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Jazz composer and bandleader Maria Schneider went hang gliding in Rio a couple of years ago. The experience was so vivid for her that she turned it into a composition. Schneider describes her trip to Rio, the hang gliding, and how she made them into music. She says that at certain points in the composition, the orchestra is the wind and the soloist is the hang glider, riding on the wind. "Hang Gliding" is on the CD "Allegresse," http://www.enjarecords.com

Normally, writer Carol Wasserman doesn't do much cooking now that her husband is dead. One thing she likes to cook is rutabaga. The problem -- it knocks out the power. She realizes that she is among the very fewer generations of woman who could have survived alone in a dark house.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on President-elect George W. Bush, who today resigned from the only political office he has ever held -- governor of Texas. The emotional speech by Bush ended 6 years at the helm in Austin and comes less than a month before he is to move to his new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Meanwhile, jockeying continues to go on behind the scenes for filling the remaining Cabinet slots.

Stephen Moore, who's president of the Club for Growth, a conservative political action committee says he favored returning dollars to taxpayers when the economy was strong. Now he thinks a tax cut's even more essential to managing a soft landing instead of a recession with economic growth slowed, the stock market down, and the tax burden above 21%. He urges the full Bush tax cut plus capital gains cut to help high tech. http://www.clubforgrowth.org

NPR's Brian Naylor reports that, before adjournment, Congress voted to limit the development of low power radio. Low power stations broadcast within an area of four to seven miles, and are meant to benefit schools, churches and others in a local community. Broadcaster groups, including NPR, have said those new stations could interfere with currently licensed FM broadcasters. The omnibus spending bill approved by Congress and sent to President Clinton includes a ban on removing the cushions that protect individual FM signals, except in nine test markets.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports that a recent FBI bust of a bookie has focused attention on another weapon in law enforcement's high-tech arsenal. Agents put a keystroke monitor on a suspect's computer and were able to recreate every letter typed into it for months. The idea was to get a password he used to encrypt data.

Eighty-percent of the world's poinsettias are grown at one ranch in Encinitas, California. Noah talks with Paul Ecke III -- CEO of Paul Ecke Ranch -- about the history and breeding of the popular holiday flower. The Ecke family has grown the tropical American shrub for ninety years.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports that the ramifications of the United States Supreme Court's decision on the Bush-Gore case may continue into the future. While George W. Bush will become president the Supreme Court might have lost some credibility. Many people are still unsure whether the court did the right thing.

NPR's Jackie Northam reports that the FCC is auctioning off part of the airwave spectrum. The band that's up for grabs is intended for wireless communication providers, and should mean stronger and clearer connections for cell phone users. It will also give the industry room to develop the next generation of wireless services.

NPR's Joanne Silberner reports on a new study showing that doctors frequently ignore warnings on drug packaging. When one new warning was widely publicized a couple of years ago, prescriptions for the wrong people actually went up.