* WINNERS: The anonymous Good Samaritan in Evansville, Ind. known only as Pete. And Miami developer Stephanie Trump. A few days ago Pete sent the Southwestern Indiana Easter Seal Society $2,500 hidden in a gift-wrapped Santa Claus figure. And Mrs. Trump - no relation to Donald - pledged $1 million worth of college tuition to needy second-graders. Yes, Evansville and Miami, there really is a Santa Claus - in fact, many, many of them.
* WINNERS: Americans who manage to kick the smoking habit. It isn't easy. Though a third of all smokers try to quit each year, only about 8 percent of them succeed, according to government figures released this week. That shows smoking really is addictive - and it's better never to start in the first place. Despite all that, the proportion of American adults who smoke cigarettes dropped to 25 percent in 1993, the lowest level since the government began taking regular surveys in 1965. That should encourage others to keep trying to kick the habit.- BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK: The fact that we're all about to celebrate Christmas and the extraordinarily good news it always represents. What else did you expect? A resounding "Merry Christmas" to one and all - and we do mean all. So:
CHINESE - Sheng-Dan-Kuai-Le.
DANISH - Glaedelig Yul.
FRENCH - Joyeux Noel.
GERMAN - Frohliche Weihnachten.
GREEK - Kala Christougenna.
ITALIAN - Buon Natale.
JAPANESE - Meri Kurisumasu.
POLISH - Wesolych Swait.
PORTUGUESE - Boas Festas.
RUSSIAN - S Rozhdestvom Kristovym.
SPANISH - Feliz Navidad.