Bridge Band-Aid

Engineering students at West Virginia's 5-year-old Constructed Facilities Center are testing a new patch, a so-called bridge Band-Aid. So easy to apply, they claim, it can be used to repari bridges without having to divert traffic. It's part of their mission to develop new and imprved building materials and construction techniques. Many of the materials they're testing are called composites - combinations of plastics, fiber glass or space-age carbon materials - that one day might even be used to build an entire bridge.

This Land is our Land

Hawaiian sovereignty advocates like Bumpy Kanahele say their country was stolen form them when Queen Liluokalani surrendered to a squad of US Marines in 1893. They consider Hawii their country and America their visitor. In 1978 the state formed an independent office to create a Native Hawaiian state modeled largely after the Navajo nation of the Southwest. It would be established sometime in the last 1990s, possibly on undevelped land now held by the federal and state governments.

Pop (bottle) Fashion

This is new $85 pullover, made from about 25 recycled plastic soft-drink bottles.(It points a another picture.) Recycler Wellman Corp. chips old soda bottles, melts the chips and spins them into fibers and then into fleece. Sewing factories complete the metamorphosis form pop bottle to pullover. Both environmentally and financially, it makes more sense to make sweaters out of pop bottles than to make new bottles out of the old ones. Patagonia claims customers like the soda-bottle sweaters so well the company sold 16,000 of them the first month.

The Language of Peace

Since the Middle Eastern peace talks began two years ago, a number of Jordanians have started learning Hebrew at his school founded by 60-year-old Ghazi AI-Saadi, Ghazi beliveves his students are studying to get along with Israelis, not to prepare for more war. But, he says sometimes they are reluctant to admit that. Ghazi says he's not in it for the money;he offers this three-month couse for only 90$. He is an optimist whose hope, he says, is simply to enjoy the years he has left in harmony and peace.

India's Fizzy Economy

Coca-Cola, which pulled out of India in 1977 due to government protectioism, will soon be reentering India's soft-drink market. Pepsi has been in the counrty for almost three years and has cptured a third of the cola market. The learder in the Indian fizzy business is a homegrown concentrate called Thums up. Media reports indicate that Coke may team up with Thums up to take on Pepsi. With the cola war spilling over into India, the Indian soft-drink market may become one of the biggest in the world by the turn of the century.

If you drive, no phone!!

Brazilians love to talk on the telephone at home, on the beach and in theri cars. And that can be a lethal combination. Statistics shows that Brzilians are among the world's worst drivers. Every year almost 50,000 Brazilians die in trffic accidents. Police say drvers are undisciplined and easily distracted. So a new law bans talking on the phne while driving. Drivers must pull over to take a call. Many agree it's good idea but doubt the $25 fine is enough to get Brazilian driver to hang up.

Chants Encounter (Chance encounter)

The monks at a small monastery in Silos, Spain have suddenly become pop-music strs. Twenty years ago, they recorded some 1,400 years old Gregorian chants. Last year that recording sold over a million copies in the res of Eupore. The buyers are mostly young poeple attrated by peaceul, relaxing sounds of the chanting. Fame hasn't changed life at the monastery, but the monks hope their music will eave a lasting impression.

Last Chance Lifeline

Nearly 6 millio visitors each year come to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, most for the scenery, some for the fall: 22o ft, straight down to the water. A total of 973 people are know to have leapt to their deaths here. Soon those who get as far as the rail might discover they have one last chance to call for help, on a handy bridge-side telephone directly connected to a suicide prevention center. Supporters note that while a telephone line won't stop anyone from jumping, a compassionate voice on the other end mihgt.

Too much TV

Parents all across the counrty have the same complaint : kids watch too mych TV. Now there my be an answer : a TV credit card called TimeSlot. Each kid gets a card with a limited amount of viewing time. The parents not only decide how mych, they can block out specific times of day. It also works with video games. Sometimes the kids try to get around TimeSlot, but mostly they learn to double up their time by negotiating with one another. Parents and kids alike say using TimeSlot is not that big an adjustment.

Finding the silver Lining

These inner-city L.A. kids are learning to tell jokes and stand on their own two feet, so to speak, as stand-up comics. This workshop was strted after the 1992 riots by the California Art Council to give children a way to vent their fears and frustrations. The kids are taught by professionals, Dwayne and Daryl Mooney, twins who call ther brand of humor "conscious comedy" - jokes that have a positive social message. So even though inner-city life is no joke, these kids can still learn how to laugh, smile and pass it on to others.