March 31, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Mideast Peace -- NPR's Ted Clark reports that as U.S. Middle East peace mediator Dennis Ross wound up yet another effort to get peace talks on track, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said "some" progress had been made, but not enough to revive serious negotiations. With Palestinians deeply dejected by the stalled peace process, the U.S. has begun to consider other options, including disengagement from the talks, but the State Department remains unwilling to completely abandon its mediation efforts. (5:00)

Starr-Lewinsky -- NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports that attorneys for Paula Jones today asked a federal appeals court to allow evidence related to President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky to be included in the Jones sexual harrassment lawsuit. They are appealing a decision by a judge not to allow Lewinsky evidence in the Jones case for fear it would impede the investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. This is one of a number of legal issues that are still unresolved in both the Jones case and the Starr investigation. (4:30)

Airline Safety -- The General Accounting Office says Federal Aviation Administration inspectors routinely let airlines and airports get away with safety violations. The GAO, which reports to Congress, says FAA inspectors concede they are so overworked and so often second-guessed that they rarely write up or punish violators. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports. (3:00)

Opening Day -- It's Opening Day of the 1998 Major League Baseball season. All Things Considered hosts Robert Siegel and Linda Werthheimer talk about the festivities. (1:00)

Marlins -- Robert talks with NPR's Tom Goldman about the Florida Marlins baseball team. As last year's World Series champions, the Marlins are under pressure to repeat their winning ways. But major changes in the team's lineup in the off-season have made analysts doubt that a repeat championship is in the works. (3:30)

Cubs Are Contenders -- Commentator Lenny Kleinfeld is worried that so many people are saying the Chicago Cubs are "contenders" this season. He says despite some good new players, any Cubs fan knows that loving the Cubs means knowing the limits of life's possibilities and accepting defeat.

Therapeutic Touch -- A study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association debunks a healing technique called therapeutic touch. It's a practice that is gaining popularity, especially among some nurses in the U.S. and Canada who say they can manipulate an energy field that exists around humans and thereby promote healing. The experiment tested the ability of practitioners of therapeutic touch to detect an energy field around a human being and found that they could not do so reliably. The experiment was designed and conducted by a 9-year-old Loveland, Colorado, girl for a science fair. The girl's mother, a nurse who is a critic of therapeutic touch, wrote up the experiment and submitted it for publication. NPR's Rebecca Perl reports. (7:30)

Bella Abzug Dies -- Bella Abzug -- the flamboyant, hat-wearing, feminist New York Congresswoman -- died today at the age of 77. NPR's Melissa Block reports that Abzug will be remembered for coining the slogan: "This woman's place is in the House -- the House of Representatives" in 1970. (5:00)

Red Norvo -- The band leader and vibraphonist Red Norvo celebrates his 90th birthday today. He turned the xylophone from a comic prop into a serious instrument. When he switched to vibraphone, he made that instrument a ferocious jazz voice. Norvo, like Goodman, had an important role in integrating jazz: his legendary late 1940's trio included bassist Charles Mingus and guitarist Tal Farlow. Norvo married singer Mildred Bailey. Norvo also helped foster the bebop movement in jazz: as the leader of a popular big band, he gave the new musical movement a boost by putting together a sextet that featured Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. And he did it all even though he was partially deaf. NPR's Dean Olsher has an appreciation of Norvo's life and work. This item is unavailable due to copyright issues.

Supreme Court -- NPR's Nina Totenberg reports. The Supreme Court heard arguments today on the question of whether the government can deny money to artists who produce "indecent" material. The government is asking the court to allow the National Endowment for the Arts to take "general standards of decency" into account in awarding grants. Also, the Justices for the first time addressed the admissibility of lie detector tests in court. The court upheld a military rule that bans all polygraph evidence in court-martial proceedings. (8:00)

Bequest -- Linda talks with Earl A. Powell III, the director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. They discuss nine paintings that were left to the museum by the late socialite and philanthropist Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney. An additional seven paintings were bequeathed to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. They were part of a world-renowned collection begun by her late husband "Jock" Whitney in the 1920s. Included in the gift to the National Gallery are a painting of a dancer by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, a landscape by Henri Matisse, and works by Braque, Marquet, Dufy and von Dongen. (4:00)

California Electricity -- NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports that California's electric utilities are now officially deregulated. Most of the state's residents will now be able to choose what company will supply their electricity. (3:30)

Oregon Famworkers -- Nancy Solomon, from member station KLCC in Eugene, Oregon, reports that farmworkers in Oregon have just signed their first union contract in the state's history. The announcement came today, to mark the birthday of Cesar Chavez, the late pioneer of the farmworkers union. (4:00)

Clinton -- We'll hear an excerpt from President Clinton's comments today at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve in Gaborone, Botswana. President Clinton promised to seek Senate approval of a treaty that would slow the spread of deserts. He said mankind has "a sacred obligation to protect our environment." (2:00)

African Americans -- NPR's Don Gonyea reports on how some African Americans in Detroit are reacting to President Clinton's trip to Africa. Many are pleased the president has said slavery was wrong, while others hope the trip yields more concrete economic help for African nations. (5:00)

Mali -- In 1992, the West African nation of Mali inspired pro-democracy movements around Africa when its military ruler stepped aside for an elected government. But democracy is in crisis in Mali. The trouble began with elections last year. The main opposition parties boycotted, claiming the process was too disorganized for a fair vote. From Bamako, Mali, David Hecht reports. (5:00)

Last Apocalypse -- Robert talks with James Reston, Jr., the author of The Last Apocalypse: Europe at the Year 1000 A.D. They discuss the tenor of the times at the passage of the last millennium, and the lessons modern people can learn from how the last millennium milestone passed. (Note: The Last Apocalypse is published by Doubleday.) (7:00)