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Quinn Klinefelter of WDET in Detroit reports the head of the National Highway Traffic Administration says automakers must improve the safety of sport utility vehicles or the government may force them to do so. But car companies counter that they are already offering improved safety devices on the popular vehicles.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports the Bush administration is going to court in support of three white university students who say their school uses racial quotas. The White House is accusing the University of Michigan of using quotas in deciding who is admitted. The university says its policy is constitutional, and that race is one of many factors it considers in its selection process. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress say after the racial remarks made by Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), now is not the time for the administration to challenge the factor of race in admissions.

Guest host John Ydstie talks with Alberto Almeida, who has devised an index to measure fear among residents of nine major cities in Brazil. Almeida is the head of opinion research at Brazil's leading business school, the Fundacao Getulio Vargas, in Rio de Janeiro.

Some Minnesota towns put old schoolhouses up for sale. The price is right, but prospective buyers also need to do their homework on a site development plan.

Autism is a disease that often drives people apart. It separates children from parents, and can leave parents feeling abandoned by researchers who offer no cure and little hope. But the MIND Institute, founded by fathers of autistic sons, is trying to change that by making parents key players in the search for a cure. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports that a World Trade Organization court has ruled that the so-call Byrd Amendment to U.S. trade law is a violation of international trade rules. The amendment, named after Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), requires the Customs Service to hand over the anti-dumping duties it collects to the companies that brought the unfair trade complaints. Hard-pressed steel companies were the main beneficiary of the law. The U.S. Trade Representative's Office says it will work with Congress to bring U.S. law into compliance with international trade rules.

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton arrives in South Korea for talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Bolton says the United States will aim to get the United Nations involved in the issue. NPR's Eric Weiner reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel takes note of some of the celebrations around the country today commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As U.S. armed forces rapidly gear up for a possible war with Iraq, problems with homeland security emerge. Some worry about the shortage of qualified first responders, as many local firefighters, EMTs, and police officers are also military reservists who could be called to active duty. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

Martin Luther King, Jr. famously hoped for a day when his children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. It's been nearly 40 years since then, and commentator Aaron Freeman hopes for even more for his daughters. He wants to raise them as if "African-American" is not their primary identity, but one of many things they are, along with athletes, Chicagoans and scholars. The problem is that it's working. They have a different outlook than he does, and he's afraid they are a different race than he is. The struggle against racism has defined much of his life, and he fears that they don't even take racism personally.