Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 9

HeraldiReview Tuesday, November 5, 2002 1 li II 1 II tm ud! alMMW was wires ruptcy protection in July after revealing accounting irregularities, said in response to the report that it is doubling its internal audit department staff, creating two new operational chief financial officer positions and hiring a new corporate controller. One telecommunications industry analyst said the examiner's report, with its hints of more fraud to be uncovered, deals another serious blow to WorldCom. "It's going to be hard for WorldCom to keep customers with these allegations and with the controversy continuing and the fraud apparently growing," said Patrick Comack of Guzman Co. in Miami. to changing business conditions and earnings pressures by taking extraordinary and illegal steps to mask the discrepancy between the financial reality at the company and Wall Street's expectations," Thornburgh said in his report.

As to where to place the blame, Thornburgh concluded: "There were numerous failures, inadequacies and breakdowns in the multilayered system designed to protect the integrity of the financial reporting system at WorldCom, including the board of directors, the audit committee, the company's system of internal controls and the independent auditors." WorldCom, which filed for bank WorldCom's board for letting former Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers leverage his company stock for more than $1 billion in personal and business loans. That greatly exceeds the $400 million in personal loans Ebbers already was disclosed to have been granted. Thornburgh said he had significant information that WorldCom employees created false internal financial reports to conceal their fraud. His report excluded details of the accounting manipulations, it said, because the company is the subject of civil and criminal proceedings. "Our investigation strongly suggests that WorldCom personnel responded Report says company went to great lengths to mask poor finances JACKSON, Miss.

(AP) WorldCom Inc. took "extraordinary and illegal steps" to paint a rosy picture of its deteriorating finances, and the extent of the fraud likely will go beyond the $7.68 billion previously disclosed, a bankruptcy court-appointed monitor said Monday. The report from special examiner Richard Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general, also criticized GREETINGS meren plans to offer voluntary retirements a- jS Utility company hopes to cut about 1,000 employees agement employees and -members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1455. Ameren, which through AmerenCIPS covers parts of Central Illinois including Mattoon, Charleston, Pana and Taylorville, expects a one-time, fourth-quarter charge of $30 million to $50 million, based on voluntary retirements of 300 to 500 employees.

Ameren said it also may consider involuntary job cuts and other, unspecified ways to pare staffing over the next year to trim costs and bolster efficiency. Ameren announced plans in April to buy CILCORP Inc. for $541 million and assume $859 million in that company's debt. If approved by regulators, that deal will make Ameren the second-largest electrical utility in Illinois. ST.

LOUIS (AP) Ameren the parent company of Missouri's largest electric utility, said Monday it will offer voluntary retirement packages to about 1,000 of its 7,400 employees, or roughly 14 percent of its work force. The St. Louis-based company also said it would modify certain retiree medical benefit plans, resulting in caps on costs to the company and increased retiree co-payments, and freeze wage increases beginning next year for all Ameren management workers. Workers eligible for the voluntary retirement program include Ameren man Associated Press PAYING TRIBUTE: A selection of Hallmark greeting cards designed for Veterans Day appears to be a success for the Kansas City, company. Test marketing in 1985 and 1999 had lackluster success, but the latest cards may have found their niche.

Crusade Oil industry needs talent gusher soon By BRAD FOSS Associated Press Writer As the baby boom generation gets older and starts thinking about retirement, the nation's oil and gas industry is worried that its supply of highly trained workers is running out. Through massive layoffs and consolidation over the past two decades, the industry ruptured its own pipeline of experienced geoscientists, the people in charge of finding oil and natural gas deposits around the world. So, trying to avert a shortage, companies are recruiting mid-career employees from competitors and establishing mentor programs that allow younger workers to glean wisdom from their elders. "The main concern would be losing the experience that the baby boomers will take with them when they do retire," said Steve Holditch, 56, a consultant to upper management at oilfield service provider Schlumberger Ltd. THE MEDIAN age of America's labor force is 40, according to the Labor Department.

In the oil and gas industry, the median age is 41. But Holditch, president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, emphasized that the median is closer to 50 when it comes to geoscientists. The aging of the industry's work force is one of the lingering consequences of mass layoffs that occurred after the price of crude oil plunged in the mid-1980s and then again in the late 1990s. Tens of thousands of geologists, geo-physicists and petroleum engineers left the industry, and many never returned. Industrywide consolidation furthered this trend, creating a generation gap at many petroleum companies.

"They would all love to get people in that five-to-15 years of experience range," said Gladney Darroh, founding partner of the Houston-based recruiting firm Piper-Morgan. Darroh said aggressive recruiting has caused salaries in this segment of the work force to rise the fastest in recent years. THE INDUSTRY'S history of booms followed by busts also has led to dramatically lower interest in U.S. petroleum engineering graduate programs, university and industry officials said. Enrollment is nearly half of what it was in the early 1980s.

As a result, there will be "tremendous opportunities for young people" as more baby boomers retire, said Ron Robinson, 56, who retired from Texaco Inc. last year to become head of the petroleum engineering department at Texas Independent oil and gas company Ocean Energy of Houston started a mentoring program to nurture the relatively few 30-somethings at a company whose average worker is 43. The average age is several years higher for geoscientists. "Getting the new blood in at the bottom is not as difficult as getting the experienced people in position," said Brian Rabe, 52, vice president of international planning. RABE TRIES to pass along the lessons he learned through trial and error.

It's the kind of training that cannot be taught by a professor, even at the best graduate schools, Rabe said. "When you're going to send someone to negotiate a deal, specific technical experience is just not sufficient," said Rabe, who believes Ocean increasingly will be forced to find future leaders from outside the oil and gas sector, bringing in more workers with experience in law, accounting and technology. Anna Rappaport, a consultant at William M. Mercer Inc. who specializes in retirement issues, said the oil and gas industry should work with the baby boomers to find ways of keeping them around longer.

By encouraging employees with the most experience to work fewer hours instead of retiring, companies can "have these people around to train the younger crop," Rappaport said. "It lengthens the use of their talent." Brad Foss is an Associated Press business writer who periodically contributes to the weekly "Baby Boomer Business column. BRIEFS staff and news service reports DECATUR Earthmover offering retirement seminar Decatur Earthmover Credit Union is hosting a free seminar on retirement plan distributions at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Mount Zion branch, 4855 Aldi Drive.

Rob Bailey, a members financial services representative, will present the seminar, which will cover distribution options, tax consequences and investment alternatives for retirement plan distributions. To reserve a seat, call 872-4102 or 800-542-6474, Ext. 1102. Reservations are suggested because space is limited. DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA Factory orders fell again in September WASHINGTON Orders to U.S.

factories fell for a second straight month in September. It was another setback for manufacturing, which has seen almost 2 million jobs evaporate over the past two years and is struggling not to sink even deeper into the quicksand of economic uncertainties. The Commerce Department reported Monday that factory orders declined by 2.3 percent in September, after a 0.4 percent drop in August. September's decline marked the third decrease in the past four months. On the same day, the government reported that 49,000 factory jobs were lost in October, marking the 27th straight month in which manufacturing jobs were eliminated.

ILLINOIS Cost-cutting deal boosts United stock CHICAGO United Airlines' long-sagging stock leaped 24 percent Monday, reflecting hopes a tentative $2.2 billion cost-cutting deal with pilots has lessened the chances the restructuring carrier will veer into bankruptcy. Adding to investors' optimism was CEO Glenn Tilton's remark that similar agreements could be reached as soon as this week with the other groups whose participation is needed to reach the targeted $5.8 billion in labor savings. UAL shares jumped 62 cents to close at $3.18 on the New York Stock Exchange. want the cards when they became available earlier this year, according to Hallmark spokeswoman Rachel Bolton. Instead, orders came in from more than 18,000 stores, and some already have ordered a second batch.

While precise information on sales is not yet available, they've been better than expected, the company said. Bolton said of Olson, "Sales have proved she was right." The difference between this year and the earlier experiments is obvious, Bolton said. "Things had changed. people were feeling different following 911," she said. Most of the 20 Veterans Day cards in Hallmark's line are aimed at specific groups of veterans.

There's one for each branch of the military, for veterans of World War II and the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, for women, for fathers and for sons. Hallmark's biggest competitor, American Greetings, has found that Veterans Day was "more of a niche market," said Laurie Hen-richsen, spokeswoman for the Cleveland-based company. Last year, American Greetings offered some cards for Veterans Day in conjunction with other patriotic cards issued after the terrorist attacks. This year, it is offering electronic Veterans Day cards on its Web sites, www.americangreetings.com and www.bluemountain.com. Jerry Newberry, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the organization was pleased by Hallmark's decision to sell the cards.

"We think it's a great idea. In fact, we encouraged Hallmark to do that some years ago," Newberry said. "I know most veterans and their families will be appreciative that those cards will be available." One woman convinces Hallmark market exists for Veterans Day salutes KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Hallmark Cards Inc. twice experimented with selling Veterans Day cards, and twice decided the market wasn't there.

But that was before the Sept. 11 attacks, and before Keri Olson made them a personal crusade. Olson had wanted to get a card for her father, who fought in the Vietnam War, last Veterans Day. "I think with the events of Sept. 11, 1 began to understand all that he had sacrificed.

I really wanted to tell him," she said. Employed by Hallmark at its Kansas City headquarters the past two years, she knew they didn't make a specific card for that day. So she chose one that simply expressed appreciation and on Nov. 11 gave it to her father, who was in the Army and received a Purple Heart for combat wounds. "When he got this card, he started crying and saying that no one had ever thanked him before," she recalled.

Olson, 33, set out to convince her company that making Veterans Day cards was a good idea. The company had found otherwise in tests of the cards in 1985 and 1999, when sales proved sparse. Hallmark agreed to give it another try, and a team of writers and artists volunteered to help with designs, along with their normal duties. The team expected about 5,000 stores would DOW (Industrials) 52-wk Hi Lo 52-wk Hi Lo 52 Hi wk Lo Name Chicago (AP) Futures trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange: Open High Low Settle Chg. Name Name Last Chg Last Chg Last Chg .72 3.02 35.85 .03 .15 CATTLE 40,000 cents per lb.

Dec 02 73.00 73.00 72.50 72.57 50.85 .70 34.26 75.90 74.65 69.50 68.32 69.15 75.70 75.82 74.50 74.72 69.47 69.60 68 30 68.90 69.05 69.05 Feb 03 Apr 03 Jun03 Aug 03 Oct 03 76.00 74.75 69.65 68.90 69.15 Grain markets Decatur area prices supplied by ADM Growmark-Tabor Co. Com Beans $5.54 Hogs Volume Top Peoria 600 $19.00 Interior 19.586 $22.00 Cattle Volume Top Peoria 150 $64.50 395 30.99 33.82 21 14.900 115,754. down -133 Fri's sales Fri's open int 28.48 8.56 .13 26.50 .50 .49 Dynegy 2.16 EnPron 28.67 Eqtftesc 37.85 Exekxt 29.75 ExxonMbl 3.70 FaiconPd 23.75 FamDtr 26.61 Fastenals 23.34 FMdBcs 6.90 FordM 21.40 GenElec 3080 GnMotr 14.55 Goodrich 6.61 Goodyear 21 60 Hanson 10.75 HewtettP 23.18 HomeOp 8.52 IMC Glo 6.38 tkonOffSd 29.69 IngerRd 12.85 Intel 2 65 IntmetC 47.20 8.50 37.55 56.99 44.58 7.10 37.25 43.35 32.16 19.08 41.84 68.17 34 45 28 85 3969 24.12 52 60 15.55 14.25 54 40 40.00 11.80 FEEDER CATTLE 50,000 cents per lb. Nov 02 82.50 82.60 82.32 82.50 33.87 15.05 .04 15.80 7.79 MillenChm 60.02 28.80 MorgStan 18.83 7.30 Motorola 33.75 24.60 NaOCity 47.38 14.77 Navistar 26.98 17.01 NorflkSo 6286 41.39 PPG 27.88 14.07 Penney 53.50 34.00 PepsiCo 44 04 25.13 Pfizer 47.00 30.36 Pharmacia 57.79 35.40 PhilMor 94.75 74.08 ProctG 36 21 16.99 RadioShk 40.99 19.57 SBC Com 15.75 6.59 Saks 59.90 22.70 Sears 15 50 8 89 Svcmstr 15.90 9.70 SteaknShk 40.54 22.50 Stricycles 130.60100.00 3M Co 60.09 6.98 Tycolntl 17.90 1.42 UAL 33.80 23.51 UPlantrs 13.84 5.92 Unisys 67.10 51.35 UPSB 10.05 41.54 9.98 27.82 23.55 21.56 48.69 19.70 43.43 32.05 43.30 41.74 86 50 20.49 27.87 10.18 27.39 9.85 11.31 37.04 128.30 15.22 3.18 28.61 9.48 61.73 Chicago (AP) Futures trading on the Chicago Board of Trade: Open High Low Settle Chg. WHEAT 5,000 bu minimum- cents per bushel Dec 02 413i 416 407 408'4 -5V Mar 03 409 413Vi 405 407V4 -2 May 03 374 375' 371 371 -2VS Jul 03 331 332V2 330 330 -1VS Sep 03 334'2 334V4 332VS 333 -1 Dec 03 343 343 341 342 -1 Jul 04 323 324 323 323 Fri's sales 25,870 Fri's open int 115,485, up 2193 CORN 5,000 bu minimum- cents per bushel Dec 02 246 247 244 244'A -3' Mar 03 250'A 251 248 248V4 -3 May 03 253 254 251V4 251 -2 Jul 03 255 255V4 253 253V4 -2 Sep 03 249 249 247 247V4 -1 Dec 03 243 244 242 242 -1 Mar 04 249 249 248 248 -IVt Fri's sales 58.825 Fri's open int 494,708, up 2417 OATS 5,000 bu minimum- cents per bushel Dec 02 206 206 204 204 -2 Mar 03 200 200 199 199 -2 Fri's sales 934 Fri's open int 9,652, up 133 SOYBEANS 5,000 bu minimum- cents per bushel .12 .15 .05 82.25 82 37 79.55 79.70 78.80 79.22 79.20 79.45 81.20 81.30 82.35 79.60 79.00 79 30 81.25 81.10 82.60 79.90 79.25 79.45 81.30 81.10 Jan 03 Mar 03 Apr 03 May 03 Aug 03 Sep 03 7.26 .45 22.30 .35 17.701.39 27.21 11.55 7.48 09 4014 .74 IMMBBtMB "I Index Name Close Chg.

Dow Jones Industrials 8571.60 53.96 NYSE Composite 482.22 1.81 Amex Index 832.17 3.18 NASD Composite 1396.54 35.84 NMS Composite 632.96 16.32 908.35 7.39 Value Line Arithmetic 1021.94 13.88 Value Line Geometric 265.73 3.39 Wilshire 5000 8570.04 67.84 29.20 3.01 19.25 8.20 58.00 29.80 20.74 11.75 41.95 30.58 45.25 34.72 55 00 41.61 26.17 13.36 27.67 19.03 15.80 10.00 38.45 27.01 89.34 59.20 53.98 36.25 42.88 31.60 59 90 24 07 53.75 1699 33.30 18.78 34.10 19.54 19.49 11.99 41.40 25.09 3885 1945 15.47 9.71 59.99 33.75 91.60 65 64 52.20 24 40 5791 43.50 11.15 1.10 28 99 17.72 50.88 25.81 49.98 37.50 25.25 13.48 19.95 12.00 32.10 19 50 38.67 23.66 49.80 35.02 AMR AbtLab Airgas Allstate Ameren Anheusr AppieC Applebees ArchDan AsdBnc AutoZone BP PLC BankOne Baxter BestBuys BobEvn CBRLGrp CPI CSX Cabot Caseys Caterpilr ChevmTex Crtigrp CocaQ Coming Crane DaimtrC Deere Disney DoHarG DonlteyRR DowChm DuPont 5.58 .38 13.89 .37 29.50 42.07 .34 15.03 3923 41.35 .85 51.95 16.89 .53 24.94 .04 13.92 33.96 85 27 38.25 39 53 25.15 .93 20.16 .43 24 60 .19 23.28 01 14.72 29.05 .47 24.91 .51 11.87 42.86 .75 67.94 37.60 45.70 2.15 .09 19.22 .39 35.66 .94 4693 18.05 1.02 13.71 20.70 .50 26.00 41.68 1.15 .56 -23 .40 41 1.49 .62 .28 .06 .51 .25 .69 .62 .54 .79 .63 .15 1.10 236 -98 .28 .27 Spot commodity prices: Prev. Year Close Day Ago 81.10 81.10 1.210 13.058. up 111 Fri's sales Fri's open int 18.77 435 47 HOGS-Lean 40,000 cents per lb. Dec 02 43.35 43.42 42.60 43.05 54.01 IBM 126.39 Aluminum 62 4 61 8 56 5 Copper 75.00 75 00 66 00 Gold 317 55 319 85 278.25 Silver 4.520 4.520 4.125 .30 .90 .35 .35 .20 .10 50 50 55.00 60.20 62.10 59.70 57.45 49.77 50.45 53.90 54.95 59.70 60.15 61.70 62.10 59.35 59.70 57.07 57.07 50.15 54.05 59.70 61.75 59.35 57.20 Feb 03 Apr 03 May 03 Jun03 Jul 03 Aug 03 82.50 2.10 35.55 .36 .59 57.99 15.07 .17 3Z72 3195 .55 41.20 1.18 .04 18.43 .30 3970 .10 53.68 39.15 .77 56.10 3.10 Fri's sales 51 93 26.01 VerizonCm 39.22 51.89 29.75 VlacomB 44 50 31.35 MPap .38 vjK mart 44.00 Kohls 11.00 Kroger 28.90 LeeEnt 25.11 LmcNat 32.50 LowesCos .55 Lucent 15.75 McDntds 32.07 MerctlBk 38 50 Merck 28.21 MemHyn 41.41 Micros!) 46.20 7.09 78.83 25.94 40.09 53 65 49.99 7.13 30.72 45.36 68.57 59.32 70 62 6,076 36,127. down -107 Key barometers in the Treasury market: Yield Prev.

Fri's open int PORK BELLIES 40,000 cents per lb. Feb 03 78.37 79.10 77.55 78.85 .48 53.45 31.53 1879 47.90 33.87 63.94 41.50 WalMart 40.70 29.01 Walgm 22.62 15.80 WallCS 79.80 39.23 Whrlpl 66.51 28 25 Wye 576 566 575V4 574 566V4 572 568 561 566 560 554 556V4 555 550 553 547 545 546 6 4 2V 1 1 Spot commodity prices: Prev. Close Day Saudi Arabian Ught 24.59 24.59 North Sea Brent 25.20 25.67 West Texas I. 26.98 27.13 Alaska-West Coast 25.35 25.48 566 566 561 555 550 547 524 Nov 02 Jan 03 Mar 03 May 03 Jul 03 Aug 03 Sep 03 Mar 03 May 03 Jul 03 77.40 78.80 79.50 80.10 79.40 80.15 1.75 1.8125 1.41 1.55 1.79 1.77 4.04 4.08 5.06 5.10 Federal Funds 3-month bill 1-year bill 10-year rate 30-year bond 77.40 78.20 .20 79.50 79.90 .40 79.40 80.00 1.00 76.50 .50 290 1,618. up 50 "526 524 526 Aug 03 Fri's FOOTNOTES: cf New 52-week low.

dd toss in last 12 mos. New issue In past 52 weeks. jjFrefefred. SpB or stock dividend of 25 percent or more in past 52 weeks, Hew 52-week high. Fri's sales Fri's open int 61,769 215,417, down -485 Fri's open int.