Notes

Our August cover story by David Lips on the food stamp mess and private alternatives to it has received a lot of attention. A condensed version that we sent out as an op-ed piece has appeared in newspapers coast-to-coast, including Honolulu's Pacific Business News, the Denver Post, Vancouver, Washington's Columbian, the Texarkana Gazette, and the West Palm Beach Evening Times. Doug Bandow cited the article on the USA Today op-ed page, and in September the White House requested a copy.

Privatization continues getting good press. The August issue of Venture, the magazine for entrepreneurs, devoted a whole page to the subject, quoting REASON contributors Stuart Butler and Steve Hanke. It discussed a number of examples familiar to REASON readers, including privatization of air traffic control (May's lead article), of garbage collection (Nov. 1980), and fire protection (see last month's issue for the latest episode).

September's cover story on the United Farm Workers union and its growing hold on California agriculture is attracting many requests for reprints. So we've printed them up and have them available in quantity. For less than 100 reprints, the price is 75¢ each; quantity discounts are available. Author Patty Newman was interviewed about the article on Wednesday, August 24, on the Clark Weber program on WIND in Chicago. And the Arizona Republic (Phoenix) has reprinted a condensed version of the article.

Other REASON people continue to crop up all over. Frequent education contributor Sam Blumenfeld's book, Is Public Education Necessary?, was cited and described as "brilliant" in the lead paragraph of a hard-hitting Fortune article (Sept. 19) by Peter Brimelow, "What to Do about America's Schools." And the ubiquitous Tom Hazlett graced the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times within the same week in September, plugging REASON's June cover story on privatization of weather services in the former and debunking antitrust shibboleths in the latter. Military reformer Dina Rasor was the subject of a three-page article in the August Working Woman titled "One Woman vs. the Pentagon." And Fred Smith, subject of our September Spotlight column, coauthored (with R.J. Smith) a New York Times op-ed piece on James Watt and his failure to understand privatization.

Our in-house staff have also been getting attention. Controller John Northrup appeared on Cable News Network's "Crossfire" program on August 30. The program generated a lot of mail, according to CNN producers. And Assistant Editor Paul Gordon has joined columnist Patrick Cox as a semiregular contributor to USA Today's op-ed page.

Academic Program Director Tibor Machan is enjoying his autumn sojourn in Lugano, Switzerland—the only spot in that country where palm trees grow! He's there for one semester as the E.C. Harwood Professor at Franklin College. Some of you will recall REASON's interview with the late Professor Harwood (June 1981), known for his advocacy of gold as an inflation hedge long before this view became fashionable. While in Europe, Tibor spoke at the recent Libertarian International European convention in Brussels and has given talks in Lugano on business and on Marxism. He is also editing a volume of essays on business ethics and writing a paper on this subject for the American Philosophical Quarterly. And his Recent Work in Philosophy, coedited with Kenneth G. Lucey, was just released from Rowman and Allanheld.

December is the time of year when many people make end-of-year contributions to charitable organizations. If you're considering a tax-deductible gift to the Reason Foundation, you may be able to double its effectiveness. Find out whether your employer has a matching gift program. If so, all you need to do is fill out a form and send a copy along with your contribution. We will then send the form back to your company, with proof of our tax-exempt status, whereupon the company will make a contribution to the Foundation equal in size to your own. A few companies even match at a two-for-one rate. Mail your contribution, with or without a matching gift form, to the Reason Foundation, 1018 Garden St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. And if you want to know more about the Foundation's programs, just ask us for a copy of our quarterly Reason Report.