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Discusses the decline in the stock market and the economy of the United States in March 2001. Effect of the loss of stock market wealth on economic deceleration; Topics of recessions and bear markets; Financial indicators signaling trouble in the economy, including layoffs and consumer confidence; Strength of the U.S. economy in areas of housing sales, jobs, interest rates, and inflation; Predictions of economists.

Discusses the impact of school violence and shootings by students in the United States. Legacy of the Columbine High School mass killings; Data that suggests how safe schools are; Positive actions taken to prevent attacks on schools, including awareness to potential danger and the reporting of threats made by students.

Discusses the pardons of former United States President Bill Clinton. Investigation into the pardoning of four members of a Hasidic sect in New York in a possible exchange of votes for Clinton's wife, Hillary, who was running for the U.S. Senate; How Hillary's brother made $400,000 in helping broker two commutations; How Clinton denied his brother Roger's plea to grant clemency to some of his friends.

Discusses the benefits and drawbacks of cloning human beings. Concerns of ethicists regarding the possible misuses of the technology; How cloning could benefit those who, for example, need a bone-marrow transplantation; Opinions on the topic. INSETS: MY SISTER, MY CLONE, by Susan Reed;COPYDOG, COPYCAT, by Cathy Booth Thomas.

Reports on the deregulation plan in California which has lead to an energy crisis. Thoughts of California Governor Gray Davis on the wholesale prices of electricity being sold from out-of-state; Failure of California to build power plants; Thought that California dismantled its private power-generating industry without securing adequate power supplies. INSETS: LIGHTS OUT FOR DAVIS?, by Terry McCarthy and David S. Jackson;IT'S GRIM AND DIM FOR THE DOTCOMS, by Chris Taylor.

Discusses the United States government trial against nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee. Allegations that he downloaded classified data about US nuclear weapons programs; Purpose of the trial to ascertain what happened to discs on which the information was copied; Dismissal of most of the charges against Lee as part of a plea bargain; Opinion that the government could have obtained the information without a long trial. INSET: THE STORY WITHIN THE STORY, by Jodie Morse, Jay Branegan, et al.

Discusses charity in the United States, and the generosity of Americans in donating their money and time. Statistics of charitable gifts in the U.S. for 1999, and speculation as to why Americans have been so charitable; How millionaires from the technology industries have contributed to charity, and how they are changing the way philanthropy is carried out.

Discusses the issue of lawyers in the United States setting policy on guns, tobacco and health maintenance organizations through their lawsuits. Details of how Mississippi lawyer Dickie Scruggs sued the tobacco industry on behalf of the state rather than an individual; Topics of tort reform, public policy being defined by trial lawyers, and awards and legal fees; Position of presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush. INSET: A Fighter Pilot Goes to Court, by Dan Goodgame.

Reports on what the proposed divide of Microsoft Corp. will mean for the company, its rivals, the stock market and the customers. Ruling by federal Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that the company had illegally used its monopoly power to stifle innovation; Break up of the Microsoft monopoly when the world is moving away from personal computers to large-scale computer networks; Insistence by Microsoft owner Bill Gates that it is impossible to split the operating system from the applications side of Windows.

Reports on the performance of the United States stock markets as of April 24, 2000. Record fall of the Nasdaq and lows for the Dow Jones; Description of bear markets in which every rally becomes a chance to unload instead of every dip being an opportunity to buy; Commonality of rapid market moves due to the quick dissemination of information via the Internet. INSET: How to Value a Stock, by John Greenwald.

Profiles Katie Couric and her crusade to bring colorectal cancer awareness to the public. Her interest in the disease after losing her husband to it; Designation of March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; Description of the disease; Methods of prevention of the cancer, including regular screenings; Different options in treatment of colorectal cancer. INSET: The Queen of Cause Marketing.

Focuses on the scandal involving the Rampart Police Station in Los Angeles (LA), California. Role of former LA police officer Rafel Perez in making police corruption known; Description of the Rampart neighborhood and the special antigang unit, Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, or CRASH; Claims of Perez that included the cover-up of unjustified shootings; How blame for police brutality and corruption seems to lie with the hiring practices of the LA police department.

Focuses on the commercialism accompanying the change from the year 1999 to 2000. Media and business hype surrounding the millennium; Effect of the year 2000 (Y2K) computing crisis on the millennial spirit; A global partygoer's guide; Why people are opting for a simple, meaningful New Year's Eve. INSET: The Y2K Bug: Do We Still Have to Worry?, by Chris Taylor.

Discusses the United States federal court ruling on charges of antitrust violations against Microsoft Corp. and how the court decision by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will affect the future of Microsoft. Reaction from Microsoft competitors; Bill Gate's video press release after the ruling; Possible punishments for Microsoft; Details of the case; Question of whether lawsuits like this are good for the country; Outlook. INSETS: What It May Mean for Gates, by Chris Taylor;What It May Mean for You;What Gates Did: Seven Deadly Sins.

Profiles Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs. His life and career; Various business enterprises in which he has been involved; His success at Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios; Release of a new iMac by Apple; Scheduled release of motion picture `Toy Story 2'. INSET: Meet the New Macintosh, by Joshua Quittner.

Reports on the shooting rampage of Buford O. (Neal) Furrow at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles, California, as of August 23, 1999. Details; Wounding of five people, which included three children; Charges that he faces, including federal charges for killing an on duty federal employee, Joseph Ileto; Biographical and personality information; Involvement with the Aryan Nations, an organization of white supremacists; Comments from family friend and former classmate Loni Merrill. INSETS: Fueling Hate;The Journey of a Gun.

Discusses the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Murder of 15 people by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris; How the slaughter has opened a sad national conversation about what turned two boys into mass murderers; Details of the events, which took place on Adolf Hitler's birthday; The group, the Trench Coat Mafia, which embraced Nazi mythology; Rivalry between the Trench Coats and athletes; Agony of parents waiting for news of their children; The search for an explanation.

Contemplates what the future holds for United States President Bill and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Impact of the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky; View that a presidential victory by Vice President Al Gore will validate the Clinton presidency; Issues which Clinton is not likely to push for before leaving office; The legacy which he will leave; Hillary's future plans; Plans of Clinton to build a presidential library in Arkansas; Speculation on whether either Hillary or Bill will publish a book of memoirs. INSETS: Bill's Afterlife;Hillary's Afterlife;When Will Starr Pull the Plug?;Ken's New Options

The article discusses the separation of powers between the President and the Congress in the U.S. democratic system. It explores the legislative veto, wherein the Congress drafts a statute but incorporates a provision for a review of the Executive Branch's implementation of the law. It reports on the decision of the Supreme Court declaring that the legislative veto is an unconstitutional usurpation of power by Congress.

The article reports on the publication of the study entitled "Deciding to Forgo Life-Sustaining Treatment," from the U.S. President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1983. The study concluded that a competent patient has the right to decide his own fate. The commission called for the courts and legislatures not to intervene in the decision of the patients or their families.

The article reports on the efforts of drug-traffic cops to crash the proliferating cases of cocaine trade in the U.S. It mentions the national survey by Yankelovich, Skelly & White Inc. which found that 11% of adults had sampled cocaine and the drug had pushed its roots deeper into the American life. It adds that the cocaine use had become pervasive despite the crackdown efforts from police and federal drug agents.

The article reports on the decision of jury to acquit John W. Hinckley Jr. for attempted assassination in the U.S. It states that Hinckley, who had fired a revolver full of explosive bullets at President Ronald Reagan to prove his love for actress Jodie Foster, was acquitted of attempted assassination. It notes that Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The article offers information on the agreement that settled the U.S. government's seven-year old antitrust suit against AT&T. It mentions that the agreement opened the way for AT&T's divestiture of the least profitable and slowest-growing side of its business which is the local telephone service by bearing its 22 operating subsidiaries. It notes that the move will lead AT&T to surge ahead with more products and services without fear of being stopped by government regulation.

Discusses how accused Unabomber Ted Kaczynski is attempting to throw the trial into disarray. His attempt to hang himself with his underwear in his jail cell; His threat to fire his lawyers if they kept on insisting on portraying him as mentally ill; His argument that he wanted to defend himself; The questions that the trial brings out.

Discusses circumstances surrounding the alliance between Apple Computer and Microsoft. The announcement of the alliance by Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple at the Macworld Expo in Boston, Massachusetts in August 1997; The effort of Jobs in negotiating the deal with Bill Gates; The agreement of Gates to not only pay off Apple, but invest in nonvoting Apple stock; Timeline detailing the days leading up to the announcement by Jobs.

Looks at Microsoft's bid to supplant Netscape as the dominant computer company in providing World Wide Web services. Bill Gates' drive behind Microsoft's creation of Microsoft Explorer to lure Internet users away from James Barksdale's Netscape and its Navigator product; Differences between the companies, their products, and the leadership styles of Gates and Barksdale. INSETS: How the Internet works;Q&A Bill Gates;Q&A James Barksdale.

Profiles Bill Gates of Microsoft and discusses some of the attacks that are being waged against him and his company. Ruling by the Justice Department that derailed his $2 billion bid to acquire Intuit; Complaints from some users about some of his software products; Antitrust questions; Some of the companies that Gates has formed alliances with; More. INSET: Barbarians after Gates (adversaries).

Contends that Internet, the world's largest computer network, is being overrun by lawyers, merchants and millions of new users and questions whether there is room for everyone. Ease of access to the Net; Lack of a central command authority; Advertisers; Ad-seeking cancelbots; `Newbies'; Pornography; Clipper Chip; Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet watchdog group. INSET: FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

Examines the explosive merger of video, telephones and computers that is expected to be able to route a movie, airline listings, tomorrow's newspaper, the L.L. Bean catalog or a teleconference with your boss into your television set or computer screen. Technological advances that triggered this merger; Hughes Communications' DirecTv, satellite system; Creation of interactive networks by regional Bell operating companies; Lucrative market; Forced mergers; Details.

Considers the new subculture bubbling up from the underground, cyberpunk, a late-20th century term pieced together from cybernetics and punk. Looks at the world in a combination of infatuation with high-tech tools and disdain for their conventional use; Original use of the word; Possibly defining counterculture of the computer age; Cyberspace the globe-encircling, interconnected telephone network. INSET: Untitled (dictionary of cyberpunk)..