NOTEBOOK

By KATHLEEN ADAMS, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, NADYA LABI, LINA LOFARO, JAMIE MALANOWSKI, EMILY MITCHELL, MEGAN RUTHERFORD AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

MAKEOVERS

[WINNERS]

MATTEL Washington is reluctant to put F.D.R. in a wheelchair, but the toymaker plunks a Barbie look-alike in one--and hot pink to boot

JOAN KROC The Grand Forks, N.D., "angel" who disbursed $15 million to flood victims is unmasked by the local paper, but that only burnishes her halo

TIGER WOODS The "Cablinasian" golf champ continues to turn his irons into gold. His latest incarnation: global pitchman for American Express. At least he's not endorsing sneakers

[& LOSERS]

TED KENNEDY The last liberal was able to enlist Republican Orrin Hatch for his child-health plan, only to be tripped up by his own President, Balanced-Budget Bill

THE CONGO What's in a name? Self-proclaimed President Laurent Kabila rechristens Zaire, but citizens just want a democracy--no matter what its name is

INDIANAPOLIS 500 Stringent new limits are the pits, turning racing's premier event for automotive innovation into a slanging match between rival factions

ANNALS OF WRETCHED EXCESS

The auction of Pamela Harriman's very worldly possessions last week provided a snapshot of the market for celebrity relics. Here are a few of the objects and the amount they earned, arranged in order of how much the sale price exceeded or fell below the estimate. Age apparently has its perquisites: memorabilia linked to World War II--era personalities outperformed those from more contemporary figures, although the Camelot cachet was still impressive.

OBJECT ESTIMATE WINNING BID % OF ESTIMATE

Pen used by J.F.K. to ratify the nuclear-test-ban treaty $1,500 $27,600 1,840%

Painting of Sun Valley, Idaho, by Dwight Eisenhower $3,000 $37,375 1,246%

A Churchill Toby Jug, with two toy Churchill figures $300 $2,070 690%

Silver cigarette box, engraved, NOEL/Frank and Mia/66 $500 $2,875 575%

Inscribed copy of Jimmy Carter's Keeping Faith $500 $230 46%

MONEY DOESN'T GROW ON TREES--BUT SOMEDAY...

This month the Greenpeace environmental group and Britain's Cooperative Bank created the world's first biodegradable credit card. Made of a naturally occurring plastic, the card takes only a few weeks to disintegrate in ordinary compost. Trade-named Biopol, the plastic is extracted from a microorganism. Monsanto, which makes Biopol, is developing ways of inserting the microorganism's metabolic process into plants through biotechnology.

PRETTY IN PINK

Ah, prom night! The scent of the corsage, the hum of the limo, the assistant principal manning the Breathalyzer at the gym door. Some things about proms have changed, but the search for the perfect prom dress continues. The big news, according to fashion designer Jessica McClintock, is that glamour and pastels are back. Herewith a tour of prom dresses through the decades:

1950s Fitted waists and full-circle skirts of shimmering silks and rustling taffeta

1960s Scoop necklines and tight bodices gave way to bouffant skirts kept in shape by underlayers of stiff petticoats

1970s Victorianish dresses of calico and gingham with ruffled hems

1980s Flouncy lace and satin dresses with dropped waists in pale colors

1990s Body-slimming, narrow sheaths, often in black.

1997 Retro glam is in. Floor-length gowns with full skirts in pastel shades of gold, lime green or ice blue.

HEALTH REPORT

THE GOOD NEWS

KRAZY GLUE IN THE ER? A medical--and nontoxic--form of super glue can close wounds faster than stitches and with less pain. Two weeks later, it sloughs off--so patients need not get suture removal.

PHONE HOME Just a year after patients with pacemakers were warned against using cellular phones, researchers say the phones are fine--so long as they are held close to the ear when in use and stored away from the chest.

THALIDOMIDE RETURNS The once banned drug has re-emerged as a treatment for AIDS-related canker sores.

THE BAD NEWS

GET OUT THE GAS MASK A major study concludes that nonsmokers double their risk of heart disease when regularly exposed to passive smoke. The researchers warn: if you can smell it, it can harm you.

DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY In patients with heart disease, feelings of sadness or tension may double the odds that coronary arteries will narrow, causing a temporary but potentially dangerous drop in the blood supply to the heart.

JOYLESS JOGGING Vigorous exercise, long thought of as a way to ward off the blues, may do nothing to prevent bouts of depression.

Sources: Journal of the American Medical Association; New England Journal of Medicine (2,3) Circulation; American Journal of Public Health; Journal of the American Medical Association

ROAD SIGN

Florida is no place to ride a bike, with Tampa-St. Pete, Clearwater, Miami and Orlando atop the national list of bicycle fatalities.

Bicycle deaths per million people DANGER ZONES SAFER HAVENS Fla. 8.8 N.D. 1.7 Ariz. 7.0 Okla. 1.6 La. 5.9 N.H. 1.4 S.C. 5.4 W. Va. 1.2 N.C. 4.5 R.I. 1.1

Source: Environmental Working Group

LOCAL HERO

CALVIN BAHE, 50, CHINLE, ARIZ.; runs Damon Bahe Boxing Club

For 20 years Bahe has battled his Navajo reservation's deadly triad of drugs, gangs and alcohol with boxing gloves. A U.S. Park Ranger, he built a gym in his backyard where kids duke it out with used equipment. The club, which is named for his uncle, is a safe place, he says, where reservation kids can "build self-confidence."

TIME CAPSULE

The Bushes' spaniel Millie was one of many political animals to live in the White House. F.D.R.'s beloved FALA, the most memorable First Canine, outlived his master

"Franklin Roosevelt's shaggy black Scottie and near constant companion rode his master's funeral train from Warm Springs to Washington...Five-year-old Fala attended the Hyde Park burial services with his former mistress, the President's cousin Margaret Suckley...cowered and whimpered at the gun salute [and] rolled over on the grass (the President's favorite Fala trick) during the hymn. In spite of barking furiously at the parting volleys, he was led away quietly at the end--still the best-behaved of Roosevelt pets (predecessors nipped ex-Senator Hattie Caraway and wolfed down a dozen plates of ham & eggs from the servants' dining room)." --TIME, April 23, 1945