Notebook: Jan. 13, 1997

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