Battalion/Page 9
January 27, 1983
‘Mini-mills’ threat
Alto U.S steel giants
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Unitrd I'ri s> I uli-i ion.tl
Ul] CHARLOI I K — Ameiica's
^jiant steelmakers, already fight
ing a sagging economy, foreign
imports and union unrest, are
a compyteing challenged on yet another
and vr-J ronl — competition from the
‘mini-mill.”
About 60 mini-mills around
irou 9 na tion — mostly in the South
'aphtc corand West — are producing some
ing a reo steel products at costs well below'
the giant mills, and in many
rases at prices rivaling the
» IEW^I a P aiiese - J ^ n< ^ h^y are making
a profit doing it.
ip F. Kenneth Iverson, presi-
meennc ^ ent Nucor Corps, in Char-
Sales ^ ott;e ' one reason his
company earned $13.4 million
the lirst nine months of 1982 is
int Office its commitment to state-of-the-
art [technology.
■piucor operates seven plants
in South Carolina, Texas, Neb
raska and Utah.
■Typical of the mini-mill phi
losophy, Nucor concentrates its
plants where it can operate with
[ion-union labor and trim ship-
JS
H/V
ping costs by serving local mar
kets.
Mini-mills produce special
ized steel poducts in small, new
and efficient factories by melt
ing scrap metal in electric fur
naces.
Most of the major Northeast
ern steel factories, which were
built 20 or more years ago, pro
duce their steel from raw mate
rials in expensive to operate
blast furnaces.
Mini-mill steel is converted
into Tollable billets on highly
automated, continuous-casting
machines that crank out ready-
to-use steel in a matter of mi
nutes.
Nucor can produce a ton of
steel in less than four hours.
This compares to an average of
five hours per ton in Japan and
more than six hours per ton at
some major U.S. plants.
Iverson said Nucor produced
850 tons of steel per employee in
1982 while some of the big firms
averaged less than half that
amount.
The typical mini-mill pro
duces light steel products like
construction joists, grinding
balls and reinforcing rods for
concrete structures. Most leave
the bigger and heavier steel pro
ducts to the giant mills.
The mini-mills, by competi
tive pricing of their specialty
products, have managed to keep
the Japanese from seriously
penetrating their markets. Iver
son, in contrast to major steel
producers, favors free trade.
Chaparral Steel Co., of Mid
lothian, Texas, sent a 10 man
steel-melting crew to Japan last
year to study their steel-making
methods.
“We want to beat them at their
own productivity game,” said
Chaparral President Gordon
Forward. Chaparral, which op
erates one 7-year-old mill,
earned $11 million last year on
sales of $379 million.
Several mini-mills offer work
ers an incentive plan that ties
earnings to output.
Julie Bannantine, ..right, and Terry Wilt, both errosion. The mortar, which has been on the
employed by a Houston engineering firm, test the market for only 15 years, has a chemical which
mortar at Sterling C. Evans library for suspected may cause possible erosion of the mortar.
Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllli
What In The World Would We Do Without Business?
Ill teen’s
custody
settled
y the
tration
Dotation,
icipation
Fair last
ntu, Jr.,
for Shell
i that we
udents a
3 career
r ith Shell
30 states
:tions in
i Harriett
ca, Los
ee career
Business
nost pro-
and iffi-
, booths,
Fair are
vill be ol
joring in
siness.
ninars
Ipecia!
air
e Should
of Appli-
als
nounced
es Mana-
'any
nounced
Business
’rofessor
nounced
ss
Psychol-
rounced
inances"
.iter and
.ybrand
BA Busi-
nounced
in Busi-
r of Cor
eas Pipe-
nounced
Some folks would have us be
lieve that the world's oldest and
most noble profession belongs to
those who till the soil. Others
would lead us to think that those
who perform the healing arts de
serve that distinction. Still others
have other ideas.
Hardly anyone would argue,
however, that the world's pre
dominant profession is practiced
by those responsibile for meeting
mankind's basic needs and wants:
business people have been in busi
ness since Day One. Buying and
selling and trading and exhanging
goods and services and informa
tion the practice of business —
is the one major profession that
touches every person's life in the
most comprehensive way.
Someone has observed that by
the time a person finishes break
fast and arrives at the place of
work (or school), that person has
been served by hundreds of busi
ness people. Think about that.
I, for instance, had breakfast
(corn flakes) this morning sent to
my table by business people in Bat-
tlecreek, Michigan. My hot spiced
tea came to me by way of business
interests in India, South America,
and China. Toast was provided by
business firms in North Dakota,
butter from businesses in East
Texas. The silverware at my table
is the result of business activities in
Idaho, the ceramic plates from
businesses in other states. The
trousers I wear (I pulled them on
one leg at a time time just like
everyone else) came to me from a
business firm in North Carolina,
my shoes from New Mexico. I had
been awakened by an electronic
device from New York, music
from California. I motored to the
Innovation Theme of Banquet
Mr. Roy Serpa will be the fea
tured speaker at the 1983 Career
Fair Banquet, slated for Tuesday
evening at the main banquet room
of the MSC. Mr. Serpa is currently
the Manager of Headquarters
Commercial Development for Gulf
Oil Chemicals Company. He will
be speaking on Innovation and En-
treprenuership.
Mr. Serpa is responsible for the
direction of all commercial de
velopment activities and new busi
ness ventures at Gulf. He began
his career as a chemical salesman
and for the past fifteen years has
held several marketing, business
development, and general man
agement positions.
During the past ten years, Mr.
Serpa has been extensively in
volved with new business ven
tures, technology transfer on an
international basis, and with ac
quisitions. He has presented sev
eral lectures and articles about
marketing, business develop
ment, the free enterprise system,
and on multinational firms and
their impact on international
affairs.
A graduate of the Southeastern
Massachusetts University with a
B.S. Degree in Chemistry, he also
received his Master's Degree in
Business Administration from the
University of Pittsburgh.
Mr. Serpa is a member of the
American Management Associa
tion and the Commercial Develop
ment Association. He is active in
the United Way and the Project
Business Program of Junior
Achievement.
office in a device assembled by a
business in Dallas, Texas.
And so by the time I arrived at
my desk I had enjoyed benefits
supplied by hundreds of business
people.
And to think about it further,
the checks I had written to pay for
each product or service has circu
lated through an amazing econo
mic network in a fascinating eco
nomic system that is based primar
ily on trust!
One human being trusting his
needs and wants to the business
activities of hundreds of other peo
ple! And they in turn trusting their
economic security to my hand
written note of payment.
Business, of course, is much
more than that. But without those
key ingredients of mutual trust
and service between people, there
just couldn't be many business
transactions. Business is a people-
oriented profession.
And the study of Business
Administration, also, is much
more than it appears on the sur
face. Maybe that is why we have
started an annual "BUSINESS
WEEK" at Texas A&M University.
We'd like to let you experience
some of the excitement of the pro
fession. We'd like to let you in on
HAPPY HOUR
5-7 Mon.-Thurs.
4:30-6:30 Fri.
Sat.
11-5
Mon.-Sat.
10-Closing
OPEN
11-11 Mon.-Thurs.
11-12 Fri.-Sat.
11-2:30 Sunday Brunch
5-10 Sunday
IJVTERURBA1V
MONDAY—Sorority Night ! Bring in your greek
letters and drink all night for half-price!!!
WEDNESDAY—Ladies Night! All ladies’ drinks
half-price from 5 till closing!!
INTERURBAN EATING HOUSE
846-8741
505 University Drive
Fourth Annual Career Fair Banquet
“A Dead Whale or a Stove Bolt”
Mr. Roy Serpa, Gulf Chemicals
speaking
Sit With The Company Of Your Choice
Tickets on Sale Today and Tomorrow ONLY!!
$5.00 admission
some of the inside skills and know
ledge and information involved in
business professions.
And we'd like to invite you to
meet and visit with some caring
and interesting business people.
The Annual Business Career
Fair is an excellent opportunity for
students and faculty members to
become acquainted with profes
sionals representing specific
businesses and industries. The
sharing of information and the
establishing of continuing re
lationships between the university
''and the business community pro
vides many benefits for all con
cerned.
BUSINESS WEEK '83 at Texas
A&M University begins Monday,
January 31 and runs through Fri
day, February 4. The College of
Business Administration is happy
to be your host to numerous
events. Participate in those of in
terest to you, as listed in the sche
dules elsewhere in this special edi
tion of the business students'
newsletter, "The Business."
Lynn Zimmermann, Assistant to
the Dean
The Business is published by the
undergraduate Business Student
Council as a monthly newsletter
for students and student organiza
tions of the College of Business
Administration at„ Texas A&M
University. It is financed by volun
tary non—tax—supported pro
jects and activities of the Business
Student Council. "The Business"
offices and student organization
offices are located in room 101 of
the A&A building, telephone 713/
845—1320. The Business: Student
Editor - Clyde L. Wright, III; Staff
Editor - Susan DuBois; Council
President - Susie Brandt; Council
Staff Advisor - Lynn Zimmer
mann; Dean of the College - Dr.
William V. Muse.
SPECIAL STUDENT
HEALTH CLUB MEMBERSHIP
Now is the time to get in shape with a student health
club membership at Royal Oaks Racquet Club. The cost is
only $16 per month plus a one time $50 initiation fee
and you can suspend the membership and dues for three
month's each summer. Racquetball courts can be rented
by student members on an as available basis for a low
court fee. For further information call 846-8724.
ROYAL. OAKS
RACQUET CLUB
4455 CARTER CREEK PARKWAY 846-8788
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United Press International
SAN FRANCISCO — A cou
ple succeeded in their two-year
court battle to gain custody of a
teenage victim of Down’s syn
drome whose parents refused
him medical treatment, but doc
tors say too much time may have
lapsed for a lifesaving opera
tion.
The state Court of Appeal
Tuesday granted custody of
Phillip Becker, 16, to Herbert
and Patsy Heath of San Jose,
Calif.
The Heaths battled with Phil
lip’s natural parents, Warren
and Patricia Becker of Los Altos,
Calif., for custody of the child
after the Beckers refused to
allow doctors to perform an ex
ploratory heart catheterization
to see whether Phillip needed
corrective surgery.
“The Heaths are ecstatic,” Jay
Spear, the Heaths’ lawyer, said
Tuesday night. “But the ques
tion over whether he can have
the heart catheterization test still
remains.
“The only way it will be re
solved is if and when the Califor
nia Supreme Court rules on the
case.”
Phillip was born with Down’s
syndrome, a genetic disease that
causes mental retardation, often
accompanied by physical abnor
malities including heart defects.
Without the surgery, the
Heaths argued, Phillip would
live only into his 30s. The Beck
ers said they did not want to pro
long his life beyond their own
life expectancy because he
might not have anyone to take
care of him.
The exploratory surgery may
now be a moot issue because
doctors believe Phillip has
grown too large for the opera
tion to have any benefit, the
court said.
Spear echoed that concern.
“He has a progressive dis
order,” he said. “In 1977, when
the first tests were done they
showed that he was operable.
Today, doctors are not sure that
is still the case.”
In making the Tuesday deci
sion, the court decided that re
moving Phillip from the psycho
logically supportive atmosphere
in the Heath’s home would have
a severe effect on the boy who
earlier showed signs of stress
when removed from the Heath’s
care.
The court said Phillip’s fre
quent visits to the Heath’s home
“provided an adequate founda
tion to establish the crucial pa
rent-child relationship.”
The Heaths met Phillip in
1972 when they worked as
volunteers for the We Care
home for the mentally retarded
in San Jose. They began taking
him home for visits.
The Beckers, who institution
alized Phillip soon after his
birth, did not visit him often and
refused to pursue medical treat
ments for him when they be
came aware of his condition, the
court said.
“The record contains abun
dant evidence (the Becker’s) re
tention of custody would cause
Phillip profound emotional
harm,” Justice John T. Racanelli
wrote.