NOTEBOOK

By JOHN F. DICKERSON, NADYA LABI, LINA LOFARO, JAMIE MALANOWSKI, EMILY MITCHELL, MEGAN RUTHERFORD AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

[WINNERS]

BAI YUN AND SHI SHI At the San Diego zoo, a first date for the panda pair. Object: baby makes three

DAVID HELFGOTT After Shine's Oscar nominations, the eccentric Aussie pianist's concerts are a hot ticket

MARRIAGE-LICENSE BUREAUS Nervous couples rush to tie the knot before tighter immigration laws take effect in April

[& LOSERS]

J.D. SALINGER After 30 years, a new work by the reclusive author? Well, no: it's a story published in '65

MARK FUHRMAN Now he tells us.The ex-detective claims he saw an empty knife box at O.J.'s house

MERCHANT AND SANTIAGO Composers sue decades too late to gain copyright of their song Why Do Fools Fall in Love

TOO MUCH TOO SOON

Only 1,087 days until the 2000 New Hampshire primary

Come On Along...

Proving that you can't begin the race for 2000 too early, unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate Lamar Alexander was in New Hampshire last week touting his agenda for education reform.

THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT

Bill Gates may be the richest American, but even he can complain that $15 billion ain't what it used to be. According to The Wealthy 100: A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present, by Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther, Gates ranks a mere 31st. He is ahead of the modest Mark Hopkins, one of the powers who built the Central Pacific Railroad, just behind meat-packer Philip Armour, and way, way behind John D. Rockefeller at No. 1. Gates doesn't figure to threaten old John D. The authors determined the standings by looking at the tycoons' fortunes in relation to the country's total GNP. So even if Gates ratchets up the billions, the immensity of the economy makes it hard for him to move up very far. By the way, with the exception of Sam Walton of Wal-Mart (No. 14), everyone on the list ahead of Gates made most or all of his fortune before there was an income tax. Other living Americans on the list: Warren Buffett (39), John Kluge (70), Paul Allen (75), Sumner Redstone (87) and Ron Perelman (95).

RAW DATA

For the past year, Reebok has been selling a women's running shoe with a name--Incubus--that inspires fear rather than fleetness. Incubus is a mythical demon that rapes sleeping women. Reebok says no one has complained; in fact, the shoe has sold better than expected.

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING

Ah, the romance of diplomacy! In France, Foreign Minister Herve de Charette gave Madeleine Albright five pecks (four on the cheek, one on the hand). In Moscow, Yasser Arafat one-upped him by bestowing six busses on Boris Yeltsin (three on the cheek, three on the forehead). A new warmth in foreign relations?

BRAVE NEW WORLD?

Where to draw the line between the right to know and the right to be left alone? From its rulings about sifting through other people's garbage (it's O.K.) to last week's decision permitting cops to order passengers to get out of a car, the Supreme Court has been awfully mealymouthed about protecting the zone of privacy it once discovered in the Constitution. Now the pace of technology is speeding past the ability of lawmakers to adapt. Herewith a sampling of the latest gadgetry that will soon be watching you.

EYES IN THE SKY Some governments have been spying from the heavens for decades, but later this year the first commercial imaging satellites are scheduled to lift off. Their high-resolution photos are expected to be a boon for developers and environmentalists--as well as foreign governments and well-heeled voyeurs.

THE CAMERA NEVER BLINKS Security cameras are nothing new, but police are now posting them on commercial and residential streets. Sure, they're a nifty way to nab criminals in the act--or to catch a couple kissing on a bench or a fellow picking up the morning paper in his pj's.

CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU? Smart highway systems such as automated toll-collection devices hold the promise of smoothing out traffic jams, eliminating toll booths and cutting costs. But the same equipment that permits the automatic billing of a passing car can be used to register a motorist's whereabouts.

IS THIS WHAT SUPERMAN SEES? Terrorists and smugglers routinely hide weapons and drugs on their person. Now technology (developed by American Science & Engineering) enables security personnel to conduct a body search without ordering the removal of a single stitch of clothing. Are you sure you want airline employees to undress you with their eyes?

23 YEARS AGO IN TIME

An Immovable Force

When Leon Jaworski took over the Watergate investigation from the fired Archibald Cox, some thought the new special prosecutor would be too soft: "Quietly, efficiently, going his own way, Jaworski has turned out to be nobody's man but his own, determined that justice be done...From the White House point of view, he is no improvement on Cox. He is often even more tenacious and less tolerant of anything that stands in his way. A pragmatic and informal man with a prosecutor's instinct for the kill, Jaworski is not so interested as Cox was in legal theory and lengthy staff discussions on the meaning of the law. Once his cases are sound, he wants to get them quickly to court." --March 11, 1974