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NPR's Claudio Sanchez asks: when is a child's kiss an innocent show of affection..and when is it sexual harassment? Judging from two incidents this week, some public school officials are having a hard time telling the difference. One involved a six-year-old, the other a seven-year-old...both were suspended for kissing a classmate. The kisses illustrate the difficulty schools have with defining -- and dealing with -- the topic of harassment.

Noah talks with Michael Donner, who has compiled oodles of palindromes into a new book: I Love Me, Vol. I -- S. Woodrow's Palindrome Encyclopedia. Probably the most famous palindrome, which is a word phrase which reads the same forwards or backwards, is "Able I was ere I saw Elba."

who last week was convicted in a terrorist conspiracy to blow up US airliners. Authorities also believe that Yousef was the man responsible for the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. He's set to stand trial for that bombing sometime next year.

NPR'S Eric Westervelt reports on today's court hearing during which a judge ordered Major League umpires back to work. The umpires had threatened a protest strike over the delayed punishment meted out to Orioles player Roberto Alomar, who spit in the face of an umpire when he got into a heated argument over a call.

Robert talks to poet and translator Stephen Mitchell, who has just issued a new translation of the book of Genesis. Mitchell is fascinated by the mystery and strangeness of many of the stories in the book... the talking serpent in the Garden of Eden, the fact that Jacob wrestles and defeats God... and thinks that other translators and scholars often gloss over them. Mitchell has not divided his book into its traditional chapters, but has instead identified each story as being the work of a specific writer.

On election day, voters in many states will be asked to check several boxes on their ballots for state judges. Most people won't know much if anything about the candidates. And that's a problem, as NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports. Critics of the practice of electing judges say justice and politics are a dangerous mix. But the candidates say raising money and pleasing voters doesn't affect their objectivity.

This evening, NPR News will begin to feed unedited campaign messages produced by the Clinton and Dole campaigns to make use of the free air time offered by a number of television and radio outlest. In today's segment, we'll air segments by both President Clinton and challenger Bob Dole.

NPR's Vicky Que reports on the rise of drug use, particularly marijuana, among teenagers and how researchers are still deciding on the best method for curtailing it. One problem may be that baby boomer parents haven't been as concerned about marijuana use by teenagers as experts think they should be. Marijuana is also much cheaper and more readily available today, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to control.

Steven Smith of Minnesota Public radio reports on the challenges to creating viable businesses in Black communities. African Americans spend 400-billion dollars a year on consumer items, but Black leaders want a higher proportion of that to go to black-owned businesses.

Daniel talks with Film Director Spike Lee. Lee's new movie opened this week nationwide and it's about a group of Black men who travel by Bus to the Million Man March, which was held last year in Washington D.C. The characters in the film represent, what Lee says, are all aspects of the Black community. He says it's not what you would usually see in a Hollywood film. Also, the film was financed by donations from 15 Black men. Lee turned down money offers from big studios and when the film was done, he sold the film to Columbia for a profit.

- Cory speaks with NPR's Andy Bowers on Russian President Boris Yeltsin's recent acknowledgement that he is suffering from heart disease and will undergo an operation later this month. Bowers says Yeltsin's announcement has sparked serious political jockeying among several political rivals and questions about the country's untested mechanism for presidential succession.

W.M. Stepp was an obscure fiddle player from Kentucky who was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1937. One of the tunes captured on acetate was Stepp's version of "Bonaparte's Retreat." Up to then, the tune was usually played as a march. Stepp played it as a hoedown. Aaron Copland got hold of Stepp's version and used it almost note for note as the "Hoedown" in his music for Agnes DeMille's ballet, "Rodeo." Folklorist Stephen Wade - best-known for his stage show, "Banjo Dancing" - discovered all of this on a research trip to the Library of Congress's Archive of Folk Culture and presents it in the first of a series of occasional musical commentaries. (4:00) ((ST

to Washington that comes just days after he met with Palestinian leader Arafat. >

Senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that the United States' long history of involvement in Middle East diplomacy reduces President Clinton's political risk in orchestrating this week's emergency summit.

" >The Dark Side of the Game" which looks at the everyday aspects of the NFL.

Robert talks with Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, about the implications of the Senate's rejection of a bill today that would have guaranteed against job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

NPR's Vicky Que reports that the Food and Drug Administration today moved closer to approving the controversial drug RU 486, the so-called "French abortion pill." The FDA told the Population Council of New York that the agency would approve the drug as an alternative to surgical abortions if the non-profit group adequately addressed questions about the labeling and manufacturing of the drug. RU 486 has been strongly opposed by anti-abortion groups.

The U.S. trade deficit increased to its highest level in eight years as imports increased and exports failed to keep pace. NPR's John Ydstie talks with Robert about whether the widening of the nation's trade deficit is a good or a bad thing and what the prospects are for the future.

former Executive Director of the New York Financial Control Board, about the problems the District of Columbia Financial Control Board has had during its first year-and-a-half of existence. Procter says the D.C. Board is being asked to make decisions about financial priorities that are political in nature and should be decided by the Mayor and City Council.

Commentator Michael Shuman says that President Clinton has not made good on his promise to slash the military budget; Bob Dole won't touch the issue either, because both candidates are using the military's budget as the porkbarrel of last resort.

Robert talks with Bob Yockes, an attorney specializing in intellectual property, patents, and computer technology. They discuss the law suit filed by the National Basketball Association against Sports Team Analysis and Tracking Systems, Inc. and Motorola. The two companies are appealing an injunction against the dissemination of NBA sports scores via pager systems.

Noah talks with Dale Hughes, the chief operating officer of V96SG and the chief designer and project manager of the 1996 Olympics velodrome. They discuss the portable track used for the Olympic bike racing competitions in Atlanta, which is the only one of its kind in the world. Atlanta doesn't want to keep it, so the portable velodrome is up for sale.

Several of Mexico's most-acclaimed musicians are living in Texas and playing in Tex-Mex burrito joints and at rodeos. But they don't seem to mind...because they're making a LOT more money doing that than they would have if they'd stayed in Mexico. NPR's John Burnett reports.

NPR's Vicky Que examines the question of whether cigarettes are, in fact, a 'gateway' to illegal drug use. The Clinton administration says one of the reasons it wants to reduce smoking by young people is to reduce subsequent use of marijuana and other illegal drugs.

Senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that the lack of excitement in Sunday night's debate may have dissapointed some, but he applauds the return to civility--which may even bring the presidential campaign closer to discussing concrete issues.