Editor's Notes

– EDITORS' ACTIVITIES. Senior editor Manuel S. Klausner remains very active in the legal and public policy arena. As chairman of the Libertarian Law Council, he appeared last fall before the San Diego Superior Court and filed a petition with the state Supreme Court attempting to have the California Marijuana Initiative placed on the November ballot. As co-author of another initiative measure'"to provide for educational tax credits'"he has spoken before several groups and appeared on radio and TV. Klausner's newest effort is the Just Compensation Initiative, a proposed state constitutional amendment to require just compensation for any substantial impairment of real property values caused by government action. The principal author of the measure, Klausner is working with San Diego City Council member Fred Schnaubelt in a campaign to enact it.

Senior editor Tibor Machan has had an article on national labor policy accepted by the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. In his capacity as Educational Programs Director of the Reason Foundation, Machan has announced the subject of the Foundation's 1981 Liberty Fund summer research seminar: "paternalism, the welfare state, and individual responsibility." Qualified scholars are being invited to apply as summer fellows. Machan continues to teach courses on the history of economic thought and business ethics at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Editor Robert Poole, meanwhile, is participating in a Sabre Foundation study of urban enterprise zones, under the direction of contributing editor Mark Frazier. Poole is writing a chapter on how neighborhood groups in such zones could contract for public services with private firms. He will also participate in the project's upcoming conference on enterprise zones, to be held in Atlanta on February 20.

– FAMOUS AUTHORS. Recognition continues to come to the authors of REASON articles. On the best-seller lists in December were two books by financial experts long since published in REASON. Jerome Smith, author of The Coming Currency Collapse, first appeared in our June 1977 Financial Issue. That same issue included Douglas Casey, author of Crisis Investing, on the topic of second passports. Sam Blumenfeld, our November 1980 cover story author, was interviewed in November on radio station WKIS in Orlando, Florida. Host Gene Burns told listeners how impressed he was with REASON's coverage of private schooling for the masses. And contributing editor Alan Reynolds appeared on the Wall Street Journal's editorial page October 24, arguing the supply-side case for tax cuts.

– SUPER-GLUE ON NBC. Our May 1980 cover story on the FDA's long campaign to prevent the surgical use of super glues was the basis for a segment on NBC Magazine with David Brinkley, the evening of December 12. The network hired REASON author David Mathisen to assist with research for the program. This marks the third time that a REASON cover story has become the basis for a network newsmagazine story.

– CITY HALL PAPERBACK. Fans of Robert Poole's book Cutting Back City Hall will be pleased to learn that Universe Books will be releasing a paperback edition this spring. This time distribution will be via bookstores across the country, rather than primarily by mail order. The price of the paperback will be $5.95, says Universe.

– SATELLITE INFO. In our November Trends column we reported the existence of a weekly magazine on the burgeoning communications satellite industry. Soon after that issue appeared, we heard from Ron Pearson, managing editor of Satellite News, a biweekly newsletter. It turns out that Pearson's newsletter predates the competing weekly. Moreover, says Pearson, its editorial policies are soundly pro-free-enterprise. So for those with $167 a year to spend, Satellite News may be just what you've been looking for (from Phillips Publishing, Washington, DC).

– HONG KONG FILM. A new film has been released, explaining the success of the free market in Hong Kong. Produced as an educational venture by the Liberty Fund, it is available for use from Modern Talking Motion Pictures, a distributor with outlets across the country. The only charge is for the costs of shipment. The film runs just under a half-hour'"a good length for showing to local organizations (Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, etc.) or to broadcast on your local cable TV station.