March 4, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Same-Sex Harassment -- The Supreme Court today ruled for the first time that same-sex sexual harassment lawsuits can be brought under a 1964 civil rights law barring discrimination in the workplace. But the court made clear that someone claiming same-sex harassment must prove that the alleged discrimination was based on gender, and "not merely tinged with offensive sexual connotations." NPR's Nina Totenberg reports. (6:00)

Global Warming -- NPR's Richard Harris has the latest word from the White House on global warming. Administration officials told Congress today that the cost of reducing greenhouse gases could be quite low, if the most optimistic assessments turn out to be true. But critics say the administration is not painting an accurate picture of the costs that will be incurred if the Senate ratifies the climate-change treaty signed last December in Kyoto. (4:00)

Drunk Driving -- Robert and Linda talk about the new national standards for determining alcoholic intoxication which were endorsed today by the Senate. (2:00)

Mimeo Revolution -- NPR's Margot Adler reports on an exhibit at the New York Public Library on the mimeographing revolution of the 1960s and '70s, which gave poets from Vermont to Idaho to Manhattan's Lower East Side, a cheap mode of publishing and distributing their work. (6:00)

Reproductive Technologies -- Robert and Linda have a brief history of other forms of mechanical reproduction devices. (2:00)

Inside a Crack House -- Be advised there is graphic language in this story. NPR's Eric Westervelt visits a north Philadelphia crackhouse to talk with dealers and addicts of crack cocaine and heroin. He talks with the people who sell the drugs...which is a more lucrative trade than ever, as studies show that drug use among young people is growing. He discovers that ethical concerns about the age of the drug users don't really enter into the drug dealers' minds. (6:00)

Russian Budget -- Following months of hard negotiating, the lower house of the Russian parliament has finally passed the budget for this year. It is austere, and unlike in earlier years, it is based on reality. It should help Russia's image with Western financial insititutions. Andy Bowers reports from Moscow. (3:00)

China and Asian Economies -- NPR's Mary Kay Magistad reports that China's annual meeting of the National People's Congress begins tomorrow amid speculation concerning possible shifts in economic policies. The Congress does not usually make policy, but could be used as a forum to re-evaluate the pace of economic reforms due to an economic slowdown within China and the financial crisis throughout Asia. China's neighbors will be watching to see if China adheres to its pledge not to devalue its currency as a way of coping with the economic slowdown. (3:30)

Friendly -- NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr remembers his friend and colleague at CBS News, Fred Friendly, who died last night at the age of 82. (3:00)

Remembering Fred Friendly -- Robert remembers the influence of Fred Friendly on his life...Friendly was Robert's advisor in the Journalism School at Columbia University in New York. We also hear tape of Fred Friendly talking about journalistic ethics. (5:00)

Miami Mayor -- NPR's Cheryl Devall reports a judge has ordered Miami to hold a new mayoral election in the next 60 days. The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by former mayor Joe Carollo, who alleged that current mayor Xavier Suarez won last November's election through absentee ballot fraud. The judge ruled that the election showed a pattern of "fraudulent, intentional and criminal conduct" in the casting of absentee ballots. It's not clear whether Suarez will remain in office until the new election is held. Lawyers for Carollo are asking the city commission to appoint an interim mayor, but lawyers for Suarez say he plans to stay. (4:00)

Puert Rico Plebiscite -- The House is scheduled to vote tonight on whether to authorize a plebiscite for Puerto Ricans to decide whether they want statehood, independence, or to retain their current status of commonwealth. A controversial Republican amendment would require Puerto Ricans to have English as their official language, if they choose statehood. NPR's Brian Naylor reports. (5:00)

Starr Investigation -- NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports that Monica Lewinsky's original attorney was in court today fighting a subpoena by independent counsel Kenneth Starr to turn over all his records relating to her case. Attorney Frank Carter helped Lewinsky prepare an affadavit in the Paula Jones sexual harrassment lawsuit denying she had had an affair with President Clinton. Carter objected to the subpoena, claiming that it violated lawyer-client privilege. It's one of a number of challenges Starr is facing to his investigation. (3:30)

Sprewell -- Robert talks with NPR's Tom Goldman about news today that an arbitrator has determined that Latrell Sprewell, who was fired and suspended for a year for attacking his coach, must be reinstated by the Golden State Warriors. It was also determined that the National Basketball Association must reduce his suspension by five months. Sprewell was suspended for one year by NBA commissioner David Stern -- the longest non-drug-related penalty in league history, for his December 1 attack on coach P.J. Carlesimo. (5:00)

Windows NT Crash -- NPR's Dan Charles reports on an Internet attack that caused computers running Microsoft's Windows NT software to crash from coast to coast, mostly in government and university offices. While no real harm was done, it was too early to gauge the full extent of the attack. Problems were reported at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota and University of California campuses in Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles and San Diego. (4:00)

McKinney Testimony -- The lead prosecutor began cross-examining Command Sergeant Major Gene McKinney today at his court martial on sexual harassment charges. The cross-examination followed a day and a half of testimony by McKinney, in which he portrayed his accusers as lying to gain personal advancement, or to exact revenge against him. McKinney is accused by six servicewomen of propositioning them, or in one case, forcing her to have sex. NPR's Barbara Bradley reports from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. (2:00)

Minnesota Tobacco -- Laura McCallum of Minnesota Public Radio reports on the third day of testimony in the Minnesota tobacco trial by Philip Morris CEO Geoffrey Bible. Attorneys for the state of Minnesota and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota are questioning Bible about internal company documents that indicate Philip Morris tried to hook teenagers on smoking. Minnesota and Blue Cross are suing the major tobacco companies for the public health costs of treating smoking-related illnesses. (4:00)

Spielberg -- NPR's Renee Montagne reports on today's conviction of a man who had plotted to rape Hollywood director Steven Spielberg. Under California's so-called three-strikes law, the man could spend the rest of his life in prison. (2:00)

VFIB -- NPR's Joe Palca reports on a new research that reveals what causes a heart to stop beating. The study, to be published tomorrow in the journal Nature, suggests that it may be possible to develop new treatments to restart hearts and keep them beating normally. (4:30)

Nazi -- NPR's Edward Lifson reports from Berlin that German authorities have arrested a man as an accessory to the murders of 70,000 Jews at a death camp in Poland. His name came from recently opened files from the former communist East Bloc. The 78-year-old suspect had admitted to personally shooting 500 men, women and children in November, 1943. (2:00)

Templeton Prize -- Robert talks with Sir Sigmund Sternberg, the winner of this year's 1.2 million-dollar Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Sternberg is a British businessman, and the executive committee chairman of the International Council of Christians and Jews. He helped resolve a dispute that developed in 1984 when a group of Carmelite nuns established a convent at the perimeter of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. The nuns intended to pray for death camp victims...but others saw the convent as an intrusion into a setting linked irrevocably with the Holocaust and Judaism. Sternberg helped Catholic and Jewish leaders come up with a plan for moving the convent. Last year, Sternberg was part of a group that established the Three Faiths Forum to find common ground between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The Templeton Prize is the largest monetary award in existence for achievement in any field. Sternberg will formally receive the award at Buckingham Palace in May. (5:00)