1.   An Alaska spokesman referred all questions about it to the NTSB.

2.   An Andersen spokesman referred questions to a lawyer for the firm in Houston, Rusty Hardin, who did not return a telephone call.

3.   A hotel spokesman referred queries on the issue to a lawyer, who said he could not comment while the case was pending.

4.   A spokesman for Arris referred a reporter to regulatory filings, saying that he could not comment further, given the pending share sale.

5.   A spokesman for Enron referred a telephone call to Robert S. Bennett, a prominent Washington lawyer who represents the company.

6.   A spokesman for Gore referred all questions to the State Department.

7.   A spokesman for Kantor referred all calls to the Commerce Department.

8.   A White House spokesman referred questions about the clemency to the Justice Department, which handled the petitions.

9.   Instead, a spokesman referred to remarks by Bush last week after a meeting with Putin in which Bush called for Russia to move closer to Europe.

10.   Milken declined to be interviewed for this column, but his spokesman referred me to his Web site, www.mikemilken.com.