News In Brief

It's easier to store, TOO

You used it for your term papers in high school, and probably in college too. But in London, an official of Encyclopdia Britannica announced that the granddaddy of reference works has stopped printing. It seems the company's multimedia CD-ROM version, which contains the same information for about one-tenth the price, far outsells the 32-volume set. "I hope," said managing director James Strachan, "traditionalists will recognize that we can't produce [it] at a loss." The Britannica first appeared in 1771.

THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

In South Carolina, Clemson University has promoted Ralph White to head coach of the women's track team. He succeeds ... himself. His first appointment, in June, was rescinded when female members of the faculty complained there hadn't been an "external search" for a qualified woman coach. So a search was initiated, other candidates were interviewed, and White still emerged the runaway winner.

High-tech ghost movie sells most tickets over weekend

Two special-effects-laden films - "The Haunting" and "Inspector Gadget" - were No. 1 and No. 2 at the box office last weekend. It was the fourth straight top opening for "Haunting" director Jan De Bont, who also won box-office honors with "Speed," "Twister", and "Speed 2: Cruise Control." Based on a Shirley Jackson story, "Haunting" is a remake of a 1963 thriller. Stanley Kubrick's racy "Eyes Wide Shut" dropped from first place to a tie for third in its second weekend. Reported grosses of top films July 23-25 at North American theaters (in millions):

1. "The Haunting" $33.4 2. "Inspector Gadget" 21.9 3. "American Pie" 10.1 (tie) "Eyes Wide Shut" 10.1 5. "Big Daddy" 6.0 6. "Lake Placid" 5.6 7. "Wild Wild West" 5.3 8. "Tarzan" 4.9 9. "The Wood" 4.8 10. "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" 4.2

- Exhibitor Relations Inc/AP

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society