THE BIG ISSUES.

THE ELECTION IS ABOUT MORE THAN PERSONALITIES THE NATION'S FUTURE IS AT STAKE.

With President Clinton leaving office, this year's Presidential campaign is wide open. Americans will be deciding not just who will live in the White House, but what kind of country the U.S. will be s it enters the new millennium. Here s a guide to what's at stake--from social issues, like school prayer and abortion, to affairs of state such as foreign policy--and a chart so you can see where the candidates stand.

SCHOOL PRAYER

For decades those for and against prayer in public schools have fought a series of bitter engagements, but the drumbeat for school prayer has grown louder since the school shootings last spring in Littleton, Colorado.

Organized school prayer has been ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, but proponents of school prayer argue that the Constitution's First Amendment, which separates church and state, was never meant to outlaw prayer, and that a silent, nondenominational prayer would not violate the Constitution. Some candidates also want schools to post the Ten Commandments and other Judeo-Christian material.

Opponents of school prayer say any organized prayer during school hours violates the rights of students by forcing one set of religious beliefs on students of other religions. Even silent prayer, they contend, forces prayer on students who may not want to participate.

GUN CONTROL

Federal law bans assault weapons--rapid-firing, semiautomatic rifles modeled on military weapons--and requires background checks on handgun buyers, to make sure that guns don't fall into the hands of people with criminal records or histories of mental problems.

Gun-control advocates want to close a loophole that allows guns to be sold at gun shows without background checks. Others want to ban inexpensive guns, so-called Saturday night specials. Several candidates support requiring child-safety locks on guns.

Opponents of gun control argue that the Second Amendment gives Americans the right to own guns. They say that banning guns, or registering them, won't stop gun violence, but will mean more government interference in citizens' private lives. Solutions to violence, they argue, should focus on punishing criminals, not gun owners.

THE ENVIRONMENT

In one corner of the environment ring are those who believe government regulation is needed to control industrial polluters, reduce automobile emissions, and protect endangered animals and resources.

In the other are those who say such measures cost too much, are ineffective, and end up creating huge and often mindless government bureaucracies. This side often argues that the effects of pollution are exaggerated and that complying with the regulations can be needlessly expensive for business.

One environmental flashpoint in this election is the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement recently signed in Kyoto, Japan, calling for the reduction of greenhouse gases worldwide. Critics say the treaty would damage the U.S. economy by forcing businesses to spend millions of dollars to reduce emissions.

Proponents believe that reducing the gases is the only way to stop global warming. Many scientists believe that greenhouse gases trap reflected heat from the sun in the atmosphere, and are raising the earth's temperature.

HEALTH CARE

With 44.4 million uninsured Americans, including 11 million under 18, health care is shaping up to be a hot-button issue in the upcoming campaign.

Bill Bradley, Al Gore, and George W. Bush have proposed plans to expand health-insurance coverage to some of the millions of Americans currently without insurance. Bradley calls for spending $65 billion a year to cover virtually all uninsured people. The more modest Gore plan calls for using money from the government's current budget surplus to guarantee health insurance to everyone under 18. Bush would expand coverage for children, using proceeds from tobacco lawsuits.

Other Republican candidates, saying those plans are too costly, want to give a tax break to individuals or families who put money into individual savings accounts earmarked for health care.

ABORTION

Abortion opponents, who can themselves "pro-life," want to pass a constitutional amendment overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortions legal. They consider abortion the murder of an unborn child.

Abortion-rights proponents, who call themselves "pro-choice," say that only the woman has a right to make decisions about what to do with her body, including whether to have an abortion. They argue that making abortions illegal would force women to pursue risky, illegal procedures.

With little chance of outlawing abortions outright, abortion opponents have pursued a ban on abortions late in pregnancy and have succeeded in cutting federal funding used to help pay for abortions. Abortion-rights proponents say those cuts deprive poor women of access to safe abortions.

FOREIGN POLICY

How should the U.S. conduct itself in the world? The candidates have a lot of ideas.

NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY: This treaty, recently defeated in the Senate, aims to limit nuclear weapons to countries that now have them by banning nuclear testing. Critics say the treaty couldn't be properly verified, and that the U.S. must test nuclear weapons to make sure they work. Proponents say the U.S. is best protected by making sure unfriendly nations don't produce nuclear bombs.

CHINA TRADE: Opponents of the recent invitation to China to join the World Trade Organization, a group of 130 nations that promotes tree trade among its members, say China should be barred from membership until its human rights record improves. Supporters of Chinese membership say that trading with China will push the country toward democracy faster than keeping it out.

INTERVENTION: Last year's interventions to repel Serb attacks in Kosovo and restore order in East Timor have won mixed reviews from the candidates. Some say the U.S. has an obligation to intervene in violent situations around the world. Others say we should avoid getting entangled.

WHERE THEY STAND

                     ALLOW        POST TEN
                   ORGANIZED    COMMANDMENTS
                    SCHOOL           IN             BAN
                    PRAYER?       SCHOOLS?       ABORTION

GARY BAUER            Yes            Yes            Yes

PAT BUCHANAN          Yes            Yes            Yes

GEORGE W. BUSH        Yes            Yes            Yes

STEVE FORBES          Yes            Yes            Yes

ORRIN HATCH           Yes            Yes            Yes

ALAN KEYES            Yes            Yes            Yes

JOHN McCAIN          Yes,             ?             Yes

BILL BRADLEY          No             No             No

AL GORE                ?              ?             No

                                   REQUIRE
                   BACKGROUND       CHILD           BAN
                   CHECKS AT       SAFETY        "SATURDAY
                      GUN           LOCKS          NIGHT
                    SHOWS?        ON GUNS?       SPECIAL"?

GARY BAUER            No             No             No

PAT BUCHANAN          No             No             No

GEORGE W. BUSH        Yes            No              ?

STEVE FORBES          Yes            No             No

ORRIN HATCH           Yes            Yes            No

ALAN KEYES            No             No             No

JOHN McCAIN           Yes            Yes            No

BILL BRADLEY          Yes            Yes            Yes

AL GORE               Yes            Yes             ?

                                   TOUGHEN       INTERVENE
                     LIMIT          CLEAN        IN WORLD
                  GREENHOUSES        AIR            HOT
                    GASES?        STANDARDS        SPOTS

GARY BAUER            No             No             Yes

PAT BUCHANAN          No             No             No

GEORGE W. BUSH        No             No             Yes

STEVE FORBES          No             No             No

ORRIN HATCH           No              ?             Yes

ALAN KEYES            No             No             No

JOHN McCAIN            ?             Yes            Yes

BILL BRADLEY           ?              ?             Yes

AL GORE               Yes            Yes            Yes

                     ADMIT         RATIFY
                   CHINA TO        NUCLEAR       ESTABLISH
                     WORLD          TEST          PATIENT
                     TRADE           BAN          BILL OF
                 ORGANIZATION?     TREATY?        RIGHTS?

GARY BAUER            No             No             Yes

PAT BUCHANAN          No             No             No

GEORGE W. BUSH        Yes            No             Yes

STEVE FORBES          No             No             No

ORRIN HATCH           No             No             No

ALAN KEYES            No             No              ?

JOHN McCAIN           Yes            No             Yes

BILL BRADLEY          Yes            Yes            Yes

AL GORE               Yes            Yes            Yes

                    PROVIDE
                    HEALTH
                 INSURANCE TO
                   CHILDREN?

GARY BAUER            No

PAT BUCHANAN          No

GEORGE W. BUSH        Yes

STEVE FORBES           ?

ORRIN HATCH           Yes

ALAN KEYES             ?

JOHN McCAIN            ?

BILL BRADLEY          Yes

AL GORE               Yes

? -- Candidate has not taken a position on this issue.