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Technology Stocks : LSI Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: frank/fla. who wrote (9591)	2/8/1998 9:43:00 PM
From: shane forbes	Respond to of 25814

Frank: Lynch rec. is the old rec. or is it a new reiteration of a buy? And Mr. Murphy positively loves LSI doesn't he! Never misses an opportunity to say how good it is... --- from San Jose Mercury News - nothing too interesting other than cost of cleanups are not cheap: LSI Logic plant does much to mitigate dangers of chip making USA Today GRESHAM, Ore. -- New semiconductor plants such as the $750 million one being built by LSI Logic here do much to mitigate the dangers of chip making. Toxic chemicals travel around the fabrication plant in stainless steel pipes. The pipes are themselves contained in pipes. That way, a leak doesn't escape into the workplace. In older plants, chemicals are sometimes in jugs and transported by hand. Million-dollar machines with robotic arms apply the chemicals to silicon wafers, out of which chips are cut. Workers, behind glass panels, monitor the machines. If all goes right, employees should never come into direct contact with chemicals. When the wafers are done at one machine, they are loaded by robot into an enclosed container and sent via overhead tramway to the next machine. Wafers can go through 40 to 50 chemical steps before they are finished. Exhaust from the machines is piped direct to the plant's exhaust system so fumes do not escape into the work area. The exhaust is treated by pollution-control equipment before it is released. So-called ''scrubbers'' catch the acid exhaust and spray it with water. The chemical fumes dissolve into the water, which is treated at the plant before it is released as wastewater. Other equipment, called thermal oxidizers, cuts emissions of volatile organic compounds by an estimated 90 percent. They create smog and are caused by solvents. The air inside the fab is monitored to provide early detection of gas leaks. Fresh air is also added. At all times, 30 percent of the air inside the LSI plant is fresh, says Dan Peloso, site director. The LSI plant's toxic acids, gases and solvents are stored in separate rooms so that they don't accidentally mix and create a chemical reaction that might result in fumes, a fire or an explosion. Sensors in the gas storage room test the air about every 45 seconds to check for leaks. The sensors are connected to an emergency control room, which is monitored 24 hours a day. The acids and solvents are in 55-gallon drums. If one leaks, the chemical drains through the storage room's perforated floor into a trench. Once in the trench, emergency response-trained workers pump it into drums for disposal. The gases are in pressurized cylinders. They vary in size but are often 5 feet by 9 inches. To protect against leaks, the cylinders are placed in cabinets, which are exhausted to pollution-control equipment. Some of the most toxic gases, like arsine, are in smaller cylinders that release gas only when attached to vacuum systems. That reduces the risk of a big release, which is more likely if the gas is in pressurized cylinders that accidentally open. Some chemicals used in bigger quantities are stored outside. Sodium hydroxide, which is used to neutralize the plant's acidic wastewater, is stored in a 500-gallon tank. The tank sits inside a bigger container so that spills will be contained. New plants pollute less than old plants because of improved pollution-prevention equipment, greener manufacturing processes and, sometimes, tighter regulations. In Arizona, plants built before 1988 don't have to have as much air-pollution equipment as new plants. Intel's plant in Aloha, Ore., which started production in 1974, is one of its oldest plants. It released 20,200 pounds of toxic pollutants in 1995, the latest Environmental Protection Agency data say. Intel's newer plant in Rio Rancho emitted 16,000 pounds, yet it is more than twice Aloha's size. The LSI plant will separate wastes into 13 waste streams so they can be more easily recycled. It expects to recycle 30 percent of its water, 60 percent of its cleansing solvents and 40 percent of its acids. The chip companies aren't purely motivated by health and environmental concerns in constructing safer and more environmentally friendly plants. It makes business sense. Texas Instruments estimates it can save $40 million a year by recycling solvents used to clean chips. It is running pilot projects in three plants. Accidents or chemical spills, which cause evacuations, can cost a medium-sized plant about $500,000 in lost revenue per day. ''When you have a spill, you have to evacuate. When you have a gas release, you have to evacuate. Those companies who want to be profitable cannot afford it,'' says Shaunna Sowell, manager of environmental health and safety for Texas Instruments.

To: frank/fla. who wrote (9591)	2/8/1998 9:49:00 PM
From: shane forbes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25814

And here's another one who's always been gaga over LSI - Mr. Dessauer (from the Washington Post - a bit dated - I think early December 1997): John Dessauer and Tom McIntyre, who publish the excellent Investor's World newsletter in Potomac, are enthusiastic about LSI Logic Corp. (LSI), another high-tech stock whose price has been halved lately. LSI makes specialized integrated circuits, including a new chip with a million transistors that performs the brainwork for a digital camera. LSI, which spends a hefty 15 percent of its revenue on research and development, has suffered disappointing earnings lately, but if profits bounce back even to 1995 levels, the stock could break $40 again (it's now $23). "Our strategy with any great company -- LSI included -- is to buy when Wall Street is down on the group, the company, or the future in general," writes Dessauer. That's certainly true here, but, he adds, this is no quick trade. It's a five-year holding, at least. ---- (I like the part about 1995 profit levels - this is 1998 and we will not even come close to matching those levels! Investing for the future, investing for the future... Let's hope the future brings good tidings and a $200 share price 5 years out... The first shall be last, the last shall be first...)