September 18, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

HOUSE JUDICIARY -- The House Judiciary Committee has voted to release the videotape of President Clinton's grand jury testimony about Monica Lewinsky. The committee also will release about 28-hundred pages of material that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr provided to support his contention that there are grounds to impeach the president. Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee protest that Republicans are acting from partisan motives. Republicans say the Democrats didn't want anything released. NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports. (4:00)

WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE -- NPR's Mara Liasson reports that the White House is bracing for the release next week of President Clinton's videotaped testimony before the grand jury, something aides feel powerless to prevent. President Clinton continues to try to conduct business as usual -- meeting this afternoon with his race commission. (2:30)

A NEW AMERICAN SCANDAL -- Writer Jack Hitt knows Watergate like the back of his hand. And he also knows that THAT scandal has become the measure against which all other scandals are judged -- and that every journalist who has come of age since Watergate has been looking for another one. Well, that all changes with the Monica Lewinsky story, says Hitt. What Ken Starr has here is a whole new type of American Political Scandal. (4:30)

BOSNIA -- NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Sarajevo that since the signing of the Dayton peace accords, Bosnia-Herzegovina has become a virtual protectorate of the international community. Not only do NATO-led troops patrol to keep the peace, some 18 thousand foreign civilians are working to create and supervise a multi-ethnic, democratic government. But the West's tremendous investment of personnel -- and money -- may be jeopardized by the apparent victory of hardline nationalists in last weekend's general election. (7:00)

THE SUNSHINE HOTEL -- Producer David Isay visited the Sunshine Hotel, one of the last flophouses on the Bowery in New York. This documentary is narrated by Nathan Smith, a long-time resident and manager of the hotel. With unprecedented access to the Sunshine Hotel, Isay and associate producer Stacy Abramson offer an up-close account of life in the hotel and the men who live in its rows of wooden cubicles. (22:30)

US-RUSSIA -- NPR's Mike Shuster reports that Clinton administration officials responsible for US policy on Russia are revealing their deep pessimism about the new Russian government and its policies. While the United States gropes to find a policy in the rubble of the ruble, no more money from the International Monetary Fund will be released to Russia. (5:00)

CHICAGO RACE -- Jackie Northam of member station WBEZ visits a section of Chicago known as Bridgeport, where 13-year-old Lenard Clark was beaten into a coma eighteen months ago. Bridgeport had been known for its racial intolerance, and the beating of the young African-American man only served to highlight the tensions in the area. She examines the nature of race relations in Chicago in general and Bridgeport in particular...and how racial attitudes have changed since programs were launched in the wake of the attack on Lenard Clark. The programs are designed to mend racial differences and contribute to a dialogue between the races. (7:00)

RACE COMMISSION -- NPR's Eric Westervelt reports on how some on the front lines of American race relations view the work of the President's Race Initiative. The Initiative's Board presented its final report to President Clinton today after 15 months of conversations and dialogue with communities across the country. Those who have been working to improve race relations for years say all the talk is meaningless unless it's connected to public policy. Others applaud the Initiative for bringing diverse people together at a time when the meaning of the word race is expanding beyond black and white. (4:00)

STOCHASTIC RESONANCE -- NPR's Ivan Amato reports on a curious phenomenon called stochastic resonance and how it might help improve the human sense of touch. When a tiny electric charge is applied to the fingertips, people are able to feel faint sensations they wouldn't otherwise be able to notice. It's a reversal of the accepted notion that electrical noise interferes with a signal. Diabetics and the elderly, who lose sensation and often fall as a result, could profit from application of this discovery. (4:00)

MIDEAST -- NPR's Eric Weiner reports that US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross extended his latest peace mediation mission to the region by an extra day in an effort to find a way to break the 18-month-long impasse over an Israeli redeployment of forces on the occupied West Bank. The continuation of the talks came as tensions remained high over Israel's recent killing of two leaders of the Islamic Hamas group, an incident that brought rock throwing demonstrations today against Israeli troops by hundreds of Palestinians. (4:30)

RABINOVICH -- Robert talks with Itamar Rabinovich, the author of The Brink of Peace: The Israeli-Syrian Negotiations. Rabinovich is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States and the chief negotiator for Israel with Syria. They discuss the controversy which developed concerning the Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations after the election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's prime minister. The Brink of Peace is published by the Princeton University Press.) (7:00)

FATSIS FRIDAY -- Linda and sports commentator Stefan Fatsis talk about the NFL and the spate of injuries keeping at least ten quarterbacks out of play at this early point in the season. They also discuss the suspension of Marcus Ray of Michigan for having improper contact with an agent. (4:00)

SANDY ALL DONE -- After the the family dog dies, commentator Elissa Ely struggles to explain death to her daughter. (3:30)