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NPR'S CLAUDIO SANCHEZ REPORTS ON THE EFFORTS OF AN ELITE SCHOOL, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, TO DIVERSIFY IT'S STUDENT BODY. MANY WONDER IF SCHOOLS LIKE HOPKINS MUST LOWER STANDARDS TO ADMIT MINORITIES, BUT SCHOOL OFFICIALS DENY THAT IT IS THE CASE, SAY THAT MEASURES LIKE SAT SCORES ARE NOT THE ONLY MEASURES OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND NOTE THAT 3 OUT OF 4 OF MINORITY STUDENTS THAT THEY ADMIT GRADUATE.

Ani DiFranco [AH-nee dih-FRANK-oh] is a 25-year-old musician who has released seven albums on her own label. With her company based out of her family home in Buffalo and her apartment in New York City, she has built a solid following, selling more than 200,000 units. And Benjamin Shapiro reports that she's done it with songs that are sometimes very frank, addressing sensitive issues like politics, abortion, the intimate details of personal relationships.

NPR's Kathy Lohr reports that an experiment this past week in trying to raise the level of political debate among citizens met with limited success. Sponsors and many of the 459 participants in the National Issues Convention in Austin, Texas, said their deliberations on issues such as the economy and family showed that people with widely different views could reach some agreement. But critics noted that only a few of the main presidential candidates participated in what had been billed as a major meeting between politicians and citizens.

The White House aide who discovered missing billing records from Hillary Rodham Clinton's law firm says they suddenly appeared on a table in plain view. NPR's Jon Greenberg reports that the aide says she doesn't know who put them there. The records had been subpoenaed two years earlier by investigators who wanted to determine how much legal work Mrs. Clinton had done for a failed savings and loan owned by the Clinton's partner in the Whitewater real estate venture.

Ballet in America would not be what it is without Lincoln Kirstein (KURR-steen), who died today in his Manhattan home at the age of 87. NPR's Melissa Block reports that as a dance patron, Kirstein brought choreographer George Balanchine to the United States in 1933. Together they founded the School of American Ballet and later, the New York City Ballet. Kirstein ran both for many years and wrote several books on dance.

a reporter for Advertising Age magazine, about the liquor industry's recent foray into television ads. While not illegal, a gentleman's agreement had kept hard liquor ads off the air. But now Seagram's has taken the plunge, to push its Crown Royal Canadian whiskey. If the campaign is successful, other companies would more than likely join Seagram's and the plethora of beer and wine commercials already on television.

NPR's Peter Overby reports that a ruling today by the Supreme Court appeared to open the way for a whole new category of campaign spending by political parties on congressional campaigns. The court said the Federal Election Commission was wrong when it cited the Colorado Republican Party for exceeding federal spending limits after it spent $15,000 on radio ads in 1986 against a Democratic Senate candidate. Such expenditures, as long as they are made independently of a particular candidate's campaign, should not be limited, the court said.

The government's worst-kept secret is being released today. The Medicare Plan A trust fund -- which is used to pay hospital and home health bills for more than thirty-seven million elederly and disabled people -- will go broke in 2001 instead of 2002, unless something is done to fix it. NPR's Joanne Silberner looks at the Medicare Trustees report and what it means for the future of the program. Most economic analysts find very little difference in the Republican or Democratic proposals to make it solvent.

NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on a plague that is threatening the sunny image of Beverly Hills. Something is causing some of the city's signature palm trees to lose their heads. The tops, or crowns, of a number of trees have simply broken off and crashed to the ground. But with $1.5 million in its "urban forestry" budget, the city is working hard to root out the cause and keep it from spreading. After all, just imagine what a palm crown weighing a ton and a half could do if it fell on someone's Ferrari!

NPR's David Welna reports on delicate diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Mexico about drugs. Congress is moving to overturn President Clinton's decision last week to certify Mexico as "fully cooperating" in the drug war, and the administration is pressing the Mexicans to take several steps to stregthen their anti-drug fight. In particular, the U.S. wants Mexico to reverse its policy of not allowing DEA agents to carry sidearms in Mexico.