NOTEBOOK

By BY CHARLOTTE FALTERMAYER, LINA LOFARO, JODIE MORSE, JEFFERY C. RUBIN AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

NEW LAWS ON THE BOOKS IN '97

[WINNERS]

BILL CLINTON Line-item veto makes him the first Prez with the "power of the pen" (if it holds up in court)

STAY-AT-HOME SPOUSES Can pad the nest egg, by contributing as much as their working mates to IRAs

NEW MOTHERS No more quickie hospital stays in some states, with a federal law to follow in 1998

[& LOSERS]

NATURE BUFFS Must say goodbye to cheap vacations: price tag more than doubles at some national parks

WELFARE RECIPIENTS They'll be workin' hard for their money; legal immigrants will be the first who must find jobs

DEADBEAT PARENTS Could lose driver's licenses in Michigan and Wisconsin if they don't cough up child support

GUERRILLAS ON THE WEB

Want to know the latest on the hostages held by Peru's Tupac Amaru rebels? Check out the rebels' home page on the World Wide Web. Mexico's Zapatistas, Peru's Shining Path and Afghanistan's Taliban also boast Internet sites maintained by supporters. For today's guerrilla, the modem offers the best means to disseminate communiques, show off a pictorial gallery of brothers-in-arms--and even replenish the war chest by selling T shirts, videos and books.

A WINTER HEAT WAVE

Pyromaniacs beware. Walls have--fire fighters. More and more city fire departments are turning out hunky calendars to raise funds. New York City is the latest, but Tucson, Arizona, and South Florida have long had their own. (Tucson and Milwaukee even have women in their calendars.) "We don't want to be construed as Chippendale fire fighters," says Mike Aguilar, who heads Seattle's fund drive. There are serious reasons for the calendar: "Burns are terrible, traumatic injuries. The money we raise goes to recovery research and methods...to minimize that trauma." With the calendars, getting all hot and bothered is for a good cause.

1997: THE YEAR OF NOTHING

The United Nations designated last year as the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. Next year will be the International Year of the Ocean; 1999 will be the International Year of Older Persons. So far, though, 1997 is merely part of a huge list of continuing U.N. decades:

--Year 3 of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education

--Year 4 of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

--Year 5 of the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination

--Year 5 of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons

--Year 5 of the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa

--Year 7 of the United Nations Decade Against Drug Abuse

--Year 7 of the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa

--Year 7 of the Fourth United Nations Development Decade

--Year 8 of the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism

--Year 8 of the United Nations Decade of International Law

--Year 8 of the Third Disarmament Decade

--Year 8 of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction

--Year 10 of the World Decade for Cultural Development

LOCAL HEROES

FLORENCE DENOMME, 71; PHOENIX; ARIZONA; leader of Flow from the Heart Foundation

Each morning she rises before dawn to cook breakfast for her family of nearly 400 children. Undeterred by bouts with cancer and palsy, she has delivered meals to hungry kids on Indian reservations for 10 years--without a day's rest. Her foundation also modernizes their ramshackle homes. Says the devoted Denomme: "I'm certainly not going to sit at home and feel sorry for myself. People never stop needing food, so why should I stop delivering?"

C.B. KIMMINS, 52; PHILADELPHIA; antidrug crusader

In 1986 the former teacher helped start Mantua Against Drugs, a community policing program named for its area of origin. Now mad's director, he works 20 hours a day, seven days a week. He and his colleagues chant outside crack houses, stare down dealers and find role models to speak at schools. Paid no salary, he survives through donations and a "compassionate" landlord. Though he's been shot at, he says, "If I die doing this, it's the right way to die."

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

DOUG FLUTIE, 34; NATICK, MASS.; Winner of the 1984 Heisman Trophy

With six seconds left and Miami leading 45-41, the 5-ft. 9 3/4-in. quarterback catapulted the ball 64 yds. in a Hail Mary touchdown pass to clinch the game for Boston College in 1984. Though Flutie's height made the N.F.L. hesitant to snatch him up, Donald Trump offered him a then record six-year, $8 million contract to play for his New Jersey Generals in the now defunct United States Football League. After collecting $3.3 million for just one year of play, Flutie went on to a mediocre N.F.L. career. In his eighth year with the Canadian Football League, Flutie is, at $1 million a year, the highest-paid player in the struggling league. In 1996 he signed with the Toronto Argonauts and won his second Grey Cup (Canada's Super Bowl). The N.F.L. is eyeing him, but Flutie is content to stay where he can call more of his own plays. Says he: "I'm in control now. If I make a mistake, my coaches will live with it because I'm right the majority of the time. That's the confidence level a quarterback needs."