* Planetary Man: Steven Spielberg, who directed...

* Planetary Man: Steven Spielberg, who directed “E.T.: the Extraterrestrial,” has joined the board of directors of The Planetary Society along with Apollo astronaut Michael Collins, the group said yesterday. Spielberg and Collins “have helped broaden our perspective beyond Earth’s boundaries to the boundless possibilities of space,” said astronomer Carl Sagan, president of the 125,000-member space exploration advocacy group. Spielberg has been involved with The Planetary Society for years.

* Atwater Out: Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater was released from George Washington University Medical Center after almost two weeks of treatment for a blood clot in his left leg, officials said. “The clot has been taken care of,” said committee press secretary Leslie Goodman, who added that Atwater walked out of the Washington hospital on his own Saturday and drove home.

*To Give Is Better: Actor Paul Newman and his charity food company have been cited in the Congressional Record for contributing millions of dollars to needy causes. Newman and his Newman’s Own Inc., were cited by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn), “for making a major contribution to the nation.” Newman, 65, who lives in Westport, Conn, established his business eight years ago with close friend A. E. Hotchner. Since then, the company has given more than $27 million to various charities. Last year alone, the firm gave $7 million to a wide range of charities.

*Greenback Blues: If you get fired because your company’s going out of business, you’re supposed to receive severance pay promptly, right? Apparently not on Wall Street. Thousands of employees of what was once Drexel Burnham Lambert have been waiting nearly three months for their severance pay. But senior executives are said to be leery of dishing out big bucks to insiders while creditors wait. “I can see the headlines now,” one DBL exec said: “Drexel Pays Out More Millions to People Who Drove the Firm Under.” Sources said that Drexel may soon settle on a plan to pay severance to employees whose total compensation was less than $200,000 a year.