Noting that the U. S. populations of Hispanic, African- American and Asian students were increasing, Obama said that failing to properly educate them and close the " achievement gaps" would be growing problem. A question on clean energy provided the president with the opportunity to reiterate his call for increased spending on research and development, as well as setting standards so that specific portions of energy come from clean energy sources. When asked about possibly legalizing drugs to save law enforcement costs and reduce drug- related crime, Obama said he opposed outright legalization but favored treating the issue as a public health and safety problem.

The goal should be to shrink the demand for drugs by changing attitudes instead of being too strongly focused on arresting and imprisoning people, Obama said. In addition, Obama called for more resources for programs to help people dealing with drug addiction and other problems, noting that it can take six months to get into drug treatment programs in some cities. Obama spent Wednesday visiting solar and wind energy companies in Wisconsin to tout his push for increased government investment in clean energy as a growth industry of the future, a major theme of his speech the night before. Along with Obama' s You. Tube interview, Vice President Joe Biden answered questions from the public in a Yahoo interview Thursday, and four top administration officials participated in online discussions answering questions submitted via Facebook, the online social network.

Profile of and interview with physician assistant and polio survivor John C Welton, who works in palliative care unit at Bronx Montefiore Medical Center, caring for patients with progressive, incurable illnesses like terminal cancer; Mr Welton believes his appearance and use of thick metal leg braces lets his patients know that he is someone who can empathize with their situation; photo May 5, 2008

HBO, Netflix, Pandora and the NBA are just a few of the big- name brands teaming up with Google for the rollout of Google TV. The web giant' s " multimillion- channel TV" system is expected to launch some time this fall. Run by Google' s Android operating system, it will let users view all kinds of Web content on their televisions.

The partnerships were announced Monday on Google' s official blog. The post announced that other deals are in place for Web sites to optimize their content for Google TV. CNN. com is one of those sites as are others, including TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, owned by parent company Time Warner.