21.  As a candidate, Gore has shown remarkable steadiness, responding to attacks but keeping his eye on his own forward-looking issues, especially the primacy of educational improvements.

22.  Cultural distance, however, is a bit harder to kill, especially when company and customer are talking to each other on the telephone.

23.  Cultural institutions in Lower Manhattan, near ground zero, have been especially hard hit, officials say.

24.  Department store sales, which make up about 10 percent of Japan's economy, have been hit especially hard.

25.  Department stores and specialty retailers that carry a large inventory of women's apparel were thought to have especially poor sales.

26.  Departures such as Biondi's are common among underperforming studios, but Seagram's purge of top executives has been especially bloody.

27.  Dependence on the computer often increases as students reach college age, especially at the University of Dayton where every student is required to have a computer.

28.  Depending upon how convincing the victory, the first fight might be dismissed as an aberration, especially if he goes on to whip a string of lesser heavyweights.

29.  Designers absolutely adored big satin ball gowns, especially those with long, "princess" lines and skirts about four feet wide at the hemline.

30.  Desmond met Desmond on Monday -- a lucky occurrence because namesakes don't always get to meet, especially when one is as famous as the archbishop from South Africa.