Notebook: Jul. 7, 1997

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LOST IN CYBERSPACE? Forty-two government agencies shelled out about $349 million to maintain 4,515 Websites and bulletin boards for fiscal years 1994-96. The biggest spenders (in millions of dollars):

DEPT. OF DEFENSE $147.8 NASA $30.8 DEPT. OF COMMERCE $27.2 EPA $23.8 DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE $15.5

Source: General Accounting Office

LOCAL HERO

HELEN RAMEY, 78, LOS ANGELES; founded the Remedial Reading and Learning Center

Don't tell Helen Ramey that inner-city youth are beyond help--unless you want to get her angry. "You can save the children," she stresses. "You just have to be there for them." In 1969, in her church's basement, Ramey started tutoring children who could not read or write. Since then, her program has moved into its own building, where each year volunteers work one-on-one with more than 600 at-risk youngsters aged 8 to 18.