Grapevine

By PRISCILLA PAINTON/

WHAT'S ANOTHER WORD FOR SEXIST? As a vigilant guardian of feminist orthodoxy, the Coalition of Labor Union Women has released its eagerly awaited Hits and Ms.s awards for 1990. Among the top transgressors: Apple Computer. One of the firm's software programs has a thesaurus that offers only a few synonyms for woman, including "female partner in marriage, wife, lady and Mrs." But when it comes to the entry for man, the list runs on and on: "member of the human race, human being, body, creature, individual, life, mortal, party, person, soul, mankind, flesh, humanity, humankind . . ." What? No "higher animal"?

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS