In the Public Interest

FairTest is one of those small citizen groups with a big mission. Working out of their small Cambridge, Massachusetts offices, FairTest has forged a large coalition of education, parent and civil rights organizations which is calling on President Bush and the fifty state Governors to “stop relying on standardized multiple-choice tests to measure educational goals.”…

Parents are on a collision course with corporations over what can be described as the “sensuality ladder.” The underlying question is: who is bringing up the children of America? Ask Lynda Beams who launched a drive in Dallas to have shows like “Geraldo” played in time slots when children’s TV viewing is more likely to…

The hotel long distance telephone call surcharge racket started around 1984. I first noticed it in a Vancouver, Canada hotel when a long distance call I made came out inordinately priced on the bill. When I objected, the surcharge of 30% was immediately deleted. Neither on the room telephone nor on any of the materials…

HAVE YOU ever read about anyone of the giant health insur­ance companies taking on the gi­ant drug companies for their spiraling price increases? Other than lip-service ads, have you ever seen these insurance companies really acting on what they are complaining about — namely too much “seller” waste, ineffi­ciency, over medication, unnec­essary operations and other…

What may be one of the hottest political issues of the New Year is a surge of support for an old idea. — limiting the number of terms that a state legislator and a member of Congress may serve. Initiatives to amend the state constitutions Will be underway in 1990 in California (supported by Attorney…

The Mighty Mississippi River of Mark: Twain, Huck Finn and Torn Sawyer, and long before of the diverse American Indian tribes, has become the giant American sewer. In a graphic demonstration that is a unique trademark of Greenpeace, the global environmental group, a new Report titled “We all live Downstream: The Mississippi River and the…

My class of 1955 at Princeton University has launched a project which could unleash the pent up civic energies of many Americans in their fifties who the media called the “silent generation” of the Nineteen Fifties. At a news conference on December 13th, in Washington, D.C., a group of us announced the formation of the…

It is an engrossing exercise to locate changes of stubborn minds in the face of equally stubborn facts. Two events – one recent and one about to unfold – are instructive. Last month Chrysler chairman, Lee A. Iacocca, was presented with the All-State Safety Leadership Award, which cited the company for installing driver-side air bags…

All over America people are rallying against the construction of incinerators in their community. The more they rally — in the past three years nearly 100 incinerator proposals have been stopped — the more they realize the necessity and advantages of recycling waste instead of burning it. Incineration is a major barrier to recycling which,…

WASHINGTON (UPI) — Ac­tivist Ralph Nader announced Wednesday a campaign to repeal the new congres­sional pay raise, con­tending the “pay grab” voted by the House and Senate last week would have made Marie Antoinette proud. Nader, known for his at­tempts to organize grass-roots campaigns, said he was certain the vast majority of Americans were upset…