Bennett was of the view that prisons had become inhumane and poorly operated and that extensive reform was needed.

"Buckeye doesn't stand out as being a poorly operated pipeline company," he said.

But Mr. Smyley, who assumed his post 18 months ago, was reluctant to directly challenge Mr. Goldin's findings and accusations that the Probation Department is poorly operated.

He said of Consolidated that "they were just a poorly operated company."

He agrees that his radio station was poorly operated, but he blames persecution by the government for some of his problems, even though he was embraced by politicians like Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey.

"It glares at you that this was a poorly operated airline," said the chairman of the safety board, Mark V. Rosenker.

Mr. Florio wants the insurance industry to pay $1.4 billion of the $3.1 billion debt, saying it has taken advantage of a poorly operated pool.

It is estimated by Texas A&M researchers that as much as 20% of the energy used in an average commercial building is waste associated with poorly operated systems.

She moved like a drunkard, her eyes and lips twitching like a poorly operated ventriloquist's dummy.

The evaluation systems are so "poorly constructed and poorly operated," said Lawrence Schaefer, one of the lawyers representing the employees, that they place a lower value on work done by black employees.