Notebook

By Kathleen Adams, Harriet Barovick, Tam Gray, Unmesh Kher, Lina Lofaro, Michele Orecklin, Joel Stein, Flora Tartakovsky and Chris Taylor

THE WINNERS & LOSERS OF 1998

[WINNERS]

HILLARY CLINTON The First Lady became Our Lady of Sorrows. We were angry for her. We felt for her. We liked her more than ever

JESSE ("THE MIND") VENTURA It wasn't just about celebrity. Honest, blunt talk is what voters crave

ADAM SANDLER The Waterboy was panned by critics. But admit it--you laughed

BARNEY FRANK Frank may be Congress's own Oscar Wilde--charming and likable even when his words cut deep

CAMERON DIAZ The star of the comedy There's Something About Mary has something about her too

FELICITY Teen TV that's smart and earnest enough to hook viewers over the age of 30

SALLY HEMMINGS DNA tests prove many U.S. historians aren't too sharp and confirm her legendary affair with Jefferson

MIKE ESPY Survives $17 million dragnet over free tickets and gifts. Your tax dollars at work

RICK SCHRODER Former kid actor, now rookie on NYPD Blue, steps into big shoes and kicks butt

BOB DOLE Op-ed sage, Viagra advocate, all-around good guy. Dole in 2000?

[LOSERS]

BILL CLINTON Is he a great man wronged by partisans, or is he a fool betrayed by his own urges? Depends on what your definition of is is

CONGRESS Think we won't remember what you clowns did by the 2000 elections? Wait and see

GODZILLA Size matters, but so do plot, character development, suspense, directing...

NEWT GINGRICH He helped win the House and was shown the door. End the revolution without him

JONATHAN DEMME Hollywood types are saying Beloved is proof that serious black films don't make money. How about blaming the director?

DAVID STERN The baseball strike nearly ruined baseball. Now NBA commissioner Stern leads his sport into the same sad void

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS INC. Meet Joe Black? Meet Joe Boring. This studio piled up the flops this year

DESMOND PFEIFFER The now shelved UPN series cracked jokes about slavery. Painfully unfunny stuff

ABC Network battles one of its unions and spikes story critical of parent Disney

LINDA TRIPP The Lewinsky scandal is tearing America apart, but on one issue, people are united: Tripp is the worst friend since Brutus

NUMBERS

157 Number of homeless men and women who died in San Francisco this year, through Nov. 30

331 Number of road deaths in New York City this year, through Dec. 10

5,500 Number of AIDS-related funerals every day in Africa

17 Hours between the beginning of air strikes on Iraq and the scheduled start of the impeachment debate in Congress

208 Number of days between the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the start of the Nixon impeachment inquiry

352 Days between Monica Lewinsky's last alleged meeting with Clinton and first public outing with new boyfriend Jonathan Marshall

58 Average world surface temperature in 1998, in degrees Fahrenheit; the warmest on record

0.27 Degree increase in world temperature since 1997

20 Number of consecutive years in which global surface temperatures have been above normal

Sources: Dept. of Public Health, New York Police Dept., United Nations, New York Times, Daily News, World Meteorological Organisation