Subject: Rules S7-25-97
 
Date:    11/20/97 11:57 AM
     
     
Attn: Jonathon Katz, Secretary
     
The following letter was also sent by mail to Chairman Levitt. Thank you for 
your attention to this.
     
     
     
Alan Reder
6908 West Evans Creek Road
Rogue River, OR 97537
(541)582-1445 voice  (541)582-1381 fax 
e-mail: areder@cdsnet.net 
     
November 20, 1997
     
Arthur Levitt, Chairman
Securities and Exchange Commission
450-5th St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549
     
Dear Chairman Levitt: 
     
        I am contacting you to strongly object to the SEC's proposed rules
S7-25-97. These rules interfere with shareholders' justifiable rights to 
affect the policies of companies in which they own shares. They represent a 
capitulation to the interests of big corporations and will lead to a further 
erosion in socially responsible behavior by publicly owned companies. 
Specifically, I urge you to take the following actions:
     
1) Stop the proposed rules from taking effect. 
2) Allow the current rules to stand or submit new rules that further protect 
shareholders' rights.
3) Reverse the Cracker Barrel decision without holding the reversal hostage 
to anti-shareholder rule changes. 
     
        I urge these actions not just for social reasons. The social and the
financial are often deeply related. Corporate blindness to how social 
misbehavior affects the public can lead to a blighted reputation and reduced 
sales and profits. Because of their growing size and power, the shrinkage of 
government oversight, and complicit commercial media, corporations feel less 
and less responsive to the public interest every day. Without public 
feedback, companies are prone to do unwise things that harm both the public 
interest and the bottom line. The SEC's proposed rules would only accelerate 
this unfortunate process. Please stop the rule changes now!
     
Sincerely,
     
     
     
     
Alan Reder
Author, Investing from the Heart (Crown), In Pursuit of Principle and Profit 
(Tarcher/Putnam), 75 Best Business Practices for Socially Responsible 
Companies (Tarcher/Putnam)