Search results for

to increase minority representation on jury panels. The efforts face a variety of hurdles including the revelation by a recent study suggesting that African-Americans are less likely to respond to the questionnaires that lead to jury duty.

Commentator Frederica Matthewes-Green (fred-REE-kah MATH-yooz GREEN) works at home, but she misses the office -- the daily flow of human interaction among colleagues. So she has joined an on-line group where they regularly enjoy jokes, recipes, memories, and dreams: the skin contact of cyberspace. It isn't like sharing stories with a buddy over the coffeemaker, she says, But it's not like sitting in rush hour traffic, either.

Critic Bob Mondello has a review of the new film "Courage Under Fire," starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan, about the first woman to die in combat as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.

- NPR's John Burnett spends a morning with a man who has written a book about Hummingbirds.

- Storyteller Carmen Deedee recounts a conversation in which she tried to explain to her Catholic how she came to adopt the religion she currently practices.

NPR's John Ydstie reports that an unemployment report released today suggested that economic growth in the U-S is slowing. There had been concern that the growing economy would spark high inflation.

- NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports that investigators of the downed TWA Flight 800 are comparing the forensic evidence from that crash to the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the crash of a French plane over the Sahara Desert, both of which were downed by terrorist bombs.

Ursula Hegi commentary. Hegi teaches creative writing, writes fiction, and... critical to both pursuits... she is a voracious reader. Hegi, whose works include "Stones from the River" and "Salt Dancers," seeks out a certain kind of reading, and tells her students to do the same. It is essential, she says, to find a book whose pages suck the reader in, causing him or her to forget the real world altogether.

Most Americans looking for a place to vacation in the summer go to the mountains, or the sea shore, or a lake... Someplace where the scenery is beautiful and the weather is cool. Another place that's packed every summer: Death Valley National Park on the California-Nevada border... usually the hottest place in the country. This time of year, the overwhelming majority of visitors come from Europe..... and they consider Death Valley a don't-miss part of their tour of the American West. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.

Scott speaks with NPR's Mara Liasson who has been accompanying President Clinton at the G-7 economic summit in Lyon, France. President Clinton has ordered a major review of the bombing in Saudi Arabia and an evaluation of the security measures needed to avert another such attack against U.S. forces.