Salt Lake Tribune | 1985-12-08 | Page 113

F3 The Sail Lake Tribune, Sunday, December 8, 1985 Business Portrait Time Prolongs Tests on Keeping Up With New Rules Is a Challenge to CPA Keeping up with new accounting rules and regulations is one of the challenges that Robert V. Stevens faces as a certified public accountant. The president of the Salt Lake City accounting firm of Tanner Brunson & Co., Mr. Stevens is also the current president of the Utah Association of Certified Public Ac- , countants, an organization which represents the interests of 1,500 CPAs before the Legislature and attempts to keep its members informed about current issues facing the profession. The accounting profession has recently come under pressure from many different parties, Mr. Stevens said. Some politicians want to increase the regulation of CPAs and others want do away with much of the regulations we now have. Its not a comfortable position to be in. ' . , Mr. Stevens said the increased pressure the accounting profession is feeling could be due in part to public misperception of the role of CPAs. ' 1 . Many people expect CPAs to perform functions that they normally do not attempt, Mr. Stevens said. Although audits are not specifically designed to detect fraud, embezzlement and dishonesty if we dont catch them the public thinks we aren't doing our job. But that is just not the case. Mr. Stevens said it was not until he served a two year stint in the Marine Corps during the Korean conflict that he seriously consid-- v ered becoming a CPA. I served as a court reporter while in the Marines and also worked off base for a CPA, he said. I enjoyed it so much that I decided that was what I wanted to do." Although he was born in Portland, Ore., Mr. Stevens said he considers himself a Utah native. His father, Irvin Wells Stevens, purchased the Henager Business College in 1941 and renamed the institution the Stevens Henager College of Business. It was a family run business, Mr. Stevens said. I learned Thomas Speed Writing and Greg Speed Writing and eventually taught those courses at the school. He attended Utah. He eventually graduated in 1957 with a bachelor of science degree in accounting and was named the Utah Association of CPAs outstanding graduate. He then entered the University of Michigan for further accounting studies. The University of Michigan had probably one of the best accounting faculties in the country at the time, he said. He attended the school on the William A. Paton scholarship and received an MBA New Magazine 0 0 0 bd 0 (j o o 990(180 By Richard Sandomir Newsday Writer Time Inc. is taking its time with Picture Week, the photo-lade- n magazine that the media giant has been testing since September to appeal in large part to the supermarket -buying crowd. The company said last week that the test, which was to end later this month, will continue through January, and possibly longer. Time apparently isnt fully satisfied with results in the cities, which range from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., where Picture Week is selling for either 79 cents or 95 cents. The magazine with a logo that recalls 1950s True Confessions-typ- e relies on magazines photographs to report on news, entertainment, and diverting trivia, such as the fun three jaguar cubs had with a Columbus, Ohio, mutt. Its managing editor is Richard Stolley, who held the same post at People magatabloid- in 1959. After I completed my studies of Michigan I interviewed with several major corporations. But I told my wife that before I decided where to go to work that we should return to Salt Lake City. As we came in over the mountains and saw the valley I knew this was where I wanted to raise my family. Although Mr. Stevens went into business on his own and founded Robert V. Stevens & Co., he said after two to years he realized that practicing as a CPA on my own was very difficult in a profession that was so complex. It took a good part of my day just to keep up with all of the changing rules and regulations. He merged his practice with that of another CPA, Don Pickett and formed Pickett Stevens & Co. Three years later Mr. Stevens was called upon to serve as the president of the Spain LDS mission. While he was gone Mr. Pickett merged the firm again. I left with one partner and came back to nine, he said. In his spare time, Mr. Stevens said he enjoys water skiing, fishing and golf. He also plays squash at the University East High School, served as student body president and was named an All State basketball player two years in a row. He graduated in 1946. After spending one year at the University of Utah, Mr. Stevens was called to serve an LDS Mission to Uruguay. At the time I was there, from 1947 to 1949, Uruguay was known as the little Switzerland of South America, Mr. Stevens said. It was long before the Tupamaros guerrillas showed up. He married Sue Stoddard, who he knew in High School, after he got back from his mission. They have five children three girls and two boys. After he returned from his mission Mr. Stevens was drafted into the Marines. It turned out to be a real blpssing , he said. I was assigned to Camp Pendleton and served as a legal clerk. There were only two people in my unit, myself and a major. I received two meritorious promotions and left the Marines as a sergeant. Mr. Stevens upon his return to the University of Utah test-mark- black-and-whi- zine. Trlboo Staff Ptato By Van Portor Robert V. Stevens, president of the Utah Assn, of CPAs, backs increased educational requirements for the CPA profession. quirements for the profession. Im a firm believer in high education requirements for CPAs, Mr. Stevens said. It is one way that the profession can insure that the publics interest is protected. whenever I get a chance. He is also a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Mr. Stevens said the Utah Association of CPAs is a strong proponent of increased educational re Ophthalmologist Has Clear Vision of Future of Contacts By Sarah Fisher Lowe United Press International busiThe contact-len- s , DENVER n ness is booming, and a is convinced the lens, a hybrid combining the comfort of soft lenses with the visual acuity provided by hard lenses, is the wave of the future. .Perry Rosenthal, an ophthalmologist and assistant clinical professor at Harvard, is chairman of Polymer Technology Corp., a firm that developed the plastic material. In Europe, Rosenthal said, lenses already have surpassed both soft and hard lenses in popularity. Two years ago Rosenthal sold ( scientist-businessma- Polymer, which he founded in 1972, to Bausch & Lomb, the largest contact-len-s company in the world, for $22 million in cash, and stayed on as chairman of the independent subsidiary. In two years, Polymer has become the second fastest growing division of Bausch & Lomb, and sales have far surpassed expectations. Were having a significant impact on the earnings and share price, he said. Part of the reason is the continuing popularity of all contact lenses. The market for so.'t and hard lenses is growing at a rate of 25 percent a year. The market for rigid, lenses, such as those developed by Polymer, is growing even faster, about 50 percent a year, Rosenthal said. The Polymer lens, sold under the trade name The Boston Lens, has the largest market share of rigid gas permeable lenses today, he said. Polymer also develops and sells cleaning and wetting solutions for use with all lenses. That is busia major part of the contact-len- s ness, since lens wearers spend more on cleaners and solutions about than they $200 million annually spend on lenses. Polymer does not manufacture the lenses, but sells plastic lens material to 75 laboratories around the United States, which in turn manufacture the lenses to doctors specifications. Because the lens is rigid, said Rosenthal, it corrects astigmatism, an irregularity of the curvature of the cornea, the delicate transparent tissue that the contact lens sits on. An estimated 40 percent of the population has astigmatism. lenses also Rigid have advantages over traditional hard contact lenses, he said, since they allow oxygen to pass from the the only surface air to the cornea tissue of the body that requires a constant supply of oxygen directly from the air, rather than from the blood. The Boston Lens is made of silicone, which contains oxygen atoms, allowing most gases to pass through the material even though it is solid. The Polymer lenses, which Rosenthal began developing at his laborato- - ry in Wilmington, Mass., in 1972, are about twice as expensive as soft lenses, costing between $200 and $400. But the rigid lens is more durable, and does not need to be replaced as often, he said. Rosenthal said his lens also works for people who have trouble with soft lenses because of the dryness of the climate or air pollution. The lens moves up and down with each blink of the eye, allowing tears to wash over the cornea, cleaning away debris, he said. His latest model, the Boston Lens IV, which recently received Food and Drug Administration approval this week, is being tested for use as an extended-wea- r lens, one which can be worn 24 hours a day. In explaining the continued testing, publisher Bruce A. Barnet said: We need more time to gather definitive market data and respond to what weve already learned about consumer reaction to Picture Week. We feel the response from the consumers warrants extending the tests to learn about such key publishing elements as our editorial subject mix, pricing and repeat purchases. Word of an extension in Picture Weeks testing can be taken to mean two things: Time could be taking extraordinary pains to nurture a new product before committing to nation- al publication. Or there may be serious, unforseen problems that will lead Time to dump it before there are huge losses such as the the pre-ta- x write-of- f taken when Time put its Week magazine out of its misery two years ago. Ive heard some markets were good and others werent so good, said media analyst John Reidy of Drexel Burnham Lambert. Im not sure what its niche is . . .but its pre- mature to either raise the flag or bury it. But analyst Allan J. Gottesman of L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, was blunter. If it were doing really well, they wouldnt extend it for a month, he said. 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