August 10, 2001

Entry Fees Might Help Smithsonian Balance Missions and Budgets

By JULIA M. KLEIN

The Smithsonian Castle is once again besieged, the victim of both administrative ineptness and continuing dependence on government and private largess. It's painful to watch the institution begging for money, and tripping over its feet in the process. Meanwhile, some 33.5 million people yearly visit the Smithsonian Institution's 16 museums and the National Zoo, all admission-free except for the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. With operating costs mounting, and federal tax