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- Tom speaks with 74-year old Russell Bonasso who just graduated from West Virginia's Fairmont State College. Bonasso got his bachelor's degree 58 years after he graduated from high school. His educational goals were delayed so he could put his 12 children through college.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports that Boris Yeltsin and the rebel leader in Chechnya have agreed to a ceasefire beginning Saturday in the 17 month-old war. It was not clear whether the Russian military would observe the ceasefire, and the thorniest issue -- the question of Chechen independence -- was put on the back burner.

NPR's Vicky Que reports on residents from Evansville, Indiana, who are up in arms over the government's new weather-forecasting equipment which was recently installed there. They claim that the new, state-of-the-art Doppler Radar designed to help warn residents of dangerous storms has completely missed several which have swept through the town in recent months, and they'd like the old equipment back.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports on Russian President Boris Yeltsin's trip to Chechnya. The trip is seen as part of Yeltsin's campaign to be re-elected president next month. Yeltsin's declaration today that the war is over might be premature.

Robert Siegel probes the political views of the Margalit (MARR-gah-leet) family, which generally supports politicians who hold the leftist point of view. For them, peace is the over-riding issue upon which their decision is made, and they approve of the effort which has been made to deal with the Palestinians.

- Tom talks with MIT economist Lester Thurow about the consequences of a growing elderly population in America. Analysts predict the elderly will become a political majority by the year two-thousand twenty-five. Thurow argues that will change the face of American society, from government to business.

In his speech at Princeton University today, President Clinton proposed a tax credit of $1500 per year for college tuition for full time college students. Robert talks to John Hammang, Director of State and Campus Relations for the American Assocation of State Colleges and Universities about the effects of the proposed tax break on college tuitions and what makes college tuitions so high in the first place.

Noah talks to Prof. Thomas Emmel at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who on Monday will release 800 rare Schaus Swllowtails butterflies into the wild. Emmel started breeding the butterflies in his kitchen in 1992 when the population of the butterflies had been reduced to only 17.

NPR's Peter Overby reports that most political contributions come from very few people. One of the areas of the country that has among the highest concentration of big-time donors is Greenwich, Connecticut. Some say residents there get special attention in return from the political establishment, and campaign finance reformers would like to limit how much money candidates can get from people who do not live in the areas they represent.

Commentator Sam Fulwood says the fight in Prince George's County, Maryland over inviting Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas to speak to an eighth-grade class is a public spectacle of official cowardice, racial politics and divisive posturing. He claims it is a sad example of how race is discussed and used in this country.

JET CRASH - NPR's Jon Greenberg reports on the crash today of a Value-Jet airliner en route from Miami to Atlanta. The jet crashed in the Florida everglades not long after takeoff. 109 people were on board. There are no signs of survivors.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that since the execution last November of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-wiwa [seh-roh-WEE-wah], the US has been talking about what other measures it could take to put pressure on the Nigerian government. There is some support in Congress for more moves against Nigeria's military rulers, but President Clinton does not appear willing to push for the sanction that would hurt the most: an oil embargo.

Ailene Leblanc of member station WHQR reports that at least 14 Marines died early this morning when their helicopters collided during military maneuvers at Camp Lejuene. The cause of the collision is under investigation. The Marines were part of US-British war games simulating a crisis in the Persian Gulf.

Daniel talks with Colonel Wayne Forbush about the latest news in Liberia. Forbush is the Marine Commander in Charge of protecting the United States Embassy in Monrovia. Forbush says though a ceasefire is currently in effect, fighting still continues.

Deborah Amos reports that an American court is considering a case against Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadich. Karadich has been indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague, but no trial can take place there unless Karadich is arrested. He's still at large in Bosnian Serb territory, but Amos says that won't hamper the American court proceeding.

Over a million teenage girls in the United States become pregnant each year. But there is no consensus over what should be done, or what to tell young people to keep them from becoming sexually active or getting pregnant at an early age. NPR's Vicky Que (KWAY) reports from North Carolina that each community in that state gets to decide whether to encourage teens to abstain or to give them as much information as possible about sex and contraceptives.

Commentator Jonetta Rose Barris believes that when well-meaning legislators seek to ban advertising on cigarettes and alcohol, they take away the critical element of choice. Efforts to ban such advertising in poor, inner city neighborhoods is paternalistic, she says. Children need to learn to exercise their judgement and practice making choices. The ability to choose wisely isn't dropped in our laps when we turn 21, she says. We need to teach them to beware the products, not the ads.

Commentator Jerry Landay teaches "issues in television" at the University of Illinois. He examines the use of paid political commercials. Paying for these spots is prohibitively expensive and means that some candidates, like those for state offices, spend all their time fundraising instead of pressing the flesh and talking about issues. The networks handing free time to presidential candidates is a step in the right direction, but that does nothing to help the little guy out there running for the state legislature.

Daniel talks with Boston Globe reporter Daniel Golden about a recent investigative report he wrote. He found that 11.5 billion dollars worth of unclaimed property is being held by the federal and state governments with little effort to find the owners. Golden says this is a growing trend as governments become more strapped for funds. He argues that governments have a responsibility to do more to return these funds. In his investigation, Golden was able to locate the owners of over $200,000 dollars worth of unclaimed property.

Susan speaks with NPR's Ann Garrels in Moscow about the ceasefire that was supposed to go into effect at midnight Friday in Chechnya. Fighting continued today despite the agreement to halt fighting, an agreement Russia's president Boris Yeltsin concluded this week with the Chechen rebel leader.