Difference Maker

Lyman Wood says he still gets solicitation letters from Harvard every year, even though he's never given his alma mater a dime.

It's not that he doesn't have the means to contribute, or that he has any personal issues with the school at which he earned both a bachelor's degree and an MBA nearly 50 years ago. He just doesn't see the point.

"They have a $30 billion endowment ... they don't need my money, while plenty of other people do," said Wood, who told BusinessWest that he doesn't send checks to Cambridge because he has no idea how that money might be used and, more importantly, because no matter where it went, it probably wouldn't make much of an impact on a community …

Southwest Airlines grounds dozens of jets to examine structural soundness

Southwest Airlines Co. canceled flights and temporarily grounded 43 planes to examine if they were sound enough to carry passengers, the latest twist in the low-cost carrier's saga of missed safety inspections and civil penalties.

The groundings on Wednesday affected about 8 percent of Southwest's fleet, and came as the airline faces a $10.2 million (euro6.6 million) civil penalty for continuing to fly nearly 50 planes that hadn't been inspected for cracks in their fuselages.

Southwest shares fell more than 9 percent before closing down 7.3 percent.

Since the Federal Aviation Administration announced the penalty last week, Southwest has endured a …

NHS board position for Bristol nurse

Ruth Brunt, director of nursing at North Bristol NHS Trust, is oneof only two nurses elected to the policy board of the NHS Employers'assembly.

Launched late last year, the assembly is the new employers'organisation for the NHS in England. The policy board, made up of 22members of the assembly, will determine the strategic direction ofNHS employers and decide on policy issues.

Ruth Brunt said: "This is a very exciting role and I am verypleased to be on the policy board. I think my appointment will begood for North Bristol NHS Trust and good for nursing.

"As the representative of a large acute trust employing more than8,000 staff members, it is important to …

¿Qué Hacer con Irak?

El sonido de la trompeta no habia sido tan incierto como en el actual debate acerca de la politica inmediata hacia Irak. Ni siquiera durante la fase inicial de la guerra de Vietnam la poblacion se habia enfrentado a tanta incertidumbre y division dentro de los circulos oficiales y en los medios de comunicacion. Hasta el momento de preparar este articulo prevalecia la confusion. Una confrontacion entre "halcones" y "palomas" es demasiado visible como para pasarla por alto.

Por un lado, las "vacas sagradas" de anteriores administraciones republicanas, individuos algo pasados en anos, apoyados aparentemente en la cautela de la Secretaria de Estado. Por el otro, un sector oficialista …

Union files complaint to stop move of NYC Opera

NEW YORK (AP) — A union has filed a federal complaint against the troubled New York City Opera, saying the company's plans to move out of Lincoln Center after 45 years undermines the labor rights of the singers, dancers and stage crew members who work for the company.

The American Guild of Musical Artists says the opera's move to a smaller venue and a shorter schedule will mean less work for union members, who are usually guaranteed a certain number of work weeks per year. It filed a complaint on Thursday with the National Labor Relations Board saying the opera should have negotiated any move with the union.

"They have a legal obligation to bargain and give us all their …

Indian officials dismiss Danish climate proposal

Top Indian officials dismissed a draft climate change proposal by Denmark that expects developing economies to peak their greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, news reports said Monday.

The draft document was circulated to a few countries ahead of the Dec. 7-18 summit in Copenhagen, which is supposed to draw up an agreement for controlling emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases causing global warming.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the Danish draft was "totally unacceptable," The Economic Times reported.

"We are never going to take on a peaking year for absolute emissions. This is not on the horizon," Ramesh told the …

Ad battle is electrifying

With negotiations set to heat up in Springfield this week onlegislation that would open the electricity market in Illinois tocompetition, backers of competing plans are using radio and newspaperadvertising campaigns in a battle for support.

Commonwealth Edison Co. has been running ads lauding a plan itand Illinois Power Co. back that would bring competition to largeindustrial and commercial customers in the state in 2000 andresidential customers in 2005. The ads say other plans placeconsumers at risk.

"The plan we support was put together by most of the state'selectric utilities and others," says the radio spot. "And it's theonly plan that doesn't risk the …