Word: skinnerism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Skinner, a stick and a carrot...
...rest of the cast is proficient, but mostly a backdrop for these three. David Levy as Hysterium, the slave-in-chief on whom Pseudolus has leverage because of his collection of pornographic pottery, is suitably hysterical, in all senses of the word. He runs about like a Skinner-box mouse on Thorazine. Taking time out to sing "I'm Calm," he shows he's as cool under fire as barbecue sauce in a heat wave. Andy Borowitz is on target too, in his characterization of Lycus, a gentleman and procurer. He adds just the right dash of street...
...inside of the Fisher Hall was gutted. Harris put in 2,742 new seats, with fabric (velvet) and wood (oak) carefully designed to be minimally sound absorbent. All the old seats had been removed; some were given to a fledgling theater group only a few blocks away. The Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, part of the rear wall, was sold for $100,000 (original cost: $175,000) to a California church. Virtually everything else was reduced to 9,326 yds. of rubble and shipped off to landfill areas in New York and New Jersey...
Thus far it has secured some 100 criminal charges and 50 convictions, with many of the cases still in the works. Skinner judges the unit so successful, he recently expanded the original staff of four lawyers to nine. The young attorneys (average age: 30) are able to do much of their own investigating, which lets "us go looking for trouble," says Skinner. They use such standard devices as offers of immunity or plea bargaining to get their information, and they have found a new tool: the 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statutes (RICO). Originally aimed at the Mafia...
...Questions. Skinner is currently trying to RICO not only the accused Medicaid-fraud conspirators but a group of five nursing homes and two pharmacies also charged with Medicaid fraud, and Chicago's Tyler Barber College. The barber school scam particularly rouses Skinner. It, involves allegedly false Veterans Administration claims from dozens of otherwise "good citizens": fire men, policemen, Chicago transit workers and Federal Government employees who shared their V A monthly education benefits ($216 to $398) with the school but never went to class or snipped a hair. Worries Skinner: "With the potential for fraud so easy...