Aides to outgoing UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick are telling pals privately that Kirkpatrick is not only being encouraged to run for president but is seriously thinking about taking a shot for the top spot.
— Watch for Sen. Paul Simon (D., Ill.) to propose a ”negotiators`
pause” on testing and deployment of nuclear weapons. Simon wants the U.S. and the Soviet Union to agree to the halt pending the outcome of the Geneva arms talks that began last week.
THE PAPER CHASE . . .
Is it true that for the second time in six months the Department of Inspectional Services has run out of duplicate paper to process building permits for inspection? ”We will be unable to meet our inspectional responsibilities because there is no paper to inform the bureaus that a permit has been issued,” a city employee told INC. Will it really take two months before the forms are delivered? The beleaguered department has had four changes at the top since Mayor Washington took office.
HOSPITAL HOT LINE . . .
The trend toward for-profit hospitals is not a healthy one, according to Robin Cook, physician and best-selling author (”Coma,” ”Fever” and his newest, ”Mindbend”). ”Big business really is taking over medicine, and its purpose is to make a return on investment,” he says. ”Look at Humana;
they`ve chosen one very narrow field of research–artificial hearts–which has turned out to be a public relations bonanza, and down the road it may be a real moneymaking opportunity. But the public in general doesn`t benefit from an artificial heart; they are enormously costly. And you have to consider the quality of a life tethered to a machine. Choices have to be made. The cost of an artificial-heart operation is $100,000. If that money were spent on prenatal care, think how much further it would go and how much more good it would do.” . . . Officials of Berwyn`s Mac Neal Memorial Hospital say no inferences should be drawn from the fact that they are literally taking in laundry to make a few extra bucks. Only about half of Mac Neal`s 3.5-million- pound laundry capacity is being used, so it has signed a contract to do about a million pounds of wash a year for a neighbor, Oak Park`s West Suburban Medical Center.
SMALL-SCREEN TRADE . . .
It`s a bruised and battered ABC network that former WLS general manager Dennis Swanson is moving to. Other than first-place ”Good Morning America,” things are looking bleak. ”World News Tonight” and many of the network`s prime-time shows are consistently in third place, while the daytime lineup, where ABC used to dominate, is frequently slipping to second. And
”Nightline,” according to a TV source, ”is the greatest secret failure in the country. People assume it`s right behind the ”Tonight” show, but it`s really a consistent third in the ratings. They lost a lot of momentum when they went to an hour format, and they never regained it when they cut back to a half an hour again.” Good luck, Dennis. . . . Tuesday`s ”First Steps”
CBS-TV movie (which features Chicago actors Allen Ruck, Allan Hamilton, Megan Mullaly, John Pankow and Del Close, among others) was based on a ”60 Minutes” feature. Producer Ellis Cohen`s next project, ”Love, Mary,” was based on a ”Good Morning America” story; and after that, he`ll begin work on ”Corporal Scott, USMC,” which was also inspired by a ”60 Minutes”
feature.
CHICAGO FACES . . .
INC. hears that banker Oscar Williams is being considered for regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is also being touted as a GOP candidate for state comptroller should Roland Burris make a move for higher office. . . . Guy Chipparoni of the Hyatt Regency Chicago has signed on to handle press duties for Illinois Secretary of State Jim Edgar.
INC.LINGS . . .
It`s a very international month for Chicago, with visits scheduled for this month from Argentine President Raul Alfonsin and Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozol. . . . ”Invisible INC.” Kathy O`Malley moves today from silent partner to insult target in ”Letters, We Get Letters.” . . . Monday birthdays: Charley Pride, 47; George Plimpton, 58; Peter Graves, 59. . . . Roy Leonard`s Monday interview with Albert (”Lost in America”) Brooks includes an impression of the comedian`s dad, radio comic Harry Einstein, doing his
”Parkyakarkus” Greek dialect character. . . . On Saturday, Rosen-Knutsen Casting will audition teenage extras for two movies filming here this spring. Show up at the Lincolnwood Hyatt between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., and bring a current photo.
