True Value

Everybody now wants corporate accounting to be clean and accurate. But greater honesty in accounting has implications for the stock market that may leave some investors pining for the good-bad old days of financial obfuscation. If earnings have been overstated by accounting gimmickry, then the high prices paid for stocks in the boom years of the late 1990s were even higher than they seemed. Likewise, if reported earnings grow more slowly in the next few years because accounting is more honest, then current stock valuations--which are down from their bull-market peaks, but are hardly cheap, historically--also may be higher than they appear.

Chris Marcus is back. Marcus, who missed 17 games with a stress fracture in his foot, scored 32 points and had 15 rebounds as No. 24 Western Kentucky (24-3) routed Division II Kentucky State, 100-63, Tuesday night at Bowling Green, Ky., to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 14 games. The 7-foot-1 senior center was 12 of 14 from the field and eight of 12 from the free-throw line in 24 minutes as a reserve.

Re "A New Direction for 4 Orphaned Brothers, Sisters," Feb. 2: Everyone who pitched in to help the Lee children stay together, from their friends and teachers to the remarkable foster father, Gavin Glynn, is to be commended. And to all those who oppose gay adoption, ask yourself this: How many people open their homes and their hearts to even one stranger, let alone four teenagers with emotional wounds? Family values means putting your time, effort, heart and money on the line, and Glynn is the kind of foster parent we need more of. How fortunate these children are to have found a home with a generous, responsible, selfless man like him, and how fortunate our society is that it's legal for him to do so. Kate Carnell Watt Riverside

Do you borrow against inventory or receivables for working capital? Could you use more money than this financing technique gets you? Lenders call this kind of financing asset-based borrowing, and if your answer to the first question is "yes," your answer to the second is probably the same--and you may want to think about recapitalizing your debt.

The holiday season is upon us again. I'm cringing at the media blitz that accompanies it, especially since my husband and I want to instill in our 4-year-old daughter values beyond those that flash across the television screen every five to 10 minutes. This leads me to Holiday Principle No. 1: Keep the television off and avoid advertisements. Who isn't enticed by all the pretty things--from decorations to refreshments to every kind of toy imaginable? Here's Principle No. 2: Buy less.

True Value Hardware and ServiStar Corp. said they plan to combine and create a company called TruServe Corp. that will have 10,500 stores and $4.6 billion in annual sales. The combination of the closely held firms is designed to help the companies better compete against industry leaders Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Co., as well as growing chains such as Sears Hardware, which recently bought Orchard Supply Hardware.

The polls were barely closed Nov. 8 before Republicans all over the country uncorked the champagne, and the celebrating hasn't stopped since. Having won with the male vote in 1994, Republican strategists--who are, not coincidentally, all themselves men--will undoubtedly continue to rely on this group as the key to 1996. A key component of their strategy involves catering to the religious-right groups claiming credit for this year's Republican victories.

The Woodlands, the Kansas City, Kan., racetrack that Hollywood Park has agreed to buy for $70 million, including debt, isn't worth anywhere near that much, according to evidence surfacing this week in a Kansas tax dispute. The Woodlands is 60% owned by Hollywood Park Chairman R.D. Hubbard. The dispute, concerning a 1990-91 tax valuation in Wyandotte County, Kan., is being heard in Topeka by the state Board of Tax Appeals. The county is trying to defend its valuation of $59.

He is venerated as a champion of civil rights when, in reality, he was furious with the Freedom Riders, who forced him to act before he was ready to embrace the cause of racial equality. He is hailed as an apostle of world peace when, in truth, he was one of the coldest of the Cold Warriors and conspired to assassinate some Third World leaders, including Fidel Castro and South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem. In fact, 30 years after he was killed in Dallas, John F.

Re "Practicing Their Beliefs" (April 14): As a family physician, it is refreshing to see that the true value of our specialty has begun to be recognized by the medical profession as well as the media. However, the disheartening reality is that the public still has a very mistaken perception about family medicine. Most illnesses can be handled adequately by a competent family doctor. Yet many patients still insist on seeing a sub-specialist for every little ailment. No effort from the government or the medical schools can improve the dwindling number of family physicians as long as people still demand a neurologist to treat their headache, an orthopedic surgeon to see their stubbed toes or a dermatologist to cure their flea bites.