Don't be stupid about Cupid

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 15, 2001

NEW YORK (AP) -- Love may permeate the air at this time of year, but a new study shows that many Americans would prefer to filter it out of the workplace. The survey of 1,000 adults by the Employment Law Alliance said that two-thirds disapprove of relationships between supervisors and subordinates, saying they can foster favoritism or retaliation if a courtship sours. But the San Francisco-based employment and labor law practice network found that 52 percent don't want regulations barring hanky panky between managers and underlings.

"People in the workplace recognize that these relationships cause lots and lots of problems, but don't want employers regulating them, and that's the paradox," said Glenn Dowd, a member of the alliance's board of directors.

Romances between employees at the same level on the office totem pole can also present dicey situations for employers. For instance, said Dowd, if two co-workers date, and one ends the relationship and jilted party pursues their ex at work, the behavior could be construed as harassment.

Battling true birds of prey

AUSTON (Cox) -- Vultures, already unpopular as carrion eaters and symbols of death, are making enemies in high places. Specifically, those places are the tops of transmission towers, where buzzards roost in large numbers and cause momentary sags in voltage. Those sags, which most of us experience as a brief dimming of lights, are more significant to the high-powered high-tech industry.

Data service centers and assembly lines are sensitive to even minute drops in electricity flow, said Al Lujan, chief operating officer at Austin Energy. A slight dip in power can translate into lost data, a halted manufacturing process, ruined chips and wafers -- and plenty of consternation. "Before, regulators would be satisfied with 99.9 percent reliability," Lujan said. "Well, now we're being asked for 100 percent reliability."

Most high-tech companies have battery backups or other means of riding out lapses and outright power failures. But they also alert utilities to trace and reduce the source of the sags.

Odds for Oscar

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Oddsmakers like Gladiator, Russell Crowe and Julia Roberts as favorites to win Academy Awards this year.

Las Vegas bookmakers starting posting odds by noon Tuesday, soon after Oscar nominations were announced. They will be presented March 25 in Los Angeles.

Joe Lupo, race and sports book manager at the Stardust hotel- casino, said he has Gladiator favored at 9-5 because it received the most nominations, 12. The other best-picture nominees are Chocolat, 8- 1; Erin Brockovich, 4-1; Traffic, 3-1; and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which had 10 nominations, 6-1.

John Avello, director of the race and sports books for Bally's and Paris hotel-casinos, also likes Gladiator, at 2-1. "It was my favorite when I put it up in December, then it won the Golden Globe and I'm sticking with it," he said. "But Traffic is a close second at 3-1."

Lupo said oddsmakers use theoretical win percentages to calculate the odds, as they would on a sporting event. The odds are hypothetical and for entertainment only, however, because state law prohibits wagers on events in which the outcome is known beforehand.

If the entertainment odds were for real, they would be different, said David Scott, senior analyst for Las Vegas-based America's Line, who has Gladiator as the favorite but at 1-2, meaning one would have to bet $2 to win $1. "You can afford to be a lot more generous when you can't take a bet on it," he said, referring to the Las Vegas Strip sports books.

For best actor, Avello has Gladiator star Crowe favored by 2-1 and two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks (Cast Away) 3-1, with Geoffrey Rush (Quills) at 4-1. Lupo favored Crowe 2-1, but his odds on Hanks are 7- 2 because he doesn't believe Cast Away carried "the weight some of his other movies did."

Scott likes Hanks 4-5, over Crowe, 8-5. "But if there's a Gladiator sweep, Crowe could be part of that."

Both books have Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) as the even-money favorite for best actress; Scott has her as a 1-7 favorite.

Topping new charts

NEW YORK (AP) -- There's more to being financially astute in the rock music world than just raking in piles of dough-re-mi from CD sales. VH-1 and Money magazine recently released an index ranking the 25 most fiscally savvy acts in 2000, based on tour revenue, CD sales, star power (i.e., fan loyalty and crossover appeal) and financial power (i.e., licensing and merchandising). `N Sync topped the playlist, followed by Dr. Dre/Eminem and Britney Spears. The Top 10 rundown continued with Tim McGraw/Faith Hill, the Backstreet Boys, Santana, Creed, the Dixie Chicks, Tina Turner and Christina Aguilera.

Six artists under the age of 20 were included in the rankings, perhaps indicating they're not frittering away their millions. Conversely, there was a strong showing of rockers of a certain age, a likely sign that they're paving the way to comfortable retirements.

Unforgettable

NEW YORK (AP) -- Today is the 46th day of 2001. There are 319 days left in the year. Here are some business and legal highlights from this date in history: