The Daily News Leader from Staunton, Virginia • 3

Staunton, Daily News Leader, Monday, June 17, 1985 A3 figrfiOn A 4A" 'M i NRC finds some improvement, some decline at plants I i 11 cials have overhauled the program and won compliments from the NRC for decontaminating and cleaning many parts of the plant and improving the health physics department. The NRC said the quality of plant operations, emergency preparedness and relationship with the commission at North Anna had declined since the last review. But the peroframce in all three areas was considered satisfactory and was improving at the end of the rating period. William L. Stewart, the utility's vice president for nuclear operations, said it might not be valid to compare ratings from different assessments.

The scores are subjective and could vary from inspector to inspector, he said. Stewart also said Virginia Power was revamping and revising many of the programs the NRC criticized, including maintenance, training and equipment monitoring. The NRC was also highly critical of the frequency of unplanned shutdowns at three of the plants' four reactors making them among the 20 worst in the country. Frederick Hebdon, chief of program technology for the NRC office stuyding the problem, said a high number of unplanned shutdowns, also called scrams, could indicate a series of operator errors or a chronic mechanical problem. "I wouldn't want to say that just because a plant has a lot of scrams, that is a plant with a problem," he said.

"But I would certainly want someone to check to see if there's a problem." Stewart said the plants have made a number of operating changes to reduce the number of shutdowns, and so far this year there has been only one at the two plants. RICHMOND (AP) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's latest review of Virginia Power's two nuclear plants cites a major improvement at the Surry station but some decline in performance at the North Anna facility. The utility had been fined in 1983 for poor radiation protection for Surry employees, but this year the NRC found subustantial improvement "indicative of good management in this area." The biggest problems, the NRC said, were a backlog of maintenance work at North Anna, deficiencies in testing and monitoring equipment at Surry and far too many unplanned shutdowns at both plants. The NRC conducts the review, called the Systematic Assessment of License Performance, at all operating nuclear power plants. It can rate performance in as many as 11 areas, including plant operations, radiation protection, maintenance, security and training.

Each area is rated with a 1, 2 or 3. A 1 is the highest. The NRC gave Surry four Is, five 2s and one 3 about the same as the last review. North Anna came in with three Is and eight 2s, not quite as good as the previous assessment. This rating period, the fifth since the NRC began regular reviews, covered the period from September 1983 to February 1985.

The highest ratings at both plants came in radiation protection, security and refueling. Surry also scored a 1 for its dealings with the NRC and responsiveness to commission actions. Surry historically had one of the worst records in the nuclear industry for worker radiation exposure, which earned it a $40,000 fine in 1983. Exposure of individual workers was within NRC limits, but the total exposure was high. Since then Virginia Power offi EUGENIA BERGMAN holds one of the rottweiler dogs The dogs, raised for show and security, are powerful and she and her husband raise on their farm at Fort Defiance, protective, she said, but more "stable" than a doberman.

(Photo by Larry Kesterson) German breed making comeback Is there a rottweiler in your future? ABC employees, stores down with liquor sales By CHARLES CULBERTSON Special Writer FORT DEFIANCE "Americans are rediscovering rottweilers," says Eugenia Bergman, who with her husband, Andrew, raises the purebred show and security dogs on their 85-acre farm here. Mrs. Bergman is quick to point out that the rottweiler, while looking like a stocky, less sleek version of the doberman, is a "basic breed." The doberman, she says, has rottweiler characteristics, not vice versa. "This is an extremely powerful dog that is bred to be very protective," says Mrs. Bergman.

"A rottweiler can crush a protective sleeve made to withstand the bite of a German shepherd. I have seen them use their mouths to pick up car tires as though they were pretzels." Although the breed is physically powerful and quite protective, Mrs. Bergman notes that it is far more "stable" than a doberman. The male, she admits, is naturally aggressive and must be disciplined and trained from an early age, while the female is gentler and less assertive. The raising of a purebred animal such as the rottweiler is a task Mrs.

Bergman says requires a great deal of time, patience and effort. One week before a litter is born, for example, she actually sleeps in the kennel with the mother "so she will fully accept me interfering with her." After the pups are born, Mrs. Bergman stays in the kennel another three weeks touching, stroking and talking to them. Imprinting the pups with the touch and voice of a human, teen-agers who are interested in training. To date, the Bergmans have sold their purebreds to customers in Washington, Richmond, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Roanoke.

Mrs. Bergman, who began raising rottweilers in 1979, has traveled a long and frequently bumpy road to this peaceful 85-acre farm along Middle River. Born in Leningrad in 1915, she remembers being "dragged across the ice to Finland" in 1919 by her mother to escape certain death at the hands of the Communists. "The Communists were exterminating us," she relates. "We were in the upper middle class and had to escape or we would die.

They even broke the ice to try to stop people from getting away." Wearing white camouflage clothing, she and her mother survived the broken ice and Soviet search parties to reach Finland where they lived for three years before moving to Riga, Latvia. "Riga became my home," says Mrs. Bergman. "It is where I grew up, married and had all four children." In 1944, during the bloody and confused days of World War II, the Bergmans left occupied Latvia and, by 1945, were living in displaced persons' camps. In 1949 they came to the United States under the sponsorship of Fletcher and Margaret Collins of Staunton.

In 1950 the Bergmans decided to purchase their farm in Fort Defiance. Andrew, says Mrs. Bergman, went to Pittsburgh to work as a draftsman in order to help earn the necessary $6,500, while she remained behind to take a shot at being a farmer. mi mm "I knew nothing about it. I would go to the filling station in Fort Defiance to listen to the men talk about when to plow, plant and all that." She admits she once tried to use a car to plow a field and couldn't understand why it wouldn't work.

"We made it, though," she continues. "When my children left home and there was no one to help on the farm, I said to myself: 'You have your brains; you will find something to give you money'." Mrs. Bergman says she looked into several ventures, including growing mushrooms and raising rabbits, but found her niche when the owner of Lone Fountain Kennel, George Hobson, made her an attractive business offer. "I would take a St. Bernard bitch and raise the puppies," she says.

"The kennel owner would buy all the puppies at a wholesale price. No investment was involved and I liked the work." When she decided to go on her own, there was some question in her mind of the type of dog she would breed and raise. Americans, she notes, have hang-ups about which kind of dog is "in," which prompted her to raise several kinds, including St. Bernards, collies and bulldogs. Why, then, did she settle on rottweilers? "I don't like submissive dogs that are always trying to please and ingratiate themselves," says Mrs.

Bergman. "I had seen rottweilers before and they were plain, protective, aloof dogs. They had self-respect, poise and strength. That Is why I like them. "Everybody thinks that their breed is the best including me." Yearly membership dues will be a minimum of $1 per person, and membership is open to any adult or property owner in the county who is at least 18 years old.

Until a membership drive is held, the association requests that interested people send their name, district, address and telephone number to the above address. More information may be obtained at the following telephone numbers: 348-5194, 377-6790, 997-5514 or 463-4851 (after 5 p.m.). with a secret sauce in 1967 while managing his McDonald's there. After corporate officials did some research, refinement and market testing, they named the new burger Big Mac when it was added to their national menu a year later, she said. Delligatti "said he named the sandwich," she said.

"Big Mac was basically a natural name." At the time, the two corporations let the burgers coexist, Ms. Capatosto said. But the burger battle began heating up when McDonald's filed a trademark application in April 197L RICHMOND (AP) Efficiency efforts and a several-million-bottle decline in sales over the past five years have led to cuts in the number of employees and outlets of Virginia's state-owned liquor stores. Richard L. Chalkley, deputy commissioner for distribution at the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said ABC stores had 113 fewer full-time employees in April than a year earlier, a decrease of more than 9 percent.

"We've been in a staff reduction mode for some time," Chalkley said. Virginia now has 236 ABC stores, 11 fewer than in 1982, Chalkley said. And in rural areas, such as Brodnax in Southside, Buchanan County in the southwest, Chinco-teague on the Eastern Shore and Montross on the Northern Neck, ABC stores that once had two employees now have one, plus part-time help, Chalkley said. In all, 22 rural stores have become essentially one-person operations. The department, which has about 950 full-time workers, has not fired anyone, but as workers quit or retired, it has not replaced them or has hired temporary help, Chalkley said.

The agency also has transferred workers from overstaffed stores. The cuts have brought some complaints from employees. "There's always that feeling that we are trying to do more with less," he said. ABC stores sold more than a she says, is essential to their sound tempermental development. Unfortunately, notes Mrs.

Bergman, the physical development of a rottweiler is not something that can be controlled or manipulated from birth. The major problem with rottweilers and many large dogs is that of imperfect hip joint conformation, a condition known as dysplasia. "What happens is that the hip joint ball is not round enough and the joint Itself is not deep enough," explains Mrs. Bergman. "The pups are X-rayed at 7 months and we keep our fingers crossed." A registered form is then filled out attesting to the condition of the dog's hip join conformation.

The list of conditions is comprised of excellent, good and fair; dysplastic conditions are checked off as borderline, mild, moderate or severe. "The dogs are X-rayed again at 2 years of age," says Mrs. Bergman. "If there is dysplasia, the dog is not bred. "Our goal is to sell quality animals into good homes.

That is why a rottweiler pup costs from $400 to $600. They are quality. This is what we try to impress on those who call us wanting information about rottweilers. It is consumer education." Rottweilers, continues Mrs. Bergman, are not for everyone.

Owners with young children, she cautions, should take pains to educate the children in the proper handling and care of animals because the pup will sometimes bite when tormented or turn out to be a tempermental wreck because of the abuse. The best owners, she says, are young adults, or even with several recent issues concerning them. He said those issues were the increase in real estate taxes, the closing of Goshen and Glasgow elementary schools, and the inability of the county to reach an agreement on the proposed revenue sharing plan with Lexington. The association will cover all of the county and will have a board of representatives which will consist of one person from each community within the five county districts. The person serving as a 1961 while working at a McCrory's in Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island.

To attract more customers, Buckman said, he decided to invent a triple decker hamburger topped with cheese and a special sauce. "I just did it for more business and to see if I could work my way up the ladder," Buckman said. The burger was bigger than the other sandwiches on the menu, so it was dubbed the Big Mac the Mac for McCrory's. "It sold very well," Buckman said. "But you didn't have all that million fewer bottles of wine and spirits in 1981 than they did in 1980, Chalkley said.

Sales dropped by 2 million more bottles in 1982 and 2.5 million in 1983. Sales climbed by a half-million bottles in 1984, but by then, the stores were overstaffed, Chalkley said. "We try to base our staffing upon the number of packages we sell," he said. "On an average, we try to establish a criterion of about 5,000 packages per month per employee. I've been here 37 years and it's been that way ever since I've been here." As sales dropped, the number of store workers went down in proportion, he said.

But recent efficiency moves also have brought reductions. The size of the staff in any given store "depends upon the store itself and the number of hours that the store stays open to the public. Some of the stores close at 6 p.m. and some stay open until 9 p.m.," Chalkley said. To save money on benefits, the department has hired temporary, part-time employees to fill needs instead of full-time ones, Chalkley said.

If sales again slip, the agency can let the temporary employees go without paying jobless benefits, he said. Experienced workers have been transferred to stores 20 or 30 miles away to keep better-qualified people in key stores, Chalkley said. "The temporary people fill in the gaps," he said. more people for fewer bodies," Sanders said. The federal deficits have Congress and some Reagan administration officials talking about trimming benefits for military retirement, which has dampened enthusiasm for enlisting.

The Coast Guard has suffered more than the other services, Sanders said, because its funds come from the Department of Transportation, less untouchable than the Defense Department. In fiscal 1985, the Army will spend $493 to attract each recruit; the Marine Corps $320, the Navy $175; the Coast Guard $54. "To run an ad once during the Super Bowl would wipe out the Coast Guard's whole advertising budget," Sanders said. The economic recovery has created private Jobs that have lured away many potential recruits. "Anyone of those these things can be dealt with, but when you add it all up, it's a monster," 'Sanders said.

Civic group formed in Rockbridge Coast Guard recruiting down representative will be selected by the residents of that community, Bailey said. Communities interested in having a representative in the association should send the names of their choice to: the Rockbridge Civic Association, Box 422, Fairfield 24435. "This organization will be working for the betterment of Rockbridge County with the cooperation of the Board of Supervisors and requests the support of all citizens," Bailey said. LEXINGTON A group of Rockbridge County residents has formed a non-political civic association to help residents be more active in county government. The purpose of the Rockbridge Civic Association is to work in the interest of residents and taxpayers, and to promote the development of the county, said Marvin Bailey, an association member.

Bailey said the group was organized after months of discussion and because of the dissatisfaction voice by the founders of the group Richmond man says he invented the Big Mac PORTSMOUTH (AP) Federal deficits, a shrinking pool of applicants and intense competition among military services are running Coast Guard recruiting efforts onto the shoals, enlistment officials say. The number of new recruits fell 35 percent below the Coast Guard' goals this spring in the service's 5th District, which covers Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. Lt. K.E. Sanders, chief of the military recruiting branch in the 5th District, said the Coast Guard has not met its quotas, set by personnel needs, in the past three months.

March's goal was 65 recruits, and 37 were registered. In April 66 recruits were needed and 35 enlisted. In May, the 43 who joined fell short of the quota of 48. Sanders listed three main problems: The baby boom is over and there is a shrkinking pool of high school graduates from which to recruit a problem for all the services. "We are competing with publicity.

We served mostly walkthrough customers." Don Harvey, a McCrory's spokesman, said the company's lunch counters were the first to use the Big Mac name. But Information about the sandwich's history is scarce and no records were kept to determine exactly who created the sandwich, he said. The official McDonald's history of the Big Mac begins at one of its Pittsburgh restaurants, according to McDonald's spokesman Terry Capatosto. She said Jim Delligatti invented his own triple-decker hamburger RICHMOND (AP) A Richmond man who says he invented the Big Mac hamburger for a McCrory's five-and-dime store six years before McDonald's introduced its version insists he just wants credit for the creation. "I've been telling my kids for years that I invented that sandwich," Jim Buckman said.

"I did the whole thing myself. I wrote the recipe, and it was in the recipe book" at McCrory's. Buckman, a former food service manager with the chain that has lunch counters in its dime stores, said he invented the Big Mac in.