NOTEBOOK

By KATHLEEN ADAMS, CHARLOTTE FALTERMAYER, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, LINA LOFARO, BELINDA LUSCOMBE, JEFFERY C. RUBIN AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

FAMOUS FIRSTS

[WINNERS]

NELSON MANDELA South Africa's first black President signs its first post-apartheid constitution into law

RAGTIME, THE MUSICAL World premiere based on E.L. Doctorow's sprawling novel pleasantly surprises critics

MONEYGRAM As the Dow nose-dives, wire-transfer service makes solid IPO, selling 14.4 million shares

[& LOSERS]

JANET RENO Gets grilled in Supreme Court debut. Consolation prize: she can stay on as Attorney General

ROSIE O'DONNELL Get with the program! Pal Madonna gives Oprah her first TV interview since giving birth

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP. Precedent-setting repetitive-stress-injury case ends with keyboard maker ordered to pay up

OLYMPIC HAND-ME-DOWNS

There had been some worry that the Atlanta Olympics wouldn't produce a profit. But behold, ye of little faith, Billy Payne, president of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, last week announced that it would surpass its $1.7 billion budget with a cash surplus of less than $10 million, to be distributed among the various Olympic committees and the city of Atlanta. In fact, one revenue-raising project, Olympic auctions, has generated $7.5 million in income from astonishing memorabilia, including:

1. Pictogram sports banners $75-$300 2. 20-ft. music-man puppet* $100 3. Kayak from medal competition $1,250 4. Relay baton signed by Billy Payne $150 5. Gold-painted styrofoam Olympic rings $200 6. Two 15-ft. catfish* $100, $75 7. Giant Swatch clock $375 8. Banner signed by Billy Payne $225 9. Three-dimensional Olympic pictogram $300 10. 20-ft. Southern gentleman* $350 11. Mission statement signed by Billy Payne $250 12. Two 15-ft. butterfly wings* $100, $75 13. Two high-back chairs from Olympic Stadium's presidential suite $350, $325

*used in opening ceremony

HOW THE MUSIC DIED

Just three weeks before his rock opera Rent opened to rave reviews last February, playwright-composer Jonathan Larson visited two New York City emergency rooms, complaining of chest pain. Cabrini Medical Center diagnosed food poisoning; St. Vincent's Hospital a viral infection. On Jan. 25, Larson died of a footlong tear in his aorta. In a rare punishment, the New York State Health Department last week fined Cabrini $10,000 and St. Vincent's $6,000, saying their physicians should have examined him more thoroughly. Larson's family is suing the hospitals for $250 million.

HEALTH REPORT

THE GOOD NEWS

--Contrary to concerns, NICOTINE PATCHES are safe for people with cardiac disease. Doctors had been wary of dosing patients up with potentially heart-harming nicotine. But now research finds that the patch is linked to no more symptoms or deaths than a placebo.

--In women with BREAST CANCER, surgeons usually remove all the lymph nodes under the arm to check for cancer. But a new technique, involving a radioactive injection in the breast, may enable them to pinpoint the first node likely to turn malignant and remove that one alone. If the node is benign, the others can be spared.

--An inexpensive drug--magnesium sulfate--may prevent cerebral palsy and mental retardation in PREMATURE BABIES if given intravenously to high-risk pregnant women.

THE BAD NEWS

--Doctors, get out the prescription pad. About two-thirds of patients who suffer from an irregular heartbeat and are at risk for STROKE are candidates for blood-thinning drugs. But only half of them actually get the W. As a result, an estimated 40,000 preventable strokes occur each year.

--The government reports that the number of REPETITIVE-STRESS INJURY cases now totals 615,000 a year. That makes the ailment, brought on by performing the same routine physical task over and over, one of the nation's fastest-growing workplace injuries.

--The U.S. is still in bad standing when it comes to INFANT MORTALITY. For the third year in a row, the country ranks 22nd among developed nations. A decade ago it was in 17th place.

Sources--GOOD NEWS: New England Journal of Medicine; Journal of the American Medical Association (2, 3) BAD NEWS: Archives of Internal Medicine; U.S. Department of Labor; American Academy of Pediatrics

LOCAL HEROES

DUSHAN ANGIUS, 68; LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA; insurance-firm partner

When Angius became president of the local Rotary Club in 1989, his son Steven was dying of AIDS. Determined to educate others, Angius organized the Rotary AIDS Project, which produced an award-winning video that has circulated worldwide at club and civic gatherings and on TV. Says Angius, whose son died the day the video crew arrived, in 1989: "After our shock, I knew others needed all the support they could get."

THURMAN E. SCOTT, 40ISH; NEW YORK CITY; acting teacher

Scott, who studied with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, has provided weekly training in acting, playwriting and art to inner-city youths through his Actors Theater Workshop. In the past six years 700 kids have gone through the program, which uses the stage as a metaphor for life and to improve self-esteem. Says Scott: "We want to empower them to feel they have something to offer. Then they see themselves as young pioneers with a new spirit."

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

ANN TURNER COOK, 70; TAMPA, FLORIDA; original Gerber baby

Back in 1928, when Gerber launched its baby food, Dorothy Hope Smith, who lived in the same artists' commune as Cook's parents, offered the company an unfinished sketch of the two-year-old. Charmed, Gerber used the sketch as it was. After several people claimed to be the Gerber baby, Smith in 1950 identified Cook, who was then compensated. "They paid me enough that we were able to buy a car, pay off our college loans and put a down payment on a house," says Cook, who was then newly married. Her relationship with the company was always cordial, although whenever another news article about "America's Best-Known Baby" appeared, she feared, as a high school English teacher, that she would lose the respect of her students. Mother of four and grandmother of 10, she's now retired and writing mystery novels. Gerber has just unveiled a new label, but, says CEO Al Piergallini, "we didn't even think of replacing her."