Rainmaker please, that darned movie ruined the other one for me...

And thanks for the tip - I have much to learn from the masters.

I think your point is the popular one, and why it is overused (overutilized?). I did find one discussion on this in my old and tattered American Heritage:

"A number of critics have remarked that utilize is an unneccessary substitute for use...but utilize can mean 'to find a profitable or practical use for.' Thus the sentence The teachers were unable to use the computers might mean the teachers were unable to turn them on, whereas The teachers were unable to utilize the computers suggests the teachers could not find a use for them."

I don't buy it, but at least using utilize this way would decrease its usage. I would prefer saying the teachers could not find a use for the computers...

Thanks again!