NOTEBOOK

By BY JANICE M. HOROWITZ, NADYA LABI, LINA LOFARO, EMILY MITCHELL, KATE NOBLE AND MEGAN RUTHERFORD

WINNERS & LOSERS

SEIZING THE MOMENT

[WINNERS]

BOB DOLE Banker-to-Newt shames Trent Lott into being statesmanlike over chemical-weapons treaty

DALAI LAMA Tibetan saviour gets unofficial "Hello, Dalai" from Clinton, boosting his cause and tweaking China

JUDGE RICHARD MATSCH He's no Ito. No-nonsense Oklahoma bomb-trial judge shields jurors and gets show on the road

[LOSERS]

FUZZY ZOELLER Yeah, Tiger accepted his apology, but even so, Fuzzy wasn't funny was he?

ALEXIS HERMAN G.O.P. continues strike against Herman nommination to thumb nose at Big Labor and Big Bill

20TH CENTURY FOX Titanic sinking? Rumor has it movie behemothwon't make port for big-bucks summer schedule

ARTIFACT

Please don't squeeze the...Penrose Pattern? Makers of toilet tissue trumpet their product's softness, durability and economy, but what about a white embossed paper, above left, that both celebrates the solution to one of the great conundrums of modern science and appears bulkier despite using 15% less paper? In 1974, Sir Roger Penrose, the esteemed Oxford mathematician, devised a geometric pattern--dubbed the Penrose Pattern--that demonstrated for the first time that a nonrepeating pattern could exist in nature, above right. Then one day Sir Roger noticed that the design on a roll of Kleenex quilted toilet tissue bore a striking resemblance to his unique pattern. This month he and Pentaplex Ltd., which markets his design, filed suit against Kimberly-Clark Ltd. for copyright infringement. "When it comes to the population of Great Britain being invited ...to wipe their bottoms on what appears to be the work of a Knight of the Realm without his permission," a Pentaplex representative stated, "then a last stand must be taken." A spokesman at the company's U.S. headquarters noted that after its 1995 merger with Scott Paper, the license for Kleenex bathroom tissue was sold to another manufacturer. The case isn't going down the toilet; it's expected to go to court in 1998.

HEALTH REPORT

THE GOOD NEWS

--Trying to kick the habit? Prozac may help. Taking high doses of the antidepressant for 10 weeks raises the odds that you can quit SMOKING--and remain smoke-free for at least six months. The drug seems to ease cravings and reduce the irritability that often accompanies quitting.

--A kinder cut? Research shows that baby boys do feel pain during CIRCUMCISION, but it's easy to treat. A topical cream made of two types of anesthetic reduces the newborn's pain--as measured by crying, grimacing and rapid heart rate--without causing harmful side effects.

--Vitamin C to the rescue--again? Early findings suggest that one large dose (2 g) of vitamin C may help prevent or reduce the severity of an ASTHMA attack brought on by exercise.

THE BAD NEWS

--A killer headache may actually kill. Middle-age migraine sufferers may have twice the risk of STROKE compared with their headache-free peers--even when there's no other predisposing factor, like hypertension or smoking. Why? Researchers suspect that the same brain chemicals may be at work in both migraine and stroke.

--Rise up, senior citizens--but not so fast. A large-scale study suggests that more than half of elderly people experience a steep drop in BLOOD PRESSURE when they stand up from a supine position. Dizziness and fainting can result.

Get thee to a cardiologist! Fewer than 10% of women with heart disease take the proper drugs or engage in the life-style changes that could lower their LDL CHOLESTEROL (the bad kind) to safe levels.

Sources--GOOD NEWS: Society of Behavioral Medicine; New England Journal of Medicine; Archives of Pediatrics & Medicine BAD NEWS: Archives of Neurology; Journal of the American Medical Association (2)

LOCAL HEROES

BOB ROWE, 36; KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN; Christian recording artist

In his teens, before he became a professional musician, Rowe visited nursing homes to perform for the residents. In 1988 he established a nonprofit organization for musicians and artists who travel across the country providing entertainment as therapy to people living in nursing homes and other health-care facilities. Singing to these people, says Rowe, allows him to use his music "as an instrument of healing."

ALAN ROTH, 44; VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON; teacher

As the only science teacher at the Washington State School for the Blind, Roth is continually designing innovative technological lab programs to acclimate students to the outside world, such as building a campus greenhouse for hands-on experimentation. Named a Tandy Corp. Technology Scholar, Roth says his greatest satisfaction comes from "seeing these kids blossom in self-esteem and the will to be involved with more life experiences."

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

KEVIN HERMENING, 37; MOSINEE, WISCONSIN; former hostage Few followed the 126-day hostage standoff in Peru with greater interest than Kevin Hermening, who was a 20-year-old Marine guard at the U.S. embassy in Tehran when it was seized by Iranian militants in 1979. He was the youngest of the 52 Americans held captive for 444 days. After his release in 1981, he studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin, then plunged into politics, running unsuccessfully for Congress in 1986 and 1988 and for the Wisconsin assembly in 1990 and 1991. Returning to the private sector, he became an insurance and investment broker. But his enthusiasm for politics has not diminished: he is chairman of the Marathon County Republican Party and has a weekly local radio show offering financial-planning advice and political commentary. Married and the father of two daughters, he believes that if his experience is any gauge, the hostages in Peru will soon put the past behind them. "The hard part was adjusting to captivity," he says. "The easy part was readjusting to freedom."