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1,987 | BRELAND FINDS PRO STYLE WITH KNOCKOUT PUNCH | LEAD: As an amateur, Mark Breland seemed the perfect specimen.
LEAD: As an amateur, Mark Breland seemed the perfect specimen.
As an amateur, Mark Breland seemed the perfect specimen.
A lean, 6-foot-2-inch welterweight, he possessed a reach from here to Canarsie that got him the time and room for his big right hand, which landed with more impact than one could reasonably expect from a man of Breland's spindly physique.
He compiled a record of 110 victories and 1 loss as an amateur, in a career that included 5 New York Golden Gloves titles and an Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles.
If ever an amateur boxer seemed assured of instant success as a pro, Breland was the man. The reality, though, turned out otherwise.
''I felt awkward when I first turned pro,'' Breland said recently. ''Things I did in the amateurs didn't work here. Guys were putting too much pressure on me.'' Undefeated as a Professional
Breland, who is undefeated in 16 professional fights (11 knockouts) and meets Harold Volbrecht of South Africa tonight in Atlantic City for the vacated World Boxing Association welterweight title, found that the style that had worked for him as an amateur had to change if he was to be a successful pro.
Breland was booed early in his pro career for his inability to land big punches. In his first three pro fights, against strictly ordinary opponents - Dwight Williams, Marlon Palmer and Steve Little - Breland was forced to go the six-round distance each time.
''At first,'' Breland said, ''I was saying, 'Hey, what's going on? I'm hitting them and they're not going anywhere.' ''
It did not help matters that the news media was, as Breland put it, ''on my case'' with speculation about whether Breland would fail to fulfill his amateur promise.
Even when Breland began to score knockouts, there were still reservations about his commitment to the sport. In the ring he was so controlled and expressionless that there were questions about whether he had the passion necessary to excel as a professional.
Eventually, Breland conceded, the constant criticism began to bother him. ''But after a while,'' he said, ''I realized you got to please yourself.
''I thought back to when I was in the Olympics, getting booed for not knocking guys out. And John Anderson, who was the team psychologist, said to me, 'Mark, maybe you're trying to please the crowd too much. And working too hard for the knockout. Just fight to please Mark Breland, not the crowd. Struggles With New Techniques
''After I heard that, I felt much better, the pressure was gone. So with my fourth pro fight, I decided I have to fight for me, and people can say what they want.''
Still, Breland struggled to master new techniques that Joe Fariello, his 50-year-old trainer, was trying to teach him.
''He moved around the ring far too much, and as a result he had terrible balance,'' said Fariello. ''I wanted him to stay settled rather than moving around. Go right to these guys, and take them on. To accomplish that, I wanted him to develop the jab - not the pawing, slapping jab he threw, but a stiff one.
''People had no respect for his jab and that was why he was being pressured by opponents. Mark's way of dealing with that pressure was by a lot of movement.''
It took Breland a while to learn, for example, to stand his ground and block punches with his gloves, rather than scuttling away and leaving himself off balance when he tried to counter with blows of his own. The key, Fariello said, was the jab.
''When he got success with the jab,'' the trainer said, ''he cut down on movement. His balance became better.'' Opponents Began to Fall
With better balance, Breland got leverage in his punches, and opponents began to fall. The change in him did not occur all at once - or without Fariello and the fighter finding certain differences in their personalities that threatened their relationship.
''I like everything relaxed in the gym,'' said Breland. ''I don't like screaming. Don't keep yelling, yelling, yelling while I'm boxing. 'Do this! Do that!' I can't concentrate. I'd just stop. I'd tell Joe, 'Talk to me very easy. I can understand that better than the yelling and screaming.' ''
Fariello found it difficult to change the aggressive tack he had taken as a trainer ever since he began working with fighters in the mid-1950's. ''I believed you had to dominate a fighter mentally and physically,'' said Fariello. ''I'd yell at them for their mistakes, and push them to work harder. And Mark rebelled. He was used to his own way. The first year, we had problems.'' Manager as Mediator
Eventually their problems led them to ask Breland's manager, Shelly Finkel, to serve as mediator. ''There were clashes of personality,'' Finkel said. ''We had a lunch to discuss it. The two of them realized it was best for the both of them to stay together. One was a future champion, and the other could help him get there.''
The turning point in the relationship occurred in December 1985 when Breland went to Virginia Beach, Va., to fight Hedgemon Robertson. ''Joe had a heart attack down there and needed bypass surgery in Norfolk,'' Finkel said. ''And that's when Mark realized how much he missed and needed Joe. Down there he told him that. And they've been like brothers ever since.''
Breland is a prohibitive favorite against Volbrecht, who fought for the welterweight title in April 1980. He was knocked out by Pipino Cuevas.
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1,994 | Foreman's Fistic Follies (Or, Just What Is Your Point Anyway, George?) | What was George Foreman trying to tell Jim Lampley Friday night on TVKO after Michael Moorer defeated Evander Holyfield for the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association heavyweight titles? Was he accusing promoter Dan Duva of influencing the majority decision? Did he think Holyfield was robbed?
Or, was he just suffering from buffet envy?
What was George Foreman trying to tell Jim Lampley Friday night on TVKO after Michael Moorer defeated Evander Holyfield for the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association heavyweight titles? Was he accusing promoter Dan Duva of influencing the majority decision? Did he think Holyfield was robbed?
Or, was he just suffering from buffet envy?
Regarding Holyfield, Foreman seemed to be offering up an explanation of why he lost -- "Evander Holyfield hopped, skipped and dropped too many managers and too many promoters" -- then added, "I'm hurt and scarred by a great performance. He should have won." Talk about hopping and skipping.
Regarding Duva, he said, "The Duva people have too many pieces of paper and too many different fighters." O.K., we felt a diatribe coming on.
"You're suggesting that the Duva people have too many pieces of paper with too many fighters and that their promotional rights may have played a role in this decision," said Lampley, trying to unmuddle Foreman.
A yes from Foreman would have meant accusing la famiglia Duva of (shhh) a fix. So he went into a clinch, saying: "Somebody's going to have step in and say, 'Who are you with, what fighter are you with?' "
Lampley: "But George, they hold the promotional rights to Holyfield as well."
Foreman: "Heh, right, maybe, it's coming, well, but anyway, I'm not going to talk a whole lot about it, but I've seen enough."
Lampley: "You're saying this was a very bad decision."
Foreman: "A very terrible decision. Evander Holyfield fought his heart out, he was cut, he was still in there and he was ahead on points. That's just my opinion and I didn't eat a whole lot today." (Cute smile.)
Then he went into Never Never Land.
"Maybe I'll have to go into politics," he said. "I hear they have good banquets in that business. The people at home should not lose faith in boxing. It's going to get better."
Ross Greenburg, executive producer of TVKO and HBO Sports, said: "It was George's best performance as an analyst, but he hadn't thought that last thing out well. He was barking up the wrong tree. Duva's promotional deals are clean as long as he doesn't have managerial influence."
Dan Duva was livid. "He was dishonest and disingenuous," he said. "He has an ax to grind because we didn't give him a rematch with Evander Holyfield. He filed a suit in Texas that threatened to enjoin the Holyfield-Tyson fight. We didn't have time to fight it. George shook us down for a $1 million settlement, and since then, he's taken a lot of unfair shots at us."
Duva said his company, Main Events, has long owned Holyfield's promotional rights and acquired Moorer's in 1991. "George should know that because Moorer fought on the undercard of the Foreman-Holyfield fight," he said.
Foreman declined to rebut Duva directly and said he meant him no malice.
"When the Duvas first came into boxing, they were flawless, with one fighter in each division," Foreman said by telephone yesterday, "but I don't like this one man, two fighter thing. The judges are picked by promoters, one promoter saying, 'I want this guy,' the other saying, 'I want this guy.' But if one guy has both fighters, who's fighting for who? At least in politics, we have Democrats and Republicans, one wants taxes, the other doesn't."
The real undercard to Moorer's surprise victory was the psychodrama in his corner with Teddy Atlas, his trainer. TVKO picked up terrific audio of Atlas blistering Moorer for not attacking Holyfield.
After Round 8, Atlas screamed: "You're lyin' to yourself because you're gonna cry tomorrow. And I'd lie to you if I let you get away with that. You're gonna cry tomorrow because of that. Do you wanna cry tomorrow?"
It was the best boxing dialogue since "Requiem for a Heavyweight," but Atlas's motivation was left unexplored because TVKO did not talk to him afterward. "We should have closed that story and interviewed him," Greenburg said.
TVKO generated an estimated 600,000 purchases, according to a preliminary estimate by Pay-Per-View Update, an industry newsletter. HBO will rebroadcast it at 10 P.M. tomorrow night.
I'VE GOT THE TALKING HEAD, ESPN N.F.L. DRAFT BLUES It has always been talking heads. But now it's talking heads to the max. Chris Berman, Mel Kiper Jr. and Joe Theismann at the anchor desk. Mike Gottfried with commentary. Reports from eight sites. Cameras focused on four draft "war rooms" -- valuable only if they had audio. Shouldn't one talking head be a lip reader?
The highlight of Sunday's five and a half hours on ESPN was Kiper getting seared by Bill Tobin, the vice president of the Indianapolis Colts ("He's never put on a jock strap, never been a player, never been a coach, never been a scout, never been an administrator.") over criticism that the Colts had to take a quarterback like Trent Dilfer, rather than stick with retread Jim Harbaugh. TV SPORTS
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1,989 | Real Estate | LEAD: IN the last few years, huge developments like the International Design Center of New York and the Citicorp office tower have been the driving force for the transformation of Long Island City from a manufacturing stronghold into a varied commercial district. Many property owners have exploited their proximity to these projects by remodeling the neighborhood's factories and warehouses into offices and showrooms.
LEAD: IN the last few years, huge developments like the International Design Center of New York and the Citicorp office tower have been the driving force for the transformation of Long Island City from a manufacturing stronghold into a varied commercial district. Many property owners have exploited their proximity to these projects by remodeling the neighborhood's factories and warehouses into offices and showrooms.
IN the last few years, huge developments like the International Design Center of New York and the Citicorp office tower have been the driving force for the transformation of Long Island City from a manufacturing stronghold into a varied commercial district. Many property owners have exploited their proximity to these projects by remodeling the neighborhood's factories and warehouses into offices and showrooms. And for a number of years the area has been a haven for artists seeking relief from high Manhattan rents.
Now plans are under way to turn a former factory building into a $35 million, 200,000-square-foot retail shopping center with as many as 30 stores. The new center, at the corner of 43d Street and 37th Avenue, just off Northern Boulevard, will be the largest nonfood shopping center developed so far in Long Island City and one of the biggest that Queens has seen in recent years.
The project will involve a reconstruction of the former Naarden Fragrance Company building, a light-colored, sculptured-concrete edifice in Art Moderne style that is familiar to Long Island Rail Road riders who see it as they pass through the Sunnyside rail yards.
The shopping center is an undertaking of Richard Zirinsky Associates, whose principals are Richard Zirinsky Sr. and his son, Richard Jr. The father-and-son team owns more than three million square feet of commercial space in Long Island City. Most of their holdings are manufacturing buildings, but like other longtime owners in the area, they are reconsidering the uses of many of their properties. In addition to the retail project, for example, the Zirinskys are converting a warehouse on Court Square and Jackson Avenue into a 122,000-square-foot office building. The building is across the street from the 1.3-million-square-foot tower that Citicorp expects to occupy this fall.
Richard Zirinsky Jr. said the company's decision to create a retail center rather than offices in the Naarden building had a lot to do with its location. It has the advantage of being on a street that links two main thoroughfares, Northern and Queens Boulevards, and it is within a few blocks of the residential neighborhood of Sunnyside.
''It was obvious to us when we bought the building a few years ago,'' he said, ''that the area's current and future development patterns warranted some other use for the building. But even if all of the development that has been discussed for the rail yards or the waterfront never happens, different types of shopping and services than what are available now are needed.''
He noted that the General Motors Corporation was building an automotive service center on 43d Street and Skillman Avenue on a site near his planned retail project. When it opens, G.M. hopes, many customers will be bringing their cars in for repairs.
''People going there will have time on their hands,'' he said. ''I think a lot of them will spend that time shopping rather than just waiting.''
Once the decision was made to go with a retail project, the Zirinskys decided not to tear down the former Naarden building, in part because of its unusual design. Built in 1932 as the Knickerbocker laundry, it is something of a Long Island City landmark.
''People were concerned that it would be demolished,'' Mr. Zirinsky said. ''But we wanted to save it if we could.''
The fact that the property has five acres of developable land make this possible because it provides space for an addition. A conversion of the former factory building alone would not have been economical.
James Songer, a partner with Leven Delsio Songer, the architecture firm that designed the shopping center, said the addition would be made to the back of the building, to the north and to the west, creating an L-shaped structure. Both the main floor and the cellar level in the 84,000-square-foot building will be redeveloped as retail space.
The mall's main entrance, a two-story space with a glass canopy, will be carved out of the side of the building. The Zirinskys hope to lease 10,000 square feet of office space in the front of the building, which has a distinctive arched entrance with stainless steel doors and a bronze foyer, either to an outside company or to retailers in the mall.
Mr. Zirinsky said that while they could expand the building's commercial space without a zoning change, their plans for three levels of parking would require a public review. The plans call for 700 to 1,000 parking spaces at ground level and on two levels below the street. The center will also be reachable by public transportation. Buses run along both Northern and Queens Boulevards, and the IRT No. 7 subway line stops four blocks away on Queens Boulevard.
Mr. Zirinsky said the company was negotiating with leading home improvement and hardware stores to take the 60,000-square-foot anchor space. He expects to lease the rest of the space to a mix of stores catering to the needs of both the residential community and the office workers in the district.
Construction is expected to take about 18 months, and the Zirinskys hope to open the new center at the end of 1991 or early in 1992.
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1,995 | Residential Resales | In the following reports, the "listed at" price is the asking price when negotiations began that ended in the sale. Time on market is from most recent listing to contract.
MANHATTAN
In the following reports, the "listed at" price is the asking price when negotiations began that ended in the sale. Time on market is from most recent listing to contract.
MANHATTAN
GRAMERCY PARK
$400,000 1 Irving Place (Zeckendorf Towers) 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,000-sq.-ft. condo in an 8-year-old building; 24-hr. doormen, dining area, hardwood floors, common roof deck, pool and health club; common charge $535; taxes $6,428, listed at $430,000, 3 weeks on market (Broker: J.I. Sopher)
TRIBECA
$257,500 258 Broadway (Warren St.) 1,250-sq.-ft. co-op in a loft building; elevator, 12-ft. ceilings, hardwood floors, 15 windows, City Hall and Brooklyn Bridge views; maintenance $1,625, 66% tax-deductible, listed at $299,000, 26 weeks on market (Broker: Tabak)
UPPER WEST SIDE
$335,000 225 West 85th Street (Claremont) 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,140-sq.-ft. postwar condo; 24-hr. doormen, newly renovated, marble baths, south exposure; common charge $494; taxes $5,928, listed at $375,000, 34 weeks on market (Broker: Corcoran Group)
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS
$70,000 100 Overlook Terrace 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,100-sq.-ft. postwar co-op; dining room, terrace, hardwood floors; maintenance $513, 45% tax-deductible, listed at $75,000, 5 weeks on market (Broker: Stein-Perry)
BRONX
CITY ISLAND
$240,000 465 Minneford Avenue 2-family, 30-year-old brick house; 3 bedrooms, dining room, eat-in kitchen in primary unit; 1 bedroom in other; 1 bath in each; 1-car garage, 50- by 100-ft. lot; taxes $2,000, listed at $250,000, 9 weeks on market (Broker: Jacqueline Kyle Kall)
WEST FARMS
$70,000 1539 Commonwealth Avenue 3-bedroom, 1-bath, 65-year-old house; dining room, eat-in kitchen, full basement, needs renovation, 1-car garage; taxes $800, listed at $89,000, 4 weeks on market (Broker: Heritage First/Better Homes & Gardens)
BROOKLYN
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
$333,480 54 Willow Street 2-bedroom, 3-bath, 1,400-sq.-ft. co-op in a brick building; family room, fireplace, c/a; maintenance $1,266, 70% tax-deductible, listed at $350,000, 4 weeks on market (Broker: Brooklyn Landmark)
PARK SLOPE
$320,000 305 13th Street 2-family, 70-year-old, 2-story brick house; 3 bedrooms in primary unit; 2 bedrooms in other; eat-in kitchen, 1 bath in each; finished basement, 2-car garage; taxes $1,425, listed at $340,000, 1 year on market (Broker: Garfield)
PROSPECT HEIGHTS
$323,500 288 Park Place 2-family, 4-story brownstone; 6 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, dining area in primary triplex; 1 bedroom, 1 bath in simplex; eat-in kitchens; original moldings and detail, finished basement; taxes $1,842, listed at $395,000, 1 week on market (Broker: Cole)
QUEENS
FOREST HILLS
$310,000 71-41 Loubet Street 2-family, 70-year-old detached house; 3 bedrooms, dining room in primary unit; 2 bedrooms in other; eat-in kitchen, 1 bath in each; finished basement, 1-car garage, 31- by 100-ft. lot; taxes $2,200, listed at $325,000, 14 weeks on market (Broker: Advantage Forest Hills)
FOREST HILLS GARDENS
$730,000 220 Seasongood Road 5-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 85-year-old detached side-hall brick Tudor; dining room, remodeled eat-in kitchen, fireplace, solarium, finished basement, 2-car garage, 56- by 100-ft. lot; taxes $4,800, listed at $795,000, 15 weeks on market (Broker: Terrace)
STATEN ISLAND
EMERSON VALLEY
$560,000 35 Francis Place 4-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 8-year-old center-hall colonial; dining room, eat-in kitchen, family room, fireplace, Jacuzzi in master bath, 1-car garage, 60- by 111-ft. lot; taxes $3,800, listed at $669,000, 35 weeks on market (Broker: Vitali-Sunshine) CONNECTICUT
DARIEN
$1.725 million 396 Mansfield Avenue 6-bedroom, 5 1/2-bath, newly constructed Georgian colonial; 2-story foyer, butler's pantry, circular staircase, finished basement, 3-car garage, 2.1-acre lot; taxes $8,000, listed at $1.775 million, 37 weeks on market (Broker: Kelly Associates)
GREENWICH
$490,000 4 Dearfield Lane 4-bedroom, 3-bath, 39-year-old colonial ranch; dining room, family room, fireplace, c/a, bay window, 2-car garage, 90- by 130-ft. lot; taxes $4,488, listed at $520,000, 1 year on market (Brokers: Preferred Properties; William Pitt)
NORWALK
$210,000 901 Foxboro Drive (Foxboro) 2-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 1,305-sq.-ft. condo in a 6-year-old building; eat-in kitchen, fireplace, c/a, skylights, rear deck; common charge $108; taxes $2.922, listed at $214,000, 2 weeks on market (Broker: Weichert)
RIDGEFIELD
$550,000 Copper Hill Road 4-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, newly constructed colonial; eat-in kitchen, 2 fireplaces, Jacuzzi in master bath, c/a, screened-porch, 3-car garage, 2-acre lot; taxes $7,950, listed at $580,000, 26 weeks on market (Broker: Weichert)
WESTCHESTER
EASTCHESTER
$535,000 4 Joan Drive 4-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, 26-year-old colonial; modern eat-in kitchen, wine cellar; .50 acre; taxes $16,704, listed at $650,000, 18 months on market (Brokers: The Prudential Ragette; Coldwell Banker Schlott)
KATONAH
$349,000 32 Hillside Avenue 4-bedroom, 1-bath, 75-year-old colonial; French doors, sun porch, dining room, pantry, fireplace; .33 acre; taxes $6,171, listed at $349,000, 6 weeks on market (Brokers: Ginnel; Houlihan/Lawrence)
MAMARONECK
$516,000 24 Homer Avenue 4-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 65-year-old colonial; screened porch, attached 1-car garage; taxes $10,794, listed at $539,000, 21 weeks on market (Brokers: Merritt Associates; McMillan Severin Mitchelle & Constabile)
SOMERS
$260,000 96 Mitchell Road 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 12-year-old ranch; cathedral ceilings, 2 fireplaces, deck, tennis court, pool; .25 acre; taxes $5,592, listed at $269,900, 8 weeks on market (Broker: Prudential Notas)
NEW JERSEY
BRIDGEWATER
$320,000 1451 Drumhill Road 5-bedroom, 2-bath, 25-year-old expanded ranch; 2-car garage, fireplace, full finished basement; taxes $4,999, listed at $349,000, 1 week on market (Broker: Weichert) HILLSDALE
$260,000 93 Standish Drive 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 42-year-old ranch; 2 fireplaces, 2-car garage, finished basement; taxes $5,285, listed at $287,900, 19 weeks on market (Broker: Prudential Higgins)
HOPEWELL
$280,000 12 First Street 4-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, new contemporary colonial; 2-car garage, circular staircase, fireplace and skylight in family room; taxes $1,079, listed at $299,900, 9 weeks on market (Broker: Richard A. Weidel)
UNION
$138,000 1 Dean Terrace 4-bedroom, 2-bath, 50-year-old expanded Cape Cod; 1-car garage, c/a, corner property; taxes $3,680, listed at $148,500, 2 weeks on market (Broker: The Prudential New Jersey)
LONG ISLAND
LAKE RONKONKOMA
$142,000 13 Elm Street 4-bedroom, 2-bath, 25-year-old high ranch; dining room, eat-in kitchen, deck; taxes $4,100, listed at $148,900, 5 weeks on market (Brokers: Coldwell Banker Bellbrook; Prudential Long Island)
LATTINGTOWN
$440,000 285 Bayville Road 4-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 41-year-old colonial; dining room, eat-in kitchen, den, fireplace, maid's room, 2-car garage; taxes $10,000, listed at $499,000, 28 weeks on market (Broker: Douglas Elliman-Jane Hayes)
SEA CLIFF
$245,000 155 Littleworth Lane 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 81-year-old Victorian; dining room, eat-in kitchen, attic, basement, 50- by 140-foot property with 1- bedroom, 1-bath, detached cottage; taxes $2,600, listed at $249,000, 2 weeks on market (Broker: Northern Properties)
WILLISTON PARK
$230,000 138 Campbell Avenue 3-bedroom, 1-bath, 65-year-old colonial; dining room, new eat-in kitchen, basement, attic, 1-car garage; taxes $3,400, listed at $239,000, 1 week on market (Broker: Atanas)
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1,995 | Capitals Top Isles to Boost Playoff Bid | The Washington Capitals held off the pesky Islanders, 6-5, at USAir Arena tonight and earned 2 critical points on a night when all eight teams fighting for the Eastern Conference's five final playoff berths were in action.
The victory left Washington, which started the night alone in sixth place, with 47 points with three regular-season games left to play.
The Washington Capitals held off the pesky Islanders, 6-5, at USAir Arena tonight and earned 2 critical points on a night when all eight teams fighting for the Eastern Conference's five final playoff berths were in action.
The victory left Washington, which started the night alone in sixth place, with 47 points with three regular-season games left to play.
The Islanders play next on Friday night against the Rangers in Madison Square Garden.
New York got two pretty goals from Ziggy Palffy and one each from Brent Severyn, Yan Kaminsky and Travis Green, but surrendered four power-play goals to the Capitals in a game that featured minimal defense at either end of the ice. Washington was without its top defenseman, Mark Tinordi, who suffered a sprained knee Monday against the Rangers and may be out until the playoffs.
A slap shot from the high slot by Sylvain Cote at 11 minutes 10 seconds of the third proved to be the game-winner.
Petr Bondra -- who took over the National Hockey League's scoring lead with his 31st goal in the first period -- has paced the Capitals' offense this year, frequently with little help. But Washington had no problems with its production tonight. Canadiens 1, Nordiques 1
Mike Ricci's power-play goal 22 seconds into the third period enabled Quebec to earn a tie and sent visiting Montreal a step closer to missing the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. The tie allowed the Canadiens to leap over Florida and into 10th place in the Eastern Conference standing, but they fell 3 points behind the eighth-place Rangers with three games to play. (AP) Sabres 5, Panthers 0
Dominik Hasek recorded his fourth shutout of the season and Buffalo scored three goals in a 1:41 span in the second period to beat visiting Florida. The Sabres remained in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. (AP) Bruins 1, Whalers 0
Mariusz Czerkawski's ninth goal of the season with 4:09 to play gave Boston the victory over visiting Hartford and clinched a playoff berth for the Bruins. HOCKEY
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1,987 | Headliners; A Return Trip | LEAD: Mahmoud M. Atta, who was born in the Middle East and became an American citizen in Puerto Rico, was expelled from Venezuela last week and arrested in New York on charges of firebombing a bus in Israel last year.
LEAD: Mahmoud M. Atta, who was born in the Middle East and became an American citizen in Puerto Rico, was expelled from Venezuela last week and arrested in New York on charges of firebombing a bus in Israel last year.
Mahmoud M. Atta, who was born in the Middle East and became an American citizen in Puerto Rico, was expelled from Venezuela last week and arrested in New York on charges of firebombing a bus in Israel last year.
His future travels are expected to be limited to a trip back to Israel, to which he is to be extradited. Mr. Atta, who was born 33 years ago in what is now the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has identified himself as a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Federal agents arrested him at Kennedy airport on the basis of an Israeli warrant that accused Mr. Atta of hurling a firebomb into a bus last April, killing the driver and injuring eight passengers.
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1,994 | Unit Trusts May Appeal To Fretful Bond Buyers | FOR municipal bond owners who have turned timid, there's a belt-and-suspenders investment worth considering: fixed portfolios known as unit investment trusts.
When tax-free bond funds dropped 5.3 percent in the first quarter -- a bigger drubbing than any other major fund category -- investors accustomed to a buoyant bond market may have recalled a long-ago lesson. In the words of Marysue Wechsler, a Greenbelt, Md., planner: "Bonds are not meant to be traded as growth vehicles. They're used for income as stocks go up and down."
FOR municipal bond owners who have turned timid, there's a belt-and-suspenders investment worth considering: fixed portfolios known as unit investment trusts.
When tax-free bond funds dropped 5.3 percent in the first quarter -- a bigger drubbing than any other major fund category -- investors accustomed to a buoyant bond market may have recalled a long-ago lesson. In the words of Marysue Wechsler, a Greenbelt, Md., planner: "Bonds are not meant to be traded as growth vehicles. They're used for income as stocks go up and down."
From that premise flows much advice for now-numb bondholders. Shorten bond maturities to preserve principal and to have a crack at higher yields if rates continue to rise. Go to cash for safety; rates on money markets are edging up. And use stocks, not bonds, for growth.
Another suggestion is to "buy and hold" bonds. The investor receives the stated interest periodically, plus the principal upon maturity, and the intervening ups and downs of interest rates do not matter.
But "buy and hold" can be hard to do. By definition, bond mutual funds never mature because their managers are always trading; investors may or may not get their principal back when they cash in. And while investors can hold individual bonds to maturity, they will need about $50,000 to diversify adequately.
Enter the unit trust, with both definite maturities and low minimums.
Long viewed as stodgy investments, unit trusts are fixed bundles of either tax-free bonds, taxable bonds or equities. The tax-free types represent about 80 percent of the $100 billion industry -- a share not likely to drop as investors react to the new, higher tax rates. In April, "we usually see a 25 percent jump in monthly sales," said Ron Toupin, chief manager for unit trusts at John Nuveen & Company in Chicago. "This year, it's about 40 percent." Single-state issues for high-tax states are very popular.
Offered in short, intermediate and long-term maturities, the trusts typically require a $5,000 investment. About 75 percent of all unit trusts are packaged by three firms -- Nuveen, Van Kampen Merritt in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., and a syndicate of brokers led by Merrill Lynch.
The trusts are sold by brokers for federally regulated fees ranging from 2 percent to nearly 5 percent. At Nuveen, a $10,000 investment in a 3-year unit trust carries a 2.5 percent charge, while a $150,000 investment in a 25-year trust goes for 4.5 percent. The bigger the buy, and the shorter the trust's term, the lower the rate. Trusts also carry a small yearly administrative fee, about 0.15 percent.
What do investors get in return? Like funds, unit trusts are professionally assembled portfolios available for low minimums. And they offer diversity. "Our New York portfolio has general obligation bonds, water and sewer bonds, hospital bonds and housing bonds," said Jack Tierney, vice president at Van Kampen Merritt.
But, unlike funds, trusts give the "buy and hold" investor stable dividends and the assured return of principal upon maturity. (Investors can cash in early, but they run market risk and the risk of not finding a buyer in a thin secondary market.)
A sure income "makes the trusts appealing to older people" and enables investors "to match the payouts to regular obligations," like rent or alimony, said Paul Williams, Nuveen's research director.
But safety has its costs. One is the sales charge -- which brokers will often combine with the trust price in one figure. "Some people don't realize they paid a load," said John Markese of the American Association of Individual Investors.
Missed opportunities are another cost. Through active trading, bond-fund managers profited in recent years as interest rates declined and bond prices soared. But trust investors, with a fixed portfolio, missed out. Nor could they reinvest dividends to profit from market conditions.
The people who monitor unmanaged portfolios may be less vigilant about trouble, too. "Many trusts held 'Whoops' bonds" in 1983, Mr. Markese said, referring to the $2.25 billion default of Washington State utility debt. In contrast, many fund managers saw trouble coming and sold. Critics add that inferior bonds, hard to sell alone, often pop up in trusts.
How do unit trusts stack up against mutual funds in costs? To find out, trust investors should amortize the sales charge of the trust over its life, adding in the trust's minimal yearly fee. This number can be compared to the annual expense ratio of a municipal-bond fund, which is 0.86 percent on average, according to Lipper Analytical Services. If a fund has a load, that charge must also be included.
With front-end loads and light yearly fees, trusts get cheaper the longer one holds. For a bit over four years, the average no-load fund is less costly than a trust with a 3 percent load; after that, the trust is cheaper.
Insurance, available on most trusts, will blunt any default dangers, Mr. Tierney said. But the feature costs up to one-quarter point in yield.
As for missed market opportunities, they are inevitable for "buy and hold" investors. But packagers know they will not want to tie up money for long if rates drop and yields climb. Thus, shorter-term trusts are more common, and some trusts stagger maturities, giving investors a chance to reinvest at better yields. INVESTING
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1,988 | Brezhnev Son-in-Law Gets 12-Year Term | LEAD: A high military tribunal today sentenced the son-in-law of Leonid I. Brezhnev, the former Soviet leader, to 12 years in a labor camp for accepting bribes, concluding a corruption trial that was widely read as an indictment of an era.
LEAD: A high military tribunal today sentenced the son-in-law of Leonid I. Brezhnev, the former Soviet leader, to 12 years in a labor camp for accepting bribes, concluding a corruption trial that was widely read as an indictment of an era.
A high military tribunal today sentenced the son-in-law of Leonid I. Brezhnev, the former Soviet leader, to 12 years in a labor camp for accepting bribes, concluding a corruption trial that was widely read as an indictment of an era.
The defendant, Yuri M. Churbanov, who was the second-ranking Soviet police official from 1980 to 1984, stared calmly at the judge as he was sentenced for taking bribes equivalent to more than $150,000 to protect widespread fraud in the Central Asian cotton industry.
Six co-defendants, former high-ranking police officials from the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, were given sentences ranging from 8 to 10 years.
The court, a military tribunal of the Supreme Court, called for further investigation in the case of Uzbekistan's former Interior Minister, Khaidar K. Yakhyayev. A former Deputy Interior Minister, Tashtemir Kakhramanov, was found not guilty of corruption. Their Property Confiscated
The property of all those convicted will be confiscated as part of the sentence.
To the press and the public, which lined up each day to fill the courtroom, there was little doubt that on trial with Mr. Churbanov was the whole climate of corruption tolerated under Brezhnev, whose 18-year rule is now officially called ''the era of stagnation.''
The day before the verdict was pronounced, the Government announced that it was stripping Brezhnev's name from factories, schools, scholarships and naval vessels.
Under Soviet law, Mr. Churbanov could have been sentenced to death because of the magnitude of the theft, but the prosecution had indicated that it would not seek the maximum penalty because he had cooperated with investigators. Moreover, a new legal code expected to take effect next year would eliminate the death penalty for economic crimes.
The state prosecutor, Aleksandr Sboyev, had asked that Mr. Churbanov be sentenced to 15 years. Other High Aides Implicated
Mr. Churbanov, who is 52 years old, is the highest-ranking official charged in the cotton corruption scandal. But the press has reported that other powerful figures profited grandly from the network of patronage and payoffs, including Brezhnev himself, who died in 1982, and Sharaf R. Rashidov, who led the Uzbek Communist Party for 25 years until his death in 1983.
Mr. Churbanov's lawyer, Andrei Makarov, asserted before the four-month trial that his defendant was being made a scapegoat for the discredited former party leader, and that the torrent of melodramatic press coverage surrounding the so-called Uzbek affair had made a fair trial impossible.
Mr. Makarov told reporters after the sentencing today that he was satisfied that the trial had been fair, and was pleased that some of the prosecutors' charges had been thrown out. ''The trial rejected attempts to make a political trial out of a criminal case,'' he said.
The six co-defendants convicted of corruption with Mr. Churbanov were Pyotr Begelman, a former Uzbek deputy interior minister, and Nuin Nurov, a former regional police chief of Tashkent, each sentenced to 9 years; Azhamal Dzhamalov, Yakub Makhamadzhanov and Salim Sabirov, Uzbek regional police chiefs, each given 8 years, and Khushvakt Norbutayev, another regional chief, 10 years.
The Uzbek affair has been described as the Soviet Union's Watergate, a scandal that reached into the top levels of power and exposed a pervasive moral lassitude at the heart of the political system. Cotton Figures Were Padded
It revolved around the industry that dominates life in Uzbekistan: growing cotton. National investigators said cotton magnates and politicians had stolen billions of rubles over the years through padding cotton harvest figures. The corruption included protection rackets, bribery and sale of government offices.
The press has carried extensive, sometimes lurid accounts of the flamboyant corruption that flourished under Mr. Churbanov's protection, including local officials who lived like feudal lords, bribing top officials with diamonds and cognac, and sending hired killers after investigators.
Mr. Churbanov, who was arrested in January 1987, has been portrayed as a man of little talent and vast ambition who married his way to power. He was a junior official in the Interior Ministry until he was assigned as a personal security guard to Galina L. Brezhnev, the daughter of Mr. Brezhnev.
After he divorced his wife and married the party leader's daughter in 1971, Mr. Churbanov rose quickly through the ranks of the ministry and became a nonvoting member of the party's ruling Central Committee.
Galina Brezhnev did not appear in court during the trial.
Mr. Churbanov was originally charged with taking bribes worth 650,000 rubles, the equivalent of about $1.1 million, from June 1976 to October 1982. But after a trial that heard nearly 200 witnesses, the military tribunal threw out some of the charges. Denied Taking Bribes
Mr. Churbanov had pleaded guilty to abuse of his office, but said he was innocent of bribe-taking.
He was also convicted of taking more than 10,000 rubles, or $16,500, of Interior Ministry funds to build a cellar in his summer home and of approving the gift of an antigue gold watch to his boss, Interior Minister Nikolai A. Shchelokov.
Mr. Shchelokov is said to have committed suicide during the investigation of the case. Two Uzbek officials who had been scheduled to stand trial with Mr. Churbanov committed suicide in prison.
Several other Uzbek officials have been arrested in connection with the cotton scandal, and additional trials are expected.
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1,991 | Dinkins's Plan to Incinerate Draws Environmentalists' Ire | Environmental groups in New York City are reacting to Mayor David N. Dinkins's decision to build trash incinerators with a sense of betrayal and a determination to fight any waste disposal plan that includes the burning of garbage, leaders for the groups say.
The groups are saying that they will do whatever they can legally and politically to block the move to incinerators. Given their track record of holding up projects that they oppose on environmental grounds, this shift almost guarantees a continuation of the stalemate on solid waste policy that occurred during the Koch administration, which wanted to build as many as eight new incinerators.
Environmental groups in New York City are reacting to Mayor David N. Dinkins's decision to build trash incinerators with a sense of betrayal and a determination to fight any waste disposal plan that includes the burning of garbage, leaders for the groups say.
The groups are saying that they will do whatever they can legally and politically to block the move to incinerators. Given their track record of holding up projects that they oppose on environmental grounds, this shift almost guarantees a continuation of the stalemate on solid waste policy that occurred during the Koch administration, which wanted to build as many as eight new incinerators.
Even leaders of environmental groups that were willing to support a limited amount of incineration say they have now changed their minds because they no longer believe the Dinkins administration's promises about recycling. Instead, the administration must first introduce a broad recycling program and prove that recycling alone cannot address the city's trash problems, they say.
Influential environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund and the New York Public Interest Research Group have banded together to oppose the incineration proposal. Borough Presidents Ruth W. Messinger of Manhattan and Howard Golden of Brooklyn were among several elected officials who expressed bitterness and disappointment at the Dinkins administration's decision. 'Cynical Politics'
They all said that the Mayor's credibility on this issue has been greatly eroded, although his campaign speechespromised only to delay a decision until 1993.
"This plan repudiates everything that had been told to us by mayoral candidate Dinkins and suggests that cynical politics as usual is the engine driving this decision," said Rabbi David Niederman, executive director of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, where the construction of an incinerator at the Brooklyn Navy Yard has long been under consideration.
The groups also complained that the Sanitation Department wasted the time of citizens who advised it on developing a solid waste disposal plan. After months of consultation, "the department has decided that it knew the answer all along -- resurrecting from its files an ill-conceived conclusion reached long ago by the Koch administration: burn it," the three environmental groups said in a statement.
Any plan that includes incineration that fails to maximize recycling is "dead in the water," said James T. B. Tripp, counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, a group that has previously been open to incineration. 'People Are Livid'
In particular, what has infuriated many elected officials, community groups and environmentalists is a sense that the city is prepared to make incineration its main disposal approach before giving recycling a fair try. The current recycling program has been enfeebled by budget cutbacks and a host of management and operating problems.
"At a time when recycling is getting peanuts, people are livid that the administration would even float the idea of a billion dollars worth of incinerators," said Eric A. Goldstein, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental organization.
The conflict over solving the disposal problem is occurring while space at the only remaining city landfill is running out and other states are increasingly reluctant to allow imports of other people's trash.
The environmentalists' backlash came about after a statement last Thursday by Sanitation Commissioner Steven M. Polan that the city could recycle only 25 percent of its residential trash and would eventually have to burn about two-thirds.
In testimony before a state legislative hearing on solid waste, Mr. Polan said additional recycling would prove too costly because markets had not developed enough to absorb some kinds of trash and the city did not have enough space for the necessary recycling-related operations. In addition, incineration is the least costly disposal technique, he said. 29 of 59 Districts
Two and a half years after the city's mandatory recycling law took effect, just 29 of 59 community districts have some curbside recycling. Budget cuts beginning last November froze expansion into the remaining districts and have left a barebones program with a 6 percent citywide recycling rate. Also, the Sanitation Department failed to meet its legal daily average tonnage target for recyclables last April.
The program barely survived budget cuts last July, and questions remain about whether money will be found to save it for the second half of the fiscal year.
Under the Mayor's proposal, which Mr. Polan described as preliminary, two or three incinerators would have to be built, and three existing plants would be expanded. In total, the incinerators would handle 10,000 tons a day, about two-thirds of the city's residential tonnage.
But the environmental groups say a fully financed recycling program must be allowed to operate for several years before a conclusion should be reached on incineration. Residential recycling levels can easily exceed 25 percent, they say, and can reach 60 percent or higher. Open to Other Strategies
Building incinerators "puts a ceiling on the amount of recycling the city is willing to do," said Larry Shapiro, toxics project counsel for the New York Public Interest Group, a longtime opponent of incinerators.
In an interview on Friday, Mr. Polan said he would be open to other strategies before the city's solid waste plan is submitted to the state's Department of Environmental Conservation after public hearings in November and December. Acceptance of a plan is a prerequisite for building any incinerator or recycling center.
"If there's a way to do this with more recycling and less burning that is feasible and cost-effective, I'd be all for it," he said.
For now, though, the department has concluded that there must be somen incineration.
"Whether you recycle 25 percent or 35 percent or more, there's still going to be a residual that needs to be burned," he said.
Those who advocate delaying incinerator construction to see how far recycling can go are pretending a problem does not exist, Mr. Polan said.
"We cannot afford to risk the economy of New York on uncertain markets and uncertain projections," he said.
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1,992 | Bentsen Supports More Enterprise Zones | Hoping to avoid a Presidential veto of his $31 billion tax bill, Senator Lloyd Bentsen today proposed to sharply expand the number of enterprise zones eligible for tax breaks for businesses that invest in impoverished communities.
Only a few hours before he made his concession, Mr. Bentsen, the Democratic chairman of the Finance Committee, said in a speech that it was important to limit the number of enterprise zones to prevent spreading benefits so thinly that they would accomplish little. But the Texas Democrat said he was forced to modify his position because the Administration had backed away from its tentative support for his bill under pressure from Republican conservatives.
Hoping to avoid a Presidential veto of his $31 billion tax bill, Senator Lloyd Bentsen today proposed to sharply expand the number of enterprise zones eligible for tax breaks for businesses that invest in impoverished communities.
Only a few hours before he made his concession, Mr. Bentsen, the Democratic chairman of the Finance Committee, said in a speech that it was important to limit the number of enterprise zones to prevent spreading benefits so thinly that they would accomplish little. But the Texas Democrat said he was forced to modify his position because the Administration had backed away from its tentative support for his bill under pressure from Republican conservatives.
Housing Secretary Jack F. Kemp, promoting the Administration proposal to create 300 zones, had called Mr. Bentsen's original bill establishing 25 zones a hoax to the poor and called on President Bush to veto the legislation if it passed. Several Republican and Democratic Senators have also called for an expanded proposal to benefit more medium-sized cities and rural areas. Patchwork of Tax Changes
The Senate tax bill is a patchwork of items ranging from an expansion of individual retirement accounts to a repeal of many luxury taxes to granting permission to pension funds to invest in real estate. Negotiations on an estimated 150 amendments made it all but certain that the Senate could not finish work on the bill until early September, nearly five months after the Los Angeles disturbances that spurred Congress to reconsider establishing enterprise zones in the first place.
The Senate demonstrated support for establishing a new type of I.R.A. allowing tax-free withdrawals for money remaining in accounts for five years by a vote of 72 to 25 on an amendment striking this provision from the legislation. Senator Bentsen said the new I.R.A.'s would encourage savings to modernize the country's industries.
"There ought to be jubilation in all the country clubs of America," said Senator John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, a sponsor of the amendment to delete the new I.R.A.'s. "I think we're treating the nation's wealthy very well right now, and I don't think we have to give them a bonanza like this."
Mr. Bentsen's agreement to increase the number of enterprise zones from 25 to 125 raises the cost of the proposal from $2.5 billion to $5.5 billion, with new revenue raised by the elimination of two provisions supported by many Republicans providing a business investment tax allowance for depreciation and a first-time home buyer $2,500 tax credit. "My concern," Mr. Bentsen told reporters, "is having enough money to make them work."
The original proposal that passed by the Finance Committee included $20 million a year in tax benefits for each zone annually over five years. Now, individual zones would receive a far less generous $8.8 million in yearly benefits.
Reflecting Republican satisfaction with the Bentsen concession on the number of enterprise zones, Senator Robert W. Kasten Jr., Republican of Wisconsin, said: "It's an important victory. Maybe now we're winning the argument for entrepreneurial solutions." But he expressed dismay that now businesses would lose an important incentive to invest in the zones with the loss of the investment tax allowance. "Employment needs employers," he added.
Republican Senate aides complained that Mr. Bentsen made his 11th-hour proposal to head off an amendment proposed by Mr. Kasten and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, that would provide a tax break on capital-gains for small businesses starting up in 150 enterprise zones. Mr. Bentsen has agreed to include several tax measures the Administration and Senate conservatives want, but he has refused to include a capital-gains provision in his legislation.
The modified Bentsen proposal disperses the enterprise zones to 75 urban communities and 40 to rural areas, with 10 of those going to Indian reservations. Over a 10-year period, employers who invest in the zones would earn a 30 percent credit on the first $15,000 they pay in wages to a zone resident, or a maximum of $4,500 a year for each employee. Investors would receive several other tax incentives, including an annual 50 percent deduction, up to $20,000, for purchases of stock in businesses in the zones.
Similar urban-aid provisions have already passed the House, although the House bill includes limited capital-gains tax benefits on investments made in the zones for at least five years.
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1,991 | Football; Gastineau Reputation Doesn't Affect Byrd | When Dennis Byrd registered a team-high 13 sacks for the Jets last season, it was the highest total since Mark Gastineau, the team's career sack leader, accumulated 13 1/2 in 1985.
There was some thought that maybe this year Byrd, the second-round draft choice out of Tulsa in 1989, might want to trade in his No. 90 jersey for old No. 99 and fully assume the mantle of the flamboyant Gastineau, who had 107 1/2 sacks over his career and a league-record 22 in 1984. But the Jets gave the number to John Bosa, the plan-B free-agent defensive end acquired from Miami.
When Dennis Byrd registered a team-high 13 sacks for the Jets last season, it was the highest total since Mark Gastineau, the team's career sack leader, accumulated 13 1/2 in 1985.
There was some thought that maybe this year Byrd, the second-round draft choice out of Tulsa in 1989, might want to trade in his No. 90 jersey for old No. 99 and fully assume the mantle of the flamboyant Gastineau, who had 107 1/2 sacks over his career and a league-record 22 in 1984. But the Jets gave the number to John Bosa, the plan-B free-agent defensive end acquired from Miami.
"He can have it and more power to him," said Byrd, who was not around for Gastineau's controversial mid-season defection from the Jets in 1988. "Bosa is not a person that I envy at this moment. It's got a lot to live down, not up to. It draws the inevitable comparison you know about filling his shoes, but I mean it's just a number. It really is."
The numbers that Byrd is more concerned about about after one week of the training camp are three and two. On Tuesday, he was the third Jet to come down with back spasms, joining second-year wide receiver Rob Moore and defensive tackle Paul Glonek, a ninth-round draft choice out of Arizona. Byrd is sitting out the two-a-day drills. Day-to-Day Thing
"We think it's not serious but it's a day-to-day thing," said Jets Coach Bruce Coslet, who, along with offensive coordinator Pete Carroll, designated Byrd his flexible tackle last season and plans to continue moving him around as his principle pass rusher this season. "He may go tomorrow. He may go Friday. He may go in the scrimmage on Saturday. We really don't know.
"It's high in his back," said Coslet. Asked about whether the rash of back spasms might be related to the heat, Coslet replied: "I have no idea. We were talking about that in a staff meeting last night. I think it's just something you go through. Sometimes you get a bunch of hamstring injuries, sometimes a bunch of quads. I think you have to take each guy individually."
"It's just one of those goofy type of injuries," said the 6-foot-5-inch, 270-pound Byrd. "We were doing step and turn drills at the beginning of practice -- half-speed stuff. I twisted my back in the wrong way and that's all it took.
"I had a little muscle spasm before the San Diego game last year because of the mental stress I think, but they worked that out within 45 minutes and I didn't have any problem. I thought this was the same thing and that it would go away and it didn't."
In the 4-3 defensive alignment the Jets set up under Carroll who came over from Minnesota last season, Byrd is listed as the right tackle next to Scott Mersereau, the left tackle.
"We want to move him around this year," Coslet explained. "We may move him to the left side for the pass- rush occasionally. It's a game-plan thing that we do on our offensive line too. We slide the line to the best pass rusher. We feel he's the best pass rusher, but if he's always in one place on the line it makes it easy for the other team to block him."
"As far as position wise, we haven't started to work on all that stuff that we put in last year as yet," said Byrd. "I just want to get back in there as soon as I can. I have this nasty habit of setting goals for myself that are hard to reach. But I can't do anything if I'm laying up resting my back."
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1,995 | Miss Magliocco And Mr. Schlank | Josephine Ann Magliocco, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Magliocco of Rye, N.Y., was married yesterday to Christopher Colgan Schlank, the son of Joan B. Schlank and Colgan Schlank, both of New York. The Rev. Martin Igoe officiated at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas More in New York.
The couple graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
Josephine Ann Magliocco, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Magliocco of Rye, N.Y., was married yesterday to Christopher Colgan Schlank, the son of Joan B. Schlank and Colgan Schlank, both of New York. The Rev. Martin Igoe officiated at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas More in New York.
The couple graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Schlank, 30, is an associate director of fine wines at Peerless Importers, a wine and spirits distributor in Brooklyn. Her father is the chairman of Peerless and its parent, Quaker Equities Ltd.
Mr. Schlank, 29, is a partner in Savanna Partners, a real estate development firm in New York. He received a master's degree in real estate development from Columbia University. His mother owns a real estate brokerage firm in New York that bears her name. His father owns Doctors Telecom Inc., an answering service in New York.
WEDDINGS
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1,995 | Citibank Fraud Case Raises Computer Security Questions | A $10 million computer fraud against Citibank appeared to be the first successful penetration by a hacker into the systems that transfer trillions of dollars a day around the world's banks, bank security experts said yesterday.
New details of the case were disclosed as a Federal complaint was unsealed in Manhattan. A 34-year-old Russian and his accomplices were accused of tapping into Citibank's computer system and transferring $10 million to various bank accounts around the world.
A $10 million computer fraud against Citibank appeared to be the first successful penetration by a hacker into the systems that transfer trillions of dollars a day around the world's banks, bank security experts said yesterday.
New details of the case were disclosed as a Federal complaint was unsealed in Manhattan. A 34-year-old Russian and his accomplices were accused of tapping into Citibank's computer system and transferring $10 million to various bank accounts around the world.
The hackers were accused of breaking into Citibank's cash management system, a network that allows its corporate customers to transfer money to any bank account in the world. Amy Dates, a Citibank spokeswoman, said that all but $400,000 of the $10 million illegally transferred had been recovered by Citibank. Ms. Dates said this was the only successful attack of this kind suffered by the bank, a subsidiary of Citicorp.
"We move half a trillion dollars a day through the payment system," she said. "Compare that to the $400,000 they were able to withdraw. We think we have the right level of security." Citibank said that none of its depositors lost any money in the fraud.
But banking experts said similar break-ins were bound to occur with more banking business being done electronically at a time when more powerful personal computers are available.
"I'm worried that there are more people with computers and more savvy people trying to break in," said the head of technology at a large New York bank who insisted on anonymity. "We have to keep raising the bar of our security."
Until more details emerge, it is difficult to assess the the potential threat of this kind of break-in. Court documents say the transfers were made from the Citibank accounts of three banks -- Invest Capital and Banco del Sud of Argentina and Bank Artha Graha of Indonesia -- and done with identification numbers and passwords that would have been available to employees of those banks. Experts said they could not recall a similar fraud involving transfer systems.
"In the many years I have been involved in funds transfer, this is the first time I can recall someone using a personal computer to perpetrate a crime," said John Mohr, executive vice president of the New York Clearing House, which runs the Chips interbank wire-transfer system.
Banks protect cash-management systems that corporate customers use to move millions of dollars with the best security methods available. Typically, several people, each with separate passwords, must authorize transfers, and they must also have other information. There are further protections, like computer programs that generate special security codes.
Since the break-in, which occurred last year, Citibank has required customers to use an electronic device that creates a new password for every transfer, Ms. Dates of Citibank said.
Banking experts said that the degree of penetration into Citibank's systems would typically require the cooperation of someone with inside knowledge. Ms. Dates said there was no evidence of involvement by a current or former Citibank employee, but she noted the investigation was continuing.
The complaint, filed in February, was released yesterday by the United States Attorney's office in Manhattan against Vladimir Leonidovich Levin, a computer expert who works for AO Saturn, a trading company based in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Mr. Levin was arrested in London three months ago, and Federal officials have filed to extradite him to the United States.
According to court documents, charges have been filed in the Federal courts against at least three other people in the case.
Vladimir Voronin had pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud and awaits sentencing. Yekaterina Korolkova has been indicted. And her husband, Yevgeny Korolkov, was also indicted but has not been arrested.
In addition, two people related to the case have been arrested in the Netherlands and one has been arrested in Israel, Ms. Dates said. Their names were not released.
Various court documents contend that from June to October of 1994, Mr. Levin tapped into Citibank's central computer at 111 Wall Street and made 40 transfers from the accounts of several Citibank customers into accounts opened by accomplices at banks in California and in Israel.
The bank noticed the activity after several of the customers complained about unauthorized transfers from their accounts.
In early August of last year, $522,000 in funds was transferred to the Bank of America into two accounts controlled by Yevgeny and Yekaterina Korolkova. After Citibank notified Bank of America of the suspected fraud, the accounts were frozen.
On Aug. 17 and 18, Mrs. Korolkova opened checking accounts at five banks in San Francisco, and a total of $199,000 was transferred into them from the account of a Citibank customer in Buenos Aires. On Aug. 26, she was arrested by the F.B.I. and found to be in possession of a one-way ticket to Russia.
Court documents quote Mr. Korolkova's landlord as saying that Mr. Korolkova left the United States to go to Russia.
In October 1994, telephone company employees in Russia, working with Citibank, identified the source of the transfers as AO Saturn, the company where Mr. Levin was identified as the "head systems operator." It is unclear how Mr. Levin was located for his arrest in London. A hearing on his extradition is scheduled for Sept. 15.
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1,988 | The Dance: Premiere Of 'Shaman's Journey' | LEAD: ''ASIA and the American Indian'' was the title of a symposium at the Asia Society on Saturday that explored the role of shamanism in America and Asia, and it was a dancer of American Indian descent -Raoul Trujillo - who best summed up the daylong scholarly lectures. In ''The Shaman's Journey,'' an extrardinarily vivid dance solo created for the occasion, Mr.
LEAD: ''ASIA and the American Indian'' was the title of a symposium at the Asia Society on Saturday that explored the role of shamanism in America and Asia, and it was a dancer of American Indian descent -Raoul Trujillo - who best summed up the daylong scholarly lectures. In ''The Shaman's Journey,'' an extrardinarily vivid dance solo created for the occasion, Mr.
''ASIA and the American Indian'' was the title of a symposium at the Asia Society on Saturday that explored the role of shamanism in America and Asia, and it was a dancer of American Indian descent -Raoul Trujillo - who best summed up the daylong scholarly lectures. In ''The Shaman's Journey,'' an extrardinarily vivid dance solo created for the occasion, Mr. Trujillo brought the event to a rousing and symbolic close in the evening.
Mr. Trujillo is most familiar for his dancing in Alwin Nikolais's company, from 1981 to 1986. He is also a member of the Genizaro tribe from New Mexico and last year, when the American Indian Dance Theater was formed, he joined as choreographer and co-director.
The company has still to make its New York debut. But if ''The Shaman's Journey'' is indicative of the quality of Mr. Trujillo's work, it is clear he has a brilliant gift for theatricalizing the essence of Indian dances.
The solo was not a representation of an ''authentic'' ceremony transposed to the stage. It was rather a creative piece of choreography whose depth communicated information about meaning in the ''real'' material. Here, Mr. Trujillo's use of lighting and movement shapes showed how skillfully he had absorbed Mr. Nikolais's theatrical knowhow. At the same time, everything about this solo embodied the preceding scholarly descriptions of a how a shaman in both Asian and Indian cultures arrives at his healing function through self-transformation - that is, by calling up the forces of the spiritual world.
The quest of the shaman was depicted by Mr. Trujillo in five stages: In ''Awakening,'' and ''Summon,'' he left a circular trail of white powder, dancing with a mask on the back of his head, to signify an altering of his normal state and to call up guiding spirits. ''Induce'' and ''Transform'' offered mimetic dances of animals, especially the crow. Stripping himself of attire after each section. Mr. Trujillo varied the rhythms of his footwork until ''Arrive'' showed him purified, emptied of his worldly state. His clothes hung on the altar while he entered the spiritual world symbolically through one of the four directional points he had marked on the ground.
These were the universal points of north, south, west and east that the audience had seen depicted in slides of sand paintings from both North America and Tibet. The symposium, which was produced by Mary de G. White and presented by Beate Gordon of the Asia Society, never erred in forcing a pattern. It offered a wealth of stimulating findings by art historians (Ralph T. Coe, Jo Face, Aldona Jonaitis, Elizabeth Childs-Johnson and Allen Wardwell), a film by Alan Lomax, the music and dance ethnologist, and even a cheerful, on-the-spot ceremony by Hi-ah Park, a dancer who was initiated as a shaman in Korea in 1981.
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1,990 | Lifestyle: Sunday Menu; Hash Worth the Name But Much Lower in Fat | LEAD: Those familiar with the famous Ritz chicken hash would hardly consider this a reasonable alternative. The original has lots of heavy cream and egg yolks. It is sinfully wonderful, but this chicken hash need make no apology.
LEAD: Those familiar with the famous Ritz chicken hash would hardly consider this a reasonable alternative. The original has lots of heavy cream and egg yolks. It is sinfully wonderful, but this chicken hash need make no apology.
Those familiar with the famous Ritz chicken hash would hardly consider this a reasonable alternative. The original has lots of heavy cream and egg yolks. It is sinfully wonderful, but this chicken hash need make no apology.
Although it is low in fat, it is full of flavor, not only from the seasonings but from the toasting that occurs when the hash is browned.
Should you happen to have leftover cooked chicken, it is easy enough to substitute for the raw chicken breasts. Instead of adding the chicken separately and cooking it for five minutes, add the leftover chicken along with the remaining ingredients and proceed.
Serve with brussels sprouts. Even those who say they can't stand them will probably find them quite acceptable with a touch of sugar.
Chicken Hash
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 large green bell pepper, cored and cut into small cubes
12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1 to 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
1.Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet large enough to hold all the ingredients. Saute the onion, potatoes and green pepper over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes begin to soften.
2.Stir in the chicken, and cook for 5 minutes.
3.Add the remaining ingredients, and reduce the heat. Cook until the milk has been absorbed and a crust has formed on the bottom of the hash. Turn and cook until the second side is browned.
Yield: 2 servings.
Brussels Sprouts
10 ounces brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar.
Steam the sprouts for about 10 minutes until they soften but are still crunchy. Drain, cut into quarters or halves, and place in serving bowl with the sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
Yield: 2 servings.
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1,992 | RESULTS PLUS | GOLF Forsman Wins Playoff Dan Forsman parred the second playoff hole to win the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich., yesterday, defeating defending champion Brad Faxon and Steve Elkington. It was Forsman's fourth PGA Tour victory, his first since 1990. The playoff began on No. 10, a 401-yard par-4 where Faxon was eliminated with a par, and continued on the adjoining 18th, also a par 4. Elkington's approach landed in deep grass at the left side of the green. His third shot moved the ball only a few feet and he was still buried in the grass. He finished with double-bogey 6. Forsman's approach landed in front of the green. He used his putter to get the ball within five feet of the pin, then sank the putt for par and the victory. It was the second consecutive year a playoff was needed at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club. Last year, Faxon defeated Chip Beck on the first extra hole. Forsman earned $180,000 of the $1 million purse. He also won one of the sponsor's cars. The paycheck lifted his earnings to $600,350, by far his best year ever. Elkington started the day tied for the lead with Mike Sullivan at 10-under. He made two birdies, at the 4th and 10th, and parred his way in for a final-round 70.
(AP) Mochrie Loses to Newcomer: Florence Descampe, a rookie from Belgium, outdueled the season's leading money-winner, Dottie Mochrie, and earned her first L.P.G.A. victory, a rain-soaked two-shot triumph in the Stratton Mountain Classic in Vermont. Descampe, 23 years old, who started the day two shots behind Mochrie and Cindy Rarick, birdied the 13th hole to take the lead and finished with a four-under par 67 for a total of four-under 278. Mochrie, playing one hole behind, parred the 13th and futilely chased Descampe through the final five holes. Mochrie barely missed a 30-foot putt on No. 18 and then bogeyed the hole for a 71 and 280. (AP) Hill Prevails in Sudden Death: Mike Hill sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole yesterday to beat Walt Zembriski in the rain-shortened Digital Seniors Classic in Concord, Mass. The victory was Hill's third of the year and 13th since he joined the PGA Senior Tour in January 1989. The final round was canceled just before 1 P.M., just over an hour after play was halted when rain and lightning continued to drench the Nashawtuc Country Club. Only 24 of 78 players had teed off and were on the course. Under Senior Tour rules, players tied for the lead when the final round is canceled play a sudden-death playoff when the course is deemed playable. (AP) Muehr Wins Amateur Title: Michael Muehr of Roxiticus Country Club in Mendham, N.J., defeated Jeff Thomas of Plainfield West, 1 up, in the rain-delayed 36-hole final of the Metropolitan Golf Association Amateur championship at the Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Conn. The 20-year-old Muehr, a junior at Duke, had captured the Ike Tournament earlier in the year, making him the first player to win both championships since Jimmy Fisher accomplished the feat in 1966. Thomas, 32 years old, who won the M.G.A. Public Links title this year, has now finished runner-up in the amateur four times. TENNIS Krajicek Is Victor Second-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands came back in the third set to beat unseeded Mark Woodforde of Australia, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, yesterday to win the Volvo Tennis-Los Angeles tournament. Krajicek, who overcame a 3-0 deficit in the third set, became the first Dutchman to win a tour event in the United States since Tom Okker in 1977. Krajicek, 20 years old, moved up to 14th in the world rankings, ahead of Aaron Krickstein, the tournament's top-seeded player, who was forced to retire in Saturday night's semifinal match against Woodforde with a broken foot that will require surgery. Krajicek's only other tour victory came last year in Hong Kong. Woodforde, ranked 91st in the world in singles entering the tournament but the partner with Todd Woodbridge on the No. 1-ranked doubles team, was seeking his first singles victory in more than two years. (AP) AUTO RACING Fittipaldi Sets Record Emerson Fittipaldi drove the fastest non-oval race in Indy-car history yesterday, beating Michael Andretti by 16 seconds and winning his third Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix with an average speed of 133.292 miles an hour. That smashed the previous Cleveland record of 128.421 m.p.h., set by Fittipaldi in 1987. He also won the Cleveland race in 1989, and he finished second to Andretti here last year. Bobby Rahal finished fourth but maintained first place in the Indy-car ranking with 148 points. Fittipaldi picked up 22 points -- one for being the pole-sitter, one for leading the most laps, and 20 for winning -- to move into fourth place with 104 points. Al Unser Jr. is second with 117 points and Andretti is third with 116. Five races remain. Andretti took the lead from Fittipaldi, the pole-sitter, on the first lap, holding it until Fittipaldi took advantage of slower traffic and slipped past him at the end of lap 14 of the 85-lap race. (AP) Kyle Petty Wins: Kyle Petty won the rain-shortened Bud at the Glen Nascar stock-car race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., which went only 51 of a scheduled 90 laps before being red-flagged. Though it was short, the race was competitive, with Petty and defending champion Ernie Irvan battling at the front most of the way, each leading 19 laps. The big move of the race came on lap 36 when Petty slipped past Irvan in the new inner loop, a chicane near the end of the long back straightaway. Petty led the final seven laps on the 2.45-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit to earn his first road-racing victory and the fifth triumph of his Winston Cup career. (AP)
GOLF Forsman Wins Playoff Dan Forsman parred the second playoff hole to win the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich., yesterday, defeating defending champion Brad Faxon and Steve Elkington. It was Forsman's fourth PGA Tour victory, his first since 1990. The playoff began on No. 10, a 401-yard par-4 where Faxon was eliminated with a par, and continued on the adjoining 18th, also a par 4. Elkington's approach landed in deep grass at the left side of the green. His third shot moved the ball only a few feet and he was still buried in the grass. He finished with double-bogey 6. Forsman's approach landed in front of the green. He used his putter to get the ball within five feet of the pin, then sank the putt for par and the victory. It was the second consecutive year a playoff was needed at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club. Last year, Faxon defeated Chip Beck on the first extra hole. Forsman earned $180,000 of the $1 million purse. He also won one of the sponsor's cars. The paycheck lifted his earnings to $600,350, by far his best year ever. Elkington started the day tied for the lead with Mike Sullivan at 10-under. He made two birdies, at the 4th and 10th, and parred his way in for a final-round 70.
(AP) Mochrie Loses to Newcomer: Florence Descampe, a rookie from Belgium, outdueled the season's leading money-winner, Dottie Mochrie, and earned her first L.P.G.A. victory, a rain-soaked two-shot triumph in the Stratton Mountain Classic in Vermont. Descampe, 23 years old, who started the day two shots behind Mochrie and Cindy Rarick, birdied the 13th hole to take the lead and finished with a four-under par 67 for a total of four-under 278. Mochrie, playing one hole behind, parred the 13th and futilely chased Descampe through the final five holes. Mochrie barely missed a 30-foot putt on No. 18 and then bogeyed the hole for a 71 and 280. (AP) Hill Prevails in Sudden Death: Mike Hill sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole yesterday to beat Walt Zembriski in the rain-shortened Digital Seniors Classic in Concord, Mass. The victory was Hill's third of the year and 13th since he joined the PGA Senior Tour in January 1989. The final round was canceled just before 1 P.M., just over an hour after play was halted when rain and lightning continued to drench the Nashawtuc Country Club. Only 24 of 78 players had teed off and were on the course. Under Senior Tour rules, players tied for the lead when the final round is canceled play a sudden-death playoff when the course is deemed playable. (AP) Muehr Wins Amateur Title: Michael Muehr of Roxiticus Country Club in Mendham, N.J., defeated Jeff Thomas of Plainfield West, 1 up, in the rain-delayed 36-hole final of the Metropolitan Golf Association Amateur championship at the Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Conn. The 20-year-old Muehr, a junior at Duke, had captured the Ike Tournament earlier in the year, making him the first player to win both championships since Jimmy Fisher accomplished the feat in 1966. Thomas, 32 years old, who won the M.G.A. Public Links title this year, has now finished runner-up in the amateur four times. TENNIS Krajicek Is Victor Second-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands came back in the third set to beat unseeded Mark Woodforde of Australia, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, yesterday to win the Volvo Tennis-Los Angeles tournament. Krajicek, who overcame a 3-0 deficit in the third set, became the first Dutchman to win a tour event in the United States since Tom Okker in 1977. Krajicek, 20 years old, moved up to 14th in the world rankings, ahead of Aaron Krickstein, the tournament's top-seeded player, who was forced to retire in Saturday night's semifinal match against Woodforde with a broken foot that will require surgery. Krajicek's only other tour victory came last year in Hong Kong. Woodforde, ranked 91st in the world in singles entering the tournament but the partner with Todd Woodbridge on the No. 1-ranked doubles team, was seeking his first singles victory in more than two years. (AP) AUTO RACING Fittipaldi Sets Record Emerson Fittipaldi drove the fastest non-oval race in Indy-car history yesterday, beating Michael Andretti by 16 seconds and winning his third Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix with an average speed of 133.292 miles an hour. That smashed the previous Cleveland record of 128.421 m.p.h., set by Fittipaldi in 1987. He also won the Cleveland race in 1989, and he finished second to Andretti here last year. Bobby Rahal finished fourth but maintained first place in the Indy-car ranking with 148 points. Fittipaldi picked up 22 points -- one for being the pole-sitter, one for leading the most laps, and 20 for winning -- to move into fourth place with 104 points. Al Unser Jr. is second with 117 points and Andretti is third with 116. Five races remain. Andretti took the lead from Fittipaldi, the pole-sitter, on the first lap, holding it until Fittipaldi took advantage of slower traffic and slipped past him at the end of lap 14 of the 85-lap race. (AP) Kyle Petty Wins: Kyle Petty won the rain-shortened Bud at the Glen Nascar stock-car race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., which went only 51 of a scheduled 90 laps before being red-flagged. Though it was short, the race was competitive, with Petty and defending champion Ernie Irvan battling at the front most of the way, each leading 19 laps. The big move of the race came on lap 36 when Petty slipped past Irvan in the new inner loop, a chicane near the end of the long back straightaway. Petty led the final seven laps on the 2.45-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit to earn his first road-racing victory and the fifth triumph of his Winston Cup career. (AP)
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1,994 | Science Fiction | BEYOND THE VEIL OF STARS (Tor/Tom Doherty, $21.95), by Robert Reed, begins as a character study of Nathan Novak, self-appointed U.F.O. researcher, and his teen-age son, Cornell. The Novaks drive around the American heartland investigating strange sightings and inexplicable "manifestations" reported by backcountry farmers, suburban housewives and small-town shopkeepers. Their most impressive findings -- the thick circles of smooth blackish glass that appear from time to time in someone's cornfield or front yard -- resemble thousands of other circles found around the world. While these inert objects are hard to explain away, no one seems to take them very seriously; they are apparently too common to rouse much fear or even curiosity. The young Cornell believes in U.F.O.'s to the same extent that he believes in his father. His mother disappeared when he was 4 years old; according to his father, she was abducted in a spaceship by aliens.
Having set up this oddly dysfunctional family and its slightly anomalous near-future world, Mr. Reed tosses the first of his bombshells. One otherwise ordinary summer evening the sky changes permanently: the stars disappear, to be replaced by an "everted" image of the surface of the earth as it might appear reflected on the inside of a vast mirrored ball. Fifty miles up, this illusion ends; the universe has not changed, only our earthbound view of it. The Change, as people come to call it, triggers a change in Cornell's relationship with his father. Instead of being hailed as a prophet in his own time, Nathan Novak is revealed as a pathetic old man whose lifelong obsession with aliens provides no insight into the new reality. His rambling, contradictory explanations of the Change, patently out of sync with the facts, become increasingly embarrassing to his son; when Cornell learns the sad truth about his mother's disappearance, he leaves home -- and encounters the second of Mr. Reed's bombshells.
BEYOND THE VEIL OF STARS (Tor/Tom Doherty, $21.95), by Robert Reed, begins as a character study of Nathan Novak, self-appointed U.F.O. researcher, and his teen-age son, Cornell. The Novaks drive around the American heartland investigating strange sightings and inexplicable "manifestations" reported by backcountry farmers, suburban housewives and small-town shopkeepers. Their most impressive findings -- the thick circles of smooth blackish glass that appear from time to time in someone's cornfield or front yard -- resemble thousands of other circles found around the world. While these inert objects are hard to explain away, no one seems to take them very seriously; they are apparently too common to rouse much fear or even curiosity. The young Cornell believes in U.F.O.'s to the same extent that he believes in his father. His mother disappeared when he was 4 years old; according to his father, she was abducted in a spaceship by aliens.
Having set up this oddly dysfunctional family and its slightly anomalous near-future world, Mr. Reed tosses the first of his bombshells. One otherwise ordinary summer evening the sky changes permanently: the stars disappear, to be replaced by an "everted" image of the surface of the earth as it might appear reflected on the inside of a vast mirrored ball. Fifty miles up, this illusion ends; the universe has not changed, only our earthbound view of it. The Change, as people come to call it, triggers a change in Cornell's relationship with his father. Instead of being hailed as a prophet in his own time, Nathan Novak is revealed as a pathetic old man whose lifelong obsession with aliens provides no insight into the new reality. His rambling, contradictory explanations of the Change, patently out of sync with the facts, become increasingly embarrassing to his son; when Cornell learns the sad truth about his mother's disappearance, he leaves home -- and encounters the second of Mr. Reed's bombshells.
The rest of the book describes Cornell's coming of age under truly bizarre circumstances. The science-fictional elements of the story, which I cannot recount without giving too much away, are meant to close the circle of the narrative and effect Cornell's reconciliation with his father. While Mr. Reed's reach sometimes exceeds his grasp, this is an ambitious, thoughtful novel with much to say about the mutually reinforcing web of sensations, assertions and aspirations that we so confidently call reality.
In previous books Connie Willis has written unforgettably about such grim subjects as the Black Plague and the London blitz. UNCHARTED TERRITORY (Spectra/Bantam, paper, $3.99) reveals her playful side. Two unlikely themes intertwine in this droll short novel: politically correct planetary exploration and unrequited love. Carson and Finriddy are hard-bitten explorers whose job is to survey the planet Boohte without violating any government regulations, especially the one that reads: "All members of the expedition will show respect for the ancient and noble cultures of indigenous sentients and will refrain from making terrocentric value judgments." To make sure they obey the rules, an indigenous sentient named Bult, who looks like "a big pink Erector set," accompanies them everywhere, tallying up fines for everything from "disruption of land surface" to "verbal abuse of indigenous fauna."
Their task is made no easier by the arrival of a "socioexozoologist" named Evelyn Parker, a hero worshiper who has been following the fictionalized exploits of Carson and Finriddy on holographic video back home. Parker's own scholarly specialty is sex on different planets, including some places where the biology gets very complicated. Things appear simpler on Boohte, since Bult's people are a standard "two-sex species" -- except that Carson and Finriddy have no idea "which one's which." Sexual confusion, in fact, is the norm on Boohte. Despite Carson's and Finriddy's expectations based on the name, Evelyn turns out to be a man, whose arrival has a stimulating effect on their ever-willing associate C. J. and on the two explorers themselves.
The story is told in the first person by Finriddy, but with Ms. Willis gleefully pulling the strings, the narrator is no more reliable a guide to the emotional crosscurrents troubling the expedition than Bult is to the topography of his (or it is her?) planet. In the end some desires get requited and some don't, proving that nothing is new under the sun, even when the sun itself is new.
FURIOUS GULF (Spectra/Bantam, $22.95), by Gregory Benford, is the fifth novel in a galaxy-spanning saga whose scope keeps getting larger with each installment. This book takes us to the very heart of our galaxy, the vast swirl of stars we call the Milky Way. Pursued by implacably anti-life creatures known as "mechs," a band of intrepid humans dares to penetrate the interior of a massive black hole where they believe they will discover nothing less than the meaning of existence. The mind-wrenching distortions of space and time that they encounter are indistinguishable, at first glance, from the tricks that magicians and sorcerers play on their victims in the power fantasies that appeal so strongly to adolescent readers. But the author, an astrophysicist who teaches at the University of California, Irvine, informs us in an afterword that he has tried to keep his "imaginings . . . within the constraints set by astronomical observations." The result is a heady mixture of science lecture (complete with diagrams) and no-holds-barred adventure that bears Mr. Benford's unmistakable stamp.
Readers who are unfamiliar with the previous books in this series may have a hard time following the action; as often happens in fictions that take all time and space as their subject, the niceties of character and plot -- which Mr. Benford managed so well in more tightly focused novels like "Great Sky River" -- get scanted here. As for the meaning of existence, we will have to wait for the sixth and concluding volume of the series.
THE BREATH OF SUSPENSION (Arkham House, $20.95), by Alexander Jablokov, is the rare short-story collection that can be read with pleasure straight through. These 10 stories, which appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine between 1985 and 1992, are so varied in subject matter and so accomplished in technique that my sense of anticipation never flagged as I turned the pages, moving from an ambiguous moral parable set in a 22d-century America dominated by a resurgent Eastern Orthodox Church, to a decadent far future where dying well (again and again) has become an art, to an alternative-history Western Europe where war is an endless game, to an unexpectedly poignant time-travel tale. As averse as I usually am to horror stories, I was dazzled by Mr. Jablokov's ability to mix one part Poe, one part Faulkner, one part scientific speculation and one part New Age mysticism to produce a fresh take on one of humanity's oldest dreams, life after death.
Readers who prefer all their i's dotted and their t's crossed may be frustrated by the author's bent for saying too little rather than too much. One story, "A Deeper Sea," formed the basis for Mr. Jablokov's 1992 novel of the same name; having admired the longer version, I found the short story too compressed, a criticism that is hardly a reproach. For all his volcanic energy and bountiful invention, Mr. Jablokov has the wit to leave his admirers wanting more.
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1,988 | Ally of Army Mutiny Leader Escapes Detention in Manila | LEAD: A rebel officer who led the attack on a Government television station during an attempted coup in August escaped with his guard from an army camp where he was detained, the army Chief of Staff said today.
LEAD: A rebel officer who led the attack on a Government television station during an attempted coup in August escaped with his guard from an army camp where he was detained, the army Chief of Staff said today.
A rebel officer who led the attack on a Government television station during an attempted coup in August escaped with his guard from an army camp where he was detained, the army Chief of Staff said today.
Lieut. Col. Eduardo Matillano fled on Friday in a jeep while returning under escort from a dental clinic at Fort Bonifacio here, according to the army chief, Brig. Gen. Mariano Adalem.
''I cannot say what the circumstances of his escape are,'' General Adalem said. ''I can only presume that he may have overpowered his guard because that guard is very loyal to the Government.''
The escape occurred one week after Gregorio Honasan, a former colonel and leader of the attempted coup, escaped from his prison ship with 14 of his elite guards. Mr. Honasan and Colonel Matillano are close friends.
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1,989 | E W Scripps reports earnings for | LEAD:
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3* E W Scripps (OTC)
Qtr to March 31
1989
1988
Revenue
294,911,000
280,076,000
Net inc
15,084,000
11,052,000
Share earns
Shares outst
78,743,000
72,431,000
The company said operating income for cable operations in the latest quarter climbed to $4,528,000 from $1,125,000 in the year-ago first quarter.
LEAD:
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3* E W Scripps (OTC)
Qtr to March 31
1989
1988
Revenue
294,911,000
280,076,000
Net inc
15,084,000
11,052,000
Share earns
Shares outst
78,743,000
72,431,000
The company said operating income for cable operations in the latest quarter climbed to $4,528,000 from $1,125,000 in the year-ago first quarter.
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3* E W Scripps (OTC)
Qtr to March 31
1989
1988
Revenue
294,911,000
280,076,000
Net inc
15,084,000
11,052,000
Share earns
Shares outst
78,743,000
72,431,000
The company said operating income for cable operations in the latest quarter climbed to $4,528,000 from $1,125,000 in the year-ago first quarter.
The increase in earnings was due primarily to higher operating income from its Sacrmaneto, Calif., cable television system.
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1,991 | SOVIET AID PLANS OUTLINED BY BAKER | Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d outlined a series of proposals today under which the United States and its allies could begin to help the Soviet Union out of its economic morass without the infusion of vast amounts of cash.
Although Mr. Baker did not explicitly rule out the large-scale cash aid sought by Moscow, his remarks suggested that the Administration would lobby with its Western allies not to rush into cash aid programs.
Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d outlined a series of proposals today under which the United States and its allies could begin to help the Soviet Union out of its economic morass without the infusion of vast amounts of cash.
Although Mr. Baker did not explicitly rule out the large-scale cash aid sought by Moscow, his remarks suggested that the Administration would lobby with its Western allies not to rush into cash aid programs.
He included such proposals as support for Soviet associate membership in the International Monetary Fund, a program for encouraging American oil exploration in the Soviet Union and assistance in food distribution there. Mr. Baker's outline was part of a speech on European policy that he gave at the Aspen Institute in Berlin.
The question of how to help the Soviet Union has become acute because President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has been invited to meet with the leaders of the Group of Seven industrial democracies in London next month after their annual meeting is over. The allies are trying to come up with a consensus on dealing with Mr. Gorbachev.
The Secretary urged the peoples of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to join the "Atlantic Community," which used to be thought of as embracing just the United States, Canada and Western Europe. But to do so, Mr. Baker argued, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe must first adopt systems of democratic pluralism and market economics.
He said that the United States "has a special role to play in supporting the process of change in the Soviet Union."
"As the Soviets demonstrate the will to help themselves, then we can and should join them, step by step," Mr. Baker said. "I hope President Gorbachev now brings forward a new effort at serious market reform. The door to the Euro-Atlantic community is open. But only the Soviets can decide to step over the threshold."
The notion of step-by-step assistance has become the byword of the Bush Administration when discussing economic aid to Moscow. It is in contrast to the notion of a "grand bargain" in which the West would commit a vast sum of money in return for, and to help cushion, specific Soviet economic and democratic reforms.
Last weekend, Grigory A. Yavlinsky, an independent Soviet economist who has been working with a group of Harvard University economists, presented a "grand bargain" plan to the Bush Administration and Mr. Gorbachev. Mr. Gorbachev was reported to have shown some interest in the plan, but Administration officials have not demonstrated much enthusiasm. Alternative to 'Grand Bargain'
The Administration, apparently feeling that if it does not like the grand bargain it had better come up with an alternative approach, began hinting a few weeks ago that it was developing a package of step-by-step "supportive measures" for the Soviet reform effort, but did not spell them out.
While saying today that the "complete package is for our President to announce," Mr. Baker nevertheless listed the key elements of what would be Washington's first steps in response to serious steps by the Soviets toward market reforms.
The ideas have all been proposed individually but are now being tied together in a package that is likely to be presented to Mr. Gorbachev.
"As we have pointed out in recent weeks," said Mr. Baker, "elements could include a special association with the I.M.F. and the World Bank to help design and implement serious economic reforms; a public-private project to resolve impediments to private investment in energy development, which can earn hard currency and provide an example of a successful sector operating with property and contract rights; a mutual effort to invigorate the food distribution sector to produce improvements for consumers soon through the establishment of market incentives."
He added that Washington was ready to support the conversion of Soviet defense industries to consumer and other nonmilitary production, would provide technical advice to promote education in market principles and practices and would advance more open trade -- an apparent reference to the impending decision to grant Moscow preferential trade benefits. Mr. Baker also listed in the package the $1.5 billion in additional credits to purchase American grain that President Bush granted the Soviet Union last week.
The rationale underlying virtually all of the Administration's proposals is that the Soviet Union is rich in natural resources and the educational development of its people, and that if it can establish the proper market incentives and inducements to foreign investment it will not need infusions of other governments' cash.
Mr. Baker argued that institutions like NATO, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Community had to be used to help the eastern nations make the transition from Communism to democracy, so they would not fall prey to the sort of ethnic and nationalist fragmentation now racking Yugoslavia.
Mr. Baker did not offer much in the way of concrete new proposals. Rather, he attempted to show how many existing programs of NATO, the conference and the community could be used to extend democratic, free-market and federalist principles to the East. Nationalism vs. Interdependence
A way has to be found, Mr. Baker said, to balance the increasing demands of individuals in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to express their long-suppressed ethnic and national identities and the demands of an increasingly economically interdependent world, which requires integration with multinational and suprana tional economic institutions.
The 12-nation European Community, said Mr. Baker, has to continue removing economic barriers to Eastern European exports and expand its association agreements with Eastern European nations. As for the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Secretary proposed that it establish new agencies to promote market economics and private business among its membership, which includes all of Europe except Albania. He also suggested that the conference might develop a peacekeeping force to help defuse ethnic, national and border disputes when requested.
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1,988 | Mets Look Bored In Loss | LEAD: Are they bored, jaded or just restless waiting for the playoffs to begin in three weeks? And are they a sure thing or still vulnerable?
LEAD: Are they bored, jaded or just restless waiting for the playoffs to begin in three weeks? And are they a sure thing or still vulnerable?
Are they bored, jaded or just restless waiting for the playoffs to begin in three weeks? And are they a sure thing or still vulnerable?
Whatever they are, the Mets gave one of their shabbiest performances of a strange summer tonight. They made three errors and several gaffes in the field. They saw the Chicago Cubs hammer Ron Darling for eight hits and six runs in four innings. They let the Cubs take an 8-3 lead into the ninth inning.
Then, in one spectacular burst of the old-time power, they uncoiled and scored five runs to tie the game. Twice, they went down to the final out. Twice, they were saved by dramatic home runs. Three runs crossed when Keith Hernandez cleared the left-field fence, putting them one run away. Another crossed when Darryl Strawberry, the next batter, went to 3 and 2 and drove his 32d home run of the year over the fence in right. McDowell Loses It
So, they were tied at 8-8, and spared. But, after all the cannonading and reviving, they promptly subsided and gave the game back to the Cubs in the bottom of the ninth, 9-8. And that may have been the most disturbing thing of all because they lost it on another ruinous performance by Roger McDowell, the ace of the bullpen.
In staccato order, Rafael Palmeiro tripled off the wall in center field and, one out later, Damon Berryhill lined a single to left. And the Mets were done, their lead down to 8 games with 25 to play, their playoff plans still intact, but their style tattered and their manager outraged.
''We played terrible,'' Dave Johnson said with heat. ''We didn't hit the ball or catch the ball. Darling had a miserable night on the mound, and we didn't help him. It was a strange ball game, and we didn't deserve to win it. We have a nice lead, but we can't play like this.''
''We played one of our worst games of the year,'' Darling said, ''starting with me. I was so wild, I was afraid to throw my split-fingered fastball. I was afraid I'd hurt somebody in the stands.
''And I don't think that our lead is that huge. You've got to keep playing your best until the magic number is down to zero. Yogi Berra was right: It ain't over till it's over.'' 'Mistake After Mistake'
''It was ugly,'' Strawberry said. ''Mistake after mistake. Our attitude is too relaxed. The plays that should have been made weren't made.''
In the debris, the Mets lost their ninth game to the Cubs in 15 played this season. Worse, they lost for the sixth time in eight games in Wrigley Field. And Darling lost for the third straight time to the Cubs this year.
But the most alarming part of the evening may have been the way it ended. McDowell, the sinkerball ace of the bullpen, has suddenly run into a slump as the playoffs approach. In his last five appearances, he has pitched six innings, allowed seven runs and lost two games.
Johnson wasn't happy with the way he lost this one, either: by shaking off Gary Carter, who wanted a sinkerball, and throwing a high slider to Berryhill for the fatal shot.
''You don't get beat by your second pitch,'' Johnson said. ''You've got a high-ball hitter at the plate and a sinkerball pitcher on the mound. I don't like it.''
''It was the pitch I wanted to throw, the one I felt most comfortable with,'' McDowell said. ''I've shaken him off many times.'' pick up only ad f.s. mets The Mets opened the evening with two runs and no bad omens. Mookie Wilson led with an infield single, Gregg Jefferies doubled, Kevin McReynolds hit a sacrifice fly for one run and Jeff Pico bounced a wild pitch for another.
But in the third, the Mets began to unravel. Shawon Dunston, who hadn't hit a home run since June 27, hit one. Then Darling walked Mitch Webster, fired a wild pitch and lost his lead when Ryne Sandberg doubled.
Half an inning later, the Mets snatched back the lead on a walk and two errors. But in the fourth, both Darling and his support gave way and the Cubs cashed four runs.
Darling began by walking Andre Dawson. Then Palmeiro doubled, Berryhill singled, Dunston singled and the Cubs moved in front.
Pico went to bat with runners on first and second in a bunting situation, so Hernandez ran in and crowded the plate in his customary manner. But Pico crossed him up and slapped a grounder to third base, where Howard Johnson had no play because the infielders were switching for the bunt.
Then Webster hit a sacrifice fly, Johnson kicked a grounder and the Cubs led by 6-3. And, by the time the Mets went to bat in the ninth, the Cubs had added two runs and led by five with three outs to go.
But Carter doubled, Lee Mazzilli pinch-hit a single, Wilson singled off Sandberg's glove and, with two down, Hernandez unfurled his home run. Pico was gone, too late, the left-handed Drew Hall faced Strawberry, and then the lead was gone.
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1,990 | G.M. Plans To Cut Cost Of Saturn | LEAD: The General Motors Corporation announced an ''aggressive pricing and warranty'' strategy today for its Saturn line of compact cars, which will be shown publicly for the first time next week.
LEAD: The General Motors Corporation announced an ''aggressive pricing and warranty'' strategy today for its Saturn line of compact cars, which will be shown publicly for the first time next week.
The General Motors Corporation announced an ''aggressive pricing and warranty'' strategy today for its Saturn line of compact cars, which will be shown publicly for the first time next week.
The least-expensive Saturn, a four-door model, will carry a base price under $8,000. Saturn executives had been saying they would try to keep the car's base price at $10,000 to $12,000.
Moreover, Saturn will carry a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty with no deductible. To induce buyers to try the car, G.M. is also offering a money-back guarantee to ''charter'' buyers of 1991 models.
''The market has been waiting for Saturn for some time, and these prices put us at a distinct competitive advantage against imports,'' Lloyd E. Reuss, G.M.'s president, told Saturn dealers meeting in Nashville.
Strong Initial Demand
The pricing and warranty strategy seems intended to create strong initial demand, even though the car's availability will be limited, and to remove any potential quality concerns that might arise because the Saturn has not been tested by the public.
The Saturn's basic model will have a base price of $7,995. A sports sedan fancier than that will sell for a base price of $8,595; a ''touring sedan'' that is fancier still and more powerful will sell for a base price of $10,295. The base price of a two-door sporty coupe will be $11,775.
Among the options are automatic transmission, to cost $695; air-conditioning, to cost $775, and cruise control, $195.
The least-expensive model will have a fuel-efficiency rating of 37 miles a gallon on the highway and 27 in the city, General Motors said. The cars are powered by a 1.9-liter, four-cylinder aluminum engine.
Borrowing From Japan
G.M. executives acknowlege that the company's reputation and customer base declined in the 1980's because of quality problems. Borrowing heavily from Japanese manufacturing techniques, General Motors started Saturn as a means of ''reinventing'' the way cars are designed, built and sold, compared with its other brands. Saturn's engine and final assembly plant is in Spring Hill, Tenn.
The auto maker's decision to drop the warranty deductible will make Saturn's warranty comparable to Japanese brands, most of which have ''bumper to bumper'' comprehensive warranties without a deductible.
Saturn is trying to win 80 percent of its buyers from the ranks of those already driving imported brands, particularly the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic. The least-expensive Corolla sells for $8,748, while the cheapest Civic costs $6,635.
American automobile makers have been dropping warranty deductibles on their most expensive models to compete with the costliest imported luxury brands. The Ford Motor Company this year lowered its deductibles to $50, from $100. United States dealers say deductibles have increasingly alienated customers who experience quality problems and expect them to be corrected free.
Guarantees that permit a customer to return a new car are rare, but have recently been tried by G.M.'s Oldsmobile division and by Volkswagen. Oldsmobile allows customers who are not satisfied to trade for another new car. Volkswagen's offer applies to the Passat model only, but the company will return a customer's money.
Buyers of any 1991 Saturn will be able to return their cars for a refund if dissatisfied for any reason within 30 days or 1,500 miles.
Unlike other G.M. vehicles, the Saturn carries few parts that identify it as one of the auto maker's brands. For example, most G.M. models carry the same type of windshield wiper switch and the same kind of Delco brand radio.
The Saturn has received generally favorable comments from automotive experts who have driven prototypes and early production models.
Richard G. LeFauve, the president of the Saturn division, said the car would go on sale at dealerships on Oct. 25. But the company does not expect more than about 30 dealerships to be open for business then.
Moreover, the production start-up at the Spring Hill plant has been slow, a spokesman said today. The plant's capacity is 200,000 cars a year, but the company has said it may take a year or more to reach capacity.
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1,990 | NEWS SUMMARY | LEAD:
International
A3-21
LEAD:
International
A3-21
International
A3-21
A cease-fire with the contras was declared by President Ortega. His announcement came a few hours after President-elect Chamorro urged the rebels to disband.
Page A1
Managua victors seek to solidify
Stunned Sandinistas seek to define their new role
Bush seeks Soviet help in Nicaragua transition
Costa Rica is asking U.S. to extradite bombing suspect
Recent East German immigrants to West Germany are increasingly met with resentment and disdain. One city has declared a freeze on accepting resettlers.
Kohl takes tentative step on Polish border proposal
Bonn's top banker urges caution
Reagan is invited to Berlin
The U.S.-Soviet troop cut plan was criticized by an influential Senator and a senior military official, both expressing concern that it would hamper the Pentagon's ability to deploy forces in Europe.
Voter apathy in the Ukraine seems to be widespread as the Soviet republic faces elections on Sunday. Politicians there say people have stopped believing that their vote can make a difference in their lives.
Lithuania steps up drive to leave Soviet Union
Gorbachev plan for family farms is approved
Novelist foresees democratic wave sweeping Yugoslavia
A new Israeli opposition party will be formed by five leading Likud members, they announced. The move puts
Prime Minister Shamir in an excruciating predicament over his plan for Palestinian elections.
Clerics urge end to Lebanese Christian strife
Peace talks in South Africa will not take place and the African National Congress will not make any concessions until the Government has met the congress's conditions for opening the talks, Nelson Mandela said.
Pretoria leaders tied to killings
Ethiopia and Sudan leaders are receiving international pressure to cooperate more closely with relief organizations in preventing another disastrous famine in the Horn of Africa this year.
The latest peace talks on Cambodia broke down with the rival Cambodian factions unable to agree on even a carefully worded communique that did not mention the central issue of contention.
Grumbling grows in China's military
A hero in Canton, a harbinger of his province's prosperity
Political strife threatens Himalayas tourism
Congress Party of India beaten in six state elections
National
A22-24, B8, B24, D25-26
The seizing of a foreigner's property in a foreign country by American law-enforcement agents who lack warrants is not barred by the Constitution, the Supreme Court ruled.
The case of the Alasksa oil spill has Government officials disappointed after they were not able to strike a plea bargain with Exxon. The officials say they now face a risky criminal trial based on untested legal principles.
Federal statutes cited in indictment of Exxon
Sanford (Sandy) Weill, a Wall Street legend, is said to be engineering a comeback to run Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc., the large financial institution he built.
The economy's growth last quarter was somewhat stronger than the Commerce Department had estimated, but it was still the weakest quarter since 1986.
Mayor Barry pleaded not guilty to all drug and perjury charges against him and predicted he would be vindicated at trial.
Diaries accurate even if Reagan forgot, Poindexter says
The ''peace dividend'' was debated in the Senate with some insisting that military savings should be earmarked for tax cuts while others proposed that the funds go to domestic programs.
A candidate for governor of Texas, Clayton Williams, a Republican, seems to be gaining much popularity by emphasizing the sentimental theme of restoring Texas to its past stature.
Cockpit radiation tests show levels above Federal standard
Retiring agents sharply attack Federal drug policies
Clue in Hilary search held for months by U.S. official
Space shuttle is launched with spy sattelite
Substance blocks cold viruses in test tube
In Kansas City, a star slips away from the newspaper scene
Minnesota weighs abortion bill
Quake in Southern California rocks a wide area
Regional
B1-6
Prisoner capacity will be doubled at many of New York's medium-security prisons by installing bunk beds for the first time, Cuomo administration officials said.
Rev. Bruce Ritter will not be charged with any criminal offenses, despite ''some questionable financial transactions,'' the Manhattan District Attorney announced.
Residents of Covenant House split on its future and Ritter
An important witness is missing in the racial killing case in Bensonhurst, and jury selection in the trial is to start on Monday.
Sites for drug counseling of parochial school students are the focus of a conflict between Chancellor Joseph Fernandez and John Cardinal O'Connor.
No-fault insurance for doctors is called feasible
New York's patrol officers to go on steady shifts
Judge explains jogger-case ruling
24,000 gallons of oil spill off Bayonne
Blood tests link Golub to crime scene
Freed by judge, man faces prison again in officer's killing
Business Digest
The Home Section
Regiments of flowers protest winter's iron rule
For $50 a month, little space, lots of style
The battle of bedtime: the children won
Close to Home
Currents
Home Improvement
Parent & Child
A still mysterious architect gets her due
Scaasi's spring: bring on the flowers
Arts/Entertainment
Feminists and Shakespeare
Siberian music and dance
Music: St. Luke's in all-Rieti bill
A soprano with the secret of youth
Dance: Of Lar Lubovitch
Word and Image: ''The Quantum Self''
''America's Funniest Home Videos''
Sports
Baseball: Talks still stalled
Basketball: N.C. State facing point-shaving inquiry
Column: Anderson on halls of fame
Hockey: Rangers defeat Capitals
Red Wings top Islanders, 4-3
Horse Racing: Attention turns to Slavic
Health
Personal Health
Electronic monitoring doesn't help in premature births
Obituaries
Carmine S. Bellino, Congressional investigator
Daphne Barritt-Vane Arnstein, arts patron
Mourners recall ideals of Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger
Nahum N. Glatzer, scholar, editor and author
Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed
Editorials
The homelessness test
Undermining census remedy
Topics: Dean and the lions
Letters
A. M. Rosenthal: Our German business
Tom Wicker: Bush and Managua
David K. Shipler: Nicaragua, victory for U.S. fair play
Robert Eisner: Low U.S. savings rate - a myth
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1,992 | Ocean Liner Saved From Scrap Heap | The luxury liner United States, which began its maiden voyage with 500 pounds of caviar and returned to a Broadway ticker tape parade, was saved from the scrap heap today by a businessman who immigrated on the ship 28 years ago.
The liner's new owner, Frederick A. Mayer of Manhattan, who was seasick in his six-person cabin during much of his crossing from Southampton, England, to Manhattan, bid $2.6 million for the rusting, leaking ship at an auction on the steps of the main Newport News Post Office.
The luxury liner United States, which began its maiden voyage with 500 pounds of caviar and returned to a Broadway ticker tape parade, was saved from the scrap heap today by a businessman who immigrated on the ship 28 years ago.
The liner's new owner, Frederick A. Mayer of Manhattan, who was seasick in his six-person cabin during much of his crossing from Southampton, England, to Manhattan, bid $2.6 million for the rusting, leaking ship at an auction on the steps of the main Newport News Post Office.
The 57-year-old Mr. Mayer, who won out over four other bidders, said he and his partners planned to spend about $145 million in the next three years to refurbish the ship for cruises. He said the liner would probably be towed to Turkey for the work.
A Federal district judge began proceedings to have 50,000-ton vessel evicted from its dock here after its owner fell years behind on the rent for its slip on the James River. Just three hours before the sale, the judge, Robert G. Doumar, said he felt certain that the liner would be sold for scrap. Holder of Speed Record
The maiden voyage of the liner set a record for a trans-Atlantic crossing -- 3 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes. In 1990, a catamaran shaved 3 hours and 46 minutes of the time.
But despite the speed of the liner, which started its maiden voyage on July 3, 1952, its demise was also to come swiftly. The jet plane would soon cross the ocean faster and cheaper. And in 1969 after 400 voyages, the "speed queen" was mothballed.
The vessel was bought by the Government in 1973 so she could be converted to a troop ship, but she was never used for that purpose.
In her heyday, passengers who strolled the decks of the liner and feasted in the grand dining room included the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Dwight D. and Mamie Eisenhower.
By the time Federal Marshals took control of the ship last October, guards had to chase homeless people from the staterooms. Rusting Hulk
Today, tours are by flashlight. Mounds of flaked paint line the decks. Sheets of rust cling to the hull of the 990-foot-long vessel.
"The most noble thing that could happen is to take her out and sink her," said Lou Hopkins of Norfolk, Va., who was hired by marshals in October to take care of their hulking tenant.
Lawyers for the bank that held the mortgage on the ship, Skopbank, said the ship's owner, United States Cruises Inc. of San Francisco, made one payment on its $4.9 million mortgage in the last two and half years. As word of the foreclosure spread, fans of the ship formed the S.S. United States Preservation Society.
"It's the last of the great liners that's afloat," said Dr. William J. Livingston, a retired Presbyterian minister from Yorktown, Va. "This is like saving the Statue of Liberty." Captain Returns
About 100 people watched the eight-minute auction. Comdr. Leroy J. Alexanderson of Hampton, 81 years old, the ship's last captain, signed autographs.
Charlie Soter, 81 years old, helped build the ship at the nearby Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. He passed around a photocopied picture of himself wearing a bow tie as purser during 1952 sea trials.
The San Francisco company bought the ship from the United States Maritime Administration for $5 million in 1981. Just 12 hours before today's auction, a partner in United States Cruises was talking about their grand plans if they judge would delay the sale.
"Picture a floating Las Vegas Hilton; That's what it'll be," said the partner, Harold Spector of Honolulu. "If you think of the cruise ships you see on television, don't they all look like fat, lumbering tubs? Look at the S.S. United States and you see a sleek, magnificent naval architectural triumph."
But the United States will be American no more. Mr. Mayer plans to register the boat overseas.
Officials at CSX Transportation, which owns the pier, will be happy to see their headache towed away. At the auction, John R. Crumpler, a lawyer for CSX, decided to check with the Marshals Service one more time.
"We're going to make sure they have the check," he said.
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1,993 | Dodgers Deal Giants A Long-Owed Payback | History reversed itself today. Oct. 3, for 42 years, has always been a day when Giants bludgeoned Dodgers, but this afternoon the Dodgers gored them back.
The Giants lost the pennant, the Giants lost the pennant.
History reversed itself today. Oct. 3, for 42 years, has always been a day when Giants bludgeoned Dodgers, but this afternoon the Dodgers gored them back.
The Giants lost the pennant, the Giants lost the pennant.
While the Braves held up their end of the National League West bargain in Atlanta, San Francisco was massacred this afternoon at Dodger Stadium, 12-1. The Giants own 103 victories, their most since moving to the Bay Area in 1958, but they have no Fall Classic to show for it.
Atlanta gets the Phillies, and the Giants get to refund playoff tickets. 3 Years in Row for Bonds
"One of us had to lose and, unfortunately, it's always us or me," said left fielder Barry Bonds, second-best to the Braves for the third straight season.
"Only good thing about it is I didn't have to see Atlanta on the same field," continued Bonds, who had lost twice to the Braves with the Pirates in the playoffs. "Didn't have to see them parade around like the last two years. But they know I'm coming forever. As long as I play this game, I'm coming after them."
In the opposite dugout, Tommy Lasorda hugged each of his Dodgers as if he would never see them again, particularly his godson, Mike Piazza, who homered twice.
And Bobby Thomson, who on Oct. 3, 1951, hit the shot heard 'round the world, had to catch a flight home.
"Oct. 3 is still a historic day in Giant history," said the San Francisco owner, Peter Magowan, who would have asked Thomson to throw out the first pitch if there had been a playoff game here on Monday. "It's just some days in history are bad days."
The Giants simply said hello to their bullpen today and then said goodbye to the post-season. Manager Dusty Baker, a magician for the last week or so, had his first bad day at the office. He handed a clean baseball to a 21-year-old Dominican rookie, Salomon Torres, and the Dodgers promptly soiled it. They scored three runs off Torres, chased him in the fourth inning, and then body-slammed Dave Burba.
Burba cried in the Giant clubhouse.
"I was out of gas," he said, his eyes red. "I normally throw 93, 92 miles per hour, but I'd like to see what my fastball was today. I'm lucky if it hit 88." His voice was cracking.
The Giants had trailed only 3-1 when Burba entered in the top of the fifth, but Piazza, the Dodger catcher, homered to right field on Burba's very first pitch. Startled, Burba walked Eric Karros and then served up another prodigious homer to Cory Snyder. The lead was 6-1, Dodgers, and Lasorda could not contain himself.
"Snyder's home run lowered morale," reliever Rod Beck said. "We could've handled a three-run deficit, but all of a sudden it was five."
From then on, Baker was constantly on the telephone to his bullpen. Piazza greeted Baker's sixth reliever, Dave Righetti, with a three-run homer to make it 10-1 in the bottom of the eighth. In came the Giants' seventh and final pitcher, Jim Deshaies, and out went another home run, by Raul Mondesi, to make it 12-1.
The sellout crowd of 54,340, in the final inconsequential moments, threw crumpled hot dog wrappers at Giant outfielders. "What was I thinking? Nothing," Bonds said.
Peculiarly, the Dodgers, even after all these years, had never paid back the Giants for Bobby Thomson's home run or any other catastrophe. In 1962, also on Oct. 3, the Giants eliminated the Dodgers in a playoff game. And in 1982 and in 1991, the Giants also foiled Dodger pennant drives.
So, before this game, Lasorda slammed the clubhouse door shut for a meeting. According to one Dodger, Lasorda said, "Win, and this will make my year."
As for the Giants' offense today, their most valuable player candidate, Bonds, overswung against Kevin Gross (13-13). He struck out twice, while trying to hit balls to the sun, and even the dramatic insertion of Robby Thompson into the lineup failed to bring runs.
"Got a lot of work to do," said Bonds, who went 0 for 4 to finish the season with a .336 average, 46 homers and 123 r.b.i.
He can do better next year?
"Don't underestimate me, as long as you're alive," he said.
As if it were ordained, it was just the Dodgers' day. Their defense had been laughable all weekend, but everything was sticking in their gloves, and Los Angeles scored its seventh run on a bad hop over shortstop Royce Clayton's head.
"We wanted that one-game playoff with Atlanta at the 'Stick," Bonds said. "We had a short flight, they had a long one. Bad weather, our field. We feel we would've beat them."
The Giants had led their division by 10 games on July 22, had trailed by four games on Sept. 17, and then managed to make Atlanta shake in its collective cleats until the last day.
"Looking back upon it, in retrospect, it was not meant to be," Baker said. "Not yet."
He had managed this whole weekend on hunches, from inserting Robby Thompson -- even with his battered face -- into the lineup at the last minute, to starting Torres, who had begun the season at Class AA. He had even taken Torres out for Cuban food Saturday night to ease the rookie's mind.
"We had a lot of black beans, fried banana," Baker said. "And some avacado salad and some nice hot bread. People don't realize it's tough playing in a foreign country, and it's especially tough foodwise."
So, Torres took the mound today on a full stomach, but left feeling sick to it. BASEBALL
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1,993 | New Book Describes F.B.I. War Against Soviet Agents in the U.S. | A new book says the Federal Bureau of Investigation bugged cars belonging to Soviet intelligence officers, disguised its agents as store clerks to befriend K.G.B. officials and installed devices to detect Soviet vehicles at street crossings in the nation's capital during the agency's spy war against Moscow in the 1980's.
The book "The F.B.I.: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency," is being published on Thursday by Pocket Books. It was written by Ronald Kessler, a former reporter for The Washington Post who has written several books on intelligence matters.
A new book says the Federal Bureau of Investigation bugged cars belonging to Soviet intelligence officers, disguised its agents as store clerks to befriend K.G.B. officials and installed devices to detect Soviet vehicles at street crossings in the nation's capital during the agency's spy war against Moscow in the 1980's.
The book "The F.B.I.: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency," is being published on Thursday by Pocket Books. It was written by Ronald Kessler, a former reporter for The Washington Post who has written several books on intelligence matters.
Mr. Kessler's most sensational assertion relates to what he says is a current inquiry into charges by a former K.G.B. employee. The book says the ex-employee told the F.B.I. that hundreds of American military and civilian Government officials spied for the Soviet Union during the cold war.
"So specific was the information that that the F.B.I. was quickly able to establish the source's credibility," Mr. Kessler wrote. "When the F.B.I. confronted some of the alleged spies, including military men who had had top-secret information and officials of other government agencies, one confessed and others refused to talked until they saw their lawyers." No Official Comment
Officially, the F.B.I. would not comment on the book, but law-enforcement officials expressed skepticism about Mr. Kessler's conclusions about the number of Americans said to have spied for the Soviet Union, although the author insisted in an interview that his information was accurate.
In 1991, William S. Sessions, then the F.B.I. Director, granted Mr. Kessler wide access to senior agency officials. Last year, Mr. Kessler outlined possible abuses by Mr. Sessions in a letter to the F.B.I. The letter led to an inquiry by the Justice Department that culminated in a critical report on Mr. Sessions's travel and administrative practices; Mr. Sessions was dismissed last month by President Clinton.
Government officials have said previously that the collapse of the Soviet empire produced defectors supplying information about Eastern Bloc spying activities in the United States. But the officials have said none of the defectors has supplied information on the scale that Mr. Kessler suggests.
The officials acknowledged the accuracy of other events recounted by Mr. Kessler. Some of the most intriguing episodes involve F.B.I. counterintelligence operations in New York and Washington, in which streets and parking garages became the battlegrounds in a cat-and-mouse espionage game.
Soviet officers were invited to parties at neighbors' homes where the other guests were F.B.I. agents. F.B.I. agents posed as sales clerks in stereo stores frequented by Soviet agents to try to establish contact with K.G.B. officials. The book said the F.B.I. recruited at least two officials inside the Soviet Embassy in Washington.
The new book also says F.B.I. agents in Washington surreptitiously placed electronic devices in the headrests of a number of cars belonging to Soviet diplomats. The devices tripped beams installed at major intersections in downtown Washington, allowing the F.B.I. to track the Soviet vehicles. Mr. Kessler said Soviet mechanics discovered the devices, forcing the F.B.I. to abandon the expensive project.
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1,987 | PATRICIA L. RALPH, LAW STUDENT, WED TO G. B. FOWELR, JR. | LEAD: Patricia Lynne Ralph, the daughter of Mrs. Kenneth L. Ralph of Coventry, R.I., and the late Mr. Ralph, was married yesterday to Gordon B. Fowler Jr., a son of Mr. and Mrs. Fowler of West Hartford, Conn. The Rev. Bruce Jacques, assisted by the Rev. Samuel Outerbridge, performed the ceremony at St. John's Episcopal Church in New Milford,
LEAD: Patricia Lynne Ralph, the daughter of Mrs. Kenneth L. Ralph of Coventry, R.I., and the late Mr. Ralph, was married yesterday to Gordon B. Fowler Jr., a son of Mr. and Mrs. Fowler of West Hartford, Conn. The Rev. Bruce Jacques, assisted by the Rev. Samuel Outerbridge, performed the ceremony at St. John's Episcopal Church in New Milford,
Patricia Lynne Ralph, the daughter of Mrs. Kenneth L. Ralph of Coventry, R.I., and the late Mr. Ralph, was married yesterday to Gordon B. Fowler Jr., a son of Mr. and Mrs. Fowler of West Hartford, Conn. The Rev. Bruce Jacques, assisted by the Rev. Samuel Outerbridge, performed the ceremony at St. John's Episcopal Church in New Milford, Conn.
Margaret Wecker was matron of honor for her cousin. Douglas B. Fowler was best man for his brother.
Mrs. Fowler, a second-year student at the University of Connecticut Law School, graduated from Brown University. She was formerly an employment representative at the Atlantic Companies, a property casualty insurance concern in New York. Her mother, Genevieve Ralph, is head nurse in the cardiology unit at Kent County Hospital in Warwick, R.I.
Mr. Fowler, a vice president of J. P. Morgan Investment Management in New York, graduated from Brown University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received a master's degree in statistics and operations research from New York University. His mother, Molly Fowler, is a fiber artist whose work has been shown at the Wadsworth Atheneum, the New Britain Museum and the Smith College Museum of Art. His father is a vice president of Cigna Investments Inc. in Bloomfield, Conn.
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1,992 | THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: The Challenger; In Georgia, Buchanan Plays Up His Role as a Republican Outsider | In his most extensive day of campaigning in Georgia since his strong showing last week in the New Hampshire primary, Patrick J. Buchanan said today that President Bush and the "Republican establishment" were seeking to shut him out of the race for the party's Presidential nomination.
Mr. Buchanan, the conservative commentator who received 37 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire Republican primary last Tuesday, complained that he was being kept off the ballot in several states by Mr. Bush's supporters and that he was being denied opportunities to speak to Republican gatherings like the Southern Republican Leadership Conference meeting last week in Charleston, S.C.
In his most extensive day of campaigning in Georgia since his strong showing last week in the New Hampshire primary, Patrick J. Buchanan said today that President Bush and the "Republican establishment" were seeking to shut him out of the race for the party's Presidential nomination.
Mr. Buchanan, the conservative commentator who received 37 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire Republican primary last Tuesday, complained that he was being kept off the ballot in several states by Mr. Bush's supporters and that he was being denied opportunities to speak to Republican gatherings like the Southern Republican Leadership Conference meeting last week in Charleston, S.C.
The candidate's comments came as he undertook an energetic day of campaigning in Georgia, a state he and his aides have called "crucial" to his chances of maintaining his challenge to Mr. Bush. A Populist Theme
Mr. Buchanan traveled to this town in northwest Georgia, to be interviewed by a local radio commentator, address students and parents at a Ellijay High School and wolf down barbeque at a roadside stop. He also attended a reception and spoke at a rally in Atlanta.
With his comments today, Mr. Buchanan appears to be shifting to a populist stance, playing up an image of an outsider fighting the Washington establishment. In doing so, he seems to be placing less emphasis on voter anger over tough economic times, an issue that may be less effective in a state like Georgia where unemployment is not the problem it is in New Hampshire.
In playing the role of an outsider, Mr. Buchanan also hopes to be able to tap into Democratic as well as Republican votes. In the Georgia primary, members of one party can cross over to vote in the other party's primary.
Mr. Buchanan and campaign officials say they are concerned that they might not have enough time before next Tuesday's primary for the message to sink in with enough voters. Mr. Buchanan has campaigned in Georgia for portions of two days.
Frank I. Luntz, who serves as Mr. Buchanan's poll taker, said his surveys show that many voters in Georgia are not aware of the results of the New Hampshire primary or of Mr. Buchanan's campaign, which has just started broadcasting radio and television commercials.
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1,990 | CAPITAL HOMELESS SUE OVER HOUSING | LEAD: The National Coalition for the Homeless and three homeless families filed a lawsuit yesterday to bar the District of Columbia from placing homeless families in welfare hotels and to insure that District officials provide other housing for them.
LEAD: The National Coalition for the Homeless and three homeless families filed a lawsuit yesterday to bar the District of Columbia from placing homeless families in welfare hotels and to insure that District officials provide other housing for them.
The National Coalition for the Homeless and three homeless families filed a lawsuit yesterday to bar the District of Columbia from placing homeless families in welfare hotels and to insure that District officials provide other housing for them.
The suit, filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on behalf of more than 200 homeless families, accuses the District of violating a set of standards established by law for housing homeless families with children.
Sue Marshall, the coordinator of the homeless for the District of Columbia, said city officials received a copy of the suit yesterday afternoon and planned to review it before commenting on it.
The primary District ordinance cited in the suit is the Emergency Shelter Services for Families Act of 1987, which required the Mayor to stop housing homeless families in hotels and to build a sufficient number of supervised, apartment-style housing units as emergency shelters for families by March 11, 1989.
Five Defendants Named
The law also instructs the Mayor to ''exhaust all efforts'' to move homeless families out of emergency shelters and into permanent housing. The law did not set penalties for failing to comply.
Named as defendants are Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr.; Carol B. Thompson, the city administrator; Peter Parham, director of the city's Department of Human Services; Barbara Burke-Tatum, the department's commissioner of social services, and Ronald L. Turpin, director of the city's Department of Public and Assisted Housing.
The suit accuses the defendants of missing the deadline established by the law and of failing to comply with the criteria outlined in the law.
In a census of homeless families taken last week, the District counted 212 families living in hotels, Ms. Marshall said.
Obedience Is Sought
''We're not asking the court to do anything except ask the Government to obey the law as set down by the legislature,'' said Robert M. Hayes, founder of the National Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Ms. Marshall said the District has had difficulty finding apartments suitable for the homeless. Last March, she said, it sought in an open bid to obtain 400 apartments but received bids for fewer than 100 apartments.
The suit filed yesterday paints a squalid picture of Washington's homeless families, saying they were shuttled from one decrepit welfare hotel to another in violation of the law.
The suit says an entire family usually shares a single room, regardless of the size of the family or the sex and age of its members.
Jacqueline Y. Fountain, a 33-year-old homeless woman who is one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said she hopes the suit will lead to better living conditions for homeless children.
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1,992 | Officer Charged With Beating Teen-Agers | A New York City police officer was arrested yesterday on charges that he pistol-whipped one teen-ager and punched another because he believed that they threw rocks at his car, forcing him to drive into a fence on the Lower East Side.
The officer, Ronald Moore, 26 years old, was indicted on second- and third-degree assault charges in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He pleaded not guilty and was released without bail.
A New York City police officer was arrested yesterday on charges that he pistol-whipped one teen-ager and punched another because he believed that they threw rocks at his car, forcing him to drive into a fence on the Lower East Side.
The officer, Ronald Moore, 26 years old, was indicted on second- and third-degree assault charges in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He pleaded not guilty and was released without bail.
The two injured teen-agers, Kin Chan, 14, and Juan Pena, 15, were charged in Family Court with throwing rocks onto the East River Drive near East Houston Street, as were two other teen-agers, Bradley Greene, 14, and Antonio Seda, 15.
Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan District Attorney, said Officer Moore, who was placed on modified duty last week, was driving to work at the Ninth Precinct station house on March 17 when, he said, his car was struck with a large rock or a cobblestone, causing him to veer into a fence.
Lawyers for the teen-agers say some of them were just tossing pebbles over the fence onto the roadway.
Mr. Morgenthau said Officer Moore drew his gun and chased the teen-agers into a park between the drive and the East River. When the officer caught Mr. Chan, Mr. Morgenthau said, he struck him on the head with his gun and kicked him in the ribs after ordering him to kneel.
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1,987 | Efforts to Censor Materials Up 20% in '86, Study Says | LEAD: Attempts to censor materials in public schools increased by 20 percent last year, including textbook fights in Tennessee and Alabama that were reversed on appeal this week, according to a study released today.
LEAD: Attempts to censor materials in public schools increased by 20 percent last year, including textbook fights in Tennessee and Alabama that were reversed on appeal this week, according to a study released today.
Attempts to censor materials in public schools increased by 20 percent last year, including textbook fights in Tennessee and Alabama that were reversed on appeal this week, according to a study released today.
The 75-page report, ''Attacks on Freedom to Learn,'' was complied by People for the American Way, a Washington-based group that opposes censorship. It indicated that 153 attempts to censor books or other materials in schools occurred last year, as against 130 in 1985.
Fifty incidents occurred each in the West and Midwest, the report said, while 38 were in the South and 15 were in the North. The study was primarily based on newspaper clippings of local incidents.
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1,987 | Classical Music | LEAD: July 4 inspires any orchestra or festival worth its (stars and) stripes into an extravanganza of Americana, usually with fireworks obbligato. This Saturday, there will be July 4 programs at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.; at Caramoor in Katonah, N.Y.; in Princeton with the New Jersey Symphony Summer Pops; at the Summer of Music on the Hudson in Tarrytown, N.J., and at the Charles Ives Center for the Arts in Danbury,
LEAD: July 4 inspires any orchestra or festival worth its (stars and) stripes into an extravanganza of Americana, usually with fireworks obbligato. This Saturday, there will be July 4 programs at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.; at Caramoor in Katonah, N.Y.; in Princeton with the New Jersey Symphony Summer Pops; at the Summer of Music on the Hudson in Tarrytown, N.J., and at the Charles Ives Center for the Arts in Danbury,
July 4 inspires any orchestra or festival worth its (stars and) stripes into an extravanganza of Americana, usually with fireworks obbligato. This Saturday, there will be July 4 programs at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.; at Caramoor in Katonah, N.Y.; in Princeton with the New Jersey Symphony Summer Pops; at the Summer of Music on the Hudson in Tarrytown, N.J., and at the Charles Ives Center for the Arts in Danbury, Conn.
But to this taste, on paper at least, the most interesting July 4 program in the greater New York area is being offered by the Waterloo Festival at Waterloo Village in Stanhope, N.J., at 8:30. Under the direction of Samuel Lipman and Gerard Schwarz, the Waterloo Festival has shown a commendable focus, and its particular emphasis fits neatly with patriotic celebrations of this sort.
The festival concentrates on neglected American classical music, especially that composed from the 1920's through the 1950's. Saturday night, the warhorse is George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, played by Leonard Pennario with Mr. Schwarz conducting the festival orchestra. Flanking the Gershwin will be Howard Hanson's ''Lament for Beowulf'' (1925) and Ernest Bloch's massive ''America, an Epic Rhapsody,'' which won a nationwide Musical America contest in 1928 and ends with what its composer hoped would become our new national anthem.
Hardly your usual July 4 potpourri of musical flag-waving, and more power to Waterloo for that.
CRITICS' CHOICES
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1,991 | Economic Indicators Up by 0.1% | The Government's main economic forecasting index edged up one-tenth of 1 percent in December, the first increase in six months and a sign, many analysts said, that the economy may have begun to stabilize after falling into recession during the latter half of 1990.
The report follows similar recent data on gross national product, incomes, unemployment insurance claims and orders for durable goods, all of which were less negative than many had feared. It tended to support the widely held belief that the recession would be shorter and milder than the 11-month, 2.2 percent average decline posted by the other eight postwar contractions. White House Encouraged
The White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, said the Administration was encouraged by today's compilation of the index of leading indicators. But private economists cautioned that even a fully arrested downturn does not imply prompt economic revival. Some also noted that most of the data available so far cover periods before fighting started in the Middle East in mid-January and that polling and other evidence over the past week suggests a further sharp reduction in consumer confidence.
The Government's main economic forecasting index edged up one-tenth of 1 percent in December, the first increase in six months and a sign, many analysts said, that the economy may have begun to stabilize after falling into recession during the latter half of 1990.
The report follows similar recent data on gross national product, incomes, unemployment insurance claims and orders for durable goods, all of which were less negative than many had feared. It tended to support the widely held belief that the recession would be shorter and milder than the 11-month, 2.2 percent average decline posted by the other eight postwar contractions. White House Encouraged
The White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, said the Administration was encouraged by today's compilation of the index of leading indicators. But private economists cautioned that even a fully arrested downturn does not imply prompt economic revival. Some also noted that most of the data available so far cover periods before fighting started in the Middle East in mid-January and that polling and other evidence over the past week suggests a further sharp reduction in consumer confidence.
"I would not blow the whistle just yet" to begin chronicling recovery, said Frederick W. Sturm, an economist for Fuji Securities in Chicago. He said steadiness in the leading index after four straight sizable declines provided only a bit of confidence in his view that national output would be less punishing in coming months than had been widely feared. Worst May Be Over
Pittsburgh National Bank's Stuart G. Hoffman said the steepest part of the decline might be past but that today's report did not mean the low point was necessarily in sight. "I don't think it signals an early end to the recession," he said.
Credit market participants appeared to take the same view and generally shrugged off the report. But the stock market advanced strongly, in part on expectations of economic improvement, traders said. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 50.50 points, to 2,713.12, its highest level since August.
Six of the 11 components of the index contributed to the December increase, paced by higher stock prices and a longer factory workweek. The others were higher contracts and orders for new plant and equipment, a rise in the University of Michigan's index of consumer expectations, a decline in average weekly initial claims for state unemployment insurance and a rise in unfilled orders at factories producing durable goods.
Five components had a negative effect on the index: lower factory orders for consumer goods, a drop in building permits, speedier deliveries by suppliers, lower prices for materials particularly sensitive to the business cycle and a decline in the M-2 money supply.
"The leading indicators report for December contnued to confirm the weak state of the economy, even though it registered an uptick," said Marilyn Schaja, an economist at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
Today's report also showed that the Department's index of coincident indicators, a gauge of current economic activity, edged down one-tenth of 1 percent after three straight pronounced declines. The index of lagging indicators, whose components tend to move later than the economy, jumped 1.4 percent, the biggest increase since September 1987. Alternative Indicator
The ratio of the coincident index to the lagging index, which is regarded as an alternative predictor, fell 1.5 percent.
A private forecasting index compiled by Safian Investment Research also fell last month. The decline was six-tenths of 1 percent, to 191.3, with seven components up, 14 down and two unchanged.
On the other hand, Jesup & Lamont's macroeconomic index was calculated at minus 110, somewhat improved from the minus 118 posted in November. Business expansion is due in the second half of the year, but "it's not yet in sight," said the firm's David B. Bostian, whose index will not signal recovery until it moves up to at least minus 50. More Optimistic View
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Economic Research reported that its experimental index of leading indicators pointed to economic growth, albeit modest, in both the first and second quarters of this year. This is considerably more optimistic than the conventional view that gross national product will shrink significantly in the January-March period and will not turn up until midyear or later.
The research bureau, whose dating committee is the official arbiter of recession, also disclosed that its experimental recession index put the probability that the economy would be in recession six months from now -- in June -- at just 9 percent, down from 14 percent last month.
Revising earlier data, all to show slight improvements, the Commerce Department said its leading index fell 1.1 percent in November instead of 1.2 and and fell in October by 1.2 percent instead of 1.3. July was revised to show no change instead of down one-tenth of 1 percent.
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1,987 | As U.S. Air Quality Deadline Looms, Cities Are Giving Up Hope of Solution | LEAD: A delegation of officials from Houston recently visited the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee M. Thomas, and brought a disturbing message: The city had done everything it was told to do to meet the federally mandated standard for ozone, but was not even close to doing so.
LEAD: A delegation of officials from Houston recently visited the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee M. Thomas, and brought a disturbing message: The city had done everything it was told to do to meet the federally mandated standard for ozone, but was not even close to doing so.
A delegation of officials from Houston recently visited the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee M. Thomas, and brought a disturbing message: The city had done everything it was told to do to meet the federally mandated standard for ozone, but was not even close to doing so.
''We have been very diligent,'' Dallas Evans, chief of the Houston Air Quality Control Bureau, said in a recent interview. ''We have done everything E.P.A. told us to do to control the sources of ozone, but we are not going to get there. Not this year, not next year or maybe ever.''
Houston is one of about 70 cities, including New York, that the environmental agency says will be unable to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for reducing ozone, a gas that is a major component of smog and a cause of respiratory problems. Mr. Thomas has served notice that, unless Congress amends the 1970 Clean Air Act, he will have to ban the construction of large new sources of the pollution, such as power plants, refineries and industrial dry cleaners, in those cities that cannot meet the deadline. Situation in New York
Los Angeles is often cited as the city that must go the farthest to meet the standard for ozone, which is formed by a chemical reaction of hydrocarbons and volatile organic chemicals with sunlight. Southern California may not be able to reach the target until sometime in the next century.
But ''New York City will not be much faster than Los Angeles,'' said Conrad Simon, director of air and waste management for the E.P.A. regional office in New York.
New York is also among about 70 cities that will not meet a Dec. 31 deadline for lowering carbon monoxide pollution, mostly from motor vehicles. Earlier this month, Mayor Koch said he would support $10-a-day fees on vehicles entering the southern part of Manhattan in an effort to reduce pollution.
Harvey M. Schultz, the city's Environmental Protection Commissioner said that without means to reduce the number of vehicles moving through Manhattan, ''it will be almost impossible to achieve compliance with carbon monoxide and ozone standards.''
Unlike Houston, New York has not done all that it could to reduce ozone pollution, Mr. Simon said. It has not, for example, installed devices to recover gasoline vapors at service stations, or regulated commercial solvents or paint fumes. But ''the most intractable problem'' for New York, he said, was air pollution coming from states upwind of the city.
Mr. Simon added that part of the problem is that the E.P.A. ''may not have done a proper job of enforcing the rules.'' Rules Tightened 10 Years Ago
Critics of the agency contend that it has not provided the leadership it once did in seeking ways to reduce pollution and that industrial polluters have used E.P.A. inaction to avoid spending money on pollution controls.
It has been 17 years since the Clean Air Act was passed and 10 years since the law was substantially amended and tightened. But the nation is still far from achieving the goals of the act.
In addition to the problems of ozone and carbon monoxide pollution, acid rain continues to fall, destroying life in some freshwater lakes, eroding buildings and, according to some research, contributing to forest and crop damage and threatening human health. Toxic air pollutants that can cause cancer or other serious illness still seep from factory smokestacks and vents.
There is, however, agreement among Government and state regulators and environmentalists that substantial progress has been made in cleaning up the nation's air. Certainly there are no longer cities whose skies at midday are dark from pollution nor cities suffering from episodes of illness and death caused by foul air, as there were before the Clean Air Act was adopted.
In a recent report on air quality trends, the E.P.A. found that the nation had made progress in the 10 years from 1976 through 1985, in some cases dramatic progress, in reducing the air pollutants specifically cited by Congress when it adopted the act. Levels of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, soot and dust, lead and even ozone have all declined. 'Serious' Health Threat
Nonetheless, the report also found that ''air pollution still remains a serious public health threat in many areas of the country.''
Far-reaching amendments to the Clean Air Act, recently introduced in the House and Senate, are now the focus of an intensifying debate over why the nation has not done a better job of cleaning up its air and what, if any, new legislative and regulatory action is needed.
The amendments would extend the deadlines for achieving the ozone standards while requiring more rigorous efforts to do so, impose requirements on power plants to reduce the pollution that produces acid rain and authorize the E.P.A. to take swifter action to reduce toxic air pollution.
But because of the prospect of the Government banning new sources of pollution in the cities facing the Dec. 31 deadline, the ozone issue is at the center of the debate at the moment.
''I wouldn't say anything dramatic has gone wrong,'' said Mr. Thomas, the E.P.A. Administrator, when asked why so many cities would fail to meet the ozone deadline. ''It's just that the basis we had for establishing a target date for meeting the standards has proved faulty.'' Unforeseen Problems
In some cities, he said, the population has grown more rapidly than expected. Also, the kind of controls proposed for reducing pollution were not as efficient as anticipated, he said, and the problem of pollution being transported long distances through the air had not been anticipated.
''It's a tougher problem than we thought,'' Mr. Thomas said.
But Richard E. Ayres, chairman of the National Clean Air Coalition, an alliance of environmental, public health, consumer and labor groups, faulted the agency for the failure of cities like New York to meet the ozone standard. ''The E.P.A. is giving no leadership,'' he said.
Mr. Ayres contended that the act was working better ''when the E.P.A. was serious about enforcing it.''
His criticisms were echoed by S. William Becker, executive director of the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Officers. ''We don't believe E.P.A. has provided state and local governments with the tools essential to clean up the air,'' he said. Guidance for States and Cities
Mr. Becker added that if the Federal agency had continued to provide states and cities with detailed guidance on how to reduce air pollution as it did in the 1970's, at least 50 cities that are now expected to miss the deadline would be able to comply with the law.
Mr. Thomas responded, ''It is totally nonproductive to put the blame on E.P.A. or state and local officials or Congress for the fact we are not meeting the ozone standard.'' He said that his agency had provided plenty of guidance to the states.
He said he opposed the amendments introduced in Congress to deal with ozone because they were too ''prescriptive'' about what should be done. Since conditions vary from city to city, he said, each requires different solutions.
John Quarles, a former deputy director of the E.P.A. who is now chairman of the clean air project of the National Environmental Development Association, a coalition of large companies and some building trade unions, also believes that ''the fundamental structure of the Clean Air Act is sound'' and that, with some exceptions, industry has been able to absorb the costs of pollution control ''without disruptive effects.''
He said the proposed amendments ''are really far more burdensome than they are worth.''
But Senator George Mitchell, the Maine Democrat who introduced the amendments, said changes in the law were necessary because ''this is a public health problem of the first magnitude,'' and people are becoming ''impatient at the slow pace with which E.P.A. is using its authority.''
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1,995 | UPBEAT ESTIMATES MAY GIVE LEEWAY FOR BUDGET DEAL | With a new deadline for Congressional action just five days away, lawmakers learned today that they would have more than $100 billion of extra money to help balance the budget because of new, more optimistic estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.
Congressional aides said the budget office had re-estimated the savings that would result from the Republican plan to balance the budget, which President Clinton vetoed last week. The original estimate showed savings of $1.13 trillion over seven years.
With a new deadline for Congressional action just five days away, lawmakers learned today that they would have more than $100 billion of extra money to help balance the budget because of new, more optimistic estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.
Congressional aides said the budget office had re-estimated the savings that would result from the Republican plan to balance the budget, which President Clinton vetoed last week. The original estimate showed savings of $1.13 trillion over seven years.
The new estimate shows that the bill "would have achieved more than $100 billion of additional savings, beyond what is required to reach balance," a Senate Republican aide said tonight. The estimate apparently assumes that inflation will be lower and economic growth a bit higher than in earlier predictions by the budget office.
The revised figures, to be presented to budget negotiators on Tuesday, could give them some new leeway. In theory, at least, the budget could still be balanced by 2002 if the cuts in the projected growth of Medicare and Medicaid were somewhat smaller, and education spending was somewhat higher, than the Republicans have proposed.
On Medicare, at least, the Republicans are contending that they are already quite close to the President's position, even though the Democrats cite big differences in the rival proposals.
The budget flexibility offered by the new figures was addressed by Representative John R. Kasich, the Ohio Republican who heads the Budget Committee, on the CBS News program "Face the Nation." "The economy's gotten a little bit better," Mr. Kasich said. "We're going to have a few extra dollars. And because of that, we'll be able to make some improvements in the plan that we currently have."
But even with the new savings identified by the Congressional Budget Office, Congress and the White House remain hundreds of billions of dollars apart. Even sharper disagreements remain on questions that do not lend themselves to splitting the difference, like whether the Federal Government should continue to guarantee health coverage under Medicaid to all poor Americans.
A temporary spending bill passed after last month's Government shutdown expires on Friday. Although few expect an overall settlement by then, the looming deadline is expected to add some urgency to the budget talks, which have limped along for the last two weeks.
President Clinton called Congress's Republican leaders, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Bob Dole, from Air Force One today to discuss the negotations. Both sides expressed optimism after the talks, and an Administration official said the Republicans had proposed a face-to-face meeting with the President on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters later, Mr. Dole said: "We don't want to shut down the Government. We want to get it done."
However, both sides continued to use the impending deadline to jockey for political advantage. Speaking in Arkansas before returning to Washington, Mr. Clinton said the Republicans might try again to use the threat of a Government shutdown to force him to agree to their proposals.
"We ought to be able to agree on one thing: Nobody -- nobody -- should threaten to shut the Government down right before Christmas," Mr. Clinton said.
The Republican National Committee chairman, Haley Barbour, counterattacked on "Face the Nation," saying, "If the Government closes, it's going to be because Bill Clinton chooses for the Government to be closed."
The new Congressional Budget Office figures also do not resolve a deeper disagreement over the economic assumptions to be built into the projections of spending and revenue at the heart of the Republican's seven-year plan.
The Republicans assert that the Administration's new seven-year budget, which it released last week, is off by at least $400 billion because it relies on overly optimistic estimates compiled by the White House's Office of Management and Budget.
At the same time, Republicans have begun to argue that their differences with the White House on Medicare, the most politically explosive of the issues that divide them, have been overstated by the blizzard of numbers that have surrounded the budget talks. They now maintain that negotiators could move closer to compromise by focusing on the level of spending rather than the magnitude of proposed savings.
Democrats want to discuss the amounts to be saved, or cut, from Federal spending in the next seven years. They argue that this is the best way to describe how changes in programs like Medicare would affect people.
By contrast, Republicans want to emphasize what would actually be spent. To do otherwise, they say, is to play politics with numbers.
In Medicare, as in many other programs, spending would continue to increase from year to year under both the White House and the Republican proposals, but the rate of growth would be reduced.
Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Barbour say Mr. Clinton has exaggerated the differences between the two parties on Medicare. But White House officials counter that the Republicans are trying to undo the political damage they have inflicted on themselves with unpopular proposals to redesign Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
In fact, the levels of spending proposed by Mr. Clinton and by the Republicans are much closer than the amounts of their proposed savings. The Congressional Budget Office says Medicare spending would total $1.65 trillion in the next seven years under the Republican plan, while the Clinton Administration says spending would total $1.68 trillion under its plan. That is a difference of $30 billion, or less than 2 percent.
The two sides use very different projections of what Medicare spending would be in the next seven years if the current law is not changed, and those projections are the benchmarks from which proposed savings are measured.
Last week, as in June, Mr. Clinton said he wanted to cut projected spending on Medicare by $124 billion, or 6.6 percent, in the next seven years, while the Republicans want to cut $270 billion, or 14.4 percent. The Republicans, Mr. Clinton said, would turn Medicare into "a second-class system."
But Mr. Barbour, who has immersed himself in the details of domestic policy more deeply than his recent predecessors, said in an interview: "In actuality, there is only a $30 billion difference between what we spend and what the Democrats want to spend over the next seven years. Democrats are deliberately trying to exaggerate the differences to deceive people so people think the Republicans are making massive cuts in Medicare spending. Otherwise, how could Clinton claim our proposal would destroy Medicare?"
Mr. Gingrich went further, saying the Democrats' concentration on the contrast between $270 billion and $124 billion showed "the systematic mendacity of our opponents."
The White House disagrees. Lawrence J. Haas, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, said: "Our focus is on how these proposals affect average Americans. Looking at aggregate numbers masks the very real effects that a $270 billion cut in Medicare over seven years will have. We are interested in the human impact. We think the human impact will be profound and, in many respects, devastating."
For some Democrats in Congress, even the President's proposals go too far. Many Democrats voted for proposals to limit Medicare savings to $90 billion over seven years. Ellen C. Dadisman, a spokeswoman for Representative Sam M. Gibbons of Florida, the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for Medicare legislation, said that he would "prefer to stay at $90 billion."
While the Republicans propose to spend less than Mr. Clinton, the effect of their proposals is magnified by the fact that they have a different starting point. The Republicans use estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, while Mr. Clinton uses projections by the Office of Management and Budget.
The Congressional agency says that, under current law, Medicare and many other programs will grow more rapidly than the White House budget office expects. These different projections, when stretched to cover seven years, add up to large amounts of money. But by proposing deeper cuts from a higher estimated starting point, the Republicans end up with a plan that would spend just 2 percent less over seven years than Mr. Clinton's plan would.
Mr. Kasich said last week that in comparing the Republican and Democratic proposals, "we must look at the bottom line: how much do they plan to spend on Medicare, and how much do we plan to spend?"
But Administration officials frame their Medicare proposals in terms of saving, not spending. "We are committed to a specific amount of savings," said Chris Jennings, a White House aide. "You should focus on the savings numbers, not the outlays."
Even if the two parties could agree on Medicare numbers, they still have major philosophical disagreements over the direction of the program.
The dispute over Medicare illustrates the confusion that can occur when different agencies insist on using different starting points, or baselines, to assess proposals. "We tear our hair out over multiple baselines," Mr. Jennings said.
The first director of the Congressional Budget Office, Alice M. Rivlin, established the agency as an authoritative, nonpartisan source of information on Federal spending and the economy. Congress is required by law to use many of its estimates. But now, as director of President Clinton's budget office, Ms. Rivlin has repeatedly challenged the forecasts and estimates of the Congressional agency she once headed.
Congressional Democrats have been even more critical of the agency. The Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, said, "Today, I think, it's a Republican-orchestrated, Republican-run, Republican-dominated organization that can't be relied upon as a bipartisan resource any longer."
Mark G. Desautels, a spokesman for the Congressional Budget Office, said that June E. O'Neill, the office's director, rejected Senator Daschle's criticism and said that she had "conducted herself in a thoroughly nonpartisan manner" since taking office in March.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said, "No amount of manipulation of the figures can disguise the fundamental differences between the President's priorities and those of the Republicans."
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1,993 | Historic Hudson Valley Sites in a Festive Mood | THE holidays are usually happy times for children, and a number of events through the end of the year have been designed with youngsters in mind.
Under the auspices of Historic Hudson Valley, a holiday party takes place today from 5 until 9 P.M. at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson. "Eat, drink and sing your way through a dignified late 19th-century family Christmas and a raucous, tavern-centered Twelfth Night celebration" is the invitation proffered by Darcy Lassek of Historic Hudson Valley. For more details, call 631-8200.
THE holidays are usually happy times for children, and a number of events through the end of the year have been designed with youngsters in mind.
Under the auspices of Historic Hudson Valley, a holiday party takes place today from 5 until 9 P.M. at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson. "Eat, drink and sing your way through a dignified late 19th-century family Christmas and a raucous, tavern-centered Twelfth Night celebration" is the invitation proffered by Darcy Lassek of Historic Hudson Valley. For more details, call 631-8200.
Washington Irving is "coming back" to his restored home at Sunnyside in Tarrytown today from 5 until about 9 P.M., and costumed "family members" will be distributing hot cider and cookies and holding a festive early evening of candlelight tours and old-time caroling. (Advance reservations are sold out.)
Turning to more specifically musical matters, early risers this morning can enjoy a 10 o'clock Festival of Lessons and Carols at Christ's Church in Rye. Patterned after the tradition established many years ago at King's College in Cambridge, England, the Boys, Girls and Adult Choirs, with professional lead singers, will be fusing ancient and modern carols with Bible readings of the Christmas story. No tickets are required, but donations will be accepted.
Another edition of the festival (each music director is free to make his or her own selection of carols and readings) will be celebrated in White Plains today at 4 by the Choir of Grace Episcopal Church, under the direction of the organist, Timothy Lewis, and with the assistance of the Downtown Music Brass Quintet. There is no formal admission charge, but a $10 donation is suggested.
Hanukkah and Christmas are just two of the many holidays that occur around the time of the winter solstice. Another festival is Kwanzaa, the African-inspired harvest festival created in 1968 and now observed by many Americans; it starts Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 1. Singers, drummers, dancers and the Nigerian storyteller Chinedu Okye will participate in a Kwanzaa Celebration today at 2 P.M. at the Paramount Center in Peekskill. The information number is 739-2333.
Richard Kapp conducts the Philharmonia Virtuosi in the yearly Family Concert at the Performing Arts Center at the State University of New York at Purchase. The concert, today at 3 P.M., includes Baroque holiday favorites by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. After intermission the Westchester vocal ensemble "Serious Fun" sparks a a sing-along of carols and other seasonal tunes. Call 693-5595 or 251-6200 for more information.
The Westchester Ballet is staging the "Nutcracker" as the company has done for more than 50 years now, "in a full-scale production with a cast of 80 dancers in full costumes and sets." Four performances are scheduled at Marymount College in Tarrytown: at 4:30 and 7:30 P.M. today and 2 and 5 P.M. next Sunday afternoon. Call 941-4532 for more information.
Tomorrow evening at the Westchester Broadway Theater in Elmsford, the soprano Mary Mancini, the accordion virtuoso Mario Tacca and 50 members of the New York Choral Society will be projecting "The Sounds of Christmas." Dinner starts at 6, the show at 8 P.M. The regular production of "City of Angels" will not be offered through Dec. 27 while the theater presents "A Christmas Carol," the classic Dickens story offered in a production combining original music with classical carols. For times and seating details, call 592-2222.
The Soundview Brass Quintet plays Albinoni's "St. Mark" Sonata, Brahms's setting of "Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming" and other pieces appropriate to the season on Wednesday at Grace Episcopal Church in White Plains. The members of this popular Westchester ensemble are Robert Arthurs and Ivan Miller (trumpet), Karen Froehlich (French horn), Andrew Rodgers (tuba) and Adina Salmansohn (trombone). The concert, part of the Downtown Music at Grace series, begins at 12:35 P.M.
For a good many years now, the Paper Bag Players have spent the week between Christmas and New Year's entertaining youngsters at the Emelin Theater in Mamaroneck with their innovative fusions of musical and theatrical whimsy. This year the troupe returns with a new production called "Rain or Shine," featuring "adventure stories, music, dance and audience participation dealing with the changing seasons, the rain forest, conservation and respect for animals."
That covers a lot of territory, but the Paper Baggers have promised to encompass all those important subjects in "a lively, colorful and thoughtful fantasy," recommended for children 4 through 9. Performances are at 11:30 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. daily from next Sunday through Dec. 30.
Other children's shows brightening the New Year at the Emelin include an hour of mime and motion with Trent Arterberry on Jan. 2, a production of E. B. White's celebrated story of "Charlotte's Web" on Jan. 8 and on Jan. 15, "Ladders to the Sky," an entertainment by the Shoestring Players based on folk tales from around the world. Show times on each of those days are 11 A.M. and 2 P.M. For reservations, call the box office at 698-0098.
Hans Christian Andersen's popular winter classic "The Snow Queen" is being presented by the Hudson Vagabond Puppets at Tarrytown Music Hall on Dec. 28 at 2 P.M. A 14-foot-high monarch, whose icy realm is populated by a green-thumbed witch, a talking reindeer and a fierce snow monster are all part of the show, as is the lively music of Corelli. The event will be repeated Dec. 29 at the same time at the Cultural Arts Center of Rockland Community College in Suffern. Call 359-1144 for more information. MUSIC
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1,987 | H.F. Seeks Thrift Units | LEAD: H.F. Holdings Inc., a San Francisco company headed by Preston Martin, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board, said today that it had been chosen by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation to negotiate to acquire two failed California thrift institutions.
LEAD: H.F. Holdings Inc., a San Francisco company headed by Preston Martin, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board, said today that it had been chosen by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation to negotiate to acquire two failed California thrift institutions.
H.F. Holdings Inc., a San Francisco company headed by Preston Martin, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board, said today that it had been chosen by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation to negotiate to acquire two failed California thrift institutions.
The two failed thrift units are the Bell Savings and Loan Association of San Mateo and the Southern California Savings and Loan Association of Beverly Hills. Both acquisitions would be assisted by the F.S.L.I.C.
The acquisitions would add substantial assets to H.F. Holdings, which is also backed by William E. Simon, the former Treasury Secretary. The company, formed last year to acquire savings and loans, already owns the Honolulu Federal Savings and Loan Association, with assets of about $1.7 billion.
Bell Savings has assets of about $1.4 billion, and the Beverly Hills thrift unit has about $1.2 billion, Mr. Martin said.
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1,995 | Americans Too Tall or Short For Russian Space Program | Too tall, too small, too heavy, too chesty -- one by one, America's astronauts are dropping out of the international space scene. They may have the right stuff, but they are the wrong size.
In the last month, two NASA astronauts have been disqualified from training for long stays aboard the Russian space station Mir. One was two inches too tall, the other one and one-half inches too short.
Too tall, too small, too heavy, too chesty -- one by one, America's astronauts are dropping out of the international space scene. They may have the right stuff, but they are the wrong size.
In the last month, two NASA astronauts have been disqualified from training for long stays aboard the Russian space station Mir. One was two inches too tall, the other one and one-half inches too short.
It gets worse. After three years of space cooperation between the United States and Russia, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has just learned that only about half of its 88 astronauts can meet Russian size requirements for Soyuz spacecraft, the cramped ships that ferry astronauts aloft and serve as Mir's emergency escape craft.
Astronauts must be 5 feet 4 1/2 inches to 6 feet tall, with seated height no more than 37 inches; weigh no more than 187 pounds; and, for Soyuz spacesuits, have chests no smaller than 38 inches and no larger than 44 inches.
Of the currently qualified astronauts, up to two-thirds are training for space shuttle flights and are thus ineligible for Mir duty. Not all of the remaining 15 or so are eager to move to Russia for the required year of training and then spend a minimum four months aboard the aging space station.
"Now you take who fits, and who's available, and who wants to go that's available, and who can speak Russian and do all this, and the list is very short," says David Leestma, director of flight crew operations at NASA. "It's clearly a challenge."
The Soyuz capsules pose a potentially more troublesome problem for the future. When the planned international space station starts taking in permanent residents, perhaps in just two and a half years, the capsules will not only see duty as "lifeboats" but will also carry all crews up and back.
So NASA may not have enough Russian-speaking, ideally sized astronauts for the international space station over the next five years.
The Russians have been reluctant, so far, to modify the Soyuz to accommodate safely a greater variety of American shapes.
"People are just now beginning to understand the magnitude of the problem," Mr. Leestma said.
Norman Thagard, the first American astronaut on Mir, was the perfect size -- 5 foot 9 and 156 pounds, at least when he arrived aboard a Soyuz in March. He lost 17 1/2 pounds in the next four months.
The four other NASA astronauts scheduled to serve aboard Mir are to arrive and depart aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, but would have to use the attached Soyuz for an emergency getaway.
On Saturday, the Atlantis is scheduled for launching, and three days later it is to dock with the Russian station.
NASA says that because of miscommunication, it received the Soyuz size criteria only last month. Their origins are obvious enough: Russian astronauts sit curled in an almost fetal position in the bell-shaped Soyuz capsules, with knees bent toward their chests. The capsules parachute to Earth, typically in Kazakhstan, and the jarring impact can injure an oversized or undersized astronaut's back -- or worse.
The criteria could have come from the early days of the United States space program. The original seven astronauts who flew the little Mercury capsules all stood 5 foot 7 to 5 foot 11 and weighed 150 to 185 pounds.
It is no wonder that Russian astronauts still look so much alike.
"Soyuz is Spam-in-the-can, you know," Mr. Leestma says. "It's Mercury and Gemini all over again. It has never progressed any further. It works very well for them; it doesn't do much for tall Americans."
NASA still has height limits for astronauts, but thanks to the comparatively roomy space shuttles, the range is greater than before -- from 4 feet 10 1/2 inches to 6 feet 4.
Scott Parazynski, a 6 foot 2 astronaut, was the first to be yanked from the Russian program. He returned to the United States in mid-October after training four months outside Moscow.
NASA knew that Mr. Parazynski was a little tall but had hoped the Russians would modify a Soyuz for him, said Frank Culbertson, acting director of the shuttle-Mir program at NASA.
Wendy Lawrence, a 5 foot 3 astronaut, was dropped next. She had not yet moved to Russia but was immersed in language study. Her rejection came as a surprise; NASA says it had been given the wrong minimum height.
The Russians are supposed to haul up the first space station component in November 1997, with Russian and American astronauts taking up permanent residence the next spring. NASA, eager to begin training soon, hopes the Russians will soon agree to modify the Soyuz by 1998. If not, NASA may have to start recruiting "right size" astronauts.
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1,989 | Bruins Choose Milbury | LEAD: The Boston Bruins yesterday named Mike Milbury, a combative Bruins defenseman from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's, as the 18th coach in their 65-year-history. Milbury, a native Bostonian who was also named assistant general manager, succeeds Terry O'Reilly, who resigned to devote more time to his family.
LEAD: The Boston Bruins yesterday named Mike Milbury, a combative Bruins defenseman from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's, as the 18th coach in their 65-year-history. Milbury, a native Bostonian who was also named assistant general manager, succeeds Terry O'Reilly, who resigned to devote more time to his family.
The Boston Bruins yesterday named Mike Milbury, a combative Bruins defenseman from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's, as the 18th coach in their 65-year-history. Milbury, a native Bostonian who was also named assistant general manager, succeeds Terry O'Reilly, who resigned to devote more time to his family.
Milbury, 36 years old, Boston's sixth coach in the last 10 years, has been coach and general manager of the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League, a Boston farm team, for the last two years.
As a player, Milbury, 6 feet 1 inch and 200 pounds, amassed 1,552 minutes in penalties, second only to O'Reilly's club record 2,095. He had 49 goals and 189 assists in 754 regular-season games. In 111 playoff games, he was credited with 4 goals, 24 assists and 219 penalty minutes.
Harry Sinden, the Bruins' president and general manager, also announced the promotion of Tom Johnson from assistant general manager to vice president.(AP) SPORTS PEOPLE: HOCKEY
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1,987 | What Kind Of Pennant Races Do You Expect? | LEAD: It is the beginning of August and there are still 15 teams with a reasonably good shot at capturing a division title. The six-team race in the American League West will probably whittle down to three or four by September. The A's have the most all-round talent, the Royals have the best pitching and the Twins have the most favorable schedule.
LEAD: It is the beginning of August and there are still 15 teams with a reasonably good shot at capturing a division title. The six-team race in the American League West will probably whittle down to three or four by September. The A's have the most all-round talent, the Royals have the best pitching and the Twins have the most favorable schedule.
It is the beginning of August and there are still 15 teams with a reasonably good shot at capturing a division title. The six-team race in the American League West will probably whittle down to three or four by September. The A's have the most all-round talent, the Royals have the best pitching and the Twins have the most favorable schedule. These teams should be battling until the final week.
Since everyone in the American League East has a decent offense, pitching will be the deciding factor. That is why the Yankees and the Tigers will be the sole contenders at season's end. The Yankees need Willie Randolph to return to the lineup quickly and effectively in order to hold off Detroit.
To challenge the speedy Cardinals, the Mets must win most of their remaining six games against St. Louis. If they can do that, and pitch consistently for the rest of the year, then the season-ending Mets-Cards series might make the postseason anticlimactic. I expect the surprising Expos to run out of gas in the next month.
San Francisco has improved its pitching with two recent trades (acquiring Dave Dravecky, Craig Lefferts, and Don Robinson) and could be the National League West champions if the Reds don't take charge. Both the Astros and the Dodgers have too much pitching to be counted out. KOSTYA KENNEDY Great Neck, L.I.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
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1,989 | Review/Comedy; 2 Who Spoof Worlds Old and New | LEAD: What might Kafka's ''Metamorphosis'' sound like if it were turned into a musical comedy by Irving Berlin? How about ''Fun With Dick and Jane'' as a psychological puzzle devised by Stephen Sondheim? And what sort of show-stopper might John Kander and Fred Ebb create for Helen of Troy were they to tackle a musical version of the '
LEAD: What might Kafka's ''Metamorphosis'' sound like if it were turned into a musical comedy by Irving Berlin? How about ''Fun With Dick and Jane'' as a psychological puzzle devised by Stephen Sondheim? And what sort of show-stopper might John Kander and Fred Ebb create for Helen of Troy were they to tackle a musical version of the '
What might Kafka's ''Metamorphosis'' sound like if it were turned into a musical comedy by Irving Berlin? How about ''Fun With Dick and Jane'' as a psychological puzzle devised by Stephen Sondheim? And what sort of show-stopper might John Kander and Fred Ebb create for Helen of Troy were they to tackle a musical version of the ''Iliad''?
These three musical-comedy fantasies are the high points of an evening of playlets and songs by the talented musical-comedy team of Linda Wallem and Peter Tolan. Their show, presented by Manhattan Punch Line at the Judith Anderson Theater (422 West 42d Street), is an ambitious mixture of two-character playlets and musical-comedy spoof. Although the playlets are uneven, three of their four musical-comedy parodies hit the bull's-eye.
The only one that misses, ''Shepard and Sullivan,'' tries to graft a clumsy imitation of Sam Shepard's dialogue onto a twittery Gilbert-and-Sullivan-style musical format, but even as comedy the idioms don't mesh. Mr. Tolan's spoofs of Broadway composers, however, are acutely accurate in their musical detail as well as lyrically ingenious, and Ms. Wallem, a talented vocal mimic with an antic gleam in her eye, delivers them with a confident mastery of generic caricature.
Although the duo's nonmusical material isn't as focused, in those moments when they go beyond revue-sketch stereotypes to create fuller characters, the comedy begins to bite. In ''First Date,'' the evening's opening sketch, Mr. Tolan's portrayal of a sanctimonious nerd querying a blind date about her medical history within minutes of their meeting is creepily amusing. ''Agents Sketch,'' in which Ms. Wallem plays a naive 15-year-old pop star desperate to do something ''meaningful,'' carries an undertone of genuine pathos.
''Agents Sketch'' and ''Ethics Sketch,'' in which a duplicitous personnel director (Ms. Wallem) administers a corporate ethics test laden with booby traps to a prospective employee may not cut as deeply as the best Nichols and May, but both are worthy of ''Saturday Night Live.''
Ms. Wallem and Mr. Tolan perform Tuesdays through Sundays through March 26.
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1,989 | Liggett Group Inc reports earnings for Qtr to March 31 | LEAD:
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3* Liggett Group Inc (NYSE)
Qtr to March 31
1989
1988
Sales
121,556,000
112,373,000
Net inc
4,859,000
5,341,000
Share earns
Yr sales
500,969,000
531,891,000
Net inc
30,240,000
30,688,000
Share earns
1.26
1.40
Shares outst
24,000,000
21,923,497
LEAD:
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3* Liggett Group Inc (NYSE)
Qtr to March 31
1989
1988
Sales
121,556,000
112,373,000
Net inc
4,859,000
5,341,000
Share earns
Yr sales
500,969,000
531,891,000
Net inc
30,240,000
30,688,000
Share earns
1.26
1.40
Shares outst
24,000,000
21,923,497
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3* Liggett Group Inc (NYSE)
Qtr to March 31
1989
1988
Sales
121,556,000
112,373,000
Net inc
4,859,000
5,341,000
Share earns
Yr sales
500,969,000
531,891,000
Net inc
30,240,000
30,688,000
Share earns
1.26
1.40
Shares outst
24,000,000
21,923,497
Shares outstanding for 1988 reflected the October 1987 split of Liggett's outstanding common stock into 20 million shares. Accordingly, the calculation of the shares outstanding for the prior year assumed that the stock split occurred on April 1, 1987.
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1,994 | Swedes Divided On Joining Europe | In a shopping mall in Haninge, a blue-collar suburb south of here, campaign volunteers worked the noonday crowd today, handing out pamphlets and bright blue buttons emblazoned with a single word: "Yes."
"The European train is leaving now, and Sweden has a ticket," read one of the flyers given to passersby. "Don't throw it away."
In a shopping mall in Haninge, a blue-collar suburb south of here, campaign volunteers worked the noonday crowd today, handing out pamphlets and bright blue buttons emblazoned with a single word: "Yes."
"The European train is leaving now, and Sweden has a ticket," read one of the flyers given to passersby. "Don't throw it away."
Across the mall, members of a rival group distributed lapel pins with the slogan "No to the E.U." Among the piles of booklets and bulletins stacked on a table was one illustrated with a cartoon, showing a leering European whale preparing to swallow a tiny Swedish fish.
In towns and villages across the country, voters will cast ballots on Sunday in a national referendum on whether Sweden should forsake its neutrality and join the European Union in pursuing common economic and political ambitions.
Public opinion polls suggest that Sweden's 6.5 million voters are having a hard time making up their minds. While voter surveys show those who are opposed to membership slightly ahead of those in favor, experts say the outcome is too close to predict. At least one in four voters acknowledge that they do not know which way they will cast their ballot.
Political leaders in Sweden have promised that they will abide by the outcome of Sunday's national ballot. Legally, it is Sweden's Parliament that will finally decide whether the country joins the European Union. Voters in Finland and Austria decided to join this year, and membership would rise from 12 to 16 in January if there is also agreement from Sweden and Norway, which has scheduled a referendum for Nov. 28.
Voters in Norway narrowly rejected membership in 1973, when they were last asked. Much of the opposition then, as now, was centered in the small farming and fishing communities that fear membership will mean an end to economic subsidies.
Recent public opinion polls suggest that voters in Norway, rich in natural gas and fish, still do not see the advantages in joining the union and are the most likely among the Nordic countries to reject the idea.
In Sweden, the ballot comes during a period of self-doubt, aggravated by an economic collapse that not only has driven record numbers of people out of work but has also forced cutbacks in welfare benefits.
Even now, Sweden is hobbled by one of the highest national debts among industrialized nations, 83 percent of gross domestic product, as the Government of Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson tries to cut spending, increase revenue and restore some stability to financial markets.
Mr. Carlsson regained office only in September, when his Social Democrats defeated the conservative Government of Prime Minister Carl Bildt. Among other things, voters looked to Mr. Carlsson and his party, the architects of Sweden's generous welfare state, to help restore some of the cutbacks that were imposed under Mr. Bildt.
But Mr. Carlsson, who was Prime Minister from 1986 to 1991, has instead been preaching the need for further trims, coupled with tax increases, if Sweden's economy is going to recover. Earlier this week, campaigning on behalf of the European Union referendum, he warned that a no vote would almost certainly hinder an economic recovery.
With the specter of higher interest rates and falling stock prices, Mr. Carlsson has said the Government would have to enforce tougher cutbacks on public spending if Sweden refused to join the Europe Union.
The larger problem for Mr. Carlsson is that his own party, the country's largest, is split down on the middle over Europe, with many leftists and environmentalists strongly opposed to joining.
On the campaign trail in Haninge, Margot Wallstrom, the Culture Minister, said she could feel the uncertainty among voters."I can see it in their body language, especially among the women," Mrs. Wallstrom said. "Much of it is emotional, but people are fearful of the change, of Sweden losing itself in Europe."
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1,988 | RECOTON CORP reports earnings for Qtr to Dec 31 | LEAD:
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3*RECOTON CORP (OTC)
Qtr to Dec 31
1987
1986
Sales
10,005,000
8,367,000
Net inc
b277,000
c384,000
Share earns
Yr sales
30,871,000
28,728,000
Net loss
b217,000
d518,000
Share earns
b-After a $653,000 gain on the purchase of the company's 8 percent convertible subordinated debentures for the quarter and year.
LEAD:
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3*RECOTON CORP (OTC)
Qtr to Dec 31
1987
1986
Sales
10,005,000
8,367,000
Net inc
b277,000
c384,000
Share earns
Yr sales
30,871,000
28,728,000
Net loss
b217,000
d518,000
Share earns
b-After a $653,000 gain on the purchase of the company's 8 percent convertible subordinated debentures for the quarter and year.
*3*** COMPANY REPORTS **
*3*RECOTON CORP (OTC)
Qtr to Dec 31
1987
1986
Sales
10,005,000
8,367,000
Net inc
b277,000
c384,000
Share earns
Yr sales
30,871,000
28,728,000
Net loss
b217,000
d518,000
Share earns
b-After a $653,000 gain on the purchase of the company's 8 percent convertible subordinated debentures for the quarter and year.
c-Net loss d-Net income
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