August 3, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM -- Robert talks with NPR's Peter Kenyon about today's action in the House on campaign finance reform legislation. They'll talks about what's in it, who doesn't like it, what its chances are for enactment, and the political need for Congresspersons to vote for some kind of reform. (4:00)

IN PRISTINA -- Linda talks with NPR's Edward Lifson, who has been traveling around Serbia's war-torn Kosovo province. Fighting continues, despite assurances by Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic that Serbian security forces had called off their latest offensive against Albanian separatists. Tens of thousands of refugees are on the move, and international aid workers are being denied access to many of them. (4:00)

SAUDI -- NPR's Ted Clark reports that long-ailing King Fahd of Saudi Arabia is back in the hospital, reviving concerns about the succession to the throne should he die. Saudi experts are divided about the ease with which a transfer of power to Crown Prince Abdullah, the King's brother, could be handled. (4:00)

BUTLER IN BAGHDAD -- Linda talks with NPR's Eric Weiner about the return of Richard Butler, the UN's chief arms inspector for Iraq, to Baghdad for another round of talks with Iraqi officials. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is again demanding that sanctions imposed at the time of the Gulf War be lifted, claiming, against UN inspector evidence, that he has complied with all UN demands for inspections of his programs for the development of weapons of mass destruction. (4:00)

CASTRO'S CARIBBEAN TOUR -- Commentator Ralph Peters says that US foreign policy toward Cuba is misguided. By keeping the island isolated, the US strengthens the grip of leader Fidel Castro. The only remedy, he says, is for the government to ignore powerful anti-Cuba lobbying interests and flood the nation with American products. (3:30)

TOY PIANO -- Robert talks with Margaret Leng Tan, a pianist specializing in performance on the toy piano. She talks about her new CD, which includes works by Beethoven, Satie, Philip Glass and the Beatles, as well as original works. In addition to the toy piano, she plays toy accoridion, melodica, cat food cans, whistles, and cap guns. Tan was trained as a classical pianist and says that her four-year-long dedication to the toy piano has increased her skills at the adult piano because the control required to create tones and shades with the toy piano is so great. The Art of the Toy Piano, by Margaret Leng Tan is available from Point Music, catalogue number 456345-2.

STOCK FRAUD -- NPR's Jim Zarroli reports on the growing number of complaints about stock fraud. As the stock market has soared and everyone is looking for an opportunity to cash in, more and more ordinary investors are being fleeced by high-pressure stock sales "boiler rooms." Federal officials are cracking down, but say more steps need to be taken to protect consumers. (7:45)

HEAT & WATER -- It's the twenty-ninth day in a row for 100-plus temperatures in the Dallas area. Bill Zeeble of member station KERA reports that in the Fort Worth area, the drought and the heat caused a break in a water main that provides a lot of the county's water supply. (3:00)

LEWINSKY -- NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports that the White House today decided to appeal to the Supreme Court about whether White House aide Bruce Lindsey needs to answer questions from Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr. The administration argues that Lindsey is protected by lawyer-client privilege, but that argument was rejected by a three-judge panel. The decision to appeal came as President Clinton was preparing for his own testimony August 17 before the grand jury, and Starr's office continued talks with White House intern Monica Lewinsky over her testimony, expected in the next couple of weeks. (4:30)

CLINTON UNCERTAINTY -- NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says he has no idea how the drama unfolding around President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky will resolve itself. He says that the President is seriously weakened...and more importantly, the idea behind presidential privilege is weakened as well. (3:30)

OTHER STORIES -- Other stories we're following today include: Campaign Finance Reform, In Pristina, and GM. (1:00)

MEASURING BODIES -- Robert talks with Cindy Hunter, the Measuring Team Leader for the Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource Project at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Hunter talks about the use of a 3-dimensional, whole-body scanner to measure volunteers from around the country. The project has been undertaken so that better-fitting uniforms, equipment, and workstations can be designed for the military. (3:30)

BURROUGHS ANNIVERSARY -- Writer William Burroughs, who died one year ago, is remembered by two friends in New Orleans; artists Tina Girouard and David Bradshaw. They talk about his funeral, at which Bradshaw placed a loaded revolver in Burroughs hand to be buried with him. We also hear excerpts from Burroughs' readings. (4:00)

GM -- Vincent Duffy of member station WKSU visits the Lordstown General Motors plant in Northeast Ohio as workers return from the long shutdown. These UAW workers say they're glad to be back at work but have mixed feelings about the future of their own plant, the largest GM factory in North America. (3:00)

CA BILINGUAL -- California's new bilingual education regulations officially take affect today. A newly-passed voter initiative, Proposition 227, puts strict limits on the length of time that children in the state's schools may receive assistance in their native language. Although most schools won't begin classes until September, year round schools will have to implement the new law today. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports. (3:00)

CO BILINGUAL -- In Denver, the debate over bilingual education has taken a radically different tack than in California. After complaints by parents, the federal government may take the city to court for failing to provide adequate bilingual education. The city program runs for 3 years, but parents want up to 7 years' instruction in kids' native languages. Aaron Schacter reports. (6:00)

BABY SWAP -- NPR's Madeleine Brand reports on the strange story of two swapped babies. Two girls were accidentally switched at birth in 1995 at the University of Virginia medical center in Charlottesville. The mistake was discovered earlier this month. However, a twist in the story was uncovered today: the two parents raising one of the girls were killed in a car crash before they could learn that she wasn't their biological daughter. The girl wasn't in the car. Now, the families of the girls will have to decide how to handle the case. (3:30)

SCHNITTKE OBITUARY -- NPR's Dean Olsher has an appreciation of composer Alfred Schnittke, one of the former Soviet Union's most prolific composers, who died today in Hamburg at the age of 63. He was known as a creator of "polystylism," or mixture of musical forms, and his music was spurned in his homeland at the beginning of his career. By the 1980s, he had won over Soviet cultural authorities and critics worldwide. Schnittke's long list of compositions includes five symphonies, a piano concerto, four violin concertos, five concerto grossos, two concertos each for viola and cello, two oratorios, six ballets, numerous choral, chamber, and instrumental pieces, and arrangements of works by Shostakovich, Berg, Scott Joplin, and others. (4:00)