Odd Couple

Rita Moreno dropped out of school at age 14. She'd made her Broadway debut the year before -- in a flop called "Skydrift" -- and by the time she was 17 she had an MGM contract. But quitting school is a decision she says she regrets "every day of my life."Being a dropout is the reason Moreno has become such a strong proponent of education. "I'm nuts on that subject," she insisted recently from her home in Pacific Palisades, Calif.Tonight Moreno will be in Owings Mills doing her bit for education as the star of "Project Reach Out," Maryland Public Television's annual telethon, which encourages Marylanders to donate time, not money, to public schools.

OK, OK, so there's a recession out there and we all have to cut back. But if you can't show some genorosity at Christmas time, just when can you open up your heart and your wallet anyway?!I'm still making a list and checking it twice, but here are some of my thoughts for Christmas shopping 1990.* For Gov. William Donald Schaefer: A canonization ceremony. The Guv didn't want to win an election. He wanted a unanimous acclamation of sainthood. Boy, lose one county and go into a righteous snit.

For once, it's the re-runs that are worth watching tonight. So travel back in time with Nickelodeon to 1972, when must-see TV was exactly that.Figure skating (9 p.m.-11 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Brian Boitano, Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Torvill & Dean are among competitors in the World Professional Figure Skating Championships, taped last month at the USAir Arena in Landover. NBC."20/20" (10 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Raves, the all-night, underground dance parties where drugs tend to flow as freely as the beat, are investigated by correspondent Lynn RTC Sherr.

On The Weekend Watch:A SERIOUS SUBJECT -- It is a different world for today's young people when they contemplate their emerging sexuality. The mortal danger of AIDS is the topic of "A Different World" on NBC tonight (8:30, Channel 2). Whoopi Goldberg guest stars as a teacher who discovers that one of her students (Tisha Campbell) has contracted the virus. The show's creator, Bill Cosby, appears early on to introduce the sobering subject.A REAL ODD COUPLE -- One of television's more interesting duos for many years, in commercials and on series, are comedians Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller.

Before Master Sgt. Richard Christopher of the Maryland National Guard was shipped to the Middle East in December, his wife drafted a list of chores: Fix the transmission on the Chevrolet pickup, sign over power of attorney, repair the tractor and move the computer from the family room to the bedroom. "I was afraid I'd miss an e-mail," says Gayle Saunders-Christopher, 56, of northern Harford County. With the computer screen just three feet from her bed - and angled toward her pillows - Saunders-Christopher can spot e-mail from her husband as it arrives.

WASHINGTON -- There is enough hypocrisy to go around even by Washington standards in the current debate over whether to continue China's most-favored-nation status as a trading partner.Some day the government may stop pretending that there is a significant human-rights component in our foreign policy and put an end to these annual showdowns in Congress. Meanwhile, money talks.To be awarded MFN status, which really means normal trading privileges, trading partners are supposed to meet minimal standards of decency on human rights.

One came from Barranquilla, Colombia, where he started kicking a soccer ball against walls when he was 2 years old. The other grew up in Kansas before moving, while in high school, to Colorado Springs, Colo. His first sport was baseball, but he quickly became sold on soccer because of the faster pace. Alfonso DeMares and Todd Lauber came together at Towson University at the end of the summer of 1998, assigned as roommates in the freshman soccer dorm, with nothing more in common than the fact that they both had practice the next day. Best of friends since, DeMares, who last week became the program's all-time leading scorer with 122 career points, and Lauber, fourth with 92 points, will be working on extending their stellar four-year careers today at 1 p.m. when the Tigers (12-4-1)

This just in: The next big-budget film out of Hollywood is the story of four young people, a good looking, blond guy, a frumpy girl with glasses, a none-too-bright bombshell and a supremely dimwitted slob, who traverse the country in a beat-up van solving mysteries with a Great Dane who talks and finds clues.Anyone under 35 will recognize the set-up as the premise to the Saturday morning cartoon series "Scooby-Doo," and if the prospect of turning a television show -- and an animated program at that -- into a big ticket movie sounds far-fetched, just check the box office grosses.

IT'S NOT easy buying green.Media tell us about a growing awareness of so-called "green" issues, the social and environmental effects a business has on its community and environment.But as an entrepreneur, I know that traditional business practice does not mirror the social and environmental trends that are getting so much media coverage these days.Too many business people believe that business cannot be profitable and socially responsible at the same time. Frankly, when it comes to addressing the problems of the inner city -- appalling crime, hopelessness, joblessness -- charity alone is boring.

WASHINGTON -- There is a basic lesson about American politics today in the controversy over the proper policy for the United States to follow in dealing with China.Although candidate Bill Clinton was harshly critical of George Bush's policy of ''engagement'' during the 1992 campaign, President Clinton is following the identical policy. Like Mr. Bush, he's taking a soft line on human-rights issues in the interest of American businesses who see China first and foremost as a huge market.The harshest criticism of that policy is coming from an odd couple -- the most conservative Republicans and the most liberal Democrats, who attack the decision to continue most-favored nation status for China despite its recalcitrance on human-rights questions.