Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 19, 1992                   TAG: 9203190246
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RALPH NADER TO SPEAK TONIGHT

His appearance is part of a three-day "Earth Visions" symposium to promote environmental awareness. Several college classes will have speakers today and Friday on subjects such as solar energy, hazardous-waste disposal and citizen responsibility for the environment.

Nader, who says he is not a presidential candidate, has been encouraging voters to write in his name on their primary ballots as a way of protesting the candidates, thus the label, "None of the Above."

Nader argues against a government in which officials are too entrenched and too tied to corporate interests.

He criticizes Congress' pay increase. He wants congressional term limits. He urges public financing of all campaigns.

Nader, 57, is a Princeton graduate and earned his law degree at Harvard. His promotional material for lecture tours says he can speak on more than 15 topics.

Nader gained fame in the 1960s, when he exposed the dangers of General Motors' Corvair in his book "Unsafe at Any Speed." He has since built a network of state public-interest research groups and Washington organizations that fight for consumer causes.

Nader's targets are not always government and business. In the late 1960s, for instance, he accused United Mine Workers leaders of using questionable voting practices to keep themselves in office.

Nader's confrontation with GM is the issue that launched him into the public forum, which he has never left. The GM issue also resulted in GM making a $425,000 out-of-court settlement with Nader in 1970 after he sued the automaker for invasion of privacy.

He claimed in a lawsuit that the auto company hired a private detective to follow him.

Nader's base of operation is his Center for Responsive Law in Washington, but he also is involved in spinoff activist groups.

His most recent book, co-written with William Taylor, is "The Big Boys: Power and Position in American Business."

Complimentary tickets are available for Nader's 7:30 p.m. lecture on citizen strategies. A sociologist, a member of a student environmental group and an environmental educator will form a responding panel for Nader's talk.

To arrange a ticket, call the college at 375-2282. Tickets also can be picked up at the door of Bast Center at lecture time, but the college has requested advance notice if possible so that seating can be assured.