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They were designed to let drivers avoid accidents...but a new study shows that fatality rates are actually higher for autos equipped with anti-lock brakes. For instance, the study, conducted by a insurance industry group, found that passengers were more likely to die in single-car crashes in cars with anti-lock brakes. As NPR's Don Gonyea reports, the experts say they're not yet sure what accounts for the loss in safety benefits.

While many efforts to use the Internet for commerce have proved disappointing, there are a few web-based businesses that appear to have the right formula. One such company is Tunes.com...the company runs a web site that allows you to listen to a little bit of every track from a cd. Tunes.com already has more than 200,000 music tracks available. NPR's John McChesney reports on how the company has managed to combine novelty and profitability.

Opera soprano DAWN UPSHAW will perform a concert in which she includes highlights from her just released album "Dawn UpShaw sings Rodgers and hart: (Nonesuch) as well as selections by Leonard Bernstein, Mark Blitstein and George Gershwin. UPSHAW has more than two dozen albums to her credit and has become widely known for her ability to perform both in the opera as well as sing Broadway tunes. UPSHAW joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1984 and has performed at the Met. Many of the world's leading conductors have invited UPSHAW to appar with some of the finest orchestras, including The Chicago symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic. She is known for her performance of such songs as "Manhatten," "I Feel Pretty," and "Little Girl Blue." UPSHAW will perform two sets in the concert. In one, she will be accompanied by jazz pianist, FRED HERSCH and in the other Broadway music director, Eric Stern leading a 15-piece ensemble. Terry Gross will talk with both HERSCH and UPSHAW in the early part of the hour.

Commentator David Greenberger thinks the phrase "no problem" is a bad substitute for "you're welcome." It emphasizes the negative -- saying "this kindness I showed you could have resulted in discomfort to me, but lucky for you, it didn't."

Independent filmmaker LOUIS MASSIAH. He is founder and Executive Director of the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia. He has won numerous awards for the films he has produced for public television. Messiah's latest project is a documentary featuring the late civil rights activist and NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois (dew-boyz) It is called "W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices." It premiers on PBS this month.

NPR's John Burnett reports on Texas Attorney General Dan Morales' order barring affirmative action by public colleges and universities. Colleges may not use race as a factor in admissions, scholarships or recruitment programs.

NPR's Barbara Bradley joins Congress incoming freshman class at their orientation. This is when the new legislators learn how to organize their offices and become familiar with the nuts-and-bolts details of their next two years. And, as Bradley reports, this class is different from its predecessors: they're already talking compromise.

- In an attempt to give business majors some on-the-job training, Washington University in St. Louis is providing entrepreneurs with students to help them write up business plans. NPR's Chris Arnold reports the program provides business people with inexpensive help, the students with real-life business experience and the possibility of dividends for both if their joint efforts are successful.

for power between the Taliban militia and forces loyal to the ousted government.

Senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that the nation's capital has become the battleground for competing political scandals.

NPR science correspondent Joe Palca visits with zookeepers at Washington's National Zoo to find out the answer to a listener's question -- why are flamingos pink?

Gene Johnson of member station WNYC reports on today's verdict in the Crown Heights federal civil rights trial. A jury in New York convicted two men for violating the civil rights of Yankel Rosenbaum, who was killed during what police call a 'race riot' in 1991.