The Nineties in America - Salem Press (2009)

with two Japanese and one U.S.-based Korean sub-
sidiary to fix prices on an amino acid-based product
known as lysine, which is used in livestock feed as an
additive to enhance the growth of beef cattle for
meat production. Conspiring to create an interna-
tional corporate cartel to fix the prices of lysine glob-
ally, high-ranking ADM executives orchestrated the
exchange of technological secrets and price-fixing
procedures that ultimately led to the artificial infla-
tion of lysine prices by 70 percent during the first
year of the illicit joint partnership.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was
tipped off about the illicit price fixing by a corporate
executive who was actually assisting the FBI with a
corporate espionage case of an unrelated matter. In
attempt to avoid prosecution, this executive, Mark
Whitacre, blew the whistle on his fellow colleagues
and agreed to wear a wire for the FBI so that the in-
ternational cartel could be dismantled and ulti-
mately revealed. From 1992 through 1996, Whitacre
went undercover for the FBI, assisting in the collec-
tion of hundreds of hours of video and audio tapes
that were systematically used for the dismantling of
what later became known as the largest price-fixing
case in U.S. history of its time.

Impact As a result, in 1996 ADM was fined an un-
precedented $70 million for the lysine scandal and
was additionally fined another $30 million for its in-
volvement in a separate criminal plot to fix the
global citric acid market. In 1998, three ADM execu-
tives were convicted and given federal prison sen-
tences for their involvement in the price-fixing con-
spiracy. Ironically, Mark Whitacre was one of these
three executives who went to prison; in fact, he re-
ceived the longest sentence—eleven years. Whitacre
was not granted immunity from prosecution, be-
cause it was later revealed that he embezzled $9 mil-
lion from ADM and concealed his earlier involve-
ment with the price-fixing scheme prior to his
whistle-blowing efforts.

Further Reading
Eichenwald, Kurt. “Former Archer Daniels Execu-
tives Are Found Guilty of Price Fixing.”The New
York Times, September 18, 1998, p. A1.
___.The Informant. New York: Broadway Books,
2000.
Wells, Joseph T.Frankensteins of Fraud. Austin, Tex.:
Obsidian, 2000.
Paul M. Klenowski

See also Advertising; Agriculture in the United

States; Business and the economy in the United

States; Crime; Employment in the United States; Ge-

netically modified foods; Inventions; Organic food

movement; Reno, Janet; Scandals; Science and tech-

nology; Stock market; Tobacco industry settlement;

Wigand, Jeffrey.

 Architecture

Definition The design and building of structures,

especially habitable ones

Widespread usage of electronics at home and a growing di-

versity of family types drove changes in residential architec-

ture during the decade. In commercial architecture, muse-

ums in particular became prized commissions for architects.

Architecture encompasses the entire built environ-

ment, not just houses and apartments. It has been es-

timated that there are nearly three hundred differ-

ent kinds of buildings in the United States, from

parking garages, service stations, and day-care cen-

ters to hospitals, churches, museums, and court-

houses. Each of these structures requires architec-

tural plans of some sort, simple or sophisticated. As a

result, architecture both reflects and affects the

identity of a society and the individuals within it.

Housing Families continued to move into ever-

more-outlying suburbs, often resulting in lengthy

commutes for the breadwinners of the family. Most

suburban tract homes fell into two broad categories:

large but basic homes, situated close together, with lit-

tle to distinguish one from the other, and even larger,

elegant homes on large lots, with a wealth of distin-

guishing features. The latter often were in exclusive

gated communities, of which there were about 20,000

in 1997. Inexpensive suburban tracts provided few

jobs for aspiring architects. The growth of these two

types of suburbs also increased the separation be-

tween more affluent owners and the working class.

Most tract developments featured much larger

homes than were common a few decades earlier, de-

spite the fact that families typically had fewer chil-

dren. The “great room,” a large, undifferentiated

space often open to the kitchen, was a popular fea-

ture. Also sought after was a spacious master suite

with large walk-in closets and an attached private

bathroom.

The Nineties in America Architecture
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