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Takes a look at musicians that get their start performing on subway station platforms.

Focuses on teen vernacular. How college graduates carry the slang into the professional world; Comments of Paul Ciborowski, author of `Working with Tomorrow's Teens: A 21st Century Challenge'; Stepping up on speaking instruction; How young people's ability to speak articulately has gone down; How presentation skills are lacking.

Focuses on science education in the United States as of March 23, 1999. Details of the release of the 1998 Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), showing loss of interest in science as students advance; Focuses of researchers on how to interest students in science; The need for more teacher training in science; Comments from teachers and students; The National Science Teachers Association's (NSTA) role; Outlook.

Explains that two operators of campus bookstores have launched online bookstores. Online services from Follett Corp., and Barnes & Noble College Bookstores Inc.; Sagging publishers' profits; Students' book purchasing habits; Number of hits for the Follett site; Features of the sites; Mailing costs.

Examines the success of the Young Women's Leadership School, New York City. Controversy over the all-girls public school; Views of the school's principal, Celenia Chevere; Those who oppose the school's exclusion of boys; The school's rapid expansion; The school's founder, Ann Rubenstein; Quality of the school; Value of the all-girls environment.

Describes the fate of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. His relations with the United States; Accusations of illegal activities; Invasion of Panama by the US in 1989; Noriega's surrender and trial; Questions about his trial; His sentence which he is serving in Florida.

Focuses on Respectable Rover, an obedience school for dogs run by Danielle Puduski. How she has brought mutual respect into her classes; What the method relies on; How she teaches a dog to sit; How the owners must be trained.

Interviews Barbara Rudolph, a New York, New York-based writer and journalist. Her book `Disconnected'; Why she chose to study America's work culture; Her career as a business writer for publications like `Times' and `Forbes'; The research for her book at AT&T; Examination of the emotional repercussions of downsizing.

Profiles impressionist Rich Little. How he became popular for his impressions of politicians and celebrities; Performances in Las Vegas, Nevada; His memoir `People I've Known and Been'; His appearance on `The Judy Garland Show' in 1964.

Explains the work of Edwin Meese since resigning as attorney general of the United States in 1988. His time as an advisor to President Ronald Reagan; His notoriety; Investigation into his ethics; His passion for public policy; His work at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and The Heritage Foundation; His memoirs, `With Reagan: The Inside Story.'

Presents reviews of the top five fiction books for children and the top five children's picture books for September 21, 1998, according to `Publishers Weekly.' Fiction books including `The Giver,' by Lois Lowry and `The View from Saturday,' by E.L. Konigsburg; Picture books including `Mulan Classic Storybook,' from Disney and `If You Give a Pig a Pancake,' by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond.

Presents news and information about education in the United States for September 22, 1998. postcardsfrom.com, a Web site offering travel and history information; Members of Richard Nixon's administration; The interest of high school students in after-school clubs; The indictment of Phi Gamma Delta in the alcohol-related death of Scott Krueger; Increased scholarships at Harvard University; The lack of interest in Western Governors University, a virtual university.

Focuses on hydrothermal vent worms, or worms which live in the superheated water of the ocean where cracks in the earth's surface vent water and chemicals. Comments from Bob Feldman, a senior scientist at Diversa Corp., which collects bacteria living in extreme conditions; The temperatures that the Alvinellid worms can withstand; How the vents are small patches of life in deep sea.

Discusses the efforts of the oceanic research community to find a live giant squid. Comments from James Bellingham of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who led a three week expedition to find giant squid in 1997; Why scientists want to find a live giant squid; Estimates for the size of the giant squid, based on research on dead ones found in whale or in fishing nets; Questions which remain unanswered about giant squid. INSET: More ocean mysteries, revealed.

Debunks some of the ancient myths related to the sea, including sea monsters and mermaids. How many of the myths began from misinterpretations; The science of cryptozoology, which seeks to find and study animals thought to be mythical; Why many scientists feel the bowhead whale is the origin of sea monster myths; The dugong, thought to be the origin of mermaid myths; Sea creatures which science knows little about.

Presents information about Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, who starred as Jane and Michael Banks in the movie `Mary Poppins.' Other movies the two were in; Garber's death in 1977; What Dotrice is doing in 1998.

Presents a variety of information pertaining to learning and education. Details about web sites for home schooling; How it is important for college freshmen to contact their roommate before the semester begins; Girls outperform boys in academic achievement; Police in Cambodia deployed to prevent cheating on exams.

Profiles songwriter and performer Tom Lehrer. Brief biographical background.

Reports on the creation of coins at the United States Mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. How a coin is born; Issuance of a quarter in 1999 to commemorate all 50 states over a 10-year time frame; Why the Mint stopped using precious metals to make coins; History of coins. INSET: The case of the missing coins by Xabier Escalante.

Focuses on two summer programs that send students to the South to study civil rights in the United States. Project Hip-Hop (Highways Into the Past History Organizing and Power), sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts; The Overground Railroad/Agora Project for college students; The goals of the two programs; The places they visit; Activities that students participate in.

Reports on the activity of Bill Watterson, creator of the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes. His statement announcing his retirement; Preference of Watterson for a quiet life; His avoidance of interviews; Pursuit of painting somewhere in the Midwest by Watterson.

Reports on `two-way' bilingual education in elementary schools. Barbieri Elementary School in Framingham, Massachusetts; Fundamentals of two-way bilingual programs; Dissatisfaction with standard bilingual education; Comments from Barbieri Principal Peter Dittami; Number of two-way programs nationwide; Academic results of two-way programs.

Provides information about the members of the popular 1980s group New Kids on the Block in 1998. Their success in the 1980s; How many of the five members are still involved in show business; Number of them that went to college.

Looks at Rainforest Reptile Shows, an educational project which teaches children about conservation, the rain forest and reptiles that is run by Michael Ralbovsky and his family. Number of animals that the family has in their house; Types of animals including iguanas, baby alligators, turtles, lizards and frogs; Ralbovsky experiences as a herpetologist, one who studies reptiles and amphibians; Costs of caring for all the animals; How the family views the work they do for the animals. INSET: Lizards as pets: Friendly, costly.

Looks at the literacy outreach effort sponsored by the PEN American Center which tries to encourage students taking the General Educational Development (GED) test to recognize the relevance of literature in their lives. Comments from Gish Jen, author of `A Typical American,' who has spoken for several adult learning programs; The motivation of the students preparing for the GED; How seeing common ground between themselves and Jen can help change their lives.

Focuses on gasoline and petroleum prices in the United States as of March 12, 1998. Why analysts feel that the petroleum market is weak enough that low prices will continue for quite a while; How overproduction has lowered the price of petroleum, thus hurting the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); Decreased demands for oil across the world, which has kept the excess oil high; Average price for a gallon of gas in the US.

Provides information about children in the American Great Plains in the 19th century. The `Little House' series by Laura Ingalls Wilder; The work that children did; Types of chores they were expected to perform; What they did for fun. INSETS: More about the frontier;Play like a pioneer.

Profiles professional basketball player, Kate Starbird. The naming of her as 1997's College Player of the Year; Her contract with American Basketball League's (ABL) Seattle Reign; Comments form Starbird.

Focuses on space available or standby travel, in which empty seats on airplanes are sold to travelers at huge discounts. Agencies offering space available seating including Air-Tech Ltd. and Airhitch; The success rate of the two agencies; How space available travel works; The importance of flexibility in space available travel; Limits to the number of seats available; Costs for trips across the United States and to Europe.

Looks at Football 101, a series of classes sponsored by the National Football League to solidify a female fan base for football by teaching women the essentials of the game. Comments from several women who have attended a Football 101 class; The involvement of Betsy Burns, author of `The Women's Armchair Guide to Pro Football,' and founder of the Women's Institute for Football Education; How the program has changed attitudes about football.

Focuses on communication-skills instructor Debra Fine, and how she teaches people the art of small talk. Importance of small talk and socialization to survival in the business world and development of any kind of relationship; Fine's start in the business of teaching conversational skills; Basic principles of small talk; Conversation killers.

Reports on the first-ever November 1998 statewide School Scrabble Championship in Springfield, Massachusetts. Sponsorship of the event by Scrabble game manufacturer Hasbro and the National Scrabble Association (NSA); Educational aspects of the game; Number of United States schools that use the game; Number of Scrabble tournaments sanctioned by the NSA.

Reports on the whereabouts of Leonardo da Vinci's horse sculpture that was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Why da Vinci never completed the bronze horse; Charles Dent's vow to recreate the horse in 1977; The money and years of research spent on the project; The appearance of the statue scheduled for September 1999.