Business Notes TAKEOVER DEFENSES

Corporate raids have inspired such colorful defensive tactics as the Pac-Man counterattack and the poison pill. Now the managers at Borden, the food and consumer-products giant, have created a novel repellent they call a "people pill." Borden said last week that its top 25 officers have agreed to resign en masse during any takeover attempt if they believe stockholders are getting less than a fair price or if any executives are fired or demoted.

Borden has no bidders now, but last year's food-industry takeovers worried its managers. Chairman Romeo Ventres, who dreamed up the strategy in a sauna, said it might make raiders "think twice." But bidders might be less interested in Borden's bosses than in its brand names (Cracker Jack, Wise potato chips). And Elsie the cow, who appears on Borden's milk cartons, would certainly not stray.