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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1988)
Monday, February 1, 1988/The Battalion/Page 7 Start The Semester Off Right with THE PROBLEM SOLVER BOOKS Make Every Grade an “A” Study Guides in 35 Different Subjects in Math, Science, Engineering, Economics, Business, Management, Psy chology, Biology ... • Each book over 1,000 pages filled with problems worked out in step-by-step detail. • Designed to save students hours of time in finding solutions to problems. • Includes every type of problem that might be assigned or given on exams. • Problems are arranged in order of complexity, from elementary to advanced. • An essential supplement to any class text. Photo by David C. Elmer vs: Dishing it out Jimmy Raycraf't and Barbara Donahoe, members of The Dishes, sing Friday night at Morgenstern’s. areer (Continued from page 1) llichel Halbouty, Class of ’30, told columnist Paul Harasim, r “It is incon- Reivable that the College of Business Bf Texas A&M would give an award l A to a corporate raider who, in my /Kpinion, has contributed to much of » »||he havoc and despair in the petro- Reum industry. As an alumnus of the Rlniversity I oppose and resent this 'P^Wecision and I’m completely dis- llgusted with the College of Business.” But Donald Zale, Class of ’55, co- !**■ Bponsor of the award that honors '® ni M954 graduate Harold L. Kupfer, Raid Friday the corporate raider was '"I a natural choice for the award be- 3 slraL pause he is controversial. ' li “Not everyone agrees with him or l enls:l ikes him,” Zale said. “But you don’t . ™,.ave to like someone or agree with trnif i t 0 appreciate his ability or to learn from him. A great university ^ should attract different kinds of w 11 * aeople to create a better learning en- dronment. “Mr. Pickens has obviously achieved a great deal of success and has a wealth of experience to draw on in speaking to the students to day.” Pickens obviously has achieved a large measure of fame and fortune. His takeover attempts have pushed his name into the recognition realm. And his financial success cannot be denied. Since Pickens began his career as “corporate raider” in 1983, he has made eight “deals” that added $500 million to his personal coffer and made $15 billion for stockholders, he said Friday. These corporate takeovers receive much criticism, but Pickens has fier cely defended his buyout schemes. He portrays himself as the champion of the stockholders, a protector from the evils of poor management. He has been active in educating the public about the role of share holders in a corporation. In 1986 he started the United Shareholders As sociation, which now has 15,000 members, he said. The organization disseminates informaton about “exe cutive excesses” and lobbies against “anti-shareholder legislation.” Pickens has also defended the eco nomic value of corporate takeovers. He cited a Harvard study that said corporate takeovers and restructur ing put $400 billion in profits into the economy over the last 10 years. Some question the economic worth of corporate takeovers, calling mergers and “restructuring” a mis use of capital. Pickens admitted in his memoir, “Boone,” published in 1987 by HMfghton Miftlirt Co., that “restructuring turns equity into debt.” But he staunchly claimed that takeovers are a catalyst to competi tion. “I think it’s a disciplinary force that causes America to become com petitive again,” he said. “I think we’ve drifted way too far in a direc tion that’s unhealthy to this country because there is no pressure put on the management of this nation’s cor porations.” So Pickens has taken on the task of forcing executives to be account able to their stockholders. And in the course of this noble labor, he has pocketed quite a bit of money. Andrew Sigler, a member of the policy committee of the Business Roundtable composed of the CEOs of America’s 200 largest corpora tions, told the New York Times last March that Pickens “sucked the equi ty” from companies. “While the whole gang pockets their gains,” Sigler said, “companies are left saddled with debt or broken up, communities are torn apart and jobs are destroyed.” But Pickens said the profits from takeovers are injected back into the economy by the stockholders who gained from the deal. And, he said, the ultimate accountability still lies with the managers of the companies. So the debate rages on. Pickens’ advocates defend him and praise him; his detractors continue to un dercut his accomplishments. But negative or positive, T. Boone Pick ens gets attention. ward :et (Continued from page 1) Hard work is a superior alterna tive to “running to Washington for ^protection,” he said. “That’s not the place to go,” he [said. “The place to go is to stay at work and do a good job, and that will be protection enough.” Management’s failure to run its ^companies well is the root of sluggish ibusiness, he said. The expansion of [“inefficient corporate bureaucracy” ismothers entrepreneurship, he .said. Many of Pickens’ comments at the , press conference and much of his subsequent speech lambasted cor porate executives lor their inatten tion to shareholders, the ultimate victims of poor management. “If a company loses $500 million this year, who took the loss?” he said. “The stockholders took the loss. The stockholders own the company.” Executives feel no urgency to per form because they don’t own the company, he said. “Accountability to the owners is the key to restoring competitiveness in this country,” he said. “We have lost the accountability to the owners. Managements have very little stock in the company.” The executives and boards of di rectors of the 200 Business Roundta ble corporations own 0.3 percent of the stock in their companies, he said. And 45 of the Fortune 500 chief ex ecutives own no stock in their cor porations. “I thought you had to own a share of stock to get the annual report,” he said. Pickens said 95 percent of his net worth was in Mesa Petroleum, a company he founded, and 95 per cent of Mesa’s employees own stock in the company. “I’ve got it on the line every day,” he said. “Let me tell you, you take a lot different attitude about it when your money is up in every deal and you can see what’s happening to your money.” mam SUBMIT TO •T» (f P" ' rareer W categories: Collage, Drawings, Paintings, Pastel, Miscellaneous (no photographs) entries: judging: will be accepted in the MSC Gallery from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., February 22-24. Entry fee is $3.00 per piece, limit 4 pieces. February 25, 1988. ■ MSC VISUAL ARTS STUDENT HAIRCARE SAVINGS! COUPON SAVINGS OFF STUDENT CUT Reg. $8 MasterCuts family hairrutters OFF STUDENT CUT Reg. $8 MasterCuts family haircutters $E OFF ANY PERM MasterCuts family haircuttErs 5 MasterCuts family ha ire utters POST OAK MALL 693-9998 Picktai* auid profit is what moti vates people in business. “Young people are ready to go make money,” he said. “Don’t ever apologize for that, as long as you do it honestly. “If you keep fit, work hard, ana lyze well and play by the rules, I promise you you’ll make money in business and you’ll absolutely have a ball doing it.” He stressed the importance of “playing by the rules.” “When you go out and cheat, pre tty soon you’re not going to have anybody to play with you,” he said. “There’s never any fun in going out and winning by cheating.” o MSC PoHtlccil Forum Saigon The Tet Offensive Viet Minh Hanoi Ho Chi Minh Gulf of Tonkin Diem Vietnamization Vietnam Dr. Terry Anderson A Lecture and Slide Presentation February 3 7:30 p.m. Rudder Theater 'Tfr