a210  1144  17 Mar 87
AM-Brites,0606
Bright & Brief
    BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) - In today's atmosphere of open records and
ready lawsuits, a Lehigh University professor has come up with a
system of doublespeak to pan job applicants without risk.
    Under the system, dubbed ''LIAR'' or Lexicon of Inconspicuously
Ambiguous Recommendations, by economics Professor Robert J. Thornton,
managers and teachers can hide behind ambiguity when asked to write
recommendation letters.
    ''There must be a million people out there suffering from the
problem of how to write a letter of recommendation for a person who
isn't really qualified,'' Thornton said in a telephone interview
Monday.
    To describe a lackluster employee, Thornton said, a manager would
write: ''In my opinion, you will be very fortunate to get this person
to work for you.''
    To describe a candidate who is woefully inept, Thornton recommends
saying: ''I most enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no
qualifications whatsoever.''
    Any of the statements might be taken as praise, Thornton said. But,
he said, ''These phrases actually convey the complete opposite.
That's what makes them so strange and that's what makes them so
humorous.''
    ''Whether perceived correctly or not by the candidate, the phrases
are virtually litigation-proof,'' he said, noting that court rulings
have opened up employment records to workers.
    Other LIAR samples:
    -To describe a candidate who is so unproductive the position would
be better left unfilled: ''I can assure you that no person would be
better for the job.''
    -To describe a candidate who is not worth further consideration: ''I
would urge you to waste no time in making this candidate an offer of
employment.''
    ---
    TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Tulsa businessmen plan to try to drum up
business this spring by inviting 200 colleagues from around the
country to stop working and go fishing.
    Officials are angling for new business investment and hope the
invitations to fish in the area, along with an engraved reel from
Tulsa-based Zebco, will be the right kind of bait.
    Each member of the Committee of 200, an economic development group
from the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, will invite at least
one out-of-state prospect to Tulsa for the fishing trip, said Debi
Morgan, chamber spokeswoman.
    Jim Hubbard, director of human resources at Zebco, said that along
with the engraved reel, the company will provide a fishing
professional as escort.
    ''We're responding to a request by the chamber,'' Hubbard said.
''We've worked with them on several things to try to boost the city.
We want to support them to the extent that we can. We've got the easy
part, we're just providing reels.''
    ---
    BEDFORD PARK, Ill. (AP) - Postal officials celebrated the nation's
newest 24-hour post office with speeches, a flashing sign and finger
sandwiches for patrons, but some people wondered ''Why Bedford
Park?''
    The post office was ''like a cemetery, kind of dead'' even before
Monday's grand opening of round-the-clock service, d Jry other government agenc-
y, the VA is
not accountable for its actions.''
    Evans, a former Marine, is sponsoring a bill that would allow
veterans to challenge VA decisions in court - a right they currently
do not have - and revoke an 1862 law which prohibits lawyers from
charging more than $10 to handle veterans' cases at VA hearings.
    The Senate has passed a similar measure four times, but Evans said
the bill repeatedly has failed to reach the House floor because of
resistance in committee.
    
AP-NY-03-17-87 1444EST
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