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LEONID KESELMAN Sociologist He knows what Russians are thinking. At 48, Leonid Keselman is one of his country's premier sociologists and experts on public opinion. In a land where statistics were once state secrets, he is a mirror held up so the Russian people can see themselves. "Information," he says, savoring the word. "Before, the state manipulated people by withholding it. They knew that a person with information cannot be manipulated so easily." Today his surveys are published in 15 newspapers and broadcast nationwide. Despite the deepening economic crisis in Russia, Keselman remains an optimist. Says he: "I don't see a power strong enough to change the people's desire for a better society." His surveys tell him that most Russians agree.
