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NPR's Steve Inskeep profiles Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, a moderate Republican who cast a crucial vote against President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut proposal. Sen. Jeffords' tie-breaking ability on close votes in the evenly divided Senate gives him considerable influence. He used it to help reduce the size of the tax cut by about a fourth and divert more than $200 billion of it to pay for special education. Jeffords was just re-elected and has received less criticism in his home-state than from conservative Republicans in Washington, D.C.

Scott talks with the Doyenne of Dirt, Ketzel Levine, about noxious weeds. Ketzel says that one region's common garden plant can be another regions invasive pest. (6:00) NOTE: There is plenty more dirt to be found in our Talking Plants section.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Mitchell Daniels who, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, is responsible for getting the budget through Congress. On Monday, the president released details of his $1.96 trillion budget, which he had outlined in a blueprint on February 28th. Last week, the Senate approved the blueprint after scaling back the President's proposed 10-year tax cut from 1.6 trillion to 1.2 trillion. The House approved the entire 1.3 trillion tax cut proposal on March 21st.

NPR's technology correspondent John McChesney reports on the 24th PC Forum. Top technology executives hope the distraction of instant riches is fading in the tech sector, making room for serious research and development.

NPR's Martin Kaste reports from Peru on the results of yesterday's presidential elections there. No candidate won a majority of the vote, and run-off elections between the top two are expected.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Don Hewitt, creator and executive producer of 60 Minutes about his long and distinguished television career. Hewitt has just published a memoir entitled, Tell Me A Story — 50 Years and 60 Minutes on Television. Working with such TV legends as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and Mike Wallace, Hewitt has played significant roles in many of television's greatest news moments. They include the launch of the CBS Evening News in 1948, the launch of See It Now with Murrow and Fred Friendly, the 1960 presidential debate, and the creation of 60 Minutes in 1968.

Frank talks with NPR's Congressional Correspondent Steve Inskeep about action on the federal budget. This past week, the Senate agreed on a version of a budget plan which scales back the scope of President Bush's 1.6 trillion dollar tax cut.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Edward Goldberg, Director of the Medici Archive Project, about his work with the Medici family archive in Florence, Italy. The archive is a collection of virtually every letter sent or received by the Medici court during its rule from the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s. The correspondence reveals a great deal about Italian art and early modern European history. Goldberg and his colleagues are documenting and digitizing each letter, and hope to have the project complete by 2012. (6:28) For more on the project, check out our Medici Archive Web page.

NPR's Renee Montagne highlights moments from last night's Academy Awards ceremony. Gladiator won best picture, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won best foreign language film. (6:35) Check out the complete list of Oscar winners.

The fine art of "hacking," or elaborate practical joking, is a storied tradition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Students at M.I.T. have perched a life-size police car on top of a domed building, wrapped an enormous jock strap around the athletic center, and performed a host of other diabolical pranks. Liane speaks with the school's Assistant Safety Officer, David Barber, who is in charge of dismantling these pranks the next day.