The best supporting actress category in the Oscar competition spans the age bracket from a teen-ager in "Cape Fear" to an 82-year-old in "Fried Green Tomatoes." It also has a Maryland connection. Mercedes Ruehl grew up in Silver Spring. Oscar winners will be announced at the annual televised Academy Awards ceremony March 30.

The Evening Sun would like to know which supporting actress you feel should win: Juliette Lewis, "Cape Fear"; Jessica Tandy, "Fried Green Tomatoes"; Mercedes Ruehl, "The Fisher King"; Kate Nelligan, "The Prince of Tides," or Diane Ladd, "Rambling Rose."

To register your opinion, call SUNDIAL at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County) today through midnight. After you hear the greeting, you'll be asked to punch in a four-digit code on your touch-tone phone. Punch 4600 and you'll be connected with "It's Your Call," The Evening Sun's phone survey on topical issues.

"It's Your Call" represents a sampling of opinions from certain segments of the community, but it is not balanced demographically, as would be done in a scientific public opinion poll.

Look for the results in tomorrow's Evening Sun.