Now, flight attendants say they're not going to take it anymore. The hope is that awareness and new laws will lead to a safer environment at 30,000 feet. Consumer groups respond that air rage is an inevitable byproduct of a failing system that has caused a 50 percent increase in flight delays over the past five years and a 68 percent jump in cancellations. Whether it will end here depends on U. S. courts, where lawsuits seeking billions from German companies that used slave labor during WWII remain to be resolved. After decades of resistance, the country's largest teachers' union took a step last week toward embracing merit pay.
Most educators still oppose merit pay, often based on student test scores.
But teacher shortages spur districts to offer recruits everything from housing subsidies to signing bonuses. It was no big secret that former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr was in hot pursuit of President Clinton. But a federal judge is considering whether to send a former Starr aide to jail for letting this particular cat out of the bag. Starr's former spokesman, Charles Bakaly, faces trial this week on charges that he lied about violating grand jury secrecy by contributing to news stories dissecting Starr's strategy. World Report Inc. All rights reserved.