Time Magazine Contents Page

COVER STORIES

54

EDUCATION: Tough Choice

Will free-market competition kill or cure the ailing U.S. public school system?

24

NATION: The Thomas Nomination

The ordeal of being black and successful in America

32

WORLD: Can the Center Hold?

A shaky new Soviet government aims to halt the fragmentation

46

BUSINESS: They're Back

After the '80s, investment bankers rebuild on firmer ground

INTERVIEW Myriam Miedzian discusses men, sports and violence 16

HEALTH Why is the death rate so high among blacks? 50

SPACE How a satellite seeks to save the planet 53

SPORTS Some athletes get mad to do better than get even 64

RELIGION Computer-generated Dead Sea scrolls cause a fuss 64

SHOW BUSINESS On today's musical stages, there's more of Loesser 67

CINEMA A marvelous melodramatic hubbub from Gerard Depardieu 68

NATURE Stalking polar bears in the treacherous Arctic 70

BOOKS Why the Democrats self-destruct so often 72

MILESTONES Frank Capra had superb skill to match his sentiment 77

ESSAY Pico Iyer raises a toast to the 9s 78

DEPARTMENTS

LETTERS 6

GRAPEVINE 21

PEOPLE 75

Photograph for TIME by Gregory Heisler