June 9, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Riley on School Violence -- Education Secretary Richard Riley spoke at a conference on school safety today in Washington. He emphasized the need for each and every school child to have at least one adult with whom they feel connected, comfortable, and able to talk with. We'll hear an excerpt of Secretary Riley's comments. (1:00)

Violence Prevention Program -- NPR's Anthony Brooks reports that while school violence is going down, concern about school violence is on the rise. Educators are unanimous in saying more needs to be done to prevent violence -- not just shootings, but also fights and verbal abuse. Prevention programs are being tried all over the country, though perhaps nowhere quite as extensively as in New Haven, Connecticut, where researchers are actually conducting an experiment to see whether intervention works. (8:30)

Military Restructuring -- Modest changes were announced today for the Army. General William Hartzog says it will no longer will be a "big, monolithic thing." He says the new Army will rely more on computers and technology. And he adds it will be much leaner, more able to deploy quickly and more able to fight with fewer casualties. Hartzog says it will be an Army that can fight in four or five places at one time. NPR's Martha Raddatz reports. (4:00)

Ada Jean -- Commentator Scott Brunner tells about the maid his family employed and how she related to him. It's a warm tale about a woman who was part of his life for many years. (3:45)

Albania and Kosovo -- NPR's Edward Lifson reports from northern Albania on the refugees who have streamed across the border to escape the Serbian assault in Kosovo Province. Although many of the men are trekking back across the mountains to defend their homes in Kosovo, they appear ill-prepared to resist the Serbian police and Yugoslav army. (4:00)

New Nigerian Leader -- All Things Considered host Linda Wertheimer talks with Walter Carrington, a resident fellow at the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American research at Harvard University. He was the United States Ambassador to Nigeria from 1993 to 1997. They discuss the new military leader of Nigeria and the history of military succession for leadership in the country. (5:00)

Hopes for Nigeria -- All Things Considered host Robert Siegel talks with Chinua Achebe, a professor of literature at Bard College and the author of "Things Fall Apart" and "Anthills of the Savannah." Achebe talks about his hopes for Nigeria, its political situation, and its economy now that the former military dictator General Sani Abacha has died. He says that he is saddened Nigerians are relying on a non-political event such as the death of Abacha to change the political situation in their country rather than working for political change.(4:30)

Controversial Chihuahua -- NPR's Mandalit delBarco reports on the ripples of media attention surrounding the fast-food restaurant Taco Bell's current advertising campaign, which features a chihuahua dog. The spots have created big business for breeders of the little dogs -- but they've also offended some Latinos, who don't like the images conjured up by the ads. (4:30)

Flashcard Lulu -- Commentator Daniel Pinkwater continues the tale of his dog Lulu. Lulu watches TV with an obvious attention and comprehension--and so Daniel tries to teach Lulu to read. She is a fast learner. This item is unavailable due to copyright issues.

GM Strike -- NPR's Don Gonyea reports from Detroit that the 5-day-old strike at a GM parts plant in Flint, Michigan, has now forced the auto maker to shut down production at several assembly plants, idling more than 15,000 GM workers. The strike is affecting production of GM cars, light trucks and sport utility vehicles. Negotiations between GM and the United Auto Workers union resumed this morning but a settlement does not appear to be near. (3:30)

Highway Bill -- Linda talks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the 200 billion dollar transportation bill President Clinton signs into law today. The measure's authors call it the most important highway bill in history. Over six years it increases spending by more than 40 percent on roads, bridges, trains, monorails, bike paths, trails, and more. (4:15)

Clinton and South Korea -- Kim Dae Jung, once South Korea's most famous dissident but now the nation's president, was received at the White House today with full honors as he sought U.S. investment and trade to pull his country out of its worst economic crisis since the Korean War. President Clinton pledged the cooperation of the American people. NPR's Ted Clark reports. (4:00)

Mexico Fires -- NPR's Phillip Davis reports from southern Mexico on efforts to control the many fires that have filled the skies of Mexico -- and parts of the United States -- with smoke. American fire fighting teams are in Mexico to help battle the blazes, which so far have burned some seven hundred thousand acres. It appears the rainy season is about to begin, but firefighters say there's still a long way to go before the fires are out. (8:00)

Medicare Problems -- NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on problems facing people on Medicare as the system is completely revamped. Starting this fall, seniors and the disabled who receive health care through the federal program will be asked to choose from a variety of new options -- HMOs, medical savings accounts, and other types of health plans. The plan is designed to save consumers money -- and to reduce federal spending on Medicare. But the program is getting off to a rocky start as insurance companies decide whether to participate -- and the government tries to produce enough information to help Medicare's 39 million beneficiaries in deciding what to do. (6:15)

Social Security -- NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports on the growing debate over reforming Social Security. Advocates of the so-called "partial privatization" approach say that one reason the system needs to be reformed is that the nation's poor get very bad returns out of the system. Opponents say changing the system would put low income Americans at risk. (6:15)

Yves St. Laurent -- Linda talks with Cathy Horyn, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. They discuss news today that Yves St. Laurent has hired a new designer for his fashion firm who will handle the women's ready-to-wear collection for the prestigious design house.

World Cup Parade -- Robert talks with Jon Henley, a correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, who is covering the celebrations leading up to the beginning of the World Cup soccer tournament on June 10th. They talk about the gigantic robotic caricatures of soccer players that have been appearing throughout Paris as part of the festivities. The robots, which are six stories high, include "Moussa," a 38-ton, deep-purple soccer player representing Africa; "Ho," representing Asia; "Pablo," representing the Americas, and "Romeo," representing Europe. The partly inflatable characters are being paraded through the streets of Paris and will end up at the Place de la Concorde. (4:00)