DNA justice
Applying DNA evidence to closed cases that predated the technology will confirm the truth and erase questions of guilt.

Asbestos risks
Environmental Protection Agency officials' recent admission that they shelved reports documenting high levels of asbestos in products made by W.R. Grace and Company raises numerous concerns. For 18 years, the EPA sat on information that might have saved hundreds, some near a Grace mine in Montana and others in an Ohio factory, from severe lung disease. The EPA has a responsibility to explain how this breach occurred and take appropriate action. Grace and the federal government also should be working on a process to compensate those who have been harmed by this negligence or willful misconduct.

Needing a hero over truth
It's hard to define a hero: we think we know one when we see one. The requirements for the position shift with each individual, each time, each set of circumstances.

Why discourage marriage with our tax laws?
So President Clinton is going to veto the marriage-tax penalty relief bill because it benefits the rich. Let's see if he's correct about that. A young lady of my acquaintance, with one child, and her husband each earned approximately $16,000 in 1998. Their tax bill for that year was $2,520. In 1999, this couple divorced. Their earnings were essentially the same but the total tax they paid that year was $942. As singles, they qualified for $8,600 of standard deductions versus $7,100 as married. What is more important, one of them became eligible for the earned income tax credit, which was not available to them as a family.