March 30, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Americans With Disabilities Act -- Robert talks with Ruth Colker, the Heck Faust Memorial Chair of Constitutional Law at the Ohio State University, who has written books about the Americans with Disabilities Act and who and conducts training seminars on the ADA. They discuss the implications of the Supreme Court case that was heard today concerning applications of the ADA. (4:00)

Bible Group -- Commentator Elissa Ely describes a Bible reading group at the psychiatric hospital where she works. (2:30)

Texas Oil Industry -- NPR's John Burnett reports from Austin, Texas on how changes in the oil industry have allowed it to withstand this year's big drop in the price for crude oil. (6:00)

Missing Buddha -- The BBC's Duncan Hewitt reports from Beijing that the oldest statue of Buddha in the city has been stolen. It was apparently a well-planned theft. (2:00)

Campaign Finance -- The House votes on a Republican campaign finance reform bill today. Because of unusual parliamentary maneuvering, the bill will need a super-majority of two-thirds of the House for passage, which it is extremely unlikely to get. (3:00)

EU Expansion -- NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Brussels that the European Union has taken another step toward expanding eastward, launching accession talks with 10 formerly Communist countries and Cyprus. (3:00)

Haider Profile -- NPR's Edward Lifson reports from Austria on a politician whose speeches have begun to resonate among Austrians who are worried about the changing face of Europe. Jurg Haider is using a message of anti-immigration and anti-establishment to move his party into second place in opinion polls. Haider says he copied some of his ideas from Newt Gingrich and the Contract with America. (6:30)

No Spitting -- Robert talks with Joe Paul, a man who has embarked on a crusade to "clean up" baseball -- at least in the area of chewing tobacco use. He is leading a campaign to enforce a 1956 Arizona law banning spitting in public places. He'd like to see Arizona's Major League Baseball expansion team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, be forced to comply with the law. (4:00)

Mr. Salty -- Commentator Paul Lukas takes a look at Mr. Salty, the ubiquitous little sailor who has been adorning bags and boxes of pretzels for thirty years. (3:00)

Tobacco Settlement Talks -- Negotiators on the Senate's main tobacco settlement bill have agreed on some provisions, but are stalled on others. They've yet to agree on how spend the industry's money and whether to protect companies from lawsuits. But they have agreed on a bill that would charge the tobacco industry $138 billion more and impose harsher restrictions than the settlement that companies and states reached in June. Negotiators also approved giving the Food and Drug Administration broad authority to regulate nicotine products. NPR's Brian Naylor reports. (4:30)

Minnesota Tornadoes -- Mark Zdechlik of Minnesota Public Radio reports on the damage done by a series of strong storms, which spawned a rare March tornado in southern Minnesota. Especially hard-hit was the town of St. Peter, where the tornado killed a six-year-old boy who was sucked from a van by the winds. (3:00)

Tornado Warnings -- NPR's Adam Hochberg reports that the National Weather Service has installed a new tornado forecasting system. While the current system of broadcast warnings is credited with saving scores of lives, the new Emergency Alert System is reputed to be 10 times faster and has the ability to reach people who aren't tuned in to television or radio broadcasts. (4:00)

Stuffed Puppet Theatre -- NPR's Joshua Levs reports from Atlanta on the Stuffed Puppet Theatre of Atlanta, in which the founder, Elliott Trentor, uses his medium to present what are often dark and disturbing dramas. (4:00)

Moral Development -- Commentator Jim Garbarino is a child psychologist and the co-director of the Family Life Development Center at Cornell University. He says that in the stories of many of the violent young boys he's counseled, he sees patterns that mark the behavior, usually involving a sense of wounded pride or injustice. He also says that adolescents are particularly susceptible to impulsiveness and melodrama -- and that focusing on moral development is the only way to effectively deter this kind of erratic, violent behavior. (3:30)

Yo-Yo Ma -- Robert speaks with cellist Yo-Yo Ma about his new multi-media project, "Inspired by Bach." In the six part series, which airs on PBS April 1st, 8th, and 15th, Yo-Yo Ma teams up with dancers, actors, garden designers, and architects to create works inspired by Bach's six cello suites. This item is unavailable due to copyright issues.

Global Positioning System -- NPR's Dan Charles reports on a decision today to enhance the global positioning system units available to civilians. Hand-held GPS equipment allows you to locate your position on the Earth to within about 100 feet. The military has much better accuracy using the system, and now the government promises the same accuracy -- to within 30 feet -- for everyone else. (4:00)

Moving 'Stuff' -- Commentator Michael Ivey is packing up his life and moving from Los Angeles to Columbus, Ohio. He's discovered that he just has too much stuff to accomplish this move smoothly. (3:30)