Flashes: May 2, 1997

ALMA MATT-ERS When he landed the job as cohost of Today, nobody asked hunky NBC newsman Matt Lauer for his college transcripts. If they had, they would have discovered that the 39-year-old host is a dropout. Lauer left Ohio University in 1979, just one class shy of a B.S. in telecommunications, to take a job at a station in Huntington, W.Va. But as of June, Lauer will no longer be on the list of Ohio U.'s most famous nongrads (screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is another). Recently, Lauer has been working on an independent-study project — a report on how his on-air experiences have satisfied the requirements of the audio/video production class he needs to complete his degree. And it looks like Lauer is intent on getting his sheepskin. He's already RSVP'd for graduation and is scheduled to deliver the school's June 14 commencement address. ''Yes, I'll be a member of the class of 1997,'' says Lauer, ''which is really going to help me lie about my age later on.''