Salt Lake Tribune | 2003-10-09 | Page 52

TheSalt Lake Tribune BUSINESS E2 Your MoneEY Thursday, (Jetober 9, 2003 ‘Disabled womansues BlackAngus Utau BUSINESS In brief Consumer Ses Corn dogsrecalled by makerin Indiana WASHINGTON AnIndiana company hasrecalled 33,000 poundsoffrozen corn dogs because they contain undeclared ingredients that could causeallergic reactions in someconsumers. The corn dogs from Olympic Food Products, in Kokomo, Ind., contained eggs and whey that were not written onthe label. Anotheringredient, beef, also was missing from the label, the department said. The corn dogs were soldin stores nationwide. No one has gotten sick, department officials Equal access: Shealleges its Midvale and Sandylocations do not comply with ADAguidelines By Bos Mims The Salt Lake Tribune A Utah woman, backed by a disabled rights advocacy group,is suing two Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus restaurants and a nice dinnerat Black Angus,but if you are a person with a disability like Mary Jo’s, The suit states that when Sanger complained, “Management showed little con- that’s not the case.” cern, even contempt, claiming no laws Patrick Kelvie, general counsel for ARG Enterprises Inc., the Los Altos, Calif.-based ownerof the Black Angus chain, said the suit took the companyby surprise. “We endeavorto comply with all laws,” he said. “This is the first we’ve heard of this. Perhaps, as we are able to make some were being broken.” Subsequently, the suit states, DRAC representatives visited both the Sandy and Midvale Black Angussites and allegedly found ADAviolations. contact, we wiil find an opportunity to avoid any misunderstandings about our their corporate owneroveralleged violations of equal access laws. In her U.S. District Court complaint, Mary Jo Sanger of West Valley City and the Disabled Rights Action Committee Brandon Miller, who confirmed he was a managerat the restaurant at the time of the incident, declined to answer questions Wednesday. Kelvie said ARG had no record of pre- compliance,” Sanger, who contracted polio as a child, was using a wheelchair when her family wentto the restaurant. Their problemsbe- restaurants. “We makeevery effort, in our design and construction, to comply” with charge the Black Angus eateries in Sandy gan, the suit contends, when they were ADAregulations. and Midvale with numerousviolations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The suit alleges the restaurants, though notified previously of the shortcomings, forced to park their van illegally because of inadequate parking space for the disabled. Once inside, “restaurant staff seemed inconvenienced by the need to accommodate” her seating needs. Eventually, she “Certainly, we want to provide good service and don’t want any unhappy vious complaints against eitherof the Utah customers.” For DRAC, Sanger’s suit, filed late Monday, was just the mostrecent offensive said. continue to fall short of ADA guidelines The company is asking consumers to return the 2.75-ounce packages of Quickmea! Premium Corn Dog, Batter governing disabled parking and ramps, seating accommodations, restroom access and provision of barrier-free passage for wheelchairs and other assistant equipment. wasplaced at the end of a booth, where her in disabled rights advocacy. In May, the wheelchair obstructed the aisle. “The servers complained about herbeing in the way, making comments as they went by,” Cowdell said. The commotion While citing purported ADAviolations also “drew unwanted attention” to her from otherdiners. nonprofit organization sued 11 Salt Lake City-area Arby’s restaurants over wheelchair access complaints; a year ago, DRAC targeted The Gatewayretail and residential developments over alleged architec- Wrapped Chicken & Pork On A Stick, which bear the label code 40238-07. They were madethis year on July 28, Aug. 18, and Sept. 16. The other corn dogs underrecall are 4-ounce boxes of Quick meal Premium Jumbo Corn Dog, Batter-Wrapped Chicken & Pork On A Stick,” marked with the code 37175-02. They were produced this year on Aug. 18 and 19, All the recalled products have the establishment code “BST. P-6882” near the USDA in spection seal. Consumers with questions aboutthis recall may contact the company’s consumerhotline at Hormel Foods: 877-446-7635. The Associated Press New SUV roll test is performance based Howlikely is your SUV to roll overin traffic? After decades of research andbitter debate, the federal government unveiled a new test that may provide the answer. Thetest is the first to be based on a vehicle’s actual performance, instead of a mathe- at both restaurants, the complaint focuses on Sanger’s visit with her family to the Black Angusin Sandy. “She was humiliated and embarrassed,” Sanger’s attorney Tracy Cowdell said Wednesday. “Everyoneelse can enjoy When,after the meal, Sanger sought to use the restroom, she allegedly found her access restricted by stacked chairs. She required assistance to get the lavatory door open. tural barriers. DRACactivists also have frequently protested and filed complaints relating to Utah Transit Authority services and fees for disabled passengers. [e-mail] SEC backs shareholder-nominated directors election of “special-interest” directors be- By Marcy GORDON holden to the shareholder groups that TheAssociated Press nominated them, by requiring evidence of significant investor dissatisfaction with WASHINGTON — Federal regulators moved Wednesday to make it easier for the company and nominated directors’in- major shareholdersto install directors on dependence from the groups, said Alan company boards over opposition from cor- Beller, director of the SEC’s corporation finance division. There “should not be single-issue or special-interest directors,” Beller said before the vote. The proposal was designed to make companies more answerable for their actions and to prevent corporate boards from functioning as rubber stamps for execu- porate CEOs — an effort to make companies more accountable. The Securities and Exchange Commission, tentatively adopting the far-reaching proposal at an open meeting, recognized the opposition of CEOs who want to keep the status quo and big pension funds that say the plan doesn’t go far enough. The commissioners voted 5-0 to open tives’ action — thesort of pliancy that occurred at Enron and other disgraced companies. The goalis to bolster investor confidence rattled by last year’s wave of corporate scandals. SEC Chairman William Donaldson has the proposed rules to public commentfor 60 days. If they are finally adopted, contested board elections could not take place under them until the spring of 2005. The proposal wascrafted to avoid the endorsed the plan. But his two fellow Republican commissioners, Paul Atkins and Cynthia Glassman, questioned the new rules as currently written. “Even though our intentions are good ... the consequences of being wrong could be very se- rious,” she said. The rules would bring a dramatic new obligation for American companies, coming atop the sweeping set of new regulations under the antifraud legislation enacted last year at the height of the scandals, shesaid. Opponents — including the Business Roundtable, representing chief executives of the biggest corporations — maintain that the move would bring chaos in the boardroom, give special interests undue influence over company policy and force companies that govern themselves stringently into board takeover contests. Sterling Jewelers, an Akron, Ohio-based fine jewelry retailer, on Nov. 1 will open a Jared The Galleria of Jewelry superstore at 5928 S.State St., Murray. The store will sell diamonds, gold, colored gemstones and watches priced from $10 to $20,000. Sterling Jewelers operates 72 Jared stores nationwide. Aon Consulting has moved to 5 Triad Center, Suite 500, Salt Lake City. Its telephone and fax numbers remain the same. The company,part of insurance brokerage Aon Corp., offers human resources consulting services, Ellsworth Paulsen Construction Services of American Fork has begun construction on the new University Plaza Medical Office building at 1275 N. University Ave., Provo. The 39,000-square-foot building was designed by architect Ken Harris of Provo. Upon completion, it will be occupied by Medical Center Co. LLC,a consortium of physicians, dentists and business owners. All wheatstocks at off-farm locations in Utah totaled 5,061,000 bushels on Sept. 1, compared with 4,983,000 bushels a year earlier, the Utah Agricultural Statistics Service said. Offfarm barley stocks totaled 951,000 bushels, down from 1,540,000 bushels last year. Penna Power Cutting Haynes/ProClix, an advertising, public relations, branding and interactive agency based in Salt Lake City, donated $60,000 in advertising and public relations services to The Good Samaritan Program, Gina BachauerInternational Piano Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society Utah State Chapter and the American Cancer Society during its secondannual CreatAThon charity event. The 24-hour creativeblitz ended with the unveiling of marketing materials for the selected nonprofit organizations. matical formula. It is expected to increase pressure on car makers to speed up technological changesthat are intended to reduce rollover accidents. Starting this year, the government will subjectall vehicles to the new road test -a series of Nobel economic prize shared by American sharp maneuvers at high speeds. Consumerscould start seeing the new ratings by year end, whenthe government will begin factoring the results of the test into its traditional rating system. Theagencyplans to post the first batch of its newratings (probably for a dozen cars or so) on the Website http:// safercars.gov by January at the latest. It won't require manufacturers or dealers to provide the data to customers. A demonstration by the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration compared two models. One was a 2003 Toyota 4Runner equipped with extra safety features — special sensors and stabilization components — designed to minimize rollovers. That sport-utility vehicle outperformed its predecessor, a 2000 Toyota 4Runner that lacked the additional features. The older mode!roseat least a foot off the ground when subjected to a sharp series of turns at 35 mph. In contrast, the newer SUV, whichalso has a lower center of gravity, longer wheel base, and widertrack width, lifted up byless than an inch well belowthe two-inch threshold that NHTSAconsiderssignificant. Governmentsafetyofficials say the newtest demonstrates how manufacturers can change their vehicles to make By Matr Moore The Associated Press Do-not-call list registration resumes THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The national do-not-call list will re- the University of California, San Diego, where Engle had previously worked. They will STOCKHOLM, Sweden — American Robert F. Engle and Briton Clive W.J. Granger won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Wednesday for their use of statistical methods for studying the timing behind economic developments. Their research is used to gather data for “time series,” such as chronological observations or for estimating relationships and testing hypotheses in economic theory, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. “Such time series show the development of [gross domestic product}, prices, interest rates, stock prices, etc.,” the citation said. Their findings are important because on financial markets, random fluctuations and voiatility can affect share prices and value, along with other financial instruments. Engle is on the faculty of New York University and Granger retired June 30 from share the prize worth about Robert F. Engle $1.3 million. Engle told The Associated Press he was surprised by the award, but grateful. “Tt’s the treat of a lifetime,” he said from Annecy, France, where he is on sabbatical. “I’m getting e-mails and messages from friends all over the world.” Hesaid is workis a statistical approach to measuring Clive W.J. Granger Financial Research, said their sume accepting phone numbers today from people who do not want to be bothered by telemarketers. The Federal Trade Commission shut down new registra- research has helped experts es- tion last week after a federal timate volatility. “This has most of its appli- court ordered the agency to stop operating the list of more cations in financial markets, than 52 million phone numbers. But the 10th U.S. Circuit for instance how the volatility of stock returns and investment returns in general vary over time,” he said. “Granger has Court of Appeals in Denver model variables that follow temporarily blocked the lower court’s decision Tuesday, allowing the registry to restart. The FTC said Wednesday damental concept,” he said. trends over time and in particular to estimate relationships between such variables. One example would be exchange home or cell phone numbers with the free governmentservice by visiting the Website at “It’s important for measuring risk, for valuing derivatives and other financial instruments.” rates and relative price levels.” The Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Sciences is the only award not established in volatility. “That's why it’s so interest- ing in financial applications because volatility is such a fun- developed methodsthat help us Granger is on sabbatical in the will of Swedish industrialist NewZealand and was not immediately available for Alfred Nobel, the inventor of comment. Engle is the fourth consecutive American to receive the award since 2000. Peter Englund, a banking and insurance professor at the Stockholm Institute for dynamite. It was established separately in 1968 by the Swed- that consumers can register http://www.donotcall.gov or calling 1-888-382-1222, beginning today at 6 a.m. MDT. Late Saturday, people who registered before Aug. 31 can file complaints about telemarketers at the sameInternet site and toll-free number. People who add new numbers have to wait three months before filing a complaint and it might take that long for them to see a reduction in telemarketing calls. Thelist is moving ahead for now, but the court fight continues. An appeals court will hear arguments in Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 10 on lower court rulings that the FTC lacks authority to run the program and the list violates telemarketers’ free-speech rights by barring calls from businesses but not charities. Donate that Car! Don't trade itlVolunteers ofAmerica, Utah helps those most in throug Seven community enhancement programs. ish central bank, but it is grouped with the other awards. 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