It's a matter of helping him understand the concerns of the committee, the questions likely to be asked and the way the hearings will unfold.

As the hearing unfolded in Judge Ricciardi's courtroom, the Greek-Revival courthouse was surrounded by an army of television trucks.

Perhaps Albert Hakim, the Iranian-born arms dealer, may fulfill the role of villain as the hearings unfold, but his role was a somewhat secondary one.

For the lawyers, women's rights advocates and others involved in cases of rape and sexual harassment, the hearing unfolded in precisely the manner they had feared.

The hearing unfolded a day after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings released test results from schools in the Reading First program showing students making progress.

Aside from calling the governor to testify, Mr. Reich offered a structure and time frame for how the public hearings will unfold.

But even as the four-hour hearing, under the chairmanship of Thurmond and held in the building named for Dirksen, unfolded, two things seemed evident.

As the hearing unfolded, Mr. Sylver declined to testify about specific issues.

As the hearing unfolds before a Jewish judge named Irwin Silver, the crimes of Mishka's unit are described in grisly testimony by those who survived contact with them.

Even as the daylong hearing unfolded, inspectors and engineers continued to probe the aging Indian Point 2 reactor.