News In Brief

DRIVING AMBITION Brad Hauter climbed behind the wheel in Philadelphia last Sunday to continue his trip across the US, which he hopes will end in southern California June 10 and earn him a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records. Wait a minute: June 10? That's 50 days from now. Why so long? Because Hauter's vehicle of choice is a lawn tractor, which he must coax all the way to Santa Monica at 10 m.p.h. if the record is to be his. The trip began April 7 in Atlanta. He hopes to raise $100,000 for charity but is not necessarily available to mow anyone's grass en route.

NOTE THE DIFFERENCE

GUAM. It's a remote island in the South Pacific, right? No, that would be Guam, the self-governing US territory. The one with the capital letters is an economic/political alliance of former Soviet republics: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova. But it's about to end the confusion by adding Uzbekistan to its ranks, changing the acronym to ... GUUAM.

Firms sponsoring NATO's 50th-anniversary celebration

General Motors and Microsoft are among the companies donating at least $250,000 in cash or goods and services to finance the hoopla surrounding NATO's 50th-anniversary summit, beginning tomorrow in Washington. That buys an executive from each a seat on the host committee's board and the opportunity to chat with leaders from 44 nations. At least 28 other firms are giving at least $25,000 to join the host committee. The sponsors that had given $250,000 as of Sunday:

1. Ameritech 2. DaimlerChrysler 3. Boeing 4. Ford 5. General Motors 6. Honeywell 7. Lucent Technologies 8. Microsoft 9. Motorola 10. Nextel Communications 11. SBC Communications 12. TRW 13. United Technologies - Associated Press

Compiled by Robert Kilborn

and Lance Carden