The Administration: VISTA Up-Think

Some federal and state officials have long been worried that Volunteers in Service to America, once an unexceptionable domestic version of the Peace Corps, now attracts young radicals who foment strikes, demonstrations and other unrest among the poor they serve. As part of a program to create a less pugnacious image and broaden the recruiting base, the agency has awarded a $1,200,000 contract to General Electric to help organize an up-think promotion and recruitment campaign.

Many of G.E.'s ideas might serve to arouse crucial public sympathy for antipoverty efforts. But the poor might be at least bemused by some of the suggestions being considered. Among them: cheering sections at nationally televised football games, with cards spelling out JOIN VISTA; streamers towed by airplanes over "every major beach in America" on Labor Day and Memorial Day, along with skydivers and skywriters to attract the press; VISTA swizzle sticks aboard airliners; a pavilion at Disneyland; and a national advisory board made up of such figures as Paul Newman, Elliott Gould, O.J. Simpson, Billy Graham, Mae West and Lawrence Welk.