Making Coke a Better Place to Work

I welcome scrutiny of Coca-Cola Co.'s policies and practices in every respect, including as a responsible corporate citizen and employer (''Coke: Say good-bye to the good ol' boy culture,'' News: Analysis & Commentary, May 29). We already have designed and launched several new initiatives--and there is more to come.

I suggest that your story did not fairly portray the historic record of this company. I believe we need to be better than we have been. I also believe we have been better than a reader of your piece might have concluded.

Douglas Daft
Chairman
Coca-Cola Co.
Atlanta

Your story challenges the company to ''become a model for diversity in corporate America,'' to undergo a cultural overhaul, and to match its considerable financial incentives with real organizational changes--in essence, to create a Texaco-type turnaround.

But Coca-Cola is not Texaco. And contrary to writer Dean Foust's suggestions, which include adopting Texaco's independent oversight panel concept to review all of Coke's employment decisions, the most important ingredient for the successful turnaround of a company's culture is not another management review committee but the committed leadership of the CEO.

Based upon my involvement with top management at Coca-Cola, I am convinced that, like Texaco's managers, they are committed to changing the culture of the company in a manner that will make it a model of a diversity-sensitive company.

As a Washington attorney specializing in corporate diversity counseling, I assisted Texaco's Peter Bijur and have since assisted several other CEOs faced with class-action race discrimination cases in addressing their diversity problems. The most successful were those that made a ''real'' commitment to develop and implement comprehensive programs. For any such diversity program to be successful, management must be held accountable for the program's overall results.

Coca-Cola will become a model for diversity in America because CEO Douglas Daft and his management team have made it very clear that ''the buck stops here.''

Weldon H. Latham
Washington

The CPAs Support a Strong Oversight Board

''Why the auditors need auditing'' (Editorials, May 22) contends that the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is trying to hide something by cutting off funding to the Public Oversight Board. The truth is that the profession has simply asked the POB to provide a plan that outlines what it intends to do and how much it is expected to cost. There has never been any question about our support for a strong, independent POB. Since its inception over 20 years ago, we have spent millions of dollars funding the POB and will continue to support this important group.

The editorial also states that a set of sensible rules and internal controls should be drawn up. This has already been done. Several months ago, the AICPA established mandatory quality-control requirements to beef up auditor compliance with independence rules. Firms that do not comply with these new rules will be disciplined. We have also called for a modernization of rules, which the Securities & Exchange Commission has acknowledged are antiquated and discriminatory.

Why not look at a more substantive issue--the fact that there seems to be no significant effort to modernize financial reporting regulations.

Barry C. Melancon
President and CEO
American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants
New York

Slim Pickings for Online Shoppers

The observation in ''Sites not worth seeing'' (e.biz, May 15) that ''half a store is worse than none'' is dead-on. I have tried to shop online at some of my favorite stores, only to find that their sites are basically advertisements for their physical stores. What are they thinking? Can you imagine walking into the local grand opening of your favorite store to find that you can't buy anything, you can only look at ads for their store in the next town? Would you come back? Me neither. I took my business to an online site where you can actually buy something.

Randy Farwell
West Dundee, Ill.

Women Reap More Benefits from Social Security

Contrary to the contention of ''Making Social Security more women-friendly'' (Social Issues, May 22), Social Security has been heavily (and intentionally) tilted in favor of women since its inception in 1937.

In the first place, because 65-year-old women outlive 65-year-old men by an average of almost five years, they receive over their lifetimes one-third more Social Security payments. Secondly, the survivor benefits are disproportionately paid to women--once again because of their greater longevity. Thirdly, because more women have limited work histories than men, they are more likely to qualify for dependent benefits solely by virtue of being married to (or divorced from) a Social Security wage earner.

The bias in the system was originally so great that dependent husbands and fathers were explicitly denied benefits until a series of Supreme Court rulings in the 1970s and 1980s.

The real problem with Social Security for both men and women is that it is basically a Ponzi scheme and will eventually go bankrupt because it has never been prefunded the way corporate pension plans must be. The privatization plans for the Social Security system that are currently being advanced by George W. Bush (and others in both parties) will, if adopted, begin to enable American workers of both sexes to invest at least some of their contributions to their retirement as they see fit. To view these proposals as somehow a threat to women is patronizing at best and insulting at worst.

John K. Dirlam Jr.
Wellesley Hills, Mass.

Lenders Who Prey on the Poor

''Easy Money'' (Social Issues, Apr. 24) is a real issue for the poor of all races. I recently retired from the Air Force at Maxwell AFB in Alabama, and have seen the ''pawn your title'' and ''loans till payday'' signs. These legal loan sharks prey on ill-educated folks living paycheck to paycheck. Airmen are warned to stay clear of these operations.

Contrary to rationalizations to justify ''service to the poor,'' these unfortunate victims are trapped and will stay in this cycle until credit laws are reformed and a basic credit course is taught in Alabama's public schools. The low salaries for the working poor in this area and the high sales tax on nearly everything including food add to the debt cycle.

David R. Clapper
Warrington, Pa.

How Motorola Pioneered Handheld Cell Phones

''Motorola was a convert to cellular'' (Readers Report, May 15) points out that Bell Labs developed cellular technology. This was mobile cellular for cars. Motorola quickly responded and demonstrated the world's first portable cellular phone in 1973, a decade before cellular service was introduced in the U.S. Soon after, the company built one of the first prototype cellular systems, in the Baltimore/Washington area. Today, most cellular phones are handheld portable rather than mobile car phones.

Motorola supported the granting of spectrum for cellular service but did oppose the granting of all cellular services to the telephone company. Motorola joined forces with other wireless entrepreneurs and persuaded the Federal Communications Commission that competition was the best environment for cellular's potential to be realized. The FCC granted two licenses in each market--one to a telephone company, and the other to a wireless company. The FCC made the right decision, other countries followed, and the rest of the story is history. Competition has fueled the amazing growth of the cellular industry.

John F. Mitchell
Vice-Chairman (retired)
Motorola Inc.
Schaumburg, Ill.

For Women MBAs, Try East Carolina

You lament the dearth of women students in top-tier MBA programs (''It's still a guy thing,'' News: Analysis & Commentary, May 22). If you look down the list a bit further, you will find programs that value women in the classroom.

The number of women enrolled in East Carolina University's graduate business program is 46%, up from 36% eight years ago. We are continually aware of the need to enhance the educational experience of all our students by having a student body which more closely reflects the composition of our society.

Students should pick a school that meets their needs along many dimensions, including not only education and placement, but also the composition of the student body.

Frederick Niswander
Assistant Dean for
Graduate Programs
East Carolina University
Greenville, N.C.

Managed Care Is Focusing on Consumers

''Managed care takes to the sickbed'' (News: Analysis & Commentary, May 15) cited rising prices as evidence that the managed-care ''miracle'' is ''fading fast.'' It would have been more accurate to say that the managed-care insurers are actively evolving in order to accommodate the many disparate demands coming from individual members, employers, providers, and the government.

During the past five years, the managed-care companies focused on satisfying excessively price-sensitive employers but angered freedom-seeking members in the process. The companies have now become far more consumer-focused, thereby allowing more freedom and access, both of which are expensive. Managed-care insurers are also striving to upgrade the quality of care through disease-management programs that directly benefit the 20% of members that generate 80% of costs. Rising health insurance inflation is not a sign of failure but simply the price of better accommodating individual consumer desires.

Kenneth S. Abramowitz
Health-care analyst
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
New York

Basic Nutrition for Just Peanuts

After reading ''It ain't exactly Julia Child'' (Up Front, May 1) on the Stigler Diet, I now know where the airlines get their menu ideas for coach-class meals. Thanks for clarifying one of life's least-appetizing mysteries.

David Singer
San Jose, Calif.

First Quarter Corporate Scoreboard (May 15, 2000)

In the First Quarter Corporate Scoreboard (May 15), the correct market value for BancWest is $2.2 billion.