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Claudio Sanchez reports on the latest results of a 30-year survey of nine, thirteen, and 17-year old American students. The report, which looks at reading, math and science scores, shows today's students are doing better in math than students did 30 years ago. Performance is mixed in reading and science. The survey finds the academic gap between boys and girls has virtually disappeared. It says the gap between white and minority students closed for a while, but has started to open up again. The report also says a much greater percentage of today's students are taking tough courses, such as calculus, than students did 30 years ago.

Host Renee Montagne talks to writer Beverly Donofrio about her search for faith in her new book, Looking for Mary. (5:30) Beverly Donofrio's new book is titled Looking for Mary is published by Viking Pr; ISBN: 06708

The Elements - Satirist Tom Lehrer's recitation of all the names of the chemical elements to the tune of I am a Very Model of a Modern Major General. (1:00) The song The Elements is from the CD The Remains of Tom Lehrer, on Rhino Records, www.Rhino.com.

NPR's Martin Kaste (KAH-stee) talks with host Linda Wertheimer about President Clinton's visit to Colombia to endorse his latest plan to curb drug trafficking. Clinton was meeting Colombian President Pastrana in the coastal city of Cartagena in the wake of a one-point-three-billion dollar package of aid and military support for the Colombian army to help fight guerillas and the drug overlords who support them.

Osteoporosis affects some 10 million Americans now, and those numbers are likely to grow as the baby boom generation ages. Wendy Schmelzer reports on a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, which finds that a drug treatment used by women to treat osteoporosis works just as well for men. That's important, because men account for 20 percent of those affected.

NPR's David Kestenbaum reports on the newest developments in research on narcolepsy.

Michele Kelemen reports from southern Siberia, where computer programmers are hoping to create their own Silicon Valley. Akademgorodok was built as a model town for Soviet scientists. With its highly-educated workforce, it's home to software companies that do programming work -- cheaply -- for Western customers.

Commentator David Weinberger recently returned from four days in Beijing, China. He says as a Westerner it was a truly foreign experience, but there's one place he felt completely at home: on the Internet.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that a day after meeting with President Clinton in Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Yasser Arafat in yet another attempt to get the Middle East peace talks back on track. American mediators are still trying to bridge the gaps between the two sides over Jerusalem in advance of a September deadline for reaching a final peace deal.

Richard Gonzales reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has issued an emergency order that stops the distribution of marijuana for medical use. The ruling bars implementation of the medical marijuana measure passed by California voters in 1996.