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

llection , the copy will be part of the exhibition . `` It was a very long and a

gonizing process . It was even agonizing to decide whether we should do it or no

t , '' Kornhauser says . Because the painting 's condition was so critical , the

re was an almost ethical/medical question about whether operating on it would br

ing more gain than pain , or even perhaps permanent loss , Kornhauser says . `` 

We weigh every decision about a major treatment like this very , very carefully 

and try to figure out what the benefits are . As part of all these preliminary v

isual examinations , we were able to see there was an enormous amount of loss an

d weren't sure what we would gain . Each individual painting is treated as an in

dividual object , just as a doctor would treat his or her patients , '' Garland 

says . Besides displaying the resurrection of clarity and drama in the `` Crucif

ixion , '' the exhibition documents the conservators ' findings on the causes of

 the painting 's baffling pigmentation problem and its severe skin abrasions . X

-ray photos , infra-red photography , blown-up photos of microcosmic areas of th

e canvas and , of course , a color photo of the painting before it underwent con

servation are part of the exhibition and give it an almost clinical ambiance . (

 End optional trim ) The `` Crucifixion , '' which is the Atheneum 's only Pouss

in , will go to Paris to be exhibited at the Louvre from Sept. 27 through Jan. 2

 , 1995 . From there it goes to London where it will be shown at the Royal Acade

my from Jan. 20 to April 16 before its return to Hartford . In the Louvre , with

 its new facelift , it will hang alongside other masterworks by Poussin in an ex

hibition marking the 400th anniversary of the French master 's birth . Considere

d France 's greatest painter of the 17th century , Poussin was born in Normandy 

in 1594 and died in 1665 in Rome , then the art capital of the world . Cardinal 

Richelieu , eminence grise to French King Louis XIII , and even King Louis , fer

vently courted Poussin , the expatriate , trying to convince him to come home ag

ain from Italy and become France 's permanent royal superstar painter . But Pous

sin spent virtually all of his fruitful career in Italy , although he did return

 to his native land for a year and a half to serve as chief painter at the Frenc

h court . But this was a most unpleasant experience that drove him back to his b

eloved Rome , where he remained for the rest of his life . Jean Cadogan , the At

heneum 's curator of European art , notes in her exhibition essay that , yes , t

he restored `` Crucifixion '' is `` still dark and in some cases mysterious . ''

 Yet the figures `` are now more legible , their gestures and placement describe

 the narrative action of the subject , and ( the painting ) tells the story of t

he Crucifixion in a dramatic and moving way , as Poussin intended it should . ''

 Cadogan says the conservation has also restored the painting 's dramatic , thre

e-dimensional quality , one of Poussin 's stylistic hallmarks . `` I 'm confiden

t now , '' the curator says , `` that when we put this painting in the Paris sho

w with the rest of the Poussins , including all the great Poussins in the Louvre

 , it 's going to take its place rather than look like an anomaly . ''

 Photos of newly enfranchised voters thronging polling places have become common

place , from Russia to South Africa to El Salvador . But just as Americans begin

 to replace our image of the guerrilla with the citizen , nagging rips appear at

 the edges of the new picture . Why has democracy been reversed so quickly in Pe

ru , Haiti and Serbia ? Will political openings in Mexico and Indochina be endan

gered by social unrest ? We Americans are notorious for our optimism , our pragm

atism and our lack of historical consciousness . As the world democratizes , our

 optimistic assumption of a clean slate imperils the pragmatism necessary for ma

king policy . Elections , we must remember , are a necessary but not a sufficien

t condition for democracy . If elections do not include major sectors of society

 ( like peasants or former communists ) or address key issues ( like land reform

 or economic adjustment ) , new citizens will quickly become alienated and anti-

system . Democracy must also include human rights , civilian control of the mili

tary and some measure of accountability for the new government once it has been 

elected . Citizenship implies empowerment , and elections are only the first ste

p in that process . Rather than treat emerging democracies as infant republics ,

 it is appropriate to see them as `` recovering authoritarians . '' Like recover

ing alcoholics , new democracies emerge damaged by a pattern of learned behavior

 to which they will always be especially susceptible . The bad news is that thes

e countries ' heritage will often war with their institutions . The good news is

 that this heritage is not cultural or eternal ; learned behavior can be unlearn

ed and the analysis of common patterns may help manage recovery . Thus , we shou

ld not be surprised at the problems shared by recovering authoritarians in all p

arts of the world : poverty , policing and polarization . Regardless of the prev

ious level or path of economic development , recovering authoritarians experienc

e poverty because unaccountable states have been inefficient and predatory econo

mic managers . This is more than the conventional wisdom about distorting market

s ; market-oriented authoritarians have also dismantled infrastructure and loote

d the national patrimony . New democracies often face a crisis of policing becau

se social order has never been rooted in a social contract that rewards restrain

t with security and opportunity . When massive coercion is removed or shifted fr

om the military or secret police to the police proper no `` thin blue line '' ca

n stem the tide of self-seeking , anti-social behavior by citizens bereft of soc

ial guarantees or guidance . Finally , democratizing societies quickly polarize 

along lines of ethnicity , class and ideology . Civil societies never developed 

where social institutions such as churches were controlled by the state or close

d off entirely . In many cases , a society temporarily integrated by the authori

tarian regime or by opposition to it suddenly collapses with the transition to d

emocracy . What is to be done ? As sympathetic outsiders , we cannot repair the 

damage of authoritarianism but we can support , with our policies , the general 

principles of recovery . First , the recovering polity itself must accept respon

sibility and come to terms with the past . This may involve measures such as hum

an-rights investigations ( as in Chile ) or reconstruction of social and economi

c infrastructure ( as in East Germany ) . We also need to make it clear that new

 democracies cannot afford the `` first drink '' of a postponed election or susp

ended constitution . Finally , the world community can form support groups for d

emocratization and its challenges . The Organization of American States seems to

 be moving toward this role for Latin America . Different cases will require dif

ferent levels of U.S. involvement . Where possible , however , we must provide r

eparations and multilateral support . At the same time , we must shed the dysfun

ctional bonds that all too often propped up the previous authoritarian regime .

 Jennifer Capriati , little Jenny of the bouncy smile and sparkly eyes , is in a

 drug rehab center . She was allegedly caught holding some dope in a semi-seedy 

hotel room . The guy who was with her said they spent the weekend there , partyi

ng on booze and drugs . She 's the bright little girl gone bad , and there 's mu

ch wringing of hands as to what went wrong , as if we didn't know . It 's an ugl

y , sordid mess that is in no way surprising . Actually , there 's one surprise 

: that she 's the first of the tennis teen prodigies to end up like this . Of co

urse , she was the first to do a lot of things . The youngest to win a match at 

Wimbledon . The youngest to be a semifinalist at a grand-slam event . She was 13

 when she joined the tennis tour and 17 when she left , saying she wanted to go 

to high school and live a normal life . Ah , the normal life . For her , normal 

life as a high school student meant her own apartment in a different city from w

here her parents live . She 's 18 now and in big trouble . Surprising ? You try 

growing up the way she did . You try living out your puberty in the living room 

of strangers . You try being 15 and having to explain to the TV camera why you l

ost in the first round of a tournament . You try to figure out wrong from right 

when right apparently means being pushed by your parents to grab everything you 

can as soon as you can and worry about the future some other time . What 's amaz

ing is how many of the young people who grow up this way turn out all right . I 

first knew for sure that something was very wrong when Capriati , then 14 , was 

playing an exhibition match for $ 20,000 on a school night . She had already sig

ned several million-dollar endorsements . What was she doing out there ? Who was

 that money for ? Let 's consider the ordinary , hormone-driven , late-night-tea

rs , minor-rebellions , life-is-too-much-to-bear adolescence . You may have teen

-age kids , or you may have been one yourself . In either case , you should know

 what I 'm talking about . You 're either too tall , short , fat , thin , smart 

, dumb . And nobody likes you . Or nobody knows you . You 've been there . Some 

kids carry extra burdens . They are prodigies of a kind . They play piano , exce

pt not like our kids do . Or they swim . Or they dance . They have special gifts

 that need to be treated in a special way . But most get to explore their talent

s in relative privacy . Even child actors , who grow up on the screen , don't ha

ve to face the press every day to explain their defeats or to tell their life st

ories as if they 'd had any time to live lives yet . On the tennis tour , there 

is everyday pressure that breaks grown men and women , much less kids too young 

to drive . Putting your 13-year-old out there is a form of child abuse . It 's t

hat simple . And we 're all to blame . We think they 're so cute , these little 

darlings in pigtails . Capriati got her millions in endorsements based on that p

rinciple . Once she got in trouble , the endorsements vanished . The fact is tha

t nearly all who turn pro by age 14 Tracy Austin or Andrea Jaeger come to mind b

reak down , usually physically . Is there a rush ? Will the money disappear ? We

 watched little Jenny grow up , and I 've heard the talk about how we should hav

e known there was trouble ahead . You see , a few years ago , she painted her na

ils black . She wears four earrings at a time . She even has a ring for her nost

ril . And , yes , she was caught shoplifting . She must be .. . a kid . Her fath

er said it was just a teen-age problem . He was right . And he was wrong . It 's

 a teen-age problem that many kids face , except few have to read about it in th

e morning paper . Monica Seles , while still a teen-ager , mysteriously skipped 

Wimbledon one year . She ended up on an estate owned by Donald Trump . Can you i

magine a worse call : `` Dad , I 'm staying with The Donald for a while . '' The

 papers were all over that one . There were the rumors , including one that she 

had gotten pregnant . One columnist wrote that she and Billy Joe McAllister were

 seen throwing something off the Tallahatchee bridge . Growing up is hard . It g

ets harder every day in this speeded-up world of too many temptations and too li

ttle supervision . Throw fame and money and high-stakes pressure into the mix , 

and you can end up like Capriati . She 's 18 , and under the law , she 's respon

sible for her acts . She 's responsible , but who 's to blame ?

 Q : My 11-year-old daughter is a real tomboy . She likes to dress casually , ha

ngs around boys and really doesn't have many girlfriends . Should I be concerned

 ? A : As long as your daughter seems happy , is doing well at school and does n

ot complain or appear concerned about her choice of friends and activities , you

 can be reassured that she is quite all right . Her decision to hang around boys

 likely reflects the fact that at this point in her life , she finds their activ

ities challenging and in line with her own interests . Being a tomboy at age 11 

, however , does not indicate that she will continue to share these same interes

ts as she gets older nor does it imply that she will be `` manly '' when she rea

ches adulthood . It is impossible to predict what she will be like in the future

 as she progresses through adolescence and beyond . While there is likely a gene

tic basis to various aspects of our personality , much of our identify is shaped

 by the social world around us . Parents , siblings , schools and religious grou

ps , among others , all influence who we are . As your daughter ages , she will 

encounter a variety of new challenges and interact with an ever widening array o

f individuals . Each of these encounters will expose her to new ideas , new ways

 of behaving and new challenges . As a result , her personality will likely cont

inue to evolve even if she does not become less of a tomboy , however , you shou

ld resist the impulse to say or do anything about it . If you attempt to conscio

usly change or shape her behavior , she will quickly sense that you do not appro

ve of her .

 Q : When my husband recently had a skin cancer removed from the face , he was t

old that he was cured and need not worry that the cancer had spread to any other

 place . I though all cancers could spread , and I am concerned that my husband 

's doctor just reassured him so that he wouldn't worry . Is there anything furth

er he should be doing ? A : The three common types of skin cancer are basal cell

 carcinoma , melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma . Melanomas and squamous cell 

carcinomas DO spread ( metastasize ) to other body sites . It is more likely tha

t your husband had a basal cell carcinoma because it is by far the most common t

ype of skin cancer . If this is the case , his doctor was not trying to keep you

r husband from worrying . Basal cell cancers continue to grow slowly and rarely 

spread to other sites in the body . More than 90 percent of people are completel

y cured when the carcinoma is removed surgically or treated with liquid nitrogen

 , although if left to grow over time , it can invade and destroy nearby tissue 

. Exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun is believed to be the principal ca

use of basal cell cancers . As a result , they tend to occur on those areas of t

he skin most commonly in fair-skinned people who have relatively little melanin 

to protect them against the sun 's rays . Your husband should take measures to a

void excessive exposure to sunlight , since the presence of one basal cell carci

noma increases the risk that others may develop in the future . He should , for 

example , avoid direct sunlight during the middle of the day , use protective cl

othing , such as hats and shirts with long sleeves , apply a sunscreen before go

ing out into the sun and , of course , avoid sunlamps and tanning booths . He sh

ould examine the skin regularly for the appearance of new growths and make an ap

pointment with his doctor if any are found . A biopsy is necessary to make the d

iagnosis . In any case , He should see his physician at least once a year for a 

full skin exam .

 First , the facts : The House Ways and Means Committee is the most powerful com

mittee in Congress . Membership is highly prized and aggressively sought . Even 

junior members acquire a certain cachet among their colleagues . They also get n

oticed by lobbyists , who pay inordinate attention to what goes on in Ways and M

eans and to the political fortunes of its members . Not for nothing is the hallw

ay outside the committee hearing room known as `` Gucci Gulch . '' The Ways and 

Means chairman , Rep. Dan Rostenkowski , D-Ill. , `` Rosty '' is one of Washingt

on 's most famous faces and a man no president can safely ignore . That 's becau

se the committee 's jurisdiction includes the crown jewels of the modern state ,

 including international trade , Social Security and welfare entitlements , tax 

bills of every description and health-care financing . President Clinton has bec

ome particularly dependent on Rostenkowski because his political future is stake

d on matters that must pass through Ways and Means before they become law . Clin

ton 's only notable legislative achievements to date , the North American Free T

rade Agreement and his tax bill , both owe their success to Rostenkowski 's form

idable clout . Nothing will happen on welfare reform unless Rostenkowski nods an

d , without him , Clinton 's health-care reform proposal doesn't have a prayer .

 Not surprisingly , the president and the chairman have become political intimat

es . The president went out of his way to support Rostenkowski during a hotly co

ntested primary earlier this year , even appearing at a Chicago fund-raiser . ( 

Memory does not recall the last time a sitting president made a personal appeara

nce during a congressional primary fight . ) Rostenkowski has been in political 

hot water since 1992 , when it was revealed that the U.S. attorney 's office in 

Washington was investigating him for fraud , misuse of government funds and payr

oll padding . Rostenkowski denies the charges , but indications are that a felon

y indictment is near . Under the rules of the House , a felony indictment would 

require Rostenkowski to resign as Ways and Means chairman , a step that would al

most certainly doom the president 's prized health-care proposal . On the other 

hand , something less than a felony indictment would enable Rostenkowski not onl

y to retain his chairmanship but also to avoid the shame and burden of grave cri

minal sanction . Rostenkowski dismissed his first lawyer last year and retained 

Robert Bennett yes , the same respected criminal defense attorney who became a h

ousehold name a few weeks ago when the president tapped him to defend against Pa

ula Corbin Jones ' sexual-harassment charges . The Rostenkowski investigation is

 clearly headed toward its denouement . Plea-bargaining is under way between Ben

nett and the Justice Department , although it is not clear who is negotiating fo

r the government . One story has it that Atty. Gen. Janet Reno will follow the r

ecommendation of the U.S. attorney , come what may . Another has it that Bennett

 , dissatisfied with progress at lower levels , is seeking to take the negotiati

on `` upstairs '' within the department . But neither the ordinarily garrulous B

ennett , nor Reno nor the White House is commenting directly . The major partici

pants , in short , are being unusually mum about one of the more dramatic events

 now on the Washington stage . Now , some questions : Do you suppose the White H

ouse might have a political interest in the outcome of the plea-bargaining with 

Rostenkowski ? Do you think it likely that someone in the White House may have s

poken to someone in the Justice Department about it ? Do you think it likely tha

t the president has spoken with his counsel ( or vice versa ) about it ? What do

 you suppose goes through the minds of Justice Department political appointees w

hen the man they know to be the president 's personal lawyer negotiates on behal

f of the president 's most powerful ally on Capitol Hill ? What do you suppose C

linton 's lawyer is saying to Rostenkowski 's lawyer about all this ? To avoid a

 conflict or an appearance of a conflict , it is sometimes necessary for one law

yer to wall himself from others in the same firm , but how does an attorney erec

t a Chinese Wall within his own brain ? Does anything about the foregoing bother

 you ? If a non-felony plea bargain is negotiated , would you be surprised ? Bef

ore that happens , don't you think it would be a good idea if the press started 

asking some hard questions ?

 We can tell ourselves we 're not getting older , we 're getting better , but do

 we really believe it ? For women , the passage of time can become downright thr

eatening when they reach 40-something . I 'm not speaking about myself , of cour

se . I 've reached the accommodation between me then and me now . Aside from the

 occasional shock when I 'm passing a mirror and see the streaks of gray in my h

air or the added couple of inches at my waist , I know that getting older is the

 only option if one plans on continuing to live . But I understand the women who

 gaze at themselves anxiously , wondering whether the time has come for the firs

t facelift even if it is a pre-emptive strike at this point . I understand the a

nxiety tinged with despair that colors their voices when they talk about becomin

g middle-aged . They don't want to be fat . They don't want to be gray . They do

n't want to be wrinkled . They want gravity to go away , so that whatever has be

gun to sag will suddenly lift , as if they were 20 again . Some of this anxiety 

is of our own making . Women all of us are taught to put way too much stock in t

he way we look , as if we 're some prized race horse or heifer whose vital stati

stics define us and determine our value . But some of the anxiety is caused by s

ocietal expectations . Young is beautiful , especially when it comes to women . 

Sean Connery can play 007 until he 's almost 60 , but the female objects of his 

desire don't age with him . They are still the nubile things of 20- or 30-someth

ing that he always courted . Men can age and be just as appealing as they 've al

ways been . It 's a lot harder for women . We strive to contain the cellulite , 

wash away the gray , tuck the tummy . Each birthday seems to be a call for actio

n . I remember one friend whose birthday present one year to herself was liposuc