ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 1997                TAG: 9703180077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 

IN THE NATION

Supreme Court to hear minor candidates' case

WASHINGTON - Ralph P. Forbes, an independent candidate for Congress in Arkansas, had no campaign headquarters, no staff, no crowds, no press interest, no chance - and no spot in a debate on public television.

But in a case that would affect most public TV stations throughout the nation, the Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether Forbes and other minor candidates have a right to be included in debates sponsored by government-operated stations.

A federal appeals court ruled last August that Forbes had a First Amendment right to appear with Republican and Democratic candidates in a 1992 televised debate - despite editors' conviction that his candidacy was not viable or newsworthy.

The ``crucial fact ... is that the people making this judgment were not ordinary journalists: They were employees of government. ... A journalist employed by the government is still a government employee,'' the appeals court declared last August.

As an arm of state government, public TV stations in Arkansas cannot define a class of speakers - candidates for the House and Senate, for example - and then exclude a member of that class ``on no basis other than party affiliation,'' the lower court said.

-KNIGHT-RIDDER\ TRIBUNE

Study: Fewer elderly suffer from disabilities

WASHINGTON - Medical innovations and lifestyle changes have reduced the percentage of elderly Americans who have chronic disabilities by 15 percent over the past decade, according to a medical study to be published Tuesday.

The study, conducted by Duke University and funded by the government's National Institute on Aging, is being hailed by a panel of academic experts to show that such improvements could cut hundreds of billions of dollars from future Medicare costs and help solve the program's financial problems without deep benefit slashes or huge tax increases.

Care for the disabled costs up to six times more than care for a healthy individual.

-THE WASHINGTON POST

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