Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!hsdndev!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!pacbell.com!ucsd!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: How Times Change Message-ID: Date: 17 Feb 91 21:48:00 GMT Sender: news@casbah.acns.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 33 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 127, Message 10 of 10 AT&T NEWS BRIEFS GULF BILLS -- Texas families who have amassed large phone bills talking to troops in Saudi Arabia got help Wednesday from the state Public Utility Commission, which gave emergency approval for aid. [Texas PUC commissioner Marta Greytok] has asked the federal government to decrease rates for troops in Saudi Arabia. Dallas Morning News, 19A. Also AP, Los Angeles Times, A9. Also WINS/AM, New York, 2/12, CNN Headline News, 2/13. ------------- Isn't that amazing? There were stories in the {San Jose Mercury} about families being faced with $1500 phone bills resulting from a son or daughter or loved one in Saudi Arabia making daily calls home. It shows what a telephonic society we have become. Can you imagine this in previous wars, even the Vietnam war? Few in those days would have even considered making one single phone call from overseas. Now, it is somehow expected that the means should be made available for FREQUENT calls from those overseas. Families that I knew during the Vietnam era considered themselves fortunate to receive an infrequent letter from a relative stationed in the war zone. Times certainly have changed. On a related note, now that the cost of sending a transcontinental FAX is less than postage, do you suppose we may see a drop in USPS mail volume anytime soon? John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !