[texhax] Scope: seemingly global but not inside a longtable

[Don MacQueen]

(if you received this twice, my apologies -- my first attempt bounced 
-- for real, I thought)

I'm pretty much a LaTeX beginner...

In my document I want paragraphs separated by additional vertical 
space, and not indented. I want this throughout, both in body text 
and within tables. So I would like to have a global declaration 
somewhere near the top that affects *everything*.

In my Kopka and Daly "Guide to LaTeX" book I found some suggestions. 
For example, I found declarations which, if I give them within the 
table, do the job, e.g., as in this excerpt:

\\   \hline
\parindent = 0.0in   \parskip=7pt
Some table cell text
& \parindent = 0.0in   \parskip=7pt
Text in the next cell
  \\   \hline

But I've got a lot of table cells, and would prefer something global. 
Kopka & Daly mention:

    \usepackage[parfill]{parskip}

and I've put that in the preamble, before \begin{document}. It does 
the job outside the tables, but not inside.

Is there a way to make such a declaration effective inside the table 
environment, e.g. between

    \begin{longtable}
  and
    \end{longtable}

Or can I add something to the longtable arguments?
I'm currently using \begin{longtable}{|p{5in}|p{7in}|}   (legalsize 
paper, landscape orientation)

Thanks
-Don
-- 
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Don MacQueen
Environmental Protection Department
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, CA, USA
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