Sen. Pell Is Curiously Ready to Explore the New Age

--Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) has more than a passing interest in things not of this world--psychic phenomena, for one. His principal interest, he says, is being a “good senator,” according to the Providence Sunday Journal, but he doesn’t dismiss the possibility that he will spend more time with psychic research after he leaves office. “I’ve always been intellectually curious, and I think these things should be examined,” said Pell, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I would like to see more emphasis made on developing human intuition and developing human potential because many times theories that seem ridiculous at the time produce greater areas of knowledge.” Pell’s special assistant, C.B. Scott Jones, spends time researching telepathy, unconventional healing and near-death experiences for the 69-year-old senator.

--Speaking of things beyond the pale of human comprehension--or is it merely coincidence?--Leonard Crow Dog, a Sioux Indian, in a 30-minute rain prayer ceremony in Clyde, Ohio, over the weekend surely made believers of at least a few of the 500 spectators. Ninety minutes after Crow Dog smoked his ceremonial pipe and spread spring water to the north, south, east and west, thunderstorms rolled by, dropping rain in Clyde--and briefly breaking the drought. “He’s doing this to bring rain for now and for future generations and to bring snow for this winter,” said Cliff Doebel, a florist who arranged for the ceremony.

--U.S. District Judge Hubert I. Teitelbaum will be getting a year’s subscription of Ms. magazine, courtesy of Anne Summers, editor. You’ll recall Teitelbaum’s encounter with Pittsburgh attorney Barbara Wolvovitz, who was ordered by the judge to use her husband’s name in court, instead of Ms. Wolvovitz. Teitelbaum, 73, on July 8 threatened to jail Wolvovitz but he later apologized, saying that the disagreement stemmed from a generational gap. Teitelbaum’s problems apparently are not behind him. The president of the Pennsylvania branch of the National Organization for Women has called for Teitelbaum to be reprimanded or removed from the bench. Meanwhile, Summers said: “We thought he would benefit from learning that Ms. is the preferred designation of most American women today.”