Argo: Volume 17, Number 12

              Vol. 17 No. 12
A WEEKLY INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION
'Pomona, N.J. 08240
'Argo' Is not an official
publication of Stockton
State College, but is pub-lished
by an Independent
corporation licensed In New
Jersey.
Monday,May 2,1977
l i l l l l ^ l l l i l i l l i
President Bjork and the Mainland Bank
a I'm Careful To Make
Bulletin Article
Relates History
Of Mainland
Bank Dealings
[Reprinted from Sunday Bulletin, April 24]
By S. William White
and James Weinstein
Of The Bulletin Staff
The Mainland Bank by most standards,
should have been a success for more than
600 stockholders who invested millions in the
South Jersey bank during the last five years.
It wasn't.
Instead, the value of the stock plummeted
more than 60 percent; bad loans resulted in a
bank loss of nearly $2.5 million; the state is
investigating the Linwood, Atlantic County
bank for questionable dealings by its current
and former directors; and Mainland, itself, is
very close to the end of its line.
Against this background, stockholders will
vote THursday on whether to merge their
troubled institution with First Peoples National
Bank of Westmont.
In the words of the management proxy
statement to shareholders; "approval of the
[merger] proposal may be essential to prevent
the loss of the economic value of the share-holders1
ownership interest in Mainland
Bank."
The merger with First Peoples is one of
two alternatives spelled out for Mainland by
state and federal regulatory agencies that
loversee banking operations, according to Dr.
Richard Bjork, chairman of the bank's board
and president of Stockton State College.
The other alternative would be to attract
new investors to build up capital and thereby
offset five years of successive losses.
In view of the bank's troubled financial
situation, however, it's questionable whether it
could attract new investors, according to
Roger Wagner, director of the state Banking
Department.
"They decided they (directors) couldn't
raise it among themselves and they couldn't
successfully sell stock," Wagner said, "so
they chose the alternative and started looking
for a partner."
First Peoples with assets of about $607
million, is that partner and although William
Rohrer, chairman and president of the West-mont-
based national bank, wouldn't comment
extensively, he said of Mainland; "They need
somebody like us to get in there to straighten
Continued on Page 9
These Worlds Very Separate
Searight Demands Board
Not Reappoint Bjork;
Board Backs President
By the Argo Staff
CC 103, April 28, In a
closed session before the
Board of Trustees, John
Searight, representing the
Stockton faculty union, cal-led
for the postponement of
the reappointment of Presi-dent
Bjork.
Searight presented "elev-en
specific concerns" to
the Board regarding the
present evaluation and
treatment of faculty mem-bers,
noting especially the
prevailing philosophy that
faculty are viewed as em-ployees
and administrators
as managers - all working
within a corporate struc-ture.
These concerns have exis-ted
for some time, accord-ing
to Searight, but have
been stimulated because of
the recent investigation into
President Bjork's affiliation
with the Mainland Bank.
SEE ACCOMPANYING
STORY
Following the Boards
open monthly meeting Sea-right
refused to elaborate
on the "eleven specific
concerns," saying only that
" in light of the Boards re-sponse
and apparent com-mittment
to take them ser-iously
and investigate, the
"specifics" would at least
for now, remain within the
closed session. "
The Board of Trustees
did not, however, take
them seriously enough to
Continued on Page 10
ARGO Interviews
Stockton College
President Bjork
On News Articles
By Wayne Wippermann
As a result of the recent publicity over
the Mainland Bank and Stockton's Presi-dent
Richard Bjork, Argo held an inter-view
with the President for his com-ments.
Argo: How do you feel about the press
reports on the Mainland Bank and your
affiliation with the bank?
Bjork: That inquiry [the newspaper re-ports]
of Mainland Associates is over.
That thing is dead. All of the material
in the Proxy statement, which the Bul-letin
and the Atlantic City Press used, is
old, old, history.
Argo: What is going to happen to the
Mainland Bank now that the merger with
People's Bank seems apparent?
Bjork: Right now, I feel that the Main-land
Bank is much stronger than in the
past. There has been a long, on-going
process with People's.
Argo: Some people have expressed
concern that your work with the bank
may be conflicting with your duties as
President of the College. Do you have
anything to say about this?
Bjork: The people from the Bulletin
also asked me this question. I have filed
my activities with the Ethics Committee
of the New Jersey State Attorney Gener-al's
Office.
As chairman of the bank's directors, I
don't get paid. And, as a stockholder, I
hold only a very, very small share. I see
my job as chairman of the bank's direc-tors
as a neutral person. I consider tho
position as a public service activity.
Argo What about your work with the
College?
Bjork: I'm very careful to make these
worlds [my work with the college and
the bank] very separate. I am also
affiliated with Research for Better Schools
and the Educational Computer Network,
Continued on Page 9