The Week July 17-23

NATION

Health-Care Maneuvers

Following an address to the National Governors' Association in Boston in which President Clinton appeared to waffle on the question of universal coverage, the political arm wrestling over health-care reform intensified in Washington. Democratic leaders of both houses met with Clinton late in the week to tell him they would work to craft a different but still universal program that could win a majority in both chambers. In effect, it was an abandonment of the Clinton plan. No details were released, but majority leader George Mitchell announced that "our plans will be less bureaucratic, more voluntary, and will be phased in over a longer period of time."

The Simpson Case

Once again entering a plea of not guilty, O.J. Simpson was arraigned on charges that he stabbed to death his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman last month. The trial was assigned to superior court Judge Lance Ito. Before the arraignment, Simpson offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the "real killer or killers," and set up a toll-free number to take tips from the public.

Another Whitewater Ripple

Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig, the nation's top bank regulator, wrote in a memo that surfaced last week that President Clinton had approached him for "advice and counsel" regarding the "legal-regulatory issues relative to the Whitewater matter." Ludwig says he responded that it would be "impermissible" for him to give such advice. The White House retorted that the only information Clinton sought from Ludwig, an old college pal, was the names of real estate experts who could write sympathetic articles about Whitewater issues.

Sailing Rough Seas

Secretary of the Navy John Dalton has found himself in hot water. When he was being considered for his Navy post, the White House and the Senate Armed Services Committee chose to brush aside his past legal problems as head of a failed Texas S&L, according to the New York Times. Dalton insists he was "completely straightforward" with the Administration and the committee about the matter.

Breaking the CIA's Frat Code

CIA Director R. James Woolsey denounced CIA mole Aldrich Ames as a "malignant betrayer of his country" whose selling of secrets because he wanted a "bigger house and a Jaguar"cost U.S. agents their lives. Woolsey acknowledged, however, that the agency's "fraternity" culture of secrecy, protectiveness and loyalty helped shield Ames from being unmasked earlier.

Judge to Citadel: About-Face

A federal judge ordered the Citadel, the state-supported military college in South Carolina, to admit Shannon Faulkner to its all-male corps of cadets next month and to develop plans to admit other women soon. The school said it would appeal.

Troubling Demographics

The Census Bureau released a report showing that out-of-wedlock births are skyrocketing. In 1993 about 6.3 million children in the U.S., or more than a quarter of those under 18, lived with a single parent who had never married -- in contrast to 3.4 million in 1983 and 243,000 in 1960.

WORLD

Rwandan Refugees' Nightmare