NOTEBOOK

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Members of Team 100, an elite group of Republicans who have given more than $100,000 to the party, received an extraordinary letter this week from John Moran, finance chairman of Bob Dole's presidential campaign and former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. As first reported in the Washington Post, Moran charges that the R.N.C. has been hijacked by the Christian Coalition "and others who are adamantly opposed to a moderate agenda"; that these forces (led by Coalition executive director Ralph Reed) engineered the election as R.N.C. chairman of Jim Nicholson, who "will now be beholden to the far right for their support"; and that as a result, the members of Team 100 ought to be "giving consideration to throwing our financial support to a committee or organization that has a more moderate Republican political philosophy." Saying the Coalition is at a point where it is "exercising significant control" over the R.N.C., Moran suggests that the G.O.P.'s future "is in jeopardy."

HEALTH REPORT

THE GOOD NEWS

--Another strike against STROKES. Doctors have come up with a three-minute exam that can help paramedics spot a stroke at the scene with 90% accuracy. By having patients smile, lift their arms and squeeze the examiners' fingers, paramedics can detect one-sided motor weakness, a hallmark of the ailment.

--Sparing the scalpel. Most babies who develop misshapen, FLATTENED HEADS in the early months of life can avoid corrective surgery by simply wearing special headgear or changing their sleep position.

--Watch for more feminine-hygiene commercials. The FDA will allow over-the-counter sales of Vagistat-1, the first and only topical medication for vaginal YEAST INFECTIONS that works with one dose.

THE BAD NEWS

--Who says one puff doesn't count? If you're a SMOKER trying to quit by using a nicotine patch, don't even think about sneaking a drag on Day One. Those who do are 10 times as likely to be smoking again within six months as those who resist the impulse.

--Get to bed! Varying the time you go to SLEEP by just a couple of hours can make you grouchy the next day--even if you get enough sleep. Reason: your mood deteriorates when the body's internal clock is thrown out of synch.

--Doctors used to think it didn't matter if high blood levels of the enzyme creatine kinase showed up in patients who had undergone ANGIOPLASTY. But now research finds the enzyme is linked to twice the normal risk of dying from a heart attack within 10 years of the procedure.

Sources--GOOD NEWS: American Heart Association conference; Pediatrics; Food and Drug Administration BAD NEWS: Archives of Internal Medicine; Archives of General Psychiatry; Journal of the American Medical Association

LOCAL HEROES

LIEUT. COLONEL DR. JACK POWELL, 46; BEAVERCREEK, OHIO; creator of First Team

Dr. Powell, a pediatric cardiologist, was looking for a way to help hospitalized chronically ill children communicate with one another when he discovered a cache of surplus computers on his Air Force base. The equipment, plus the acquisition of donated online time, led to the creation of a Website that enables ailing children across the country to share their experiences and insights.