health care plan, do so now. Take a look at the types of health care expenses you had in the past several years and the extent to which they were covered by your current policy. Then, anticipate medical expenses for you and your family in 1997 and future years. Will your costs be similar to those in 1996? To what extent do you anticipate your current insurance covering these expenses? If you are part of a health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization, are you satisfied with the physicians who participate in the plan? Do you have access to the specialists you need? Does your insurance provide adequate coverage? If you are still part of a traditional indemnity system, ask yourself if the benefits outweigh the higher costs you are paying for this type of coverage. Could you gain access to quality medical care without paying higher deductibles? If you have a growing family, it’s also time to check your life insurance policy and that of your spouse. As a general rule, you should purchase a policy that provides coverage equal to five or six times your annual income. Factors that affect the amount of insurance you need include: expenses, such as burial fees and outstanding debts; the amount of income your survivors will need to live on after you die, minus the income they can expect from other sources; the number of dependents you need to provide for and whether those dependents have special needs or require special care; and estate taxes. Finally, you should determine if the insurer is stable by checking its financial rating with a recognized rating service, such as A.M. Best. Should you refinance? Everyone loves the thought of lower monthly mortgage payments. But before you refinance your mortgage, you should take a careful look at how refinancing fits into your family’s overall financial picture. Homeowners who decide to refinance should be aware of the costs involved. When you refinance, you pay off an existing mortgage and take out a new one. Since, in effect, you are applying for a new mortgage, you’re required to pay many of the same expenses associated with a new mortgage, including fees for application processing, a credit check, appraisal, title search and title insurance, attorneys’ fees, and other related closing costs. In most cases, you’ll also pay points. To determine whether it makes sense for you to refinance, you’ll need to do a few calculations. Start by adding up the costs of refinancing. Next, determine the amount of your new monthly payment by asking your lender or by using one of the many online mortgage calculators available on the Internet. Then, divide your total refinancing costs by your monthly savings. The result tells you how many months it will take for you to reach your break-even point. If you plan to stay in your home for at least the break-even period, it may make financial sense for you to refinance. Before you start shopping around, it’s a good idea to check with your current lender. Your lender might be willing to waive certain closing costs or agree to “modify” your current loan without a complete refinancing. But watch out for tradeoffs; a mortgage with low up-front costs usually comes with a higher interest rate. The right alternative for you depends on your financial situation. If you’re in it for the long term, you’re probably better off going with the lower-rate option. On an after-tax basis, refinancing may not be as good a deal as it appears on paper. Interest on a home mortgage is one of the few significant tax deductions left. When you refinance your mortgage, the lower interest rate translates into a smaller mortgage interest deduction. That means some of the money saved in lower monthly mortgage payments will be offset by the additional tax you may pay on income that is no longer sheltered. Generally speaking, the higher your tax bracket, the more you have to gain from making larger interest payments, and the less you have to gain from reducing those payments. In addition, if you refinance your current mortgage for more than the existing balance, the deductibility of the interest on the excess amount depends on how you use the funds and the amount of the refinancing. When interest rates drop, refinancing can allow you to switch from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage without a major increase in your monthly payment. Doing so is an excellent strategy for homeowners who want to pay off their mortgage before retirement or before the children’s college tuition bills start rolling in. Mel Poteshman is president of Poteshman Consulting International & Co., a West Los Angeles-based business consulting firm.

By JASON BOOTH Staff Reporter Burbank’s Woodbury University long has been something of a stepsister to its more prestigious rivals UCLA and USC, making it hard to attract top-quality students and faculty. But last month, the university signaled its goal to be a bigger player in business education by hiring Richard King, a well-respected expert on Pacific Rim trade, as dean of the School of Business and Management and director of Pacific Rim programs. King, California’s former director of international trade and a long-time consultant on Pacific Rim commerce, is expected to help the university focus on one of Southern California’s hottest business segments. International trade is booming in L.A., particularly trade with Asia. Woodbury President Kenneth Nielsen said the university’s business school is looking to enhance its reputation in a bid to boost enrollment. The school has a student body of around 1,000 undergraduates, half of whom are studying business. Another 150 students are enrolled in Woodbury’s MBA program. Nielsen wants to grow the school to more than 1,400 students by the end of the century, which would roughly double its size since 1987. “The greatest challenge is to let potential students know that we are here,” Nielsen said. Woodbury is trying to differentiate itself by stressing practical employee-level work experience for students interested in working in Asia. “We are preparing our students for entry-level positions in multinationals, so want to have a pragmatic, entrepreneurial curriculum,” King said. On the larger scale, King wants to help California and U.S. companies better compete in the international market. “I have seen the U.S. lose out in Asia due to a lack of sophistication. There is a need for educated, enlightened business leaders,” he said. Nielsen said King was an obvious choice for the position, citing his long experience in Asia and success as a businessman. “We have always been a practical-oriented institution, and he’s a practical guy,” Nielsen said. Other Woodbury specialties aimed at L.A.’s hottest industries include a fashion and costume design major and an animation major created this year. Nielsen also hopes to launch a master’s program in architecture within two years. Although he will take up his new position at the end of the month, King will retain chairmanship of his downtown L.A.-based business consulting firm King International Group, “providing guidance and strategy and advising special clients,” he said. King International Group advises Asian and American companies on Pacific Rim business. Prior to founding the firm in 1980, King served three years as president and chief executive at Birtcher Corporation. In 1978, he was appointed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown to serve a two-year term as the state’s first director of international trade. King hopes to raise the academic standards at Woodbury and thus make it more competitive against larger schools. “The academic level at Woodbury is not great, but good,” King said. “We want business to be the driving force of the univeristy.”

By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter A long-awaited tax equity study billed as the means to stop businesses from leaving Los Angeles has been released to jeers from business advocates who said it is long on jargon and short on solutions. The study offers multiple scenarios for rewriting the city’s business tax code, but leaves it to city officials to ask for further analysis of up to 25 different tax scenarios. “We’ve waited close to two years for this tax-equity study that tells us that if we want any recommendations, they could study some more,” said City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who represents the West San Fernando Valley. “That’s frustrating, to say the least,” Chick said. “I didn’t need to wait two years to find out that we have an overly complex tax code.” Chick is trying to stop five health maintenance organizations from leaving the city by revising what the HMOs claim is an unfair tax rate. Four of the five Blue Cross of California, CareAmerica Health Plans, Health Net and Prudential HealthCare, are based in Woodland Hills. The fifth, Maxicare Health Plans, is based downtown. The $331,000 study, formally known as “The Competitiveness of City Taxes and Fees,” was prepared for the city by a consortium composed of UT Strategies Inc., Arthur Andersen LLP, Landmark Partners and the Milken Institute for Job and Capital Formation. David Naney, a senior tax manager with Arthur Andersen who worked on the study, said the recommendations were detailed particularly the suggestion to create five new tax categories. “We gave them three clear recommendations of what you can do,” he said. “The first option is the one we were pushing the hardest.” Naney said city officials had become too dependent on the study without knowing exactly what it would include. “The study became like the Holy Grail,” he said. “The tax structure in Los Angeles is incredibly complex. There’s a lot of details we couldn’t get our hands on.” Larry Kosmont, president of Kosmont & Associates Inc., a firm that surveys tax rates in various cities, said business interests had hoped the study would recommend clear-cut solutions that could be implemented quickly. With the study falling far short of that, he said, L.A. now risks losing more companies to competitor cities. “Now we’re looking at more work, more analysis, which means more time,” Kosmont said. “The exposure increases with the amount of time it takes to restructure the business tax program.” The city’s current business structure contains 64 different categories with a tax of between $1.18 per every $1,000 in gross receipts a company brings in, and $5.91 for every $1,000 in gross receipts. The study offers three suggested tax structures to replace the current one: – a gross receipts tax with five tax categories with rates ranging from $1.30 per $1,000 in gross receipts to $4.90 per $1,000; – a gross receipts tax with a flat rate of $2.65 for $1,000; and – a payroll tax with a 1.1 percent tax on payroll. The study’s lack of conclusions did not surprise Michael Gagan, a Rose & Kindel lobbyist who is representing the five HMOs that are negotiating a change in their business tax rate with the city. Gagan said he does not expect any overarching change in the city’s tax structure to come from the report because he thinks elected officials fear that any alteration would hurt the city’s revenue stream. “What I am struck by is the deafening silence by which the report has been received by the city,” Gagan said. “It’s like nobody wants to embrace it and take the initiative to run with it.”