February 27, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Secret Service Testimony -- The Justice Department has said it will fight to prevent independent counsel Kenneth Starr from forcing Secret Service agents to testify before a grand jury investigating allegations involving President Clinton and a White House intern. NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports. (6:00)

Mexico Certification -- Commentator Ralph Peters says that the decision to certify Mexico as a "drug-fighting partner" divided opinion between the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the DEA. He says that while some analysts see Mexico as corrupt -- yet redeemable -- others say that sharing a border with Mexico as an immense liability, and that the government is hopelessly corrupted. Peters says that both views are essentially correct.

Princeton Basketball -- All Things Considerd host Robert Seigel speaks with Stephan Fatsis, sports reporter for the Wall Street Journal and a regular contributor to All Things Considered. They discuss the success of the Princeton University basketball team. It is unusual for an Ivy League team to be as highly ranked as Princeton is this year. They lack the star players most 'big' college basketball programs have but they win by playing an intricate, disciplined and patient offense.

Attention Deficit Disorder -- Commentator Marion Winik was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. Her visit to the psychiatrist -- which she expected to lead to long sessions and piles of teary tissues -- ends instead with a diagnosis and a prescription. She says it's all just part of living in the modern world. (3:30)

World Court -- The BBC's Barnaby Mason reports on today's decision about court jurisdiction for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing case. (2:00)

South African Gold -- NPR's Charlayne Hunter-Gault reports from Johannesburg that South Africa's gold industry has gone into a steep decline, largely because of the drop in world prices for gold. (7:00)

The Tsar’s Bones -- NPR's Andy Bowers reports from Moscow that the Russian government has chosen St. Petersburg as the site where the family of Russia's last Tsar will be buried.

Dr. Kevorkian -- NPR's Don Gonyea reports from Detroit that Jack Kevorkian has assisted in another controversial suicide. Last night, Kevorkian assisted in the suicide of a 21-year-old quadriplegic student from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The man had been paralyzed and on a ventilator since a viral infection attacked his spinal cord more than a year ago. Kevorkian's critics say the patient may not have decided to end his life if given proper counseling. (3:30)

Oregon Assisted Suicide -- NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports on a plan that would have the state of Oregon include coverage for assisted suicide in its state health plan. (4:00)

Transplant Organ Allocation -- NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on a new federal proposal to allocate organs for transplant. The Department of Health and Human Services wants to reorganize the current system so that people who are the sickest get the highest priority for a donated organ. But opponents say that organs should be alloted on a regional basis, so that areas where donations are highest benefit the most. (3:00)

Meningitis Scare -- NPR's Tovia Smith reports on a panic in Rhode Island over three children who've died from meningitis in the past few weeks. The deaths prompted the state health department to recommend that everyone between the ages of 2 and 22 get vaccinated. That far exceeds the usual recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- and the death rate from meningitis in Rhode Island is not higher than what is usually observed in any given year. But publicity surrounding the health department's order has led to a stampede on health clinics, and the vaccine is now in short supply. (4:00)

Indonesia Food Shortages -- Robert talks with Dennis DeTray, the director of the World Bank's Indonesia Program. They discuss the food shortages in financially-strapped Indonesia, and how those shortages could ultimately threaten President Suharto's regime. (4:00)

Wounded Knee Anniversary -- Twenty-five years ago today, the siege at Wounded Knee, South Dakota began on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Members of the American Indian Movement took over the village, demanding sovereignty for the Sioux Nation. We hear tape from the confrontation between AIM members and federal marshals. (4:00)

Wounded Knee Today -- Charles Michael Ray of South Dakota Public Radio reports on today's observance of the 25th anniversary of the sirge at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. (4:00)

Florida Insurance -- NPR's Cheryl Devall reports on how officials determine the costs of disasters. This week, inspectors from private insurance companies are visiting homes and businesses damaged in this week's devastating tornadoes in central Florida. Insurers then arrive at figures based on interviews with property owners, police and fire reports and information from federal and state emergency management agencies. So far, the insurance industry estimates damage from this week's storms totals more than $100 million. (4:30)

Fallmouth Flood -- Jay Hanselman of member station WNKU reports that Sunday will be the anniversary of a devastating flood that swept through the small town of Falmouth, Kentucky. (5:00)

Sixth Great Lake? -- Robert talks with Davis Helberg, Executive Director of the Seaway Port Authority in Duluth, Minnesota about a proposal that would give Vermont's Lake Champlain the same status as the Great Lakes, at least in relationship to access to federal research money. (3:00)

Prometheus -- Leonardo Nole, a bodybuilder who was paid $1 an hour to pose as the model for Rockefeller Center's golden statue of Prometheus, died Sunday. He was 91. The famous statue in midtown Manhattan was sculpted in 1933. This item is unavailable due to copyright issues.

Pittsburgh in Black and White -- All Things Considerd host Noah Adams talks to Sam Stephenson, author of the article "W. Eugene Smith's Unfinished Symphony: Unpublished Photographs from the Pittsburgh Project," which appears in the Spring 1998 issue of Doubletake magazine. In 1955, Smith had a three-week assignment to photograph Pittsburgh for its bicentennial, but he ended up staying most of the year and taking 11,000 pictures. Stephenson says that Smith had a reputation for being obsessive about his photographic work, and the Pittsburgh project exemplifies these tendencies. (7:00)