NOTEBOOK
By MELISSA AUGUST; CHARLOTTE FALTERMAYER; C.J. FARLEY; PETER HAWTHORNE; JANICE HOROWITZ; LINA LOFARO; JODIE MORSE; JEFFERY RUBIN; ALAIN SANDERS
WINNERS & LOSERS
WOMEN IN POLITICS
[WINNERS]
MARY ROBINSON Irish President makes short list of possible candidates for U.N. Secretary-General
AUNG SAN SUU KYI Burmese democracy leader enjoys first birthday at liberty after six years of house arrest
SHEIK HASINA WAZED Her party's won the most seats, and she gets to be Prime Minister of Bangladesh
[& LOSERS]
TANSU CILLER The ex-Turkish Prime Minister must consider joining a coalition with archrival Islamists
MEGAWATI SUKARNOPUTRI Daughter of Indonesia's first President ousted as opposition party head
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON Whitewater, Travelgate and Filegate heat up; maybe she should focus on foreign policy
SENATE TREASURE CHESTS
The 1995 financial-disclosure reports are out, with lists of the earnings and possessions of America's Senators. Here we present some of the more unusual gifts they received last year (an ethics rule was waived for the gifts below worth more than $250):
CHRISTOPHER S. BOND (R., Mo.) --$229 metal garden wagon from the Missouri Republican Party
LARRY CRAIG (R., Idaho) --$150 Republican souvenir book, ca. 1900 --$2,200 painting of Idaho field
BOB DOLE (R., Kan.) --$1,000 bust of Dwight Eisenhower from the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute and Gettysburg College --$16,000 bronze statue of three soaring birds from the International Center for the Disabled
JOHN KERRY (D., Mass.), above left --Mirror with framed Kerry wedding announcement from Mr. and Mrs. A. Schwarzenegger --Porcelain watermelon wedding gift --Silver collar for red wine --Antique ketchup and soy bottles
TRENT LOTT (R., Miss.), above right --$225 Waterford clock from Mississippi State University --$972 Steuben eagle from the Bryce Harlow Foundation --$5,000 silver statue of Columbus from United Seamen's Service
SAM NUNN (D., Ga.), above left --$400 golf clubs from the Museum of Aviation
PAUL SIMON (D., Ill.), above right --Baltimore Orioles tickets --Food samples from Nabisco Co.
PLOT, PLOT, PLOT: THE MASS-PRODUCTION DREAM FACTORY
Hollywood has relied on formula for years, but do Paramount (Mission: Impossible) and Warner Brothers (Eraser) actually have the same rewrite department?
ERASER
1. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a top top-secret agent
2. The chief villain is a mole at Arnie's spy agency
3. Arnie is described as a "ghost" able to avoid detection through stealth
4. Arnie and his gang of heroes break into a high-tech, top-secret facility to use a highly protected computer terminal; they dress up as an emergency medical crew as a ruse
5. The good guys are trying to protect a top-secret computer disc from the bad guys
6. Arnie has a near romance with Vanessa Williams
7. The movie climax involves a train
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
1. Tom Cruise is a top top-secret agent
2. The chief villain is a mole at Tom's spy agency
3. Tom is described as a "ghost" able to avoid detection through stealth
4. Tom and his gang of heroes break into a high-tech, top-secret facility to use a highly protected computer terminal; they dress up as an emergency fire crew as a ruse
5. The good guys are trying to protect a top-secret computer disc from the bad guys
6. Tom has a near romance with Emmanuelle Beart
7. The movie climax involves a train
THE POOR MAN'S BURGER?
After a predawn roundup last week in Rockland County, New York, 231 Canada geese were hauled off to a slaughterhouse, where their meat will be ground up to be served to needy families in the area. The county declared the birds' droppings--about a pound per goose per day--to be a health hazard, not to mention a habitual nuisance to residents. Animal-rights activists are furious, as are health officials concerned about possible toxins inhabiting the birds' flesh; they have filed a lawsuit to stop future goose grinding.
HEALTH REPORT
THE GOOD NEWS
--The FDA okayed the first drug to reduce brain damage after a STROKE. Called TPA, it must be administered within three hours of initial stroke symptoms. Patients who take TPA have a 30% better chance to recover with little or no disability.
--Also approved by the FDA: a NEW INSULIN that can be injected closer to mealtimes than the conventional drug, which must be taken an hour before eating. Diabetics can use the new insulin 15 minutes before eating.
--Pregnant women infected with HIV--and not on AZT--can reduce their chances of passing on AIDS to their child during delivery. Research shows the risk is cut by nearly half if they deliver within four hours of their water's breaking.
THE BAD NEWS
--Get to sleep! A night of tossing and turning can lead to a significant surge in BLOOD PRESSURE the next morning. Researchers suspect this may be one reason heart attacks are known to occur more frequently in the morning.
--Women are living longer but not necessarily healthier lives than men. A government report shows that female LIFE EXPECTANCY is seven years greater than male, but women suffer more from chronic, painful conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis.
--The practice of DOUCHING may reduce fertility. A study suggests that women who tend to do so may reduce by 30% their chances of conceiving in any given month. The effect was strongest in those 18 to 24: their chances decreased 50%.
Sources--GOOD NEWS: The Food and Drug Administration; The Food and Drug Administration; New England Journal of Medicine BAD NEWS: American Journal of Hypertension; National Center for Health Statistics; American Journal of Public Health
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
ZOLA BUDD PIETERSE, 30; BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA Former World Champion Runner In an Olympic qualifying race last week, U.S. runner Mary Slaney nearly tripped over another runner's foot. She recovered her balance, unlike in the fateful episode in the 1984 Olympics when Slaney, then Mary Decker, stumbled on the heel of her barefoot nemesis, Zola Budd. Budd was an 18-year-old prodigy from South Africa. Because anti-apartheid sanctions prohibited that nation from participating in the Games, Budd competed as a British citizen. But she refused to denounce her home country's policies, and apartheid haunted her athletic career. Physically and emotionally spent, she returned home and married businessman Michael Pieterse. They are now the parents of eight-month-old Lisa. In 1992 the I.O.C. readmitted South Africa to the Olympics. Budd was a member of that historic integrated team. She still trains hard, hoping to run in her first competitive marathon. She says, "The past few years have given me a chance to get on with my life."
25 YEARS AGO IN TIME
Secrets Unveiled
Federal records, like those in Filegate, are delicate things. The New York Times created a greater ruckus with the Pentagon papers: "The most massive leak of secret documents in U.S. history had suddenly exposed the sensitive inner processes whereby the Johnson Administration had abruptly escalated the nation's most unpopular--and unsuccessful--war...The proliferation of papers, the cabled requests for clarification, the briskness of language but not of logic, convey an impression of harassed men...Brooding over all loomed the peaked profile of Lyndon Johnson, secretive, holding his options open until the final moment, seemingly unwilling even to confide in himself what he would do next." --June 28, 1971