A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

he Republicans and the religious conservatives . Ralph Reed , executive director

 of the Christian Coalition , said Clinton 's strategy of raising the specter of

 a Christian conservative takeover of the Republican Party would be self-defeati

ng . `` Everywhere they 've tried to make us an issue the Republicans have won ,

 '' Reed said . `` I just don't think attacks on people of faith or people 's re

ligion resonate . It 's a failed strategy and it will backfire at the ballot box

 . '' But some Clinton strategists believe the Democrats ultimately will gain by

 highlighting the activities of religious conservatives , arguing that while the

 Christian Coalition may help Republicans in southern races this fall , their in

volvement will hurt the party in other parts of the country this year and in 199

6 . Clinton 's charge that Republicans have attempted to thwart the administrati

on at every turn ignored the role the GOP played last year in the passage of the

 North American Free Trade Agreement . On that issue , a majority of Democrats d

eserted the president and he was was saved only by strong support from Republica

ns . It was that victory as much as any single event that helped define the pres

ident 's first-year successes and helped turn around public perceptions of Clint

on 's performance as president . At the time of the NAFTA vote , Clinton 's appr

oval rating stood at 49 percent in the Washington Post-ABC News Poll . A month a

fter the NAFTA victory , he had risen to 58 percent .

 BEIJING Five years after the Chinese army crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrat

ions , seven dissidents publicly petitioned the government Thursday for a reasse

ssment of the 1989 movement and compensation for the families whose relatives we

re killed or injured . The activists , led by former student leader Wang Dan , a

lso called for the release of all prisoners associated with the June 4 , 1989 cr

ackdown and for the government to allow those who have been released from jail t

o lead normal lives . The appeal was made in a petition to the national legislat

ure and made available to reporters . It is a direct challenge to the government

 's characterization of the massive , student-led protests that swept Beijing an

d then spread nationwide as a `` counterrevolutionary rebellion . '' The disside

nts asserted that the 1989 demonstrations were part of `` a nationwide patriotic

 popular movement . '' The movement adhered to the principles of `` peace , reas

on and nonviolence , '' according to the petition . `` We believe the government

 's characterization of it as a `` riot and a counterrevolutionary rebellion ' i

s unjust and immediately should be reassessed , '' the activists wrote . The pet

ition comes a week before the fifth anniversary of the crackdown , the most sens

itive period on China 's political calendar . Security recently has tightened vi

sibly in the Chinese capital . The homes of dissidents and their relatives are u

nder surveillance . Wang and several other activists have already left Beijing t

o avoid the surveillance . Some foreign journalists are being followed . Authori

ties have canceled three events sponsored by foreign embassies a charity bazaar 

, a tennis club dinner and an art exhibit even though the events were to be atte

nded by foreigners only . Chinese President Jiang Zemin recently defended the us

e of force to crush the protests as the only way to ensure stability and continu

ed economic development . China would not hesitate to use violence again if nece

ssary , he said . The government has never given a public accounting of the exac

t number of dead and wounded from 1989 . Hundreds , perhaps thousands , died whe

n Chinese soldiers opened fire on the protestors . Nor has the government ever s

aid how many people were arrested in connection with the June 4 crackdown . Desp

ite the releases of some prominent activists , human-rights groups estimate that

 thousands more could still be in jail . In the petition Thursday , the activist

s several of whom were on China 's most-wanted list of student leaders and who s

erved prison terms for their participation in the 1989 movement said the time ha

d come for the government to `` untie the knot in the people 's heart . '' `` We

 feel that the June 4th incident represents an undeniable `` knot ' in the Chine

se people 's historical development . Resolving the June 4 problems and untying 

this knot in the people 's heart will help heal social contradictions and promot

e social stability ( and ) will benefit the construction of a democratic legal s

ystem and the advancement of society , '' they wrote . `` We sincerely wish that

 the government can courageously take this sensible step for the sake of the peo

ple 's interest and the nation 's future , '' they wrote .

 WASHINGTON Black adults are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the prospects of b

lack children , citing fears of violence , guns , drugs and gangs , according to

 a national poll released Thursday . The poll , commissioned by the Children 's 

Defense Fund and a new organization known as the Black Community Crusade for Chi

ldren , found that more than three-fourths of black adults fear that their child

ren or children they know will fall victim to violence . The poll did not includ

e comparable figures for whites or others . And more than 80 percent of these ad

ults say these are `` really bad times '' or `` tough times '' for black childre

n . More than 70 percent of black adults many of whom were raised during an era 

of segregation believe it is harder for children today than it was for them . ``

 This poll confirms what black leaders already know , '' said Children 's Defens

e Fund President Marian Wright Edelman . `` We have a black-child crisis worse t

han any since slavery . '' In releasing the poll , Edelman also unveiled the Bla

ck Community Crusade for Children , a fledgling organization that is mobilizing 

an anti-violence campaign , training college students to become tutors and lobby

ing for government solutions to the daunting problems facing black children in t

his country . The organization is a network of local and regional programs coord

inated by the Children 's Defense Fund and funded by foundations . The poll show

ed that while 75 percent of black children said these are good times for them pe

rsonally , they also see major obstacles ahead . More than three-quarters of the

se young people said violence in school is a serious problem for them , 70 perce

nt said the same of guns and 64 percent said dangerous neighborhoods present a s

erious problem for them . `` They do have dreams and hopes and ambitions , but t

hey see the road from here to there is laden with obstacles , '' said Geoffrey G

arin , president of Peter D. Hart Research Associates , which conducted the poll

 . The poll was taken in January of 1,004 adults and 421 children aged 11 to 17 

. Two-thirds of adults polled said black children face more problems than opport

unities , and the vast majority believe that at least half of all black children

 will become teen-age parents , will be denied opportunities because of racial p

rejudice , have their lives destroyed by drugs or get into trouble with the law 

. Edelman said the new organization began as an idea three years ago and has hir

ed a dozen staff members across the country . More than 600 black college studen

ts have been trained as tutors and mentors to children and 200 more will be trai

ned this summer . The group is launching an anti-violence campaign next month an

d encouraging black churches to hold a `` children 's sabbath '' in October , wi

th a focus on programs for youth . Several community efforts were cited by Edelm

an as models of creative solutions , including `` beacon schools '' in New York 

City that stay open until 11 p.m. year-round and operate as community centers ; 

a program in Savannah , Ga. , that remodeled an abandoned school building and tu

rned it into a resource center where families can get help from a variety of age

ncies , including health and social-service offices , boys and girls clubs and a

 mediation project ; and a `` nurturing village '' project in the District of Co

lumbia where leaders are bringing together schools , hospitals and community gro

ups to provide an after-school program for each of the 20,000 children in the ar

ea .

 Melissa Gilbert , who co-stars with Cicely Tyson as a pair of Southern lawyers 

who champion the underdog in the fall NBC series `` Sweet Justice , '' has purch

ased a three-bedroom home in Los Angeles for about $ 500,000 , sources say . Gil

bert just finished a movie with Marlee Matlin for Lifetime Cable and is about to

 start work on a CBS movie with Patty Duke . Now 30 , Gilbert became a well-know

n actress as a child , playing Laura Ingalls on the long-running series `` Littl

e House on the Prairie . '' She starred in the CBS movie `` Babymaker : The Dr. 

Cecil Jacobson Story , '' which aired earlier this year , and co-starred last ye

ar in five TV movies , including `` A Family of Strangers , '' with Patty Duke a

nd William Shatner , and `` House of Secrets , '' with Bruce Boxleitner . Gilber

t , who was divorced from actor-writer Bo Brinkman in February , was briefly eng

aged to Boxleitner after her separation from Brinkman . Built in 1944 , Gilbert 

's 3,000-square-foot , Cape Cod-style house in the San Fernando Valley has shutt

ers , window seats , French doors , two fireplaces , a cozy kitchen , breakfast 

nook , pool and spa . -0- Matt Frewer , who played Trashcan Man in Stephen King 

's miniseries `` The Stand '' earlier this month , and his wife , documentarian 

Amanda Hillwood , have purchased a three-bedroom Malibu , Calif. , home for clos

e to its $ 799,000 asking price , sources say . The home features what is being 

termed `` an organic design of natural building materials '' and has many trees 

on its 1.5 acres , with a footpath to the sand . Frewer also played Cinemax 's h

igh-tech talk-show host Max Headroom , which was resurrected by Bravo on cable t

his year , and he later appeared in the CBS sitcom `` Doctor , Doctor . '' -0- T

haao Penghlis , who returned recently after an eight-year absence to his role as

 Count Antony DiMera on NBC 's `` Days of Our Lives , '' is nearing the end of a

 $ 130,000 refurbishing project at his Los Angeles home , built by architect Joh

n Lautner in 1964 . Penghlis , who also starred as master-of-disguise Nicholas B

lack in the revived `` Mission : Impossible '' series and co-starred in the mini

series `` Memories of Midnights , '' has been painting the three-bedroom , 2,400

-square-foot house , which was originally gray , to complement his collections o

f Greek pots and Oriental screens and vases . He painted the outside of his home

 cobalt blue and the inside in earth tones of yellow and gold with red touches .

 He is also redoing the landscaping , having completed a waterfall and pond , an

d modernizing the kitchen , installing black granite counters and walls and blac

k kitchen appliances . `` I wanted to make it dramatic and masculine , '' he sai

d of the home , which he has owned for 10 years . -0- Rod McCary , who is in the

 just-released movie `` Night of the Demon 2 '' but is best remembered as Barbar

a Eden 's nemesis in the 1980s TV series `` Harper Valley PTA , '' has purchased

 a $ 700,000 home in Santa Barbara , Calif. , with his wife , Emily Reeves . The

 couple got married on Valentine 's Day in Las Vegas . Their 3,000-square-foot h

ome has three bedrooms and ocean views . The newlyweds also have a three-bedroom

 condo in West Los Angeles .

 WASHINGTON It follows in the proud tradition of ethanol , soy burgers and recyc

led paper . So how could Congress say no to `` veggie ink ? '' Thursday members 

of a House subcommittee promised swift action on one of the new darlings of the 

environmental movement : vegetable-based printing inks . Soon , they said , most

 government reports will be printed on inks made of soybeans and linseed oils . 

Judging from the comments of farm state lawmakers , the new inks are so good tha

t Congress ought to direct the Government Printing Office to crank up its presse

s and start turning out even more reports , forms and documents . Developed in I

owa seven years ago , soybean-based inks were described Thursday as the quintess

ential `` green product , '' environmentally friendly , easy to recycle and as c

heap as petroleum-based inks . The proposed Vegetable Ink Printing Act `` does t

wo things right away , '' Sen. Paul D. Wellstone , D-Minn. , explained . `` It p

romotes rural America 's economy and also protects our environment . '' The bill

 , he said , is one `` I care fiercely about . I think it 's a very , very impor

tant piece of legislation . '' `` It 'll save us some environmental headaches do

wn the line , '' agreed Rep. Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill. , sponsor of a bill to p

romote the government 's use of vegetable-based inks . Members of the Government

 Operations subcommittee on information , justice , transportation and agricultu

re agreed , promising to mark up the bill shortly after the Memorial Day recess 

. Last November , the Senate unanimously approved a similar measure sponsored by

 Wellstone and Sen. Christopher S . Bond , R-Mo. , following the lead of 26 stat

es that have endorsed vegetable-based inks for their printing needs . The only o

bjection to Durbin 's measure came from the Treasury Department . It said it sti

ll wants to print checks and other security documents such as money with petrole

um-based inks because of `` anti-tampering security features . ''

 WASHINGTON The head of the Council for Tobacco Research acknowledged Thursday t

hat his organization acted as an industry `` conduit , '' steering research gran

ts to favored scientists in hopes of getting results that reflected positively o

n the industry . But he insisted that most of the researchers who did work for t

he council were `` assured complete scientific freedom . '' Dr. James F. Glenn ,

 chairman of the industry-funded council , which awards scientific grants to res

earchers studying the relationship between smoking and health , told the House E

nergy and Commerce subcommittee on health that the work supported by his organiz

ation `` is performed by independent scientists , '' and that the results are ma

de available to the public . The council `` does not consider whether the resear

ch will be favorable or not favorable , '' he said . `` We are scientists. .. . 

Industry exercises no control . '' Under questioning by Subcommittee Chairman Re

p. Henry A . Waxman , D-Calif. , however , Glenn admitted that the council bypas

sed a scientific advisory board of outside experts to award `` special project '

' grants requested by industry lawyers who wanted research that could bolster th

e industry 's position in future litigation . Glenn said , however , the council

 did so because of its own expertise in administering grants . The existence of 

such `` special projects '' was first reported in Thursday 's Los Angeles Times 

. Glenn , a urologist who also serves as chief of staff at the University of Ken

tucky Medical College Hospital , said the council has awarded more than $ 220 mi

llion to fund more that 1,380 projects run by 1,000 researchers . Waxman release

d a series of documents written in 1953 and 1954 by officials at Hill and Knowlt

on , a high-powered public relations firm , indicating that the council was crea

ted solely to counter public concerns over early studies linking cigarettes to h

ealth problems . The public relations firm became involved in planning a counter

-offensive with tobacco company executives after the December , 1953 , publicati

on of a study by researchers at the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York that s

howed that cigarette tar condensate causes fatal cancers when painted on the ski

n of mice . One early Hill and Knowlton memo written shortly after the release o

f the study advised that `` the underlying purpose of any activity at this stage

 should be reassurance of the public through wider communication. .. . It is imp

ortant that the public recognize the existence of weighty scientific views which

 hold there is no proof that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer . '' On

e of their major suggestions was the formation of a special research committee .

 ( Optional add end ) `` The word ` research ' should be included in the name of

 the committee to establish the fact that the group will carry on or sponsor fun

damental scientific research , '' the memo said . Moreover , it recommended that

 the group have a research director who was `` a medical research authority of u

nquestioned national repute , '' and an advisory board of `` men whose integrity

 is beyond question . '' The first public statement of the committee should be `

` designed to reassure the public that the industry 's first and foremost intere

st is the public health , ( and ) there is no proof of the claims which link smo

king and lung cancer .. . ' ' Glenn dismissed the papers as `` ancient history '

' that occurred long before he was involved with the group . Nevertheless , Waxm

an said this `` paints a disturbing picture of public relations masquerading as 

science . ''

 BEIJING President Clinton 's move Thursday banning U.S. imports of Chinese-made

 guns strikes at the source of one-third of all firearms and more than half the 

rifles brought into America each year . But the import ban may not seriously hur

t the Chinese military conglomerate making most of these weapons . And it does r

isk politically alienating the Peoples Liberation Army , a key Chinese organizat

ion with which the United States has been trying to restore contacts . The Unite

d States issued permits last year for the import of about two million weapons fr

om China , according to figures provided by the U.S. . Embassy here . Most of th

ose were military-style rifles , such as the MAK-90 , a knock-off of the well-kn

own AK-47 assault rifle . Some of these weapons would be banned by crime bills u

nder consideration by the U.S. Congress , but one of the most popular makes , th

e semiautomatic SKS , would not be affected by the bills . China is the world 's

 lowest-cost producer of rifles and handguns , and virtually all guns made here 

come from factories controlled by the PLA particularly the factories of China No

rth Industries Co. , also known as Norinco . Norinco is the Chinese military 's 

largest conglomerate with more than 300 separate enterprises and research instit

utes . Like most PLA companies , it has turned aggressively in recent years to p

roducing and marketing non-military products . More than 70 percent of the compa

ny 's income now comes from civilian products , according to published reports .

 It claims assets worth more than $ 1.7 billion . Norinco makes more than half o

f China 's motorcycles and more than a third of its mini-vans , at some factorie

s in joint ventures with Japanese companies . It turns out machines tools , chem

icals and refrigerators . But it also is still believed to take in hundreds of m

illions of dollars a year from its exports of heavy or high-tech arms sales that

 likely dwarf its receipts from exporting handguns and rifles to the United Stat

es . Nevertheless , the U.S.-gun trade can be lucrative , particularly in illega

lly outfitted rifles . Norinco was accused this spring by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol

 , Tobacco and Firearms officials of having violated federal guns laws by bringi

ng into America tens of thousands of illegal rifles . These rifles were illegall

y fitted with threaded muzzles to receive silencers or mounts for grenade launch

ers . Some could be converted into machine guns . In announcing a recall of thes

e rifles , ATF officials admitted that the weapons entered the United States bec

ause of the difficulty in closely checking every shipment within the huge volume

 of U.S. imports . For some diplomats here , this suggests that some importers m

ay be able to circumvent the U.S. ban on Chinese guns by shipping them through t

hird countries much as importers of Chinese-made towels sidestep U.S. textile qu

otas by shipping through the Philippines and other countries . ( Optional add en

d ) `` Looks like we 'll have something else to work on soon , '' a U.S. . Custo

ms agent based in Asia predicted Thursday . Whether or not the U.S. ban on Chine

se guns hits the PLA 's pocketbook very hard , it certainly risks making enemies

 within the Chinese military a risk at odds with U.S. policy . The PLA is one of

 China 's most powerful political forces . The Pentagon launched a drive last fa

ll to resume high-level contacts with the Chinese military , in part because of 

the belief that it will play a key role in the likely political struggle followi

ng patriarch Deng Xiaoping 's death . `` The PLA isn't going to like being singl

ed out in this way , '' a Western diplomat here said . `` But they 're going to 

be hard pressed to argue in the international arena for a right to sell guns in 

the United States . In fact , even many Chinese can't understand why the United 

States has let them sell guns there all along . ''

 WASHINGTON President Clinton Thursday signed legislation that bars antiabortion

 demonstrators from blocking access to clinics or threatening patients , decryin

g `` the extremism and the vigilante conduct which gave rise to this law . '' Tw

o antiabortion groups immediately filed suit to overturn the law , arguing that 

it interfered with their constitutional rights of free speech and religious free

dom . Clinton signed the law , the `` Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act 

, '' at a White House ceremony attended by the children of David Gunn , the Flor

ida physician who was murdered by an antiabortion protestor last year . `` We si

mply cannot we must not continue to allow the attacks , the incidents of arson ,

 the campaigns of intimidation upon law-abiding citizens that ( have ) given ris

e to this law , '' Clinton said , citing the murder of Gunn and the shooting of