BY HARRY RING
Lofty pursuit - "We're driven by only one thing,
selling more Coca Cola." - Marketing chief Sergio Zyman
announcing the kickoff of a campaign to have Coke
commercials on the air every day for the rest of the year.
Get with the program - Coca Cola will finance a World Leadership Program for bureaucrats, business folks and economists from Russia and Eastern Europe. They'll spend 12 weeks at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and top it off with a week at Coke's headquarters in Atlanta.
Psst! Hot bearings - The feds indicted four men in Chicago for selling spare parts from the debris of two British Airway planes hit by fire and shrapnel at Kuwait international airport during the Gulf War. Officials said the parts are being used in an unknown number of planes and could cause catastrophic failure. They refused to identify the airlines that bought them.
Mum's the word - Clinton's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military began in 1994. Since then the number of GIs discharged as gay has increased 42 percent. The Pentagon is probing the possibility of increased harassment. Meanwhile, the Air Force says much of the increase is due to trainees declaring themselves gay in order to get out.
No job to too big or too low -Wackenhut has grown from a rent-a-cop agency into a global outfit that runs prisons and guards nuclear plants. And in Estero, a tiny Florida town, they're operating a privatized fire department. The town's 11 firefighters were sent to a training session one night and, on return, found the firehouse locked. Wackenhut replacements were waiting at a nearby motel.
And nobody got shot - The "Politeness Police," An undercover quad of New York cops, spent a year testing their colleagues for courtesy - asking directions, how to file a brutality complaint, etc. A surprising five percent flunked the test. However, officials assured, these were minor infractions. Declared a happy police commissioner: "We can be an aggressive police force and still treat people with dignity."
That is gross - "There is nothing worse than unkempt feet hanging from a pair of sandals," admonishes Duran Guion, men's fashion director at Macy's West, where you can pick up a pair of sandals by Donna Karan for $250.
Thrifty Mickey - A Los Angeles jury heard the first of four sexual harassment suits by Walt Disney employees. Citing specific incidents in 1992-94, the women also charge they were denied access to a company harassment policy manual. A Disney official testified that the manuals, were kept in supervisors' offices and - because of budgetary constraints - made available on a "need-to-know" basis. In 1994 Disney grossed a record $10 billion.
Can't beat that with a stick -The Ritz Carlton in Southern California's Laguna Niguel offers an Ultimate Dinner Party for groups of 12. Two nights at the hotel; a champagne and caviar reception; a five-course wine and food paired dinner; and six free sets of wine glasses. The tab is $48,000, but that's for the group, not per person.