He Finds Future Rooted in Past

--Author Alex Haley says cities should draw on the past to plan their future. The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, who based his book “Roots” on his family heritage, spoke in Chattanooga, Tenn., at the opening session of a conference sponsored by a local planning group to help show cities how to map development projects. “ ‘Roots’ didn’t happen because I one day decided that I wanted to write a book of lasting importance,” Haley told about 350 people, “but because of the rich memories I absorbed during my childhood that gave me an appreciation for my past and a faith in my future.” The conference is part of Tennessee’s Homecoming ’86 project. Haley said at least 15 other states are interested in the Homecoming program.

--Former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was named chairman of the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, which bring foreign professionals to the United States to meet their American counterparts. Rumsfeld, 53, succeeds former President Gerald R. Ford, who is stepping down May 28 after nine years as chairman to spend more time with his family, the organization announced in Philadelphia. Rumsfeld, an ex-congressman from Illinois, served as White House chief of staff and later secretary of defense under Ford and was the U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1973-74. He was chief executive officer of G. D. Searle Co. from 1977 to 1985. The fellowship program, founded in 1953 to honor then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, is supported by donations from individuals, foundations and corporations. Fellows are selected from a variety of fields in the public and private sectors. They meet with an average of 200 American colleagues during their three-month visit, according to Theodore Friend, president of the organization. Friend said at least 50 fellows have gone on to high government positions.

--A former nun who now serves as Rhode Island’s attorney general says it is time for the criminal justice system to send out one strong message: “If you do something wrong, expect to pay for it.” Atty. Gen. Arlene Violet, who became the first woman attorney general in Rhode Island in January, 1985, says she developed her tough approach to crime while living in public housing projects for 15 years. “I got a very early education in crime--who were the victims and who were the offenders,” she says in the April issue of Glamour magazine. “Justice is like an old flabby boxer in the ring. The punch is still good, but the arm doesn’t quite have the reach it used to have--and the timing is off.” Law-and-order Violet is sometimes called Attila the Nun.