In the Public Interest

GOTHENBURG, Sweden — How would you like to know the operating weak points of cars, by make and model, on a regular and reliable basis? Here in Sweden, motor­ists can find out. Using data from the annual compulsory inspection of motor vehi­cles, the Swedish Motor Vehicle Inspection Compa­ny tabulates the compara­tive results for dozens of…

On the morning of Feb. 18 in the cloistered congressional hearing room of the Joint. Committee on Atomic Energy, the drama of Sen. John Pastore’s final year in the Sen­ate will begin to unfold. On that day, Chairman John Pas­tore, the leading booster of atomic power for two decades in the Senate, comes face to…

Morris the cat is informing millions of television viewers these days a about his finicky preference for a certain kind of cat food. This is more can than he said about the preference of millions of television viewers for the kind of television they would like to watch over the public’s airwaves. What they need…

Petitions, protests, read-ins and demonstrations confronted the an­nouncement by the financially pressed New York Public Library that eight branch libraries would be promptly closed with still others to be shut down within the next two years. Other branches and the great central library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street have had their hours and services…

William J. Baroody Jr. couldn’t have done better by the consumer movement that he so strenuously op­poses. As the President’s as­sistant for public liaison, Baroody is the coordinator of a series of regional White House conferences this month on proposed federal departmental consumer representation plans in major cities around the country. Both the plans and…

“Product of a proud land. Tobacco. It’s as proud a part of the American tradition as the Statue of Liber­ty.” These words are from a recent advertisement for L&M by a cigarette compa­ny which knows no shame. The cigarette industry has 60 million Americans hook­ed. It can manipulate their psychology in many direc­tions. One series…

Little street urchins playing in the dust and the dirt are often pitied for their poverty and the squalor of their slum surroun­dings. Now, public health studies are adding horrible dimensions to the dangers of that dust and the dirt which swirl or float around urban neighborhoods. These dangers are lead, asbestos and other kinds…

A few times a year, a tall bearded man in his late thirties is seen in front of the main building in down­town Washington of the De­partment of Housing and Urban Development offer­ing a newsletter called IM­PACT to emerging employees. He is Al Louis Ripskis, a veteran HUD employee him­self, and the editor-producer of the…

In searching for models of superior consumer perform­ance across this land, I have come across two con­sumer cooperatives in Michigan. One deals with auto repair and the other with optical services. Both are nonprofit but are run on a “businesslike” basis to keep competent staff oper­ating efficiently. As many consumer-com­plaints about auto repair shops and…

The word spread like wildfire throughout the community of professional thieves: Fords are easier to steal than other recent car models. NOW, in response to questions, the Ford Motor Co. admits it. William Brown of Ford’s Washington staff says, “There’s no denying the numbers. The ratio is some­what higher on Fords . . . .…