SOFT NEWS

*Advertising in textbooks could mean free books for students. Maybe a revolution has begun in the $6 billion per year college textbook industry. A St. Paul, Minnesota company, Freeload Press, sells ads to FedEx Kinko and other national firms in the more than 100 titles it prints. People who think we already have too much commercialism are fussing and fuming. Get used to it. The next step is chalkboard advertising.

*The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Utah ranks number one in birth rate and last in out-of-wedlock births. Think about it.

*We hear that a major airline is about to grant immediate boarding privileges to naked fliers. No more security searching and snooping in long lines for free spirited passengers who have it all together. Takeoff Before Takeoff will be test marketed at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. An unnamed company spokesperson expressed hope that the plan will catch on so that airport security checks will be unnecessary.

*Overheard in a coffee house: If I stay proactive, the best-case scenario will be a win-win for me, with almost no downside while building a viable relationship.

*20-Years-From-Now News: Al Gore, Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, and Hillary Clinton will be guest speakers at the annual gathering of DIDN'T WE ALMOST MAKE IT? convention in Washington, DC.

*Quote: "Democracy passes into despotism." - Plato