Notebook

By James Carney, Tam Martinides Gray, Lisa McLaughlin, Jodie Morse and Michele Lynn Orecklin

WINNERS & LOSERS

[WINNERS]

TERRENCE MCNALLY Gets play staged. Gets play quashed. Becomes cause celebre. Decision revoked! Hit to follow?

RUTH BADER GINSBURG Forms say she's richest Supreme. Guess who'll pay next time the Court goes drinking?

THE SPHINX Darling, the tummy tuck and paw work look great. But, babe, why didn't you fix the nose?

[& LOSERS]

NEWT GINGRICH Met with Yasser Arafat. Question: Which of their polls was hurt more by that?

WILLIAM GINSBURG Slags Starr in legal publication. It's going to make it hard to kiss and make up at immunity time

GEORGE KARL Sonics coach fired. A 384-150 record and seven play-off trips don't mean what they used to

CUTS

NOT HERE, NOT NOW Free expression has taken some hard knocks lately. Protests caused a Manhattan theater to temporarily cancel a production of Terrence McNally's new play, which reportedly features a depiction of a gay Christ figure. In Japan, school officials cut a John Updike short story about three bathing suit-clad girls from a textbook, saying it would disrupt classes. In South Carolina and Tennessee, high schools canceled Indigo Girls, top, concerts because of offensive lyrics. And in Alabama, a minister banned the singing of Stevie Nicks' Landslide at a baccalaureate service, saying she is a witch and Satan worshipper (an old rumor that Fleetwood Mac's lead singer denies).

GIFT SHOP

INACTION HERO It's not unusual to see likenesses of actors and athletes in toy stores, but it is unusual to see one of Herbert Hoover. And yet, thanks to the Formative International Co. of Kowloon, Hong Kong, the 31st President is now a doll, one of four in its Leaders of the World series. The others: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison. Our doll's marked-down price: $9.95.

BEBELIEVE IT OR NOT: Our Guide to the Confusing BBs in the News

NAME BEBE NEUWIRTH JOB Actress WHY IN THE NEWS Won a Tony for Chicago DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC Shapely legs FREQUENTLY PHOTOGRAPHED With the Cheers gang

[NAME] MIKE BIBBY [JOB] Basketball player [WHY IN THE NEWS] Projected to be high pick in the 1998 NBA draft [DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC] Can hit from downtown [FREQUENTLY PHOTOGRAPHED] Dribbling

[NAME] B.J. HABIBIE [JOB] President of Indonesia [WHY IN THE NEWS] Outlasted Suharto [DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC] His little hat [FREQUENTLY PHOTOGRAPHED] Accompanied by soldiers

[NAME] B.B. KING [JOB] Blues singer [WHY IN THE NEWS] Won a Grammy in 1997 [DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC] Seldom actually seems blue [FREQUENTLY PHOTOGRAPHED] With his guitar Lucille

[NAME] BIBI NETANYAHU [JOB] Prime Minister of Israel [WHY IN THE NEWS] Figured percentages with Madeleine Albright [DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC] His array of bodyguards [FREQUENTLY PHOTOGRAPHED] Fending off U.S. diplomats

[NAME] BEBE REBOZO [JOB] Buddy to Richard Nixon [WHY IN THE NEWS] Passed away [DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC] Was never indicted [FREQUENTLY PHOTOGRAPHED] In the background

BLOCK THAT TRADEMARK!

Some battles now being waged on the front lines of trademark law:

--The Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. is suing Polo, the magazine of the U.S. Polo Association, to force the periodical to drop its name, claiming the 22-year-old magazine's recent redesign, focusing on elegant life-styles and fashion, is courting the same audience that buys Lauren's products. Lauren's company says it trademarked the word Polo in 1985.

--Last year the Governor of Montana objected to French designer Claude Montana's claim that he owns exclusive rights to use the word Montana on a variety of clothing goods. The Governor contends that no one can restrict use of a word that is a geographic location.

--Ohio University is currently arguing with Ohio State University over the word Ohio. O.U. claims it owns the trademark for the word for any athletic use. Though most O.S.U. merchandise is emblazoned OHIO STATE, some items, including the cheerleaders' uniforms, simply read OHIO.

--The Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, whose mascot is Buzz the bee, have filed suit against the Salt Lake City Buzz, a minor league baseball team whose mascot is Buzzy the bee. Both teams sell merchandise with BUZZ on it; Tech says it has the rights.

GRAPHOLOGY

THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL With Ken Starr seeking samples of Monica Lewinsky's handwriting, he might do well to consider the deeper meaning of her p's and q's. We asked Roger Rubin, the president of the National Society for Graphology, to discuss Lewinsky's penmanship, and he showed us this note, written by Lewinsky to the six-year-old son of an acquaintance. His findings: "She has high intelligence. Her letter formations show aesthetic awareness and sophistication... She's not a wimpy little girl, but a person of purpose... [I]n her writing, there are different styles, which show her adaptability. This is a person who will try a variety of methods to get what she wants."

--She's directed: "The movement to the right of her words shows the urge and the pressure that carry her forward to wherever she's going."

--She's efficient: "The merging of the p into the i and the t into the u shows that she makes her point without any extra effort."

--She's family oriented: "Her signature is the most conservative part of the sample. She writes the L in Lewinsky like she learned it in school, showing that her relationship to her family still has a conservative and conventional quality."

--Overall: "I have a very positive take on this person."

NUMBERS

15,000: Approximate number of calls received each day by Microsoft's technical-support services

7,600: Approximate number regarding large household appliances received each day by GE Answer Center

8,000: Approximate number received by the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line on Thanksgiving Day

80: Percentage of people in a recent poll who said the Bible is the most influential book in human history

12: Percentage who said the name of Noah's wife was Joan of Arc

7 billion: Number of hot dogs Americans will eat between Memorial Day and Labor Day

39: Percentage of people in a recent poll who said the aroma that best defines America is barbecue

$1,350: Top ticket price for a New York Knicks home game next season

$98.50: Top ticket price for a Toronto Raptors home game

Sources: NY Times, GE, Butterball, Tyndale House Publishing/Barna Research Grp, Nat'l Hot Dog & Sausage Council, Miller, NY Post, Toronto Raptors

60-SECOND SYMPOSIUM

Inventors are a modest lot. When we asked these ingenious innovators which 20th century creation most impressed them, they skipped their own and made the following selections:

AKI MAITA, originator of the Tamagotchi digital pet: The most essential invention in my life is the microwave oven [top]. It may be smaller in scale than a TV or an airplane in terms of changing people's culture and life-style, but it is really helping my busy schedule. Just think of molecules moving to raise temperature."

DOUGLAS ENGELBART, creator of the computer mouse, hypertext and groupware: My vote is for the Augmented Collective IQ. It is still in process, involving co-evolving innovations in networked computers, human skills, roles, institutions, cooperative socialization, even language. Significant gains are forthcoming. Question is, Soon enough?"

RON POPEIL, inventor of the Pocket Fisherman, the Buttoneer and Great Looking Hair: Velcro [bottom], because of the variety of applications available to the end user. It originated when cockleburs fastened themselves to the inventor--they stuck but were easy to remove. Velcro can attach anything securely, and everyone can use it. It beats the zipper and the safety pin."