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At 12, Levitt decided uneaten school-cafeteria food should go to the poor rather than go to waste. He took his case to the school board, and in 1994 it agreed to donate leftovers from all 92 county schools. So far, his Operation Food for Thought has generated nearly 95 tons of food for the hungry. Levitt and his sister Jamie, 17, are lobbying the state legislature to adopt a similar program statewide. "This has made me realize how lucky I am to have food on the table," says Levitt. "There is too much waste."
MATTHEW FIELDER, 16; DUMONT, N.J.; computer consultant
High school students in Palisades Park, New Jersey, urgently needed to send their transcripts to colleges, but it was midsummer, and there were no staff members around who knew the new computer system. So the school found Fielder, an area whiz who has tinkered with technology since age nine. With a password and a prayer, he created the necessary templates and streamlined the program for next year. Says Fielder: "It was hard to stay calm under the pressure, but there's a solution to every problem."
55 YEARS AGO IN TIME
Nobody's Sweetheart
"When Harold Ickes is having a good rich, wrathful week, probably every man, woman and child in the U.S. is against him. Honest, fearless, tough and shrewd--and loyal to his boss--Harold Ickes long ago earned his post as dog robber to the New Deal. He is the Scout who goes ahead, prowling the unexplored bushes of public opinion. He is the Whipping Boy who takes the blame whenever anything goes wrong. He is the Janitor who sweeps up the floor (usually using some victim as the broom). He is the Public Executioner, the Court Poisoner and the Bouncer. In short, if there is on the docket a hard, nasty, grinding job, Ickes gets the assignment." --Sept. 15, 1941
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
THOMAS EAGLETON, 66; ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI; lawyer, former Senator
In 1972 Eagleton reached a career peak. Senator George McGovern, the Democratic candidate for President, picked him as his running mate. Less than three weeks later, however, Eagleton was forced to withdraw after confirming reports that he had received electroshock treatment for depression. McGovern and Eagleton's replacement, Sargent Shriver, went on to defeat. Eagleton remained in the Senate, retiring in 1986, unwilling to undertake campaign fund raising. He serves on a presidential advisory board overseeing intelligence agencies; in 1995 he was instrumental in persuading the Los Angeles Rams to move to St. Louis. Would revelations of psychiatric treatment sink a candidacy today? Says Eagleton: "I think there is a greater understanding and awareness of depression. None of that was debated or discussed in 1972."
--By Kathleen Adams, Melissa August, Charlotte Faltermayer, Lina Lofaro, Belinda Luscombe, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders, Sidney Urquhart