NOTEBOOK

By LINA LOFARO, TYLER MARONEY, JODIE MORSE, AINISSA RAMIREZ, JEFFERY C. RUBIN AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

THE SUPREME COURT TERM

[WINNERS]

RUTH BADER GINSBURG Gender-rights pioneer gets the chance to aim from bench: she orders V.M.I. to admit women

WILLIAM REHNQUIST Chief heads Supremes who often lean his way, thanks to earlier conservative appointments

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR Convince her you're right--on abortion, race, religion--and you get the winning fifth vote

[& LOSERS]

ANTONIN SCALIA Ginsburg's old pal can't shake habit of caustic dissents. Exhibit A: May's gay-rights ruling

JOHN PAUL STEVENS His dissents on race, federalism, criminal law offer receding echoes of Warren-era liberalism

CAMPAIGN-FINANCE CURBS Justices muddy the field by lifting key restrictions on spending by political parties

RAW DATA

Wherever Bob Dole goes, expect Mister Butt Man. The Democratic National Committee is circulating instructions for party operatives to dress up as a walking cigarette and dog Dole, distributing so-called Dole Dollars that excoriate his tobacco policies. Says D.N.C. spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe: "We hope to have a Mister Butt Man in every state."

LOCAL HEROES

STEPHAN MOORE, 30; GOLDEN, MO.; director of inner-city summer sports camp Moore's camp, called Kids Across America, brings youths from 50 inner cities to the shores of Table Rock Lake. Operating since 1990, the camp doubled its capacity this year, to 4,400. "It's tough, knowing the difficult home situations these kids are going back to," says Moore. "This may be the only time in their lives when they receive unconditional love--and it blows their minds."

DR. ZENON AND NADIA MATKIWSKY, 64 AND 54; SHORT HILLS, N.J.; medical-relief workers The husband and wife founded Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund in 1990, shortly after the veil of secrecy over the 1986 nuclear disaster in Ukraine, their homeland, began to unravel. CCRF has delivered more than $40 million in medical aid to "the littlest victims," still plagued by thyroid cancer and birth defects. Quoting the Talmud, Nadia says, "If we've saved a life, we've saved humanity."

THE STATE OF OUR UNIONS

What's the zeitgeist? While policies like affirmative action are under siege, a recent study shows a rise in intermarriage between blacks and whites

(First marriages as a percentage of all marriages involving one Afro-American.)

1970 2.6%

1980 6.6%

1990 10.8%

1993 12.1%

Source: Douglas J. Besharov, Timothy S. Sullivan

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

JOAN QUIGLEY, MID-60S; SAN FRANCISCO; Astrologer Hillary Clinton is not the first First Lady to take an interest in the otherworldly. In 1988 there was the spectacle of Nancy Reagan's "friend," astrologer Joan Quigley, helping to determine the timing of political events, schedules, press conferences and speeches by the President. Mrs. Reagan had employed Quigley during the 1980 campaign and approached her again after the attempt on her husband's life. The relationship lasted seven years but broke off when Quigley could not avoid publicity. Since then she has written a book about her work with the Reagans while maintaining a "discreet" list of faithful clients. Refusing any comment on the current Gurugate, Quigley simply says her aim is to make quality astrology available to the public. "Anyone can call himself an astrologer," she says. "My work is based on mathematics and the rotation of the planets. You make a diagnosis the way a doctor makes a diagnosis. Psychics don't use any instrument; they just give their impressions."

18 YEARS AGO IN TIME

The Bakke Decision

Affirmative action was and remains one of U.S. justice's toughest calls: "Split almost exactly down the middle, the Supreme Court last week offered a Solomonic compromise...rigid quotas...were forbidden, but...race might legitimately be an element in judging [university applicants]...Writing six different opinions totaling 154 pages, the Justices were as torn [as] the rest of the nation. The case had attracted 61 amicus curiae briefs, [the most ever submitted]...Three times the opinions were sent to the printer only to be pulled back for additions, deletions and revisions. The version finally made public was the fourth. [Justice] Blackmun, in particular, had trouble making up his mind." --July 10, 1978