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Today marks the 75th anniversary of the birth of Charles Mingus. As an instrumentalist, he became known as "the Segovia of the bass" and championed the unwieldy instrument as a solo voice in jazz groups. He became one of the first bassists to lead his own group. But perhaps he made his greatest mark as a composer. He was inspired by Ellington and carried that great composer's ideas to new levels in the nearly 300 works Mingus left behind. Karen Michel (mih-SHELL) has this report on the life and music of one of America's true jazz innovators. (8:00) ((ST

In the last installment in our drug prevention series, NPR's Vicky Que (KWAY) talks to school administrators and educational experts about marketing the good -- or at least, effective -- prevention programs to get more of them into more of the nation's schools. There are thousands of school districts, but only a few hundred have effective drug education programs.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports on the opening of two days of debate in the Senate on the Chemical Weapons Convention. The vote for ratification...which requires a two thirds majority...looks as though it will be close. It takes place tomorrow. The treaty got some unexpected supported today from former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole.

NPR's Wendy Kaufman visits with some teenage smokers to gauge their reaction to new Federal rules aimed at curbing teenage smoking. Retailers are now required to inspect the I.D.'s of all those under 27 years of age.

Storyteller Carmen Deedy explores the unexpected in "Twisting in the Wind of Semantics," a story about how a small miscommunication between herself and her mother lead to chaos.

-- N-P-R's Kathleen Schalch (SHALK) reports on President Clinton's decision to add a statue to the Franklino Delano Roosevelt memorial, that would depict F-D-R in a wheel chair. The memorial is scheduled for dedication along the Washington Tidal Basin on May 2nd. Advocates for the disabled have been calling for the addition for more than two years.

-- N-P-R's Rick Karr reports from Fargo as the flood crest of the Red River heads north into Canada. With so many important urban centers of the Red River Valley rendered uninhabitable, previously unnoticed places have sprung into prominence.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on the US military's plans to evacuate American citizens from Zaire if that country's civil war reaches the capital, Kinshasa. About a hundred and fifty American troops are in Brazzaville, the capital of neighboring Congo, just across the Zaire river from Kinshasa. Another two thousand are on the U-S-S Nassau, an ambphibious assault ship stationed off Zaire's coast. If an order to evacuate is given, the American forces are ready to move into Kinshasa with attack helicopters to evacuate the roughly five hundred U-S citizens there.

Commentator Lenore Skenazy (skuh-NAY-zee) says that gift shops have become too upscale and too environmentally sensitive. Lenore laments the loss of stupid souvenir items of the past.

Weekend Edition's Daniel Schorr speaks with Tom Mann of the Brookings Institution and Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprises Institute about the Democratic campaign financing scandal.

Liane speaks with actress Elizabeth Perry, who's appearing in "Sun FLower," a one-woman play about suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Perry wrote the work, which is currently running at Washington's Vat Theater. The show moves next to New York.

Korva talks with Roger Bagnell of Columbia University, a scholar who has worked to reunite scattered fragments of papyrus in cyberspace...the results: ordinary people can get a window on the everyday lives of people in ancient times.