25 YEARS AGO.

* "If we really need nuclear power...then we must be willing to pay the full cost, including the true cost of liability insurance. If nuclear power plants are as safe as their backers tell us, then repeal of [limited liability] would not be catastrophic. On the other hand, if these power plants are really so dangerous as to be uninsurable, then it would be far better to realize it now."

Robert Poole Jr., "The Nuclear Power Issue"

* "Gerald R. Ford...sent shivers up and down the spine of every sober American when he announced his wonderful plan to shell out $135 million to vaccinate every American against a nasty strain of flu virus expected to race across the land by late next winter. There's no faulting the president's humanism, and you'll find no fan of the flu in this corner. But one might ask: Is this really the proper function of the federal...