In the Public Interest

While students in countries as diverse as China, Mexico, South Korea and France struggle for more rights at Princeton University, my alma mater, the students are in the national news for another pursuit — streaking! Yes, these future leaders of the western world — 54 young men and 6 young women — limbered up in…

Washington, DC — Snow, snow, snow — eighteen inches of it in two installments covered the nation’s capital with a rare blanket of immobilizing drifts. For hours the normally clogged streets were free of most moving vehicles. Pedestrians used main avenues as walkways. The District of Columbia’s slowness in clearing the streets provided time for…

Imagine if some celebrities, instead of being paid to endorse brands publically declared that they would purchase a given product only if it is improved. What a boon it would be to millions of consumers. Presently, one sees movie stars, singers, athletes, ex-athletes and even former politicians appearing on television and endorsing some soft drink,…

Maury Sutton, the publisher of the magazine, Limousine & Chauffeur, writes that the limousine business is booming because urban traffic congestion is worsening. He says “there is a definite correlation between traffic congestion and the use of limousines by corporate and private parties.” For any citizen who is tired of waiting in line for hours…

New leaders assume their posts this month in the Senate and House of Representatives — Robert Byrd (D-WV), the Senate Majority helmsman, and Jim Wright (D-TX) as the Speaker of the House. What difference will these men make? Will they be caretakers or leaders? Will they break new ground or plow old paths? I would…

The letters are starting to pour in and their opposition to the gigantic salary increases, proposed for top government officials and members of Congress, is strong and indignant. When Olga Sanders of Dallas, Texas, heard that a Presidential Commission on top government salaries recommended a $57,600 a year salary increase to Senators and Representatives, she…

Ross Perot knows what the problem is. But Roger Smith does not. When Smith, the boss of General Motors, can oust Perot, a billionaire entrepreneur and GM’s largest individual shareholder, from the company’s Board of Directors for being too openly critical of top management’s bureaucratic ways, then Roger Smith becomes Perot’s exhibit number one. Perot,…

Is your electric, gas, water or utility meter the last word in determining your bills? That seems to be the answer that too many state utility regulatory commissions are giving to people who complain about strangely high bills. In last week’s column, I noted some typical cases where residential ratepayers were the victims of what…

It started, as is so frequently the case, with letters from consumers. People wanted to know how come their electric or gas bill stayed the same even though they were on vacation that month or two in the summer or winter. Others found their water bill staggeringly higher even though their water usage was the…

College students are subject to more stereotypes over the past twenty five years than most ethnic groups. In one clutch of years during the late Sixties, the media described them as radicals. In another period during the Fifties, they were seen as party-goers and deliberately lightheaded before heading out to “the cold, cold world.” Now…