August 13, 1995

AS senators dicker over welfare policy, debating how much power to give the states, President Clinton has fostered what amounts to a quiet revolution. His Administration has approved almost all the innovative welfare changes that states have devised. Some impose work requirements and time limits, some require teen-age mothers to live at home and still others deny additional benefits to women who have more children while on welfare. All seek to reduce the rolls and to nudge the poor from welfare to work.

EVERY child likes to feel special, especially in the eyes of a grown-up. But when a special grown-up is missing from their lives -- as is true for nearly one of every four children in Connecticut -- a parent may need to turn to strangers for help. Nationwide, more than one-half of all black and one-third of all Hispanic children are being raised in one-parent homes, according to Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of America. As this figure continues to grow, the need for mentors -- to help children stay in school, keep out of trouble and feel better about themselves -- grows too.

NEW YORKERS & CO. 2 A New Yorker teaches the Japanese to navigate the big city.

In the days before Croatia attacked rebel Croatian Serbs on Aug. 4, Bill Clinton met repeatedly with his national security aides almost every morning to weigh a crucial question: How far should he go in pressuring the Croats to call off their offensive? Anthony Lake, the national security adviser, and Madeleine K. Albright, the United States representative to the United Nations, were arguing that a Croatian attack probably could not be stopped, and might bring some benefits.

The men's 400-meter relay team from the United States has achieved only two results at the Olympics and world championships: a gold medal or disqualification. The Americans have never been beaten by others, but several times they have beaten themselves. On a day when Allen Johnson of Chapel Hill, N.C., won the 110-meter hurdles title with a personal-best of 13.0 seconds, the American 400-meter relay team was disqualified in the first round after a failed baton exchange, continuing a string of disappointing performances in the short sprints at the world track and field championships.