NOTEBOOK

By JAMIL HAMAD, JANICE HOROWITZ, NADYA LABI, LINA LOFARO, JAMIE MALANOWSKI, EMILY MITCHELL, MEGAN RUTHERFORD, ALAIN SANDERS, SUSANNE WASHBURN

WINNERS & LOSERS

REAPING WHAT YOU SOW

[WINNERS]

HOMER The ancients rule! Wandering Odysseus may finally find Nielsen heaven with TV mini-series

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE Who needs the Lincoln Bedroom? G.O.P. raises $11.3 million with steak, tuxes and no apologies

TUSKEGEE SURVIVORS A belated "I'm sorry" from the government only begins to make up for a never-ending wrong

[& LOSERS]

COLONEL DAVID HACKWORTH Was Admiral Boorda's medal detector caught in a decoration inflation of his own?

KENNETH STARR What's in a name? High court rebuffs his desire to be called "the United States" in suit

ANNETTE SORENSEN Danish mother is thrown in jail for leaving baby on New York sidewalk. No wonder crime is down

SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A...WALKING STICK

Yes, Bill Clinton is said to be often preoccupied about his place in history, what with wondering how future scribes of the presidency will compare him with some of his eminent 20th century Democratic predecessors. But no, surely it's not possible that he could have been thinking about it on that fateful night in Florida last March. Yet his unlucky stumble on golfer Greg Norman's stairs has served at least one purpose. Let the record show that it has landed him in the upright, three-legged company of Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Ah, but does the cane make the man?

HEALTH REPORT

THE GOOD NEWS

--Get juiced. With GRAPEFRUIT JUICE, that is. Just one glass helps the body better absorb certain sedatives, antihistamines and other medications. The active compound probably comes from the squeezed peel--so eating the fruit itself doesn't help much.

--Some guys can take a bye. Most men ages 50 to 70 probably don't need annual testing for PROSTATE CANCER. Researchers say men can safely wait two years if their blood level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measures below 2.

--Becoming a survivor. A woman's odds for beating OVARIAN CANCER--one of the deadliest forms of the disease--may be getting better. A preliminary study shows that 70% of patients who received a new three-drug combination were disease free 22 months later.

THE BAD NEWS

--Beauty marks are not so beautiful. Though doctors have long known that large, abnormal-looking moles can turn malignant, they now say ordinary MOLES may be risky too. People with lots of them (100 or more) may have the same odds of developing a melanoma as those who've had repeated sunburns.

--Why we scream about ice cream. Some 30% of ICE CREAM lovers wind up with a brief but intense headache within seconds of taking a mouthful. The reason: when cold hits the back of the palate, nerve fibers become irritated, sending pain signals straight to the head.

--Down with sunny-side ups. EGGS contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis are the No. 1 cause of food-poisoning outbreaks in the U.S. Advice: cook until the yolk is firm.

Sources--GOOD NEWS: Journal of Clinical Investigation; Journal of the American Medical Association; National Cancer Institute BAD NEWS: Journal of the American Medical Association; British Medical Journal; Center for Science in the Public Interest

RETURN TO SENDER

Sooner or later, most icons turn up on postage stamps. The Palestinian Authority, seeking a symbol of sovereignty, put Yasser Arafat's hirsute face on a series of stamps. Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service, eager to display American culture, put Mr. Bugs Bunny on a new stamp this week. That's all, folks.

U.S. OF A. THE BELT AND THE BUCKLE

For decades, scientists have recognized a distinctive belt of eight Southern states where the incidence of stroke is significantly higher than the national average. But a recent study revealed that in one portion of that region, in an area that parallels the Atlantic seaboard, strokes are even more prevalent. Dubbed the Buckle (of the Stroke Belt, that is), these 153 counties in Georgia and the Carolinas have lower average incomes than the rest of the Belt. Scientists thought there must be a relationship between poverty and stroke mortality, but the study shows that only 5% to 16% of the Belt's excess strokes are due to socio-economic factors. So what's the explanation for the Belt and the Buckle? It's a medical mystery.

A DAY IN THE SALT MINES

Seinfeld was renewed last week after supporting actors Michael Richards, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus dropped their salary demands from $1 million per episode (what Jerry earns) and settled for $600,000 for next season's 22 episodes (up from $160,000 a show). Apart from the unquantifiable attributes--timing, delivery, physical funniness--what exactly do you have to do to earn that kind of dough? Herewith, stats of last week's discount-priced program:

PERFORMER SCENES LINES WORDS

Jerry Seinfeld ("Jerry") 15 101 587 Jason Alexander ("George") 13 62 568 Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Elaine") 8 36 322 Michael Richards ("Kramer") 10 50 450

$ PER WORD OLD NEW CONTRACT CONTRACT

Seinfeld $1,703.58 $1,703.58 Alexander $281.69 $1,056.34 Louis-Dreyfus $496.89 $1,863.35 Richards $355.56 $1,333.33

THE RING'S THE THING

They wrapped up the 1996 World Series back in October, but only last week did the winners' championship rings roll into the New York Yankees' dugout. And as the Bronx Bombers' sportscaster Phil Rizzuto used to say, "Holy Cow!" Crafted by the Massachusetts-based Balfour company in 250 separate steps, baseball's mother of all memorabilia is 50% bigger than any Yankee World Series ring of the past. Manager Joe Torre consulted on the ornate design, which has glittering images of the World Series trophy, the jaunty Yankee top hat and the famed facade of the House that Ruth Built. Emblazoned on the sides are the words TRADITION and COURAGE, as well as HEART, which Torre thought best summed up his never-say-die squad. A single half-carat diamond beams as bright as a headlight in the center, and 23 smaller sparklers--one for each of the Yankees' World Series triumphs--twinkle on the entwined NY. Fifty-three of these finger bracelets were made for the Yankee organization, but for all you kids out there who want to be the very first on your block to wear a life-size replica of the Yankees' World Series band (that's Joe Torre's ring at left), carefully cut out along the dotted lines, paste some cardboard to the back of the paper, trim neatly and fold the tabs. Then slip it on, and you too can feel like Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte or--Holy Cow!--George Steinbrenner.

20 YEARS AGO IN TIME

Lazy Daze of Summer

Whatever Jimmy Carter says about the energy crisis, the summer of '77 does not look anything like the moral equivalent of war. Not for years, even decades, has the nation approached its vacation time in such a collectively peaceful disposition--a mood of relief, resignation, exuberant ease and a bit of hedonism. The season feels like something from the middle years of Eisenhower--or, since the '50s had the cold war and other bad weather, maybe the analogy should go further back, to a vague, green period sometime in the '20s...Americans seem more comfortable about indulging themselves. That somewhat self-indulgent note is the spirit of the season...Hammock sales are up. --July 4, 1977

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

JOSEPH HAZELWOOD, 50; HUNTINGTON, N.Y.; former tanker captain

Eight years ago, the Exxon Valdez ran aground off Alaska, spewing nearly 11 million gal. of oil into Prince William Sound. The name of the tanker and its captain became synonymous with environmental catastrophe. Sixteen months later, the vessel was back in the water under a new name (Exxon Mediterranean), but Joseph Hazelwood is still trying to redeem his own. After being fired by Exxon, stripped of his license and charged in criminal and civil suits, he fished for lobster and transported yachts for private owners. Though his license has long been restored, he has not found employment as a captain. He now works as a paralegal and maritime consultant for New York City's Chalos & Brown, the law firm that represents him. He remains in legal limbo. Convicted of a single misdemeanor (negligent discharge of oil), he had that verdict reversed on appeal. Alaska is appealing that ruling to the state supreme court. His lawyers, meanwhile, are busy appealing the civil-court judgments against him.