Vision By Thomas Mann, \o7 Thomas Mann was born in Germany in 1875 and lived in Munich from 1893, emigrating to Switzerland in 1933 and to the United States in 1938 (settling in Pacific Palisades), returning to Zurich at the end of his life. The author of numerous works, including "Death in Venice" (1913), "The Magic Mountain" (1924), and "Doctor Faustus" (1947), he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929. Reprinted with permission from "Six Early Stories" by Thomas Mann (Sun & Moon Press: 136 pp., $22.95)\f7
Spectator Sport By Jonathan Veitch, \o7 Jonathan Veitch is chairman of humanities of the New School for Social Research in New York and is the author of "American Superrealism: Nathanael West and the Politics of Representation in the 1930s," forthcoming in November from the University of Wisconsin Press\f7
One-Step Therapy By Patrick Pacheco, Patrick Pacheco, based in New York, is a frequent contributor to Calendar
Nixon? Moi? By Bob Gunton, Bob Gunton is an actor who has appeared in 22 feature films, as well as on stage and television. His next appearance will be in TNT's "The Buffalo Soldiers" in December. He has just completed his first screenplay
FCC Passing the Buck on TV Liquor Ads By Annette Padilla, Annette Padilla is co-chair of the Orange County ATOD Policy Council and project director of YMCA Communities in Prevention-North
Democrats' Ill Wind Blows in GOP Favor By Kenneth L. Khachigian, Kenneth L. Khachigian is a veteran political strategist and former White House speech writer who practices law in Orange County. His column appears here every other week
Education Is the Real Issue By Rena Weinberg, Rena Weinberg is president of the Assn. for Better Living and Education (ABLE), an organization formed to coordinate the use of L. Ron Hubbard's social betterment methods in society
Eulogy for a Place of Healing, Understanding By Ahmed Vahedian, Phd, Ahmed Vahedian, PhD, is a psychologist and director of Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology, based in Ventura. Kelly McCardy assisted with this article
Communication Key to Unity By Francisco J. Dominguez, Francisco J. Dominguez is a member of the Oxnard school board and executive director of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura
The Impending Collision of Eastside and Westside. By Gregory Rodriguez, Gregory Rodriguez, an associate editor at Pacific News Service, is a research fellow at the Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy
California Like England? Just Consider the Eccentrics By Alexander Rufus-isaacs, Lord Alexander Rufus-Isaacs is president of the British-American Bar Assn. of Southern California. An English barrister whose London office used to be Sir Francis Bacon's bathroom, he has practiced law and lived in Los Angeles for 10 years
The Triumph of Morality By Roger C. Altman, Roger C. Altman served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Treasury in the first Clinton Administration
Campaign Finance By Eric Alterman, Eric Alterman is the media columnist for the Nation and a political commentator for MSNBC. He is the author of "Sound and Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the Collapse of American Politics."
Politics By Marty Kaplan, Marty Kaplan, associate dean and visiting professor of political communication at USC's Annenberg School, was deputy campaign manager of Walter F. Mondale's presidential campaign
Bosnia By Tad Szulc, Tad Szulc is the author of John Paul II: The Biography (Scribners) and Fidel: A Critical Portrait (Morrow). He recently returned from Bosnia
Israel By Yossi Melman, Yossi Melman, an Israeli journalist for Ha'aretz, is co-author of "The Master Terrorist: The True Story Behind Abu Nidal."
Zoran Djindjic By Tracy Wilkinson, Tracy Wilkinson is the Vienna bureau chief for The Times
Inside the 1-800 factory By Charles Fishman, Charles Fishman (cnfish@mindspring.com), a magazine writer based in Raleigh, N.C., worked the phones taking delivery complaints for the Miami Herald in 1979. His last article for the magazine was about weather forecasting