NOTEBOOK

By KATHLEEN ADAMS, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, NADYA LABI, LINA LOFARO, EMILY MITCHELL, MEGAN RUTHERFORD AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

JUST DESERTS

[WINNERS]

CEFERINO JIMENEZ MALLA When in Roma...Spanish horse trader is the first Gypsy beatified by the Catholic Church

BEE GEES Stayin' alive: the brothers Gibb (despite historically bad hairdos) enter Rock Hall of Fame

IBM No one's rooting for the ghost in the chess machine, but it's been a p.r. bonanza for its creator

[& LOSERS]

JERRY SPRINGER Hey, not everyone can be Walter Cronkite; Jerry quits under pressure from news prudes

SWISS BANKS The final blow to the myth of Swiss neutrality: scathing report shows they bankrolled Hitler

MARCIA CLARK Mediocre prosecutor yields mediocre tome: $4 million for a self-promoting take on O.J. and Ito

HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME...

Image: George Bush, globe-trotting foreign-policy President; Bill Clinton, domestically focused stay-at-home President. The reality, however, is that homeboy Bill has flitted about almost as much as cosmopolitan George. And with his first visit to Latin America last week, Clinton surpassed his predecessor. But in the First Lady frequent-flyer contest, peripatetic Hillary wins by many a mile over Barbara Bush, who was a veritable domestic shut-in. A comparison of the foreign trips each has headed:

COUNTRIES FAVORITE VISITS MAIDEN CONSPICUOUS COMMON VISITED SPOTS VOYAGE SKIPS STOP

PRESIDENT

BILL 36 Russia, 3 Canada China Costa Italy, Rica France, Israel, Canada

GEORGE 35 France 4 Canada Israel Costa Rica FIRST LADY

HILLARY 33 South 2 Norway Russia Costa Africa Rica*

BARBARA 2 Canada 2 Canada The world Costa Rica *Hillary only made it there with Bill last week

NO QUID PRO QUO

In return for all the free spectrum space the government is bequething broadcasters ($70 billion worth, according to some), campaign reformers say broadcasters should provide free political advertising. Their answer: no dice. But it wouldn't kill them: campaign ads make up only a tiny percentage of total advertising revenue.

1996 TV AD REVENUE $30,000,000,000 POLITICAL ADVERTISING $400,000.000

Source: Television Bureau of Advertising, Common Cause

COURT COUTURE

Forget the catwalks of Paris, Milan and New York City; watch the fashion runway at the N.B.A. play-offs--the sidelines where spiffy coaches in designer suits patrol the hard court. Players may have fancy footwear contracts, but many coaches have their own clothing deals. The trail was blazed by Pat ("the Peacock") Riley (1) of the Miami Heat, the sleek Supermodel among N.B.A. coaches, who has a deal with Giorgio Armani. Now a host of others are coming out of the closet. Herewith some coaches and their fashion allegiances:

COACH/TEAM CLOTHED BY

George Karl (2) Nordstrom in the tailored look Seattle SuperSonics of Hart, Schaffner & Marx and the executive attire of Joseph Abboud

John Calipari (3) Ermenegildo Zegna in suits, shirts New Jersey Nets and ties of featherweight fabric

Rudy Tomjanovich (4) Houston retailer Norton Ditto in classic Houston Rockets Oxxford suits and shirts and his own line of contemporary Rudy T. ties

Darrell Walker (5) Holt Renfrew in the modern, functional Toronto Raptors lines of the Calvin Klein collection

P.J. Carlesimo (6) Saks Fifth Avenue in Giorgio Armani Portland Trail Blazers and the slim-silhouette cut of (fired last week) Ermenegildo Zegna

Del Harris (7) Donna Karan in custom-made, hand-tailored, Los Angeles Lakers understated but confident suits

THE LIS HAVE IT

The Xinhua news agency announced last week that the family name Li (the character is above), which belongs to some 87 million Chinese mainlanders, including hard-line Premier Li Peng, has surpassed Zhang as the most widely used surname in the world.

HEALTH REPORT

THE GOOD NEWS

--Vitamin E to the rescue. The elderly may be able to bolster their ability to fight infection with 200 mg of VITAMIN E daily--about seven times the recommended amount. Seniors who took the extra E produced more antibodies in response to vaccination than subjects who received a placebo.

--Dentistry without tears? Well, almost. The FDA has approved the nation's first laser to repair dental CAVITIES. Because the device eliminates the pressure and vibration of a regular drill, it may also eliminate the need for local anesthesia in most patients.

--AIDS update: reports confirm that taking a cocktail of AIDS drugs works wonders--even in infants. In adults, the approach may virtually clear the body of HIV in three years.

THE BAD NEWS

--Get out the Raid. The high rate of ASTHMA and severity of attacks among inner-city kids may be owing to what they share space with: cockroaches. A roach's saliva, feces and body all contain potent allergens, which can trigger a bad asthma attack.

--A hazard for the bighearted. Researchers now think that having an enlarged left ventricle (the heart's primary pumping chamber) may put healthy adults at risk for CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE.

--A catch with the patch. Youngsters, especially toddlers, enjoy playing with NICOTINE PATCHES, apparently thinking they're Band-Aids. But just 20 minutes on the skin can poison a child, causing vomiting, dizziness and diarrhea. Even used patches contain nicotine--and pose a danger.

Sources--GOOD NEWS: Journal of the American Medical Association; Food and Drug Administration; New England Journal of Medicine, Nature BAD NEWS: New England Journal of Medicine (1,2); Pediatrics

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

RAJU LAL, 14 ; NEW DELHI; actor

The endearing star of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1993 movie, Little Buddha, Raju Lal was a shoeshine boy when he was plucked from the slums of Katmandu and ushered into the realm of movie acting. Now his worldly success has faded (especially the money), and Raju is trolling for work in the fly-blown lanes of the Pahargunj slum of New Delhi. He earned $15,000 from the film, but he comes from a family of 11, and he claims his former agent kept part of the cash. Unable to read or write, the onetime child star does not want to return to buffing shoes. But if Hollywood has forgotten Raju, not everyone else has. French businessman Gerard Gheleyns has taken Raju under his wing and is helping find him treatment for his stunted growth. As for Raju, he's almost as stoic as the Buddha. "The world is full of struggling actors," he says. "I could become one of them, but then I may not. I have no offers yet, but I know I can act for anyone who would want me."