1 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 1, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Lilco's Reviled Chairman Emerges on Top Again in Merger

BYLINE: By DAN BARRY 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 41; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk; Second Front

LENGTH: 1612 words

DATELINE: HICKSVILLE, L.I., Dec. 31

William J. Catacosinos has a job that few people can appreciate, other than meter maids, dentists and maybe George M. Steinbrenner 3d. He is the chairman of one of the most detested businesses in the nation's corporate pantheon, the Long Island Lighting Company.
Lilco's 1.1 million customers pay the highest utility rates in the continental United States, and they let Dr. Catacosinos know it. The owner of a Long Island diner once slammed his Lilco bill so hard on a table that it rattled the Catacosinos family's hamburger platters. Another time, an elderly woman in a crowded Manhattan elevator railed at him for so long that his wife finally told her to back off. 
 Throughout Long Island, he is known as the man who stubbornly tried to open the ill-fated Shoreham nuclear power plant before finally agreeing to abandon it.
For all the abuse he has taken as the personification of Lilco, Dr. Catacosinos, 66, is not ready to enjoy the multimillion-dollar retirement package that awaits him. On Sunday, he completed a deal in which Lilco and Brooklyn Union Gas would merge to create a new company with 2.2 million customers and more than $4.5 billion in annual revenues. But rather than step aside, Dr. Catacosinos (pronounced CAT-a-co-SEE-nos) demanded that he stay on -- as chairman of the new entity.
His insistence on this point, he acknowledged in an interview today, contributed to an abrupt halt to negotiations with Brooklyn Union late last summer. And when talks resumed, thanks to the intervention of the Pataki administration, Dr. Catacosinos was no less insistent on what role he would play. He prevailed.
This is not the first time Dr. Catacosinos has prevailed under bleak circumstances, to the bafflement of admirers and critics alike. The public's perception of Lilco has gone from dark to black, as rates continue to rise and the company grapples with billions of dollars in debt because of the Shoreham debacle. Through it all, Dr. Catacosinos has endured, reviled by ratepayers, adored by shareholders.
"He has survived bigger storms than some Presidents have been able to survive," said Richard Kessel, a Long Island consumer advocate who has opposed the Lilco chairman many times in the last decade. "And it's no secret that he wanted to stay on. I've got to give him credit. For all the brickbats he's taken, he says, 'Give me more.' I would call him a very worthy adversary."
Although such comments bring a momentary smile to Dr. Catacosinos's face, he says he prefers to focus on realities, not perceptions. He maintains -- and some analysts agree -- that Lilco is a well-managed company that makes money for its investors and provides reliable service to its customers.
But perception can overtake reality, he acknowledges. Officials from both companies have been trying to come up with a name for the new company. One possibility is New York Energy, Dr. Catacosinos said, adding, "But it's not going to be called Lilco."
There are signs in the chairman's office that, despite his reputation, Dr. Catacosinos is more than a corporate automaton. Some, like framed photographs of grandchildren, are found on his desk.
Others are found in his personality, which critics acknowledge can be appealing. Before discussing the merger today, Dr. Catacosinos talked about how he and his wife, Florence, recently had an amiable tiff over the correct way to dance the macarena.
Still, he knows that to many on Long Island, he is Mr. Lilco, which is not the same as being the Good Humor Man. "It's been a very difficult 12 years," he said. "I've become the lightning rod for the company."
The son of Greek immigrants, he grew up in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, served in the Navy and graduated with a doctorate in economics from New York University.
For many years, he worked at Brookhaven National Laboratories before beginning two companies of his own. Then, in 1978, he joined the board of Lilco.
By then, Lilco was in the midst of plans to build Shoreham, a decision supported by both Suffolk County and the Federal Government. But an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in 1979 raised questions about the safety of plants like Shoreham. By the early 1980's, protesters were scaling the fences at Shoreham, and politicians were actively campaigning against Lilco.
In 1984, Dr. Catacosinos became Lilco's chairman. He planned to steady the company's course and then resign, all in about 18 months. But Lilco was beyond simple solutions; cost overruns for the Shoreham project had soared into the billions. "We were preparing various options, including a bankruptcy filing," he said.
Instead, Lilco pursued two approaches: it moved forward with plans to open Shoreham at the same time that it sought a government settlement to keep the plant closed. The company even received a license to conduct low-level tests, which many critics perceived as a threat.
Finally, in 1989, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo signed an agreement allowing Lilco to pass on a $4 billion Shoreham debt to ratepayers. Shareholders cheered; ratepayers never forgot.
Pursuing the low-level testing license "certainly strengthened his hand at the bargaining table," said Nora Bredes, a Suffolk County legislator who fought the Shoreham plan. "He has strengthened the company, but always at the expense of ratepayers."
Although his business acumen and tenacity are rarely questioned, Dr. Catacosinos's sense of public perception often is. And the examples are part of Long Island lore.
In 1985, Hurricane Gloria knocked out power on parts of Long Island for almost two weeks, at the same time Dr. Catacosinos and his wife were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary in Italy. He says now that he had been working 12-hour days, 7 days a week, for almost 2 years, and that he and his wife needed a break.
"But I came back later than I should have," he said. "That was 12 years ago. It's over, but it lingers."
Other controversies have centered on his salary. In 1995, he accepted a $55,000 raise, then later declined it when critics complained. He now earns about $580,000 a year and has a $5 million retirement package, about average for executives in charge of corporations the size of Lilco.
But Mr. Kessel said that Dr. Catacosinos, who has lived on Long Island for almost 40 years, still does not understand its hothouse environment. "Maybe it's legitimate in the real world," he said of the chairman's compensation. "But this isn't the real world. This is Long Island and this is Lilco. When someone heading Lilco is making more and more money and is getting bonuses, it rankles the people who are paying the highest rates in the continental United States."
Dr. Catacosinos faced a new adversary in 1995 with the election of Gov. George E. Pataki. The Governor, who derived much political support from Suffolk and Nassau counties, vowed to eliminate Lilco and reduce electricity rates by more than 10 percent.
He demonstrated his resolve by appointing a new chairman to the Long Island Power Authority, a state agency charged with solving the Lilco problem.
At about the same time, Brooklyn Union's chairman, Robert B. Catell, 59, reiterated his desire to merge with Lilco. By early last summer, the chairman of the two utilities, along with their advisers, were meeting -- in their offices, at diners on Long Island, at a small restaurant near La Guardia Airport in Queens.
Although a merger would not solve many major questions for the state -- like the $4 billion Shoreham debt or the $1.1 billion that is owed Lilco for tax overassessments -- it was seen as an important first step, and was encouraged by the Pataki administration. The new company, it was argued, would be more cost-effective and stronger in the ever-changing worlds of gas and electric utilities.
But where would Dr. Catacosinos come out in the end? This became a central question.
"When you're bringing together two companies, the succession of who will be in power is always an important issue," said Lou Tomson, a senior aide to Governor Pataki who kept abreast of the negotiations. Regarding Dr. Catacosinos, he said: "He's only been very straightforward with me. But he's also not a guy who's going to give away his negotiating position. He's tenacious."
Talks broke off in late summer, in part because of Dr. Catacosinos's insistence that he play a central role. He said his demand was only natural: he was more familiar than Mr. Catell with the Long Island market and electric utilities, and he could ease the transition for all involved. "My feeling is, I always try to do right," he said. "I can be single-minded as I go toward my goal."
The two sides were eventually brought back to the negotiating table by Frank G. Zarb, chairman of the power authority.
Of Dr. Catacosinos, Mr. Zarb said: "It was clear to me that he wanted to leave on an up note and not on a down note."
By the middle of December, Dr. Catacosinos and Mr. Catell were comfortable enough with their negotiations' progress that they asked to meet with Governor Pataki. "It was a courtesy thing," Dr. Catacosinos said. "He encouraged us to keep talking, recognizing that it may not happen."
But it did, and as part of the deal, Dr. Catacosinos will serve as chairman and chief executive for the first year. Then Mr. Catell will take over as chief executive.
That does not mean that Dr. Catacosinos will be concentrating on the macarena. He will continue to serve as chairman. And page 44 of the agreement stipulates that after he steps down as chief executive, he will continue to serve for five more years as a consultant, at a salary not yet determined.

LOAD-DATE: January 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: William J. Catacosinos, chairman of Lilco, who has confounded his critics, including ratepayers, for a decade, will be chairman and chief executive after a proposed merger of Lilco and the Brooklyn Union Gas Company. (Vic DeLucia/The New York Times)(pg. 45)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



2 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 2, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Quiet Doctor Finds a Mission in Assisted Suicide Court Case

BYLINE: By JANE GROSS 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1885 words

DATELINE: ROCHESTER

More Marcus Welby than Jack Kevorkian, Dr. Timothy E. Quill treats bronchitis and acne, high blood pressure and diabetes, depression and sprained ankles. He cares for several generations of the same family and makes house calls.
But Dr. Quill, a 47-year-old internist at Genesee Hospital here, has become an unlikely spokesman for the cause of physician-assisted suicide, a status he gained five years ago by admitting in an article in The New England Journal of Medicine that he had helped a patient die. 
 Now, he is the central figure in a landmark case before the Supreme Court on Jan. 8. The case asks the Court to rule that assisted suicide is an accepted part of medical practice, and it could transform the way Americans die at a time the elderly population is expanding and the health care system is in flux.
To watch Dr. Quill work is to understand that assisted suicide is, for him, part of a patient's treatment from birth to death, an option that brings reassurance but hardly ever needs to be used.
"Assisted suicide is unimportant," he said. "It's a method."
He is somewhat abashed to be the standard bearer in a national debate. "What is important is the individual, listening to them and helping them make the best choices when they don't have the choices they want."
Proponents argue that assisted suicide is a logical extension of earlier high court rulings permitting the terminally ill to discontinue treatment, and that the practice of prescribing lethal drugs is already common, with no regulation.
Opponents, who include the Roman Catholic Church and State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco and the American Medical Association, fear that legalization will leave elderly, poor and disabled patients at risk of being pressured by family members or unscrupulous doctors into a premature death.
The New York case, and a similar one from Washington State, will be argued in tandem. The appellate court in New York, upholding a right to assisted suicide, cited the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, saying that under current law those on respirators or feeding tubes have a right to die, while those without life support do not. The Washington case also cited the 14th Amendment, saying one has a right to choose the circumstances of death.
After the Washington case was filed, lawyers sought doctors who would be willing to participate in a legal challenge in New York. They approached Dr. Quill because of the attention he garnered as a result of his New England Journal of Medicine article.
Dr. Quill, a slightly built man with owlish glasses and a graying goatee, said he did not join this debate because of a single experience, but rather as a result of the development of his career. As a medical student, he helped a professor develop a course on death. As an intern, he was appalled by what he called harsh, hopeless efforts to keep people alive in the emergency room. Later, he ran a hospice.
This evolution, in the context of patient care, sets Dr. Quill apart from Dr. Kevorkian, the Michigan pathologist who first meets his clients when they request help in dying. Since 1990, when Dr. Kevorkian connected a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease to a makeshift suicide device, he has helped in at least 40 suicides, inspiring debate about a previously taboo topic.
Even the fiercest critics of assisted suicide say Dr. Quill's approach is thoughtful and his credentials are impeccable. He is a professor of medicine and psychiatry at the University of Rochester, the associate director of medicine at the Genesee Hospital and a general practitioner.
Dr. Quill's insistence that aid in dying is a rare, last step in a long, rich doctor-patient relationship is what makes him a model plaintiff in a case at the frontier of social change, said Laurence H. Tribe, the Harvard law professor who will argue the case in the Supreme Court.
"He is a good representative of what ought to happen, because death is not his subspecialty but an integrated part of his practice," Mr. Tribe said. "He treats someone as a whole person, not an anticipatory corpse," as opposed to Dr. Kevorkian and others "who have a stake in finding clients and justifying their own existence."
But what troubles many of those who oppose assisted suicide, including the New York State Attorney General, Dennis C. Vacco, the Catholic Church and the American Medical Association, is not Dr. Quill, but doctors who might be less able or willing to protect patients. To legalize it, they fear, is to put the nation on a slippery slope, without first changing the health care system and improving access to hospice care.
Daniel Callahan, until recently director of the Hastings Center in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., called Dr. Quill a nice fellow, cautious and moderate. But he said Dr. Quill was naive to conclude that legal assisted suicide would not leave powerless patients vulnerable.
"He needs to take a harder view of what's likely to happen in the world," Mr. Callahan said.
Dr. Nancy W. Dickey, chairwoman of the American Medical Association, echoed the concern. "He can draw scenarios that make me step back and say, maybe," Dr. Dickey said of Dr. Quill, adding that she agreed with 95 percent of what he advocated. "But I'd be less worried if everybody had a doctor like him."
Mr. Callahan also disputed Dr. Quill's belief that pain was but one barometer of suffering, and that suicide could be appropriate for patients if they did not want to linger comatose, demented or incontinent.
"That is lethal sentimentality," Mr. Callahan said. "Doctors cannot be expected to solve existential crises. He is treating the psyche. That is not his job."
Dr. Quill disagrees, contending that caring for the whole person is his mission and has been since medical school at the University of Rochester in the 1970's, when a mentor was Dr. Art Schmale, a psychiatrist who specialized in cancer patients.
How troubling, Dr. Schmale said, that all medical students dissect dead bodies but few discuss death; that they are taught how to insert an intravenous line, but not how to tell a patient that the test results are bad and the diagnosis fatal.
Inconsistencies like these led Dr. Quill to accept a position as medical director of a hospice in Rochester, where he met Penny Townsend, a nurse who became his wife. There he learned the tenets of palliative care: pain control, patient autonomy, family relationships, helping a patient seek peace and meaning after technology has failed.
By the time his tenure at the hospice ended, Dr. Quill said, he viewed the care of dying patients as an essential part of his practice. That meant giving clear facts and options to the dying. It meant early discussion of stopping further treatment in favor of palliative care, a conversation many doctors, particularly high-technology specialists, avoid.
"There's an elephant in the room and nobody's talking about it because they don't want to deal with the darker side of illness," Dr. Quill said.
It meant recognizing that a small group of dying patients -- Dr. Quill estimates 5 percent -- could not be made comfortable.
"These few bad deaths must be considered a medical emergency," he said. "People sometimes end up in very bad situations at the end of life, and you have to be creative, bold, in the way you help them. You hope it doesn't involve anything active. But you solve what has to be solved."
The present system, Dr. Quill and others say, does not prevent doctors from helping patients die, although the legal means are sometimes grotesque. He describes in "A Midwife Through the Dying Process" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), the most recent of his two books on terminal illness, the case of an 80-year-old man whose lung cancer had spread to his bones. After months of comfortable hospice care, the man's pain ran wild, responding only to doses of morphine so high they left him agitated and hallucinating.
He begged to die and Dr. Quill used a procedure he found repugnant: sedating the patient to unconsciousness and then letting him die of dehydration. "We would never put our pets through such a process," he said.
In 1991, Dr. Quill faced his first explicit request for help in suicide. A patient, Patricia Diane Trumbull, was dying of leukemia. Rather than undergo chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant, which would have given her a 1-in-4 chance of survival, Ms. Trumbull went home, untreated, and spend her last months with her family.
But she was haunted by fears of dying in pain or incompetent, and asked Dr. Quill for barbiturates, in the guise of a sleep aid. After deliberation, he agreed. Ms. Trumbull took the pills and died alone, lest Dr. Quill or her family be implicated for helping her die, considered second-degree manslaughter in New York.
Dr. Quill said he was tortured by the fact he was not with her, and decided to initiate a conversation about this common but hidden practice. He wrote about the case for The New England Journal of Medicine and unleashed a storm.
A grand jury was empaneled and Dr. Quill waived immunity from prosecution to testify, against his lawyer's advice. The state pursued misconduct charges. Demonstrators marched outside his house, as a few still do at the hospital. The grand jury chose not to indict him.
Dr. Quill's fellow doctors at the hospital rallied around, as did his patients. But the university was more equivocal. While Dr. Quill was promoted to a full professorship during this time, a task force at the medical school condemned assisted suicide. Dr. Quill was instructed that all further writings include a disclaimer that his views were his own.
The article set the stage for the two cases about to be argued at the Supreme Court, both with plaintiffs chosen for their reputations. The other plaintiffs in the New York case are Howard A. Grossman, an AIDS doctor; Samuel C. Klagsbrun, a Westchester psychiatrist, and three patients who have since died.
Most of Dr. Quill's patients are aware of his advocacy for the terminally ill. Recently, Ronald Miller, a mediator who suffers from depression and a prostate disorder, interrupted an examination to thank his doctor of many years.
"Do you realize what you represent to a patient, how comforting it is that you'll take them from birth to death?" Mr. Miller asked.
But some are unaware of Dr. Quill's crusade, like Esther Randall, 81, a longtime patient who entered the hospital recently with a broken arm, to be told she had leukemia.
Mrs. Randall had been in failing health for years. She wanted no more treatment. She asked to go home and die in her own bed.
Dr. Quill visited the family -- husband, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren -- as Mrs. Randall lay dying. He advised the home health aide to stop turning her to prevent bedsores. Moving caused her pain, and she would not linger much longer. He asked her husband to eat more and get some sleep.
On the night of Dec. 25, five days after she left the hospital, Mrs. Randall died in relative peace. Her husband and son said afterward that they had no idea that Dr. Quill was about to make Supreme Court history. He was simply their doctor.
"That's all he wants to be," said Penny Townsend-Quill. "That's what it's about for him."

LOAD-DATE: January 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Dr. Timothy E. Quill, an internist and associate director of medicine at the Genesee Hospital in Rochester, with a patient at the hospital. (Phil Matt for The New York Times)(pg. B4)      

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

January 3, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

A Needless Obstacle to the Poor

SECTION: Section A; Page 26; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 638 words

The Clinton Administration has created a needless problem that could make the tough new welfare law even worse. Officials are now saying that states may not be able to spend their own money to fill gaps created by the law. This has alarmed even some of the most conservative proponents of welfare reform. The new law is stringent enough without Washington's finding new ways to frustrate states that want to take proper care of the poor.
The issue involves a provision known as maintenance of effort. Under the old welfare law, Federal spending on state-run welfare programs was tied to state contributions. The new law turns over fixed amounts of money, called block grants, that are no longer tied to the number of poor residents in a state or to what services the state decides to provide them. Republican sponsors of welfare reform were satisfied to let states do pretty much as they pleased with block grants. But liberals, mostly Democrats, fought for and won maintenance-of-effort provisions that require states to spend on the poor at least 75 percent of the amount they spent under the old law. 
 The Administration is now suggesting, ominously, that some state programs that could be vital to poor people may not count toward a state's maintenance-of-effort minimum. Experts agree that the law prevents states from getting credit for money they spend on non-welfare programs, or on most of the people who are ineligible for Federal aid. But Congress, wisely, softened even these conditions by granting credit to states that spend money on two important groups of ineligible families. These are families that collect welfare benefits for more than five years and legal immigrants.
However, some states will want to spend money on other needy groups without triggering all the restrictions that accompany the use of Federal block grants. For example, several states want to help elderly retirees who have custody of their grandchildren. If the states use Federal money for these purposes, they will be forced to include the retirees in work programs and impose other requirements that apply to everyone receiving money through Federal block grants. There are other programs, like emergency counseling for families in danger of splitting apart, or wage subsidies for low-paid workers, that states may wish to establish without federally mandated time limits and other onerous restrictions.
The answer to this dilemma, some states concluded, would be to set up a separate program free of Federal restrictions that would be financed with state, not Federal, money. As the states interpreted the law, these state funds could then be applied toward the maintenance-of-effort requirement. It is that reading that the Clinton Administration is now questioning.
How the Administration proceeds on this tricky question of interpretation matters a lot. If Washington denies credit for money spent on, say, grandparents or wage subsidies, then states will be driven to spend money on some other, less important program. But that would contradict Congress's major reason for replacing the 61-year-old entitlement with block grants -- to give states the flexibility to design welfare programs that make the best sense locally.
It is good policy to give states the leeway to count toward their federally specified target money they spend on worthwhile programs for truly needy people. The Administration can point to no specific provision of the welfare law that would prohibit the states' interpretation. For a Democratic President to hurt the poor with a provision pushed into law by liberals to protect the poor would be more than ironic. It would also be a dismaying sequel to the President's election-year decision to sign a welfare bill that his own staff told him would impoverish a million or more children.

LOAD-DATE: January 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Editorial

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



4 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 3, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

In a Tough Hint to Rebels, Peru Fills Hostages' Jobs

BYLINE: By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO 

SECTION: Section A; Page 8; Column 3; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 731 words

DATELINE: LIMA, Peru, Jan. 2

With the siege of the Japanese Ambassador's residence in its third week, leftist guerrillas have been freeing Peruvian and foreign dignitaries in dribs and drabs, at once alleviating the crisis and heightening the fear of a violent showdown.
Today, President Alberto K. Fujimori replaced the president of the Supreme Court and six police generals who are among the hostages, including the heads of the counterterrorism and state security services, in what a diplomat called a "brutal" message to the rebels that their Peruvian hostages were expendable. 
 In only his second address since the guerrillas took over the embassy residence, Mr. Fujimori again branded the guerrillas "terrorists."
Widespread expectations earlier in the week that 1996 would end with the encouraging release of 50 or so hostages, propelling the two sides toward a negotiated end to the standoff, have been eclipsed by a hardening of positions and the slow release of small clusters of hostages.
Tonight, 74 hostages were still being held, and the electricity, which the Government had restored to the Ambassador's residence on Tuesday morning, had been cut off again.
After the initial release of women, elderly people and children from the nearly 600 people first taken hostage at a cocktail party on Dec. 17 celebrating the Japanese Emperor's birthday, the rebels released scores of hostages. This week the releases were down to a trickle.
"The situation is becoming more tense as the number of hostages nears a level the guerrillas can control," Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan was quoted as saying today as he left the Foreign Ministry's hostage crisis center in Tokyo.
With each release -- two men on Tuesday evening, seven more on Wednesday -- both the Government and the Marxist guerrillas move closer to the moment they will have to confront the rebels' fundamental demand for the release of some 400 guerrillas from Peruvian jails, a point on which the Government has shown no sign of yielding.
"If all the foreign hostages are going except for the Japanese and Bolivian Ambassadors, there won't be any intermediate stands left," said Fernando Rospigleosi, a columnist for the news magazine Caretas. "It makes the situation more risky in terms of the prospects for a negotiated settlement."
Until now, the concessions that President Fujimori has made have been relatively minor: to allow the guerrillas limited access to the press, to temporarily restore electricity to the house and to hold out the prospect of safe passage if the guerrillas would lay down their weapons.
While the periodic release of hostages may advance the guerrillas' image as a willing partner in possible negotiations, reducing the number of hostages inevitably lowers the stakes in an assault to end the standoff, experts here said. In addition, the patience of the Fujimori Government -- known for its tough stand against the rebels and loath to grant them a platform for their views -- may well be wearing thin.
Mr. Fujimori was reportedly infuriated by an impromptu news conference the rebels held Tuesday with photographers and cameramen who, allowed to approach the residence for pictures, crossed the outer wall and entered the house. Several of the photographers said they have been harassed by the Peruvian police since the incident: one was detained, another followed, and the home of a third was broken into, in what they said was an attempt to intimidate them.
Despite the public relations setback to the Government, the pictures gave Peruvian military officials their first unedited views of the interior of the house and some of the weapons on hand.
Mr. Fujimori's surprising replacement of key officials whose lives are in the hands of the guerrillas signaled his unwillingness to bend for their sake, one diplomat here said.
"Fujimori is saying two things to the terrorists: one is that it is business as usual," the diplomat said. "The other thing is something very brutal, and that if you didn't kill them before, go ahead and kill them now."
"In my opinion, this is an image contest," said Representative Lourdes Flores Nano, of the opposition Popular Christian Party. That is why, she said, the rebels of the Tupac Amaru "let the journalists in, to show that they're not hurting anybody, and to release those who are not directly involved with Government."

LOAD-DATE: January 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: President Alberto K. Fujimori reviewed an honor guard outside the Palace of Justice in Lima after replacing top officials who are being held hostage by leftist guerrillas in the Japanese Ambassador's residence. (Reuters)      

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

January 3, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

COMPANY NEWS;
ABBOTT IS SETTLING F.T.C. CHARGES OF FALSE ADVERTISING

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section D; Page 3; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 104 words

Abbott Laboratories is settling charges of false advertising involving a promotional campaign for its Ensure nutritional drink, the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday. The F.T.C. had contended that Abbott, based in Abbott Park, Ill., said without adequate proof that doctors recommended Ensure as a meal supplement and replacement for healthy adults, including those in their 30's and 40's. Initial advertising for the drink was aimed at senior citizens. Abbott has admitted no wrongdoing but has agreed to make only claims that can be supported by "competent and reliable" scientific evidence, the F.T.C. said.

LOAD-DATE: January 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

January 4, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Metrocards Sent Late, Irritating Elderly Users

BYLINE: By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 27; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 537 words

Peg Myerson loves her Metrocard. Her half-fare card has meant a lot less standing in line at subway token booths -- a serious concern for someone with multiple sclerosis. So when her old card expired on Dec. 31 and a new card did not arrive in the mail, she had a problem.
"I fear that I've fallen through the cracks," said Ms. Myerson, who lives on the Upper West Side, and still had not got her replacement electronic fare card yesterday. "I've been delighted with the card, and I desperately want it back." 
 She is one of several hundred elderly and disabled people whose half-fare cards expired at midnight on Dec. 31, but who had not yet received new ones in the mail yesterday. But transit officials say the problem should correct itself shortly.
"We got the last 400 of them out on the 30th," too late for use on New Year's Day, said Edward Spellman, chief revenue officer of the Transit Authority. "We did get some calls from some senior citizens saying that they did not get their cards."
People who did not get the new cards have had to return to the old way of getting a 50 percent discount, which, for subway riders, means standing in line at the token booth for every trip.
To get a half fare, an elderly or disabled person can go to a booth and pay $1.50 for a token and a paper ticket. For the next trip, the rider has to stand in line again and present the paper ticket. Half-fare tokens must be bought one at a time.
There are 61,000 passengers who have half-fare Metrocards, available since 1995. When a half-fare card is swiped through a turnstile or fare box, 75 cents is deducted, rather than $1.50. Like any Metrocard, a half-fare card can be coded for dozens of fares in a single trip to a token booth.
For bus users, having a half-fare card does not make boarding any faster. Seniors and disabled people who do not have the cards can simply pay 75 cents in cash when they board.
It is not clear exactly how many replacement cards failed to arrive by year's end, but Mr. Spellman said they had either arrived by now, or should arrive in the next few days.
It will be none too soon for Ms. Myerson, who commutes by subway to her job as president of the Women's City Club, a civic group.
"The inconvenience for me is considerable," she said.
The cards generally last two years; transit officials say an open-ended card would be more easily used by an unauthorized person. On Dec. 31, 7,709 expired, and the next group will expire on March 31.
A replacement is supposed to be mailed automatically to every holder of a half-fare card.
To get a half-fare card, a person must fill out an application and show proof of disability or age. The cards have the owner's photograph on them, and are color-coded so that police officers, subway clerks and bus drivers can tell at a glance if an able-bodied young person is illicitly using a half-fare card.
The program originally was administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transit Authority's parent agency. Last month, the responsibility was transferred to the Transit Authority, which officials said may have slowed the issuance of replacement cards, but is supposed to make the operation smoother in the future.

LOAD-DATE: January 4, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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January 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON POLITICS;
Wary of Those Promises? Check the New Budget

BYLINE: By Jennifer Preston;  Jennifer Preston is Trenton bureau chief of The New York Times.

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 2; Column 5; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 685 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

Politicians can give grand speeches, and talk all they want about their ideas and their proposals for new programs and reducing government waste. But if you want to know their top priorities and what they really think, take a look at their budget.
In just a few weeks, Governor Whitman will be presenting her budget to the Legislature. Since both Mrs. Whitman and lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate face re-election campaigns this year, the budget is one of the most important political documents of 1997. 
 Election-year budgets offer incumbent politicians a chance to try out their campaign themes and address the needs of various constituencies, both large and small. For example, extra dollars might finally be found for a road project in Monmouth County that residents have long been clamoring for. Or small-business owners might find there are more state loan funds available than there were last year.
Election-year budgets are also important for what they do not include. It is unlikely that Governor Whitman will make another attempt this year to reduce prescription subsidies for the elderly. Every politician, particularly in New Jersey, needs the their votes.
It is also unlikely that the Department of Environmental Protection will face another round of large budget cuts. Democrats believe that Governor Whitman is vulnerable on environmental issues, and Whitman aides have been working hard, behind the scenes, to improve the Governor's image in that area.
The Governor has already hinted that her proposed budget will not include a significant number of layoffs of state workers.
Although an important theme for the Whitman administration has been reducing the size of state government, neither Governor Whitman nor lawmakers want to further anger the union that represents state workers. Republican lawmakers, particularly in Mercer County, would like to avoid having the union actively campaign against them in November.
But election-year budgets are not designed to please everyone.
Certainly, not the schoolchildren in the state's 30 "special needs" school districts.
Governor Whitman and Republican lawmakers met the Dec. 31 deadline to come up with a new school-financing plan to try to end the two-decades-long court battle over disparity between the richest and poorest districts. Governor Whitman will show how she will pay for it when she presents the budget later this month. By putting a $285.5 million price tag on the plan, the Governor and Republican lawmakers agreed to spend $15 million more on education than what even advocates and lawyers involved in the case had said was necessary.
So what's the problem? Why are these same lawyers going back to the State Supreme Court to argue that the new financing plan is unconstitutional and fails to meet the court's ruling that the spending gap between school districts? Why do some fiscal analysts worry that New Jersey might have to come up with even more money, weakening the state's ability to balance the books and possibly leading to higher taxes?
Only half of the $285.5 million in state dollars is going to the state's 30 "special needs" -- or most financially needy -- school districts. And a lot of the money, allocated to these districts, is to pay for pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs.
Such programs, almost everyone agrees, are essential to give children in low-income communities a better chance of success in school. But the plan does not increase the level of per-pupil spending for regular education to the levels spent on children in wealthier districts.
That's what the lawyers for the children in the 30 "special needs districts" say is what the State Supreme Court demanded. The court is now reviewing the plan, and no one knows what action, if any, the court will take.
The justices don't run for re-election. So they don't have to worry about election-year budgets and making sure enough plums are handed out to the right supporters. That could be good news for tens of thousands of the state's schoolchildren who are too young to vote.

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January 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton and G.O.P. Are Unlikely To seek Medicare Premium Rise

BYLINE: ByBy ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1302 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 4

Administration officials say President Clinton has made a significant decision about budget strategy for 1997: he will not propose any increase in costs for Medicare beneficiaries, but will try to cut back payments to hospitals, doctors and others who provide health care to the elderly.
Congressional Republicans say they too are unlikely to seek any increase in premiums or other charges for beneficiaries because, in last year's elections, they were pummeled by Democrats for having supported such proposals. 
 But another battle is looming this year over Mr. Clinton's proposal to solve some of Medicare's most conspicuous financial problems by shifting the cost of home health care from one account to another. The home health benefit is the fastest growing component of Medicare.
Mr. Clinton plans to send his budget to Congress early next month. If there is no change in current law, the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital bills will, by his estimate, run out of money in 2001. That is 10 years before the first baby boomers reach 65, the age of eligibility for Medicare.
A bipartisan group of experts summoned to the White House recently to advise the President's budget director, Franklin D. Raines, said Mr. Clinton's home health care proposal -- one of his main proposals to keep the trust fund afloat -- was little more than a bookkeeping gimmick.
Under Mr. Clinton's proposal, most of the cost of home health care for the elderly or disabled would be shifted from the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund to a separate Medicare account with unlimited access to general revenue.
Medicare spending on home health services has exploded in recent years, exceeding $18 billion and accounting for nearly 10 percent of Medicare benefit payments in 1996. Mr. Clinton wants to exclude these costs from the computation of Medicare premiums, so beneficiaries will not have to absorb the cost.
When Mr. Clinton suggested a similar change last year, Republicans said it was not a serious proposal. After the November elections, they told him that they wanted a good-faith gesture on the budget, and that a repeat of his earlier recommendations would not do the trick.
In an interview on Thursday, Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who oversees Medicare as the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said: "We're looking for a signal from the President as to how real his budget will be. I want to work with him on a bipartisan basis, but this proposal on home health care is a shell game, an artificial solution. It may help the trust fund, but creates enormous problems in the general Treasury and for future generations."
Among the experts who met recently with Franklin D. Raines, the budget director for the Clinton Administration, were Charles L. Schultze, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Jimmy Carter; two former directors of the Congressional Budget Office, Rudolph G. Penner and Robert D. Reischauer, and Dan L. Crippen, a White House aide under President Ronald Reagan.
Mr. Schultze said the home health care proposal was "accounting shenanigans," and added: "It doesn't save the Government any money. It doesn't save any money for the Medicare program. It just shifts costs out of the hospital trust fund." Mr. Reischauer and Mr. Penner called it a "gimmick."
White House officials say that because many users of home health services have not been hospitalized recently, there is no reason for the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund to pay for those services. Increasingly, they say, Medicare's home health benefit is used by homebound people who have chronic illnesses or need long-term care for other reasons.
Medicare finances health care for 38 million people who are elderly or disabled. Its costs grew 10 percent a year in the last decade, reaching $191 billion in 1996.
Many Republicans and health policy experts say Medicare beneficiaries should pay more for their care, through premiums, deductibles or co-insurance, because such payments would generate revenue and curb the unnecessary use of services.
Chris Jennings, a White House aide who coordinates health policy for President Clinton, summarized the conventional wisdom: "In the eyes of a lot of people, we are not real men unless we hit beneficiaries with significant increases in out-of-pocket costs." But Administration officials note that the elderly already spend 21 percent of their family income, on average, for health care.
Medicare was a central issue in the Presidential election, as Mr. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore asserted that the Republicans' budget plan could force hundreds of hospitals to close. Now Mr. Clinton must explain why his plan to balance the budget will not have similar effects.
Bruce C. Vladeck, who heads the Federal Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare, defended the decision to seek big savings from health care providers. Medicare, Mr. Vladeck said, has been less aggressive than private insurers in demanding discounts.
"There are now many markets for many services in which Medicare is paying more than the most effective private purchasers." he said. "That is very hard to defend or justify."
Richard J. Pollack, executive vice president of the American Hospital Association, said "it was pretty clear from last year's election campaign that most, if not all, of the savings in Medicare" would come from hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and suppliers of medical equipment. The savings sought by Congress and the President are so large, Mr. Pollack said, that hospitals and doctors may face "real cuts, not just a reduction in the rate of increase," in their Medicare payments.
He said such cuts were inevitable as long as Congress focused on Medicare's immediate fiscal problems rather than on the long-term changes needed to finance the program for the baby boom generation. The hospital association espouses the idea of "shared responsibility," meaning that beneficiaries, especially those with higher incomes, should pay more, Mr. Pollack said.
Some lawmakers have suggested that the Government increase Medicare premiums for beneficiaries with incomes above a certain level, like $75,000 a year. But Marilyn Moon, an economist at the Urban Institute who is a public trustee of the Medicare trust fund, said such proposals would not raise much revenue because they would affect relatively few people. Census Bureau data show that fewer than 7 percent of the elderly have household incomes above $75,000 a year.
President Clinton, like many Republicans, wants to encourage the use of health maintenance organizations, in the hope that they will save money for Medicare. Nearly five million Medicare beneficiaries are in H.M.O.'s, and enrollment is growing by more than 80,000 a month.
But a summary of the President's budget proposal says the use of H.M.O.'s "does not reduce Medicare costs" today because the Government's method of calculating payments is flawed. Medicare officials said they believed that their payments to H.M.O.'s were 5 percent to 7 percent too high, and they want Congress to correct the formula to eliminate such overpayments.
H.M.O.'s give comprehensive care for a fixed monthly premium. For each Medicare beneficiary in an H.M.O., the Government pays roughly 95 percent of the average cost for a patient in the traditional Medicare program. But Federal officials said that Medicare patients in H.M.O.'s tended to be healthier than the average beneficiary and therefore had lower medical expenses.
H.M.O. executives disagree. They say many of their elderly members have chronic illnesses. And, they say, if the Government cuts Medicare payments to H.M.O.'s, it will reduce their ability to offer prescription drug coverage and other benefits that attract new members.

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January 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The View From: New Canaan;
Building a Community Center Meant for Everyone in Town

BYLINE: By DIETER STANKO 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 2; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 934 words

WITH a combination of volunteer effort, more than $750,000 in private contributions and, perhaps most important, an available town building, New Canaan has put together what other area towns might envy: a full-fledged community center.
As other Fairfield County towns struggle to find suitable space to meet a growing need for community and senior citizen activities, New Canaan has the brand-new Lapham Community Center, created at a former luxurious vacation home owned by the town at the town's woodsy, 300-acre Waveny Park. 
 The center opened this summer after a nearly three-year-long volunteer effort spearheaded by Penny Young, chairwoman of the New Canaan Senior Center's board of directors. It offers a home for the senior center and a place for various community programs and classes offered by the Center, as well as for the town's Parks and Recreation Department and the Norwalk Community-Technical College's continuing education program.
And the Lapham Center was renovated without any cost to the town's taxpayers.  About 1,100 private donations paid for all renovation costs.
"It's been very rewarding to see how the community has come together to preserve a part of itself," said Mrs. Young. "The community has made this happen and it should be very proud."
Planning for the new community center began in late 1993, when it became clear that New Canaan's population of elderly men and women was growing dramatically and a larger, permanent home for senior programs was needed, Mrs. Young said. The one-story stone home at Waveny Park, called the Stone Cottage or the Bungalow, was selected as a site.
By the following spring, all town approvals for the new center were granted, with the stipulation that all costs were to be paid with private funding. Then began a longer process -- hiring architects, designing a new building interior, updating utilities and bringing the residence up to code. It was also decided to have the new building become a center for the whole community.
Although its bedrooms have been changed to classrooms, the spacious L-shaped building still retains the atmosphere of an old New England inn or hotel.
The main entrance, reception area and a library all feature refinished oak paneling and trim. There is also a commercial kitchen, a workshop, a greenhouse, a game room, an exercise area and a small office for Lynda Bond, executive director, who is in charge of the community center's overall operations. Painting and drawings by elderly men and women taking art classes at the community center hang in the hallways.
Mrs. Bond said the center was previously hampered by having to conduct programs at different locations in town.
"Some mornings I would have to figure out where I was going to be that day. Now, we have the advantage of having everything in one place and we can expand," she said.  "We're really doing better that we ever anticipated."
While initially fearful that not enough people would sign up for classes at the new center, Mrs. Bond says she now is adding more t'ai chi, tap and line dancing classes to meet demand. Overall, adult programs have doubled with the center's opening and there are crafts, dancing and other classes for children. Free children's movies are shown on Wednesday; adult films are on Friday afternoon.
A New Canaan couple, Clarence and Lucille Brown, are taking full advantage of the Lapham center, with Mrs. Brown teaching a seasonal crafts class and Mr. Brown taking a drawing class. "This is absolutely wonderful," said Mrs. Brown. "Now we don't have to move when there is something else going on. Added Mr. Brown, "This building is really beautiful and we have good lighting. In the past, we had rooms with bad lighting."
In other Fairfield County towns, residents might be casting an envious eye on New Canaan. In Westport, where the town's senior center shuttles seasonally between a former elementary school school building and a dilapidated building at Longshore Club Park, the senior center's fate is uncertain.
Westport has been forced by rising student enrollment to at least consider reclaiming the former Greens Farms Elementary School building and opening a school there again. And plans to renovate the Longshore building did not meet zoning approval.
Unlike New Canaan, Westport does not own a building suitable for use as a senior and community center. "I think that's a great concept, but we don't happen to have any old buildings that we can convert," said Westport First Selectman Joseph Arcudi, who has proposed buying a private estate,
The Stone Cottage was one one of four buildings acquired by New Canaan when it purchased Waveny Park from the Lapham family in 1967. It had been built in 1915 as a summer home for a son of the family patriarch, Lewis Henry Lapham. The other structures are also being used for community purposes, including an arts center and a theater.
At the community center's opening ceremony, Elise Lapham, the wife of F. David Lapham, a grandson of Lewis Henry Lapham, fondly recalled living in the Stone Cottage for six years prior to World War II. During those times, the spacious Waveny fields were used for polo matches, baseball games and as landing strip for planes flown by the many avid Lapham family pilots, she said. Today, model airplane enthusiast fly on the fields.
"I'm absolutely delighted that the cottage can be used like this," Mrs. Lapham said. "I take my hat off to all the people who are behind this. They've kept it so much like it was, but they've also made it better. It's not as dark as it used to be."

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GRAPHIC: Photos: At the Lapham Community Center in New Canaan, painting draws George Borkin and Agnes Quinn, above left; Lynn Berns leads the line dancing, and frosting a cookie house occupies Kendall Larkin. (Photographs by Helen Neafsey for The New York Times)

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January 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Defense Spray Law Leads to Lessons in Use

BYLINE: By TOM CALLAHAN 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 1; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1058 words

DATELINE: MOUNT VERNON

On a recent morning, 52 elderly residents gathered at the Doles Center on South Sixth Avenue here to learn about pepper spray. It was the first session conducted by the Westchester County Office for the Aging in response to a New York State law, which went into effect on Nov. 1, legalizing the possession of personal defense sprays and their use for self-defense.
The audience watched a half-hour videotape, which explained what pepper spray was and included several crime victims telling how they were attacked and how pepper spray might have helped them escape. The audience then listened as Officer David Hecker of the County Department of Public Safety explained the proper use of the spray, when it can be legally used and first aid procedures. 
 Those residents interested in buying the spray were offered an application for a 75 percent rebate for attending the program. The sprays normally sell from $9 to $12 and can be bought only from licensed firearms dealers or pharmacies. The County Office for the Aging has singled out eight places that are selling pepper spray. Money for the rebate will come from assets seized from drug traffickers.
Although the program here was for the elderly, other presentations will be open to women of all ages and women's groups. County officials believe that the program can help victims of abuse.
"I think it is important that victims of crime and potential victims of crime be given the opportunity to defend themselves," said Louis D'Aliso, Commissioner of Public Safety.
Westchester is the first county in New York to offer a public information program of this kind. Soon after the new law took effect, a county telephone number was set up for those interested. The program will be offered to groups of 10 people who can meet at a convenient place.
"Pepper spray is not for everyone," County Executive Andrew P. O'Rourke told the audience here. "Maybe you don't want to carry anything. In the end you have to make you up your own mind." He added that the county wants to make the spray available at the lowest possible cost."
County officials stressed that the sessions were intended to provide information, not training. The video, prepared by the County Executive's office, emphasizes that the county assumes no liability for any use of pepper spray. Although tear gas like Mace is also legal now in New York, the county program concentrates only on pepper spray, an inflammatory agent derived from cayenne pepper, because it is considered more effective than Mace.
Several prominent elected officials, notably Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, opposed the new law, contending that the sprays could fall into the hands of criminals. Robert M. Maccarone, Director of Criminal Justice Planning for Westchester, observed that the law restricts the sale of the sprays to those over 18 who sign a document stating that they have never been convicted of a felony. This information is then sent to Albany for verification.
"We are not arming the public with this information," Mr. Maccarone said of the county's information program. "But we are providing valuable information to a portion of the public by targeting the elderly and victims of domestic violence. What we're doing here is providing a balanced presentation as to whether this spray is right for them or not."
During the session Officer Hecker, who is certified to train police officers in the use of the spray, held up a canister resembling pepper spray, but it was filled with water. He demonstrated how to hold it and explained that it shoots out about 10 feet. It should be aimed at an attacker's face and fired in one or two bursts of about a second each, to avoid the possibility of its spraying back.
Officer Hecker then described an experience of being sprayed in training, which he called extremely uncomfortable. Within 5 to 10 seconds, he said he experienced an incredible burning sensation, and his eyes temporarily locked shut. "The only thing I could think about was that I needed water and air, and I had to get it off," he said. "That might give you enough time to run away."
The sensation lasts for 30 to 35 minutes. Officer Hecker advised the audience that if they ever use the pepper spray, they should stand back far enough so the spray doesn't splash back and hit them. If hit accidentally, they should get under a water tap or shower head to wash it off. In answer to a question, he said that the spray can be used in situations "when you would use physical force to stop something that is happening to you."
Karen Coleman, 41, a Yonkers resident and nurse who appears on the video describing the assault and rape by her husband in 1994, spoke to audience members individually after the session. She carries two canisters of pepper spray, one attached to her house key and the other to her car keys.
"If I had the spray when I was attacked, I believe I would have escaped," Ms. Coleman said. "I accidentally got a drop of it in my eye once, and it hurts very bad. Using it would allow you to get away. That's all I want. Nothing is more important."
The reaction of the elderly residents at the session was generally favorable, with many picking up the rebate applications. Several were uncertain, though, if they would buy the spray, or be able to use it.
"I think it was a wonderful presentation," said Rose Mages, 75, of Mount Vernon. "They gave us a lot of information. The big question now is whether I will get it. I'm leaning toward no because I think many seniors would have a hard time using it. If it's in your bag, by the time you get it out, it would be too late."
Margaret Bess, 75, of Mount Vernon, walked out of the auditorium with the aid of a cane. "I think it could be helpful, but if you're walking with this," she said, lifting her cane for emphasis, "it might not help too much. I do think it's all right to sell the spray as long as it does not get into the wrong hands."
Pearl Perry, 78, also of Mount Vernon, decided that she did not need pepper spray. "It was an interesting talk, but I have a better way," she said. "Jesus is my pepper spray. If you look to Him, He will walk with you and protect you. Besides, I don't want to hurt anybody. I was raised that way."
More information about the pepper spray program is available by calling 665-7233.

LOAD-DATE: January 5, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Officer David Hecker, holding a canister of pepper spray, with Pearl Perry. (Chris Maynard for The New York Times)

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January 7, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Model Shows How Medical Changes Let Population Surge

BYLINE: By GINA KOLATA  

SECTION: Section C;  Page 3;  Column 2;  Science Desk;  Medical Science Page

LENGTH: 763 words

DEMOGRAPHERS often like to toy with statistical trends. If the world's population keeps growing as it is now, how long will it be before there is just one square foot of space for each person? If the death rate keeps falling, how long before there are more old people than young people in the population?
But Dr. Samuel H. Preston and one of his graduate students, Kevin M. White, demographers at the University of Pennsylvania, decided to do a sort of reverse experiment. Suppose, they asked, the mortality rate at the turn of the century had not changed? How many Americans would be alive today? 
 The answer surprised them. They concluded that there would be about half as many Americans in today's population, 139 million instead of 276 million. Half of the missing population would be absent because one of their parents would not have survived to reproductive age. And the other half would have been born but would have died young.
Of course, said Dr. Paul Demeny, a demographer at the Population Council, a nonprofit research group in New York, and the editor of Population and Development Review, it is well known that death rates have plummeted in the 20th century. But, he added, Dr. Preston's paper, published in Population and Development Review in September, "translates this in an uncommonly interesting and gripping way."
Dr. Richard Suzman, who directs the office of demography at the National Institute on Aging, said: "It's a rather simple but profound simulation. I was stunned by the magnitude of the effect."
Never before in history, Dr. Preston said, have life spans increased so much. "The expansion in longevity ranks among the great social achievements of our time," he wrote.
At the turn of the century, life expectancy at birth was 47.3 years. In 1994, it was 75.7 years. Moreover, Dr. Preston noted, people are not only living longer but they are more likely to survive long enough to have families of their own. In 1900, fewer than 60 percent of women lived to the age of 50, while 95 percent of women can now expect to live to be at least 50.
The effects on population size have been striking. "Most people believe that the population has grown because of immigration," Dr. Preston said. But his study, he said, "is a concrete way of expressing how important the health advances are." He added that when he calculated the effects of immigration on the population's size, he found they were only half that of the changing death rates.
Most of the health advances and resulting declines in mortality rates occurred in the first few decades of the 20th century. This means, Dr. Preston said, that they were due to simple changes in hygiene and public health, not to sophisticated medical treatments.
To illustrate this point, Dr. Preston asked how large the population would be if mortality rates had remained static since 1950. The result, he said, would be that 94 percent of Americans who are alive today would be still be alive.
The declining mortality rates in the first half of the century benefited children, for the most part. As children who would have died survived and had children of their own, the population jumped. In the second half of the century, in contrast, the improvements in death rates affected mainly older people, who had already had their families, and so had a much smaller effect on the population's size but a large effect on the number of very old people.
Asked what changed the death rates in the first half of the century, Dr. Preston said he thought it was the ascendance of the germ theory of disease. This resulted, he said, in profound changes in personal and public health practices, like cleaner water, the sterilization of food, keeping flies away from food, washing hands and isolating sick patients.
Dr. Preston said medical advances early in the century could not have so markedly changed the mortality rates. After the advent of smallpox vaccinations, in the 18th century, and vaccinations against diphtheria in the 1890's, there was no major medical advance until the late 1930's, he said, when sulfa drugs were introduced to fight bacteria, and in the late 1940's, when penicillin was introduced.
Most people, Dr. Preston said, are entirely unaware that they probably owe their very existence to something so simple as an ancestor's hand washing or to the isolation of a sick child nearly a century ago.
Dr. Suzman, for one, said that the new study opened his eyes. It shows, he said, "how one sometimes has to go back several generations to understand what's happening today."

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January 7, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Peru Turns A Deaf Ear To Rebels

BYLINE: By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO  

SECTION: Section A;  Page 8;  Column 1;  Foreign Desk  

LENGTH: 861 words

DATELINE: LIMA, Peru, Jan. 6

From the instant the guerrillas of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement seized the Japanese Ambassador's residence three weeks ago, their siege has seemed calculated to win over public opinion.
Within hours of the takeover, they released some 200 women and elderly people in the group of nearly 600 hostages. Later, they freed another 225 who had no connection to the Government of President Alberto K. Fujimori. Many of the hostages who came out told of guerrillas, their chests puffy with explosive-laden vests, stripping off their bandannas to expound their political views in sessions that lasted for hours. 
 But if the Tupac Amaru gained a platform on the world stage, their message does not seem to be winning over ordinary Peruvians. There are no graffiti around town sympathizing with the rebels. In fact, in parks in Lima, handwritten notes left at the bases of statues bear messages calling for peace, and many houses are flying the country's red-and-white flags from their rooftops in solidarity with the Government.
For many Peruvians, the most disheartening message of the protracted siege has been perhaps the same one the rebels expected people would celebrate: that guerrilla violence, which they thought Mr. Fujimori's crackdown on Tupac Amaru and on the Shining Path movements had defeated, was still a factor in life here.
"They're terrorists, and we don't agree with them," said Alfredo B., a 45-year-old fruit peddler who spoke on condition that his full name not be used. He acknowledged that the group may well have mounted the assault on the Japanese Ambassador's residence to present its case for a peace accord with the Government and perhaps to open the way to legalizing the movement, as some contend. "But this isn't the way to do it," he said.
Samuel Castillo, who sells ice cream from a yellow pushcart, said that if the Government acceded to the guerrillas' demand that 400 imprisoned Tupac Amaru rebels be released, it would set the country back.
"It'll be even worse," said Mr. Castillo, who is 30. "They'll get stronger. They'll kill people in the jungles. That's what they're about."
So far, the crisis at the Japanese Ambassador's residence has not exposed deep rifts in Peru over the country's policy toward the guerrilla violence that has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives since 1980.
On Friday, a group of four members of Congress sent Mr. Fujimori a letter urging him to stick to his uncompromising policies toward guerrillas. "Even though I am very tough against Fujimori and hope he's out of office by 2000," said Congresswoman Lourdes Flores Nano, one of the signers, "right now we want the Peruvian state and its President to project a strong image."
The letter said that, "This position of firmness before blackmail and terror does not mean to stop negotiating," and it added that the Government should try to persuade the rebels to give up their hostages.
"But if this hope is denied and the price to pay is the sinking of law and security in Peru, then the national interest must come first," the letter said.
Another letter, signed by six members of Congress, warned the President that his top priority must be to avoid bloodshed.
Congressman Carlos Chipoco, one of the signers, said the group feared that the hard-line letter sent out by Congresswoman Flores and others would "open the door to violent solution."
Mr. Chipoco said, nevertheless, that he did not believe that the guerrillas had won allies among Peruvians. "People remember the past, and all the terrorism," he said.
Perhaps the guerrillas' crowning moment came last week, when they ignored an agreement with Government negotiators and turned a photo opportunity with foreign journalists into a news conference during which they criticized Mr. Fujimori's Government and conditions in Peruvian prisons.
Alfredo Torres, managing director of Apoyo Opinion y Mercado, a polling agency here, said that pollsters had agreed to refrain from publishing any surveys concerning the President or the Tupac Amaru during the siege, so there was no way of knowing the overall reactions of Peruvians to the situation.
But he had no doubt that the answer was important to the hostage-takers. Mr. Torres, who was among those taken prisoner at the Ambassador's residence, recalled that Nestor Cerpa Cartolini, the guerrilla commander, was curious about the group's image in opinion surveys.
Mr. Cerpa asked Mr. Torres whether people made any distinction between Tupac Amaru and the Shining Path movement, which is associated with far more random violence.
"I told him that people don't see a real difference, and he said 'Yes, that's a problem they have,' " Mr. Torres recalled. "He asked me whether there was a difference between what people thought in Lima and in the jungle, and I said most of our work is done in Lima, so I didn't know."
Mr. Torres said he believed that the group saw itself as playing a role in the country's political future, but he felt that its self-image was out of line with reality. "Peru is not Central America, and we're not in a dictatorship, and they don't have a great popular support," he said.

LOAD-DATE: January 7, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Spiritual healers from the Andean highlands went to Lima yesterday to try to persuade guerrillas to release the 74 hostages being held in the Japanese Ambassador's home. The rebels did not respond. (Associated Press)
      

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January 9, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Pension Economics

BYLINE: By LOUIS UCHITELLE 

SECTION: Section B; Page 9; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1035 words

DATELINE: EW ORLEANS, Jan. 7

Today, millions of elderly Americans are nearly as well off in retirement as they were in their working years. But to live that well, they are absorbing, in Social Security and Medicare alone, an ever-growing portion of the nation's annual income. And one of the big questions raised by this week's Federal advisory report on Social Security is whether this trend should continue or whether more of that money should go to younger people.
"To an extent previously unknown in Western societies in modern times, the retired elderly are now able to live independently rather than as resident dependents of their adult children," Benjamin Friedman, an economist at Harvard University, said in a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association, which ended here this week. 
 The advent of Medicare in 1965 and the practice adopted soon after of linking increases in Social Security benefits to increases in the inflation rate have kept millions of elderly Americans out of the poverty many of their retired parents suffered. But will such living standards be sustainable after the baby-boom generation starts retiring in the next decade or so?
No one contends that the Social Security system can go on as it is. The recommendations of the 13-member Advisory Council on Social Security represent, in part, an attempt to sidestep the issue by suggesting that it is possible to generate a higher return by investing some Social Security revenue from payroll taxes in the stock market. The money that is not needed immediately to provide for current beneficiaries now goes entirely into Treasury securities, which have tended to perform worse than stocks.
But putting aside a stock market gamble designed to help cover the future fiscal shortfall in Social Security, two schools of thought have emerged about the more fundamental economic question.
On one side are those who argue that the elderly and their children are struggling over national income that in the 21st century will no longer be sufficient to support retirees in the current style without squeezing their children. That balance, they say, should be redressed.
"The real story is that we are taking from young savers and giving to old spenders," said Laurence J. Kotlikoff, an economist at Boston University.
But the other school says that this sort of talk is scare-mongering. There will be enough income for young and old, they say, without major changes in the current level of Social Security benefits, Medicare and long-term care for the elderly under Medicaid. "The burden is not that great," said Dean Baker, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington.
The statistics lay out the framework of the debate, and in the process make clear that the real challenge is not so much Social Security as it is the cost of providing health care to the elderly. Nearly 9 percent of the $8 trillion a year in national income, or gross domestic product, is dedicated to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for the elderly, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Social Security currently represents 5 percentage points of this 9 percent. Add in earnings from private income and the total percentage of national income going to the elderly is even higher.
Without changes in policy, that 9 percent share will more than double, to 19 percent of the national income, by 2050. But even without cutbacks in Social Security benefits, the 5 percent now dedicated to Social Security will rise to only 7 percent, the budget office projects, while Medicare will swell to 8 percent and Medicaid outlays for long-term care will reach 4 percent.
"If we could somehow get the cost increases in health care down closer to the growth of the economy," said Eugene Steuerle, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, referring to a two-and-a-half-percent growth rate for the economy, "then you take care of about half the total growth in spending for the elderly."
But Mr. Kotlikoff says this is wishful thinking. More likely, he says, the national economy, and with it, the national income, will not grow sufficiently to finance the current level of Government benefits to the elderly.  As a result, working-age Americans by the middle of the next century would have to pay out in Federal, state and local taxes more than 80 percent of their earnings to maintain retirement benefits at their current levels. All of these taxes are currently less than 35 percent of income.
"We are either going to bankrupt the next generation with sky-high tax rates or ask the elderly to pay their fair share," he said.
Many experts, on both sides of the issue, would cut back retirement benefits, at least somewhat. Most Social Security proposals, for example, argue that the retirement age, which is already scheduled to rise gradually to 67 early in the next century, should be pushed back even further. But while Mr. Baker and Mr. Steuerle would stop at small cuts in Government benefits for the elderly, Mr. Kotlikoff and Mr. Friedman would try to sharply reduce the proportion of national wealth going to the elderly.
They would do so by such measures as cutting Federal benefits for those with sufficient private income, by reducing the annual increases in Social Security pensions, by taxing the benefits, by requiring the elderly to pay more from their pockets for medical care, and by stiffening the eligibility requirements for Medicare.
But others see the glass as half full rather than half empty. Mr. Baker argues that if the Social Security payroll tax, now at 12.4 percent, were pushed up one-tenth of a percentage point a year, starting now and continuing through 2046, the total rise of just under 5 percentage points would pay for Social Security, without cutbacks, for 75 years.
"Given moderate economic growth," Mr. Baker said, "the income of American workers after paying this higher tax and allowing for inflation would still be higher than it is today."
But Medicare remains an issue, although Mr. Steuerle, who spoke by telephone, sees it as a declining one. Health care costs are no longer rising as rapidly as they were, he notes, and that decline is likely to continue.      

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January 10, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Nazi Gold and Portugal's Murky Role

BYLINE: By MARLISE SIMONS 

SECTION: Section A; Page 10; Column 4; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1598 words

DATELINE: LISBON

As World War II raged across Europe, Portugal sold tungsten and other goods to Nazi Germany, profiting handsomely from its neutral status in the conflict. The Nazis paid with gold bullion looted from countries they conquered and, it is suspected, from victims of the Holocaust.
After the Nazis lost the war, Portugal secretly sold off some of this gold to Indonesia, the Philippines and above all China, working through Macao, its colonial enclave near Hong Kong. 
 Those sales, disclosed for the first time by a former senior minister who insisted on anonymity, were the final chapter in a story that has now come back to haunt Portugal's central bank and some of the country's more prominent business families.
Fifty years after the defeat of Germany, Europe has been stunned by a stream of revelations about Nazi gold: who handled it, where it came from and who reaped financial rewards from genocide.
The issue initially arose in Switzerland, where investigators are now examining the Swiss financial transactions with the Nazis and the fate of lost Jewish wealth in World War II.
In recent months, the focus has broadened to include Sweden, Spain and Portugal, where newspapers and historians are raising a separate set of questions about the role of local banks in financing trade and collaborating with the Nazi regime.
At the same time, the Poles have ordered an investigation into the missing wealth of Poland's victims. The Netherlands, too, plans an inquiry to find out what happened to 75 tons of public and private gold, half of the total plundered, which is still missing.
The story of the Nazis' gold has struck a particular nerve in Lisbon because, after Switzerland, Portugal was the largest importer of the gold. The country was officially neutral during the war but its regime had strong Nazi sympathies.
Like a dark, forgotten ghost, Lisbon's past has revived with tales of the city as a pivotal center for spies and a place of unscrupulous deals, where weapons and goods were transshipped to support the German war machine.
Older people here say they knew that the country's neutrality was a useful cover for doing business with all sides. But few had heard of the enormous gold trade with Germany.
According to Allied records, close to 100 tons of Nazi gold ended up in Portugal after first passing through Swiss banks that were apparently helping to disguise its origins. Almost half of this gold is believed to have been stolen from the treasuries of European countries that fell to the Nazis.
Records of Portugal's wartime dealings have recently been revealed in the news media here, astonishing today's generation of Portuguese. They also appear to have embarrassed the establishment deeply. President Jorge Sampaio and Prime Minister Antonio Guterres have discussed the issue in meetings of the Cabinet, but have so far declined to comment publicly.
Until 1968, when the dictator Antonio Salazar retired, censorship was used to keep secrets. When Portugal became a democracy in 1974, there were more pressing matters like the leftist revolution and the independence of the colonies.
Now, politicians, historians, students and news organizations are demanding that the Government open its archives and give a full accounting of collaboration with Hitler.
"It's a political and a moral issue," said Fernando Rosas, a professor of contemporary history at New University in Lisbon. "This Government should speak out. It's not their doing."
The Bank of Portugal, which occupies a somber building on the downtown Rua do Comercio, has long had a venerable image, but recent celebrations of its 150th anniversary were clouded by the public debate about its Nazi collaboration. It declined to send representatives to recent round-table discussions on the gold issue organized by the city of Lisbon, television stations and universities.
Because the bank had a monopoly over the gold trade until after the war, its archives are considered vital. But it has spurned requests from historians and journalists for access to wartime documents, saying it is bound by strict secrecy laws. The bank has promised to study the matter.
Down in its vaults, the bank still has "two or three" gold bars stamped with swastikas, according to Nuno Jonet, a bank official.
"We kept them as curiosities, Mr. Jonet said. "We do not admit any wrongdoing. The gold acquisition was the result of perfectly legal trade operations. I'm sure people at the time did not know the gold coming here was stolen."
Portugal used the same arguments before the Allied Tripartite Commission, which was in charge of recovering stolen gold after the war. American officials tried to pressure Portugal to surrender 44 tons of gold by freezing its assets in the United States and cutting back on wheat exports.
But the Salazar regime did not budge. In 1953 the Allies finally gave up, accepting the four tons Lisbon offered to return and letting it keep the rest.
"By then the cold war was under way and the Americans wanted to keep the Azores as a strategic base," said Jose Freire Antunes, who has written a history of the Azores.
Both Portugal and Switzerland insist that they were not aware that the Nazi gold they used for trade had been looted.
Antonio Louca, a historian at New University who is writing a doctoral thesis on Portugal's dealings in Nazi gold, dismisses these claims.
He said that as early as 1942 the Allies officially notified Western countries that Nazis were disposing of stolen gold through Swiss banks. Mr. Louca said he has recently obtained documents from Portugal's Foreign Ministry archives that cite the warning.
Old trade records tell part of the story: in 1940, less than 2 percent of Portugal's exports went to Germany; by 1942, that figure had reached 24.4 percent. Portugal sent Germany textiles, boots and food, but it earned most from tungsten, an alloy used in steel, which was indispensable to the Nazi war machine.
"At the height of the tungsten fever, prices in Lisbon increased by up to 1,700 percent," one history book reports.
Lisbon was also a crucial intermediary for Berlin, bringing insulin and industrial diamonds from Latin America and food from its African colonies and selling Nazi gold in South America. A businessman whose foreign company had a long presence here said: "Salazar, the President, was the master of wartime neutrality. He charged extortionary prices."
The full story of Portugal's Nazi gold may not be hidden in bank ledgers. There were other, secret channels.
Mr. Louca, the historian, said he has obtained German documents, recently declassified, that show that in 1944 couriers were secretly running large gold shipments from Germany to its embassy in Lisbon. The couriers bypassed the Portuguese central bank and sold the gold locally.
The documents raise several disturbing questions and touch briefly on the fate of one large and wealthy Jewish family.
By the summer of 1944, Europe was in chaos. German forces had occupied Hungary, an ally, when it took steps to withdraw from the war, and the Nazis had captured several members of the Weiss-Chorin family, owners of the country's largest industrial empire.
Under duress, the family made a deal with the SS, according to postwar American intelligence reports: the Nazis would get a large part of the Weiss empire and the family could leave Hungary. At least 44 family members left, of whom 32 arrived in Portugal in June 1944.
In July, the German Embassy in Lisbon began complaining in telegrams to Berlin that the gold price in Lisbon was dropping. Berlin responded by asking if this was a result of the sales by the couriers or sales by the Weiss family, which it suspected of bringing valuables from Hungary. Members of the Weiss family have said they brought no gold to Lisbon.
"Why was this gold coming here and why did the couriers not sell the German gold to the central bank?" Mr. Louca said. "The chances are that the gold included coins and jewelry, which had been stolen from individuals."
Buyers reportedly included Portuguese businessmen and bankers, some of whom still own large establishments today.
After the war, the Allies demanded that Portugal give back at least 44 tons of looted Nazi gold. But Lisbon instead began to sell off its Nazi bullion secretly through Macao, with much of it going to China in the 1950's and 60's.
According to a government official who was himself involved in supervising numerous shipments, the China-bound gold was flown from Portugal to Macao, and from there moved across the Chinese border. The former official said some ingots sent to Macao were still embossed with the sealof the Dutch Treasury, which had been plundered by the Nazis; others were marked with swastikas. A number of bars were carried from Macao to the Philippines and Indonesia, strapped on people's bodies, the official said.
Historians, politicians and journalists are demanding that the Lisbon Government tell all. Fernando Rosas, the professor who is also editor of the prestigious magazine Historia, said the Government must allow free research and clarify the whole issue. "The country needs to know the truth," he said.
Mr. Louca wonders if the gold story will ever be fully unraveled.
"Looting monetary gold was one thing -- stealing it from individuals, from victims, is another," he said. "There is evidence that both types of gold came to Portugal." But, he added, even if new details spill out of official archives, it may be too difficult to separate the different sources of gold.      

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January 10, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Abortion and Gulf War Studies

SECTION: Section A; Page 32; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 638 words

Two research reports on politically sensitive issues this week -- one on abortion and breast cancer, the other on Persian Gulf war illnesses -- offer a cogent reminder that scientific studies differ widely in credibility and authority. The abortion study, which largely disproved the notion that abortions cause breast cancer, was the most authoritative research yet on the issue. It surveyed a very large number of women and used a research design that virtually eliminated the main cause of bias in previous studies.
By contrast, the gulf war illness study, which suggested that some gulf veterans may have suffered neurological impairments from exposure to multiple chemicals, was only preliminary and suggestive. It covered a very small group of veterans and its results may have been distorted by selective participation. 
 The abortion study, performed in Denmark, should go a long way toward resolving an issue that has been clouded in controversy for more than a decade. As long ago as 1980, some scientists theorized that women who abort their pregnancies may be left with vulnerable breast cells that, deprived of hormonal changes in late pregnancy, are prone to becoming cancerous. But dozens of studies of this possibility showed conflicting results.
Unfortunately, virtually all these studies were marred by likely reporting bias because they relied on women to tell the truth about whether they had had an abortion. The studies typically compared the abortion histories of a group of women who had breast cancer with a group of comparable women who did not. The breast cancer victims, as subsequent research showed, were far more apt to admit they had had an abortion, presumably because they wanted to give the doctor all relevant facts that might help in their treatment. The other women were less honest, presumably because they considered the abortion embarrassing.
The Danish study got around this inevitable bias by relying on official records rather than the testimony of the women. Abortion has been legal in Denmark since 1973 and mandatory registries are kept of births, cancer cases and abortions. The Danish researchers examined the records for 1.5 million women, of whom 280,000 had had abortions, some more than once. Over all, these women were no more likely to develop breast cancer than women who had never had an abortion.
The only uncertainty was a suggestion that women who had abortions in the second or third trimester did have an increased risk of breast cancer, but the number of women in this category was too small to warrant firm conclusions. The Danish work has also been challenged on the ground that even the registry does not fully eliminate bias because women with recent abortions have not had time to develop cancer and older women may have had abortions before the registry started. Further research is needed. But for now, this study shows that women need not shun a first-trimester abortion for fear of developing breast cancer.
The other study, involving 249 gulf war veterans, was more suggestive than authoritative. Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center surveyed veterans of a Navy seabees unit about their health, asked them about possible exposures to chemicals, and performed neurological tests on 23 ill veterans and 20 healthy controls. They found subtle differences in neurological function and concluded that some of the impairment may have been related to pesticides, chemical warfare agents or anti-chemical medications.
But the small size of this study and the possibility that only the sickest veterans participated undermines its authority. Research on multiple chemical exposures in the gulf war is in the early stages and will require more comprehensive follow-up, perhaps comparable to the Danish abortion study.

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January 10, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Mayor Adds Some Star Power To His Immigration Campaign

BYLINE: By DAVID FIRESTONE 

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 659 words

Last October, when Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced the formation of a coalition to make Americans more aware of the virtues of immigration, it was at a sparsely attended news conference in a Harvard University basement in Cambridge, Mass.
Yesterday, as the Mayor announced he was putting together an expanded group to do the same thing, he chose to do so in a far more elaborate and politically resonant setting. Surrounded by the history of Ellis Island, along with several hundred real-life immigrants and elderly people brought in from city-run centers, he once again dispatched 25 celebrities and business leaders to lobby Congress and the nation about immigration's benefits. 
 The coalition includes the musicians Isaac Stern, Carlos Santana, Itzhak Perlman, Teresa Stratas and Zubin Mehta; the authors Oscar Hijuelos and Frank McCourt; the film directors Ang Lee and Milos Forman, and the business leaders Preston Robert Tisch, William Fugazy and Alan Greenberg. In addition, 63 groups that deal with ethnic and immigration issues responded to the Mayor's request to sign up.
The members of the group have agreed to lobby Congress and issue public statements emphasizing the positive contributions that immigrants make. Only a handful of the coalition members were actually present yesterday, but none are likely to speak louder than Mr. Giuliani himself in a role that he has taken on with particular gusto.
It is no accident that Angelica O. Tang, the Mayor's director of immigrant affairs, introduced her boss yesterday as "our nation's most tenacious champion for immigration and the best friend to the immigrant community." For months, since the passage last fall of the Federal welfare law that restricts some benefits for immigrants, the Mayor has traveled nationwide speaking out against the law.
No other issue he has taken up has done more to soften his often imperious image, particularly among the liberal city voters he will need to court in his re-election campaign. It has also won him national attention.
Yesterday, his planning department released a major study showing that immigration had grown 32 percent in the 1990's over the previous decade, a report that landed on the front pages of three of the city's four newspapers. An Op-Ed article he wrote, "Keep America's Doors Open," was published in The Wall Street Journal yesterday.
And on Ellis Island yesterday, standing in front of a huge globe with lights that showed past migration patterns, he said his coalition planned to sponsor an immigration conference in New York this spring, which will include officials from Texas, Florida and California, the three other states with the greatest number of newcomers.
"The coalition's first order of business has to be to build a very, very strong case for the positive contributions of immigration, and to show Congress and the President the mistakes that have been made in both the welfare bill and in the immigration bill," Mayor Giuliani said. "And they're serious mistakes, practical ones, which really have to do with the heart and soul of America."
The Giuliani administration has already gone to court to overturn some aspects of the new laws, including one change that allows city employees to turn in illegal immigrants who seek services like police protection, hospital care and public education. The provisions overturn a New York City executive order that forbids city employees to report illegal immigrants.
Members of the coalition say they have not been told precisely what their roles will be, but expect to give speeches, write articles and lobby lawmakers.
Mr. McCourt, the Irish-American author of the best-selling memoir "Angela's Ashes," said he agreed wholeheartedly with the Mayor that the effect of the new legislation would be to cut off America's lifeline by imposing new restrictions on immigrants, and he praised the Mayor for raising his voice on the subject.
      

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January 10, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
OPPENHEIMER, PETER

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 171 words

OPPENHEIMER - Peter. On January 7, 1997, in Walnut Creek, CA. Beloved husband of Muriel Wolfson Oppenheimer. Devoted father of Michael, David, and Amy Oppenheimer. Loving father-in-law of Donna Tuths, Marcy Kates, and Jennifer Krebs. Adored grandfather of Alexander and Joel DiGiorgio, Harry and Julius Oppenheimer, and Talia Krebs-Oppenheimer. Cherished brother of Philip, Jack and Herbert Oppenheimer. Dear uncle, cousin, friend, and teacher of many. A pioneer in the field of geriatric education, Peter led the City University of New York's efforts to establish the Institute of Study for Older Adults, providing college level classes to older New Yorkers throughout the city. He also carried on his family's proud tradition of civil rights activism. Family services are being held Friday, January 10, in California. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions in Peter's memory to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or West Side One Stop.

LOAD-DATE: March 1, 1997

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TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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January 11, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER REVIEW;
Beloved and Frustrating, A Brain-Damaged Aunt

BYLINE: By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 16; Column 5; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 534 words

F. Scott Fitzgerald once observed that a novelist was an impossible subject for a biographer because if a novelist was any good, he was too many different people.
He might have said the same of good playwrights. 
 But there are exceptions to every rule. And when the playwright is the talented author of a one-woman show and the material is autobiographical, sometimes you can sit back and watch all those people come alive.
So it is at Manhattan Theater Club's Stage 2, where Charlayne Woodard is presenting her touching and engrossing "Neat," directed by Tazewell Thompson, through Feb. 9.
Ms. Woodard, whose stage, television and film credits range from "Ain't Misbehavin' " to "Roseanne" and "The Crucible," here displays her gifts as a storyteller, tracing her own early days and those of her somewhat older aunt, Neat.
She brings to life not only assorted incarnations of herself, but also Neat, other family members and people like Charles Bowman, the oh-so-cool, sullen tough guy who chooses an awestruck Charlayne to be his girlfriend when she is in high school.
In addition, "Neat," a companion piece to "Pretty Fire," which Mr. Woodard presented here in 1993, is an excursion into sociology, from entrenched prejudice in the South to racial violence in the North, where Ms. Woodard grew up, with side trips into teen-age fashions, hairdos and pop music, family relations, friendship and religion.
In the powerful, heartbreaking and beautiful tale that opens the evening, Ms. Woodard tells how the infant Neat's life was shaped by bigotry. In 1943, when she was 9 months old, Neat was poisoned by an illiterate great-grandmother unable to distinguish between two almost identical bottles. In convulsions but turned away by doctors at an all-white hospital in Savannah, Ga., she was saved by a black doctor, but too late to prevent brain damage.
Switching between Savannah and her own home in Albany, N.Y., Ms. Woodard tracks her own growth, from the little girl who delighted in Neat's innocent playfulness to the older child a bit put off when the disheveled Neat arrives to take up life in Albany to the adolescent in search of black history and the high-schooler experiencing first love and Neat's mysterious pregnancy.
Ms. Woodard sings, she dances, but most of all she tells good stories, bringing them to life in ways that are poignant or, in the case of Charles Bowman, sidesplitting. In memorable moments, the observant Ms. Woodard captures Charles's swaggering walk, the body language of children, the gingerly movements of the elderly Neat clutching her pocketbook with both hands and her ecstatic smile.
If there is a tragic inevitability to Neat's life, then Ms. Woodard has built for her a fine and loving memorial.
 
NEAT
 
Written and performed by Charlayne Woodard; directed by Tazewell Thompson; sets by Donald Eastman; costumes by Jane Greenwood; lighting by Brian Nason; original music and sound by Fabian Obispo. Presented by Manhattan Theater Club; artistic director, Lynne Meadow; executive producer, Barry Grove; in association with Seattle Repertory Theater. At Manhattan Theater Club, Stage 2, City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan.

LOAD-DATE: January 11, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Charlayne Woodard, writer and actress, in her show "Neat." (Susan Johann/"Neat")

TYPE: Review

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January 11, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

No Death Penalty in a Double Slaying

SECTION: Section 1; Page 31; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 232 words

District Attorney Charles J. Hynes of Brooklyn announced yesterday that he would not seek the death penalty for Lavonda Prater, 27, a home-care attendant charged with murdering two elderly women in Bensonhurst last May.
"I have concluded, after review and deliberation, that a sentence of life without parole is the appropriate punishment to seek in this case," Mr. Hynes said in a statement. 
 Although Mr. Hynes says he opposes the death penalty, he is the only New York City prosecutor who has sought executions under the capital punishment law that took effect in New York State on Sept. 1, 1995.
Despite his personal objection to the death penalty, Mr. Hynes has said he is duty bound to pursue it in appropriate cases.
Mr. Hynes said he would seek a sentence of life without parole against Ms. Prater, who is accused of killing Concetta D'Andrea, 85, and her cousin, Vincenza Weaver, 75, by striking them with a blunt instrument and strangling them with a cloth belt in the apartment they shared.
Among other crimes, a 13-count indictment charges Ms. Prater with forging Ms. Weaver's signature on three $200 checks and depositing them in her bank account. Ms. Prater is being held without bail, pending trial.
The Legal Aid Society, which is defending her, issued a statement expressing pleasure and relief at Mr. Hynes's decision not to seek Ms. Prater's execution.

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January 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

COVER STORY;
Dressed to Kill in the World of Fashion

BYLINE: By MARILYN STASIO 

SECTION: Section 12; Page 6; Column 1; Television 

LENGTH: 1134 words

THE chic crowd that runs New York's fashion industry is terrorized by a ruthless killer in "While My Pretty One Sleeps," a two-hour suspense thriller, adapted from a 1989 Mary Higgins Clark novel, that will be shown tonight at 9 on the Family Channel.
The killer's first victim, a fashion columnist who is about to publish an expose of the city's top designers, is struck down without mercy. The murderer confronts this venomous gossip in her elegant Manhattan brownstone, slashes her throat with an antique dagger and covers his tracks by dumping the body on a wooded estate north of the city. Only then does he realize that he has committed a fatal error. Chances are that no one will spot its damning significance except a nice young woman who owns an exclusive boutique on Madison Avenue. But that's enough to tag our heroine (Connie Sellecca) as the killer's next victim and send this story off to a nice, creepy start. 
 Ms. Clark's lofty sobriquet, America's Queen of Suspense, has been well and truly earned. As the author of 16 international best sellers (from "Where Are the Children," in 1975, to "Moonlight Becomes You," in 1996), she is not only the nation's top-selling female suspense writer but also, at $12 million a book, its highest paid. Two of her novels, "A Stranger Is Watching" and "Where Are the Children?," have been made into feature films, and several of her stories have been adapted for television.
Ms. Clark obviously knows which buttons to push to get a rise out of us. What's her secret?
Maybe this isn't the best time to ask.  It is less than a week since her marriage to John Conheeney, a retired Merrill Lynch executive, and the newlyweds are at Ms. Clark's home on Cape Cod.  As it turns out, they've been caught in the middle of a blustery nor'easter, so the distraction suits her.
"The one really scary thing that is universal to all of us," says Ms. Clark, "is when you are going about your ordinary life, doing exactly the right thing -- not being silly or foolish or reckless -- and something goes wrong. Something happens, and suddenly the ordinary becomes extraordinary."
The other sure-fire way of making an audience's skin crawl, she says, is to tap into people's fears about the disquieting things one hears about in the real world. In her novels, embryos are stolen from laboratories and children are kidnapped; elderly people come to no good in nursing homes; women of all ages suffer from multiple personalities, from obsessive lovers, from loneliness. And doctors are always up to mischief.
Her basic gauge of successful suspense, she says, is when she makes a reader or a viewer say: "This could be me. That could be my daughter. This could happen to us."
Considering the source, then, there is every reason to anticipate delicious chills from "While My Pretty One Sleeps," in which Ms. Clark has a small role. But what is this sophisticated thriller doing on the Family Channel, a division of International Family Entertainment that features shows like "The Waltons," "Home and Family," "Tooth Fairies," "Forgotten Toys" and "Mary and Joseph: a Story of Faith"? Pat Robertson, the Christian evangelist who started the station to inject some decent family values into the television wasteland, must be flabbergasted.
"I would run 'The Sound of Music' every night, if I could," said Gus Lucas, the president of Family Channel programming, "but not every film has to be a Hayley Mills movie." The mandate of "positive value programming" that gives the station its identity, he says, does not mean that a show can't be entertaining, or even thrilling.
BESIDES, the Family Channel has undergone some quiet changes since 1977, when, as the CBN Satellite Service, it was the first basic cable network to deliver its (mainly religious) programs via satellite. In 1989, when the station became the Family Channel, it cut back on the religious programming and started picking up spicier stuff. Today you'll find John Wayne and other gunslingers shooting it out on Saturday afternoons in a block of westerns, as well as detective series like "Columbo," "Hart to Hart" and "Murder, She Wrote" elsewhere in the schedule.
"While My Pretty One Sleeps" fits into the Family Channel's efforts to jazz up its programming further with more original dramas, something with a little kick for the grown-ups but that won't give children the heebie-jeebies.  "Stolen Memories: Secrets From the Rose Garden," a domestic suspense drama starring Mary Tyler Moore, Linda Lavin and Shirley Knight, did very well for the channel in the ratings. So did "The Night of the Twisters" and "Panic in the Skies!" ("No, the plane didn't actually crash," said a station executive. "We are, after all, the Family Channel.")
"You're not going to see blood and gore," Gus Lucas said. "The emphasis is on suspense and tension, not on spilling blood."
Ms. Clark's plot-driven mysteries are not known for violence, anyhow, he points out. He expects viewers to be titillated by the inside information that "While My Pretty One Sleeps" offers on the New York fashion industry, and captivated by the "very warm father-daughter relationship" between the heroine and her father, a retired New York City policeman.
"It felt natural to write about that," says Ms. Clark, whose father died when she was 10 years old. "I certainly had that relationship, and I certainly missed it." Speaking as a mother of five (with her first husband, Warren Clark, who died in 1964) and grandmother of six, she says she is tired of books "about parents and children at each other's throats." "I got along well with my parents and I get along fine with my own children," she adds.
Ms. Clark's insights into the fashion world were also drawn from experience. She credits her mother, who was a bridal buyer at B. Altman & Company, for her own fashion sense: "We had no money after my father died, but we were always well dressed because Mother knew how to work the sales racks in the Fifth Avenue stores." She picked up more fashion savvy while covering the industry for "Women Today," a syndicated radio show.
"You always do put something of yourself in your work," Ms. Clark says. The tragedies of her life have also made their way into her books. When her first husband died, she was left with five young children and very little income. More than 30 years later, she drew on those feelings for "Moonlight Becomes You." "In that book, I have a young widow missing not only a person but also the situation of being married," she says.
Mr. Lucas says he would like the television rights to all of her books for the Family Channel. On this dark and stormy night, with the ocean churning up dark waves and dashing them against the shore, Ms. Clark sits by the fire and mulls that one over.

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GRAPHIC: Photos: Left, Beau Starr as United States Attorney and Connie Sellecca (inset) as his daughter in "While My Pretty One Sleeps." Above, Mary Higgins Clark. (Family Channel) (pgs. 6-7); Jill Clayburgh in "Where Are the
Children?" (Columbia Pictures) and James Farentino in "The Cradle Will Fall," two other films from Mary Higgins Clark novels. (CBS) (pg. 27)

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January 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Phone Messages Help the Elderly Alone at Home

BYLINE: By DARICE BAILER 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 5; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 594 words

DATELINE: OSSINING

LAST April, six days before her 90th birthday, Lillian Lambert climbed on her flowered sofa in her apartment and reached up to change the top light bulb on a pole lamp. She lost her balance and fell, fracturing a rib.  Mrs. Lambert could not get up, nor could she reach the telephone to call for help. There was no one to help her to her feet or drive her to the hospital. She spent the night on the floor.
At 7 the next morning, Mrs. Lambert's telephone rang. It was a daily scheduled call made by the R.U.O.K.? telephone-reassurance program run for the elderly by the by the Town of Ossining Senior Center, which is in the Joseph G. Caputo Community Center. The program is offered in the town and village of Ossining and parts of Briarcliff Manor. The program is also offered in several other Westchester communities, including the city of Rye, the towns of Eastchester and New Castle and the villages of Elmsford and Tuckahoe. 
 If Mrs. Lambert had been able to pick up the phone, she would have heard this recorded message: "Good morning. Are you O.K.? This is the Town of Ossining Police Department calling you from the Ossining Community Center. If you are O.K., hang up now and enjoy the rest of your day. If you need to speak to us, please call us at 762-1350."
When Mrs. Lambert did not answer the phone, the computer called her back 15 minutes later and a third time 15 minutes after that. When Mrs. Lambert did not answer the third call, the computer screen flashed red inside the center for the elderly. An alarm rang, and a sheet of information was printed out with Mrs. Lambert's medical history, the names and phone numbers of her doctor, clergyman, next of kin and neighbors and the person who had a key to her Maple House apartment.
Fran Anderson, site director of the Town of Ossining Senior Center, who was monitoring the program that day, asked a resident in Mrs. Lambert's building, Priscilla Stanhope, to pick up the key and check on Mrs. Lambert. When Mrs. Stanhope did, she found Mrs. Lambert on the floor and called 911 for an ambulance.
The Are You O.K.? program, said Roslyn Robinson, director of the New Castle senior citizen program, "enables seniors to remain in the community longer than they would otherwise be able to."
Theresa Guarnieri, 90, is one of 15 elderly people who hear the recorded voice of Police Chief Frank Nanna of Elmsford when they receive a daily call from the Police Department. Mrs. Guarnieri's husband died 44 years ago, and having lost most of her eyesight 4 years ago, she is legally blind. Mrs. Guarnieri is afraid of falling. "The first thing you think of is that you'll be left alone too long," she said.
Anne and Gerald Crennan take part in the city of Rye's program. "You reach a certain age, and it's nice to know that someone will check up on you occasionally," Mrs. Crennan said.
After the program software and a computer to run it are obtained, the cost of the program is minimal. City Manager Frank Culross of Rye donated a computer to the police department in his town, and the police department paid $3,500 for the software. "We have a fairly large senior citizen community in Rye," Lieut. John McCarthy said. "We thought it would be something nice to do for them."
The program is free in all of the towns mentioned here except Eastchester, where there is a $20 yearly fee.
To sign up, call 771-3300 in Eastchester, 592-8383 in Elmsford, 241-1100 in Mount Kisco, 238-8888 in New Castle, 762-8953 in Ossining and Briarcliff Manor, 967-1234 in Rye and 961-4800 in Tuckahoe.

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January 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Schools Take Steps To Aid Communities

BYLINE: By MERRI ROSENBERG 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 1; Column 5; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1613 words

DATELINE: WHITE PLAINS

AMID national concern about how to improve education and enhance performance, a variety of initiatives have recently been started to bring schools and communities closer, and in doing so, redefine the relationship.
Whether it is students researching reports for health centers, businesses adopting an elementary school, colleges extending help to county workers who want to acquire advanced skills or high school students devoting time to homeless children, the implicit contract between schools and their communities has been revised. 
 "There are three things happening that are pushing this trend," said Dr. Shirley L. Mow, executive director of the Westchester Education Coalition, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of education in the county. "School-to-work initiatives have reached out to businesses for internships and mentors; technology has pulled the classroom out through the Internet so students can communicate across the country and the world, and community schools are reaching out to parents."
Schools in the county are no longer perceived as shelters cloistered from the real world. A combination of social forces, technology and changing economics has meant that the schools are increasingly partners in their communities. Not only are they benefiting from community involvement in their programs -- which can include business partnerships and hands-on classroom volunteers -- but in many cases, the schools are also offering students' talents to help solve local problems.
For example, schools typically invited the elderly into the district's buildings for special meals or performances. Harrison recently embarked on a program to offer seminars to elderly residents on Social Security and Medicare as well as inviting them to take part in exercise programs before and after school.
While schools have long had a practice of working to pass budgets, or in some cases to provide gymnasiums, cafeterias and libraries as recreational and meeting places, the concept of how schools are part of the community has evolved.
"There is now this concept of school as a community place that would be open a good part of the day and evening for parents to learn as well as their children," Dr. Mow said. "Schools haven't had the tradition of working with people outside the schools, other than interacting with parents in the P.T.A., or with the community to pass budgets."
In Hastings-on-Hudson, the schools have tried to change that perception. "We tried to set a cultural framework where people felt welcome to come in, and teachers would be welcoming," said Dr. John Russell, Superintendent of the school district. "Hastings had a reputation as a very interesting community, and it didn't seem as if we made an effective use of that. These residents wanted an opportunity to add depth to the curriculum and provide the kids with the best possible experience."
In the fall, the district sponsored meetings that drew members of the conservation committee, youth council, Hastings Arts Gallery, historical society and teachers, among others, to discuss ways community members could work in the schools. Experts in various fields taught courses to teachers as part of a continuing staff-development program, so that the curriculum would be enhanced.
"We have guest speakers, and students talk to the volunteers in mentor relationships," said Brian McGuinness, who is chairman of the science department for grades 6 through 12 in Hastings. "Local environmental groups provided teachers with a local environmental study course. These are very knowledgeable people with no agenda. It's a very positive project."
In the Lakeland School District, ninth graders at the Walter Panas and Lakeland High Schools take part in the Discovery Research project, which is an interdisciplinary English and math program requiring students to apply their skills to community problems.
"The purpose is to teach the research process, with writing and critical research skills," said Dr. Carol Boyle, chairwoman of the English department for the Lakeland school district. The students learn statistics and logic as part of the mathematics course and research and writing skills in the English section. The 350 ninth graders at Walter Panas work with the Hudson Valley Hospital, while the 100 students at Lakeland work with the New York Power Authority at Indian Point to identify potential research problems. The project includes several visits to the organizations and interviews with staff members, ending in a public presentation of the students' work.
Schools' increasing participation in the Internet has also presented opportunities for students to solve outside problems. At the Rye Neck Middle School, students have worked with professionals at the Bronx Zoo to design animal habitats. The students' research will be sent, on the Internet, to the Wildlife Preservation Trust, which will put the material on their Web site.
"We want to give kids a hands-on, realistic sense of science," said Edward Woods, principal of the Rye Neck Middle School. "The whole concept of our science curriculum is that each unit is linked to some activity in the real world."
Similarly, students in the environmental science course at Pelham High School use the Internet for current information and have lent their expertise to creating a Web site for Sound Watch, a community environmental group.
"Students use Route Net, from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, to find out what's going on in the scientific community," said Linda Fusco, an environmental science teacher at the high school. "They can capture lots of current studies on environmental issues, because the environment is changing so much."
Students have also embraced the community in other ways. At Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, members of the recently formed Youth in Philanthropy/Community Service Club are working with homeless children and their families through the South Yonkers Y.W.C.A.
"So often we hear comments about how teen-agers are self-absorbed and selfish," said Daniella Phillips, a social studies teacher and adviser to the club, which has a matching grant from the Volunteer Center's Youth in Philanthropy program in White Plains. "These students feel that the school community is larger than just their building. These are kids who are juggling school, 20-hour-a-week jobs and family responsibilities at home, but make the time to help homeless children and their families."
Businesses are also taking more active roles in the schools. At a recent career fair at the Rye Neck High School, workers from several local businesses, ranging from banks, hotels, medical centers and restaurants to the military, police and teaching fields, met with students to discuss their occupations.
"I live in this community, and having young people in my household made me aware of the importance of exposing them to the workplace," said Rose Silvestro, branch manager of the Mamaroneck Avenue branch of the Bank of New York in Mamaroneck. "Students are aware that there isn't necessarily a job waiting for them."
County businesses are increasingly taking more direct responsibility and interest in the schools. Two years ago, International Business Machines, the United Way of Westchester and Putnam and the Westchester Education Coalition began the Community Schools Initiative. The project was meant to establish extended-day programs in schools seen as having at-risk students who could benefit from intensive educational and social services, available from the beginning of the school day until 7 or 8 at night.
The group selected the A. B. Davis Middle School in Mount Vernon. "The goal was to reduce the potential for dropping out, absenteeism, violence, and to increase parent involvement," said Ralph Gregory, president of the United Way of Westchester and Putnam. "Out of a total of 800 students, 420 have participated in some form of extended day, and 50 parents show up regularly."
The project, whose services are provided by the Westchester Community Opportunity Program, includes homework tutoring, counseling, computer literacy classes, vocational and entrepreneurial workshops, a nutrition program and a center for parents.
 
College Degree Program Helps Public Employees
A YEAR-OLD program for county employees and local municipal employees, which was started by Long Island University at its Mercy College campus in Dobbs Ferry, offers another example of the fluid boundaries between education and the workplace.
The program offers graduate degrees in 36 fields and provides scholarships of up to one-third of tuition for eligible public employees.
There is no cost to the county for employees' participation in this program. "We felt it important to provide this," said Dr. Dennis L. Payette, provost of the regional campuses of Long Island University. "As more county employees received advanced training, it would improve service in the county. It's education for the sake of education."
Susan Lauer, a health care administrator at the County Medical Center, is pursuing a master's degree in public administration through the program.
"My career has taken me in a different direction, and it's a benefit to have more formal education in what I'm doing," Ms. Lauer said. "The county really supports education."
Cynthia Boone, an eligibility examiner in the child protective services division of the Department of Social Services, is working toward a master's degree in counseling.
"The issues are so intense in the work we do with families that it is really helpful to continue my education," she said.   MERRI ROSENBERG

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January 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WEDDINGS: VOWS;
Gertrude Bernstein, David Edelstein

BYLINE: By LOIS SMITH BRADY 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 37; Column 3; Society Desk 

LENGTH: 621 words

A FRIEND recently asked David Edelstein why he did not wait a little longer to marry Gertrude Bernstein, whom he had dated since September. "Are you kidding?" replied Mr. Edelstein, 83. "At my age, I don't even buy green bananas."
A retired New York City school principal and history teacher, he had been a widower for six years. Until he met Mrs. Bernstein, he never thought he would dance or recite love poems aloud again. 
 The two were introduced last fall by a mutual friend who invited them to his weekly dinner party for widows and widowers. Within days, they were in love.
In some ways, they sound unmistakably like elderly people when describing their romance. They encourage each other to nap and support each other while climbing stairs. When it gets too dark for him to see when driving, she takes the wheel.
But when they discuss how they feel about each other, they could be of any age.
"He's one of the most knowledgeable men I've ever met," gushes the bride, who is 81 and a retired math teacher. "Mention anything in history and he will know about it. Mention anything in geology and he will know it.
"The dullest tasks, emptying closets and things of that sort, are fun to do with him. We read junk mail together and it's fun."
Mr. Edelstein said: "Both of us are walking on air, as if we were 16 years old, although it's been a long time since I was 16. When I fell in love then it was all-out, and this is similar, only lighter. It's much more pleasant now than when you're young and all fired up and every imaginary slight can throw you into a funk. We look at each other, we smile. When one does something absent-minded, the other one says, 'It's O.K., all of us do it.' "
While they are young at heart, they both yelp, "Heavens, no!" when asked if they would rather be in their 20's or 30's.
"You laugh more at 81," the bride said. "For example, I met David's son for the first time when he came to dinner one night. Now, normally I'm a good cook but I burned the steak. If that had happened at 35, I probably would have burst into tears, but at 81 you see the humor in it."
Both lived in Yonkers, she in a house decorated in aquas and pinks and he in one filled with brown furniture and books. While he said he never expected to live anywhere else again, he is now moving his encyclopedias, paintings, diaries and a lifetime's worth of keepsakes into her house.
"We both have a tremendous amount of memorabilia," the bride said. "But it's the present that counts."
Last Sunday, they were married in Rye, N.Y., in the large stone home of the bride's son, Allan Sperling. There were about 60 guests of all ages, and many commented afterward on what it was like to watch two octogenarians marry.
"It truly made me appreciate the fact that nothing really ends," said Susan Kelz Sperling, a writer and the bride's daughter-in-law. "Growing older with my husband, I'm learning you don't just face a dead end as you age. Instead, possibilities widen. David and Gertrude didn't get married out of desperation or deprivation. They were thinking, "Wow! Look what the world has to offer us.' "
Helen E. Freedman, a New York State Supreme Court Justice and the daughter of the bridegroom, added, "I've learned from them that the human emotions, the desire to love and be loved, and the ability to love seem to be ageless."
Adam Freed, a young man who catered the afternoon lunch, said: "Usually, when your parents get old, they get sick and it is not fun. To see someone having fun and making herself look beautiful and marrying the love of her life -- this swarthy, sexy-looking, 80-something man -- it's really cool. They're not pitiful or sad. It makes me think, 'Never give up.' "

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GRAPHIC: Photos: Rye, N.Y., Jan. 5. (Photographs by Edward Keating/The New York Times)

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January 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

IN BRIEF;
Consolidating Programs Delays Heat Aid for Aged

BYLINE: By KIT R. ROANE 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 6; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 213 words

Heating subsidies for more than 180,000 of the state's elderly and disabled residents will come more than half a year later than usual this year. The delay is the result of a change in the Lifeline Credit Program, designed to help low-income residents pay winter bills. While these subsidies usually arrive Oct. 1, an attempt by the state to combine several services for the aged mean that the money will not reach many older residents until June 30.
Called New Jersey Ease (Easy Access Single Entry), the new program is expected to save the state $200,000 a year in administrative costs for Lifeline alone, when it is combined with the Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled program. The state Department of Health and Senior Services said the savings would not affect the $72 million in heating subsidies it provides annually. Utilities have been notified of the aid delay, and seniors having trouble paying their bills will not have service cut off, the department said. 
 The new program will mean fewer forms for applicants. Applications will be accepted at any time of the year rather than between Jan. 1 and March 15 as before; aid will arrive after applications are processed. There are 312,000 people receiving Lifeline benefits.   KIT R. ROANE

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January 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Nation;
In the Market We Trust

BYLINE: By FLOYD NORRIS 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 3; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 994 words

Common stocks, as such, are not superior to bonds as long-term investments, because primarily they are not investments at all. They are speculations.
-- "Investments and Speculations," by Lawrence Chamberlain and William W. Hay, published by Henry Holt in 1931. 
 The more data we analyze, the more confident we are that stocks are superior long-term investments. In the long run, the true risk resides with fixed-income investments, not with common stocks.
-- "Stocks for the Long Run," by Jeremy J. Siegel, published by Irwin in 1994.
THE American view of financial risks and opportunities has come a long way in six decades.
Four years after Lawrence Chamberlain, a respected investment banker, warned that stocks could not even be deemed an investment, the Social Security system was born as a way of providing an assured means of support for elderly Americans. Money would be raised by taxes on working Americans and, to the extent not needed to pay immediate benefits, invested in safe Government bonds.
In 1935, memories of the 1929 crash were fresh. No one suggested that the road to safety led through buying common stocks.
Now, three years after Jeremy J. Siegel, a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, published his influential book, a commission has recommended to Congress that the Social Security system be partly financed by common stock investments. It split on important details, but on the central thesis it came down solidly with Mr. Siegel: Stocks are safe, for in the long run they always go up. Bonds, including government bonds, whose real value can be eroded by inflation, are the risky asset.
The change has come slowly, with some converting early and some not at all. The stock market gained adherents in the 1950's and 1960's, then lost them in the 1970's, when inflation scared many investors away from all securities, and briefly into such hard assets as gold and diamonds. But since 1982, the start of a bull market with few historical rivals, the academic work showing that stocks are the best long-term investment has gained widespread acceptance.
Accordingly, investors have been willing to pay more and more for stocks, feeling secure in the knowledge that they will do well in the long run, even if prices fall over shorter periods of time.
One way to measure the changing attitudes is to look at the relative level of dividends on stocks compared with interest rates on bonds. Investors have the choice of buying bonds, with a guaranteed interest rate and certainty (barring default) of getting their principal back when the bond matures, or of buying stocks, with a less certain yield from dividends and the possibility that the stock's price could rise or fall.
In the aftermath of the 1929 crash, it became accepted wisdom that the dividend on stocks should be higher than the yield on bonds. After all, investors deserved compensation for taking the risk of falling share prices. In the late 1940's, investors were quite willing to buy bonds that yielded little more than a third of the dividends they could obtain from a diversified portfolio of stocks.
 
 
 
25-Year Recovery
 But as the widely forecast post-World War II depression failed to occur, investors gradually became more and more willing to buy stocks, and stocks became more expensive relative to bonds. In 1954, the Dow Jones industrial average finally got back to its pre-crash high of 381.17. There was nervous commentary, but no crash.
Then, in 1958, there was much hand-wringing over the fact that the dividend yield on stocks was now actually lower than the bond yield. A scary article in Business Week was titled "An Evil Omen Returns." It warned that stock yields had been below bond yields back in 1929, and look what happened.
But it didn't happen again. It was not until the 1970's that stocks again performed badly over a long period. And after prices began to soar again in 1982, academics gradually produced what they viewed as proof that rising stock prices, in the long run, were inevitable. That gospel has been proclaimed in newspapers, personal finance magazines and on countless television shows.
Now the interest you can get on a high-quality corporate bond is about four times the dividend yield on the stocks in the Standard & Poor's industrial average, but most on Wall Street figure that is irrelevant. Companies can return money to shareholders by repurchasing shares, and in any case it is the prospect of rising prices, not dividend income, that draws in buyers. "It's a sea change in attitudes," says Paul Macrae Montgomery, a strategist at Legg Mason, the brokerage house.
"The Jeremy Siegel book hit at exactly the right moment," Peter L. Bernstein, a founding editor of The Journal of Portfolio Management, said last week. Now the expected return from stocks is seen as "a reliable projection," he said. "I think that is just extraordinary," he added.
Last week, in The Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Clements, a columnist, confronted the question of what a parent should do if he had all the savings for his daughter's college education invested in stocks, only to have her go to college in one of those rare periods when stock prices had fallen substantially. Mr. Clements's response: Pay the tuition with borrowed money "while you wait for stocks to bounce back."
Some people are appalled by such attitudes and worry that research "proving" that stocks are the best long-term investments may persuade investors to bid up share prices until they are dangerously overvalued, much as happened in the 1920's.
Mr. Siegel admits that is possible but says share prices would have to rise another 25 percent or so, to perhaps 8,000, for him to be really concerned. Still, he is not enthusiastic about the idea of putting Social Security money into stocks. "Suppose we come to a 10-year period when the return on stocks is not good," he said. "They happen."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: In 1936, Social Security was young, and the nation freshly burned by the stock market.
 
Graph: "The Sweet Smell of Stocks" compares the relative yield from dividends on a diversified portfolio of industrial stocks with interest from high-quality corporate bonds, 1871-96. (Source: Paul Macrae Montgomery, Legg Mason)

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January 13, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Offer of More School Aid Elicits Smiles and Doubt

BYLINE: BY MELODY PETERSEN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 588 words

In suburban towns yesterday, where homeowners have repeatedly vetoed school budgets that would have forced property taxes up, both school administrators and local taxpayers welcomed Gov. George E. Pataki's plan to have the state bear more of the cost of public education, but questioned how he could pay for it.
"It was a smart thing for the Governor to do, to release this over the weekend, because who wouldn't say this is wonderful?" said Lorraine Deller, the president of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association. 
 Governor Pataki's plan to both reduce local property taxes and increase state aid to schools comes at a time when budget analysts have already estimated that the cost of state services next year will exceed the money flowing in to the treasury by $3 billion.
"I have to be cynical about the possibility of this happening," said Andrea Vecchio, a board member of the East Islip Tax Pac group on Long Island, which formed in 1989 to battle local governments over rising property taxes. "If it were really to happen it would be a wonderful thing because people are struggling."
Under the plan announced by the Governor on Saturday, the owner of a home valued at the state median of $110,000 would get a $30,000 tax exemption. That would mean that the owner would pay school taxes on a home worth $80,000 rather than $110,000. The state would pay the school district the equivalent of taxes on the home's remaining value of $30,000.
Senior citizens, who often depend on fixed incomes like Social Security, would receive even more property tax relief. Homeowners age 65 or over would receive an exemption of $50,000 on the value of their home.
"It's like something coming down from heaven," said Vic Incorvia, a retired elderly businessman from Harrison in Westchester County, who complained about high property taxes at every local school board meeting last year -- except the one held on a night when health problems forced him into the hospital.
Dr. Vincent T. Beni, superintendent for 35 districts in southern Westchester County, said, "It's clearly a first step in the right direction."
Since 1991, the state has paid a steadily smaller portion of the cost of public education. In 1991, the state paid 44 percent of those costs, Dr. Beni said, but now pays only 37 percent. In many of the more affluent suburbs, he said, the state contributes far less. For example, many districts in Westchester County receive 8 percent or less of their school budgets from the state, Dr. Beni said.
That forced schools to depend more and more on local property taxes, he said, prompting complaints from more and more homeowners.
Property tax is "the most unfair tax," Dr. Beni said. On the other hand, he added, "The more you rely on income taxes, the more you balance the cost of education across the population."
In Harrison last year, voters -- many of them senior citizens -- defeated the school budget twice, forcing the district to revert to an austerity plan that reduced full-time positions to part-time and reduced the district's use of substitute teachers.
"The school tax increases have been slamming us very seriously," Mr. Incorvia said.
In East Islip, voters passed the school budget this year for the first time since 1990, Ms. Vecchio said. The budget passed this year, she said, because it included a slight property tax decrease.
Since 1990, East Islip property taxes have risen by 40 percent, Ms. Vecchio said. "We're still paying much, much more than we should be."      

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January 15, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

What Crisis?

BYLINE: By Richard C. Leone;   Richard C. Leone is president of the Twentieth Century Fund.

SECTION: Section A;  Page 19;  Column 5;  Editorial Desk  

LENGTH: 692 words

Critics of Social Security claim that the system is near collapse. Privatizing the system, they argue, will give everybody better protection in old age. But without a complete understanding of what Social Security already provides to Americans, how can we know whether to junk it in favor of something else?
First, despite what its critics claim, Social Security is not similar to a savings or investment program whose purpose is to yield the biggest return. Social Security is more like a disability and life insurance policy that provides vital protections to virtually every member of our society. Currently, seven million survivors of deceased workers and four million disabled Americans receive income support. 
 The Social Security Administration calculates the value of the disability insurance as the equivalent of a $203,000 policy in the private sector; for a 27-year-old average-wage worker with two children, Social Security provides the equivalent of a $295,000 life insurance policy. The total value of these two policies nationally is about $12.1 trillion, more than all the private life insurance currently in force.
Second, Social Security provides a lifetime retirement annuity whose benefits rise with inflation. Many corporate pensions run out after 20 years, and most are not adjusted for inflation. While there is a lot of loose talk about greedy geezers living luxuriously on the backs of their impoverished children, the facts tell a quite different story. Without Social Security, approximately half the elderly in America would fall below the poverty line.
The notion that these basic protections would be unnecessary if we all saved more money is simply false. The truth is that neither of these protections is available in the private market at a price that the vast majority of Americans can afford.
Social Security works because virtually all of us belong to it and pay into it. Social Security, after all, does not consist of a bunch of piggy banks with our names on them. Our pooled contributions insure that almost every senior citizen receives a minimum income.
Although some of us need the protection more than others, all of us get some benefits. It is the nature of such pooled plans that both the most fortunate among us (the wealthy) and the least fortunate (those who die young and without a family) get the least from the program.
It is a fallacy that everyone can do better than average if we take control away from the Government. Averages exist because some of us do worse and some of us better. In the brave new world of individual accounts, each winner would be matched by a loser. The only way we can insure that every citizen has a minimal retirement benefit is by requiring that we all participate in the Social Security system.
Though the search continues, there is no free lunch. Advocates of privatizing Social Security dangle the prospect of riches in front of impressionable young workers, but hide from them its high costs and risks.
The privatization plans proposed by two minority factions of the Advisory Council on Social Security come with an enormous transition cost. One plan would require increased taxes amounting to $6.5 trillion during the next 72 years; the other would raise payroll taxes by 1.6 percent, costing American families $13 billion each year.
Social Security has some minor problems, but faces no life and death crisis. In fact, without any changes at all, the system will be able to pay full benefits for the next 30 years and more than 70 percent of those benefits for 75 years.
Moreover, the entire Advisory Council agreed that modest changes -- such as including state and local government workers in the system -- could eliminate a fair share of the projected gap between revenues and benefits.
Thus, as this debate continues, let us agree that we cannot all be above average, and that when it comes to benefits we should compare apples to apples. We shouldn't give up a critical universal insurance program for no insurance at all. And we should not compare a guaranteed lifetime inflation-adjusted annuity to a 401(k) plan or brokerage account.

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In the Fight Over Medicaid Cuts, Signs of a Tense Year in Albany

BYLINE: By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1020 words

DATELINE: ALBANY, Jan. 15

Representatives of the health care industry today began a fierce attack on the deep cuts Gov. George E. Pataki has proposed for the state's Medicaid program, saying the reductions would be devastating for elderly and disabled residents of the state.
The criticism came a day after the Governor presented a $66.1 billion budget that wrings most of its cuts from the state's huge Medicaid expenditures for hospitals, nursing homes and home care providers -- particularly those in New York City and its suburbs, health experts said. 
 Mr. Pataki's aides said he would reduce state financing for Medicaid by $913 million in the next fiscal year, a drop of about 7.4 percent, largely by eliminating a host of reimbursement formulas that they say have encouraged waste and replacing them with set fees for recipients.
But health care providers said the Governor's plan essentially balanced the state budget on the backs of sick people.
"Our industry is being asked to do more than any other in terms of deficit reduction," said Kenneth E. Raske, the president of the Greater New York Hospital Association. "These proposals are so damaging to us that they are going to create an enormous amount of anxiety."
Joining the fray, the Democratic leader of the State Assembly, Speaker Sheldon Silver, said today that he believed the Governor's cuts would force hospitals to close and would lead to the loss 28,000 jobs in the state's health care industry.
The reactions presaged another mammoth budget fight in Albany this year involving not only lobbyists for one of New York's largest and powerful industries but also the state's leaders.
Indeed, Joseph L. Bruno, the Republican Senate majority leader, this afternoon criticized Mr. Silver's remarks, and said, "I believe this will be the most contentious year that we have had in government in a lot of years, and it's going to be because Speaker Silver is refusing to recognize that the campaigns are over and it's time for us in this state to get on with governing."
Donna Arduin, the Governor's deputy budget director, defended the proposed cuts, saying, "We want to get rid of the patchwork reimbursement system that has encouraged inefficiency and replace it with a system that rewards health care providers that operate efficiently."
The Governor called for similar cuts in the state's Medicaid program last year. But legislative leaders restored most of his proposed cuts after lobbyists for the health care industry and the industry's unions began a blistering statewide television and radio advertising campaign attacking his plan. The lobbyists spent $5 million on the effort.
Privately, lobbyists for the industry said they would hold their fire for now and give the Governor the opportunity to scale back his proposed cuts. But they added that they were prepared to spend as much as they did last year if he sticks with his current position.
"We will spend whatever resources we have to defend the health care industry," said Dennis Rivera, president of 1199, the National Health and Human Service Employees Union, which represents 120,000 health care workers in New York. "If enacted, these cuts will lead to a dramatic loss of jobs among health care workers and throw the health care industry into deep turmoil."
Because the Federal Government and localities match each dollar the state pays for Medicaid, the actual cut for hospitals, nursing homes and home care providers is $2.1 billion. Though Medicaid is often regarded as a program that pays only to tend the medical needs of the poor, such a cut would affect communities rich and poor because health care institutions have long relied on Medicaid to help cover overall expenses.
"There are no Medicaid nurses, no Medicaid doctors, no Medicaid X-ray technicians in New York State hospitals," Mr. Silver said. "When an emergency room is forced to shrink its staff because of these cuts in health care, we all lose. Whether you pay by credit card, by third-party insurance, Medicaid or Medicare, you lose as a result of these cuts."
The state's hospitals take the biggest hit under the Governor's plan. Over all, the Governor's plan would cut state, Federal and local Medicaid financing for hospitals by about $824 million, with $275 million of that involving state cuts.
Part of the reduction is accomplished by limiting to 15 the number of days the state will pay to hospitalize an elderly person who is well enough to enter a nursing home. But many experts say such limits ignore the fact that there are often waiting lists at nursing homes. The limits, they add, would force hospitals to absorb the extra costs or discharge elderly people before they have been accepted in a nursing home.
The state would also no longer pay the entire tab for nonemergency treatments that are provided to Medicaid recipients in emergency rooms. The Governor's aides contend that recipients with minor ailments should seek help at clinics or doctors' offices, not emergency rooms.
But hospital administrators say there are many instances when they must examine a person to determine whether the ailment is minor or truly serious. An example would be someone suffering chest pains that could be the result of a heart attack -- or heart burn.
The nursing home industry shoulders a large share of the cuts as well. The Governor's budget reduces state, Federal and local Medicaid expenditures for nursing homes by about $601 million. Of that, $278 million involves state reductions that are achieved by largely eliminating a formula that ties reimbursement to the relative health of patients and the kind of care they receive.
The Governor's aides say he wants to replace that formula with a flat rate that is determined by the average spent on nursing home patients in a given region. That way, they reason, nursing homes are rewarded if they are efficient and penalized if they are wasteful.
But nursing home administrators say the cuts produced by the change would discourage them from accepting patients with more serious illnesses, forcing patients to spend more time in hospitals.      

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Metro Digest

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 838 words


NEW YORK
 
Medicaid Cuts Are Criticized
Representatives of the health care industry began a fierce attack on the deep cuts Governor Pataki has proposed for the state's Medicaid program, saying the reductions would be devastating for elderly and disabled residents. Health care providers said the Governor's plan, which would reduce financing for Medicaid by $913 million, essentially balanced the state budget on the backs of sick people. The reactions presaged another mammoth budget fight in Albany this year involving not only lobbyists for one of the state's largest and most powerful industries but also the state's leaders. [Page A1.] 

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, mounted a broad attack on Governor Pataki's proposed budget. And in a sign of growing hostility in Albany, Joseph L. Bruno, the Republican majority leader in the State Senate, challenged Mr. Silver in unusually blunt language. [B6.]
 
Judge Sets Back Hospital Sale
A State Supreme Court judge dealt a serious blow to Mayor Giuliani's effort to sell the city's hospitals, ruling that any such sale would require a change in state law, as well as extensive public review and the approval of the City Council. The decision, which the Mayor said he would appeal, has the practical effect of stalling a deal to allow a Pennsylvania company to run Coney Island Hospital. The ruling also raises questions about the sale or lease of any of the city's 10 other hospitals. [B1.]
 
Officer Tells of Bronx Encounter
After months of street protests and a high-profile criminal trial, Officer Francis X. Livoti described publicly for the first time how a late-night encounter with a group of men on a Bronx street turned violent when they challenged his police powers. But he insistently denied using an illegal choke hold on a man who died in his custody. His testimony came during an administrative hearing to decide whether he should be dismissed from the force. [B1.]
 
Defining Ruth W. Messinger
In Manhattan, Ruth W. Messinger is known as the earnest if slightly stern career legislator: a leader of battles for the city's downtrodden, fighting a huge project one day and City Hall the next. But in much of the rest of the city, the Manhattan Borough President is, more often, a vaguely familiar face from the edges of politics and local television. What she is remembered for is not always helpful to someone running for citywide office, and it poses a central challenge to her candidacy. [B1.]
 
The Mayor's re-election campaign raised $1.14 million in the second half of last year, much of it from real estate and construction companies and law firms. His Democratic rivals raised less. [B4.]
 
Peekskill as Artists' Enclave
Peekskill has always been Westchester County's sad little city to the north. But thanks in part to a planning consultant hired to bring new life to the city's decrepit business district, it is now a haven for artists. Our Towns by Evelyn Nieves. [B1.]
 
Challenge to Extreme Fighting
Just three months after New York became the first state to sanction an attraction known as extreme fighting, Mayor Giuliani and other New York City leaders are joining to try to prevent the matches from taking place in the city. But Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader, suggested regulating it. [B3.]
 
Casino Measure Faltering
Amid a growing campaign by church groups to block a measure that would legalize casino gambling, the Republican leader of the State Senate said he considered it increasingly unlikely that the proposal would pass in his house this year. [B6.]
 
An 86-year-old woman who immigrated from Iran lives on memories of a once happy life. The Neediest Cases. [B2.]
 
NEW JERSEY
 
Whitman Takes On an Old Fight
Auto insurance reform has bedeviled New Jersey's last two governors. Now, as she prepares her run for re-election, Governor Christine Todd Whitman has waded in with a new plan to reduce premiums anywhere from 5 to 25 percent by combatting fraud and offering motorists a choice of policies that link savings to reduced coverage. [B6.]
 
CONNECTICUT
 
Judge Gives Up Rape Case
 The judge in the Alex Kelly rape case removed himself amid defense accusations about his impartiality, including his alleged reference to Mr. Kelly's girlfriend as "Amelia Airhead." Judge Martin Nigro of the Superior Court said he disagreed with many of the defense claims. But he said judges should remove themselves from cases even if there is the appearance of bias. [B2.]
 
From State to Foxwoods
The state's top gambling regulator resigned to take a job with the giant Indian casino he had been charged with overseeing, bringing criticism from legislators who called the move a flagrant conflict of interest. John B. Meskill, executive director of the Division of Special Revenue, will be the executive director of the gaming commission of the Mashantucket Pequot Indians, a tribe which operates the Foxwoods Resort Casino. [B4.]

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THE FINE PRINT: A new rule on advocacy.;
House Rule May Rein In Liberal Advocacy Groups

BYLINE: By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE 

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 944 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 15

Last week, while all eyes on Capitol Hill were on the re-election of Newt Gingrich as Speaker, the House passed a little-noticed rule, long sought by conservatives, that could be the first step toward stripping liberal advocacy groups of Federal financing.
This was not the declared intention of the measure, which was buried in a package of rules that the House quickly approved by a vote along party lines on Jan. 7, shortly after the tense re-election of Mr. Gingrich. 
 Called "Truth in Testimony," the rule requires that anyone from a nongovernmental group testifying before the House disclose how much money in grants and contracts the group has received from the Federal Government in the previous three years.
The rule, designed in part as a check on Federal spending, would affect an estimated 3,000 grant recipients and contractors whose officials testify before the House each year, said the conservative Heritage Foundation, which strongly backed the measure. It would cover military contractors and other major corporations involved in Government work, as well as hundreds of nonprofit -- often liberal -- organizations that receive taxpayer money.
The political subtext is that the rule will disproportionately affect some of the liberal advocacy groups simply because there are more of them. Liberals also tend to believe in using Federal money for what they call public interest purposes, unlike conservative groups, which tend philosophically to oppose using taxpayer money, relying instead on private donations.
Supporters say the rule will force some grant recipients to disclose that they depend on the very programs for which they are seeking financing but are offering supposedly objective testimony. Beyond that, they say, it will put on the record how much taxpayer money these groups receive as they further their own partisan ends, working against the Republican majority as some did in the health-care and budget-cutting debates in the last Congress and opposing Republican candidates.
It is illegal for nonprofit groups to use Federal money to lobby or engage in political activity. But the groups contend that they are not using Federal money for these purposes.
Opponents say the measure could intimidate some organizations from sending representatives to testify and cause them to scale back their activities.
House Republicans said eight groups, including the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the United Automobile Workers, the National Council of Senior Citizens, the Sierra Club and the American Association of Retired Persons, received a total of $99.9 million in Federal grants in 1994, and then spent $5.5 million "attacking Republican members and lobbying against G.O.P. legislative proposals."
Representative Ernest J. Istook Jr., the Oklahoma Republican who in 1995 proposed an even broader measure, supports the new rule as a step in the right direction. He said the financial disclosures would generate a lot of hard-hitting questions on how nonprofit organizations "use our tax dollars and should demonstrate the big difference between true charities and groups which sponge off the public treasury."
In turn, he said, these disclosures "should help us take the next steps necessary to put a permanent end to taxpayer-subsidized lobbying."
Bradley Keena, a spokesman for the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative research group headed by Paul Weyrich, described the new rule as "a first step toward leveling the playing field" and "part of a much larger plan to defund the left." It has been a long-dormant conservative goal to eliminate the liberal advocacy establishment that sprouted on Capitol Hill under 40 years of nurturing by a sympathetic Democratic Congress.
Marshall Whitmann, director of Congressional affairs for the Heritage Foundation, home of a project dubbed P.T.L., for "privatize the left," said: "For 40 years, we saw the growth of a spending complex that involved nonprofit organizations and governmental organizations that worked in tandem to grow Government. This rule is an opportunity to shed some light on this phenomenon and educate the taxpayer."
But Representative David E. Skaggs, a Colorado Democrat who opposes the rule, said it was "a tool that can be used to selectively embarrass and intimidate certain organizations and witnesses, and trivialize their participation in Government as being merely self-serving."
Mr. Skaggs said the ramifications of the rule were not yet clear. "It was essentially encrypted in the rules," he said, "and people are just breaking the code now."
Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, a coalition of public interest law groups, described the new rule as "an effort to brand witnesses who receive Federal funds with a scarlet A for advocacy."
"What they really want is to establish a link between the Federal dollars and lobbying," Ms. Aron said, "but they have never come up with one abuse of a Federal grantee lobbying with Federal funds."
The Republicans contend that money is interchangeable, so that even if a group keeps its Federal money in one pocket, having it can free other money for lobbying.
"Yes, the money theoretically is fungible," Ms. Aron acknowledged. "But in this climate, what dwindling Federal funds there are for these groups really are going into direct services that the Government specifically needs."
Mr. Istook's broader proposal would have been in the form of legislation. But after that was withdrawn last year in a rift with Senate Republicans, the House simply included it in its rules package. It needs no further approval and will apply only to witnesses testifying before House committees.

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The Governor's Divisive Cuts

SECTION: Section A; Page 24; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 607 words

The $66 billion budget proposed by Gov. George Pataki on Tuesday is tailored for his familiar theme that New York State is "roaring" back toward fiscal health. But his proposed cuts in higher education and health programs for the disabled, elderly and poor are certain to yank the Legislature right back into the bitter wrangling that has paralyzed the budget process for two years in a row. Despite the Governor's claim, the budget also relies too heavily on the kinds of gimmicks that have given New York the worst credit rating of any state in the country.
Mr. Pataki has proposed some welcome new spending initiatives, particularly increases for children's services and welfare recipients. There were a few more details in the budget about how the state plans to mobilize job training, counseling and day care to help get families off welfare, and to provide vouchers for food and shelter for those thrown off the rolls because of the new Federal welfare law. The Legislature will have no higher priority than guaranteeing that the state use its resources to protect those hurt by the new law. 
Because the state economy is doing better and providing more tax revenue, Mr. Pataki's budget achieves balance without the harsh cuts he has urged in years past. Even so, nursing homes, hospitals, community health centers and home care for the elderly are being hit by significant cuts to help pay for the Governor's proposed property tax relief and other programs. Such huge reductions will inevitably impair health services for the neediest recipients. There are also ambitious schemes to introduce managed care and competition into the delivery of health services for the mentally ill, disabled and elderly that remain untested.
Also unwise are Mr. Pataki's proposed cuts for both the City University and State University systems. These would be offset by increasing tuition by $400 for students at both systems, making them less affordable for the poor and working class.
Mr. Pataki has brought some badly needed restraint to state spending. Like New York City's Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, he argues that his policies have led to declines in crime and the welfare rolls and higher tax revenues resulting from an improved economy. But the Governor undercuts his own record by repeatedly relying on dubious bookkeeping to balance the budget. His own numbers show that if the latest fiscal plan were subjected to generally accepted accounting standards -- which bar gimmicks like deferring the paying of bills or assuming revenues that are not really available -- it would be $768 million out of balance, and would increase the accumulated state deficit to nearly $2.8 billion.
In the coming year, moreover, Mr. Pataki wants to roll over a $1 billion revenue surplus from the current year and use it to pay for ongoing expenses -- a dangerous practice because the money may not recur even though the expenses will. In addition, his proposal for $3.4 billion in increased school aid and property tax relief is funded only in part for the next year. There are no details on how it is to be funded later, only projections of growing deficits in the years ahead.
With Mr. Pataki's re-election campaign less than two years away, the budget fighting is likely to be more fierce than ever this year. The Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, who leads the Democratic opposition, only made tensions worse by leaving the room before the Governor began his budget speech. Whatever his motives, Mr. Silver's snub was a provocative and juvenile gesture incompatible with the Speaker's responsibility to work constructively on legislative issues.

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Last Chance

SECTION: Section C; Page 6; Column 5; Weekend Desk 

LENGTH: 652 words

Here is a sampling of shows and exhibitions in New York City that are to close soon:
 
Closing This Weekend
 
"COROT," Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue at 82d Street. Some 150 paintings dating from the early 1820's to the 1870's. Through Sunday. Hours: Today and tomorrow, 9:30 A.M. to 8:45 P.M.; Sunday, 9:30 A.M. to 5:15 P.M. Suggested admission: $8; $4 for students and the elderly. Information: (212) 535-7710.
 
"LATIN AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY: A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY," Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park. Works by 50 photographers from the museum's collection. Through Sunday. Hours: Today through Sunday, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Suggested admission: $4; $2, students; $1.50, elderly; free for members and children. Information: (718) 638-5000.
 
"FROM COURT JEWS TO THE ROTHSCHILDS: ART, PATRONAGE AND POWER 1600-1800," Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92d Street. An examination of the cultural life of court Jews in Germanic states. Sunday only, 11 A.M. to 5:45 P.M. Closed today and tomorrow. Admission: $7; $5, students and elderly; free for members and children. Information: (212) 423-3200.
 
"NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY," York Theater, at St. Peter's Church, Citicorp, 54th Street and Lexington Avenue, Manhattan. A revival of the 1987 musical comedy thriller, based on the William Goldman novel; book, music and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen; directed by Scott Schwartz. Through Sunday. Performances: Today at 8 P.M.; tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $30 and $35. Information: (212) 935-5820.
 
"CLOUD TECTONICS," Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42d Street, Clinton. A modern fairy tale by Jose Rivera about a man who gives shelter to a hitchhiker who is searching for the father of her child; directed by Tina Landau. Through Sunday. Performances: Today at 8 P.M.; tomorrow at 2 and 8 P.M.; Sunday at 2 and 7 P.M. Tickets: $35. Information: (212) 279-4200.
 
"THE BARBER OF SEVILLE," Pearl Theater, 80 St. Mark's Place, East Village. The 18th-century comedy by Beaumarchais; directed by John Rando. Through tomorrow. Performances: Today at 8 P.M.; tomorrow at 5 and 9 P.M. Tickets: $24 and $30. Information: (212) 598-9802.
 
Closing Next Week
 
" JASPER JOHNS: A RETROSPECTIVE," Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53d Street, Manhattan. Through Tuesday. Hours: Today, noon to 8:30 P.M.; tomorrow through Tuesday, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $8; $5 for students and the elderly; free for those under 16; pay-what-you-wish today after 5:30 P.M. Information: (212) 708-9480.
 
Closing Next Weekend
 
"AN IDEAL HUSBAND," Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, Manhattan. The Oscar Wilde comedy; with Michael Allinson, Nicky Henson, Stephanie Beacham, Madeleine Potter, James Warwick and Kim Hunter; directed by Peter Hall. Through Jan. 26. Performances: Tuesday through Fridays at 8 P.M.; Saturdays at 2 and 8 P.M.; Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets, $32.50 to $60. Information: (212) 239-6200.
 
"THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA," New Victory Theater, 209 West 42d Street. The Shakespeare comedy presented by the International Shakespeare Globe Center and the Theater for a New Audience.  Through Jan. 25. Tickets: $10 to $25. Performance times and other information: (212) 239-6200.
 
"THE MAIDEN OF LUDMIR," Folksbiene, 123 East 55th Street, Manhattan. A musical based on the true story of a 19th-century Hasidic girl who became a distinguished rabbi in Ukraine. In Yiddish with simultaneous English and Russian translations. Book and lyrics by Miriam Hoffman; music by John Clifton; directed by Robert Kalfin. Through Jan. 26. Performances: Wednesday at 2; Saturdays at 8 P.M.; Sundays at 2 and 5:30 P.M. Tickets: $22 to $25.Information: (212) 755-2231.
 
ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT SERIES, Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea. Through Jan. 26. Tickets: $17. For performance times and other information: (212) 242-0800.

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Medicaid Costs Are Seen Rising At Slower Rate

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 974 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 16

The Congressional Budget Office radically reduced its estimate of future Medicaid costs today, relieving pressure on President Clinton and Congress to cut benefits for the poor. But the financial outlook for Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, improved only slightly.
The estimate of total Federal spending on Medicaid from 1997 to 2002 dropped by $86 billion -- more than all the Medicaid savings that Republicans proposed in their long, bitter struggle with Mr. Clinton over the budget in 1995 and 1996. 
 With no change in current law, the budget office said, Federal spending on Medicaid will rise an average of 7.8 percent a year, to $144 billion in 2002 from $92 billion in 1996. In contrast, the agency was predicting just six months ago that Medicaid would grow 9.7 percent a year.
The budget office's estimate assumes that greater use of managed care will help control Medicaid costs, as it has in the last few years. With permission from the Clinton Administration, many states are requiring the poor to join health maintenance organizations as a condition of Medicaid coverage.
But for the elderly, H.M.O.'s are purely optional: the Federal Government does not require any Medicare beneficiaries to join.
The Congressional Budget Office said today that it foresaw continued rapid growth in Medicare spending. And on the question of most interest to politicians, it said that Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund would run out of money in 2001 if Congress took no action to shore up the finances of the program. That prediction coincides with a forecast offered last June by the Administration.
The trust fund pays hospital bills for Medicare beneficiaries, who are elderly or disabled, and Republicans often cite it as a symbol of the need to slow Medicare growth.
Representative Bill Thomas, the California Republican who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said: "This new report from the Congressional Budget Office is disappointing and unfortunately dashes any hopes that Medicare's financial condition was significantly improving, or that Medicare would go bankrupt later than expected. It underscores the need for Congress and the President to forge a bipartisan agreement to save Medicare, without resorting to accounting gimmicks or tax increases."
The budget office said Medicare payments to doctors would increase more slowly than it predicted last year. But the savings in that part of the program do not help the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund.
Over all, the budget office said, Medicare spending will grow 8.6 percent a year -- to $314 billion in 2002 from $191 billion in 1996 -- a very modest decline from the 8.9 percent growth that the agency predicted in August.
The report today increases pressure on Mr. Clinton and Congress to take action to slow the growth of Medicare. But it may reduce the pressure to make major changes in Medicaid.
The White House said earlier this week that Mr. Clinton would propose firm limits on Medicaid spending as a way to help balance the Federal budget by 2002. Many Democrats in Congress contend that such limits are unnecessary and would undermine the program's ability to meet an increased need for assistance in times of economic recession.
The budget office's report predicted that increasing numbers of Medicare beneficiaries would voluntarily join H.M.O.'s, so that enrollment in them would rise from the current level of 5 million to 9.8 million in 2002 and then 14 million in 2006.
The budget office estimated that the proportion of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in H.M.O.'s, now about 12 percent, would rise to 25 percent in 2003 and 32 percent in 2006, even if Congress took no action to encourage such enrollment.
The budget office sees annual Medicare payments to H.M.O.'s soaring from $26 billion this year to $73 billion in 2002 and $141 billion in 2006. The White House contends that H.M.O.'s are being overpaid, and Mr. Clinton plans to propose cutbacks in reimbursement as part of his budget proposal, scheduled for submission to Congress on Feb. 6.
The Congressional Budget Office sees only modest increases in the premiums that Medicare beneficiaries pay for physician and outpatient services. Under current law, it said, the monthly premium, now $43.80, will rise to $45.60 next year and to $47.10 in 1999.
But, it said, premiums will pay for a declining share of Medicare costs, and general revenue for a growing share.
Without waiting to hear from Mr. Clinton, Senate Democrats said today that one of their top legislative priorities was to provide health insurance for the 10 million American children who have none.
The Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said they would pursue this goal as tenaciously as they fought last year to make health insurance more readily available to workers who change jobs or lose their jobs.
These two Democrats are pursuing somewhat different approaches. Mr. Daschle said he would offer tax credits for the purchase of private insurance, while Mr. Kennedy would offer vouchers to families to subsidize premiums.
Mr. Daschle said he hoped Republicans would join him and Mr. Kennedy in supporting such proposals.
But Senator John H. Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican who has worked with much success in the last 15 years to extend Medicaid coverage to more children, said, "A new program is always very difficult in this atmosphere," when Congress is trying to balance the budget.
The uninsured children who would be helped by the Daschle and Kennedy bills are generally not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.
Nine of 10 uninsured children live in families with working parents, and about two-thirds of such children live in two-parent families.      

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Accused on Hill, Welcome at Home

BYLINE: By CAREY GOLDBERG 

SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1010 words

DATELINE: SEATTLE, Jan. 16

An old Democratic colleague nudged him in the ribs and murmured in his ear, "You old rabble-rouser, you!" A local law professor predicted that the brouhaha over the Gingrich tape would only enhance his reputation. A friendly pollster lamented that if he went to jail, it would be "a sad end to a great achievement."
Representative Jim McDermott of Seattle, facing accusations that it was he who leaked a tape of Speaker Newt Gingrich discussing his ethics case with his colleagues, has a tricky road ahead. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department are investigating the release of the tape to The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a possible Federal crime and the Florida couple who made the recording say they gave the tape to him. The allegations led Mr. McDermott to effectively resign from the ethics committee this week. 
 But here in his home state, where he won 82 percent of his district's vote this fall and is considered to hold one of the safest liberal seats in the country, the furor appears mainly to be making extra points for Mr. McDermott. Like-minded constituents and colleagues, like the one who called him a rabble-rouser, hugged him and slapped his back on Wednesday night at the inauguration of the new Governor, Gary Locke.
If Republican opponents "continue to pound on me, they'll make me into a hero -- I'll get 99 percent of the vote next time," Mr. McDermott said today in an interview in which he declined to discuss anything substantive about the tape or the investigations. He said the great majority of the calls coming into his office were to tell him, "Don't back down."
His Republican opponents denounce Mr. McDermott as an ideological, partisan street fighter who went too far this time: "He plays hardball," one said.
But his allies say that if he sinned -- and they do not think the whole story has been told yet -- it was a sin of zeal in the anti-Gingrich fight that most here support.
Mr. McDermott, 60, is an outspoken liberal whose greatest prominence until now came from his push for Canadian-style national health insurance in the health-care debates of President Clinton's first term. He has also fought to block Mr. Gingrich's moves to cut back on Medicare and Medicaid, the medical insurance programs for the elderly and poor.
The only clinical psychiatrist in Congress, Mr. McDermott began his political career after working with traumatized Vietnam veterans and becoming angrier and angrier about the war.
In his 27 years in politics, he has won quite a few and lost quite a few: among the more notable defeats was an initial run for governor in which he bicycled the length of the state. He has run three times for governor and failed. But his victories afforded him 15 years in the State Legislature, where he was chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and five terms in Congress.
Mr. McDermott is known in Washington -- both the district and the state -- as smart and persuasive on the issues but also as a hot-tempered fighter in the political fray. He has made his antipathy for Mr. Gingrich and his positions well known, and has been openly frustrated by having to spend countless hours in ethics committee meetings. (Actually, he did count them last year, and they came to more than 250 hours in the committee room alone, he said, time he would much rather have spent working on health-care bills.)
Opponents who watched him in his years in the State Legislature say they have no trouble imagining him using any means required to bring down an enemy.
The minute word got out that a member of Congress had leaked the tape, said Brett Bader, a Republican political consultant, "There was no doubt in any insider's mind who it was. The question was only how long it would take him to admit it."
In Seattle and Olympia, the capital, Mr. Bader said, Mr. McDermott "is known as the toughest of pols with an absolute political agenda."
Mr. McDermott disputes descriptions of himself as a ferocious partisan, saying that he has long seen himself as a political professional and that he does not like to make political disagreements into personal feuds. But he added that since 1981 he has seen cooperation between Republicans and Democrats deteriorate -- first in the Legislature and then in Congress, where partisan rancor seemed 10 times worse than back home, especially recently.
"I think Gingrich tried to create a national parliament in the last election," he said. "And that says, 'Our party's in, we'll do whatever the hell we think is right, and we don't need you so go on home. So you can sit over there and yell and scream all you want.' "
All this is not what Mr. McDermott came to Congress for. In 1987, he had contracted with the State Department to serve as the mental health officer for United States embassies in sub-equatorial Africa. But then the Seventh District seat opened up and his brother and campaign manager persuaded him to come back from Zaire to run for it.
Health insurance and health care are the issues he cares most about, he said, adding that he also wants to focus on trade with Africa and India.
Asked if he was considering making this his last term, Mr. McDermott, dapper in monogrammed cuffs and a blue shirt that matched his Irish eyes, bridled: "You think I don't have any passion left?"
Federal investigators have not made contact with him, Mr. McDermott said. If anybody has been after him, it has been the local reporters who besieged him in his central Seattle office until this afternoon, leaving after he had consistently refused -- with a smile -- to speak.
Letters about the Gingrich tape have inundated local newspapers and the topic has been hot on radio talk shows, where most callers seem to back him and worry that he may have got himself into deep hot water.
But Mr. McDermott said he expects the whole thing to die down after Jan. 21, when Congress votes on Mr. Gingrich's punishment for the ethical misconduct he has admitted.
"It's all diversionary," he said.

LOAD-DATE: January 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Representative Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington. (Larry Davis for The New York Times)

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January 17, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

News Summary

SECTION: Section A; Page 2; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 872 words


International   A3-12
 
NEW FEARS BEHIND KOREAN STRIKE
 
South Korea's strike reflects the desires of workers to protect the gains they have reaped from their country's economic progress, and also their fears that global forces will take prosperity elsewhere.   A1
 
HEBRON PACT LEADS TO PULLOUT
 
The Hebron agreement cleared the Israeli Parliament as expected, and early this morning the army handed over its command post there to Palestinian troops.   A1
 
HAMAS SCORNS HEBRON ACCORD
 
Hamas, a militant Islamic organization and a rival to the authority of Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, condemned the Israeli-Palestinian agreement on Hebron.   A12
 
FOR SWISS GUARD, DUTY OVER JOB
 
A night watchman at the Union Bank of Switzerland, knowing he might lose his job, still felt it his duty to save documents that could shed light on the Holocaust.   A6
 
ITALY ACQUITS TWO IN MURDER CASE
 
An Italian court acquitted two men accused of killing a 7-year-old American boy in 1994. The parents' donation of their son's organs won national acclaim in Italy.   A4
 
REBEL PROPOSAL REJECTED IN LIMA
 
The Peruvian Government rejected a proposal by the leader of leftist rebels holding 74 hostages in Lima that a Guatemalan official be included in a commission that is being formed to end the crisis.   A3
 
SO FAR, BALLOON CLEARLY SAILING
 
An American balloonist on his way around the world was over Spain after a speedy Atlantic crossing; the voyage began in St. Louis.   A11
 
Protests against austerity measures broke out across Haiti.   A3
 
A French surgeon with AIDS almost certainly infected a patient.   A5
 
Belgrade Journal: A Serbian protest singer is in vogue again.   A4
 
National   A14-24
 
TOUGH REPORT ON GINGRICH
 
The independent counsel's report on Speaker Newt Gingrich was reported by Congressional aides to be highly critical of the Speaker for his admitted ethical lapses. It recommends a heavy fine and suggests that the matter be turned over to the Justice Department for further investigation.   A1
 
MEDICAL PROGRAMS ASSESSED
 
The Congressional Budget Office radically reduced its projection of Medicaid costs, relieving pressure to cut benefits for the poor. But the outlook for Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, improved only slightly.   A1
 
BILL COSBY'S SON IS KILLED
 
The only son of the comedian Bill Cosby was shot to death as he stopped to change a tire on a Los Angeles freeway.   A14
 
RATING THE STATES ON EDUCATION
 
A broad state-by-state comparison of education in all 50 states rated each state according to 75 specific measures. No state received consistently high marks.   A14
 
ABORTION CLINIC IS BOMBED
 
Two bomb blasts, apparently timed to go off about an hour apart, damaged a suburban Atlanta abortion clinic and injured six people, including investigators and news reporters drawn to the first blast.   A15
 
SHIVERING TIME IN THE MIDWEST
 
A ferocious storm roared through the Midwest on Wednesday night, followed by subzero temperatures and gales that closed schools and created general havoc.   A16
 
TROVE OF HISTORY ON THE BLOCK
 
As many as one million bound copies of newspapers, documenting two centuries of American history, are to be offered for sale.   A18
 
NEW DOUBTS ON MAD COW DISEASE
 
A new study of mad cow disease is casting doubt on what sort of infectious agent causes mad cow disease and similar ailments.   A19
 
TOP JOBS REVEAL STATE OF PARTIES
 
While President Clinton had to twist arms to find a suitable chairman for the Democratic Party, eight candidates who want to lead the Republican Party are engaged in a furious competition.   A22
 
The Administration opposed a balanced-budget amendment.   A24
 
Metro Report   B1-5
 
CROWN HEIGHTS, PART II
 
Five and a half years after racial violence tore through Crown Heights and sent shock waves from City Hall to Washington, the case again riveted a Brooklyn courtroom, as two black men were accused of being part of a murderous "vigilante gang" that stabbed a Hasidic man to death in 1991.   A1
 
PLAN FOR A FADING HOTEL
 
The St. Moritz Hotel on Central Park South, a once-chic establishment whose Continental atmosphere has faded in recent years, would become luxury condominiums under an agreement between its Australian owners and Donald Trump, sources said.   A1
 
Business Digest   D1
 
Obituaries   B6-7
 
Sports   B8-14
 
Baseball: Plan to put team in each league barely passes.   B9
 
Torre irked by Yanks' shortfall on extension.   B10
 
Weekend   C1-23
 
Americana (and surprises) at Winter Antiques Show.   C1
 
Editorials/Op-Ed   A30-31
 
Editorials
 
The dossier on Anthony Lake.
 
Ban this extreme barbarism.
 
The hazards of Seldane.
 
Letters
 
A. M. Rosenthal: Netanyahu's peace plan.
 
Anthony Lewis: Force backing up diplomacy.
 
Barbara Ehrenreich: Silence of the Beltway feminists.
 
Natan Sharansky: Now it's Arafat's turn.
 
Chronicle   B5
 
Crossword   C16

LOAD-DATE: January 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Summary

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January 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

FRUGAL TRAVELER;
Planning a Trip, Fingers Crossed

BYLINE: By SUSAN SPANO 

SECTION: Section 5; Page 6; Column 1; Travel Desk 

LENGTH: 2026 words

THERE is a Chinese proverb that says, "A man's life is but a candle in the wind." This is never more true than when you are traveling. Flights can be grounded or missed; ferry schedules can change; the weather in Boca or Bora-Bora can turn nasty, and every room in the perfect little Left Bank hotel can be taken (even though you have a reservation).
When I first started traveling to write this column three years ago, I lived in fear of these sorts of mishaps, which are often costly and time-consuming. I grew superstitious, giving my seats on subways and buses to elderly ladies in order to accrue good karma, and stopping in Catholic churches to light candles for the positive outcome of my trips. 
 I still believe that there is such a thing as traveler's luck, but I have also learned two lessons that have assuaged my fears somewhat. The first is that -- in retrospect and with a little sense of humor -- bad trips, rotten hotels, rude service and every other variety of mishap can make great stories: the one souvenir every traveler wants to take home.
Moreover, they help you hone your travel skills, teaching you how to anticipate problems and overcome them on the spot -- in sometimes immensely satisfying ways, like the time I defected from a rather dispiriting Alaska camping tour by hopping on a train to Anchorage, eating grilled salmon steak in the dining car while watching a moose charge through the woods.
The second has to do with thorough planning, which, along with a flexible attitude seems to me the best kind of traveler's insurance. I tend to organize trips myself (as opposed to calling a travel agent or taking a tour), partly because I think I can find the best deals on plane tickets and accommodations myself, and because researching and planning puts me at a distinct advantage when I reach my destination.  Besides, I'm a planner by nature. I actually like the process, though it takes time and hard work.
I start at least a month before I plan to leave and probably put in about two days of intensive phoning, faxing and legwork for every week I'll be away. I read and grow confused, pursue leads and become stymied -- but then, in a wonderfully Zen-like way, the answers arise, hotels fax me confirmations, plane tickets turn up in the mail.
I begin plotting my itinerary by reading general guidebooks and cracking open my Rand McNally Cosmopolitan World Atlas, a huge ungainly volume I couldn't do without.  Or I buy a map of the country I intend to visit, which I ceremoniously post on the wall beside my desk.
I spent three weeks in China last October, which was a daunting trip to plan, full of problems I'd never faced (like the immensity of the language barrier, and the fact that there are no central tourist information offices in Chinese cities). Still, I approached China in the same way I plan any trip, first by reading, in this case the beautifully illustrated "Passport Guide to China," by Charis Chan, and poring over a Bartholomew map of China and Mongolia. Then I moved on to studying descriptions of the cities that most appealed to me in the "Lonely Planet Guide to China," geared to budget travel, and "The China Guidebook" by Fredric M. Kaplan, Julian M. Sobin and Arne J. de Keijzer -- both of which include vital practical details like how to get from place to place.
If I could afford it, I'd buy every guidebook on the shelf. Instead, I often wind up reading in the travel sections of bookstores, or parked in the aisles at libraries, skimming historical volumes and foreign language books.
Before bed, I dip into something with a narrative to keep me turning the pages, like Colin Thubron's "Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China," Nien Cheng's "Life and Death in Shanghai," on the Cultural Revolution, or Mark Salzman's "Iron and Silk," about a year the author spent in Changsha studying the martial arts. I didn't stay in Shanghai, practice tai chi, or travel rough, the way Thubron did. But from Salzman I learned that the best way to tour a Chinese city is by bike; Thubron convinced me to avoid hard sleepers on trains, where the floor is used as a cuspidor, and Cheng's horrifying story of Communist Party politics made me pray every night I was there for the health of Deng Xiaoping.
Next, I collect every piece of information on my destination I can. Newspaper ads are a great source for airfare bargains, and I sometimes call the offices of magazines and weeklies published in my destination for free issues, which include good event calendars and ads offering specials at hotels. I contact friends, and friends of friends who've gone there recently, and sometimes simply rifle through the phone book for clues; for instance, under China, I found the China Institute in New York, which offers intensive Chinese classes for travelers and a two-hour workshop on how to tour the People's Republic (for $30). My sister told me to check in the phone book for the National Committee on United States-China Relations, which I doubted could help an independent tourist, but a man there sent me a packet of information that included an old newspaper clipping on pedicab tours through the alleyways of Beijing which turned out to be one of the most exhilarating sightseeing trips I've ever taken.
The more calls I make, the better the information gets. Hunting for a place to rent kayaks in or near the Baja, I recently phoned a shop named Southwest Kayaks in San Diego, which sent me a newsletter that contains a catalogue of hard-to-find books and maps on the long Mexican peninsula and a list of inexpensive kayak tours I intend to try out one of these days.
Most of my leads come from guidebooks, though, which generally supply the addresses and phone numbers of tourism bureaus in New York. I like to visit them in person, partly because it puts me in a traveling mood -- though such excursions yield inconsistent results. For instance, at the Mexican Government Tourist Office I found almost nothing to help me plan a trip to the Baja, but a visit to the Irish Tourist Board last spring provided me with all the brochures I needed to organize a cycling holiday in County Clare.
Technically, most tourist information offices aren't supposed to recommend one travel agency, airline, or hotel over another, but if you can involve them in your trip, they may open up on specifics. This works when you call tourist offices and chambers of commerce in the United States, and when you stop in at travel agencies as well.
I feel a little guilty about the way I tap travel agents for general information, itinerary ideas and airline price quotes, without always intending to use their services. But then again, I occasionally buy airplane tickets from travel agencies (which sometimes offer the best deals on exotic destinations); I have taken a number of low-cost package trips to European cities that can only be booked through airline tour companies, like a five-day trip to Venice on Alitalia, and it didn't take me long to realize I couldn't possibly plan my China trip without the help of a travel agent.
First, though, I considered taking the easiest route of all, by joining an organized tour. I called about a half dozen travel agencies for brochures.  I had already checked with a number of airlines, finding that the lowest fare from New York to Beijing was currently on China Air, for about $1,000. This helped me assess the value of the trips I was offered. I quickly rejected the tours, because I couldn't find one in the right time frame, and because those that looked most enticing were invariably the most expensive.
However, the tour dead end left me with the names of travel agents to contact for help in planning an independent visit to China. I faxed each one a sample itinerary, and got a variety of results; one said he couldn't respond without a deposit, another never answered and a third lost my business when I went to visit her Chinatown office -- a closet of a place with stacks of paper everywhere and phones ringing off the hook. (I salvaged the afternoon trip by stopping at a print shop underneath the Manhattan Bridge, where a nice man translated my name into Chinese and made 200 Chinese business cards for $20 -- which a friend of a friend had suggested I would need.)
Three of the agencies came up with price quotes. I went with the lowest, from an agent named Lena Zhao at Eastquest, who spoke with a quiet authority that reassured me, suggested I visit Nanjing on my way to the garden city of Suzhou (which turned out to be a very good idea), and offered to expedite my visa application for a service charge of $10.  From her I purchased the skeleton of my China trip, and organized the rest myself, finding sights and hotels on my own in Beijing and working with the biggest travel agency in China (by fax) to arrange a five-day stay in Chongqing.
Whether I use a travel agent or not, the next step involves drawing up a calendar, first booking and marking the dates for the least expensive available flight and ground transportation. I have yet to explore the Internet, partly because my initial forays have yielded travel information too general to be useful and airline price quotes I bettered by calling around myself. Besides, I get along fine with my telephone, and buying a fax machine has had benefits I never anticipated -- especially when it comes to booking hotels.  When trying to make reservations at hotels in foreign countries, faxed messages usually get immediate attention, even if they're in English, and faxed confirmations are invaluable.
I once left for a week on the South Pacific island of Huahine with little more than a fax from a Tahitian travel agency in hand. When I arrived at the Papeete airport around 1 A.M., the representative from the agency didn't have my name on her list. But once I showed her my fax she put me in a van headed for a hotel -- and even gave me a left-over lei.
With me, choosing a hotel is largely a matter of chemistry. I check guidebooks to see if more than one has included a place, but above all, it has to be a good deal. Over the phone, I sound out innkeepers to gauge their warmth and knowledgeability; and I always ask them to send or fax me a brochure, which usually has pictures.
But booking a hotel sight unseen is a frustratingly dicey business. I prefer to find a place to stay when I reach my destination. This is also risky, because I could get stuck without a room.
BUT I take that chance under certain conditions -- if it's low season in my destination; if the place has a good tourist bureau with a hotel booking service (as in Britain), and if I'm planning to arrive early in the day, giving me time to prowl before night falls.
Backpackers find the best hotel deals this way; in fact, they keep the whole trip-planning process to a bare minimum, winging it with little more than airline tickets, traveler's checks and a guidebook. On an overnight sleeper from Beijing to Xian, I met a couple from Washington State traveling like this, with the wind at their backs. And I envied them.
But the trouble with traveling like a backpacker is that you've got to make difficult choices about lodgings, sightseeing and transportation at every step along the way -- which would bollix me up. Once I've cobbled my trip together and set off, I try to cut loose and enjoy.
And when I do have to make hard choices on the road, I remember a piece of advice a friend once gave me about getting ahead in business; it applies to travel as well. "Make a decision, make it fast, and don't look back," she said.
But I do look back at the end of a trip. After a disappointing visit to Rhodes -- during which I spent most of my time trying to catch a ferry to a smaller and less touristy island -- I decided that four days isn't enough time for a Greek island idyll. And when I go back to China I'll travel to Sichuan and Kunming Provinces, partly in the style of a backpacker; I will learn more Chinese and study local cuisines, so that I can eat better than I did in October. But I will go back someday; I still have lots of Chinese business cards.

LOAD-DATE: January 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Alison Seifer)

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January 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEW YORKERS & CO.;
A Young Women's World Where Men Vanish at 11

BYLINE: By SARAH KERSHAW 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 4; Column 2; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 923 words

IT was 8 P.M. at Katharine House, a residence for young women on West 13th Street, and not a boyfriend was in sight. Had a suitor arrived, he would have been shown into one of the beau parlors, two rooms off the lobby filled with elegant furniture and the smell of roses. In there, and only in there, courting and flirting are permitted -- but not past 11 P.M.
The Victorian Age lives on at Katharine House, where receptionists still buzz the 80 young residents in their rooms: twice for a guest, once for a phone call. No guests are allowed above the first floor without special permission. In the dining room, housecoats and curlers are permitted only at breakfast. 
 "It's like a movie, like the old black-and-white movies I would sit down and watch with my grandmother," said Shannon McLaughlin, 18, an aspiring model from Baltimore who has rented a room at Katharine House since September. "I guess it's good because if you do meet a guy somewhere he can't just come into your room and use you. You're dropped off, the old way."
At one time there were dozens of long-term hotels for young women throughout the city. But many have closed down or opened their doors to older women and to men, drastically changing the character of what were once the homes away from home for generations of young women making their way in New York.
Some, like Katharine House, were originally opened to provide "respectable" housing for poor young working girls who streamed into the city from small towns around the country. Others were more upscale, and housed proper young women from affluent families. The most famous of them was the Barbizon Hotel for Women, which opened its doors to men in 1981 and became a spa in 1988.
"The young girls want the boys, so those places died out," said John Kelly, who has worked the front desk of the Allerton Hotel for Women on East 57th Street for 22 years. The hotel began accepting women of all ages several years ago, he said.
"There were ladies here like the Jacqueline Kennedy types, you know, the white gloves, the whole bit," he recalled. "Oooh, they were ladies! And they wanted services. We could have had Grace Kelly here, but of course she went to the Barbizon."
Katharine House, opened in 1910, is run by the Ladies' Christian Union, a nonprofit organization founded in 1860 by three New York society women who eventually ran six such homes. All but two of those residences, most of them in historic brownstones, have been sold. Because the rents were kept low, the houses became too expensive to run, according to members of the organization. The other remaining home, Roberts House, is on East 36th Street in Murray Hill.
Like the women who rented rooms at Katharine House before them, today's residents -- among them dancers, models and actresses -- moved to the city to make their fortunes or to be discovered. They came seeking a lucky break and, as one resident, Anna Jones, put it, "a wild and crazy life."
At dinner last Tuesday night, Ms. McLaughlin, the model, chatted with several other residents over a meal of eggplant Parmesan, Caesar salad and pound cake. She ate two salads, pushed the eggplant dish across the table and discussed her first big break: Her left eye appears in the February issue of Glamour magazine in an article about mascara.
Joining Ms. McLaughlin at the table were a ballerina from San Francisco who had recently auditioned for "The Phantom of the Opera," a magazine stylist from Kansas City who is temping at Calvin Klein until she finds a permanent position, and Ms. Jones, 23, a modern dancer from Los Angeles who is studying to become a physical therapist.
"It's very exciting here because back in Kansas City, every time someone talks about fashion, it's the Gap," said the magazine stylist, Anne Leffingwell, who moved in last March. "The big city is my calling."
Ms. Leffingwell said that while she enjoyed some aspects of life at Katharine House, she was planning to move soon. "I have a boyfriend and he lives with his parents on Long Island," she said. "So it's like high school kids in a car when we want to be alone."
While it would seem that the restrictions at Katharine House could cramp a girl's style, surprisingly few of the young women said they were bothered by the rules. For most the appeal is safety, comfort and price, and there are typically 50 or 60 women on the waiting list for a room at Katharine House, said the resident director, Andrea Doolan. Residents must be 18 to 25 years old and earn no more than $25,000.
"This place is out of the 1800's," Ms. Doolan said. "But I find the girls are happier here. It's the only place for a girl in the city to be."
Before she moved to Katharine House a year ago, Ms. Jones, the modern dancer, had shared an apartment with a boyfriend, paying $600 a month for what she described as a rotten deal. When she heard about Katharine House -- it is decorated with oak hutches and embroidered curtains, and has a baby grand piano in the second-floor lounge, a terrace for summer socializing and maid service -- Ms. Jones said she thought there had to be a catch.
"To be a woman in New York City -- in such a fertile place -- with my own room in a house like this," she said. "I mean, hello! It changed my whole life."
Posing for a photograph in her fourth-floor room, Ms. Jones had a revelation involving her new boyfriend. "This is really interesting because my boyfriend hasn't seen my room," she said. "Now he might actually see a picture of it. I hope he likes it."

LOAD-DATE: January 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: At Katharine House, $135 a week gets you two meals a day, left, a common sitting room, top, and a bedroom like this one, rented by Alwyn McCormick, a dancer. (Photographs by Rebecca Cooney for The New York Times)
 
Chart: "FOR WOMEN ONLY: Rules of the House"
Since Katharine House's opening in 1910, its mission has been to provide housing to "young ladies who are supporting themselves by their own exertions." Some rules governing contemporary life at the hotel:
 
Residents -- Women between 18 and 25, earning less than $25,000 a year.
 
Minimum stay -- 3 months.
 
Maximum stay -- 3 years.
 
Rates -- $135 a week includes breakfast and dinner. All rooms are single.
 
Visitors -- Boyfriends and dates may visit with residents in one of two first-floor "beau parlors." No guests -- male or female -- allowed past the first floor without special permission. Last year for the first time, men -- usually male relatives of residents -- began being admitted overnight to the two guest suites.
 
Meals -- Breakfast, 7:30-9 A.M., dinner, 5:30-7 P.M.
 
Attire -- Housecoats, bathrobes or slacks at breakfast. "Street dress required" and "no bathrobes, housecoats, curlers or pin curls" allowed at dinner and in "the lounge," a second-floor living room where residents read, play piano and socialize with one another.

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January 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Promises to Keep: Rethinking the Future of Social Security

BYLINE: By TOM REDBURN 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 1; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 5330 words

SOCIAL SECURITY may not be broke -- yet -- but there are already plenty of ideas about how to fix it.
The recent report from a Federal advisory panel of experts, who split into three factions because they were unable to agree on any full solution, only underscores the range of clashing views on one of the most vexing social and economic problems facing the nation. 
 For the debate over Social Security is not just about how to prevent the retirement system itself from running out of money, but also about much bigger questions: Do Americans spend too much and save too little? How much burden should the old impose on working generations? Is it better to continue the collective "all-for-one-and-one-for all" sense embodied in Social Security and other Government benefit programs, or should Americans be asked to assume more responsibility for their own needs?
None of these questions are easy to answer. And your perspective often depends on where you stand: the young tend to view matters differently from the old, and the comfortable see things in a different light than the afflicted. That is why The New York Times asked several prominent experts -- three from the Advisory Council on Social Security and three others representing varying viewpoints -- to make their cases. Their comments on the latest proposals to overhaul Social Security follow, inside this section.
To a large extent, Social Security is a victim of its own success. The basic quandary of the program is that the Government has promised to deliver trillions of dollars more to retirees and other beneficiaries over the next several decades than it can reasonably expect to collect in payroll taxes from workers. A crisis is not immediate: Social Security now takes in more than it pays out, with the extra money marked as a future obligation from the Treasury to the Social Security system.
But after 2012, the program is expected to start paying out more each year than it receives in tax revenues. In theory, Social Security could continue to call on the Treasury to redeem the obligations held in the Social Security trust fund through 2029, yet it is not clear today just how the Government will respond. Will it have to cut other programs, borrow more from the public or impose higher taxes to pay those bills? Regardless of what happens during the interim, Social Security would have to tap additional resources, reduce its benefits or come up with some combination of the two in order to remain in balance after 2029, according to official projections.
To overcome this problem, advocates split basically into two camps.
On one side are longtime supporters of Social Security and those representing the elderly and labor unions, who favor shoring up the existing pay-as-you-go system. They want to retain its essential character in which today's workers pay taxes to provide income for today's retirees because they believe that doing so sustains the commitment to a system built to encourage the haves to share their bounty with the have-nots. To keep it going, they are prepared to risk some of Social Security's assets in the stock market in hopes of painlessly generating higher revenues.
On the other side are those who argue that Social Security, in its current form, undermines the economy by discouraging Americans from saving more for the future. They want to limit its guaranteed benefits, saying that Social Security should be transformed into a hybrid public-private system that requires people to invest in advance for their own retirement.
Few in Washington expect action anytime soon. But that could be costly. Because the longer policy choices are delayed, the more abrupt and painful any changes are likely to be.   TOM REDBURN
 
Benefit Cuts, Kind and Gentle
EDWARD M. GRAMLICH, dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Policy and chairman of the Advisory Council on Social Security.
In trying to reform Social Security, I am guided by three goals. The first is to retain the important social protections of this program that has worked so well for 60 years. The second is to make these social protections affordable by bringing Social Security back into long-term financial balance. It is not in balance now. The third is to add new national savings for retirement -- both to help individuals maintain their own standards of living in retirement and to build up the nation's capital stock in advance of the baby boom retirement crunch.
In the recently released report of the Advisory Council, I have introduced a compromise proposal, the Individual Accounts Plan, that tries to achieve all three goals. I would preserve the important social protections of Social Security and still achieve long-term financial balance through what might be called kind and gentle benefit cuts. Most of the cuts would be felt by high-wage workers, with disabled and low-wage workers being largely protected from the cuts. Similarly to the other two proposals offered by Advisory Council members, the I.A.P. would involve some technical changes, like including all new hires of state and local government.
Then, beginning in the 21st century, there would be a slight increase in the normal retirement age for all workers and a slight reduction in the growth of Social Security benefits for high-wage workers. Both changes would be phased in very gradually to avoid actual benefit cuts for present retirees and "notches" in the benefit schedule -- instances in which younger workers get lower real benefits than older workers with the same earnings records.
These adjustments would result in a modest reduction in the overall growth of real Social Security benefits. When combined with the rising number of retirees, the share of the economy's annual output devoted to Social Security spending would be approximately the same as at present, eliminating this part of the impending explosion in future entitlement spending.
These benefit cuts alone would mean that high-wage workers would not experience rising real benefits as their real wages grew. So I would supplement these changes with another measure to raise overall retirement (and national) savings. All workers would be required to contribute an extra 1.6 percent of their pay to new individual accounts.
These accounts would be owned by workers but centrally managed. Workers would be able to allocate their funds among 5 to 10 broad mutual funds covering stocks and bonds. Central management of the funds would cut down the risk that funds would be invested unwisely, would cut administrative costs and would mean that Wall Street firms would not reap a financial bonanza. The funds would be converted to real annuities on retirement, to protect against inflation and the chance that retirees would overspend in their early retirement years.
Together, these changes would mean that approximately the presently scheduled level of benefits would be paid to all wage classes of workers, of all ages. The difference is that this plan would mean that these benefits would be affordable; under present law, they are not.
The changes would eliminate the system's long-term financial deficit while holding together the important retirement safety net that Social Security provides. But the changes do move beyond the present pay-as-you-go financing plan by building up the nation's capital stock in advance of the baby boom retirement crunch.
 
Turning Workers Into Investors
CAROLYN WEAVER, director of Social Security and pension studies at the American Enterprise Institute and a member of the Advisory Council.
Social Security is in trouble again. An infusion of $3.1 trillion, we are told, is required to keep benefit checks going out in the long range -- assuming we don't experience any more "adverse" economic or demographic shocks, like living longer than expected. This cash infusion could be met by a payroll tax increase of about one percentage point, on average, every decade over the next 70 years. Alternatively, benefits for middle- and high-wage workers who retire after the turn of the century could be reduced by 25 percent to 30 percent.
If cash-flow deficits were all that ailed the system, the situation would be difficult enough. But it is actually more serious. Since Social Security basically operates on a pay-as-you-go basis -- with income roughly equal to outgo -- it holds few assets against accruing liabilities.
This has two important implications. First, Social Security can now offer younger workers an average real rate of return on their taxes of no more than 1 percent to 2 percent, the real rate of growth of wages. That is substantially below the real return of private capital investment. Cuts in benefits and increases in taxes can only aggravate these poor returns and undermine political support among young workers.
Second, even if the deficits were closed, Social Security would have an enormous unfunded liability. The current $550 billion reserve fund is a mere 5 percent of the estimated $9 trillion to $11 trillion in net benefits that Social Security has promised to current workers and retirees. This "off the books" liability, or implicit debt, is fully double the Government's explicit debt of about $5 trillion.
The fundamental economic problem with financing Social Security in this way -- through income transfers from younger to older generations -- is that it depresses savings and investment, resulting in a lower capital stock, lower real wages and less national income than there would otherwise be. Workers -- and society, more generally -- have forgone the opportunity to invest in real private capital and to earn the higher return it affords.
While it is too late to recover the income lost as a result of the Government's past decisions, it is not too late to halt the losses caused by the continued growth of these promises. The Personal Security Accounts Plan that I support would sharply curtail the growth of future unfunded liabilities, while transforming Social Security into a straightforward retirement savings program backed by a Government safety net. The benefits to American workers, and to their children and grandchildren, would be very large.
The P.S.A. plan would gradually replace one-half of our pay-as-you-go retirement program with a system of personal accounts that would be owned and invested by workers and managed by the financial institutions of their choice. Workers would receive a rebate of part of their taxes for investment in their P.S.A.'s, allowing workers at all earning levels to begin accumulating real wealth. The balance of the retirement program would gradually be converted to a flat benefit, set at a level that would insure all full-career workers -- those who work all or most of their adult lives, low- and high-wage alike -- a base level of retirement income at or above the poverty level.
Under this plan, digging out from Social Security's debt while continuing to provide basically full benefits for current retirees and older workers would involve significant transition costs. It would require a supplemental payroll tax of 1.5 percent (or equivalent spending reductions) over a 70-year period, substantial reductions in long-range spending, and new -- explicit -- Federal borrowing. Despite these transition costs, this plan, when compared with the alternatives, holds the greatest promise for increasing national saving and expanding economic output over the long haul.
The benefits of the P.S.A. plan are not limited to increasing national saving. Under reasonable assumptions, single workers and two-earner couples are expected to fare better than they would under either of the other plans or a shored-up pay-as-you-go system. Younger workers stand to gain the most. In addition, workers and families would be directly involved in the financial decisions that will affect their own future well-being. While workers would take on financial risks, they would gain ownership of their P.S.A.'s and shed some of the political risks attached to Government benefit promises 20, 30 or 40 years down the road.
Critics decry the idea of workers managing their own accounts -- somewhat surprising in a nation with extensive experience with 401(k) plans and various mutual funds, not to mention the most sophisticated financial markets in the world. But what is the alternative? With literally trillions of dollars at stake, it is essential that our investment policy be structured so that workers' taxes are actually saved and invested for the future, rather than spent on current consumption, and that the allocation of capital in the economy is shielded from political manipulation.
Those of us who support the P.S.A. plan believe that securing Social Security in the decades ahead will take more than the traditional "nip and tuck" changes. Creating a system of real value to younger workers requires reforms that create real wealth, bolster expected returns and lessen the political risks attached to the Government's long-term promises.
 
First, the System Is Hardly in Crisis
ROBERT M. BALL, former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration and a member of the Advisory Council.
The difficulty of balancing Social Security over the next 75 years is being greatly exaggerated. There is no need to make major cuts in promised benefits or to make major increases in contribution rates. And certainly there is no need to substitute uncertain returns from individual savings accounts for part of the basic Social Security system. There is, in short, no need to panic.
Here are the facts:
* It is estimated that without changing present law, full benefits can be paid on time until 2029.
* After 2029, without changing present law, 77 percent of benefits could still be paid -- and even after the end of the 75-year projection, 70 percent of benefits could be paid.
* Common-sense adjustments -- several of which are desirable in any event -- would make full benefits payable on time through 2050 and reduce the 75-year deficit from the present estimated 2.17 percent of payroll to 0.80 percent of payroll.
* This remaining deficit can be eliminated in several ways, and there is ample time to evaluate the options calmly. A system in balance until 2050 is hardly in crisis.
The common-sense changes we support should be made promptly. They include improving the accuracy of the cost-of-living adjustments; taxing the Social Security benefits that exceed what the worker paid in, just as other private and public contributory defined-benefit pension plans are taxed today, and making Social Security universal by covering new hires in some 3.7 million full-time state and local government jobs not now under Social Security.
It would also be necessary to either cut the benefits of future recipients modestly, by an average of 3 percent, or increase the contribution rate by three-tenths of a percentage point on employers and employees combined. And we need to correct an anomoly in the allocation of Social Security taxes to the Medicare program.
As stated above, these modest steps would bring the 75-year deficit down to eight-tenths of 1 percent of payroll. In considering how to bring Social Security into complete balance and how to improve the return people get on what they pay in, there is no reason to put a part of Social Security's promised benefits at risk by substituting private individual investment accounts for basic benefits. If we want to improve the return on Social Security contributions by investing in stocks -- rather than putting all the accumulated funds in long-term Government bonds as is now the case -- the Social Security Administration could do this directly. That would be a much safer and more prudent approach.
The idea of Social Security investing, say, as much as 40 percent of its accumulating funds in passively managed stocks indexed to the broad market is certainly worth considering. Through the higher returns expected on the investments in the stock market, the program could come fully into balance and would not compromise any of the principles that have been so successful over the last 60 years in greatly reducing poverty among the elderly and forming the foundation on which just about all Americans build protection for their retirement years.
We recommend for immediate actionthe common-sense changes advocated by the six Advisory Council members backing the Maintenance of Benefits Plan. And we recommend for further study the proposal to directly invest a portion of Social Security funds in stocks. Such actions protect Social Security and avoid the major uncertainties of the individual investment accounts advocated by some council members.
With our approach, there would be no need for an increase in the payroll tax of more than one-and-a-half percentage points beginning in 1998. (To finance the system beyond 75 years, we do recommend such an increase, but not until 2045.)
There would be no need to cut Social Security's defined benefit plan by 30 percent, as in the Individual Accounts Plan, a proposal that is based on the hope that the return from individual investments would on average make up for the cut. There would be no need to borrow $2 trillion from the Federal Government and greatly increase the Federal deficit and debt, as called for in the Personal Security Accounts Plan. Over time, that approach would abolish Social Security as we know it and substitute a flat benefit of $410 a month (increased in line with average wages), supplemented by whatever the individual might earn from a compulsory savings plan.
We do not believe that the Advisory Council has produced three acceptable choices. It has produced just one; the other two plans would be high-risk, high-cost gambles.
 
Paying for Yourself, And for Your Parents
PETER G. PETERSON, chairman of the Blackstone Group, an investment banking firm, and the author of "Will America Grow Up Before It Grows Old?" (Random House).
I have come to believe that the best way to evaluate any Social Security reform proposal, including those now placed on the table by the Advisory Council, is to focus on four bottom-line tests.
Does the proposal add to the publicly held federal debt?
We are told repeatedly that Social Security can pay every penny of promised benefits through 2029. This "solvency" rests on the fiction that trust fund surpluses accumulated in prior years will alleviate the burden that Americans must face in future years. They won't. The assets held by Social Security consist of nothing but Treasury i.o.u.'s. When it comes time for the trust funds to redeem them, Congress must raise taxes, cut other spending, or borrow more from the public -- that is, turn the trust fund paper i.o.u.'s into real i.o.u.'s.
What matters is the annual difference between Social Security's outlays and its earmarked tax revenues. Under current law, this operating balance is due to turn negative in 2012 and widen to an annual deficit of $650 billion by 2029, the last year the trust funds are "solvent." By 2040, this annual deficit would hit $1.2 trillion. This level of Government borrowing is obviously unsustainable.
Does the proposal increase payroll taxes?
To pay promised benefits without adding to the debt, taxes will have to increase to an astounding 17 percent to 22 percent of payroll by 2040. (The current payroll tax is 12.4 percent on earnings up to $65,400.) Add in the still more daunting costs of Social Security's sister program, Medicare, and the tax burden will rise to 35 to 55 percent of payroll. Even the lower figure would kill the economy -- not to mention the taxpayer.
The fact that health-benefit spending is growing so fast makes Social Security reform all the more urgent if we are to afford the metastasizing health care costs of an aging population. The apologists for the Social Security status quo disagree. They prefer to think of each benefit program as an isolated problem. As they see it, Americans won't mind paying a stupefying total tax burden as long as many different Government agencies are collecting and spending the money.
Tax increases also raise the issue of payback fairness. Most of today's elderly are getting back much more than the market value of their prior contributions. Younger Americans know that, in the next century, most of them will be big "market losers" -- even if the current system were sustainable. Any reform that merely raises taxes will worsen the system's cascading pattern of generational inequity.
Does the proposal increase national savings?
More national savings make possible more investment and more economic growth, which in turn makes public benefits more affordable. Moreover, to the extent that households save more, Americans will become less dependent on public benefits to meet their retirement needs. The latter point is crucial. Fewer than half of private-sector workers have a pension, and the median net financial assets of adults in their late 50's -- when workers are staring straight at retirement -- is a paltry $12,000.
If an overhaul merely shifts part of current Social Security tax revenue into the stock market, it will simply force the Government to borrow that much more. If the proposal assumes that stocks will do much better than bonds, then presumably those buying the additional bonds will do less well. This is a zero-sum game. We must increase savings to make us all better off in the long run.
Does the proposal take full account of any transition costs?
Privatizers want to revoke the pay-as-you-go chain letter and require each generation to save for its own retirement. I, too, favor a system of personally owned, portable and fully financed retirement accounts -- combined with a reformed Social Security system that provides a durable safety net.
But there is no escaping the brute fact that today's workers would have to consume less and save more to prefund their own retirement since, at the same time, they would have to keep paying for their parents' benefits. These transition costs are huge. To be fair and realistic, many retired parents -- those who can afford it -- will have to forgo some of the Social Security benefits they are now receiving. That is why I recommend three gradual, humane and, I believe, reasonable reforms to reduce costs:
 * Increase the retirement age to 70 over the next 20 years.
 * Reduce each year's cost-of-living adjustment by at least one-half of a percentage point.
* Progressively reduce all entitlement benefits to upper-income households (what I call an "affluence test").
The first proposal of the Advisory Council -- the Maintenance of Benefits Plan -- fails the first three tests. Since it doesn't include any transition to a new system, the fourth test does not apply. The council's other two proposals are more promising, though not perfect. The Personal Security Accounts Plan, for instance, adds to the public debt, thus neutralizing some of its boost to private savings. Still, the P.S.A. plan has the great merit of confronting the real issue framing today's debate, which is not how to meet some technical solvency test but how to insure Social Security's economic sustainability and generational equity.
 
Deep Thinking, Not Quick Fixes
JOHN ROTHER, director of legislation and public policy for the American Association of Retired Persons.
A financially secure retirement for all generations will require reform in pensions, savings and Social Security. But as we debate these reforms, we must not ignore the needs of American families.
Any discussion of reform should begin with the recognition that Social Security is not in crisis. It can pay full benefits on time until 2029, and thereafter it still has sufficient revenue to pay about 75 percent of the benefits promised under current law without increasing payroll taxes. But, as we have done before, we must address Social Security's longer-term problems to keep it strong for the future. Waiting too long to act means even more significant changes will be needed later. People will have less time to adjust.
Each of the three plans put forward by the Advisory Council includes investing some Social Security money in the private market instead of exclusively in Government securities. Many regard this change as revolutionary, but far more radical is the concept of substantially replacing Social Security with individual investment accounts.
This go-it-alone approach means income security would depend on individual investment skills, luck, the health of the markets and the ability to accumulate sufficient assets to maintain a reasonable living standard throughout retirement. Such uncertainties are a problem, particularly for low- and moderate-income families, who have less to invest, who pay proportionately higher fees and who have limited ability to diversify their portfolios to shield against market downturns.
The cost of financing the transition from the current system to individual accounts would mean higher taxes or additional Federal borrowing, or both. One generation would pay twice -- once for its parents and grandparents, and again for itself.
Social Security was never intended as an investment program or as a stand-alone pension. It works because individuals pool their contributions and share the risks and the benefits -- the basis of a social insurance approach. It is designed to help assure an adequate basis for family economic security throughout an individual's life. That is why the benefit formula helps low-wage workers, why workers with dependents receive family benefits and why disability insurance is provided.
The Advisory Council's differences are significant, but the areas of agreement are instructive and encouraging. The council emphasizes Social Security's ongoing importance. All three factions agree on continuing basic features like employee/employer contributions and universal participation, providing benefits to all contributors, and full benefit adjustments for inflation determined by technical experts, not politicians. They reject means-testing, or limiting benefits for those with higher incomes, and they reject legislating reductions in calculating the Consumer Price Index.
Means-testing of benefits is inconsistent with a fundamental tenet of the program -- that retirement benefits are earned based on contributions -- and would greatly weaken future public support. Political reductions by fiat to the C.P.I., on the theory that the index is inherently flawed and exaggerates inflation, would make beneficiaries poorer in real terms as they age.
The debate should begin with a close examination of the impact of reforms on families, the nation and the economy. Social Security's essential role creates a moral imperative that we insure its viability for future generations. The program is strongly supported by Americans of all ages, has always paid benefits on time and keeps 15 million beneficiaries of all ages out of poverty. More than 44 million people receive benefits -- one-quarter of them under age 65. About four million are children.
The American Association of Retired Persons hopes a national dialogue will lead to pragmatic steps that strengthen the program and improve the economic well-being of future generations. Social Security must continue as the base of family income security. Pensions and individual investments should complement, not replace, Social Security. Now is the time for thoughtful and careful steps to insure Social Security's future, not for quick fixes. Let's make sure we keep the "security" in Social Security.
 
Generation X Sees An Unfair Burden
RICHARD THAU, executive director of Third Millennium, a nonpartisan, Manhattan-based advocacy group begun by and for Americans born after 1960.
Many young adults view Social Security with an odd combination of confusion and contempt: How is it that the Federal Government's largest program, which consumes thousands of dollars of their annual income, is scheduled to become insolvent at the very moment they will need it most?
Until this question is addressed, Social Security is very likely to face a crisis of sinking confidence among the young. This is no idle point, because Generation Xers, people in their 20's and early 30's, will be asked to foot the bill for the baby boom generation that precedes them. If they balk, the system could come to a screeching halt, with perilous consequences.
Although people in this demographic group recognize how vital Social Security is to their grandparents, they do not possess a deep attachment to it. To them, F.I.C.A. is just another tax on their pay stub, not the Federal Insurance Contributions that the acronym stands for. Moreover, this generation was not around during Social Security's developmental phase, and as today's young adults came of age they were never asked whether they wanted to participate in this particular compact among generations. Now, as they learn the strengths and weaknesses of the existing social contract, most 20- and 30-somethings recognize that it needs to be renegotiated, not scrapped.
Social Security represents a terrific deal for today's seniors, but could become a raw deal for the young. A typical single male worker born in 1915 who earned an average wage paid $51,000 in aggregate Social Security taxes during his working life and received a generous $90,200 in benefits (both figures in 1993 dollars), according to Eugene Steuerle and Jon Bakija of the Urban Institute. That worker's single, average-earning grandson, born in 1965, is currently expected to pay $195,800 in Social Security taxes and receive just $139,600 in benefits (also in 1993 dollars), the Urban Institute researchers found.
Aware that one's elders nearly doubled their Social Security "investments," why should any young adult consent to a projected $56,200 loss over a working lifetime?
Given this dismal forecast, it is particularly unreasonable for some putative reformers to deny young people the chance for a positive return, and to instead suggest a 2.2 percent F.I.C.A. tax increase to keep the system solvent. Even if this increase saved the system (and it wouldn't; the Trust Fund would have to contain real assets, not Treasury i.o.u.'s, for the math to work), it would prove onerous to workers, particularly lower-wage earners with young families.
For the record, the proposed 2.2 percent F.I.C.A. hike would mean an additional $550 above the $3,100 in combined employer and employee annual payroll taxes already paid by a family earning $25,000 -- and would do nothing to increase the return. This would make a lousy deal even more costly.
To fix Social Security, Third Millennium has recommended -- in repeated Congressional testimony -- several reforms. The Government should introduce an affluence test on benefits for wealthier retirees, based on a sliding scale that exempts the poor; it should raise the official retirement age to 70 over the next two decades, and the law should be changed to enable workers to redirect a portion of current Social Security taxes into private accounts, as a number of Advisory Council members recommended.
Surveys by Third Millennium and others have shown overwhelming support by Americans for greater personal control over their F.I.C.A. contributions. This has been recognized by a handful of visionary political leaders -- including Senators Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska, and Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican, and Representatives Jim Kolbe, Republican of Arizona, and Charles W. Stenholm, the Texas Democrat -- who are working in their respective chambers to build bipartisan consensus for substantive reforms. But to be successful, they ultimately will need the help of the primary builder of the bridge to the 21st century, Bill Clinton, who undoubtedly knows it makes no sense to drive across that bridge in an Edsel.

LOAD-DATE: January 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: A Government poster from the 1930's promoted the new Social Security program. (pg. 1); Edward M. Gramlich; Carolyn Weaver; Robert M. Ball; Peter G. Peterson; John Rother; Richard Thau. (pg. 13)
 
Chart: "RESCUING SOCIAL SECURITY"
The 13 members of a Federal advisory council recently put forth three plans to enable Social Security to meet its obligations in the years ahead. They agreed that benefits must be trimmed, that the retirement age should be pushed back, that state and local government workers should be required.
But they split sharply over whether to continue the pay-as-you-go system, in which today's workers basically pay benefits to current retirees, or to move closer to a true pension system in which workers are required to put aside money in advance for their own retirement.
In addition to the three proposals from the panel, others have suggested a variety of fixes for Social Security, including an immediate payroll tax increase, significantly lower cost-of-living adjustments and strict limits on benefits for more affluent retirees.
Here are the important differences among the three major proposals.
 
MAINTAIN BENEFITS PLAN: Keeps the pay-as-you-go system. To help pay future benefits, the Government would consider putting up to 40 percent of the Social Security trust funds in the stock market. Advocated by Robert M. Ball and one other member of the panel. Higher taxes would be needed later.
 
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS PLAN: Serves as a middle ground between the two other plans. In addition to the current 12.4 percent payroll tax, workers would pay a 1.6 percent payroll tax that would go into their individual accounts, managed by the Government. People would choose from limited options, including stock investments. Advocated by Edward Gramlich and one other member of the panel.
 
PERSONAL SECURITY ACCOUNTS PLAN: Turns over much of the resources and responsibility for retirement to individuals. Diverts 5 percentage points of the 12.4 percent payroll tax into personal accounts, which could be invested through a wide variety of private channels. An increase of 1.5 percent in the payroll tax and additional borrowing would help finance the transition to the new system. Advocated by Carolyn Weaver and four others on the panel.
 
(Source: Advisory Council on Social Security) (pg. 13)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



39 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Marie Thompson, 92, Public Housing Leader

BYLINE: By WOLFGANG SAXON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 32; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 404 words

Marie Collins McGuire Thompson, who worked to improve the design of public housing for the elderly and low-income people as the Public Housing Administrator in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, died last Monday at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. Mrs. Thompson was 92 and lived in Kensington, Md.
Marie McGuire, as she was known, came to public housing with an aversion to "bare, stark shelter" that, she said, "has brought no happiness to us." Instead, she espoused programs to create homes of which their occupants could be proud. Her advocacy drew criticism from legislators and defenders of traditional approaches, but architectural organizations backed her. Housing projects begun under her leadership won unaccustomed design awards. 
 She came to national attention as executive director of the San Antonio Housing Authority, where she championed amenities like balconies for every apartment. Studying the special needs of the elderly with limited means, she insisted on features like weatherproof ramps, handrails in all rooms and corridors and emergency bells in the bathrooms.
Her crowning achievement was the Golden Age Center, with 185 low-rent apartments designed for the elderly, that opened in 1960 in San Antonio. The next year, President John F. Kennedy recruited her as the first woman to become Public Housing Administrator. She held the post until 1966, when her office was merged into the new Department of Housing and Urban Development. There she became special assistant to the Secretary, working on housing and problems that affect the disabled and the elderly.
She left the Government in 1972. Until 1982, she was the housing specialist at the International Center for Social Gerontology in Washington, now the Center for Social Gerontology in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Mrs. Thompson was born in the Georgetown area of Washington. She studied journalism at George Washington University and, years later, studied architecture and real estate management at the University of Houston.
She wrote four books, "Housing for the Elderly" (1957), "Housing and the Disabled" (1976), "Housing for the Handicapped" (1977) and "Housing for Rural Elderly" (1982).
Her first marriage, to John McGuire, a Government geologist, ended in divorce. Her second husband, Thomas B. Thompson of San Antonio, an architect, died in 1983. She is survived by a sister, Margaret C. Schweinhaut, also of Kensington.

NAME: Marie Collins McGuire Thompson

LOAD-DATE: January 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



40 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

MEDICARE PANEL ADVISES A FREEZE ON HOSPITAL PAY

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR  

SECTION: Section 1;  Page 1;  Column 6;  National Desk  

LENGTH: 1232 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 18

A Federal advisory panel has decided to recommend that Congress freeze Medicare payments to hospitals next year. It would be the first time in the history of the program that hospitals have not received an increase.
In approving the recommendation, the panel said that hospitals had effectively controlled their costs, so that existing Medicare payment rates were generally adequate. 
 The chairman of the panel, Prof. Joseph P. Newhouse of Harvard, said in an interview that payment rates could be kept level next year without harming the quality of health care or access to care for beneficiaries.
Medicare finances care for 38 million people who are elderly or disabled. Payments to hospitals totaled $84 billion last year, or 44 percent of all Medicare spending.
The Federal advisory panel, the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, voted this week to recommend a "zero update" -- no change -- in Medicare payment rates for hospitals. Congress pays close attention to the panel's advice, often providing less money but rarely more than it suggests.
The unexpected recommendation offers President Clinton and Congress a relatively easy way to reduce the Federal budget deficit and shore up the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital bills.
Carmela S. Coyle, a vice president of the American Hospital Association, said: "We are surprised that the commission recommended no increase at all in Medicare payment amounts. It's unprecedented. Hospitals have become more efficient. We've kept down costs for two or three years in a row. There have been real cuts in the cost of treating Medicare patients. But how long can these cost reductions be sustained?"
Mrs. Coyle said hospitals were, in effect, being punished for having improved their productivity. Federal officials contend that Medicare should share the benefits of such improvements, and that hospitals can continue increasing productivity.
Kenneth E. Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, said the Medicare proposal was "the third stroke of a triple whammy" adversely affecting hospital revenues. New York State recently lifted price controls on hospitals, forcing them to compete for patients by offering discounts to insurers. In addition, Mr. Raske said, New York has cut Medicaid payments to hospitals, and Gov. George E. Pataki is proposing deeper cuts.
The recommendation from the Federal advisory panel coincides with new evidence showing how inflation has been squeezed from the health care industry.
The cost of medical care, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose last year by just 3 percent, the smallest amount in three decades. The price index for all items increased 3.3 percent. It was the first time since 1980 that medical prices rose less than the overall index, which measures changes in the prices paid by consumers for a fixed market basket of goods and services.
While the Government data show that medical prices are leveling off, some economists say they are actually declining.
"For example," said Dahlia K. Remler, a health economist at Tulane University in New Orleans, "the price you have to pay for extending your life after a heart attack is not rising as fast as the price of other goods in the economy like food, clothing and housing. In the last 15 years, the price of what we care about -- the price of having our health improved when we are sick -- has gone down in real terms."
Since 1984, hospitals have received a fixed amount of money for each Medicare patient they treat, regardless of how long the person stays in the hospital. Each Medicare patient is assigned to 1 of 495 categories, depending on the illness. Payments are set in advance for each category and can be updated annually.
The Congressional Budget Office had assumed that payment rates would be increased 3 percent next year. Based on that figure, the panel's recommendation would save more than $2 billion in 1998. It would permanently lower the base for future increases, saving more than $11 billion over five years.
The sum, while substantial, is a relatively small part of the savings that will be needed to guarantee the long-term solvency of Medicare.
In the last decade, the commission has recommended increases averaging 3 percent a year, and Congress has approved increases averaging 2.6 percent a year.
Stuart Guterman, deputy executive director of the commission, said: "Hospital costs have been declining while Medicare payments have increased at a moderate rate. As a result, hospitals have found their Medicare business more profitable."
The hospital association boasted last year that "increases in hospitals' costs of delivering care hit their lowest point in 40 years." One reason, the commission said, is that wages and benefits of hospital employees are growing more slowly than compensation in many other industries.
Data collected by the Government show that hospital profit margins have, on the average, been rising for several years. But Mrs. Coyle said the data also showed that some hospitals were experiencing financial difficulties. Nineteen percent of hospitals lost money over all, she said, while 39 percent lost money on their Medicare business.
Kay Ford, an economist at the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, said that the growing use of managed care had helped hold down health costs. Nearly three-fourths of workers with health insurance are in some type of managed care.
Both H.M.O.'s and traditional insurance plans are negotiating with hospitals to get lower rates for their patients. Hardly anyone pays the full list price any more.
Economists told Congress last month that the Consumer Price Index tends to overstate increases in the cost of living because it does not fully account for the development of new products, improvements in the quality of old products and other changes in the standard market basket of goods and services.
Such changes are occurring throughout the health care industry. New drugs and devices and medical procedures are introduced every month. Employers, labor unions, H.M.O.'s and insurance companies are continually devising new ways to pay for services. Different people often pay different prices for the same service provided by the same doctor or hospital.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has data showing the prices of hospital rooms over the last 60 years. But the price index does not take account of the fact that the average length of hospital stays has declined in the last 15 years, especially for elderly patients.
In addition, "a hospital day today is very different from one 10 years ago in terms of the procedures a patient receives," said Dr. Mark McClellan, an economist and physician at Stanford University.
David M. Cutler, an economist at Harvard, said that the services provided by doctors and hospitals today were worth more than those provided 10 or 20 years ago.
Mr. Cutler, Dr. McClellan, Ms. Remler, and Mr. Newhouse recently studied the care of people who had suffered heart attacks. In a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, they found that while the "use of more intensive procedures like bypass surgery and angioplasty has skyrocketed," prices have come down and patients are living longer.
For these patients, they said, the cost of living in a literal sense -- the cost of prolonging life after a heart attack -- has declined.

LOAD-DATE: January 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH 

GRAPHIC: Graph: "KEEPING TRACK: Have Medical Prices Leveled Off?"
The cost of medical care rose last year by just 3 percent, the first time since 1980 that medical prices rose less than the overall Consumer Price Index, a widely-used measure of inflation. The increase in medical prices was the smallest in three decades. Graph compares the Consumer Price Index and the Medical Care Component, 1960-95.
 
Hospital have controlled costs so effectively that operating expenses for each Medicare patient have actually declined in each of the last three years. Graph shows annual change in hospital Medicare costs, 1985-95.
 
(Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Prospective Payment Assessment Commission; Department of Health and Human Services) (pg. 22)

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41 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 20, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

Parishioners Come to Services, Despite Arrest of Their Pastor

BYLINE: By NORIMITSU ONISHI 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 358 words

On the Sunday after their pastor was charged with selling drugs out of their church, about 90 people attended services yesterday at St. John's Episcopal Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and heard a bishop tell them that their minister, the Rev. Chester LaRue, would be stepping down.
On Friday night, Father LaRue, 54, had been arrested in his bedroom on the second floor of the church rectory and charged with possessing and selling cocaine and drug paraphernalia, the police said. 
 Three other people at the church -- including Thomas Miller, 28, the pastor's nephew; Ruben Serrano, 20, and Shala Forte -- were arrested on the same charges, the police said.
The arrests followed the investigation of a reported robbery at the church on Dec. 30. Father LaRue told the police and several reporters then that he had fought off a robber.
Yesterday, the police said they believed that the incident may have been rooted in a dispute over drug money. It was not clear yesterday how long drugs were said to have been sold out of the church, a small, historic stone building with a history of trouble. Ten years ago, a prior pastor, the Rev. George Hoeh, was killed by his male lover.
Yesterday morning, parishioners -- mostly elderly men and women -- gathered for prayers. The church's boiler was not working properly, so a meeting room was put into service.
Bishop Blair Hatt filled in for the pastor yesterday as churchgoers clutched a folded program that made this request: "Please pray for Father LaRue at this trying, stress-filled time in his life and ministry."
Most parishioners, whether they believed their pastor guilty or not, seemed willing to do just that.
"He's a good man," said Shirley Kahaly, a member for 10 years. "I'll keep him in my prayers. He's been very good to parishioners. I won't believe these accusations until they're proven."
Tom Aylward, 82, said the minister had performed the ceremony when he married his second wife, Dorothy, 82, seven years ago. "There was really no sign that anything was wrong," he said. "It was a total surprise. But we're all human beings, and we all make mistakes."      

LOAD-DATE: January 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: January 22, 1997, Wednesday

 CORRECTION:
An article on Monday about the arrest of an Episcopal priest in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, on charges of having sold drugs misstated the title of the clergyman who presided on Sunday in his absence. The Rev. Blair Hatt is a priest, not a bishop.

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The New York Times

January 22, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER REVIEW;
A Life and a Country Stripped of Illusions

BYLINE: By BEN BRANTLEY 

SECTION: Section C; Page 11; Column 1; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 1200 words

The old man longs for a uniform: something "with a touch of gold," he says, like a child with a Christmas wish list he knows will never be answered. For Thomas Dunne, once a superintendent of Dublin's metropolitan police and now a resident of a bare cell in a mental home, the shelter and camouflage of clothes are as distant as youth. Time and age have stripped him raw, and there is no one in the world, he says, to identify him as human.
It seems unlikely that anyone has ever appeared as utterly and cruelly naked on a stage as Donal McCann, the astonishing Irish actor who stars in "The Steward of Christendom," Sebastian Barry's magnificent portrait of a life recollected, now at the Majestic Theater of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 
 As Mr. McCann's Thomas maps a tortured, circular course through some 70 years of memories, the images of loss, great and small, expand to the point that they are almost unbearable: a child's toy fire engine is buried in a dung heap; a son is devoured by World War I; a 45-year career fades into uselessness and with it, the vision of an Ireland that once seemed to stretch into an eternity of stability.
The man who catalogues these losses, with both bewildered rage and a quiet, bottomless sadness, wears only his stained, crusted long underwear. In one harrowing moment, he is deprived even of this, to be bathed by a surly nurse. Crouched abjectly, his hands cupped over his genitals, Mr. McCann brings to mind Durer's Adam, expelled forever from the sanctuary of Eden.
This moment, like the play itself, opens the door to a flood of associations, both particular and universal. Children of aging parents will certainly recognize Thomas's mournful cries of deprivation. Students of Irish history will find a metaphor for that country's devastating political vicissitudes in the early part of this century.
Readers of Irish and English literature will perceive a host of antecedents: the cool, elegiac eye of James Joyce's short story "The Dead" (made into a memorable film by John Huston, starring Mr. McCann); the bleak absurdity of Samuel Beckett's lost, primal characters; the cosmic anger of "King Lear."
The extraordinary accomplishment of this production by the Out of Joint touring company, imported from London's Royal Court Theater and allowed a mercifully generous run here through Feb. 23, is its ability to keep all of these levels in play without floating into abstraction.
Under the direction of Max Stafford-Clark, who brings a lucidity and a lyricism to his staging that matches the play's prose, "Steward" bears the rare mark of theatrical greatness: it is rooted in specific, even earthy detail but it sets off echoes that go way beyond its sad story.
Like the American dramatist Horton Foote, Mr. Barry has written a cycle of brooding, exquisite plays that draw from his family's history ("Steward" was inspired by his great-grandfather) to portray a world in which the reassurances of home, family and nation are only ephemera. An overwhelming feeling of solitariness sweeps through "Steward" like the wind through Lear's blasted heath. One arrives in and leaves this world naked and alone.
Mr. McCann doesn't look anywhere near Thomas's 75 years. Nor, as he goes through the many ages of one man, does he employ the obvious actorly tricks of aging. His head shaved, his large-boned body a paradoxical emblem of strength and collapse, he is an almost elemental presence: man reduced to brute flesh.
Yet the way in which Mr. McCann animates this flesh is a marvel of delicacy. He not only turns time remembered into time present, he also elucidates a sense that past and present coexist in an infinitely shaded dialogue. Time is not lateral here, and Thomas the boy is every bit as alive as Thomas the geriatric outcast.
When first seen, Thomas is only a head and a pair of hands, stranded among the bedclothes of a small iron bed and among recollections of his infancy: "Da Da, Ma Ma, Ba Ba," he chants. Wakened by a gruff attendant (Kieran Ahern) of the mental ward to which his daughter Annie (Tina Kellegher) has consigned him, he seems to grow by degrees as he rises.
Standing, he fiercely clutches the fingers of one hand with another or anchors his arms to the top of his head. Clearly, all he has to cling to now is himself, and there's no guarantee of solidity there. As the play continues, he rebukes himself not to speak to shadows. They will arrive anyway, most poignantly in the form of his dead son, who appears as a child (Carl Brennan) dressed in splendid military uniform.
In his prime, Thomas oversaw Dublin's police force. He had risen, he notes, as high as a Catholic could, and he perceived himself as the steward of Queen Victoria's England. The political turmoil of the last years of his 45-year career, combined with the deaths of his beloved wife and son and the departure of his favorite daughter (Aislin McGuckin) to America, unhinged every notion of order. And when he retired to the countryside, with the ascension of the Republican revolutionary Michael Collins in the 1920's, it was to a land without form.
This is told through monologues, flashbacks and encounters between Thomas and visitors from the outside world. There are no evident villains or heroes here; everyone (most affectingly, Mr. Ahern and Maggie McCarthy's ward attendants) is democratically tarred with the brush of human frailty.
Throughout, repeated images of parents and children, of forms of clothing, of dogs and chickens from Thomas's rural childhood are woven into a tight poetic pattern that never violates naturalistic flow. Only the memory scenes between Thomas and his daughter feel at all strained or disruptive. Julian McGowan's deceptively simple single set and Johanna Town's masterly lighting create a haunting, impressionistic canvas of a world in dissolution.
Lighting is especially crucial. Morning dawns again and again in "Steward," and it as likely to bring ruin as new life. Yet this stirring play somehow transcends despair.
In the splendid monologue in which Thomas recalls awaiting a fatal childbirth, he is, he says, "allowed by God a little clarity and grace." And Mr. Barry generously and compassionately concludes his work with a beautifully rendered chapter from Thomas's childhood that, for once, ends happily. You leave the theater with both sadness and a glow of gratitude for a play and a performance that have bestowed the illumination of more than a little clarity and grace.
 
THE STEWARD OF CHRISTENDOM
 
By Sebastian Barry; directed by Max Stafford-Clark; sets by Julian McGowan; lighting by Johanna Town; music by Shaun Davey; sound by Paul Arditti; production manager and company stage manager, Rob Young. The Out of Joint production presented by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Bruce C. Ratner, chairman of the board; Harvey Lichtenstein, president and executive producer. At the Majestic Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

WITH: Donal McCann (Thomas Dunne), Ali White (Maud), Tina Kellegher (Annie), Aislin McGuckin (Dolly), Carl Brennan (Willie), Rory Murray (Matt and Recruit), Maggie McCarthy (Mrs. O'Dea) and Kieran Ahern (Smith).

LOAD-DATE: January 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Donal McCann, right, as a mental patient and Rory Murray as his son-in-law, a painter, in "The Steward of Christendom." (Tom Brazil for The New York Times)

TYPE: Review

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January 22, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

A Japanese Generation Haunted by Its Past

BYLINE: By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 3; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 2501 words

DATELINE: OMIYA, Japan

Nearly six decades have passed, but when Shinzaburo Horie sees a baby he still cringes inside, and his mind replays the indelible scene of himself as a young soldier in China, thrusting his bayonet through the chest of a Chinese infant.
Mr. Horie says the killing was unintentional, but the memories follow him everywhere, and he has never mustered the courage to tell even his wife. Nor has he ever told her how as a young soldier, equally inadvertently, he ate the flesh of a 16-year-old Chinese boy. 
 "I can't forget the fact that I ate a human being," said Mr. Horie, a lean 79-year-old farmer whose hands trembled as he excavated his war memories. "It was only one time, and not so much meat, but after 60 years I can't put it behind me."
Old men like Mr. Horie all across Japan are still besieged by memories of what they did, and no treaty can end the conflict in their minds and dreams. World War II has also been impossible to lay to rest because disputes about it remain a major cause of friction in East Asia.
China and North and South Korea, for example, want Japan to make a clearer apology for aggression and to pay the individuals whom it brutalized during the war. Just recently, a new quarrel broke out between Japan and South Korea over the Japanese Government's refusal to pay official compensation to the Imperial Army's former sex slaves in Korea.
Yet while nothing in this century has so transformed Japan as the war and its aftermath, discussions of it remain a virtual taboo in many families. Of course, veterans in all countries are often reluctant to talk about their worst memories, but in Japan many young people have no idea that Grandpa even went to war.
Old men are now taking their war secrets with them to the grave here in Omiya, a little farm town of 5,700 people set in the jutting hills of Mie Prefecture almost 200 miles southwest of Tokyo.
The men -- and to a lesser extent, the women -- who endured the war years are often deeply upset that young people know so little about those wrenching times, yet they feel unable to open their hearts to those who were not there.
"My story is nothing to be proud of," said Mr. Horie, who was deeply agitated as he spoke about his role in the war. "So I don't think I should talk too much about it."
Over all, looking at Mr. Horie's generation, it would be difficult to imagine more upstanding people who did worse things.
From the time they invaded Northeast China in 1931 and the rest of China in 1937, through World War II, Japanese troops massacred civilians, tortured captives and raped young girls almost everywhere they went, and yet those same men -- now graying at the temples, raising wrinkled hands to the ear -- are unfailingly courteous, gentle and honest.
They are deeply respected in their communities, and everyone knows they would never think of cheating anybody or losing their tempers. Yet they collectively killed 20 million or 30 million people.
Paradoxically, a decency shines through even as they talk about the things they did, for at least in Omiya the tone is often not defensive but deeply contrite.
While many Japanese argue that there is no need for the country as a whole to apologize to overseas war victims or compensate them, many veterans say the Government should do more to show remorse for the war and to teach young people about atrocities committed by Japanese troops.
"We should absolutely apologize to China and Korea," Mr. Horie said without hesitation. "Absolutely."
The tension was thick as he began to peel away his own memories, and his hands shook like dry leaves in the wind. After two hours he took a deep breath and volunteered that he had eaten human flesh.
Mr. Horie and his buddies had eaten some rare fresh meat that had suddenly become available in the local market in northeastern China one day in 1939, he recalled. Then the kenpeitai, the Japanese secret police, came around asking whether anyone had bought that meat in the market.
"Some Japanese soldiers who were hungry had killed the boy and eaten some of his meat and sold the rest to the Chinese merchant, and we bought it from that merchant," Mr. Horie said. He added that he had heard that the Japanese soldiers had been punished for the killing and the cannibalism.
The killing of the baby, Mr. Horie insisted, was just as accidental. He said he had been searching a village for anti-Japanese guerrillas when he saw a stack of dried reeds with an arm sticking out, holding a gun.
"I charged with my bayonet and thrust it into the reeds at chest height, and I heard a scream," he said. "I pulled the rifle out, and there was a baby skewered on the bayonet. It was maybe six months old, and the hilt had gotten caught in its belt, so it was stuck to the bayonet.
"It turned out that the baby's mother was a guerrilla, holding the baby as she hid in the reeds. The bayonet had gone through her as well as the baby, so she died too."
Mr. Horie paused, overcome by the rush of memories.

Brutality of Officers
Young Draftees Feared Superiors
Omiya, like most of Japan, was caught up in the militarism of the 1930's, and the local elementary schools taught the boys military drills using wooden guns. "The greatest honor," the young men of Omiya were told, "is to come back dead."
Yet very few in Omiya volunteered for service, most waiting until they were drafted. The reason for this hesitation had nothing to do with doubts about the aims of the war. The young men were simply afraid -- not of the enemy, but of their own officers.
"Very few kids wanted to become soldiers, because we knew that the army was very strict," said Setsuo Ono, who spent four years in the war in China. "If you were a low-ranking soldier, you had to wash the officers' underwear and polish their boots. If you didn't do everything just right, you got beaten up."
Often the new soldiers were lined up for officers to slap them in the face, or punch them or beat them with belts, sometimes until blood poured down their faces.
For many of the troops, this kind of brutality was more evident, on a daily basis, than the atrocities against civilians for which the Imperial Army is better remembered. Most veterans in Omiya do not dispute that atrocities occurred, but they add that it is not as if the typical soldier had been killing and raping civilians daily.
Wazo Nishi, 80, a stooped widower with a few days' stubble on a deeply lined face, was a medic. He says that he never killed anyone and that in the entire war he saw only one barbaric incident -- although he adds that he can never forget it.
It was in the Philippines in 1942. A Japanese military surgeon decided to show a few medics how to remove an appendix. So he spread a sheet on a field, brought in a healthy Filipino, a civilian, and put a mask over his nose to anesthetize him.
The surgeon cut the Filipino open, removed his appendix and sewed him back up. Then, the lesson over, the surgeon pulled out a gun and shot and killed the patient.
 
Everyday Atrocities
Crimes in China Were Routine
None of the veterans in Omiya is such a puzzle of contradictions as Teruichi Ukita, 71, a burly man with a crown of white hair shorn in a crew cut. Amiable and remorseful, Mr. Ukita acknowledges that he served in China in the kenpeitai, the dreaded military police, and that he killed many Chinese people during the war.
"I saw lots of torture scenes, but I don't want to talk about it, or remember it," Mr. Ukita said coolly. "It was said that even crying babies would shut up at the mention of the kenpeitai. Everybody was afraid of us. The word was that prisoners would enter the front gate but leave by the back gate -- as corpses."
The torturers themselves, Mr. Ukita said, were "regular people" who simply did their job. Yet he acknowledged that some torturers had been worse than others, and he drew a distinction between those who were "cold" and others who were more "humane."
"If you look in a man's eyes as you torture him, then you understand him," Mr. Ukita said. "When you ask him for information, you can tell from his eyes if he's telling the truth when he says, 'I don't know, I don't know.' The humane torturers would stop at that point, if they saw the man really didn't know. The cold ones would keep going."
The victims were mostly men, Mr. Ukita said, but there were some women as well. These were extremely disagreeable memories for Mr. Ukita, and he repeatedly turned aside questions about what he himself had done and seen.
"I just can't talk about it," he said.
Asked about the "comfort women," or sex slaves in army brothels, Mr. Ukita acknowledged that he had frequently visited them. Although some Japanese now insist that the women were prostitutes who had volunteered, Mr. Ukita said that from his own experience he knew that the women had been forced to work in the brothels.
"At the time of the war, I was in my 20's and single, and I didn't understand," he said, growing more emotional. "But when I had two daughters myself, I started to realize what I had done."
At that point, Mr. Ukita's voice choked and blinked, and tears welled in his eyes. He would not say exactly what his role had been, but in a tremulous voice he said that Japan should compensate the women for the injuries done to them.
Westerners often complain indignantly that Japanese see themselves as victims of the war rather than the aggressors. One reason for this perception in Japan is that by the end of the war, many people like Mr. Ukita -- along with countless civilians -- came to endure trials as severe as those the Japanese Army had previously inflicted.
In the chaos of defeat, Mr. Ukita remembers seeing Japanese refugees trying to ford a river, and one young woman in particular sticks in his mind. She was carrying a bag of possessions and leading a child and an elderly woman. When the river got too high, she had to let go of the bag.
"Then the water got deeper, and she had to let go of the grandma," Mr. Ukita said. "And it got even deeper, and so the only way she could make it was to let go of her child. She got to the other bank and survived, but she was shattered. She looked as if she were sleepwalking."
Mr. Ukita was captured by Russians at the end of the war and sent to Siberia. It was when he saw fellow Japanese being killed, he said, that he belatedly realized the universal value of human life.
"Watching Chinese being killed, I had had no emotions," Mr. Ukita said. "It was like a game. But when I saw Japanese being executed in Siberia for stealing things, I got so angry and emotional."

Ancient History
For Schoolchildren, The War Is Hazy
Naruki Orita is a 13-year-old boy who is known as a good student in Omiya Junior High School. The other day he was doing his homework, sprawled on the living room floor, his feet toasty under an electric blanket.
He knows his algebra cold, but -- like teen-agers everywhere -- he has trouble keeping track of events that happened before he was born and thus seem like ancient history.
What country dropped the atomic bomb on Japan?
"Hmmmm," he muttered. "I'm not really sure. I don't know."
"What are some countries that Japan fought against in the war?"
"I just don't know. I think I used to know, but I forget."
Naruki said he knew that his grandfather had died in the war, but he did not know where. "We don't ever talk about the war," he said. "No one's interested."
His grandmother, Tsune Orita, a stooped woman of 87 who lives with the family, looked a bit embarrassed.
"I just don't tell him about his grandfather," she said. Some people in Omiya say the war is not mentioned because it ended in a humiliating defeat, but the elders also say that when they were children there was never much talk about the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 either, and that was a national triumph.
Perhaps one reason for the taboo, aside from the painfulness of the memories, is that in Japan it is considered poor form to brag or to whine, and it is hard to talk about a searing experience like battle without seeming to do one or the other.
"In my cluster of houses, there were four other families that had lost people in the war, but I was the only war widow," said Kimie Ono, 74, a spry woman who raised two daughters by herself. "I didn't want to sound like a whiner, so I did what people say. 'Widows tough it out,' as the saying goes. I toughed it out."
The term Mrs. Ono used for toughing it out is ganbaru, a word central to the Japanese value system.
It means to struggle on uncomplainingly, and even now children and adults alike are constantly told to ganbaru their way through difficulties.
When the veterans straggled home after the war, no one praised them or even much sympathized with them. Yet while the Japanese veterans say their efforts went unappreciated, they add that they have never heard of veterans suffering from emotional problems because of the war.
Perhaps one source of resiliency has been the strong sense of structure in Japanese life, based on family, job and community, giving each veteran a familiar niche in which to move ahead. In any case, most veterans never looked back.
"I don't talk about my experiences in the war with my family," said Teisaku Yoshida, the former town barber, who served in Korea. "I never told my son about it, not even once. I never told my wife or grandkids, either.
"I don't think my grandkids even know that I was in the war at all."
Most of the old men who discussed the war said they were recounting their war experiences for the first time, and they spoke with a mixture of ache and relief. Some seemed happy in the twilight of their lives to talk about the specters that still rattled chains in their minds, but they could not discuss quite everything.
"I did some terrible things that I would never be able to talk about," said Junji Murata, who served in China and also guarded American prisoners of war in a camp in Vietnam. "But we also endured awful experiences ourselves."
By all accounts, those experiences changed the veterans of Omiya, so that the arrogant young men who left for war returned humble and chastened, and in most cases ferociously hostile to war itself in any form.
"War makes people do terrible things," said Mr. Ukita, the former military policeman who watched Chinese being tortured. "Humans are so stupid. You do terrible things, and you regret them later. At first, humans seem so smart. And in reality they're such idiots."

Main Street, Japan
The first article in this look at life in Omiya, a small town in Japan, appeared on July 18, 1995, and reported on the schools. The second, on Oct. 15, was about religion; the third, on Jan. 2, 1996, about farmers; the fourth, on Feb. 11, about love and marriage; the fifth, on May 3, about small-town civility; the sixth, on June 19, about the role of women; the seventh, on Sept. 29, about the Japanese way of death, and the eighth, on Oct. 13, about politics.

LOAD-DATE: January 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

SERIES: MAIN STREET, JAPAN -- Wounds of War

GRAPHIC: Photos: Teisaku Yoshida, who served in Korea, has refrained from telling his family about his war experiences. (Nicholas D. Kristof/The New York Times) (pg. A1); Shinzaburo Horie and his wife, Teru, near their house in Omiya, Japan. Mr. Horie, who was with the Japanese Army in China, is tormented by memories of bayoneting a baby and eating the flesh of a teen-age boy. (Nicholas D. Kristof/The New York Times) (pg. A8)
 
Map shows the location of Oniya, Japan: In Omiya, old men are haunted by what they did in World War II. (pg. A8)      

TYPE: Series

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

January 22, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

PRESIDENT OFFERS MEDICARE SAVINGS

BYLINE: By ALISON MITCHELL 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 964 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 21

One day after his inauguration, President Clinton made a conciliatory gesture to Congressional Republicans today by announcing that his budget proposal would contain more savings in Medicare than he was willing to consider last year.
At a White House appearance before a strategy session with his economic advisers, Mr. Clinton said his budget for the 1998 fiscal year would propose trimming the growth in Medicare spending by $138 billion over six years. 
 "The only way we can actually balance the budget is if we seize this moment to work together," he said. "And I'm going to do my best to reach out to the Republicans." He added, "I want to meet them halfway on this and on many issues. And I hope they'll meet me halfway."
Prominent Republicans, in fact, said the President had met them halfway, and they gave him high praise. When budget talks between Congress and the President collapsed last January, Republicans were seeking to rein in Medicare spending by $158 billion over six years, and Mr. Clinton had proposed $116 billion in reductions. While it was not clear today whether the President was using precisely the same economic forecasts in his latest proposal, he did appear to be trying to strike a mid-point.
Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for the elderly, has been one of the most politicized issues dividing Republicans and Democrats as they have sparred over budget proposals over the past two years. Mr. Clinton and the Democrats campaigned hard against the Republicans on the issue in the 1996 campaign, running against the House Republicans' bid in 1995 to make $270 billion in savings over seven years in the program.
Democrats often went so far as to suggest that the Republicans wanted to dismantle Medicare altogether -- charges that the Republicans bitterly repudiated as scare tactics.
But today the tables were turned as influential Republicans praised the President's gesture while Democratic leaders of Congress remained conspicuously closed-mouthed.
"I am very encouraged by President Clinton's decision today to meet Republicans halfway on the Medicare savings level," said Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee. "This is a very positive and very significant development." Representative John R. Kasich, the Ohio Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee, said, "This frankly brightens the prospects for being able to get a budget agreement."
Democrats, however, were circumspect. "We have not seen the details of it and I think until we know more about it we have to reserve judgment," said Laura Nichols, the spokeswoman for Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the minority leader. Senator Tom Daschle, the minority leader, also had no immediate comment.
Most of the savings in Mr. Clinton's proposal would come from health care providers, with hospitals losing $45 billion in payments over the six years, while health maintenance organizations would lose about $46 billion.
Administration officials said that their ability to propose more savings than they had previously endorsed would be made possible in part through a reduction in Medicare payment rates to H.M.O.'s. The H.M.O.'s are paid 95 percent of what the Government pays for beneficiaries in the standard Medicare program. The Administration would reduce that figure to 90 percent beginning in the year 2000.
Another $18 billion in savings over six years would come from Medicare recipients through the premium charged for Medicare services. Under law, the monthly premium paid by Medicare recipients is expected to drop after 1998 to below 25 percent of the cost of Part B of Medicare, which pays for doctors' services. In Mr. Clinton's proposal however, the percentage would hold relatively steady at 25 percent.
A recipient now pays a monthly premium of $43.80, which is about 26 percent of the Part B program's costs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that in the year 2002, if current law remains in effect, the premium would be $51.50 a month and would pay for 20.8 percent of those costs. Using these assumptions, Mr. Clinton's proposal would result in a monthly premium of $61.90 in 2002, about 25 percent of the costs.
Bruce C. Vladeck, the adminstrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare, defended the increase at a briefing by noting that the Republicans' various Medicare plans had all included even higher premium increases.
On another question affecting Medicare premiums, Mr. Clinton's aides declined to rule out the possibility that the President might agree in negotiations with the Republicans to go further and make premiums contingent on a Medicare recipient's income.
"There are a number of policies that relate to premiums that could very well be acceptable to us in the right context and there are some other approaches that aren't," said Franklin Raines, the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
While Mr. Clinton would no longer be in office six years from now, any Medicare agreement he strikes with the Congress could produce long-term annual savings. Unlike most other Government spending, which is set annually in individual bills, changes in the Medicare program would be put into the permanent law and would have long-lasting effects, unless the changes were modified in the future.
The Administration has estimated that without any changes in the Medicare program, the trust fund that pays hospital bills will run out of money in the year 2001.
"In the long term, in the big picture we really do have to get a balanced budget done this year," said Gene Sperling, the director of the National Economic Council, "and we do have to address the Medicare trust fund this year."      

LOAD-DATE: January 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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The New York Times

January 23, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

FILM REVIEW;
From Pinsk to Brooklyn, The Kings of Klezmer

BYLINE: By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER 

SECTION: Section C; Page 19; Column 1; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 495 words

Time and memory are woven through the captivating documentary "A Tickle in the Heart," which opened yesterday at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center as part of the Sixth Annual Jewish Video and Film Festival.
Made by Stefan Schwietert and photographed in beauteous black and white by Robert Richman, this multilayered film reverently preserves the artistry of the musical trio known as the Kings of Klezmer, documents the revival that gave the ensemble new life in the retirement communities of Florida and among younger audiences abroad and traces them and their soulful music back into the vanished world of the shtetls of Eastern Europe and the altered landscape of postwar New York City, where they first made their mark. 
 Altogether, "A Tickle in the Heart" provides a hearty helping of some of the world's liveliest and most poignant folk music and shines a richly deserved spotlight on Max, Willie and Julie Epstein, the octogenarian brothers who are the Kings of Klezmer, while erecting a monument to industry and artistry in old age and riveting the eye with film making of unusual visual riches.
From beginning to end, "A Tickle in the Heart" is propelled by the sweet wail of Max Epstein's clarinet, backed by Willie on trumpet and Julie on drum, occasionally abetted by other musicians and a singer. Max does most of the talking, as Mr. Schwietert addresses himself to preserving the technique and recording the talent and history of a family of klezmorim who must surely be the most immediate heirs of an art form whose practice was devastated by the Holocaust and later by changing tastes.
In the course of the film, with Max, the eldest brother, doing most of the talking, the German-born, Swiss-reared Mr. Schwietert evokes the brothers' musical upbringing as the film records their engagements in Florida, follows them to a concert in Berlin, takes them on a train trip to their ancestral home in Pinsk, in what is now Belarus, and brings them back to the Hasidic neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
The film takes its title from something the Epsteins' maternal grandfather said after he returned from the opera. While much of its pleased him, he said, he would have liked to hear something that would tickle his heart.
"The heart, you play from here," Willie says, gesturing. This documentary is one from the heart.
 
A TICKLE IN THE HEART
 
Written (in English and Yiddish, with English subtitles) and directed by Stefan Schwietert, based on an idea by Joel Rubin and Rita Ottens; director of photography, Robert Richman; edited by Arpad Bondy; music by the Epstein Brothers; produced by Edward Rosenstein, Martin Hagemann and Thomas Kufus; released by Kino International. At the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, 165 West 65th Street. Running time: 84 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Max Epstein, Willie Epstein, Julie Epstein, Peter Solokow, Harriet Goldstein Darr, Pat Merola, Harry Kolestein and Joel Rubin.

LOAD-DATE: January 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Max Epstein in a recording studio in "A Tickle in the Heart." (Kino International)

TYPE: Review

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



46 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 25, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
NEWHOUSE, BERTHA S.

SECTION: Section 1; Page 11; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 303 words

NEWHOUSE-Bertha S. Died on January 23 in New York City at the age of 78. Beloved wife of Roy for over 53 years. Loving mother of Martin and Lina Wood. Devoted grandmother of Katherine, Philip, Samuel, Emma and Rebecca. Born in Mt. Vernon, New York, she lived most of her life in New York City, where she was educated and where her children were raised. She graduated from Morris High School in the Bronx, received her B.A. from Hunter College and an MS from the School of Business, Columbia University. In addition to caring for her family, she was the first woman accountant to do field work for the firm of S.D. Leidesdorf Co. and the first woman CPA in the department of Accountancy at Baruch College, CUNY, where she taught for many years and, at her retirement, was Associate Dean and Professor of Accountancy in the School of Business and Public Administration. As an officer of the Gustave Hartman YM/YWHA in Far Rockaway, she helped formulate an ongoing drug abuse discussion program. She was also founder and president of the Atlantic Shore Section of the National Council of Jewish Women, setting up the first recreation center for senior citizens in the area. In 1984, she was named as a distinguished alumna to the Hunter College Hall of Fame by the Alumni Association of Hunter College. A voracious reader, a devotee of The New York Times cross word puzzle, a woman of inspired conversation, a deeply caring friend, and a person who never lost her passionate love for the cultural life of this city, her death leaves a void that can never be filled. Funeral services will be at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, January 26 at The Riverside Memorial Chapel, 76th St. and Amsterdam Ave., followed by burial at Mt. Ararat Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. Thereafter, her family will be at 140 Nassau Street, N.Y.

LOAD-DATE: January 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



47 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Q and A

BYLINE: By Paul Freireich

SECTION: Section 5; Page 30; Column 5; Travel Desk

LENGTH: 1076 words


Hosts Aboard Ship
 
Q.  I was told that cruise lines are interested in older men to serve as "gentlemen in waiting." I've just turned 65 and have a lot of time on my hands. -- Nick Comforti, Miami
 
A.  In an effort to balance out the preponderance of women on some cruises and to provide dance partners, a number of ship lines provide hosts. Their function is also to socialize at meals and to pitch in with some chores. Hosts are forbidden to favor one person or group of people.
A couple of lines had used hosts on long cruises, but in the early 1980's Richard Revnes, then president of Royal Cruise Line, started putting them on shorter cruises. Now, hosts can be found on at least nine lines.  George Royle, a 57-year-old retired director of nurse education from Wales who said he had been a host on three ships in the last 18 months, recalled his experience dancing with an elderly widow: "When she says how much she enjoyed it, I feel I've really done my job." 
 Most lines recruit through Lau retta Blake the Working Vacation, 610 Pine Grove Court, New Lenox, Ill. 60431; (815) 485-8307, fax (815) 485-7142. Applicants, who are single men usually aged 45 to 65, have their dancing evaluated for a $25 fee. Those hired are compensated by getting an essentially free trip, with lines often providing allowances for liquor and laundry and sometimes covering air fare. Hosts do pay Blake a $175-a-week fee. Among the lines with hosts are these, with recruiting done by Lauretta Blake unless otherwise specified:
American Hawaii Cruises. Two hosts on the Independence for five weeklong big-band sailings this year.
Crystal Cruises. Three or four hosts on the Crystal Harmony and Crystal Symphony. The line, which hires its own hosts, is not accepting applications at this time.
Cunard Line. The QE2, the Vista fjord and the Royal Viking Sun typically have four hosts each, but on world cruises the QE2 has 10 hosts and the Royal Viking Sun has 6.
Delta Queen Steamboat Company. The American Queen and Mississippi, which ply the Mississippi, have two hosts aboard, except on 13 big-band cruises, which have four.
Holland America Line. Four to six hosts on the line's ships. Recruiting through Lauretta Blake for cruises 14 days or longer. But for 62- and 102-day cruises Holland America recruits hosts, but needs none now. Larry Dessler, director of public relations, says that a host engaged by Holland America "earns a couple of hundred dollars" a week.
Orient Lines. On the Marco Polo's cruises, there are three to four hosts everywhere except in the Mediterranean, where there are none.
Royal Olympic Cruises. The Stella Solaris, Odysseus, Triton and Stella Oceanis have four hosts in the winter season on cruises of a week or more and two or three hosts on European cruises in the other seasons. Recruiting: Cruise Crafts International, 1005 Bonnet Creek Court, Oviedo, Fla. 32765; telephone and fax, (407) 365-4426. Fee to agency: $200 a week.
Silversea Cruises. The Silver Cloud and Silver Wind, which sail all over the world, usually have two hosts on a total of 10 sailings a year.
World Explorer Cruises. The Universe Explorer, whose ports include Alaska and the Caribbean, has a host or two on all sailings.

The Severn Bore
 
Q.  I shall be visiting England's West Country in April and would like very much to see the Severn bore rolling. Could you recommend a convenient site? -- Michael W. Varese, East Hampton, L.I.

A.  A bore, or wavelike inrush of water advancing like a wall, occurs during high tides in several rivers. The bore at the Severn estuary, in Gloucestershire, experiences the second highest tide in the world, after the Bay of Fundy on the east coast of Canada. Because of the Severn's topography, bores form twice daily on several days every month, when the tides are highest.
For a bore to form requires a considerable rise in the tide as it runs into a funnel: a narrowing river and a rising riverbed. This configuration -- found along a 15-mile stretch of the Severn, from just below the city of Gloucester -- causes the front of the tide to be held back so that the water behind it builds up into a wave. Traveling at about 10 miles an hour, the bore sometimes reaches over six feet in height.
This is an excellent year to witness the Severn bore because the tides are expected to be higher than any in living memory. A timetable that rates bores from one to five stars, with five being the highest, predicts nine five-star bores in 1997 -- in February, March, September and October; usually there are three or four a year. Five four-star bores are predicted for April alone.
Three sites, near Gloucester, 110 miles west of London, are recommended for viewing the bore: Minsterworth, Over Bridge and Stone bench. Minsterworth is considered best by the local tourist bureau for its ease of access and parking. Because visibility at night is unpredictable, mornings are better. The four-star morning bores in April will occur in Minsterworth on the 7th (due at 8:44), 8th (9:28) and 9th (10:09). Times can vary, so it's advisable to arrive a half-hour early. The area can be reached by taking the M4 highway from London, over the old Severn Road Bridge (not the new Second Severn Crossing) and then heading north on the A48. Don't count on public transit; bus schedules rarely dovetail with bore-watching plans.
A timetable and information booklet is available from the Customer Services Department, Environment Agency, Riversmeet House, Newtown Industrial Estate, Tewkesbury, GL20 8JG; telephone (1684) 850951, fax (1684) 293599. The booklet warns that the water level rises markedly for about an hour after the bore wave and suggests that spectators -- especially at Stonebench -- be careful about where they stand and park.
 
Australian Open
 
Q.  I am planning to go to Australia in the next year or two. How can I get tickets to the Australian Open? -- Stephen Borell, Brooklyn, N.Y.

A.  With the 1997 tennis open just ending, you've got plenty of time. Tickets for 1998 are to go on sale in October. Write to Ford Australian Open, Private Bag 6060, Richmond South, Victoria 3121 Australia. As a guide, here are this year's rates for day sessions (at $1 in U.S. funds equal to $1.28 Australian); at night, it's about $4 to $9 less. First eight days, $17 to $30; quarterfinals, $35; semifinals, $44; women's finals, $54; men's finals, $65.   PAUL FREIREICH

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Question

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



48 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

HOME CLINIC;
Indoor Pollution, Nature's and Man's

BYLINE: By EDWARD R. LIPINSKI  

SECTION: Section 13CN;  Page 16;  Column 1;  Connecticut Weekly Desk  

LENGTH: 879 words

FEW people are aware that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air. Indoor air pollution is a serious threat in homes with young children, elderly adults and chronically ill people, because those people usually spend long periods indoors and are more susceptible to harmful pollutants.
Indoor air pollution has many sources, including combustion byproducts from gas, oil, kerosene and wood-burning heaters; tobacco smoke, cleaning and maintenance products, organic and biological contaminants and outdoor sources like radon. 
 Effective strategies for controlling indoor pollution consist of identifying and eliminating the sources, improving ventilation and circulation and adding air cleaners.
Often exposure to bad air results in health problems like nose, throat and eye irritations, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. Pay attention to the time and place that they occur. If they fade or disappear when away for any length of time, it is possible that they are brought on by air conditions in the house. Not everyone will experience the symptoms. The likelihood of a reaction to air pollutants depends on sensitivity, age and general health.
Other signs include accumulations of moisture and excessive condensation on walls or windows. That may indicate a lack of circulation.
Stagnant air, stuffiness and odors are also clues. Patches of mold or mildew stains are signs of excessive humidity and inadequate air circulation.
Finally check for sources. Even though the presence of such sources does not necessarily mean that they are contaminating the air, a careful evaluation of potential pollutants can help in evaluating the air quality.
The sources may include stoves, fireplaces, heaters and furnaces. They can introduce carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particles into the air. Gas stoves will pollute the air if they are improperly adjusted. A visual check of the burner flames may signal a problem. Persistent yellow-tipped flames indicate improperly adjusted burners. Ask the gas company or an approved repair service to tune the burner so that all the tips are blue. In addition, the range should be fitted with a hood equipped with an exhaust fan vented to the outside, if possible, to expel contaminates. Inspect the fireplace periodically for cracks in the flue or chimney that could allow combustion gases to leak back into the house.
Examine the wood stove to make sure that the doors are tight and that all gaskets are in good shape. Inspect the furnace and air system at least annually and adjust or replace malfunctioning or damaged parts.
Environmental tobacco smoke usually comes from cigar, cigarette and pipe tobacco. It is a mixture of 4,000 compounds, more than 40 of which are strong irritants and are known to cause cancer in humans or laboratory animals. It affects not only the smoker, but all those who inhale it.
The simplest and most effective way to avoid polluting the indoor air with tobacco smoke is to ask all smokers to smoke outdoors. If that is not possible, install fans to increase ventilation and circulation. That, however, is not as easy as it sounds, because mechanical ventilation devices do not remove the smoke as quickly as it builds up. Also running a number of large fans can add to energy bills.
Household products like paints, varnishes, wax and many cleaning, disinfecting, degreasing and hobby products contain organic chemicals that can affect health. Obviously these products are useful or necessary, making it difficult to do without them entirely.
To limit exposure to household chemicals first follow the label directions carefully and use the solutions in the prescribed amounts and the proper manner. Read and observe all warnings. If a label advises using the product in a well-ventilated area, go outdoors.  Indoors, open windows and set up exhaust fans. Buy only as much as needed and discard partly full containers or old or unneeded chemicals in a safe and environmentally approved way.
Another common chemical that most people come in contact with is perchloroethylene, which is widely used to dry clean clothes. Studies have shown that it can evaporate into the air from newly cleaned clothes. People who wear dry-cleaned clothes can also breathe low levels of the chemical.
Dry cleaners are supposed to try to recapture the perchloroethylene and recycle it in their cleaning tanks, but not all remove it every time. Do not accept clothes from the cleaner if they have a strong odor of cleaning fluid. Instead, ask the cleaner to remove the chemical and properly dry the garment.
Biological contaminants include bacteria, molds, mildew, viruses, dust mites, pollen and animal dander. Most of those contaminants breed and multiply in warm moist environments. By keeping the relative humidity levels from 30 to 50 percent, their effects can be minimized.
Thoroughly dry or replace wet carpets or water-damaged materials to prevent mold and bacteria from forming. Be sure to refill the water reservoirs in humidifiers daily with fresh water and clean the filter elements according to the manufacturer's directions. Finally, keep the house clean. Dusting and vacuuming regularly will help reduce the concentrations of dust mites, pollen and animal dander.

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Diagram. (Edward R. Lipinski)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



49 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

HOME CLINIC;
Indoor Pollution, Nature's and Man's

BYLINE: By EDWARD R. LIPINSKI

SECTION: Section 13LI; Page 8; Column 1; Long Island Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 879 words

FEW people are aware that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air. Indoor air pollution is a serious threat in homes with young children, elderly adults and chronically ill people, because those people usually spend long periods indoors and are more susceptible to harmful pollutants.
Indoor air pollution has many sources, including combustion byproducts from gas, oil, kerosene and wood-burning heaters; tobacco smoke, cleaning and maintenance products, organic and biological contaminants and outdoor sources like radon. 
 Effective strategies for controlling indoor pollution consist of identifying and eliminating the sources, improving ventilation and circulation and adding air cleaners.
Often exposure to bad air results in health problems like nose, throat and eye irritations, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. Pay attention to the time and place that they occur. If they fade or disappear when away for any length of time, it is possible that they are brought on by air conditions in the house. Not everyone will experience the symptoms. The likelihood of a reaction to air pollutants depends on sensitivity, age and general health.
Other signs include accumulations of moisture and excessive condensation on walls or windows. That may indicate a lack of circulation.
Stagnant air, stuffiness and odors are also clues. Patches of mold or mildew stains are signs of excessive humidity and inadequate air circulation.
Finally check for sources. Even though the presence of such sources does not necessarily mean that they are contaminating the air, a careful evaluation of potential pollutants can help in evaluating the air quality.
The sources may include stoves, fireplaces, heaters and furnaces. They can introduce carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particles into the air. Gas stoves will pollute the air if they are improperly adjusted. A visual check of the burner flames may signal a problem. Persistent yellow-tipped flames indicate improperly adjusted burners. Ask the gas company or an approved repair service to tune the burner so that all the tips are blue. In addition, the range should be fitted with a hood equipped with an exhaust fan vented to the outside, if possible, to expel contaminates. Inspect the fireplace periodically for cracks in the flue or chimney that could allow combustion gases to leak back into the house.
Examine the wood stove to make sure that the doors are tight and that all gaskets are in good shape. Inspect the furnace and air system at least annually and adjust or replace malfunctioning or damaged parts.
Environmental tobacco smoke usually comes from cigar, cigarette and pipe tobacco. It is a mixture of 4,000 compounds, more than 40 of which are strong irritants and are known to cause cancer in humans or laboratory animals. It affects not only the smoker, but all those who inhale it.
The simplest and most effective way to avoid polluting the indoor air with tobacco smoke is to ask all smokers to smoke outdoors. If that is not possible, install fans to increase ventilation and circulation. That, however, is not as easy as it sounds, because mechanical ventilation devices do not remove the smoke as quickly as it builds up. Also running a number of large fans can add to energy bills.
Household products like paints, varnishes, wax and many cleaning, disinfecting, degreasing and hobby products contain organic chemicals that can affect health. Obviously these products are useful or necessary, making it difficult to do without them entirely.
To limit exposure to household chemicals first follow the label directions carefully and use the solutions in the prescribed amounts and the proper manner. Read and observe all warnings. If a label advises using the product in a well-ventilated area, go outdoors.  Indoors, open windows and set up exhaust fans. Buy only as much as needed and discard partly full containers or old or unneeded chemicals in a safe and environmentally approved way.
Another common chemical that most people come in contact with is perchloroethylene, which is widely used to dry clean clothes. Studies have shown that it can evaporate into the air from newly cleaned clothes. People who wear dry-cleaned clothes can also breathe low levels of the chemical.
Dry cleaners are supposed to try to recapture the perchloroethylene and recycle it in their cleaning tanks, but not all remove it every time. Do not accept clothes from the cleaner if they have a strong odor of cleaning fluid. Instead, ask the cleaner to remove the chemical and properly dry the garment.
Biological contaminants include bacteria, molds, mildew, viruses, dust mites, pollen and animal dander. Most of those contaminants breed and multiply in warm moist environments. By keeping the relative humidity levels from 30 to 50 percent, their effects can be minimized.
Thoroughly dry or replace wet carpets or water-damaged materials to prevent mold and bacteria from forming. Be sure to refill the water reservoirs in humidifiers daily with fresh water and clean the filter elements according to the manufacturer's directions. Finally, keep the house clean. Dusting and vacuuming regularly will help reduce the concentrations of dust mites, pollen and animal dander.

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Diagram. (Edward R. Lipinski)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



50 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

January 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

HOME CLINIC;
Indoor Pollution, Nature's and Man's

BYLINE: By EDWARD R. LIPINSKI 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 12; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 879 words

FEW people are aware that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air. Indoor air pollution is a serious threat in homes with young children, elderly adults and chronically ill people, because those people usually spend long periods indoors and are more susceptible to harmful pollutants.
Indoor air pollution has many sources, including combustion byproducts from gas, oil, kerosene and wood-burning heaters; tobacco smoke, cleaning and maintenance products, organic and biological contaminants and outdoor sources like radon. 
 Effective strategies for controlling indoor pollution consist of identifying and eliminating the sources, improving ventilation and circulation and adding air cleaners.
Often exposure to bad air results in health problems like nose, throat and eye irritations, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. Pay attention to the time and place that they occur. If they fade or disappear when away for any length of time, it is possible that they are brought on by air conditions in the house. Not everyone will experience the symptoms. The likelihood of a reaction to air pollutants depends on sensitivity, age and general health.
Other signs include accumulations of moisture and excessive condensation on walls or windows. That may indicate a lack of circulation.
Stagnant air, stuffiness and odors are also clues. Patches of mold or mildew stains are signs of excessive humidity and inadequate air circulation.
Finally check for sources. Even though the presence of such sources does not necessarily mean that they are contaminating the air, a careful evaluation of potential pollutants can help in evaluating the air quality.
The sources may include stoves, fireplaces, heaters and furnaces. They can introduce carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particles into the air. Gas stoves will pollute the air if they are improperly adjusted. A visual check of the burner flames may signal a problem. Persistent yellow-tipped flames indicate improperly adjusted burners. Ask the gas company or an approved repair service to tune the burner so that all the tips are blue. In addition, the range should be fitted with a hood equipped with an exhaust fan vented to the outside, if possible, to expel contaminates. Inspect the fireplace periodically for cracks in the flue or chimney that could allow combustion gases to leak back into the house.
Examine the wood stove to make sure that the doors are tight and that all gaskets are in good shape. Inspect the furnace and air system at least annually and adjust or replace malfunctioning or damaged parts.
Environmental tobacco smoke usually comes from cigar, cigarette and pipe tobacco. It is a mixture of 4,000 compounds, more than 40 of which are strong irritants and are known to cause cancer in humans or laboratory animals. It affects not only the smoker, but all those who inhale it.
The simplest and most effective way to avoid polluting the indoor air with tobacco smoke is to ask all smokers to smoke outdoors. If that is not possible, install fans to increase ventilation and circulation. That, however, is not as easy as it sounds, because mechanical ventilation devices do not remove the smoke as quickly as it builds up. Also running a number of large fans can add to energy bills.
Household products like paints, varnishes, wax and many cleaning, disinfecting, degreasing and hobby products contain organic chemicals that can affect health. Obviously these products are useful or necessary, making it difficult to do without them entirely.
To limit exposure to household chemicals first follow the label directions carefully and use the solutions in the prescribed amounts and the proper manner. Read and observe all warnings. If a label advises using the product in a well-ventilated area, go outdoors.  Indoors, open windows and set up exhaust fans. Buy only as much as needed and discard partly full containers or old or unneeded chemicals in a safe and environmentally approved way.
Another common chemical that most people come in contact with is perchloroethylene, which is widely used to dry clean clothes. Studies have shown that it can evaporate into the air from newly cleaned clothes. People who wear dry-cleaned clothes can also breathe low levels of the chemical.
Dry cleaners are supposed to try to recapture the perchloroethylene and recycle it in their cleaning tanks, but not all remove it every time. Do not accept clothes from the cleaner if they have a strong odor of cleaning fluid. Instead, ask the cleaner to remove the chemical and properly dry the garment.
Biological contaminants include bacteria, molds, mildew, viruses, dust mites, pollen and animal dander. Most of those contaminants breed and multiply in warm moist environments. By keeping the relative humidity levels from 30 to 50 percent, their effects can be minimized.
Thoroughly dry or replace wet carpets or water-damaged materials to prevent mold and bacteria from forming. Be sure to refill the water reservoirs in humidifiers daily with fresh water and clean the filter elements according to the manufacturer's directions. Finally, keep the house clean. Dusting and vacuuming regularly will help reduce the concentrations of dust mites, pollen and animal dander.

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Diagram. (Edward R. Lipinski)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

January 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

VIEWPOINT;
Trouble on the Waiting List For Heart Transplants

BYLINE: By JOHN BRAY;  John Bray is a writer and editor in Woodbury, Conn. He has written extensively on the science and business of medicine.

SECTION: Section 3; Page 15; Column 4; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 739 words

WHEN demand far exceeds supply, does it make sense to generate more demand? Perhaps, if you are a commodities trader and want to run up the price. But what if we are talking about the business of heart transplants, with its substantial public investment and nonnegotiable raw materials?
The number of people waiting for heart transplants far exceeds the number of those receiving them. Yet a new technology approved by the Federal Government will probably exacerbate the imbalance, add to the cost of transplants and intensify turmoil on the waiting line. 
 Devices that can keep people alive for months while they await donated organs are entering the health care mainstream. The products, called ventricular assist devices, mechanically help pump the heart.
Since October 1994, the Food and Drug Administration has approved three models by three manufacturers -- Thermo Cardiosystems, Aviomed and Thoratec -- for use as bridges to transplants. All had already been used experimentally for some years. In January 1996, the taxpayer-financed Medicare program for the elderly and disabled started paying for the use of the first design by Thermo Cardiosystems. Now, the Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare, says it will cover the two other models, too.
So far, hundreds of patients have received these devices, which have done their job.
By using such a machine, a patient makes an impressive demonstration of his need for a new heart, and can move up on the waiting lists for donor hearts. And hospitals that don't offer the machines risk losing patients to institutions that do, further fueling competition among transplant centers that may not be appropriate.
In a distribution system that is supposed to be driven by the patient's medical needs and time on the waiting list, Medicare has introduced a twist that seems to add special urgency to Medicare patients on these devices.
In its guidelines for the pumps' use, the Health Care Financing Administration has specified that surgeons should make "every reasonable effort to transplant patients on such devices as soon as practicable."
An analyst with the Health Care Financing Administration told me last December that "we don't want 50 people on these devices, 40 of whom are not going to get an organ."
Medicare's payments vary for using these devices, depending on the circumstances of each case, the differences in hospitals' billing decisions and the payment scales of the region. In an example provided by the agency, Medicare would pay about $15,000 for a patient to be on such a device for one week at a Boston hospital.
Then there are the surgeon's fees associated with installing and removing the devices, about $3,000 total, the agency said.
A heart transplant is already expensive -- usually about $100,000. Medicare spent nearly $45 million on 494 heart transplants in 1995; the total reflects only the costs associated with the procedure and immediate postoperative care, not the continuing associated expenses like drugs. It costs $325 just to get on a waiting list.
The analyst with the Health Care Financing Administration told me that it almost didn't approve coverage for the devices. It gave its O.K. only after taking a second look and setting some ground rules -- requiring, for example, that the patient be approved and listed as a candidate by a Medicare heart-transplant center.
The Health Care Financing Administration is betting that its guidelines will encourage the medical establishment to use the devices responsibly. The agency wants transplant centers to show some restraint, but the technology has spread quickly.
Heart transplant centers have popped up all over the country in recent years. The number of patients awaiting new hearts at all transplant centers has grown steadily, but the number of transplants has failed to keep pace. In 1994, the last year for which complete figures were available, 6,378 people were in line for transplants, while just 2,340 received them, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, the Federal contractor that tracks transplant data. In that year, 724 people died while on the waiting list.
Patients understandably grasp at the glimmer of hope these devices offer. But heart transplantation is not ready for greater demand, and taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize it, especially when Washington is talking about reining in Medicare spending.

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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January 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

January 19-25;
The Vodka Tax

BYLINE: By MICHAEL SPECTER 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 2; Column 2; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 173 words

The Russian government is in a bit of a bind. Because nobody is paying taxes, there isn't enough revenue to pay salaries or pensions to the millions of poor and elderly who need money the most. The search for revenues has taken on a desperate air.
So, swinging for the fences, President Boris Yeltsin has done the natural thing: he has decided to reinstate a federal monopoly on the most prized and ubiquitous of all Russian products, vodka. Starting in February, taxes will be doubled and police will vigilantly pursue bootleggers. It is a noble idea and an obvious one, since the Russian Government could add $350 million a month to the budget, enough to make good on its embarrassing debt to its people. 
 In order to succeed, Mr. Yeltsin must double the price of an average bottle -- from
$2 to $4. "It will never happen," sniffed one elderly woman recently, buying her daily portion of illegally imported vodka on the street. "He would be better off taxing the dead." No doubt that will be next.   MICHAEL SPECTER

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: A Russian woman sells vodka illegally.

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January 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

In the Region/Connecticut;
A Flood of Proposals for Caring for Wealthy Elderly

BYLINE: By ELEANOR CHARLES 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1281 words

A GROWING number of older people who can afford entry fees of as much as half a million dollars plus monthly fees of $36,000 a year to live in luxurious residential complexes has generated a record number of proposals for such housing all over Fairfield County.
Homing in on any available parcels of land in Greenwich, Stamford, Westport, Redding, Ridgefield, Wilton and the Town of Fairfield, among others, developers are offering life styles that vary from independent living to assisted living -- help with bathing and dressing and other personal care -- to nursing wings. Some will provide all three. 
 Unfazed by Connecticut's moratorium on skilled nursing homes, imposed to limit the state's Medicaid liability, developers are focusing on independent- and assisted-living complexes instead. But by obtaining a certificate of need from the state they can add a nursing wing to a life-care project, which by definition contains both of the other components. They must also certify that none of the residents will ever apply for Medicaid.
In Greenwich, three proposals for a total of some 200 units in three complexes lined up along King Street at the Westchester border are to be voted on this Tuesday by the Planning and Zoning Commission. A fourth project of 84 units off the Post Road will be proposed within two months.
The unusual number of projects surfacing at once has the town worried. "We have no idea what we can absorb," said Diane Fox, the Greenwich town planner. "It's a free-for-all. We know there's a need, but not this much."
During six public hearings over the last few months, concerns were expressed over traffic, septic capability, wells, overbuilding, and an influx of people from New York State, where a moratorium on assisted-living residences has generated a marketing blitz by Connecticut developers of high-end elderly housing.
"This is a trend that will continue for many years," said Richard Redniss, president of Redniss & Mead, a real estate consulting firm in Stamford. He helped prepare several proposals for Marriott Senior Living Services, including 130 assisted-living units of about 350 square feet on King Street in Greenwich, and 115 units are under construction at Brighton Gardens in Stamford.
"It will be better for the state," Mr. Redniss said. "We won't continue to lose our wealthy elderly to Florida."
"My own mother is moving into Edgehill," he added, referring to the Marriott life-care community that will break ground this spring in Stamford.
Entry fees for one- and two-bedroom independent-living residences at Edgehill will range from $225,000 with monthly charges of $1,950, rising to $565,000 plus monthly charges of $3,100, depending on such features as a den, eat-in kitchen, fireplace, separate dining room, two exposures and the number of walk-in closets. A second person in the apartment adds $15,000 to the initial fee and $700 to the monthly charge. Edgehill will contain 216 independent-living apartments, 20 assisted-living units and a 60-bed nursing wing.
Frank and Elizabeth Goldsmith of White Plains placed a 20 percent deposit on a 2-bedroom, 2-bath and den independent-living apartment at Edgehill last year. "We realized that we couldn't take it any more," said Mr. Goldsmith, referring to "this large house we've had for 46 years, on an acre and a half with a swimming pool."
"I'm 75 and Liz is 72," he said. "This morning the oil burner went off and I couldn't get it going."
THE Goldsmiths fit the profile that operators of these complexes have developed -- "generally independent, well-educated," said Michael J. Giacopelli, vice president for development of some 75 Marriott Senior Living Services complexes nationwide. "They move in in their 70's and 80's, tend to be planners, enjoy being part of a social environment and they are more than comfortably well-off."
"This is not a real estate purchase," he explained. "Entry fees must be paid in cash and are 90 percent refundable after the occupant dies or
 moves out and the apartment is re-sold."
In one respect the Goldsmiths diverge from the profile. According to the Assisted Living Federation of America, a trade organization in Fairfax, Va., 65 percent of the people who move into upscale retirement communities are single women like Violet Crimmins of Darien.
"I've been a widow for seven years," she said, "and I've lived in a nine-room house on an acre of land for 40 years. Nobody is still here, and I get a little tired of fussing with roofs and chimneys." She signed up for a one-bedroom apartment at Edgehill.
Like the Goldsmiths, and Karl and Betty Davies of Greenwich, she has learned that people she knows will also be moving to Edgehill.
"The only thing we are changing is our address," said Mrs. Davies. They will keep their membership at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich and enjoy the companionship of several friends who took apartments at Edgehill.
Rentals at Stony Brook Court, an assisted-living community of 86 studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments under construction in Darien, will be $2,750 to $4,875 a month with a second-person charge of an additional $500 to $1,075 a month and a one-time $3,000 membership fee for everyone. Carematrix of Needham, Mass., and B & G Associates of Stamford are building the complex and also would develop Pickwick Park, a proposed western Greenwich project to that is to be the subject of a hearing this spring.
At Pickwick Park, independent-living apartments of 1,100 to 1,400 square feet would carry an entry fee of $325,000 to $475,000. An arrangement for priority admittance to Greenwich Hospital is being negotiated.
Getting around the scarcity of vacant land, Carematrix, like many other companies, is using its existing properties to advantage. Currently, it is adding 220 residential units selling for $240,000 to $360,000 at Laurelwood, its nursing home campus in Ridgefield.
Sales of 91 units will be financed by the buyers with cash or mortgages, according to Michael J. Zaccaro, executive vice president at Carematrix. The rest will be rented as assisted-living apartments at $2,700 to $4,000 a month.
The same procedure is being followed at Greenwich Woods, a 210-bed nursing home on King Street, and at Wilton Meadows, a nursing home in Wilton. An additional 32 assisted-living units of 300 to 500 square feet are proposed in Greenwich, and 86 units for Wilton, to be rented for $2,800 to $4,200 a month, including meals, housekeeping, transportation, recreation and help with dressing and bathing.
Liberty Healthcare Management Company of Naples, Fla., is seeking approval for 60 rental studio units in Greenwich and 54 in Westport. Rents will be about $4,000 a month. And Meadow Ridge in Redding, being developed by David Reis of Woodbridge, expects to break ground next year for a life-care community of 208 independent-living apartments of 1,350 to 1,500 square feet.
Meadow Ridge entry fees of $300,000 to $410,000 with second person fees of $10,000, will be accompanied by monthly charges of $1,600 to $2,000 plus $650 for a second person. A 20-unit assisted-living section and a 50-bed nursing home are also planned.
"What if they build it all and the people don't come?" asked Bernadette Settelmeyer, a consultant on elderly housing in Greenwich, referring to fears that small units in particular could turn into a glut of condominiums, downgrading expensive neighborhoods.
Mr. Giacopelli of Marriott doesn't think so.
"The industry has standards and penetration rates," he said. "The demand curve is deeper than the supply curve, and a certain percentage of projects will fail because of zoning or lack of financing."

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: February 16, 1997, Sunday

 CORRECTION:
An article in some regional editions on Jan. 26 about proposals for residences for older people in Connecticut omitted three words, altering the meaning of a quotation from Frank Goldsmith, referring to the upkeep of his house. He said, "We realized that we couldn't take care of it all anymore."

GRAPHIC: Drawing: Rendering of Meadow Ridge, a life-care community that expects to break ground next year in Redding. (Abraham Gelbart)

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January 30, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Whitman Plans $2 Million to Help Immigrants Become Citizens

BYLINE: By ABBY GOODNOUGH 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 644 words

DATELINE: TRENTON, Jan. 29

New Jersey would spend $2 million a year to help poor legal immigrants who are elderly or disabled become United States citizens under Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's new budget proposal, a move that might protect them from losing benefits under the new Federal welfare law.
The plan is the newest component of Governor Whitman's proposal to overhaul New Jersey's welfare system and bring the state into compliance with the Federal welfare law adopted last year. The Federal Government will no longer provide benefits for legal immigrants under its new law. 
 And many states, including New Jersey, are reluctant to pick up the cost of those benefits, which include food stamps and Supplemental Security Income.
A citizenship program would help New Jersey avoid that extra cost because once legal immigrants became citizens, they would be eligible for the Federal benefits.
"It's to the financial advantage of both the immigrants and the state to achieve naturalization," said William Waldman, the State Commissioner of Human Services, who said that most of the eligible immigrants live in Essex, Hudson and Passaic Counties. "So we're really mounting a campaign to help them out."
Although much of Governor Whitman's welfare plan mirrors the Federal legislation, New Jersey and many other states have softened the provisions concerning legal immigrants in their own proposals. Gov. George E. Pataki has said that New York will provide assistance through its home relief program to many people losing benefits. If the New Jersey legislation is adopted, the state will continue providing cash benefits to the 15,000 legal immigrants who already receive them in New Jersey and Medicaid benefits to 50,000.
Under the Federal law, most legal immigrants here and around the nation will no longer receive food stamps and Supplemental Security Income, a change that is supposed to save the Federal Government $24 billion over seven years.
But the citizenship program announced today could help the state's most fragile legal immigrants become citizens quickly, state officials said, so they could start receiving the Federal benefits again. Roughly 22,000 legal immigrants in New Jersey receive food stamps from the Federal Government, state officials said.
Under New Jersey's welfare proposal, legal immigrants who arrived here before last August, when the Federal welfare law was adopted, will still be eligible for cash benefits and Medicaid, all of which will be paid by the state. But those who arrived after the law was passed will not be eligible for these benefits, Mr. Waldman said.
Jack Tweedie, a welfare policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislators in Denver, said New Jersey's stance on legal immigrants is not unique. Of 41 states that have submitted welfare plans to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, only four have not extended family assistance benefits to legal immigrants, Mr. Tweedie said. Those states -- Kentucky, Louisiana, Wyoming and Oklahoma -- all have tiny immigrant populations, he added.
The $2 million for citizenship efforts would be distributed through the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, a coalition of private charities that provide programs for immigrants, state officials said.
Any organization wanting to provide services through the plan would have to pay for half of the total cost, with state money covering the other half. The state would not pay more than $325 for each immigrant participating.
The money would initially help more than 5,000 elderly or disabled immigrants pay for English, history and civics classes, which anyone applying for United States citizenship is required to take. It would also help pay for the legal services immigrants need to apply for citizenship, interpreters and transportation to citizenship classes and immigration offices.

LOAD-DATE: January 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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January 30, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Simple Test May Sharply Cut Colorectal Cancer Toll

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 700 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 29

An easy home test for colorectal cancer could lower the cost and unpleasantness that deter many people from being examined for the nation's second-leading cancer killer, according to new medical guidelines being issued on Thursday.
Taking those simple tests to detect blood in stool samples every year after the age of 50 could cut colorectal cancer deaths by a third, making them about as effective as mammograms are for breast cancer, say the guidelines, which are endorsed by the American Cancer Society and seven other medical groups. 
 "For people who don't want to go through a lot of hassle and expense that's a reasonable option," said Dr. Robert Fletcher of Harvard Medical School, a co-author of the guidelines for the American Gastroenterological Association.
But the guidelines offer options, including testing once every 10 years by snaking a fiber-optics tube into the colon to spot precancerous growths that could be removed to prevent cancer from forming. The simpler stool tests, in contrast, detect cancer early enough to cure. Even better for some people, the guidelines say the manual rectal exams doctors offer today are not worth the time and embarrassment.
The guidelines are "a call to action," said Dr. Sidney Winawer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, a co-author. "The public and physicians have been skeptical" about colorectal testing, he added, but "the evidence is strong now for the benefits."
Some managed-care companies already cover these routine cancer examinations, but Medicare, the Federal health-care system for the elderly, only pays if someone has cancer symptoms. President Clinton will ask Congress for Medicare financing for routine colorectal tests in his 1998 budget, and Representative Bill Thomas, Republican of California, has already introduced similar legislation.
About 131,000 Americans get colon and rectal cancer each year and more than 54,000 die. It strikes men and women about equally. And while relatives of cancer patients or people with colon growths called polyps are more prone to the disease, the biggest risk is simply getting older.
"This offers the biggest potential for lives saved if the country would adopt these guidelines," said Dr. Harmon Eyre of the American Cancer Society.
Some doctors already advise people over 50 to get regular manual rectal examinations, stool tests and a more unpleasant examination called a sigmoidoscopy. But only one in five Americans gets tested. So the gastroenterological association assembled independent experts to find the best tests. They decided that most people over 50 should choose one of these tests:
*Annual fecal blood tests, a $5 kit a doctor sends home for the person to collect six stool samples and mail back for analysis. Although easy to use, they can cause false alarms that necessitate further cancer testing. The Food and Drug Administration has approved over-the-counter versions that people can use without a doctor. Dr. Fletcher said as long as people got six samples from three consecutive stools, because blood may appear intermittently, those tests should work fine, but Dr. Winawer recommends the doctor's version.
*A sigmoidoscopy, where a tube threaded into the rectum checks just the lower half of the colon for polyps or cancer, every five years.
*A barium enema every five to 10 years. This is a 20-minute procedure that lets doctors view the entire colon by X-ray to spot large polyps.
*A colonoscopy every 10 years. Patients are sedated while a finger-wide fiber-optics tube is snaked up the rectum to view the entire colon. It requires a liquid diet and enemas to flush out the colon and costs $350 to more than $1,000. But it is the best test for catching tiny polyps that years later could turn cancerous.
For people at increased cancer risk, the guidelines advise a colonoscopy three years after discovery of large, precancerous polyps; testing beginning at the age of 40 if one close relative had polyps or cancer, and genetic testing for families with multiple cancer or polyp patients to find the relatives who need an entire colon examination every one to two years or perhaps even colon removal.      

LOAD-DATE: January 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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January 31, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Greenspan Urges Action to Curb Cost-of-Living Rises in Benefits

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1056 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 30

Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, urged Congress today to move quickly to limit cost-of-living increases for Social Security and other Federal benefits. In doing so, he waded directly into one of the most politically sensitive issues facing the Government.
Mr. Greenspan said the Labor Department should speed its efforts to fix a range of shortcomings in its main measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, that have led, according to estimates by some economists, to overstating increases in the cost of living by about one percentage point. But in the meantime, Mr. Greenspan said, Congress should establish an independent national commission to set more accurate cost-of-living increases. That would avoid payment of what are seen as overly generous benefits to Social Security recipients and others whose annual increases are tied to the inflation index. 
 Over time, putting a brake on cost-of-living increases could save the Government hundreds of billions of dollars and make it easier to balance the budget without cutting other programs. But it would do so by every month giving a little less money than now planned to tens of millions of voters who receive checks from the Federal Government.
"This type of approach would have the benefit of being objective, nonpartisan and sufficiently flexible to take full account of the latest information," Mr. Greenspan told the Senate Finance Committee.
Mr. Greenspan's suggestion for a commission revived an idea he had proposed two years ago, before the issue had any political visibility. It was immediately embraced by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, the committee's ranking Democrat, and aides said it intrigued some Republicans, including the panel's chairman, Senator William V. Roth Jr. of Delaware.
Mr. Greenspan's stature provides some political cover for members of both parties who support revising the price index downward but fear the outcry from the elderly and other benefit recipients. Labor unions and the American Association for Retired Persons have already expressed opposition. Nonetheless, Mr. Greenspan's strong advocacy for the proposal could help its prospects in negotiations between Congress and the White House over how to balance the budget and could also offer a mechanism to extend the long-term solvency of Social Security.
Asked about Mr. Greenspan's call for a commission, the White House press secretary, Michael D. McCurry, said the Federal Reserve chairman would be "an influential voice" in the debate over how to address the issue. The Clinton Administration has said it is open to considering a change in the price index, but only if there is a consensus among economists about how to proceed.
Some Republicans said they were considering introducing a nonbinding "Sense of the Senate" resolution in the next few weeks calling for an improved measure of inflation. They said the vaguely worded resolution would be a first step in gauging how much support could be mustered for a change with which neither party wants to be closely identified.
The Administration also said today that it would propose increasing funds for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by $2 million next year and $7 million to $10 million for each of the succeeding six years for additional research into the price Index. The bureau now spends $40 million a year administering the index.
Katharine G. Abraham, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, told the Senate Budget Committee that the increased funds, amounting to $55.1 million over seven years, would allow the agency "to speed up the process" of updating and expanding the price index to achieve a better approximation of changes in the cost of living. The bureau has always said that the Consumer Price Index is not a pure measure of inflation and should not be used to set Federal benefit payments. But it has taken on that role anyway, and it also adjusts tax brackets, private employment contracts and other transactions.
Mr. Greenspan has said publicly for years that he believes the Consumer Price Index overstates inflation. Last week he told the Senate Budget Committee that research by the Federal Reserve concluded that the overstatement was around one percentage point a year, roughly the same conclusion reached by a Congressionally appointed panel of economists last month.
That panel, headed by Michael J. Boskin, a Stanford University economist, said the overstatement would cost the Government hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 12 years in more generous benefit payments and smaller tax collections.
The Boskin report said that inflation was being overstated by 1.1 percentage points. Social Security payments for this year are being calculated on a 2.9 percent increase in the cost of living. If that increase was 1.1 percentage points lower, the average monthly payment, now $724, would go to $737 rather than to $745 -- a difference of $96 a year.
In his statements today, Mr. Greenspan appeared to be making his most concerted effort yet to put his reputation as a tough-minded apolitical policy maker behind a revision of the price index.
Urging senators to ignore criticism that tinkering with the price index would be viewed as a "political fix" to a technical problem, Mr. Greenspan argued that failure to address the overstatement of inflation would be a decision to ignore overwhelming evidence that the nation was overpaying benefit recipients.
"There is almost a 100 percent probability that we are overcompensating the average Social Security recipient for increases in the cost of living," Mr. Greenspan said, "and almost a 100 percent probability that we are causing the inflation-adjusted burden of the income tax system to decline more rapidly than I presume Congress intends."
Asked who should serve on an independent commission, Mr. Greenspan said he would "tend to choose academics who clearly have no evident interest in the outcome."
Congressional aides said it was unclear what consideration the Senate and the House might give to the idea of a commission. Mr. Moynihan, one of the leading proponents of revising the price index, said he intended to discuss the idea with Mr. Roth. Republican aides said Mr. Roth was interested in a commission but was concerned that it would take too long to establish.

LOAD-DATE: January 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman, testifying yesterday. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)(pg. D13)
      

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January 31, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

3 Dead as Wall at Houston Mall Collapses

BYLINE: By The New York Times 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 469 words

DATELINE: HOUSTON, Jan. 30

A wall next to a construction site collapsed this morning at a shopping mall, killing at least three people injuring seven, many of them elderly.
Officials speculated that more people might be trapped in the rubble of a 150- to 200-foot section of the 20-foot-high wall. Federal safety investigators, as well as city officials, began an inquiry into what caused the accident, just after 9 A.M. at the Northline Mall. 
 The wall was shared by the mall and a department store that was being demolished, to be replaced by a complex of theaters. Earvin (Magic) Johnson, the former basketball player, broke ground on the project in 1995, part of his plan to invest in neglected urban areas.
The dead were not publicly identified by this evening. Many of the injured were elderly people who walked in the mall for exercise before most stores opened.
One victim, Alfonse Rabel, 68, cut his arms and legs by jumping through a window.
"He assured me he was O.K.," said Mr. Rabel's wife, Kayla, who added that he drove himself to a hospital emergency room. She said her husband walked in the mall five mornings a week.
This afternoon, construction cranes were brought in to lift large concrete slabs, and an interior wall was shored up so that rescue workers could search the debris. Dogs were brought in to search but were removed before long because of the danger, officials said.
"We have a team of investigators on the site," said Diana Petterson, a spokeswoman for the regional office of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "Our aim is to do as through and comprehensive an investigation as possible."
The mall management did not answer calls for comment.
The city issued a demolition permit to Demolition Services Inc. on Nov. 12, and officials said they were not aware of any problems with the company. The company did not return requests for comment.
Three people, including a couple who were members of the Northline Mall walkers club, went to Memorial Northwest Hospital. Mr. Rabel was one of those.
"He had a lot of lacerations on his arms and legs because as he was walking he saw the ceiling start to collapse and he ran through a glass window," said Caroline Osmond, spokeswoman for the hospital. Mr. Rabel was released this afternoon.
Four patients, including a firefighter with a twisted ankle, were taken to Hermann Hospital, and all but one were released by early afternoon after treatment for bumps and bruises, said a hospital spokeswoman, Patty Riddlebarger. The remaining patient, Maxine Bell, 67, was treated for a broken ankle.
The Fire Chief, Eddie Corral, said officials could only speculate on the number of people trapped in the rubble and whether they might have survived.
"A lot of times," Chief Corral said, "miraculous things happen."

LOAD-DATE: January 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Emergency workers searching yesterday for victims after a wall at the Northline Mall in Houston collapsed. The wall was shared by the mall and a department store that was being demolished for a theater complex. (F. Carter Smith for The New York Times)      

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January 31, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Bill on Deficit Clears Panel Buts Hits Snag

BYLINE: By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM 

SECTION: Section A; Page 20; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 535 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Jan. 30

The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced Federal budget, but the eventual prospects for the amendment may have dimmed.
Two Democratic Senators on whose votes the Republican proponents of the amendment had relied for the two-thirds majority needed for Senate approval said at the Judiciary Committee meeting that they might vote against it on the floor without substantial changes. 
 The two, Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey, voted for an almost identical amendment two years ago, Mr. Biden in the Senate and Mr. Torricelli when he was in the House.
But today they advocated changes including the exclusion of Social Security from deficit calculations and the creation of a separate capital budget to allow borrowing for "physical infrastructure that provides long-term economic benefits."
A Republican staff assistant who has been keeping track of probable votes said it would be difficult if not impossible to reach the 67-vote threshold if Mr. Biden and Mr. Torricelli voted "no." All 55 Republican senators plan to vote for the amendment, which means 12 Democratic votes will be necessary.
Mr. Torricelli said in an interview that he was trying to put pressure on Republicans to open negotiations.
The amendment's chief Republican sponsor, Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, who heads the Judiciary Committee, said the changes suggested by the two Senators would open "big loopholes" he could never accept.
The panel approved the amendment today in a 13-to-5 vote. It would require the budget to be balanced by early in the next century and every year afterward unless the Senate and House voted by three-fifths majorities to waive the requirement.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Torricelli were among those who voted for the amendment. But they said they could vote differently on the floor.
Many Democrats, as long as they are not identified, acknowledge that the issue of excluding Social Security from budget calculations is something of a Trojan horse.
The latest Congressional Budget Office calculations show that without counting Social Security, which now runs a large surplus, the lawmakers would have to find an additional $465 billion in tax increases or spending cuts over the next five years. As a practical matter, that would make it impossible to balance the budget early in the next century.
But politically, few other issues carry so much weight; no politician wants to be seen as jeopardizing Social Security. Proposals like those of Mr. Biden and Mr. Torricelli allow lawmakers to say that they favor a balanced budget amendment but want to make sure Social Security is not at risk. President Clinton, who opposes the amendment, said in a letter to lawmakers on Wednesday that it could put the elderly at risk.
In the House, where a close vote is also expected, a small group of Republicans called a news conference today to advocate excluding Social Security from the calculations.
Democrats held a news conference to advertise a letter signed by more than 1,000 economists warning that an amendment could make recessions worse and restrict necessary Government borrowing.

LOAD-DATE: January 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Senator Orrin G. Hatch, center, Republican of Utah, at a Judiciary Committee meeting on a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. At right was Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. (Paul Hosefros/The New York Times)

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February 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Hartsdale Fights to Reopen Doors of Once-Thriving Stores

BYLINE: By ROBERTA HERSHENSON 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 1; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1185 words

DATELINE: HARTSDALE

YOU can have your nails done, choose new wallpaper, plan a vacation and eat sushi in the shopping district that everyone here calls Hartsdale Village, although Hartsdale is really a hamlet in the town of Greenburgh.
You can also buy a bagel at five different places on your way to the Hartsdale train station, which anchors the hamlet on its eastern border. But except for commuters rushing to catch the morning express, the foot traffic is scarce along East Hartsdale Avenue. Just a few years ago the sidewalks were bustling. 
 One after another, longtime merchants have closed their doors, leading residents to ask: is Hartsdale becoming a ghost town?
The answer is a resounding and determined no, say Greenburgh town officials, members of the Hartsdale Chamber of Commerce and others who say they are tired of the negative talk about their community. They are fighting back, resolved to resist the trend that is occurring nationwide as shoppers desert Main Street for bargain country -- in this case, Central Park Avenue, less than a mile away.
Some businesses here are still thriving, but talking with merchants in the business district, a block of stores just a tenth of a mile long, is like being at a seminar on urban planning. The situation, though not yet a crisis, has made sidewalk experts of everyone from building superintendents to deli workers. Although there is much head shaking, there is also a common theme: Hartsdale can be rescued, if everyone -- town, merchants, landlords and residents -- works to save it.
The trouble began here, many say, when a Gristedes supermarket closed on East Hartsdale Avenue two years ago. "That was the turning point," said Liz Marrinan, Greenburgh's Director of Community Development, who is preparing a commercial profile of the Hartsdale business district. She said 4 out of 32 stores, including the former supermarket, are empty, representing 18 percent of the total 60,000 square feet of retail space available here.
George Prokos said, "I guess it's part of the domino theory," as he ordered breakfast one recent morning at the Deli Experience across the street from the former supermarket. Mr. Prokos, an assistant superintendent at the nearby Rockledge House, one of a group of apartment complexes on the street, recalled how many elderly residents used to walk to the supermarket for their daily necessities. Now, he said, they wait for rides to take them to Central Park Avenue. "This is a nice town," he said, "but it's a little bit on the decline, I think."
Larry Menze, manager of the Deli Experience, said he had seen business slow down a lot since he began working there three years ago. "You rack your brain and say, 'Why, why, why,' " he said, shrugging his shoulders.
But others say that the reasons are obvious, and that a new supermarket -- reports of imminent lease-signings are frequent -- would address only one issue. "The biggest problem is that there is not a big mix of stores in this town," said Cliff Hall, an owner of the Cheesery, a gourmet shop, which is one of the most successful businesses on the block. He lamented the loss of stores that invited window shopping, like a children's clothing store, a bookstore and a store devoted to handmade gifts, all of which have closed in the last two years.
"You can't browse anymore," he said. "That's what makes small towns like this special."
He and others said the street desperately needed a face-lifting. "Look around," Mr. Hall said, pointing to a broken sign above a beauty parlor and to a hodgepodge of clashing storefronts.
"This mishmash of styles tends to the tacky," he added.
Mr. Hall said he was not a member of the Chamber of Commerce because "there's absolutely nothing they can do for me. The landlords do what they want." He said it was up to landlords to improve their buildings' facades, as well as to stop strangling successful businesses by renting their stores to competing ones.
"Years ago, there used to be honor," he said. "Now it's all dog eat dog. The biggest competition on the block is for food; even stores that shouldn't be selling food are selling food. But the block could support all the food stores if there were a bigger mix of stores bringing people into town."
Nick Cioppa, the owner of Deli Experience, agreed, calling for an ordinance to limit the number of food stores in the district. "I'm here, and I'm not going to go under," he said of the 50-year-old deli, which he bought nearly 5 years ago. "But the street is turning into a food court."
Stephanie W. Bellino is president of the real estate concern of Blum and Bellino, which serves as both a managing agent and a rental agent for landlords. "I don't care what kind of mix you have, but you will not have an area survive unless the neighborhood will support the merchants," Ms. Bellino said.
She explained that she was referring to the 2,500 families who live in the apartments and single-family houses between the railroad station and Central Park Avenue.
She added, "If there is a good workable plan to spruce up the village, and maybe bring back some of the older facades, I'm sure the landlords will review the plan with an open mind."
Paul J. Feiner, Greenburgh's Supervisor, said that the town had begun to formulate just such a long-range plan with an urban-revitalization consultant, Louis Lopilato, of Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry.
There are bright spots in the picture. Ms. Bellino said two new businesses had opened since Gristedes closed -- a pet-grooming shop and a card shop -- and that both were doing well. The farmers' market, which operates at the train station on Saturday mornings from June to November, does a brisk business. The Chamber of Commerce fixed up a pocket park opposite the train station, and the town of Greenburgh recently installed attractive street lamps along East Hartsdale Avenue. In addition, the autonomous public parking district has recently been giving a 10- to 20-minute grace period on meters and has brightened up the district's two-level parking structure with new lighting and fresh, graffiti-proof paint.
"We're all doing what we can to improve the situation here," said Stephanie Kavourias, executive director of the parking district.
Mr. Feiner said the town would invest up to $250,000 in the Hartsdale shopping district if landlords and merchants would take part in a partnership. "The problems we're having could be a blessing in disguise," he said. "We had an opportunity to reinvest in this street and come up with innovative approaches. We are totally optimistic. This is such a great challenge."
Mr. Feiner met recently with the Chamber of Commerce to articulate his ideas. But Phil Benincasa, the chamber's president, said that everyone had to pitch in and do more, including the town.
"There has been a lot of talk for a long time, but nothing concrete," said Mr. Benincasa, who bought the 70-year-old Aristocrat Terrace and Cleaners three years ago from its original owner. "There's a lot of 'we'll do this, we'll do that.' It's easy to say. It's much more difficult to do."

LOAD-DATE: February 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Vacant stores along East Hartsdale Avenue, where Hartsdale merchants and residents fear a decrease in foot traffic and shoppers is affecting business, causing shops to shut down. (Photographs by Roberta Hershenson for The New York Times) (pg. 1); East Hartsdale Avenue is "turning into a food court," said Nick Cioppa of Deli Experience. (Roberta Hershenson for The New York Times) (pg. 4)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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February 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

POSTINGS: Part of $33 Million Expansion and Renovation;
Bronx Home for the Elderly To Get 8-Story Glass Tower

SECTION: Section 9; Page 1; Column 2; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 388 words

An eight-story glass tower is to be a major component of a $33 million expansion and renovation at the Jewish Home and Hospital at West Kingsbridge Road and University Avenue in the West Bronx.
"It's time to refresh and recreate the geriatric campus," said Harvey Finkelstein, chief executive officer of the facility for the elderly. 
 The project is being financed mainly by a $51.5 million bond issue from the New York State Dormitory Authority and a $3 million donation from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation of Baltimore. (The bond issue is also going toward $17.5 million in outstanding mortgages; $4 million will go into a reserve fund).
The 4.5-acre Bronx campus, established in 1950 on the site of the former Hebrew Infant Asylum, has 816 beds in three interconnected buildings for skilled nursing care, as well as 300 apartments for the independent elderly in Kittay House across the garden. It also provides outpatient services to about 1,000 people.
The new 17,600-square-foot tower will sit atop four lower floors, already adjoining the 12-story Salzman Pavilion, one of the three interconnected buildings. The extra space will provide dining and lounge areas on the upper eight floors. The ground floor, now the site of the main dining room, will be turned into a Main Street where residents can get haircuts at a barbershop/beauty salon, shop in a boutique and lunch with visitors in a cafe. The Saul Alzheimer Disease Special Care Unit, built above the dining area four years ago, may be expanded later.
Another 5,200 square feet will be added atop the ground floor adjoining the five-story Zweig building to provide dining and family meeting meeting rooms on each floor. A total of 220,000 square feet will be renovated.
"The whole industry has recognized these are residential facilities that provide health care," said Bradford Perkins, president of Perkins Eastman Architects, in charge of the overall project. "We're trying to use furnishings with a residential feel."
The Jewish Home and Hospital, a nonprofit organization, has roots in a brownstone that once stood at 215 West 17th Street and housed four or five indigent elderly Jewish residents in 1870. The organization now has a total of 1,600 beds and 360 apartments in the Bronx, Manhattan and Mamaroneck in Westchester.

LOAD-DATE: February 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing: Rendering of renovation at Jewish Home and Hospital in West Bronx. (Sven Johnson for Perkins Eastman Architects)

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February 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON THE TOWNS

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 11; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 3644 words

An opinionated guide to cultural and recreational goings-on around the state this week. To submit items for consideration, write to On the Towns, Sunday New Jersey Section, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, or send a fax to (212) 556-7219.
 
MUSIC 

BERGEN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE Don Glaser Trio. Next Sunday at 2 P.M. Free. 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus.
(201) 265-1248
 
COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY Marvin Hamlisch, composer and pianist. Tuesday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $20. Pennington Road, Trenton.
(609) 771-2898.
 
COMMUNITY THEATER OF MORRISTOWN Leslie Uggams and Ben Vereen. Thursday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $15 to $50. Family Concert Series, featuring cartoon classics. Next Sunday at 3 P.M. Tickets: $10. 100 South Street, Morristown. (201) 539-8008.
 
GRACE NORTON ROGERS SCHOOL THEATER Eddie From Ohio and Peter Spink. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Stockton Street and Oak Lane, Hights town. (609) 259-5764.
 
JERSEY CITY MUSEUM The New Jersey Chamber Music Society performs "Joyful Voices: Sounds of Nature and the Spirit." Wednesday at 6 P.M. Free. 472 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City. (201) 547-4380.
 
MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY Hesperus, an early-music ensemble. Today at 3 P.M. Tickets: $20; $18 for the elderly, alumni and students. Michael Brecker Quintet, featuring Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Joey Calderazzo. Monday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $28. 400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch. (908) 571-3483
 
MONTCLAIR HIGH SCHOOL The Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Christph von Dohnanyi, performing works by Schubert and Mahler. Today at 3:30 P.M. Tickets: $25 to $48. Unity Concerts of New Jersey, Community Auditorium, Park and Chestnut Streets, Montclair. (201) 744-6770.
 
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA "A Night at the Movies: Great Loves," music and clips from classic films. Friday at 8 P.M. at the State Theater, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. Saturday at 8:30 P.M. at the Count Basie Theater, 99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank. Next Sunday at 3 P.M. at Symphony Hall, 1030 Broad Street, Newark. Tickets: $20 to $40. (800) 255-3476 or
(201) 624-8203.
 
PATERSON MUSEUM Willy Dalton, composer and guitarist, performs his "Riverwalk." Today at 4 P.M. Free. 2 Market Street, Paterson. (201) 881-3874.
 
RICHARDSON AUDITORIUM Billy Taylor Trio. Friday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $17 to $26; students, $10 to $19. Princeton Pro Musica and the Princeton Girl Choir. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $22 to $27; students and seniors $6 to $22. Alexander Hall, 126 Alexander Street, Princeton. (609) 258-5000.
 
SHANGHAI JAZZ Frank D'Amelio Trio. Wednesday at 7 P.M. Michael Denny and the Centennial Dixieland Band. Thursday at 7 P.M. Nancy Nelson and Jerry Vezza. Friday at 7 P.M. No cover charge; $15 to $20 minimum in dining room only. 24 Main Street, Madison. (201) 822-2899.
 
TURNING POINT Richie Havens. Tonight at 5:30 and 8:30. Tickets: $21. Roomful of Blues. Wednesday at 7:30 and 10 P.M. Tickets: $18. John Renbourn and Archie Fisher. Thursday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $17.50. Savoy Brown. Friday at 8 and 10:30 P.M. Tickets: $15. Hubert Sumlin Blues Band. Saturday at 8 and 11 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. Piermont Avenue, Piermont, N.Y. (914) 359-3219.
 
THEATER
 
AMERICAN STAGE COMPANY "The Gig," a musical about five amateur musicians who get their chance to live a dream when they travel to a Catskills resort to play a professional gig. Today and next Sunday at 2:30 P.M. Thursday and Friday at 8 P.M.; Saturday at 4 and 8:30 P.M. Tickets: $27 and $29. River Road and Route 4, Teaneck.
(201) 692-7744.
 
BICKFORD THEATER "Mister Lincoln," by Herbert Mitgang. Through Feb. 23. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 P.M.; Sundays at 2 P.M. Tickets: $17.50; $15.75 for the elderly; $15 for students and members; $7.50 for students on Thursdays. Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown.
(201) 538-8069.
 
COUNT BASIE THEATER Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and other traditional artists will perform to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Today, hands-on arts demonstrations at 1 P.M; stage performance at 3 P.M. Tickets: $10 to $15. 99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank. (908) 842-9000.
 
CROSSROADS THEATER COMPANY "The Meeting," by Jeff Stetson. Through Feb. 16. Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 P.M.; Thursdays at 11 A.M. and 8 P.M.; Saturdays at 3 and 8 P.M.; Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $22 to $32. 7 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. (908) 249-5560.
 
ELIZABETH PLAYHOUSE "Heaven Can Wait." Through April 14. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 P.M.; Sundays at 2 P.M. Tickets: $6 and $8. 1100 East Jersey Street, Elizabeth. (908) 355-0077.
 
ELMWOOD PLAYHOUSE "Glengarry Glen Ross." Through Saturday. Tonight at 7:30; Friday and Saturday at 8:30 P.M.; . Tickets: $12; $10 for students and the elderly on Friday and Sunday. 10 Park Street, Nyack, N.Y. (914) 638-0777.
 
GEORGE STREET PLAYHOUSE "Lost in Yonkers," by Neil Simon. Today at 2 P.M.; Tuesday through Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $24 to $32; discounts for students and the elderly. 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. (908) 246-7717.
 
LUNA STAGE "The Homage That Follows," by Mark Medoff. Through next Sunday. Today and next Sunday at 2 P.M.; Thursday through Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10 to $20. 7 Oak Place, Montclair. (201) 744-3309.
 
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE "Out of Order." Through next Sunday. Today, Saturday and next Sunday at 3 and 8 P.M.; Wednesday through Friday at 8 P.M.; matinee Thursday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $31 to $46; $10 for students. Brookside Drive, Millburn.
(201) 376-4343.
 
RITZ THEATER "Funny Girl." Through Saturday. Today at 2 P.M.; Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12 to $15. 915 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS
 
ABC GALLERY "Mostly Flowers," watercolors by Betty Chardon. Through March 1. Mondays through Thursdays, 1 to 9 P.M.; Fridays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.
Lambertville Public Library, 6 Lilly Street, Lambertville. (609) 397-0275.
 
AMERICAN LABOR MUSEUM "Faces From an American Dream," photographs by Martin J. Desht on the de-industrialization of America. Through Feb. 15. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1 to 4 P.M. 83 Norwood Street, Haledon. (201) 595-7953.
 
BERGEN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE "Joachim Oppenheimer: A Lens of Air," photographs. Through March 16. "Zhiyuan Cong: An Honest Bridge," contemporary scroll paintings in the Chinese tradition. Through March 29. "Time by Light," sundials by Robert Adzema. Though April 6. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus. (201) 265-1248.
 
TATUM PARK "Celebrating African-American History and Culture." Closes today.Noon to 5 P.M. Red Hill Activity Center, Red Hill Road, Middletown. (908) 842-4000.
 
CAMERON GALLERY AT SOUFFLE "Order and Chaos," paintings by Sara Soffer. Through Feb. 28. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 14 Farber Road, Princeton. (609) 987-2600.
 
CHAMOT GALLERY "Fashion Art," by Mary Anne Vaccaro, Sung E. Whang and Alice Malloy. Closes today. "Geology," works by Spelman Evans Downer, painter, and Konstanze Priess, sculptor. Thursday through March 2. Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 3 P.M. 111 First Street, Jersey City. (201) 610-1468.
 
GALLERY OF SOUTH ORANGE "30 Years East, 30 Years West," steel wall sculpture by Paul Zawisha. "Suburban Disasters," paintings by Tim Heins. "Drawings and Paintings," by Larry McKim. All through Feb. 23. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 4 to 6 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Free. Baird Center, 5 Mead Street, South
Orange. (201) 378-7754.
 
GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE "Associated Media," recent works by Don Bonham, Nancy Cohen, Don Porcaro and Carol Rosen. Through Feb. 28. Fridays through Sundays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Tuesdays through Thursdays, by appointment, 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton. (609) 586-0616.
 
HIRAM BLAUVELT ART MUSEUM "Beyond the Edge and Deep Within," paintings by John Schoenherr, a wildlife artist. Through April 13. Wednesdays through Fridays 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays 2 P.M. to 5 P.M. Free. 705 Kindermack Road, Oradell. (201) 261-0012.
 
HUNTERDON ART CENTER "Riva Helfond: Selected Paintings and Prints, 1930-1996." Through Feb. 23. Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. 7 Lower Center Street, Clinton. (908) 735-8415.
 
J. RICHARDS GALLERY "Charles Levier, the Twilight Years," paintings and watercolors. Saturday through Feb. 27. Opening reception next Sunday, noon to 4 P.M. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.; Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. 64 East Palisade Avenue, Englewood. (201) 871-6940.
 
JERSEY CITY MUSEUM "Subversions/Affirmations: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, A Survey," 40 paintings, works on paper and mixed-media works. Through Feb. 15. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10:30 A.M to 5 P.M.; Wednesdays, 10:30 A.M. to 8 P.M. 472 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City. (201) 547-4514.
 
JERSEY CITY STATE COLLEGE Watercolors by Elaine Lanagan. Through Friday. Tomorrow through Friday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Artspace, Hepburn Hall, Room 323, 2039 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City. (201) 200-3441.
 
KENT PLACE SCHOOL "After the Fall," paintings by Woody Jackson. Through Friday. Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. 42 Norwood Avenue, Summit. (908) 273-0900.
MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM "A Public Office Is a Public Trust: Images of the Election of 1884," featuring campaign memorabilia, drawings and wood engravings by the caricaturist Thomas Nast. Through April 20. Admission: $3; $2 for students and the elderly. Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown.
(201) 538-2404.
 
MARSHA CHILD CONTEMPORARY "Through Eastern Eyes," paintings, drawings, etchings and sculpture from Eastern Europe. Through Feb. 10. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. and by appointment. 240 Nassau Street, Princeton. (609) 497-7330.
 
MONMOUTH COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION "Politics as Usual: Campaigns and Elections, 1789 to 1996." Through June 3. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Admission: $2; $1.50 for the elderly. 70 Court Street, Freehold. (908) 462-1466. On the World Wide Web: www.monmouth.com/mcha/.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM "Reflecting America: Highlights From the Permanent Collection." Through July 27. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $4; $3 for students with ID and the elderly. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
MORRIS COUNTY LIBRARY "World War I: The Forgotten War," featuring collectibles and memorabilia. Through March 7. Mondays though Thursdays, 9 A.M. to 9 P.M.; Fridays and Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 12 to 5 P.M. 30 East Hanover Avenue, Whippany. (201) 285-6979.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM "Focus on Rodin," 21 bronzes and three works on paper by the French artist. Through April 27. "Hospice: A Photographic Inquiry," featuring works by Jim Goldberg, Nan Goldin, Sally Mann, Jack Radcliffe and Kathy Vargas. Through Feb. 23. Sculpture Courtyard: three steel sculptures by Peter Vanni. Through June 30. Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NABISCO GALLERY "The 66th National Print Exhibition" by the Society of American Graphic Artists. Through Feb. 19. Daily, noon to 4 P.M. River Road and DeForest Avenue, East Hanover. (201) 503-3238.
 
NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS "Pastel Landscapes," by Peter Homitzky. Through March 3. "Threads: Fiber Art in the 90's," works by 34 textile artists. Through March 2. Mondays through Fridays, noon to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M.
68 Elm Street, Summit. (908) 273-9121.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "The Great Russian Dinosaurs," a traveling exhibition featuring 24 full skeletons from sites across Russia and Mongolia. Through June 1. "The Buffalo Soldier: The African-American Soldier in the United States Army, 1866-1912." Through March 2. "Major Works/Major Gifts: Selections From the Fine Arts Collection, 1966-1996," including works by Milton Avery, John Marin, Georgia O'Keefe and Gordon Parks. Through May 4. "Nikon's Small World," 20 prize-winning photomicrographs. Through March 2. Paintings by Ann Starkey. Through March 9. Photographs by Laurinda Stockwell. Through March 23. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.; Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Museum admission by donation; special admission for "The Great Russian Dinosaurs": $5; $3 for children under 12 and the elderly. 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6464.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM "Quilt Masterpieces," quilts from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries from the museum's collection. Through Feb. 23. "Portugal: Here and There," photographs of Newark's Ironbound district, a predominantly Portuguese neighborhood. Through Feb. 16. "The Printed Pot: Transfer-Printed Tablewares, 1750-1990," featuring 100 pieces of household pottery and porcelain. Through 1997. "African Design: Heirs to the Trans-Saharan Trade," with Islamic amulets, weapons from North and West Africa, jewelry, textiles and pottery. Through June. "Cooking for the Gods: The Art of Home Ritual in Bengal." Through July. Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. 49 Washington Street, Newark. (201) 596-6550.

NOYES MUSEUM "Between Dreams," drawings by Patricia O'Maille. Through March 23. "The New Jersey Oyster: Relics of a Fading Industry," featuring harvesting tools, antique oyster tins, photographs and miniatures of famous regional oyster boats. Through Feb. 23. "Tramp Art and Whimsies From the Ciardelli Collection." Through April 13. "Dust Shaped Hearts: Photographic Portraits by Don Camp." Through March 23. Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $1.50 for the elderly. Lily Lake Road, Oceanville. (609) 652-8848.
 
PLAINSBORO PUBLIC LIBRARY "Sketchbook Pages," paintings by Yong Zhou. Through Thursday. Today, 1 to 5 P.M.; tomorrow, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.; Tuesday through Thursday, 9 A.M. to 8:30 P.M. Free. Municipal Complex, 641 Plainsboro Road, Plainsboro.
(609) 275-2897.
 
PRINTMAKING COUNCIL "Fish Tales" and "Artists' Handmade Book Project." Through March 22. North Branch Station, 440 River Road, Somerville. (908) 625-2110.
 
ROCKLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE Relics from the Henrietta Marie, a slave ship that sank in the Caribbean in 1700. Through Feb. 28. Mondays through Thursdays, 8 A.M. to 10 P.M.; Fridays, 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. Library Media Center, 145 College Road, Suffern, N.Y. (914) 574-4409.
 
TOMASULO GALLERY "The Graven Image," an exhibition devoted to the totemic roots of modern art. Through February 27. Union County College, 1033 Springfield Avenue, Cranford. (908) 709-7155.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Lit From Within: Amish Quilts of Lancaster County," featuring 34 quilts made between 1860 and 1950. Through Feb. 16. "Aleksandr Arefiev: Father of Leningrad Nonconformist Art." Closes today. "Four Centuries of Prints: Selections From the Permanent Collection," including works by Durer, Rembrandt, Hogarth and Goya and introducing the basic methods and history of print production, and "Recent Acquisitions to the Rutgers Archives for Printmaking Studios," featuring prints by the American Indian artists Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Truman Lowe and James Lavadour. Both through Feb. 16. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
THEATER
 
COMMUNITY THEATER "Cartoon Classics," a family concert of cartoon music featuring members of the New Philharmonic. Next Sunday at 3 P.M. Tickets: $10. 100 South Street, Morristown. (212) 420-8202.
 
GREAT SWAMP OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER Maple sugaring, a demonstration of how to tap a maple tree and boil the sap to make syrup. Saturdays and Sundays at 2 P.M. Through Feb. 23. Free. 247 Southern Boulevard, Chatham. (201) 635-6629.
 
J.C.C. OF METROPOLITAN NEW JERSEY "Sounds Like Fun," a concert series. Sundays at 2 P.M. Today, brass; next Sunday, woodwinds; April 6, strings; April 13, orchestra concert. Tickets: $34 for the series; $8 for individual tickets. Robbins Hall, 760 Northfield Avenue, West Orange. (201) 736-3200.
 
LIBERTY SCIENCE CENTER "Special Effects," Imax film views behind the scenes of "Star Wars," "Jumanji," "Kazaam!" and "Independence Day." Through March. Daily on the hour. Omni Theater. "Busytown," a "community" created by Richard Scarry, with a factory, grocery store, shipyard and power plant, for ages 3 to 6. Through May 4. Tuesdays through Sundays, 9:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Admission: $9.50; $8.50 for students and the elderly; $5.50 under age 12. 251 Phillip Street, Jersey City. (201) 200-1000.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Changing Cultures: From the Lenape to the Urban Age, 1400-1900," exploring the history of America through changes in family life, from the Lenape through the Victorian era. Through June 1998. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. Becker Children's Wing,
761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft.
(908) 747-2266.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM Drop-in workshop on sculpture with clay, in conjunction with the "Focus on Rodin" exhibition. Through April 27. Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM An interactive center for ages 2 to 8. "Mardi Gras Weekend," crafts and festivities. Saturday and next Sunday. Museum hours: Mondays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $7. 599 Industrial Avenue, Paramus.
(201) 262-2638.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "The Great Russian Dinosaurs." Through June 1. "The New and Improved Hubble Space Telescope." Through next Sunday. Laser concerts on weekends through May 11. Tickets for Friday and Saturday laser shows: $7; $5 for children 12 and younger. Tickets for Sundays: $4. Museum hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.; Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Admission by donation. Special admission for dinosaur exhibition: $5; $3 for children and the elderly. 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6464.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM The Dreyfuss Planetarium presents "Partnership Earth," exploring the planet from its volcanic birth. For ages 6 to 10. Through Feb. 23. Saturdays and Sundays at 2 and 4 P.M. Tickets: $2; $1 for children, students and the elderly. "Explore Korea: A Visit to Grandfather's House," an interactive exhibition exploring daily life of a Korean family in the 1930's. Through Friday. Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Free. 49 Washington Street, Newark. (201) 596-6550.
 
TEMPLE EMETH David Grover and the Big Bear Band, of "Grover's Corner" on PBS, plays music with environmental and social lessons. Today at 2:30 P.M. $7 suggested donation. 1666 Windsor Road, Teaneck. (201) 837-3852.
 
TRAILSIDE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER "A Collection of Cold Constellations." Children 6 and older will explore the constellations of the winter sky. Sundays at 2 P.M. Through Feb. 16. "Dinosaurs and Space Dust," examines the connections between dinosaur extinction and outer space. Today at 2 P.M. Admission: $3; $2.55 for the elderly. Groundhog Day, today at 2 P.M. Donations accepted. Planetarium, 452 New Providence Road, Mountainside. (908) 789-3670.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Bears All Around," an exhibition of bear illustrations from children's literature. Through Feb. 16. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
SPOKEN WORD
 
BARNES & NOBLE Charlotte Mandel and Victoria Repetto, poets. Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Free. Caldor Shopping Center, Route 46 West, West Paterson. (201) 445-4589.
 
BORDERS BOOKS AND MUSIC Authors of "Feeling Light: The First How-To Holistic Solution to Weight Loss and Wellness." Friday at 8 P.M. Free. Bill Bradley, former Senator and author of "Time Present, Time Past," a memoir. Saturday at 4 P.M. Free. Route 1 at Province Line Road, Princeton. (609) 514-0040.
 
ENGLEWOOD LIBRARY Susan Dworkin will read and discuss her new novel, "The Book of Candy." Thursday at 8 P.M. Free. 31 Engle Street, Englewood. (201) 568-2215.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM Keith Christiansen, a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will discuss the work of the 18th-century Italian painter Tiepolo in conjunction with an exhibition at the Met. Friday at 7:30 P.M. Tickets: $10; $8 for members. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
RECTO VERSO BOOKSTORE Eliot Katz and Denise Oliver, poets. Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 90 Albany Street, New Brunswick. (908) 247-9791.
 
SUMEI MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARTS CENTER Amiri Baraka, Maria Maziotti Gillan, Sander Zulauf, poets. Today at 2 P.M. Tickets: $5. (908) 931-1343.
 
ETC.
 
DEFENSIVE DRIVING An eight-hour course in two sessions. Tomorrow and Feb. 10, and March 3 and 10, 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. Fee: $15. Ocean County Social Services Offices, 1027 Hooper Avenue, Building 5, third floor, Toms River. (908) 929-2130.
 
JCC ON THE PALISADES "Sensory Meditation," a workshop on diet, excercise and meditation. Wednesday at 10 AM. $6 non-members; $4 members. 411 East Clinton Avenue, Tenafly. (201) 569-7900.
 
UNITARIAN SOCIETY OF RIDGEWOOD "Beyond the Planets: Male-Female Communication," a workshop on sex differences and increasing understanding between men and women. Saturday 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 115 Cottage Place, Ridgewood. (201) 801-0064 or (201) 848-0263.

LOAD-DATE: February 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Welcoming the Ox The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will be featured in a festival celebrating the Chinese New Year 4695. The festival will also include demonstrations of calligraphy and painting, acrobatics and music. COUNT BASIE THEATER Today. Hands-on arts demonstrations at 1 P.M; stage performance at 3 P.M. Tickets: $10 to $15. 99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank. (908) 842-9000. (pg. 11); In From Cleveland Unity Concerts presents the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi, in a program including the Andante in B Minor from Schubert's Symphony No. 10, and the Adagio from Mahler's Symphony No. 10. MONTCLAIR HIGH SCHOOL Today at 3:30 P.M. Tickets: $25 to $48. Community Auditorium, Park and Chestnut Streets, Montclair. (201) 744-6770. (pg. 13); Focus on Rodin The Morris Museum will present 21 bronze sculptures and three works on paper by Rodin, including "Paolo and Francesca," above, and his most ambitious work, "The Gates of Hell."; MORRIS MUSEUM Through April 27. Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454. (pg. 14)

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February 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

MUTUAL FUNDS;
A.A.R.P. Is Adding Some Spice To Its Menu

BYLINE: By TIMOTHY MIDDLETON 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 7; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1285 words

THERE'S conservative -- and then there's conservative.
Or so retirees have been telling the American Association of Retired Persons. When it comes to investing, they clearly want mutual funds that are sturdy and capable of handling sudden swerves, much as a well-built car can, but many of them also want investments with a little zip. 
 After hearing that message repeatedly in telephone calls, surveys and focus groups, the A.A.R.P. plans to add a half-dozen mutual funds, mostly in the stock category, to its investment offerings this week. Many of the new models are designed for senior citizens who are eager to travel a bit faster down the investing highway.
The A.A.R.P. group already has seven stock and bond funds and two money market funds -- all managed by Scudder, Stevens & Clark of Boston -- with a total of more than $13 billion in assets. While the group's stock and bond assets have more than tripled since the end of 1990, assets in the industry have more than quadrupled during that time. To pick up the pace for more sophisticated investors, the group is adding funds like small-company and international stock portfolios. For novices, it is adding one-stop "funds of funds," mutual funds that invest in other funds.
"Our members are looking for more variety in investment options," said Wayne F. Haefer, director of the association's membership group in Washington.
NTIL now, the group has kept its roster small, in part to keep things simple, and its offerings very conservative, to match its investors' distaste for risk.
"There are no standout A.A.R.P. funds, but there are no dogs, either," said Steve Savage, editor of Value Line Mutual Fund Survey. "Their performance ranks right in the middle, while the risks they take are below average."
For example, the recent favorite of investors, A.A.R.P. Growth and Income, with more than $4 billion in assets, declined in only one year since it started in late 1984. The fund lost 2.07 percent in 1990, but in every other year, including the generally dismal 1987, it posted gains. It has often trailed broad market gauges, however, like the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.
Key to the fund's management has been an emphasis on stocks that pay hefty dividends. In fact, all the A.A.R.P. stock funds look for high yields; such stocks tend to hold up better in market downturns because of their annual payouts. Maintaining a conservative bent, the new funds will also emphasize such stocks. "If there's one thing we've learned from our members," Mr. Haefer said, "it's that they don't want to lose money in a fund."
The target audience for the funds is the 33 million members of the A.A.R.P., which is open to people 50 and older. Although anyone may invest in the funds, fewer than 1 percent of the shareholders are not members of the group, which represents more than half the country's over-50 population.
The Mutual Fund Monthly newsletter, published by Stolper & Company, an investment firm in San Diego, likes the group's longstanding bond fund, A.A.R.P. GNMA and U.S. Treasury. For investors using the newsletter's Sanctuary Portfolio, its most conservative model, Stolper recommends that half of all assets go to this fund.
"Anyone who's really concerned about preservation of capital should have at least 50 percent of their money in something very stable, and that's what this fund is," Barbara Malone, a principal in Stolper, said. "We've met with the manager of the fund and he clearly understands this is the goal of his investors."
Vowing not to lose sight of that goal, the association and Scudder created funds both for experienced investors who are eager to build a diversified portfolio and for beginning investors who want some stock exposure without creating their own portfolios.
Among the six new offerings, half are souped-up portfolios of stocks, one is a high-octane bond fund and the other two are funds of funds. The group's shift to equity funds has been gradual. Fixed-income assets now account for less than half of the A.A.R.P. funds' total assets, down from about 60 percent in 1993.
For investors clamoring for an index fund, Scudder and the retirees' association have hit upon an answer. The A.A.R.P. U.S. Stock Index fund will own only S.& P. 500 stocks, but, by emphasizing issues with high dividends, the fund will yield at least 25 percent more than the index's average. Bankers Trust, which specializes in enhancing indexes, will serve as subadviser.
The fund should duplicate the returns of the S.& P. benchmark when stocks are rising, said Daniel B. Gross, who oversees product development for Scudder's United States mutual fund business. But its real value should be more stability when the stock market heads south. "About 70 percent of the time this fund should do better than the S.& P. in down markets," he said.
The A.A.R.P. Small Company Stock fund, while confining itself to companies with market capitalization below $1 billion, will avoid initial public offerings and other high-risk issues in favor of long-established companies with a history of regular dividends. About half the securities in the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks pay dividends. The fund expects to yield about 2 percent.
The A.A.R.P. International Stock fund will choose from stocks that pay dividends, and Scudder officials say this universe contains at least 1,000 issues. Stocks that yield 25 percent more than the average in their country's markets will be the investments of choice.
A new fixed-income portfolio, called A.A.R.P. Bond Fund for Income, is designed to provide a yield of up to one percentage point more than the flagship GNMA portfolio. It will invest primarily in investment-grade bonds, but as much as 35 percent of the holdings can be below investment grade.
"Allowing investors access to these asset classes allows them to spread their risk around, and often to earn as good or better a return at the same or lower risk," Mr. Savage of Value Line said.
The A.A.R.P. funds generally have lower expenses than the industry's average, but they can't quite keep up with the Vanguard Group, known for its low-cost funds. For example, the A.A.R.P. Growth and Income fund charges investors 0.69 percent of assets a year, while the giant Vanguard U.S. Growth fund keeps expenses to 0.43 percent.
OUNDING out the new A.A.R.P. offerings are two "funds of funds" that will invest in stocks and bonds and that are intended for beginners, a shrinking but still significant market. About 50 percent of the investors in A.A.R.P. funds are first-time investors, down from about 75 percent a few years ago.
"Some people are frankly overwhelmed by the investment choices available to them," said Linda C. Coughlin, chairwoman of the A.A.R.P. program at Scudder.
For investors in this group who are more aggressive, the A.A.R.P. Diversified Growth Portfolio will invest 60 to 80 percent of its assets in other A.A.R.P. stock funds, with the rest in fixed-income funds. For the more cautious, the A.A.R.P. Diversified Income Portfolio will put most of its assets in fixed-income funds but at least 20 percent in equity funds.
Based on a study by the group in 1995, people who invest in A.A.R.P. funds have lower incomes (a household median of $36,972) than retirees in general ($51,025). They are also less likely to work full time or part time and tend to be older.
If the new strategy works and the group attracts more investors, the payoff could be substantial not only for Scudder but for the association, too. Each year, the A.A.R.P. gets back a portion of the assets under management in the funds, or about $8.5 million based on its current $13.65 billion in assets.

LOAD-DATE: February 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Graphs: "Taking Stock"
The AARP funds from Scudder Stevens & Clark have not grown as rapidly as the industry as a whole. Recognizing the growing interest in stock funds, the group is adding several funds this week.
 
Percentage change in assets since 1990
 
AARP funds 215%
All funds 326%
 
 
Assets in AARP funds
(Dollars in millions)
 1990 1996
Stock funds: $439 $6,023
Bond funds: $3,650 $7,070
Money market: $482 $554
 
 Total $4,571 $13,647
 
(Source: Morningstar Inc., Scudder Stevens & Clark)

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The New York Times

February 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Human Rites;
Africa's Culture War: Old Customs, New Values

BYLINE: By HOWARD W. FRENCH 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 1; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 1237 words

DATELINE: ADIDOME, Ghana

FOR 16 years, Mark Wisdom, a 54-year-old Baptist preacher and a native Ghanaian, has been waging a lonely campaign to end a form of slavery here as old as the culture of the Ewe peasants inhabiting the dusty villages of this poor corner of Ghana.
Ancient Ewe religious custom holds that for serious offenses like murder, rape and theft, the spirits can be appeased only by the enslavement of young virgins from the offender's family in the shrines of traditional priests. While hardly legal, the bondage of such girls, including their sexual enslavement to the priests, is a custom whose roots run far deeper than the paper-thin veneer of Western law that nominally governs life in this west African nation. 
 Three hours away in Ghana's modern capital, Accra, responding to recent press reports that have brought the practice of ritual slavery to light, legislators have been debating how to eradicate a custom that may victimize as many as 10,000 girls. But Mr. Wisdom knows better than to expect much from this; if laws and Government proclamations were enough to truly change the way people live, he said, Africa would already be a much different place.
"Africa's traditions were formed over many generations," he said. "It is not enough to be disgusted with practices like these. It requires very gradual persuasion and lots of patient work to make people change their ways."
Mr. Wisdom's campaign against slavery -- not to mention witchcraft, demon worship and ritual sacrifice -- is emblematic of a much broader struggle taking place across Africa. Throughout much of the continent, from the ritual slavery of the Ewe to female genital mutilation to polygamy, ancient practices that strike both Westerners and many Africans as abhorrent coexist side by side with modernity, and show no sign of imminent abandonment.
The clash between modern values shaped by colonialism and contact with the West and ancestral ones is by no means unique to Africa. In China, for example, the last imperial eunuch only recently died, and in rural villages elderly women whose feet were bound as infants can still be found, relics of another time. Under the harsh interpretation of Islamic law governing Afghanistan today, criminals are often punished with amputation.
But in Africa, where crushing poverty is more widespread than anywhere else and the inroads of literacy are minimal, many seemingly anachronistic customs appear destined to die the slowest of deaths. While rationalism and material progress are taken for granted in the West, they have very little bearing on views of the world shaping life in much of Africa. Here clinging to the belief that death is the result of evil spells rather than accidents or disease provides comfort in a world where life is short and, for many, brutish still.
There are few better examples of the strong hold of old views than in Sierra Leone, another west African nation, where a small group of women has been working, with little success so far, to end the practice of female genital mutilation.
Female genital mutilation or circumcision involves the excision of the clitoris and the cutting of other genital parts to diminish sexual pleasure and supposedly thus insure the woman's fidelity to husband and family. While it exists in many African societies, elsewhere on the continent it is usually confined to specific regions or ethnic groups. In Sierra Leone, as many as 90 percent of women are thought to suffer the practice, making it easy to isolate the few who advocate its abolition as a suspect and foreign-influenced fringe.
 
 
 
Defenders of the Ancient
 When a newspaper in the capital, Freetown, launched a series of articles against the custom, it became the target of a hostile protest movement by a group of women sworn to defend the rite. Since then, conservative elements in Sierra Leonean society, mostly led by women, have enjoyed great success drumming up support for genital mutilation, warning against outsiders who seek to impose alien values.
"Almost nothing is happening to stop circumcision," fumed Claudia Anthony, a reporter at the newspaper, For Di People (the name is in the local creole), who has often written on the subject. "No one wants to speak out. People are afraid of taking unpopular measures."
Ms. Anthony's complaint is echoed by frustrated foreign diplomats. "This kind of practice is just plain wrong," one United Nations official in Sierra Leone said. "When are we going to see some Sierra Leonean women, articulate people who have undergone this experience themselves, step forward and condemn it?"
As satisfying as placing a country on an international blacklist might be for some, many Africans who oppose genital mutilation and other traditional rites warn that such a tack would be counterproductive.
"For me, you cannot bring a Western approach, lecturing people about their customs," said Zainab Bangura, a women's rights advocate in Sierra Leone. "The more you decide you are going to take something like this on, the more you are going to face resistance. Instead, a dialogue has to be established, and women here have to understand that Sierra Leone is part of a global community and should not be left out."
Mrs. Bangura said ending female genital mutilation in her country would require an understanding of some of the rituals that surround it, and even rehabilitating them. Traditionally, she said, genital mutilation was the culmination of a months-long retreat into the bush known as Bondo -- a sort of finishing school run exclusively by women in which one generation passed on its knowledge of womanhood to the next. Over time, however, such retreats withered into gatherings lasting only a few days, in which traditional teachings faded, leaving the rite of genital mutilation as an exaggerated centerpiece of what was once a rich rite of passage.
"We have to let them know that we are not coming to take something away from them," Mrs. Bangura said. "We could begin by telling women that Bondo has been trivialized by reducing it to a circumcision ceremony. Instead, the institution could be modernized by teaching abstinence or sexual education to young girls."
Then again, different approaches to changing local customs in Africa have been tried across centuries. Competing for converts, many Protestant sects roundly denounced traditional African religious rites as the work of the devil. Roman Catholics, meanwhile, if no less accepting of animist customs, tended to stress their own teachings and spend far less energy castigating Africans for their beliefs.
Looking back at the limited success of either approach, it's not unreasonable to conclude that by itself neither would get very far today. Without education for all and a rise in living standards neither new laws nor angry sermons, like those delivered by Mr. Wisdom at his bamboo-walled church here, will make much difference.
In the Ghanaian coastal village of Tefle, where ritual slavery is still practiced, the wizened men who gather daily in the cooling air of late afternoon seemed to make this point over and over when asked how they felt about a measure being debated in Parliament aimed at wiping out the practice.
"Our customs go back a very long way and they are what we are comfortable with," one said, exasperated by an outsider's questions. "Call us pagans, but we will die happy with the way we are."

LOAD-DATE: February 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: A 12-year-old girl, given up as a slave to atone for a crime by a member of her family, stands at the beck and call of a traditional priest in Tefle, Ghana. (Robert Grossman for The New York Times)

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February 3, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Church's Role in Serbia Protests May Block Reforms

BYLINE: By CHRIS HEDGES 

SECTION: Section A; Page 3; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 861 words

DATELINE: BELGRADE, Serbia, Feb. 2

The Rev. Stevo Vlacic, his deep baritone voice reciting a liturgy that has changed little in the last millennium, stood in his gold embroidered vestments today and began a two-hour Mass for his standing congregation.
Candles flickered in long black metal troughs filled with sand. Oil lamps, with dim flames, hung from the ceiling. The sweet smell of incense wafted up toward the vaulted ceiling. Women, their heads covered with scarves, and elderly men lined up to kiss a framed picture of Jesus on the side of the church and a large, graphic painting of the dead Christ on the cross. The soft cadence of the priest's voice filled the building. 
 The service was as old as Serbian society itself. But in the last few weeks, priests like Father Vlacic have emerged from their parishes to take a leading role in the anti-Government protest movement sweeping the country. The marriage of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the demonstrators has thrust the institution to the forefront of the political arena as it did a decade ago when the church was involved in the birth of the Serbian nationalist movement.
The church has emerged as a major force in the protests over the annulment by the Socialist Government of opposition victories in municipal elections. The church involvement has deeply alarmed those who would like to see the country move toward democracy. They see the church as the main repository of Serbian nationalism and as deeply hostile to secular, Western political systems and ideas. Critics fear that the church will prove a powerful force in blunting reforms that would usher in a democratic, open society.
"The church is on the side of truth," said the 50-year-old black-robed priest as he sat after Mass in the parish house next to the church. "And the truth is that the Communists stole the votes. America, unfortunately for us, supports these Communists who run our Government because it needs them."
The Serbian Orthodox Church, during five centuries of Ottoman occupation and during the last 50 years of Communist Government, was the guardian of Serbian national identity. It was the blunt ideological instrument that President Slobodan Milosevic wielded in his drive to wrest power from the Communist bosses 10 years ago. And many priests, including Father Vlacic, enthusiastically backed the Bosnian Serb army in the war against the Muslim-led Government in Bosnia, often traveling to bless the troops and meet with the Bosnian Serb leadership.
"The Orthodox church does not know the meaning of reform," said Miladin Zivotic, a former philosophy professor at Belgrade University.  "Its theology precludes individual relations with God. It calls on its followers to be collective, unified supplicants."
Professor Zivotic contends that the Orthodox theology negates modern concepts of free speech and tolerance. "The church's ideology is common to that of all authoritarian ideologies," he said. "It was because of the Orthodox church that this society was easily convinced that it had to become obedient followers of the Communist Party."
The imprint of the church is increasingly felt in the street protests, where marchers carry crosses, candles and posters with saints and icons. Patriarch Pavle, the leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, rebuffed pleas by university students for support when the protests began in late November. But in the last month he has addressed the protesters on at least three occasions, led a procession through the streets of the capital on the holiday honoring St. Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and blessed demonstrators on the Orthodox Christmas.
But by bringing the church into the protest movement, the opposition seems to have tied its fortunes to an institution that calls for a unified Serbian state that would include Serb-held Bosnia, which would violate the peace agreement. The opposition has also made it more difficult to reach out to the one third of the country that is not Serb.
The church, which was silent when Bosnian Serb forces carried out the brutal siege of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, adamantly defends the war in Bosnia. Church leaders repeatedly condemn what they term the "genocide" by Muslims and Croats against the Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia. Many in the hierarchy support the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who was indicted by an international court for war crimes.
The theological precepts of the church, firmly rooted in the patriarchal Byzantine world of several centuries ago, may only add to the confused political debate as the country struggles to define its future.
"The Roman Catholic church announced in the Second Vatican Council that it was the duty of believers to support democracy and human rights," said Mirko Djordjevic, a retired literature professor who just finished a book about the Serbian Orthodox Church. "But the church in the east has never addressed these issues and found itself unprepared with the fall of Communism.
"The Orthodox church has yet to formulate answers to the questions posed by this century," he said. "It lacks a social doctrine. It is unable to deal with the next millennium."

LOAD-DATE: February 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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February 5, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Metropolitan Diary

BYLINE: By Ron Alexander 

SECTION: Section C; Page 2; Column 4; Living Desk 

LENGTH: 480 words


DEAR DIARY:
I was staying in a hotel in San Francisco overlooking Chinatown a few years ago on the night the Chinese New Year started. At the appointed hour an explosive din from fireworks rose to my upper-story window. I looked down in time to see a bewhiskered elderly Chinese man light a string of firecrackers that landed under a parked car.
The car began smoldering, and wisps of smoke appeared inside the passenger compartment. A fire extinguisher was no match, and the Fire Department was called. Unable to see if the car was occupied because of the smoke inside, the firefighters broke the windows with axes. 
 At that point flames erupted and the firefighters turned their attention to the fuel lines and tank, chopping mightily through the fenders.
The elderly man watched it all, even as firefighters left and the police arrived to examine the blackened wreckage, and he gave the police a breathless description of what happened, all with fervent admission of responsibility. An officer listened, then walked over to the car and, under the charred remains of a windshield wiper, placed a ticket, explaining to the old man: "Hey, no problem. This car was illegally parked."   DENNIS JAMES
 
Dear Diary:
Crossing Amsterdam Avenue on my way home, I saw a fellow approaching his parked truck, marked Jerrick's Window Washing Service. When asked for a business card, he replied, "Sorry, I don't do apartments."   JOY ALISON WEINER
 
Bulletin from Living Life in the Fast Lane: a course offered at the 92d Street Y entitled, "Intimacy: How to Build It, How to Sustain It."
"One session: 8-10 P.M."   CHERYL CHALMERS
 
Dear Diary:
The other night at the video store I heard a man shout: "Here it is! 'Enola Gay.' I told you!" His wife had no idea what he was talking about, but the woman in the line in front of them did. "The movie about the atomic bomb, right?" she asked.
"Yeah," the man replied. "I told her about it when we saw that play where the girl was Enola and the guy was Gay. Remember?" he asked his wife. She obviously didn't, but by now the other woman was curious.
"Was it 'Love, Valour and Compassion,' " she asked.
"I don't know," the man whined. "But it was long! Remember?"
By now the wife had checked out "The Bridges of Madison County" and their new acquaintance was following them out the door.
"Maybe it was 'Jeffrey,' " she suggested. The man shook his head in frustration, as the eager woman tried one more time -- "Boys in the Band" -- before giving up and heading in the opposite direction.
Then it hit me! I rushed out to the street but they were gone. Smiling, I went back inside to rent the video of "Show Boat," which has a leading lady named "Nola" and her beau, "Gaylord."
I regret I couldn't catch the guy, but the movie was great. Now, I'm waiting for "Enola Gay: The Musical."   RICK McKAY

LOAD-DATE: February 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Phil Marden)

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The New York Times

February 6, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

SENIOR CLASS;
How One Man Confronted And Conquered Impotence

BYLINE: By ROBERT W. STOCK 

SECTION: Section C; Page 4; Column 1; Home Desk 

LENGTH: 1546 words

MY new doctor told me he was sending over a questionnaire before my appointment. The first page turned out to be a snap: marital status, date of birth, education. The next few pages were something else again: During sexual activity are you preoccupied about getting and maintaining an erection? How often do you have sexual intercourse or attempt to have sexual intercourse? Are your erections straight?
Seeing those questions there in black and white gave me pause: What had I let myself in for? 
 I had called the doctor because I hoped he could help me with a case of creeping impotence. My erections were getting smaller, softer and less reliable. I had seen ads for gadgets that promised to make everything right again and read articles about testosterone patches that supposedly did wonders for one's libido. I had my doubts, but I was determined to stop the creep, and that was how I ended up on the doorstep of Dr. E. Douglas Whitehead, a Manhattan urologist.
He has no lack of potential patients. Some 30 million American men suffer from partial or chronic erectile dysfunction, as the doctors call it, and the majority are older than 65. But only 10 percent of impotent men seek medical help. Many assume nothing can or should be done; older men often accept impotence as an inevitable part of aging, which it is not, and buy into the widespread notion that sexuality in the old is distasteful and unnatural. Doctors tend not to take the problem seriously.
Most older men don't know what to expect if they seek treatment or are afraid of the treatment itself. They are often ashamed even to consider exposing their weakness to strangers.
My generation -- I'm 67 -- was raised to believe that the performance aspect of sex defined our manhood. Failure would be crushing, unthinkable. We were also told that 90 percent of impotence was psychological.
Somehow, the thought that the problem could be psychological made it more of a personal failure, something you should be able to control. Today, the experts say that the vast majority of impotence in men of any age is organic in nature -- a problem with blood vessels or the nervous system. When I decided to seek treatment, I prayed for a physical diagnosis. It would be like having arthritis or a toothache -- it would mean I was not to blame.
In men over 65, physical causes are the chief culprit 90 percent of the time. And once the particular physical problem is determined, there are effective treatments available -- from vacuum pump devices to self-administered medications. Several more treatments, including pills to be taken shortly before sex, are on the way.
The pills, which are still experimental, are likely to change the whole treatment of impotence. They include one that blocks the action of an enzyme that prevents erections. Another pill combats the restriction of blood vessels caused by adrenaline, and yet another, which is placed under the tongue, stimulates the center in the brain that signals for an erection.
But before I could be treated, there had to be a diagnosis. Impotence has a host of possible causes, including high blood pressure, diabetes and prostate cancer, and many of the medications used to treat them.
T HE urologist's office is a great leveler of men. My first visits to Dr. Whitehead made it clear, for example, that he and his staff did not attach the same significance to my penis as I did. It was merely an object of professional interest, like a foot or a shoulder -- something to be examined, tested, its performance noted. Dr. Whitehead, a tall, patrician-looking 57-year-old, whose surgical career included a tour in Vietnam, is courteous, concerned and businesslike. Impotence treatment makes up about 80 percent of his practice; he is also an associate clinical professor of urology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and director of the Association for Male Sexual Dysfunction, a medical group that includes physicians, sex therapists and psychiatrists.
Dr. Whitehead started me off with a physical exam and blood tests, which eventually showed that my testosterone levels were normal. No patch for me.
Next came a test called the Rigiscan. For three nights in a row, I went to bed wearing a heavy, battery-laden monitoring device strapped to my left leg. Two wires emerged from the monitor, each ending in a loop. I attached the loops to my penis, one at the base, the other at the tip, and then I tried to sleep.
Men of all ages have erections during the rapid-eye-movement stages of sleep. If mine were measured at the normal frequency, duration and rigidity, it would mean my main problem was not organic but psychological -- something in my head was overriding my body's normal sexual reactions. For the first time that I can remember, I prayed to fail a test.
A few days later in his office, Dr. Whitehead took a gulp from a can of Diet Black Cherry and delivered the verdict. "I'm afraid you had only infrequent erections, and they were poorly maintained," he said.
I was delighted -- even though I knew it meant that something physical was wrong.
Then the nerves in my penis were tested. An aide touched me here and there with a mechanical wand and asked if I could feel any vibration. I did, and she pronounced my nerves normal.
The next test called for the penile injection of a drug called alprostadil, which is supposed to stimulate an erection. Sitting alone in an antiseptic examining room, I waited, and eventually the drug did its job. Then a technician used an ultrasound machine to check the state of the arterial blood flow in my penis. The report: "A certain degree of impairment."
Difficulty with penile blood flow is the most common cause of impotence, Dr. Whitehead said. Then, with plastic models and full-color drawings, he proceeded to explain my options. Last November, a panel of the American Urological Association listed five potential therapies. The three it recommended -- and which Dr. Whitehead suggested I consider -- are all covered by Medicare and medical insurers. The two that failed to pass muster or had very limited benefits were yohimbine, a drug that can be taken orally, and surgery to correct defective penile veins or arteries.
One approved treatment is a vacuum device that consists of a plastic cylinder that looks like a test tube with a pump attached. The patient places the cylinder over his penis and pumps the air out, drawing blood into the penis and creating an erection. An elastic band is then placed around the base of the penis to maintain the erection.
Surgical implants are another option. One kind is a pliant rod that keeps the penis somewhat distended and can be raised or lowered at will. Another kind is more complicated: two inflatable cylinders are set in the penis, a reservoir of liquid is implanted in the abdomen or scrotum, and a pump is placed in the scrotum. When the pump is squeezed, the liquid from the reservoir fills the cylinders, and the penis becomes erect. Squeezing a release bar near the pump returns the fluid to the reservoir.
The third approved treatment is the penile injection called Caverject, which was used as part of my ultrasound test. The self-injected alprostadil relaxes the smooth muscles in the penis and expands the arteries to improve blood flow.
I considered the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment. The surgical implants require no rigmarole -- no pumping or injecting. The inflatable version provides a natural-looking erection. But implants are invasive and subject to mechanical failure (though it is rare). And surgery was more than I was ready to think about.
The vacuum pump is simple to use and noninvasive, but it is cumbersome and provides a wobbly erection because the vacuum does not affect the half of the penis within the body. And the band should be left on for no more than 30 minutes at a time.
I finally chose the Caverject. There are needles, of course, but they are short and fine, and virtually painless. Erection occurs within a few minutes and lasts an hour or so. I am more than content.
Last month, a new therapy called Muse entered the market. It, too, is self-administered and relies on alprostadil, but instead of being injected through a needle, the drug is delivered by a tiny plunger that is slid an inch or so down the urethra.
The development of tests and treatments, as well as the growing number of sexually active older people, has spurred the establishment of hundreds of impotence clinics around the country, as well as 55 chapters of the support groups Impotence Anonymous and I-Anon, for their partners; information on nearby chapters of either group is available by calling (800) 669-1603.
The availability of more clinics and programs to aid the impotent is having a positive effect on public attitudes, said Dr. Troy A. Burns, the medical director for the Diagnostic Center for Men, based in Kansas City, Kan.
These clinics are mainly staffed with primary-care physicians. Dr. Burns says that the Kansas center is the largest in the field, with 30 clinics in 18 states.
"People are beginning to understand," he said, "that impotence in the old is not automatic, something they should expect and accept. Much can be done."
I can vouch for that.

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THE 1998 BUDGET: THE NEGOTIATIONS;
Between Budget Line Items, Horse Trades in Invisible Ink

BYLINE: By DAVID E. SANGER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1134 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 6

Long before the Clinton Administration sent its budget tables, its pie charts and its five-year projections to the printers, it was already hinting at answers to the one question that dominates budget debates in Washington: where is the deal?
The first part of any deal, Mr. Clinton's budget aides told Congressional Democrats earlier this week, probably lies in the one concession Republicans say they want most in life: a cut in capital gains taxes, presumably one that could benefit the millions who have reaped big paper profits in the stock market. 
 "They have already told us to be ready to have a capital gains proposal or to respond to one," Senator Daniel P. Moynihan of New York, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said today. "That should tell you something."
Part two of any meaningful deal, both Democrats and Republicans say, is finding a way to change the Government's calculation of inflation, which would greatly slow increases in the Government's Social Security payments and other entitlements linked to inflation.
But unlike most budget problems, that is not a battle between parties. Instead, it is a problem, as one of Mr. Clinton's top advisers said recently, "of finding a way to do this that allows everyone to deny paternity" for the idea, which already has Social Security recipients and other powerful interest groups screaming.
Solving those two problems, of course, is hardly the end of the battle.  Mr. Clinton's chief budget negotiators -- the White House chief of staff Erskine B. Bowles, Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and the budget director, Franklin D. Raines -- will spend the next few months wrangling over the Administration's proposal to restore money for welfare programs and commit new funds to rebuilding schools. There are still major arguments ahead over how to reduce the costs of Medicare, the health care program for the elderly, and over Mr. Clinton's insistence that discretionary spending must rise and that military spending, at least in the short term, must shrink.
But those are increasingly arguments around the margins. What is perhaps most striking about the statistics this year is not how much the Republicans and Democrats disagree, but on how much they agree.
Consider this: the budget the Democrats say would be balanced in 2002 is the same budget that the Republicans, using different economic assumptions, say would run a $60 billion deficit. Sixty billion dollars, of course, is a lot of money by anyone's measure, and no politician can risk sounding cavalier about it. But it is also roughly 3 percent of the Federal budget that year, and one half of 1 percent of the overall economy.
And the number itself could be a total fiction: the Congressional Budget Office, in estimates published just 14 months ago, predicted the fiscal 1996 budget deficit would be $173 billion. In reality, it came in at only $107 billion -- $66 billion less than estimated -- because of a surge of unpredicted revenue.
"We are down to the point where we are arguing over insignificant figures that no one could accurately project a year ahead, much less five years ahead," said Stanley E. Collender, the managing director of Burson-Marsteller's Federal Budget Consulting Group.
In fact, some economists say there is reason to wonder whether the whole argument about balancing the budget is still worth the enormous expenditure of political energy on all sides. They point out that this year, the United States has the lowest budget deficit, as a percentage of gross national product, of any of the world's seven largest industrialized nations -- lower than Japan's, lower than Germany's. Yet only in Washington is it a subject of daily preoccupation.
"Balancing the budget, the actual precision of reaching balance, has become as much an issue of public trust as it has one of economics," acknowledged Gene Sperling, the new chairman of the National Economic Council. Indeed, in budget politics, symbolism is often more important than the numbers. And that is certainly true when it comes to fashioning a compromise.
So in the selling of the fiscal 1998 budget, capital gains taxes are the first symbol. Mr. Clinton made the first move, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, when he proposed eliminating virtually all capital gains taxes on the sale of a home.
"That opens the door for us to talk about it," Representative Bill Archer of Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the other day. Today Senator Pete Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, added: "I think we just have to start with the proposition that this is the time to change the capital gains permanently, not just for houses but for assets held for business purposes and equities."
The Republicans have something grander in mind, however, than do the Democrats. They have called for halving the 28 percent tax on capital gains, which hits most investors when they sell winning stocks and mutual funds. It is highly unlikely such a sharp cut would happen, but there are occasional hints that the tax rate could eventually fall to, say, 20 percent or 21 percent.
On the record, Clinton Administration officials say this is bad economics, and they would not trade a capital gains cut for winning new funds for education, one of Mr. Clinton's big new priorities. Speaking not for attribution, however, they say that a capital gains cut is an issue they have to take seriously.
Recalculating the consumer price index is a different kind of problem altogether. Both sides concede it must be done, both because they believe inflation rates are significantly overstated, and because they know that correcting the statistics would save billions of dollars in Social Security payments and in other programs in which benefits are guaranteed to all who meet eligibility criteria. "This is where the real money is," a leading Democrat said the other day.
But neither side can figure out how to cast this change as a statistical fix, rather than a midnight maneuver to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly.
Representative John R. Kasich of Ohio, the budget master of the House Republicans, said today that the inflation measure "ought to be changed," adding, "But we can't go and change it on our own because the President -- we risk the possibility that our political enemies will not only not change it, but then they'll scare people again."
Those are problems of spin, not differences of ideology. But that may be what the next six months of budget arguments are chiefly about. The two sides have almost reached a statistical middle ground; now the question, as one Senator said, "is whether we can give each other the political cover to stand there."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, right, and the budget director, Franklin D. Raines, listening to President Clinton present his budget. (Paul Hosefros/The New York Times) (pg. A24)      

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THE 1998 BUDGET;
Clinton's Budget Holds Few Clues on Exactly How to Lower Spending

BYLINE: By MICHAEL WINES 

SECTION: Section A; Page 25; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 725 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 6

President Clinton plans to lower Government spending over the next five years by $252 billion, even as he increases spending -- sometimes dramatically -- on some of Government's most popular programs, from welfare to education to the environment to tax relief.
So how does he do that? 
 The budget Mr. Clinton released today offers some answers but not with great clarity. Sometimes it postpones a reply for years.
The White House would get some of its savings by reining in Medicare, the second-biggest Federal benefit after Social Security, shaving $100 billion over five years. But some of that is illusory; Medicare is cut in part by shifting some expenses to the general treasury.
The budget also saves $22 billion by applying a new spending formula to Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor. But $13 billion of that savings would be reapplied to other programs like health care for children, leaving $9 billion for deficit reduction.  Military spending would fall by almost $80 billion from current projections, perhaps the single biggest cut, barring any new wars or peacekeeping duties.
But the handful of larger, highly visible cuts do not begin to offset the costs of expanded programs and wiping out the deficit. Mr. Clinton appears to get the rest from increases in Federal fees, better management, one-time sales of Government assets like the broadcast spectrum and unnamed cuts years from now.
And so, in the bowels of the 2,000 and more pages of tables and numbers handed out today, the White House says it would raise $700 million next year by auctioning off the rights to toll-free "888" telephone numbers, and $118 million by "increased attention to integrity activities in state unemployment insurance operations," in other words, cutting waste, fraud and abuse.
It would collect $350 million over the next five years by raising the fee companies pay when they submit merger proposals to antitrust experts for Federal approval. And it would scrape up $13 million, in $3-and-$4 million-a-year increments, with a "test employment strategy for the disabled" at the Social Security Administration.
The savings and profits in those and other "mandatory" programs -- benefits like Medicare, and other activities whose spending is determined mostly by fixed formulas -- total almost $159 billion. Mr. Clinton would spend $37.5 billion of that on new mandatory programs like child health care, leaving about $121 billion for deficit-cutting.
The remainder comes from changes in military spending and the other so-called discretionary programs, like roads and schools, whose budgets are set each year by Congress. And it is there that the Administration's intentions are least clear.
The budget trumpets its new programs. With contracts about to expire for 1.8 million housing units for the poor, elderly and disabled, Mr. Clinton seeks $24.8 billion next year for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, an increase of almost 30 percent.
Education and job-training spending would jump by almost 12 percent in 1998 alone, to $36.2 billion. The Environmental Protection Agency would reap a 12 percent increase over the shrunken budget that the Republican Congress approved for this year. Energy conservation spending would rise by one-quarter. Spending on Indian health and housing programs would rise by 6 percent.
And the Justice Department, whose budget has already swelled by 69 percent under Mr. Clinton, would get another 5 percent increase next year, to $19.3 billion. Much of that would go to programs to reduce juvenile crime.
All of those increases, and billions of dollars worth of others, must be balanced by cuts elsewhere in the budget for domestic discretionary spending, which is walled off from the military and mandatory budgets. But spending cuts are harder to find.
Mr. Clinton plans to shave his previously planned spending on nonmilitary discretionary programs by $58 billion. Of those cuts, about $600 million -- or about 1 percent -- would be made in the fiscal 1998 budget submitted today. Barely 6 percent would occur in fiscal 1999.
The new budget only hints at those proposed cuts in the 1,000-page book that outlines the 1998 spending plan. The remaining 93 percent of domestic spending reductions are left to future Congresses, and in some cases a future President.

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Q and A

SECTION: Section 5; Page 23; Column 1; Travel Desk 

LENGTH: 1086 words


Spanish Glass Museum
 
Q.  Do you have details on a new glass museum in La Granja de San Ildefonso in Spain? -- Francine Philip, Tampa, Fla.
 
A.  The 18th-century Royal Glass Factory in La Granja de San Ildefonso, near Madrid, has been under going restoration since 1982, when the nonprofit National Glass Center Foundation undertook the project. The finishing touches are expected this year on the former factory, an imposing gray granite structure, where some of the finest crystal in Europe was once produced by glass-blowers from Venice, Bohemia and Spain. 
 The Museo del Vidrio, or Museum of Crystal, which opened in 1991, is housed inside the building. The museum has nearly doubled in size since last June, to 172,000 square feet. Its new exhibition space houses historic flasks and test tubes used for science and medicine. The space dedicated to contemporary artistic glass has also been enlarged. Some of these abstract, multicolored glass sculptures are for sale. Prices range from about $190 to $2,000.
The museum's core exhibits are 500 Spanish pieces ranging from decanters to ornamental amphoras to fire-gilded glass from the factory's glory days in the 18th and 19th centuries, and a selection of 300 glass items from the rest of Europe, from the 16th through 19th centuries. Glass-blowing implements and some of the machines used to make glass are also on view.
A temporary exhibition beginning in May will feature antique French crystal once used for perfumes or as candle holders.
The Glass Center is at 1 Paseo del Pocillo, near the entrance to town. It is about a 15-minute walk down the hill from La Granja's Royal Palace, which was built by a grandson of King Louis XIV of France and is modeled on the Versailles Palace.
The museum is open daily, except Monday, from 11 A.M. to 7 P.M. Admission is about $3, $1.50 for senior citizens and students. Information: (34-21) 471-712. La Granja, at the foot of the Guadarrama range, is an hour's drive north of Madrid.

Sahara Side Trips
 
Q.  My husband and I would like to find a tour package to Morocco that includes a few days in the Sahara.  Can you help? -- Josephine Colin, Washington
 
A.  Morocco, with its ancient imperial cities, exotic souks and Islamic monuments, is a popular tour destination. You'll find many companies that include the requisite stops at places like Fez, Marrakesh and Casablanca. Packages that include desert detours are slightly less common. Here are two such tours.
General Tours, 53 Summer Street, Keene, N.H. 03431, (800) 221-2216, fax (603) 357-4548, has a brochure about its many Morocco tours, which range from fly-drive packages to major cities to more wide-ranging packages like Treasures of the Casbah, a 13-day trip with departures scheduled throughout most of the year. The latter would probably be of most interest to you. In addition to stops at Casablanca, Rabat, Fez and Marrakesh, participants in this tour will venture into the Sahara in four-wheel drive vehicles, stopping at places like the sand dune of Merzouga, an ancient casbah at the desert village of Rissani and Ouarzazate, an old French Foreign Legion outpost. A drive through the pine and cedar forests of the Middle Atlas Mountains, a visit to Todra Gorge and an exploration of the Roman ruins at Volubilis are also on the itinerary. The trip's cost begins at $1,699 and includes air fare, local transportation and accommodations with private bathrooms.
Overseas Adventure Travel, 625 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138, (800) 221-0814, is offering a 15-day Morocco Sahara Odyssey, which includes a three-day camping trip in the Sahara. The campsite is near the Merzouga sand dune and visits by Bedouins, excursions to desert areas where there are no roads and few people, and dining under desert starlight are promised in the company's brochure. The tour also includes stops at Rabat, Volubilis, Fez, Casablanca, the Todra and Dades gorges, Ouarzazate and Marrakesh. The cost starts at $2,990 from New York and includes all meals and accommodations. Departures are scheduled in the early spring and fall.

Mayfest in Glasgow
 
Q.  What are the highlights of this year's Mayfest in Glasgow? -- Stuart Maynes, Rochester
 
A.  Mayfest 97, the 15th annual performing arts festival that celebrates theater, dance, rock, pop and classical music, will take place May 1 to 24 in and around Glasgow. Over the years, the Glasgow Mayfest has become West Scotland's largest annual arts extravaganza. Although the full program will not be available until the beginning of April, these highlights have been announced:
A May Day parade is scheduled to leave George Square on Sunday, May 4, and will travel through the city's streets ending up with a grand finale on Glasgow Green at 1 P.M. Glasgow's trade unions and community groups will take part with puppets and banners. Celebrations will continue throughout the afternoon on Glasgow Green with music, comedy and special events for children, followed by a Ceilidh -- a traditional fete involving song and dance -- at the Old Fruit Market in the evening.
Scottish theater and dance will be well represented, as well as drama from Ireland, Russia and the Slovak Republic and dance from Belgium, Africa and Spain. Among the dance productions will be the British premiere of "Fuenteovejuna," choreographed by Antonio Gades, and performed by the Compania Antonio Gades, a Spanish company of 35 dancers, singers and musicians, from May 6 to 10 at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall; and "Les Ballets Africains" by the National Dance Company of the Republic of Guinea, from May 19 to 24 at the King's Theater.
Theater productions include the world premiere of "A Funny Thing Happened" by Clare Boylan, an Irish novelist and short-story writer, performed by the Nippy Sweeties Theater Company from Scotland at the Citizen's Theater (Stalls Studio) May 1 to 3 and May 6 to 10; and at the Citizen's Theater, the O'Casey Theater Company will perform Sean O'Casey's "Song at Sunset" starring Niall Buggy, on May 20, 22 and 24. Prices range from about $4.25 to $38.25.
The program will also feature Scottish country music, jazz and opera, magic and storytelling. For information, call (44-141) 552 8444 or fax (44-141) 552 6612. Tickets may be booked by calling (44-141) 287 5000. Travel and accommodation information is available from Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board, (44-141) 204 4400, fax (44-141) 221 3524.   SUZANNE MacNEILLE

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In the Region/New Jersey;
A Rush to Build Complexes to Care for the Aging

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 9; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1409 words

WITH the nation's ninth largest population of residents 65 and older, New Jersey is becoming a magnet for the development of specialized housing for the elderly.
Developers are starting or planning a spate of such projects, which provide housing and varying levels of services and health care, from independent to assisted living and nursing beds. Some, called continuing-care communities, offer all three. 
 Several factors beyond the state's number of older people -- which will rise from 1.1 million to 1.3 million by 2010, with those 75 and over growing the fastest, according to state figures -- are stoking the activity, analysts said. They include an improving economy and the trend among the elderly to stay near their families.
As a corollary, the state's Department of Health and Senior Services is advocating less costly alternatives to nursing homes, including assisted-living communities or components of communities that offer residents meals, transportation, housekeeping and personal and medical care.
Since 1994, when the state began regulating assisted-living communities, 15 entire developments or complexes with assisted-living components have been built and licensed. And 457 more are in various stages of the approval or application process, according to the department, which also monitors care.
Many of the projects cater to the affluent elderly, but a few are geared to those with middle incomes. To keep prices affordable three semi-autonomous state agencies are offering construction loans at or below market interest rates. They are the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
Qualification differs from agency to agency. For example, the Housing Finance Agency will offer funds to projects by both for-profit and nonprofit builders that reserve some units for people with incomes of 50 to 80 percent of the area's median.
The pace of development has some in the industry worried about overbuilding. "The concern is that this market sector is being perceived as the next get-rich-quick bandwagon to jump on," said James Robbins, president of RAD Consultants, a Fairfield-based real estate consulting firm. "This activity is just the tip of the icebreg."
But developers say that in the short term the demand for such housing is greater than the supply under or nearing construction. And analysts say that some of the activity will be in northern New Jersey, where few such communities are now available.
LEN FISHMAN, Commissioner of the state's Health Department, said that the licensing needed from his department would temper growth because it "puts everyone's cards on the table and considers the potential competition." In turn, he added, securing financing "will not be easy."
Developers also must meet state regulations, find properly zoned land on which to build and address municipal concerns over traffic and sewage capacity, among other issues.
Some municipal leaders are becoming more receptive to such projects, developers say. Among the reasons are that they add to the tax base without having an impact on schools and provide a way to help keep older residents from moving away.
The larger projects offer a transition from independence to assisted living to nursing care. In some continuing-care communities residents pay an entry fee for access to all levels, as well as monthly service fees.
The biggest is the 2,026-unit Senior Campus Living of Baltimore complex planned for Tinton Falls in Monmouth County. The 134-acre site along Essex Road, off the Garden State Parkway, will be the first project in the state for the company, which had advanced two previous development plans in north Jersey that were derailed by community concerns.
Brian P. Froelich, the Senior Campus Living president, said that while the size of his company's projects "does cause concern it is what makes it possible to reach the untapped middle-income market."
The company has won rezoning to build the Tinton Falls project on the once commercially zoned site, but still must reach an agreement to buy the sewage capacity for it from Neptune Township. Company and Tinton Falls officials said they were hopeful a solution could be worked out.
Entry fees, which will be 100 percent refundable upon death or departure, range from $75,000 to $312,000. There is expected too be a monthly charge of $900 to $1,500 for the 1,650 studio to two-bedroom independent-living units and $2,200 for the 136 assisted-living units. The fee for a second person has not yet been set..
The fees will cover everything but advanced medical care, "which residents pay for when they need it," said Mr. Froelich. There will also be a 240-bed nursing wing, as well as four 50,000-square-foot community centers.
In Plainsboro, work is proceeding on the first phase of the Windrows at Princeton Forrestal, which is set up as rentals and a condominium, where units may be bought and sold as in a regular residential condominium and no entry fees are required. It is rising on 45 acres in the 1,700-acre Princeton Forrestal Center, the commercial center owned by Princeton University.
The first phase has 83 assisted-living units, 180 nursing beds and a 22,000-square-foot medical center. Rents, including meals and all other services, are $2,500 to $3,500 for the studio to two-bedroom units, said Bernard N. Plante, senior vice president at Care Matrix of Needham, Mass., the developer. The second-person fee is $650 for independent living, $825 for assisted living.
ULTIMATELY there will be 300 independent-living units, from condominium apartments to villas, as well as a 45,000-square-foot community center. Prices for the residences will be $160,000 to $400,000, with monthly fees of $980 to $2,000 covering all meals. Construction is to start this fall.
Developers are also building assisted-living projects alone or with nursing homes. In Park Ridge, Care Matrix will start construction this month on a project with 100 assisted-living units and 210 nursing beds. Monthly fees will range from $2,950 to $3,850 for studio and one-bedroom apartments, respectively, including all meals and services. The second-person fee is $825. Advanced medical care will cost more.
Mr. Plante said projects were also planned in Livingston and Monroe.
Paul E. Johnson Jr., president and general manager of Marriott Senior Living Services, a division of the Washington-based hotel chain, said his company had put a major focus on the growth of its assisted-living suites nationally and in New Jersey.
It has opened two in the state -- one in Edison with 98 assisted-living suites and 30 nursing beds, the other in Mountainside with 98 assisted-living units and a 21-bed special-care wing for people with Alzheimer's disease and related memory disorders.
Monthly rents, including all meals and services, range from $2,425 to $3,690; second-person fees at both complexes is $500. The fees for the nursing and special-care units range from $5,400 to $5,730 a month at Edison and $3,060 to $3,860 at Mountainside. Mr. Johnson said several more projects were planned, including one each in Paramus, Saddle River and Cherry Hill.
MARRIOTT expects to break ground next year for a continuing-care community in Wayne. It will have 220 independent-living apartments, 20 assisted-living units and 60 nursing beds. Entry fees are expected to be $176,000 to $427,000, which will be 90 percent refundable, plus monthly fees of $1,900 to $3,100. For a second person, there will be an added $15,000 entry fee and an additional $700 monthly fee.
Sunrise Assisted Living, based in Fairfax, Va., has four assisted-living communities under way in Morris Plains, Old Tappan, Westfield and Wayne. Each will have 77 units and a wing for residents with Alzheimer's disease and other memory disorders. Rents for a shared unit with an unrelated person, including meals and services, will be $1,700 to $2,800, a month, said Lori M. High, its regional director of sales and marketing. Advanced and specialized health care will cost more.
Rents for a private unit will be $2,900 to $4,300. The second-person fee will be $725 to $1,075.
Of all the activity Mr. Fishman, Commissioner of the state's Health department, concluded: "We will have to see how it plays out, but the licensing of 15 projects so far suggests a reasonable rate of growth."

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February 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS;
Social Security and the First Wives' Club

BYLINE: By LAURA PEDERSEN-PIETERSEN 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 10; Column 2; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 974 words


Q. I'm over 50, divorced after 21 years of marriage and my ex-husband has remarried. Can I still collect his Social Security benefits or will his new wife get them all?
 
D. RYAN
Manhattan 

A.  Until now, the only involvement I've had with the Social Security system is sitting up late with Peter G. Peterson's new potboiler "Will America Grow Up Before It Grows Old?" and wondering if Hollywood will turn it into "Grumpy Old Men With Benefits," starring Walter Matthau and Bob Dole.
I really should pay more attention. Pessimists say the fund will run dry in 2030, exactly the year I turn 65. But, as they say, enough about me.
The rules governing spousal Social Security benefits are complex, and there are lots of exceptions, but generally, yes, you will be able to collect from your ex-husband's benefits. Here is how it works:
If you were married to your former husband at least 10 years, then both you and his new wife will be entitled to some of his benefits. But don't make cruise reservations yet -- you must wait until you're 62 to collect.
Then, as long as your ex-husband is also 62, and you are not drawing bigger benefits on your own Social Security account, you can collect up to 37.5 percent of his full benefit. Or if you wait until you're 65, you can collect up to 50 percent. It doesn't matter if he is still working. Upon his death, you (as well as his surviving wife) can claim up to 100 percent of the amount he'd be receiving if he were still alive.
All this assumes that you don't remarry while he is alive. If you do, the checks stop. In Social Security language, remarriage is "a terminating event."
"Most people aren't aware that once they've been married for 10 years, their Social Security situation becomes interdependent," said Stephen A. White of Milliman & Robertson, an actuarial firm in Seattle. Because the benefits are not considered marital property and thus are not divisible like a stock portfolio or bank account, many people don't consider them.
"Social Security was designed for men," added Ken Stern, a financial planner in San Diego and author of the Comprehensive Guide to Social Security and Medicare (Career Press, 1995, $11.99). "Theoretically, women are not treated differently, but realistically, they often end up with far fewer benefits, particularly if they leave the work force to raise the kids."
During that lengthy interval, women do not contribute to Social Security. So by the time they re-enter the work force their accounts will have fallen so far behind their husbands' that in the event of a divorce, they're often better off picking up 50 percent of their ex-husband's benefits than cashing in 100 percent on their own. But they cannot collect on both at the same time.
Incidentally, these benefits are based on the former spouse's total contributions, not just those made during the years of the marriage. And the benefits are available to ex-husbands as well as ex-wives.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law on Aug. 14, 1935, and various amendments over the years have expanded the benefits.
In 1965, the program was extended to deliver some benefits to ex-spouses -- if the marriage had lasted 20 years. By 1979, the 20-year figure was halved, and six years later the Social Security Administration agreed to let former spouses collect even if his or her ex was of retirement age but not yet ready to cash in -- assuming they'd been divorced at least two years.
Of course, if you were three times a bride and never a bridesmaid, you are entitled to benefits from only one ex-husband. So make your choice count: select the one with the largest Social Security account. And if you are a widow or widower who has already begun to receive benefits, the terminating event of remarriage will not halt the checks.
The net cost to the Treasury of financing this First Wives Club is actually minimal, since many divorced women remarry. And once they do so, their club membership is automatically revoked, unless they become unmarried again. Then there's that 10-Year Rule, a milestone Liz Taylor hasn't managed to hit once in eight marriages. Without such caveats, taxpayers might have ended up supporting the many mates shed over the years by the actor Mickey Rooney, the band leader Artie Shaw and the asbestos heir Tommy Manville.
Yet, Mr. Stern said, even these payouts "can be a good reason not to remarry," though it's hard to imagine someone staying single just to collect, say, an annual benefit of $7,956 (50 percent of the maximum monthly benefit of $1,326 for a 65-year-old retiree in January 1997).
The Social Security Administration advises all applicants to have a consultation by phone (800 772-1213) or to visit the nearest office. First, order two of the agency's brochures, "Social Security: What Every Woman Should Know" (publication 05-10127) and the bread-and-butter "Social Security: Understanding the Benefits" (05-10024).
If you've been contributing to Social Security and need to find out which is greater, your own benefit or a portion of your ex-spouse's, order and complete Form 7004: "Request for Earnings and Benefits Estimate Statement." This will explain what you're entitled to receive. Then call the agency, prove your relationship and get an idea of what you would be entitled to if you opted instead for your ex-spouse's account.
And while you're at it, make sure your own account is accurate. Though boasting a computer system second only to that of the Department of Defense, the Social Security agency can make mistakes. When Peter LaBadia, a Flemington, N.J., printing executive, checked his account, he found it had no record of three years he spent as a broker on Wall Street. Don't take chances: send in that Form 7004 every five years to make sure your work record is up to date.

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February 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Medicare Cuts Would Reduce At-Home Care for Patients

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 30; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 972 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 8

Medicare spending on home health agencies and nursing homes has skyrocketed in the last five years, and Congress and the Clinton Administration have decided that they must control those costs as part of any plan to balance the Federal budget.
Just as they slowed the growth of Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals in the last few years, lawmakers and Administration officials say, they are determined to focus on those other health care providers. But it will not be easy. 
 Home health care is one of the fastest-growing benefits in the Medicare program, and Medicare, in turn, is the largest purchaser of home health services in the United States.
Medicare spending for such services, which are provided by nurses, home health aides and therapists, has increased 31 percent a year, to $16.7 billion in 1996 from $3.3 billion in 1990.
And Medicare payments to skilled nursing homes rose 26 percent a year, to $11.1 billion in 1996 from $2.8 billion in 1990.
Medicare patients, who are elderly or disabled, like the home health benefit because it allows them to receive care without traveling to a doctor's office or hospital. In fact, they must be homebound to qualify.
But Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, said some of the spending was clearly inappropriate.
"Our recent investigations in several states show that 25 percent to 40 percent of home health visits paid for by Medicare were for services that were either never delivered or were provided to people who did not qualify for those services," Dr. Shalala said.
A recent investigation by the General Accounting Office, the Congressional watchdog agency, said: "Controls over the Medicare home health benefit remain essentially nonexistent. Few home health claims are subject to medical review, and most claims are paid without question."
The people who receive home health services are typically women older than 75. But growing numbers are disabled people younger than 65.
In his new budget, President Clinton proposes to cut $100 billion, or 7 percent, from the $1.35 trillion that would otherwise be spent on Medicare in the next five years. He would cut payments to home health agencies by $14 billion and would squeeze $7 billion from nursing homes.
Home health agencies and nursing homes are paid on the basis of the costs they incur. Mr. Clinton said this arrangement did little or nothing to control the volume of services.
He is asking Congress to establish new payment systems, setting fixed rates in advance. Mr. Clinton would put the rates for home health care at levels intended to reduce spending for such care by 15 percent.
James C. Pyles, a lawyer and lobbyist for hundreds of home health agencies, said the providers strongly supported the idea of payments fixed in advance. But he said the proposal for a 15 percent cut was absurd.
"For the industry," Mr. Pyles said, "it would be like walking off a cliff. It would cause a huge drop in total reimbursement and would devastate the home health care industry. Medicare now pays home health agencies for the actual costs they incur in providing services to patients. If you cut that by 15 percent, agencies would be forced to stop providing services. Patients will have to go back to higher-cost hospitals and nursing homes for their care."
The Federal Government pays the full approved cost of home health visits covered by Medicare. There is no co-payment. Beneficiaries have to pay 20 percent of the Medicare-approved amount for doctors' services, but there is no comparable requirement for home health visits.
The General Accounting Office said: "Beneficiaries do not receive an explanation of benefits because they are not billed for in-home services. Therefore, neither the physician nor the beneficiary has any way of knowing whether Medicare is paying the home health agency for services not rendered."
A new study by the Congressional Budget Office says, "The use of home health services by Medicare beneficiaries skyrocketed after 1990," in part because of actions by Congress and Federal courts that liberalized the eligibility criteria. Because the number of visits is not limited, the study said, "Medicare home health services now provide chronically ill beneficiaries with extensive assistance, on a long-term basis, with the activities of daily living."
The number of Medicare beneficiaries has been growing about 2 percent a year. But the number of home health visits has soared 30 percent a year, to 236 million in 1995 from 63 million in 1990.
The average number of visits for each user doubled, to 69 in 1995 from 34 in 1990. The number of Medicare patients who receive home health services reached 3.4 million in 1995, up from 1.9 million in 1990.
Health care experts suggested some of these reasons for the increased use of home care:
*Hospitals have strong financial incentives to discharge Medicare patients as soon as possible. If the patients are sick or frail, they may need care in their own homes.
*Because of advances in medical science and technology, people living at home can receive complex services that were once available only in hospitals or nursing homes. An example is infusion therapy, which supplies medication and nutrition to patients with cancer, AIDS or other serious illnesses.
*People are living longer, the average age of Medicare beneficiaries is increasing and more of them have chronic illnesses.
*The number of home health agencies that are participating in the Medicare program has increased 60 percent, to 9,147 in 1995 from 5,718 in 1990. Most of the new agencies are owned by investors seeking profits. The General Accounting Office found that such "proprietary agencies consistently provide more home health visits than nonprofit agencies," even for patients with the same illnesses.

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February 10, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Hamtramck Journal;
For Fat Tuesday, a High-Calorie Treat

BYLINE: By KEITH BRADSHER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 12; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 809 words

DATELINE: HAMTRAMCK, Mich., Feb. 9

Ask most Americans what they associate with the Fat Tuesday celebrations before Lent and they are likely to mention the Mardi Gras parades of New Orleans, and maybe the Deep South tradition of exchanging king cakes, foot-wide loops of pastry covered with brightly colored icing.
But for a growing number of southeastern Michigan residents, the day before Lent means a trip to this Polish-American enclave within the city of Detroit and the purchase of paczki: Polish jelly doughnuts. For even as Detroit and the city of Hamtramck have lost much of their population to the suburbs, the Polish-American tradition of buying paczki (pronounced "POONCH-key") seems to be strengthening here and spreading to other ethnic groups. 
 William Kotowski, a 78-year-old retired Chrysler worker who grew up here and now lives in suburban Warren, said that only in the last few years had he resumed driving the 10 miles to buy paczki here.
"You reminisce about how good they were and then you start wanting to go back," Mr. Kotowski said this morning, picking up raspberry-filled paczki at the huge Oaza Bakery here.
Across the street at Post 10 of the Polish Legion of American Veterans here, the mostly elderly men in the wood-paneled social room were already looking forward to Paczki Day, as it is commonly known.
"Every year I go and get three dozen -- one dozen go to my son, one dozen go to my neighbor and a dozen for myself," said Edward L. Oleksiak, 80, a retired Hamtramck firefighter who also lives in Warren now. "It's a tradition you don't forget."
For the last two years, Oaza has stopped producing bread and other pastries near Fat Tuesday so workers can make more than 100,000 paczki, said Wayne Quinn, a manager who married into the Polish-American family that started Oaza in 1930. It opened at 5 A.M. today and will operate around the clock until late Tuesday to meet the demand.
The Polish tradition is for Christian households to make paczki by using up all the sugar, lard and other treats that they will be forsaking during the 40-day penitential season of Lent, starting on Wednesday. Paczki devotees say eating the 600-calorie pastries makes it easier to give up sweets in the weeks ahead.
"I gorge myself on two or three of them and you lose your sweet tooth for a few days, so it gets you off to a good start," said Jerry C. Lubanski, 56, a retired auto worker who bought a half-dozen paczki this morning.
The recipe has changed little over the years, with the exception that vegetable shortening has generally replaced lard, said Richard E. Yagloski, the 60-year-old head baker at Oaza. The dough is formed into hundreds of balls that are put in a steam room, where the yeast in the dough makes them rise. The balls are then deep-fried in vegetable shortening, injected with custard or preserves by a machine and covered with icing.
Paczki, which are also available in New York, Chicago and elsewhere, are sold here all year long. But this week's paczki are especially rich, and more flavors of filling are available. Mr. Yagloski puts extra sugar in the dough and uses egg yolks instead of whole eggs.
A single paczek (pronounced POONCH-eck) costs 75 cents at Oaza this week -- up from the regular 60 cents -- and is made with six fillings: raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, lemon, custard and prune. Raspberry paczki are the most popular while prune paczki are the least popular.
"Prune probably would get the ax if it weren't for the old-timers," Mr. Quinn said. "They'd probably lop my head off if I took it off the list."
Polish immigrants began pouring into the Detroit area, and Hamtramck in particular, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fleeing poverty and the repression that followed a failed revolt in 1863 against Russian rule, the immigrants replaced earlier arrivals from Ireland in many low-skill jobs, and flocked to the auto factories that opened early in this century.
By the 1930's, the Detroit area was believed to have more people of Polish descent than anywhere else in the nation, a distinction now held by Chicago. Deteriorating race relations, the decline of the auto industry and the growth of suburbs all contributed to an exodus that has cut the population of Detroit and Hamtramck in half in the last several decades.
Hamtramck has a median annual household income of $16,751 in the 1990 census, or half the national median. But there have been signs of revival as young people buy cheap apartments and as nightclubs open.
The paczki tradition endures, close to its Polish roots. Wanda Butynski, a 38-year-old baker who immigrated seven years ago from Poznan, Poland, said paczki were very popular in her hometown the day before Lent.
"Everybody eats one," she said, grabbing two paczki at a time and crunching them onto spigots that instantly injected lemon filling.

LOAD-DATE: February 10, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The Polish-American tradition of buying special jelly doughnuts before Lent has been gaining popularity. Rebecca Kuyda and her son, Andrew, shopped for some yesterday at the Oaza Bakery in Hamtramck, Mich. (Peter Yates for The New York Times)

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February 10, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Essay;
Load in the Back

BYLINE: By WILLIAM SAFIRE 

SECTION: Section A; Page 15; Column 2; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 713 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

President Clinton's "balanced" budget pretense is now plain to see: delay two-thirds of any spending slowdown until after leaving office. When the time to cut comes, he'll be gone.
Do you suppose that candidate Al Gore, scrambling leftward for the Democratic nomination in 2000, will then subscribe to proposals loaded on the back end for reducing the rate of spending made by Clinton in 1997? Or that a President Gore would cut environmental spending in half, as Clinton's budget now proposes? 
 Hold not the breath. We should ask the V.P. if he will carry out promises made in today's Clinton budget by the man who won't be there. He can only respond with a mouthful of mush.
The rhetoric of "balance" being perpetrated by Mr. Clinton is a fraud. He orates about making "the tough choices," but -- with the exception of the gutsy way he double-crossed gullible veterans -- he shoves the hard part beyond his Presidency. Tough choices get postponed until tomorrow.
If this budget is any guide, Gore will kick the can on to the day after tomorrow. This year, he had one big opportunity to sop up red ink -- by getting Clinton to put the valuable broadcast spectrum up for public auction, as Gore's ally, F.C.C. Chairman Reed Hundt, privately urged. But Gore was not about to deny the media lobby its corporate welfare; instead, he issued one forlorn bleat about broadcasting in the public interest, as his cover for the missed opportunity to bring the Treasury tens of billions for the public's airwaves.
The second fraud in the Clinton "someday balance" is the pretense of tax cuts. Almost every dollar of "cuts" -- as in his plan to subsidize years of college to remedy the failure of union-stultified lower schools -- is offset by proposed tax increases elsewhere, or by his extensions of taxes due to expire. His expected tax revenues presume that the business cycle has been repealed.
And how is the Republican Congress responding to these pie-in-the-sky promises of budget balance in the next millennium? By perpetrating a fraud of its own -- slyly pretending to take the Clinton proposal seriously.
This is what's on the elephant's memory: Last year, with Gingrich talk of willingly taking a "train wreck" of Government shutdown to achieve an end to decades of deficits, the poll-driven Clinton savaged the deficit hawks by heaping compassion on dependent old folks and single women.
That's why we hear no more brave Republican talk of the President's budget being "dead on arrival." Instead, Trent Lott's strategy is to welcome the Clinton fake-balance as a basis for compromise and then nibble it to death. Balance, like God or the Devil, will be in the details.
Maybe it's politically astute to counter a phony budget-balancing act with a phony welcome. But by fighting pretense with pretense -- by letting the President bamboozle the public into believing we are already on the road to ending deficits -- the G.O.P. undercuts both current budget-balancing and the realism needed for a balanced budget amendment.
Most Democrats don't want that amendment because it would make permanent today's taxpayer toughmindedness. They'll try to generate fears that such discipline would cause a depression and sink Social Security, but their best argument is based on logic: Why amend the Constitution when a balanced budget is just around the corner?
The truth is that it is not. Recent declines in the deficit are a result of booming times, not normal times. Splitting the difference between Clinton's budget and timid G.O.P. counterproposals won't stop the red ink.
If we are to reduce the debilitating dependence on government, we must let workers and investors keep more of their earnings and savings. And if we are to reduce government borrowing, we must curtail entitlement spending now, starting this year in the real America, not wait until "out years" in Never-Never Land.
Says Clinton: Not to worry, balance is on the way; delay the spending curbs and trust my successor.
The G.O.P. response should be: Stop fooling the people with promises of "out years." Our children will be forced to pay interest tomorrow on the debt we choose to run up today. It's up to us, now, to lift the crushing burden of debt from our next generation.

LOAD-DATE: February 10, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Op-Ed

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February 14, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Metro Business;
Hyatt Affiliate Studies Site

BYLINE: By MARY McALEER VIZARD 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 241 words

Last March, when Kraft Foods announced plans to vacate its sprawling five-story building in White Plains, with 623,700 square feet, brokers fretted about finding a buyer for such a distinctive property.
Built in 1954 as headquarters for the General Foods Corporation, which merged with Kraft in 1995, the building, on a 38-acre site on North Street, was considered too highly specialized for most corporate users. 
 Now, an unexpected potential buyer has entered the scene. Classic Residence by Hyatt, an affiliate of the Hyatt Corporation, which is based in Chicago, has signed a contract to buy the building with the intention of converting it into a retirement community.
The elder-care provider will first enter a 120-day period of financial investigation known as "due diligence" to study the feasibility of such a conversion.
"It seems ideal," said Penny Pritzker, founder and president of Classic Residence by Hyatt. "The way it's laid out on this sprawling property, it's easy to visualize it as a residential community."
The company operates 10 upscale retirement communities across the nation. The one proposed for White Plains will feature independent residences for the elderly and a health care center offering assisted living and skilled nursing services.
The majority of Kraft employees who now work in White Plains are expected to be relocated to other Kraft sites in Westchester by September.   MARY McALEER VIZARD

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February 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The View From: Milford;
Seniors in Partnership at the Public Schools

BYLINE: By JACKIE FITZPATRICK 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 2; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 949 words

JEN STABELL, 15, tucked a few strands of blond hair behind her ear, smoothed down the front of her black vest and then stepped out to serve hot bowls of lentil soup. She and about a dozen of her peers from the culinary arts program at Platt Vocational Technical School were serving lunch to club leaders from the Milford Senior Citizen Center, to Milford school administrators and some school principals.
"I'm a little nervous," she whispered. "But excited too." 
 The luncheon -- cooked and served by Platt Tech students -- went off without a hitch. The guests dined, after the soup, on stuffed breast of chicken with fresh herb dressing. Then came diplomat bread pudding and coffee. Entertainment was provided by the Woodwind Choir and the After School Chorus of Harborside Middle School. "These young people are great, aren't they?" said John Lofthouse, of the Devon Senior Citizens' Club.
The mingling of old and young is something school administrators and senior-citizen leaders hope there will be a lot more of, thanks to an innovative, recently devised program. Under the program, anyone in town aged 60 or more will be provided with a Gold Card, which "entitles the bearer to free attendance at school-sponsored events" like basketball games, wrestling matches, softball games, school plays, choir programs and band concerts.
The idea was conceived and championed by Francine Farber, director of educational services and personnel for the Milford Public Schools; Mary Jo Kramer, superintendent of schools, and two members of the Board of Education, Raymond Watt and Pat Giel.
"We believe in the power of bringing the generations together," Ms. Farber said. "What we want to do is open our school doors to the seniors, in the hope that they will enjoy our activities but also that they will see what we do in our schools and consider becoming part of our school community as volunteers."
As for the students, she went on to explain, "Today, when extended family is not always right at hand, we think it is important for our students to see that growing older doesn't mean you lose your vitality. There's a lot to be gained by our students and our seniors."
Mr. Watt likened it to two fishermen meeting -- one who has never fished before and another who has lured in some big ones -- and lost some too. "Our seniors have lived life. They have a great deal of expertise in many areas and then, so do our students and they can share," he said.
Mary Steinmetz, the program director at the Milford Senior Center, said that with older people often living on tight budgets, perhaps living away from grandchildren or simply looking for a fun way to spend some time, "this is just the thing."
As Mr. Lofthouse sees it, "These children are our future. They'll be running our country in the next century. We want to be connected with them."
The principals of all three Milford schools talked with the senior leaders about upcoming events and about the needs they have for older volunteers -- as tutors, readers and library aides. They urged older people to share gardening know-how with sixth graders in a school greenhouse or history with fourth graders or to chaperone field trips.
Jane Baljevic, principal of Foran High School, said the athletic, drama and music directors at the school embraced the Gold Card idea because they want to fill their stands and auditorium with a new, interested audience.
Richard Krusewski, the culinary arts instructor at Platt Tech, said experiences like the luncheon, provide the real-life experience his students need. "Great things can happen through people working together," he said. "It's good for them and it's good for us."
School officials also talked about what they can give -- beyond free entry to events -- to the older population. Gregory Baecker, principal of West Shore Middle School, plans to offer an after-school computer course for older people, taught by a member of the West Shore staff. Approving murmurs greeted the idea. He talked about plans to create a lending library for older people who might want to take out a book by an author a grandchild is reading.
Frank Santino, principal of Orange Avenue School, presented the seniors with the first of periodic lists of coming events at his school -- athletic schedules, drama news, concert dates.
Many schools have already tapped into the growing older population. At Meadowside School, one Milford senior citizen spends part of each week reading to students. At Harborside Middle School last year, students worked jointly with the Senior Center, which is just across the street, on a six-month project on World War II. Students took detailed oral histories from members and wrote reports.
"We are the bearers of history, the history that isn't in the history books," said Sunny Boncek, who heads public information for the Senior Center.
Ms. Steinmetz added, "At first, I think they felt like they were being dragged over to talk to old people. But the more they talked, the more they learned about the war and, also, about each other."
Florence Chiemlewski, a volunteer at the center, said, "I talked about how we sacrificed and what life was like in the Big War. I think they learned a lot about it."
Ms. Boncek concurred. "There was this one girl, she was chewing gum and asking a few questions, kind of bored, and then she asked, 'So whadja wear back then?' " Ms. Boncek laughed.
Clothes, said Ms. Boncek, cut across any age divide. "I think at first they thought we didn't have lives before, that we weren't interested in clothes, that we were always old," she said. "Then they started to find out we were teen-agers once, just like they are."

LOAD-DATE: February 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Above, Sara Trumbell reads at the Meadowside School in Milford. Below right, lunch from Platt Vocational Technical School students, with music by Harborside Middle School. (Photographs by Joseph Kugielsky for The New York Times)

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February 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Facing New Challenges, Law Firms Diversify

BYLINE: By STEWART AIN 

SECTION: Section 13LI; Page 1; Column 1; Long Island Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 2220 words

WHEN Bernard Hyman founded the law firm of Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman in 1965, the practice concentrated primarily on real-estate law and thrived on the building boom that had enveloped Long Island -- housing complexes and shopping centers.
But the real-estate market hit the skids in the 80's. And with the advent of no-fault in automobile accident cases and equitable sharing of property in divorce cases, the need for lawyers in those areas declined. 
 "We looked around our firm and wondered what to do next," Mr. Hyman recalled. "We had to do something to change the nature of our business."
Mr. Hyman said that Certilman Balin, which is in East Meadow, did what other firms had done, diversifying and recruiting lawyers and firms with needed specialties.
Specialization is clearly an important trend in the law business. Even large firms that had prospered by concentrating on real estate are scrambling to meet new challenges and to stay ahead of the competition.
As they search for specialists firms have to tread carefully. Environmental law, for example, was a field that lawyers a few years ago saw as having significant potential, said a senior assistant dean for career services at the Hofstra Law School, Michael J. K. Schiumo. But that field has not boomed, he added.
Mr. Schiumo said students were being told that potentially better fields in light of the aging population and the boom in high technology would be law involving the elderly, trust and estate planning and technology law.
Mr. Hyman said he tried to gauge the needs of Long Island at the beginning of the 90's and hired two young bankruptcy lawyers, brought in a mortgage-foreclosure expert and strengthened the litigation department. "In a declining economy," he said, "litigation goes up, because people can't live up to their commitments.
As the economy started to improve, Mr. Hyman said, the firm began to work with start-up biotechnology businesses, helping with financing and initial public offerings.
As a result of highly specialized laws and regulations in fields like the environment and trademarks, the legal profession has become increasingly complicated, Mr. Schiumo said, adding:
"My sense is that all of society has become more complicated. Just go into Starbucks. There are 12 different coffees to choose from. It's difficult today for one person to be a jack-of-all-trades."
Mr. Schiumo said solo practitioners generally shied from corporate work for work in fields like divorce and home buying. But specialization is clearly a powerful trend, he said, and many young lawyers are being encouraged to specialize in fields that may be in demand.
He said he envisioned a greater need for lawyers to handle trusts and estate planning because of all the baby boomers who will be thinking about retiring in the next 10 to 15 years.
Another area where demand is bound to increase, Mr. Schiumo said, is in technology. "As more and more people use the Internet," he said, "disputes are bound to arise over who owns what on the Internet. Another field is bioethics and genetics research. Whether it is technology, communications or the biomedical field, it will be driven by advances in technology, and the legal profession must react to it."
One difficulty for a solo practice, he said, is the business side of the practice.  "Not every good lawyer is a good businessman," he added. "You could be a great lawyer and lack business skills."
The largest firm on the Island, Rivkin Radler & Kremer, was forced to "retool divisions in the firm to stay alive," said a senior partner, Arthur J. Kremer. Mr. Kremer said changes in the corporate world were occurring so fast that instead of re-evaluating corporate needs annually Rivkin Radler & Kremer was conducting monthly reviews.
"If we think there is an area in which we need expertise, we will put ads out and begin interviewing lawyers immediately," Mr. Kremer said.
The primary insurance business, Mr. Kremer said, has been dropping off, and Rivkin Radler expanded in other areas. In the last 18 months six lawyers have been assigned to sexual-harassment and job-discrimination cases. Four of the six were in the same field at New York City firms.  "The number of job-discrimination cases we handle has skyrocketed, from a half-dozen two years ago to 50 or 100 a year," he said.
Another growth area is bankruptcy law, Mr. Kremer said. Two years ago, one lawyer worked on those cases. Now there are four.
In the last year, he said, the number of lawyers on hi-tech cases has increased, from four to nine. "We are primarily working with small hi-tech firms that want corporate advice and assistance with initial public offerings," Mr. Kremer said. "There was a time that a banker needed a lawyer in his top desk drawer. Now it's the hi-tech firms that need us on a moment's notice."
The firm, with 31 partners and 150 associates in Uniondale, is the lone national law firm on Long Island, Mr. Kremer said. It has offices in five cities and plans to merge with a firm in New York City.
In addition, Mr. Kremer said it expects to soon merge with two Long Island law firms.
The largest firm in Suffolk County, Siben & Siben in Brightwaters, was founded in 1933 by Sidney R. Siben, now 85, and his brother Walter, 81. Sidney Siben said the firm prided itself on working on all types of cases, except those that involve the stock exchange.
"Our matrimonial department is getting so big that we have had to farm out some of the work to our former employees," he said.
The biggest change is the addition of computers and the hiring of female lawyers, which began eight years ago, Mr. Siben said, adding:
"It was a big mistake not having them earlier. I have 197 employees in my office, and the women are the best."
Last summer the Certilman firm expanded in two directions, merging with the firm of Michael C. Axelrod, an expert in labor law, and his partners, Joseph Famighetti and Brian Davis, who are criminal lawyers.
Now Mr. Hyman is scouting again, looking for a merger partner to expand the merger, I.P.O. and acquisitions business. His firm has grown, from 25 lawyers in 1989 to 50.
"Our real-estate practice," he said, "has exploded. It's back to what it was in the go-go early 80's. It's so busy. So we're going to expand that area, too."
As it expands, Mr. Hyman's firm has succeeded in wooing the Nassau County Republican chairman, Joseph N. Mondello. Mr. Mondello, also chairman and president of Nassau Downs, the offtrack betting operation, said he was glad to return to the practice of law, which he left in 1993 after 23 years.
He spent the last 21 of those years at Flaum, Imbarrato & Mondello in Levittown. Among his cases, he said, was one that overturned the blue laws that restricted business on Sundays.
"I've always loved the law and want to get more active," Mr. Mondello said. "I love politics, too. There's room for both. I feel I have a decent name in the county and that I will attract some business. I plan to consult with major clients."
Mr. Axelrod, the labor lawyer and senior partner in Mr. Hyman's firm, said his desire not to distance himself from the business end was one reason that he sought to merge his midsize practice with the full-service Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman.
"The advantage of being in a full-service operation is that administration and management responsibilities are handled by administrators and managers," Mr. Axelrod said. "I don't have to worry about making the payroll and buying computers and having the leaky roof fixed. I can now fully practice law. I don't have to worry about the operation of the business and whether the secretary took too much sick leave or called in sick."
He said he foresaw a growing number of large firms that sell a full-range of services, including real estate, labor relations, taxes and litigation.
"It will be one-stop shopping," he added. "It's the wave of the future. There will be full-service well-managed law firms and small boutique specialists who are very good at what they do and who can manage their overhead. The midsize firm is going by the wayside unless it is a specialty shop. And the large firm lets lawyers concentrate on their specialty. Rather than being a jack-of-all-trades, he is a master of one."
Mr. Axelrod said that he foresaw growth in the area of elder law and that the firm was starting to position itself in that field.
"We're talking of health-care management," he said, "helping families deal with nursing homes and home attendants and maximizing the use of the insurance that is available."
Mr. Schiumo said he found that firms on Long Island were "savvy enough to respond to their clients' needs."
"The most successful ones are those that are flexible," he added.
By the year 2000, the United States will have nearly 1 million lawyers, estimated Paul W. Brennan, a marketing consultant at Erin-Edwards Communications in Glen Head who specializes in work for accountants and law firms.
"It is no longer enough just to do good work anymore," Mr. Brennan said. "You have to go out and aggressively promote what you are doing, whether it be through brochures or a Web site. Years ago you could come out of law school, hang up a shingle, and business would walk in. But I tell students today not to go to law school unless they are prepared to practice marketing."
Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein, Wolf & Schlissel in Mineola, which once concentrated on real estate, has adapted, said a partner, Charles Guttman.
"We saw that Long Island was reorienting itself in terms of becoming a hi-tech center in nondefense areas, and we tried to orient ourself to that," Mr. Guttman said. "As a center for advanced technology, there are a lot of new companies that need patent, litigation and trademark work. The basic asset of hi-tech firms is their technology and what we do is protect it."
Mr. Guttman said he and his partner, Kenneth Rubenstein, had a two-person office in Manhattan that specialized in intellectual property protection, like patents, copyrights and trade secrets. They decided to merge with Meltzer in 1992. after having done work on intellectual property for some of Meltzer's corporate clients. When Mr. Guttman and Mr. Rubenstein joined Meltzer they had one associate. Now they have five.
The intellectual property division at Meltzer now totals 15 to 20 percent of the firm's business, and Mr. Guttman said it was growing and would add associates.
He said that as startup companies consulted corporate lawyers for help in financing, his division evaluated their technology to determine, among other things, if it might infringe on others' rights.
"We are the only general commercial firm on Long Island that has an intellectual property division," said Mr. Guttman.
Another rapidly expanding field is dispute resolution, in which mediators settle cases out of court. In 1995 the former Chief Judge of New York, Sol Wachtler, opened Comprehensive Alternative Dispute Resolution Enterprise in Great Neck, after having completed a 15-month Federal prison term for threatening to kidnap the daughter of his former mistress.
The firm, with a panel of 50 retired judges, has had more than 700 cases, Mr. Wachtler said. Most are referred by the courts with the consent of both sides. He said nearly 90 percent of the mediated cases were settled. In about 20 percent both sides agree to let the mediators be binding arbitrators.
"It used to be that cases would not be settled until the jury was in the box," Mr. Wachtler said. "Now insurance companies are realizing that the cost of litigation and delay is astronomical. They have wasted $25,000 in court costs alone when they could have settled the case for $25,000. "
The mediating judges charge $300 for the first hour and then $150 a hour. Mr. Wachtler said most mediations are resolved in one hour. He noted that he did not draw a salary.  "When I was chief judge I preached pro bono," he said. "This is mine."
 
Top 5 Firms And Clients
The following are the five largest law firms on Long Island, by number of lawyers, as compiled by Long Island Business News:
Rivkin, Radler & Kremer, EAB Plaza, Uniondale. Founded in 1953, it has 140 lawyers and a total of 337 employees on Long Island. Major clients: Chase Manhattan Bank and State Farm Insurance.
Siben & Siben, 90 E. Main St., Bay Shore. Founded in 1934, it has 55 lawyers and a total of 154 employees. Major clients: New York State Parkway Police, Mercedes Benz and John Esposito, convicted kidnapper of 10-year-old Katie Beers.
Cullen & Dykman, 100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd., Garden City. Founded in 1850, it has 52 lawyers on Long Island and a total of 111 employees. Major clients in commercial law; declined to discuss clients.
Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, 90 Merrick Ave., East Meadow. Founded in 1965, it has 50 lawyers and a total of 105 employees. Major clients: Federated Department Stores and North Fork Bank.
Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein, Wolf & Schlissel, 190 Willis Ave., Mineola. Founded in 1970, it has 50 lawyers and 85 employees. Major clients: Solgar Vitamin Company and Cheyenne Software.
According to the New York State Office of Court Administration there are 9,359 lawyers registered to practice in Nassau and 4,056 in Suffolk.

LOAD-DATE: February 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Specialization has become an important trend in the law business. Siben & Siben in Bridgewaters, extreme top, is one firm that has expanded. Members of Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman meet. (Photographs by Michael Shavel for The New York Times)(pg. 1); At Siben & Siben, above, space is at a premium. Arthur Kremer of Rivkin Radler & Kremer. (Michael Shavel (top) and Rebecca Cooney for The New York Times)(pg. 26)

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February 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Pataki Budget Plan Draws Mixed Reviews

BYLINE: By ELSA BRENNER 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 1; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1296 words

FOR many groups in Westchester, Gov. George E. Pataki's latest budget proposal, his third since taking office, signals a sky-is-falling year ahead.
"Draconian" was how Assemblywoman Naomi C. Matusow, a Democrat from Ossining, described the $66.1 billion spending plan, which would reduce funds for special education, the mentally ill and public colleges and take most of its cuts from the state's Medicaid expenditures for hospitals, nursing homes and home-care providers. "Mr. Pataki is going after the most vulnerable populations," Ms. Matusow said. "He's playing with people's lives." 
 But for taxpayer groups, the Governor's package, unveiled in mid-January, could not have looked more promising.
"It's an extremely fair budget, another example of the Governor's commitment to reducing the tax burden," said Urs Broderick Furrer, a Mount Pleasant Councilman and vice president of the 500-member Taxpayers' Alliance of New York.
Mr. Furrer was especially happy with the Governor's proposed $3.4 billion school-tax-relief program, which would cut property assessments for all New York homeowners an average of 27 percent over four years and increase aid to schools.
Under that plan, taxpayers would receive a $30,000 exemption from the full value of their homes for school-tax purposes, and the elderly would receive a $50,000 full-value reduction. For the average White Plains homeowner, that could mean a saving of $1,290 a year. For an elderly homeowner, the saving could amount to $2,160 a year.
Besides the detractors and the supporters, there were those who struck a middle ground in evaluating the Governor's spending blueprint.
"I see the budget as positive in some respects, challenging in others -- but not as bad as it could have been," said Steven J. Friedman, the County Commissioner of Mental Health. Using the mental-health category as an example of the budget's plusses and minuses, the Commissioner said that while proposed cuts would mean fewer residential services for the mentally ill, the Governor is also proposing to increase financing for drug and alcohol abuse treatment.
"In other words," Mr. Friedman said, "it's a mixed picture."
Meanwhile, there was another worry that all sides shared: would passage of the budget be delayed for the 13th consecutive year?
Approval of last year's spending package was 104 days late, coming on July 13. The deadline is April 1.
"Perhaps this year it will be on time," said Assemblywoman Audrey G. Hochberg, a Democrat from Scarsdale. "Anything is possible."
By most accounts, though, timely passage of the budget is considered unlikely, and most legislators are predicting that this year's partisan conflict in the State Legislature could be even more intense than it has been in the past.
Signaling that a rancorous debate over spending was ahead, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat and Mr. Pataki's major challenger, did not attend the Governor's budget speech in January. Mr. Silver has since said that the proposed tax cuts are intended to favor rich suburbanites. He also said that Medicaid cuts would hurt the state's health care system.
Meanwhile, Joseph L. Bruno, the Republican majority leader in the Senate, is also predicting that this year could be the most contentious year of any in recent memory in the State Legislature.
In Westchester, the split over the budget has similarly followed party lines, with Democrats predicting dire consequences and Republicans proud of their first-term Governor, who will come up for re-election next year.
Overall, the budget would raise state spending 2.2 percent. As initially proposed, Mr. Pataki's plan calls for a 3 percent increase for school aid, a 7.4 percent cut in Medicaid, a 1.5 percent reduction in funds for higher education, an 18.1 percent increase in welfare spending, a 1.1 percent cut for mental-health services, a 2.7 percent increase for prisons and a 3.3 percent increase for environmental programs.
School aid statewide would go up to $10.5 billion from $10.2 billion. For Westchester schools, that would mean about $9.4 million more than in the 1996-97 school year.
The Governor, however, has also proposed ending payments to districts for each student in special education, which he claims gives educators an incentive to put students into such programs. Instead, Mr. Pataki wants to pay districts based on the statewide proportion of special education students and give them more freedom in spending that money.
Not surprisingly, that proposal is highly controversial, although New York City school officials have endorsed it. But Vincent T. Beni, Superintendent of the Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Education Services, said: "There's not an educator I know who agrees to put students into special education to get more money. This is an ill-conceived proposal that doesn't consider the needs of students already in special ed."
In another budget category, Medicaid funds would drop to $25.4 billion from $27.5 billion next year. Reimbursement systems for nursing homes and home-care providers would be replaced by set fees. And reimbursement rates for hospitals would be lowered.
Also, Medicaid payments for psychiatric stays would be limited to 60 days, and that proposal came as bad news for hospital administrators like Michael B. Friedman, director of network development for the Department of Psychiatry at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in White Plains.
"No matter what, the impact will be damaging," said Mr. Friedman, who argued that the hospital might either have to stop accepting patients who required longer-term care or cut back on its services.
Local community-based services for the mentally ill are also expected to suffer as a result of budget cuts for mental health and new policies, said Carolyn S. Hedlund, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Westchester.
The proposed budget in that category calls for a decrease in spending to $4.1 from $4.2 million. Mr. Pataki also plans to continue moving residents out of institutions that house the mentally ill and those with developmental disabilities.
The state and city university systems are also bracing for cuts. The Governor proposed reducing the present $4.4 billion budget allotment to $4.3 billion and increasing tuition at the state and city systems by $400 a year. The Governor would also cut financial aid for poor students by 16 percent.
Mr. Pataki's plan increases the welfare budget to $4.6 billion from $3.9 billion, with most of the increase coming from a Federal restructuring law that gives more money at first to states that reduce their welfare roles. But payments will decline in coming years.
Yet the Governor is now proposing a $148 million increase for children's programs, and last month he suggested that the state establish a Department of Children and Family Services.
Westchester's Social Services Commissioner, Mary E. Glass, called it "a very good move" on the Governor's part. "If we're talking about children and want to make their issues and protection a priority, then we have to put our money where our mouth is," she said.
The proposed budget increases spending for prisons to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion and increases money for environmental programs to $343 million from $332 million. The Pataki Administration announced earlier in the month that it would also speed up plans to spend money from a bond act for environmental projects after receiving complaints that it was reneging on a promise to use the money quickly.
Typically, the Governor amends sections of the budget before negotiations with the Legislature begin. At midweek he had decided, for example, to make cooperative apartments eligible for school-tax relief.

LOAD-DATE: February 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing. (Gorka Sampedro)

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February 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: FLATBUSH;
Uncertainty Unites Agencies

BYLINE: By DAVID ROHDE

SECTION: Section 13; Page 10; Column 3; The City Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 582 words

From parents predicting a sharp rise in dangerous crime to children worried about the prospect of supporting their elderly parents, New York's 500,000-strong Haitian community is worried about the effects of changes in welfare laws.
Overcoming a history of little coordination, eight Haitian social service agencies in the city are joining together to respond to an expected onslaught of clients. 
 Lola Poisson, the executive director of one of the eight, the Haitian Community Health Information and Referral Center in East Flatbush, said that under the new alliance the eight groups would apply jointly for grants and try to reduce costs by referring cases to one another.
Financed by a $50,000 grant from the Strategic Alliance Fund, which is managed by the United Way, the groups will try to eliminate duplicate services, like day care, and create those that they lack, like programs for the elderly.
The biggest challenge that agencies say they face is explaining the changes to immigrants, regardless of their origin. The New York Association of New Americans is holding a series of free clinics in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan in the next three months for counseling on the new laws.
The confusion and fear of many Haitian immigrants was illustrated last week at Ms. Poisson's center, where about 75 attended classes in English as a second language and in child care and talked about the new Federal welfare law.
In voices of frustration and anxiety, they called the legislation "extreme," "lazy" and "racist." One woman predicted that black people would be invited to a meeting on the prextext of explaining it and that a bomb would be dropped on them.
"I heard they're going to limit it," said Gessy Degand, 20, "Aren't they going to cut it out completely in five years unless people work?"
While agreeing that the welfare system needed tightening, most in the class criticized the new law's impact on the elderly. Few complained about younger people being forced to work because, they said, most could learn new skills. But many said there were no jobs for older people with few skills.
They also voiced the fear that older relatives and friends would suddenly be stripped of Supplemental Security Income. Under changes in Federal welfare law enacted last summer, legal immigrants who have not worked for 10 years in the United States will be ineligible for S.S.I., which averages $410 month and goes to the elderly poor and disabled.
Vanier Bain, who arrived from Haiti in 1969 and retired as a taxi driver after 24 years, wondered about the eventual fate of his brother, who worked in the kitchen of a Boston hospital for nine years but was forced to leave briefly because of an illness. He is now a year short of the new law's 10-year requirement for benefits.
"After he got better they wouldn't give him his job back," Mr. Bain complained. "Now he has no job, no S.S.I. I want to know why."
Ms. Poisson said women were already being denied various forms of public assistance as they came up for their standard six-month review.
One woman, who spoke on condition that her name not be used, echoed the complaints of many Haitians who said they paid taxes but were denied benefits. "We clean the bathrooms, we do the bad jobs," she said angrily. "I've been working very hard and paying my taxes for 15 years." She said her mother, whom she had recently brought here, was being denied benefits. "Why can't she get S.S.I.?" she asked.   DAVID ROHDE

LOAD-DATE: February 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Lola Poission says her agency is trying to avoid overlap with others. (William Lopez for The New York Times)
 
Chart: "ALLIANCE: Confronting Change" lists agencies that joined to respond to the impact of changes in welfare laws.

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February 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

ATLANTIC CITY;
Bankrupt? So What?

BYLINE: By BILL KENT 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 16; Column 4; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 758 words

NO, Robert M. Renneisen, chief executive of the Claridge Casino Hotel, is not looking for his next job.
"Reports of the demise of the Claridge have been greatly exaggerated numerous times," he said in an interview. "Going through periods of bad news, or reputed bad news, is not something new to us." 
 Every Atlantic City casino hotel has had some bad days, but the Claridge seems to have had more than its share. It has consistently finished last in yearly rankings of casino gambling revenues.
Mr. Renneisen (pronounced REN-neh-sen), who joined the Claridge in 1988, tried to turn necessities into virtues. "We've always been at a competitive disadvantage, compared to any of the properties in town," he said. "We've always been small, so we've never made the money that the big places have, and we never had the land to expand, or enough operating profits to build the kind of visible improvements that other properties used to distinguish themselves from each other."
He tried to enhance the Claridge's image by equating its small size with an atmosphere of friendliness and wholesomeness. That strategy was, at best, a modest success until the punishing winter of 1996. The Claridge endured a run of what can only be explained as bad luck.
After unseasonably harsh snowstorms reduced the numbers of gamblers coming to Atlantic City, the Claridge found many of its patrons lured away by more extravagant incentives and giveaways offered by larger casinos. As the Claridge tried to match these costly incentives, the Trump World's Fair opened, pulling away even more gamblers.
Then, last summer, two elderly women died when they drove their car through a wall of the Claridge's new parking garage and fell six stories to the street. The garage, which was supposed to bring in the highly coveted drive-in gamblers, remained closed for repairs most of the summer. For the busy months of July, August and September, the Claridge had total pre-tax earnings of $1.6 million -- about as much as the Trump Taj Mahal takes in in a single day. Mr. Renneisen responded by laying off 150 of his 2,450 full-time employees in September.
In December, shortly before his contract came up for renewal, Mr. Renneisen told the casino's bondholders that the Claridge would have to restructure its debts and would probably not be able to meet its current interest obligations.
The new year has not changed the Claridge's run of ill luck. In January, Mr. Renneisen announced that the Hilton Hotel Corporation was acquiring Claridge stock with the anticipation of taking over the Claridge. Two weeks later, Hilton launched a $5.6 billion hostile takeover of ITT Corporation, parent company of three hugely profitable Caesars casinos, effectively suspending any plans for acquiring the Claridge. Then, after failing to get their share of the $5 million interest payments, three Claridge bondholders filed for involuntary bankruptcy and sued the casino.
Mr. Renneisen said he worked off his on-the-job frustrations by writing a novel. A Vietnam combat veteran, he is working on an action story about Vietnam veterans "caught up in a casino environment." He is also the author of "How to Be Treated Like a High Roller, Even if You're Not One" (Lyle Stuart, 1992).
He is better known for his civic duties than his literary efforts. While other casino operators derisively referred to him as "the Boy Scout," Mr. Renneisen, who was a president of the Atlantic County Boy Scout Council, became the casino industry's single most visible advocate for civic improvement.
"Everybody wants to believe, deep down inside, that you're doing something worthwhile," he said. "I've always considered the operation of any business a privilege, and not a right.
"Casino gaming was legalized by the voters of New Jersey primarily as a means to restore Atlantic City. I think collectively the casino industry and the government has missed the boat on that. In the last few years, I'm glad to say, progress in that direction has been at light speed."
Sounding like a scoutmaster cautioning wilderness campers, he added: "We have an obligation to leave this city better than how we found it. That means acting responsibly all the time, not just when the casino regulators are looking."
He said he believed his casino had improved greatly under his command and that even if the Hilton merger didn't go through, "other companies are interested in us."
"If we end up being an attractive acquisition, that may not be a home run," he said. "But it's a base hit any day."

LOAD-DATE: February 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: February 23, 1997, Sunday

 CORRECTION:
The headline of the Atlantic City column last Sunday misstated the financial situation of the Claridge Hotel and Casino, and the error was also reflected in the front-page index. The Claridge announced in December that it was seeking to negotiate a restructuring of its debt with corporate bondholders; it has not filed for bankruptcy protection.

GRAPHIC: Photo: "We've always been at a competitive disadvantage," says Robert M. Renneisen, shown outside the Claridge. Then came a run of bad luck. (Laura Pedrick for The New York Times)

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February 18, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Chocolate Lover or Broccoli Hater? Answer's on the Tip of Your Tongue

BYLINE: By SANDRA BLAKESLEE 

SECTION: Section C; Page 2; Column 1; Science Desk 

LENGTH: 1450 words

DATELINE: SEATTLE, Feb. 16

Babies are born with a number of obvious genetic traits, like brown or blue eyes, black or red hair, dark or light skin. But parents take note: infants also enter this world equipped with a genetically determined number of taste buds embedded into the tips of their tiny tongues. Some have a few hundred or so buds while others are endowed with tens of thousands of receptors for sweet, sour, salty or bitter foods.
From birth to old age, this inborn characteristic helps determine what foods people crave or leave on their plates, scientists say. It explains why some people detest double chocolate fudge frosting on cake while others deftly maneuver themselves into getting an end piece with twice as much goop. It sheds light on why some individuals hate broccoli, raw cabbage or grapefruit juice, while others look forward to eating those foods every day. 
 It is the reason some people like food close to room temperature and others like it hot, or cold, why certain people can gobble down spicy foods laced with red chili pepper, why some children are notoriously picky eaters and why many older people lose their appetites.
It may even play a role in evolution, leading pregnant women to avoid bitter foods that might be toxic to the fetus and prompting men to eat everything in sight, on the premise that they require more calories for brawny pursuits.
Research has shown that people inhabit vastly different taste worlds, said Dr. Linda Bartoshuk, co-organizer of a symposium on the genetics of taste held here on Sunday afternoon during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Genetic differences in taste lead people to eat or refuse certain foods and play a role in how fat or thin they are, said Dr. Bartoshuk, a professor of surgery at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
Such differences may even influence who gets cancer, said Dr. Adam Drewnowski, the symposium's other co-organizer and a professor of public health, psychology and psychiatry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He speculated that those who avoided the sharp or bitter tastes of many fruits and vegetables might be at a higher risk for some diseases.
Given that food preferences and eating habits are profoundly influenced by a person's family and life experiences, and cultural factors, "it's really amazing that a biological variable like taste genetics shows up at all," Dr. Bartoshuk said. "But the tongue is hardwired for behavior in ways scientists are only beginning to understand."
The study of human taste genetics got under way in 1931 when Dr. Arthur L. Fox, a chemist at the Du Pont Company, synthesized a chemical called phenylthiocarbamide. After some of the PTC exploded into the air, a colleague commented on how bitter it was, yet Dr. Fox tasted nothing. Intrigued, Dr. Fox handed out crystals of PTC at the 1932 A.A.A.S. meeting, asking how many passers-by could taste it. About a quarter of the people were nontasters, while everyone else said PTC was bitter, Dr. Bartoshuk said.
That fascinated the geneticists and anthropologists of the day. They determined that nontasters carried two recessive genes that played a role, still unknown, in taste physiology and that tasters carried at least one dominant gene for the trait. People all over the world can be classified as tasters or nontasters of PTC.
PTC testing remained a curiosity until the early 1970's, when Dr. Bartoshuk decided to expand the question to ask: What difference does it make in everyday life if someone is a taster or a nontaster of PTC?
Instead of PTC, researchers now test with a similar compound called 6-n-propylthiouracil, or PROP.  Again, some people cannot taste it, while others retch because it is so bitter.
"We now divide the world into three groups," Dr. Bartoshuk said. A quarter of all people tested are nontasters, half are medium tasters and a quarter are supertasters -- people who react violently to PROP. Medium tasters say the substance is bitter, but they are less sensitive than supertasters to small concentrations. Genetically speaking, two medium taster parents can produce a supertaster or a nontaster child, or a medium taster like themselves.
In looking at people's tongues with a special blue dye, researchers have found that supertasters have as many as 1,100 taste buds per square centimeter of tongue, while nontasters have as few as 11 buds per square centimeter.
"I am a nontaster," Dr. Bartoshuk said. "The dye on my tongue produces a pink and blue polka-dot pattern, with blue dots indicating a taste bud. A supertaster's tongue has dense blue patches."
Each taste bud feeds information into two types of nerves, Dr. Bartoshuk said. One, the chorda tympani, a branch of the facial nerve, sends taste signals to the brain for processing. A second, the trigeminal nerve, senses pain, temperature and touch.
"This is really critical," Dr. Bartoshuk said. "It tells us that supertasters are superfeelers and superpain-perceivers, at least with their tongues."
These findings led Dr. Bartoshuk and her colleagues to begin studying food preferences with regard to taste genetics. While all humans are born with an innate liking for sweets, she said, supertasters find many sugary foods to be sickeningly sweet. Frosting is yucky. Saccharine has a strong aftertaste. Coffee is too bitter, and alcohol too sharp. Hot peppers and ginger produce an unpleasant burn. Food should be tepid.
Supertasters are sensitive to fats, said Dr. Valerie Duffy, a registered dietitian at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Taste buds do not react to any flavor of fat, but they react to its touch, sending that information through the trigeminal nerve. Fat molecules literally press against the taste buds, producing a tactile sensation that is interpreted by the brain as viscous, slippery or greasy, she said.
In an experiment, Dr. Duffy asked people to taste different milk samples -- skimmed, 1 percent fat, 2 percent fat, 4 percent fat, half and half, heavy cream and cream with oil added. Nontasters could not tell the difference between skim milk and the heavy creams, she said. Supertasters were extremely sensitive to gradations in fat. As fat content increased, they perceived more creaminess.
"If you go through life as a nontaster," Dr. Duffy said, "it takes more to get the flavor out of food than it does for a supertaster."
"The world is built for regular tasters," Dr. Bartoshuk said. For them, most foods are not too sweet, bitter, salty or sour. And their diets may be healthier because of it.
Dr. Drewnowski has found that supertasters tend not to like the strong tastes of many fruits and vegetables, which are the main sources of flavinoids, isothiocyanates and other cancer-preventing agents. PROP tasters do not like grapefruit juice, and many even find orange juice unpleasant, he said.
But foods like broccoli, which many supertasters do not like, can be cooked in ways that blunt the bitter undertaste, Dr. Drewnowski said.  Asians tend to be supertasters, yet they eat a mainly vegetarian diet, often stir-fried dishes with oils and other flavors mixed in. Raw cruciferous vegetables are not a mainstay of Chinese cuisine.
However food is cooked, one's PROP status may play a role in weight control, said Dr. Laurie Lucchina, a postdoctoral student in Dr. Bartoshuk's laboratory. A small study of older women found that supertasters tend to be thinner than nontasters and have serum lipid values associated with lower cardiovascular risk.
That makes sense, Dr. Lucchina said. Supertasters tend to eschew sugary, fatty foods throughout their lives. Preliminary data suggests that the same holds true for younger women.
At the same time, sensitivity to PROP tends to decline with age, Dr. Lucchina said, suggesting that hormones play a role in taste physiology. After menopause, women who are supertasters tend to be less sensitive to bitter foods.
Studies now under way suggest that monthly estrogen fluctuations alter PROP sensations in younger women so that the sense of bitterness in foods varies throughout each month, Dr. Bartoshuk said. And during the first trimester of pregnancy, even nontaster and medium-taster women find many previously acceptable foods, like coffee, to be suddenly unpalatable.
That makes evolutionary sense, Dr. Bartoshuk said. Bitterness often predicts toxicity. Pregnant women are good poison detectors because their tastes are designed to protect the developing fetus.
Morning sickness would therefore not be an accidental misery that just has to be put up with, but a way of avoiding harmful foods -- a useful, if troublesome, gift of natural selection.

LOAD-DATE: February 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Diagram: "A Matter of Taste: How Genes Affect Preferences"
Researchers find that a quarter of people are supertasters, who react violently to a bitter test of chemical; half are medium tasters, a quarter nontasters. Genetics seems to determine characteristics of tastings apparatus.
 
Pores on papillae on tip of tongue are conduits for taste stimuli to reach taste buds.
 
Supertaster: Supertasters have many more papillae, very closely arranged, but much smaller.
 
Nontaster: Nontasters have many fewer papillae, with far fewer pores, though they are larger. (Sources: Dr. Linda Bartoshuk, Dr. Valerie Duffy and Dr. Laurie Lucchina; The A.M.A. Encyclopedia of Medicine [Random House])

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February 18, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Repeal Urged for Law on Giving Away Assets to Get Medicaid

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 13; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1012 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 17

Clinton Administration officials urged Congress today to repeal a new law that makes it a Federal crime to dispose of assets to qualify for Medicaid coverage of nursing home expenses. They said that such abuses were not common.
Medicaid helps pay the bills for two-thirds of the 1.6 million people in nursing homes in the United States. Families can easily exhaust their assets on nursing home care because the costs average more than $100 a day -- and much more in urban areas like New York City. 
 Many elderly people give assets to their children. But the new law, added to a broader health insurance measure, makes that illegal if the purpose is to qualify for Medicaid. It is not entirely clear which transactions may result in criminal charges. Critics cite this ambiguity as a serious defect in the law.
Moreover, Bruce C. Vladeck, administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration, which supervises Medicaid, said there was no evidence that large numbers of elderly people had given away assets to qualify for Medicaid.
"A few people doing something egregious can create a public perception of a widespread problem," Mr. Vladeck said. "It's important not to exaggerate the importance of this."
Mr. Vladeck said Congress ought to repeal the criminal penalties, which took effect on Jan. 1. And he said that his agency would not press states to enforce the new restrictions on transfers of property by people seeking Medicaid.
The American Association of Retired Persons, the Alzheimer's Association, the National Senior Citizens Law Center, the American Bar Association and the bar associations of New York State and Ohio have all called for repeal of the law.
Patricia B. Nemore, a lawyer at the senior citizens law center, said: "The people likely to be jailed or fined are old, sick people needing nursing home care. The typical nursing home resident is an 85-year-old widow."
Under the law, a person who "knowingly and willfully disposes of assets" in order to become eligible for Medicaid may be fined $10,000 and imprisoned for one year. In general, a person will not be subject to criminal penalties if he or she gives away assets more than three years before applying for Medicaid.
Some members of Congress say it is possible that some violators could be subject to much stiffer penalties, including a $25,000 fine and imprisonment for five years.
Representative Steven C. LaTourette, Republican of Ohio, recently introduced a bill to repeal the provision, which he described as the "Granny goes to jail" law.
Mr. LaTourette, a former county prosecutor, said, "The new law has scared and confused senior citizens" and might discourage eligible people from applying for Medicaid.
Moreover, he said, "adult children who assist their parents could also be subject to criminal penalties."
The American Bar Association said that the language of the new law was "riddled with uncertainty." Without some clarification, it said, the law is "largely unintelligible and possibly unconstitutional" because it is so vague.
The new provisions were buried in legislation that makes health insurance more readily available to millions of people who lose their jobs or change jobs. The overall legislation was pushed through Congress by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Nancy Landon Kassebaum, Republican of Kansas.
It is not clear who added the criminal penalties because there were no hearings or debates on those provisions, which were also included in the Republican budget bill that was vetoed by President Clinton in December 1995.
Republican Congressional aides say the criminal penalties originated in the Senate Finance Committee in 1995, when Senator Bob Packwood, Republican of Oregon, was chairman. The main targets, they say, were lawyers and financial planners who advise the elderly. After Mr. Clinton vetoed the budget bill, House Republicans picked up the criminal penalties as one of many provisions intended to crack down on fraud and abuse in Federal health care programs.
The nursing home industry and companies that sell insurance to cover the costs of long-term care want to discourage greater reliance on Medicaid as a way to pay for such care. Medicaid usually pays nursing homes less than the amounts charged to people who pay for their own long-term care. As a result, many nursing homes say they prefer patients who pay for themselves.
Paul R. Willging, executive vice president of the American Health Care Association, a trade group for nursing homes, said: "Most people who rely on Medicaid are truly impoverished, but far too many recipients who could otherwise afford the cost of their long-term care hide their assets to meet Medicaid's eligibility requirements. Clearly, it's wrong to throw someone's grandmother in jail for hiding her assets. But falsely impoverishing oneself on paper to qualify for Medicaid is also wrong."
Vincent J. Russo of Westbury, L.I., chairman of the elder law section of the New York State Bar Association, said the law authorizing criminal penalties for the transfer of assets was "an inappropriate, excessive response" to what some lawmakers saw as a problem.
"We ended up with a really bad statute," Mr. Russo said. "Do we really intend to put Grandma in jail? Is that what society wants to spend its resources on? It's ludicrous."
Congress may have wanted to curb the practices of some lawyers, he said, "but now more than ever seniors need to consult an attorney so they can be sure they're not committing a crime."
Mr. LaTourette said the threat of imprisonment was being used to frighten the elderly. For example, he said, at several estate-planning seminars in the Cleveland area, elderly people were told that they could go to jail under the new law.
"Seniors who go to these seminars are being pressured to hire estate planners, financial planners and elder law attorneys," Mr. LaTourette said. "They are also being pressured to purchase long-term care insurance so they don't do the wrong thing and wind up in jail."

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February 18, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

HealthSouth May Acquire Horizon/CMS

BYLINE: By MILT FREUDENHEIM 

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 5; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 688 words

The HealthSouth Corporation, which has gobbled up the competition to become the nation's biggest operator of rehabilitation and outpatient surgery centers, is negotiating to buy the Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corporation, which operates hospitals and clinics, for about $1 billion in stock, people familiar with the talks said yesterday.
HealthSouth's board approved the purchase yesterday, and Horizon's board was meeting last night, these people said. They cautioned that the deal still might not go through. 
 The acquisition, in which HealthSouth would also assume $700 million in Horizon debt, would cap a series of 10 acquisitions in three years that have left HealthSouth, which is based in Birmingham, Ala., with 90 rehabilitation hospitals and 700 outpatient rehabilitation clinics. HealthSouth boasts that it is the only health care company with patient centers in all 50 states.
The purchase of Horizon, which operates the second-largest network of such centers, would virtually complete the process of consolidation in that field. Horizon, of Albuquerque, N.M., operates 33 rehabilitation hospitals, 282 outpatient centers and 48 specialty hospitals.
Horizon agreed last week to pay at least $17 million, and no more than $20 million, to settle a class-action shareholder lawsuit that contended the company made misleading statements about expected earnings and failed to promptly disclose that it was the subject of a Federal investigation into possible billing fraud.
Combined with Horizon, HealthSouth would have one-quarter of the nation's outpatient rehabilitation centers and almost two-thirds of the 190 rehabilitation hospitals. But analysts said they did not expect problems with antitrust regulators.
Deborah J. Lawson, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, said regulators look at each metropolitan market separately. She said there were relatively few overlaps between HealthSouth and Horizon hospitals, and she noted that both companies competed with the rehabilitation units of local general hospitals.
Analysts said that almost all of Horizon's assets fit well with HealthSouth strategically.
Ms. Lawson said HealthSouth might eventually sell or spin off some Horizon nursing homes, a pharmacy business serving institutions and a physician-staffing unit.
HealthSouth has acquired 571 centers in the last 30 months for a total of $3.4 billion. The acquisitions included Surgical Care Affiliates for $1.4 billion; Advantage Health, $345 million; Novacare, $245 million plus $20 million of debt, and Relife Inc., $220 million.
Not counting the Horizon deal, analysts project revenues for HealthSouth of almost $3 billion in 1996 with earnings of $350 million. HealthSouth's contracts already cover 130 million people in managed care, workers' compensation and self-insured health plans.
About one-third of revenue is from Medicare, the Federal program for the elderly and disabled, but analysts say budget slashing in Medicare is likely to fall most heavily on hospitals, perhaps benefiting outpatient companies like HealthSouth.
Analysts said the deal would immediately add to HealthSouth earnings because its costs were lower than Horizon's. "They key is getting your costs down," Ms. Lawson said. "HealthSouth has that in place."
Robert Hoehn, an analyst with Salomon Brothers, said, "HealthSouth's operating margins were more than twice as high as Horizon's last year -- 32.5 percent, compared with about 14 percent." He added, "Horizon has over $100 million in corporate overhead, a lot of which can come out," for example, at offices in Mechanicsburg, Pa., that Horizon acquired when it bought Continental Medical Systems Inc. in April 1995.
Under the proposed deal, Horizon stockholders would receive 0.42169 share of HealthSouth common stock for each Horizon share.
Stock markets were closed yesterday for the Washington's Birthday holiday. On the New York Stock Exchange Friday, HealthSouth closed at $43.125, up 37.5 cents, and Horizon at $14.25, up 12.5 cents. Both stocks have climbed sharply since last July, when HealthSouth traded at $28.50 and Horizon at $9.625.

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GRAPHIC:  HealthSouth operates the nation's largest network of rehabilitation centers. Graph tracks net sales and net income of HealthSouth from the beginning of 1995 through the third quarter of 1996. It also lists the company's previous acquisitions. (Sources: Bloomberg News; Smith Barney) (pg. D4)
Graph: "Leading Rehabilitation Network"

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February 19, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Shares of Horizon/CMS Jump After Takeover Announcement

BYLINE: By MILT FREUDENHEIM 

SECTION: Section D; Page 3; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 762 words

Shares of the Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corporation jumped nearly 16 percent yesterday following the announcement that the company had reached a definitive agreement to be bought by the HealthSouth Corporation for nearly $1 billion.
By buying Horizon, HealthSouth will be acquiring its last remaining big competitor for hospital patients who need physical rehabilitation after an accident or a debilitating disease. Including the assumption of $700 million of Horizon's debt, the acquisition, which is to be carried out through an exchange of HealthSouth shares for Horizon stock, is valued at $1.65 billion, based on HealthSouth's closing share price before the deal was announced yesterday morning. 
 Analysts said HealthSouth, whose revenues have quintupled in five years of aggressive acquisitions, would now pursue freestanding surgical centers and diagnostic imaging centers to keep up the pace of growth. HealthSouth, based in Birmingham, Ala., agreed in December to buy Health Images, a diagnostic chain, for $270 million.
"With this deal, they have acquired the last remaining big pool of rehabilitation assets," Helen T. Donnell, an analyst with Paine Webber, said.
HealthSouth is the nation's biggest rehabilitation chain, with 90 hospitals and 700 outpatient clinics. Combined with Horizon, based in Albuquerque, N.M., it would have about two-thirds of the country's rehabilitation hospitals and 25 percent of the outpatient rehabilitation centers.
Although Richard T. Scrushy, chief executive of HealthSouth, said the Horizon merger would add to earnings this year, the stock fell $2.125, or 4.9 percent, to $41 on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. Horizon rose $2.25, to $16.50.
HealthSouth intends to continue on the acquisition path, Mr. Scrushy said. The company had revenues of about $2.5 billion last year, up from $470 million in 1991. Analysts estimate 1997 revenues at $2.9 billion, not counting Horizon.
Mr. Scrushy said nearly all of Horizon's 33 rehabilitation hospitals and 250 rehabilitation centers were in markets where they could refer patients to HealthSouth's diagnostic and surgery centers.
Analysts said HealthSouth would probably sell some of Horizon's nursing homes. "Essentially the purchase price was buying acute rehabilitation and specialty hospitals, as well as outpatient centers," said Jean Swenson, an analyst with Alex. Brown in Boston. "It put a very low value on the nursing homes."
But Mr. Scrushy said HealthSouth was in "no rush" to divest. "These facilities, over all, are very profitable," he said. "There's no pain."
HealthSouth has prospered by trimming costs and winning managed care customers. The company hopes to increase its share of elderly Medicare patients as the population ages and the Federal Medicare program tries to hold down costs by pushing more patients into health maintenance organizations.
Each Horizon share would be exchanged for 0.42169 HealthSouth share. HealthSouth would issue 22.6 million new shares for a total of 202 million shares. The deal is subject to antitrust review by Federal regulators and approval by Horizon shareholders.
HealthSouth shareholders will not be asked for approval because the number of outstanding shares would be increased by only about 13 percent -- below the 20 percent threshold at which shareholder approval is needed, HealthSouth said.


 	 	 
	--------------------	 

Sun Healthcare in Deal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Feb. 18 (By Bloomberg News) -- Sun Healthcare Group Inc. said today that it had agreed to buy a rival nursing home operator, Retirement Care Associates, and its Contour Medical Inc. unit for about $328 million in cash, stock and assumed debt.
Retirement Care stockholders will receive 0.6625 share of Sun Healthcare for each share of Retirement Care, which operates nursing homes and assisted-living centers. The purchase values Retirement Care shares at $9.28 each, based on Sun's Friday closing price of $14.
Atlanta-based Retirement Care owns 65 percent of Contour Medical, which makes medical and surgical supplies. Sun will pay $8.50 for each outstanding share in the remaining 35 percent stake. Contour had 8.96 million common shares and equivalents at the end of December.
On the New York Stock Exchange today, Sun shares fell 37.5 cents, to $13.625. Retirement Care declined 75 cents, to $8.25. Contour rose 87.5 cents, to $7.875, in Nasdaq trading.
Following the purchase, Sun will operate 376 nursing homes with almost 37,000 beds and 47 assisted-living centers with 4,600 units.      

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February 21, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Residential Real Estate;
Assisted-Living Quarters for the Aged Are on the Rise

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 906 words

With the number of older people in the city expected to grow, developers are scrambling to build hotel-like rental projects that will offer tenants meals, as well as help with dressing and the monitoring of medication.
Three major operators of what are called assisted-living residences are developing the projects alone or with builders. The developers have built thousands of these residences elsewhere, and only now are turning to New York, which they had avoided because of high costs and tight regulations. 
 Construction will start soon on a 143-unit project in Kew Gardens, Queens. A 206-unit project is to begin next month in the Bronx, and one with 128 units is to open for tenants in May in Brooklyn. Contracts for similar projects are pending on four sites: in midtown and downtown Manhattan, and in Forest Hills and Rego Park, Queens, for a total of 640 units.
"As the granddaddy of demographics, New York City is too appealing a market to ignore any more," said Jeffrey E. Levine, president of Levine Builder Inc. of Douglaston, Queens, which is building the residences in Riverdale and Kew Gardens with Kapson Senior Quarters Corporation of Woodbury, L.I., among the region's larger assisted-living developers.
Assisted living is the term for housing for people 75 and older who need help with daily chores but do not need constant medical care.
Until now, most older New Yorkers who needed such housing have turned to adult homes, which are licensed by the state and provide meals and personal and limited nursing care. Under the regulations, publicly owned companies cannot be the provider of personal care services, a stipulation that traces back to nursing-home scandals of the 1960's.
Developers said other hurdles are that adult homes are limited to 200 beds, and obtaining the special permits to build them is costly and uncertain. The expense of building in the city and the lack of sites are also problems.
The new projects have found a way around the regulations by separating housing from health care. The projects offer apartment living with hotel-style services, including meals, housekeeping and social activities.  The market-rate rents are expected to be $2,800 to $4,900 a month. Personal care will be provided at extra cost through a licensed agency or a provider chosen by residents. Under this arrangement, developers and operators of the housing do not need any state licenses or special permits.
The 1990 Census found 953,400 people 65 or older in the city. That number is expected to dip to 834,300 by 2000, then rise in 2005. The fastest-growing segment of the elderly population will be those 85 and over, which will increase by 5,200 to 107,700 in 2000.
The new projects reflect a nationwide surge in assisted living, a $12 billion-a-year industry that is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2000, according to the Assisted Living Federation of America in Alexandria, Va., which says there are 40,000 assisted-living residences in the country.
Developers are also turning to New York now because so many of these residences are being built in the New York area. Until recently, "no one wanted to take the time and effort to understand the complex continuum of care," or take chances in a tough real estate market, said Susan Peerless, executive director of Empire State Association of Adult Homes and Assisted Living Facilities in Albany.
The New York City Department of Planning is considering zoning changes to encourage more residences for the elderly. Andrew S. Lynn, executive director of city planning, said, "The city has to invest in accommodating the needs of these people in the city, rather than for them to move elsewhere."
Efforts will also be made this year in Albany to streamline the regulatory processes, Ms. Peerless said.
Work is being completed at the former Madonna Residence at 35 Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, which is being converted into the 128-unit Prospect Park Residence at Grand Army Plaza. The renovation of the one-time nursing home is being done by ARV Assisted Living Inc. of Costa Mesa, Calif., in partnership with Castle Assisted Living of Teaneck, N.J.
"New York City is one of the most underserved markets," said Stanley Diamond, Castle's chairman.
Rents, including services, for the studio and one-bedroom units, with 330 to 550 square feet of space, will be $2,800 to $3,300. Residents can arrange for personal care through a licensed provider set up by Castle, or may choose their own.
Next month, Kapson, with Levine Builder, is to begin a 206-unit project at 3718 Henry Hudson Parkway, at West 239th Street in Riverdale, the Bronx. By August, they expect to start a 143-unit project at 117th Street and 84th Avenue in Kew Gardens.
Rents at both will be $2,900 to $3,600 for the 325- to 600-square-foot, studio to two-bedroom units, including meals and services. Personal care will be available through a Kapson subsidiary, or residents may select their own provider.
Another large national operator, Care Matrix of Needham, Mass., has contracts pending on sites in Manhattan, Forest Hills and Rego Park, Queens. Michael Zaccaro, executive vice president, declined to give exact locations, but said plans call for 160 studio- to two-bedroom units, with 400 to 925 square feet of space.
Rents, with meals and services, are expected to be $3,100 to $4,900, Mr. Zaccaro said. He said hospitals will provide personal care.

LOAD-DATE: February 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The Madonna Residence, a one-time nursing home in Brooklyn, is becoming the 128-unit Prospect Park Residence at Grand Army Plaza. (Nancy Siesel/The New York Times)

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February 21, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton Prohibits H.M.O. Limit on Advice to Medicaid Patients

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 882 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 20

President Clinton today prohibited health maintenance organizations from limiting what doctors may tell Medicaid patients about treatment options. And he urged Congress to guarantee similar protections for more than 100 million Americans with private insurance.
In December, the Clinton Administration said H.M.O.'s and other health plans might not limit what doctors tell Medicare patients about treatment options. Nearly five million elderly people, about 13 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, are in H.M.O.'s. 
 Today's action, for Medicaid, is more significant because it affects more people. About 13.3 million, or 36 percent of Medicaid recipients, are in H.M.O.'s, and states are rushing to increase the number because they see managed care as way to hold down costs.
In announcing his action today, Mr. Clinton declared that changes revolutionizing the health insurance and health care industries must not be allowed to erode the quality of medical care.
The President's comments foreshadow a battle over the role of Government in regulating managed care, which has reined in health costs in part by limiting the use of medical specialists and costly procedures. Three-fourths of Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance are in managed-care plans.
Some health plans have discouraged doctors from telling patients about expensive treatment options like bone marrow transplants. Doctors who flout such rules say they face retaliation from the health plans for which they work. The managed-care industry recently promised not to restrict communications between doctors and patients on medical questions.
Surrounded by doctors and nurses in the Oval Office of the White House today, Mr. Clinton said: "On the whole, the growth of managed care has been a good thing for our country. But we also know, we've seen enough to know, that we have to make absolutely sure that this rapid transformation does not lead to a decline in the quality of health care. That's why I've been concerned about these so-called gag rules that some H.M.O.'s and other health care plans have."
H.M.O. patients must be assured that "their doctors will give them the very best information" about medical treatments, Mr. Clinton said.
The American Medical Association strongly supported the President's initiative. The H.M.O. industry, while supporting Mr. Clinton's action on Medicaid, said it saw no need for legislation on the issue.
Representative Greg Ganske, an Iowa Republican who has introduced a bill to ban gag clauses in managed care, said that policy statements by the H.M.O. industry were inadequate because "they have no enforcement mechanism."
Next week two senior Democrats, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, will introduce much more comprehensive bills to protect consumers by systematically regulating H.M.O.'s and other forms of managed care.
The new protections for Medicaid recipients are set forth in letters sent today to state Medicaid directors by Bruce Merlin Fried, director of the office of managed care at the Department of Health and Human Services. If H.M.O.'s limit the ability of doctors to discuss treatment options with Medicaid recipients, Mr. Fried said, they are violating Federal law.
Under the law, he said, Medicaid patients in H.M.O.'s "must have access to the same services" available to other Medicaid beneficiaries. Therefore, he said, "any contractual provisions, including so-called gag rules, that restrict a health care provider's ability to advise patients about medically necessary treatment options violate Federal law."
At the White House today, Vice President Al Gore explained the Administration's rationale this way: "Physicians take a solemn pledge to do no harm. It's called the Hippocratic oath. But for too many doctors, strict rules imposed by health plans have been turning the Hippocratic oath into a vow of silence."
Alixe R. Glen, a senior vice president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, said that its members did not restrict what doctors could tell patients. Ms. Glen said the association, whose members provide health insurance to more than 70 million people, had not taken a position on the Ganske bill.
But Ms. Glen said: "This should be handled by the industry, not by onerous new laws. There seems to be a shoot-from-the-hip tendency to create laws based on anecdotes that are not representative of a trend. Government intervention can inflate premium costs and, in some cases, limit the flexibility of health plans and physicians to meet the needs of patients."
Dr. Daniel H. Johnson Jr., president of the American Medical Association, welcomed Mr. Clinton's effort to ban gag rules.
On Dec. 17, the American Association of Health Plans, a trade association for H.M.O.'s, said its members would "not prohibit physicians from communicating with patients concerning medical care."
Carol L. O'Brien, a lawyer at the American Medical Association, said today that the managed-care industry had been "virtually forced to take a more pro-patient position" to address consumers' concerns and to head off Federal and state legislation.
But Ms. O'Brien said, "We remain skeptical that the industry is capable of self-regulation."      

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February 22, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Condolence Calls Put Rare Light on Deng's Family

BYLINE: By SETH FAISON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 3; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1324 words

DATELINE: BEIJING, Feb. 21

Just north of the Forbidden City, where China's emperors once lived, a maze of dusty lanes and grubby back alleys are punctuated by simple red doorways befitting ramshackle homes. Behind some of these doorways, however, lie the elegant and spacious courtyard dwellings of the families of China's Communist Party leaders, a new kind of Forbidden City.
In one dirt-and-cobblestone lane, one black limousine after another came to call this week to see the elderly widow and five middle-aged children of Deng Xiaoping. 
 The visitors were classmates and colleagues, relatives and friends, fellow members of a select club: the sons and daughters to China's senior leaders, also known as princelings, or taizi, as they are called in Chinese.
The five Deng children have enjoyed being at the pinnacle of this club for years, but one question that looms over Beijing since Mr. Deng's death is exactly how it will affect them.
Mr. Deng's death has not led to any repudiation of his rule, at least not yet, so there is no sudden movement to purge his relatives. Their wealth, though it causes resentment among more ordinary folk, is partly protected by the deep sense of fraternity among the politically privileged.
"None of the Deng children have any money problems, but the problem lies right there," said the daughter of a senior official, suggesting that they had taken advantage of their positions to make large sums of money. "They are all vulnerable, but I don't think anything will happen to them unless they look as if they're getting excessive." She spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Translating superior connections into lucrative business, the class of princelings has profited enormously from the economic freedom the previous generation introduced.
The myth of Communist China was that everyone would be equal, if poor; today's version is that a socialist-market economy gives everyone a chance to grow rich. But the rules are stacked, it turns out, in favor of the families of the leaders who make the rules.
While the Deng family's position at the top of this club has receded slightly with Mr. Deng's health in the last year or two, the brothers and sisters are so entrenched in the network that purging one or more would require serious political effort by Jiang Zemin, China's President.
Last year he had a chance. The younger of Mr. Deng's sons, Deng Zhifang, was at the top of a state-run corporation whose leaders were prosecuted for corruption.
Deng Zhifang returned to China in 1990 after studying physics at the University of Rochester for seven years. A socially awkward man, he was fascinated by the challenge of adapting computer software to Chinese characters, but, apparently unable to resist the lure, he turned to business.
He accepted some of the deals offered by the many Hong Kong businessmen looking for "iron connections" within China, including a partnership with Li Ka-shing, a billionaire real estate developer. But the young Mr. Deng became most closely allied with Zhou Beifang, who headed the Hong Kong subsidiary of China's leading steel producer, Shougang Corporation, and whose father, Zhou Guanwu, the head of the corporation, was close to Deng Xiaoping.
Last November, when the younger Mr. Zhou was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes of more than $1 million, it was unclear whether Deng Zhifang would also be investigated, a decision so sensitive that it could be made only with the approval of President Jiang. Since then, Mr. Deng has resigned his position as a managing director at the Hong Kong company, but remains a consultant.
"Deng Zhifang has probably set it up so he can go overseas if he needs to," a member of a prominent political family said. "It's hard to imagine Jiang Zemin moving against him."
Deng Xiaoping's youngest daughter, Xiao Rong, angered senior leaders when she gave The New York Times an interview in January 1995 without their prior permission, and discussed her father's failing health.
Deng Pufang, her older brother, made a speech last summer that ostensibly defended his father's aggressive economic reform policies, but which apparently was interpreted by some senior officials as a defense of the Deng family's influence, and their right to wield it.
Family members are said to have frequently quarreled with the Communist Party staff over how to care for Mr. Deng as his health deteriorated. These instances may be a normal part of the push-and-pull tension that always exists between a political family and the government with which it is intertwined.
Yet such clashes often required the intervention of Wang Ruilin, a top aide to Mr. Deng for decades, and head of Mr. Deng's personal office until it was formally disbanded a few months ago.
"The importance of his role in assisting Jiang Zemin has been in getting the Deng family out of politics," said Michael D. Swaine, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at the Rand Corporation.
Zhuo Lin, Mr. Deng's wife of 58 years, is 80 and has suffered from a nerve disease that became so painful, acquaintances said, that one day last year she took so many painkillers that she almost died. The panic that ensued among doctors set off a round of rumors that Mr. Deng was close to death, before word gradually spread that it was his wife.
The leader's widow is said to eschew the kind of ostentatious luxury her children enjoy, keeping with the tradition of the elder generation of China's leaders, who extolled Communism and simple living.
But the sons and daughters of senior leaders are highly secretive and almost tribal in the way they keep to insulated circles of friends, It is often difficult to uncover even the most basic information about them, including where they work or live or invest their money, except in unusual cases like Deng Zhifang's.
Yet some information is available:
*Deng Lin, the eldest daughter, 55, was once a painter of traditional Chinese watercolors who more recently started dabbling in abstract expressionism. Critics have not been as enthusiastic about her work as have Japanese businessmen, particularly ones with operations in China.
*Deng Pufang, the eldest son, 52, is chairman of China's Federation for the Disabled. He has used a wheelchair since he fell from a fourth-story window after being harassed by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.
*Deng Nan, a second daughter, 51, is a deputy minister in the State Commission for Science and Technology.
*Xiao Rong, 46, who for years accompanied her father and yelled in his ear to compensate for his poor hearing, has two positions listed on her business card: deputy chairwoman of the China Association for International Friendly Contact, and deputy to the National People's Congress, the rough equivalent of a Congresswoman.
Also a consultant to many Hong Kong companies, Xiao Rong has said she still draws a $125-a-month salary from the army, where she once worked full time.
Her husband, He Ping, is president of the Poly Group, one of China's leading arms sellers.
Deng Xiaoping had four grandchildren, and at least one is enrolled in a secondary school in the United States.
Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, when a breakdown in social and political order meant that the families of leaders were divided, persecuted and often sent to internal exile, the system has deemed that party families maintain discipline; consequently, few are actually prosecuted except in extreme and unusual cases, like Zhou Beifang's.
Nor do they like to talk to, or at times even be seen by, outsiders.
This week, a few policemen stood at the entrance to the lane, firmly stopping any outsiders who tried to enter, saying the residential street was "a restricted military area." It is such a small and modest-looking lane, an outsider might be forgiven for thinking it an unlikely place for a home for a man who once ruled a fifth of humanity.

LOAD-DATE: February 22, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photos: Deng Pufang in August 1994 at the Disabled Games in Beijing. (Reuters); Xiao Rong, youngest daughter of the late Deng Xiaoping, promoting her biography of her father in 1995 in New York. She angered senior Chinese officials when she discussed her father's ailing health. (Agence France-Presse)

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February 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

POP/JAZZ;
Quebec's Little Girl, Conquering the Globe

BYLINE: By ANTHONY DePALMA  

SECTION: Section 2;  Page 34;  Column 1;  Arts and Leisure Desk  

LENGTH: 1427 words

DATELINE: MONTREAL

LANGUAGE IS AT THE HEART OF just about everything in the independence-minded province of Quebec, as the French singer Charles Aznavour found out last October when he tried to sing a few songs in English during a concert here and nearly got booed off the stage.
When the insulted Quebecers shouted "en Francais!" at Mr. Aznavour, he argued that another French-speaking performer, Celine Dion, is permitted to sing there in English. The crowd was unmoved. In the second half of his show, he used only French. 
 A few weeks later Ms. Dion -- who is French Canadian -- took the same stage at the Molson Center for one of her last concerts of the year. She performed her first two songs in a booming French that wowed the crowd. Then she belted out two in English, a language she didn't speak a word of until she was 18, and the applause was even greater.
By the concert's end, she had the hard-nosed audience of teen-agers, housewives and a few elderly people singing, in English, "I'm everything I am, because you loved me." The line comes from her hit song "Because You Loved Me," which is in contention for record of the year at Wednesday's Grammy Awards ceremony at Madison Square Garden (where she'll also be appearing in concert on April 12). Ms. Dion has also been nominated for three other Grammys, including album and pop album of the year, and best female pop performance.
Ms. Dion is no favorite of many music critics. They claim that her singing is as passionless as her voice is big and that her songs, which she does not write, are more likely to become next year's prom hit than to break new ground.
But here before the hometown crowd, a sentiment that could seem softhearted on the radio seemed to carry authentic feeling. And as Ms. Dion scooped up an armful of cuddly stuffed frogs brought to the stage by her fans, it truly seemed that the audience did have a lot to do with her amazing climb from singing in her father's bar not far from here as a girl to international superstardom at 28.
"They were the first ones to support me and I trust them," Ms. Dion said after the concert. "I believe in them. They're a big part of my life." Dressed in a plain white bathrobe and huge slippers shaped like black cows, the petite blond with large expressive eyes seemed relieved to be at home in Montreal after a year in which she toured the world. That same year her album "Falling Into You" sold 20 million copies worldwide, one of the biggest sellers in an otherwise grim year for the record industry.
But with her mother and many of her 13 brothers and sisters in the audience, Ms. Dion admitted that she had been a bit anxious, even though she has performed and recorded professionally since she was 13.
"Before I go on, there's a little bit of nervousness," she said. "I don't know if it's possible to say nervousness in English. In French we say nervosite, which I think means stress a little bit."
While her current success makes any roughness in her English seem quaint, she says the decision to record in English was so sensitive that some of the more political members of her team quit in protest. "We lost a few of our friends at the beginning of my career because they thought it was stupid for me to record in English and they didn't believe in it," she said.
She only wanted to be able to perform in English, she insisted, because she remembered listening to her siblings singing Beatles and Stevie Wonder songs as they rehearsed new shows. Her parents had formed a Quebec version of the Trapp family, but only Celine, the youngest, ever made it to the big time.
That success was in great part because of her five-octave voice and a single-minded dedication that drove her to drop out of school at 14 so she could spend more time singing. Also instrumental was a chance encounter with a Montreal producer named Rene Angelil, a man with both vision and a taste for taking risks, who had also guided the career of Ginette Reno, another child star.
One day in 1981 he received a demonstration tape from Ms. Dion's older brother Michel of his 12-year-old sister singing "It Was Only a Dream," written by her mother, Therese. "I listened to it right away, and I couldn't believe it," said Mr. Angelil, 54, who remains Ms. Dion's manager and two years ago became her husband. He called her in to audition.
"She wasn't the cutest 12-year-old." She had a problem with her teeth and she was very shy, but her eyes were incredible." And she could sing.
When the song was released the next year, it became a No. 1 hit in French Canada and later in France. Other hits in French followed. Then, when she turned 18, and decided she had grown up, she cut her hair, got a more adult wardrobe and learned to speak English with a three-month crash course at Berlitz.
"At the beginning, because I was a Francophone from Quebec, it was more difficult for me to be played on the radio in the English part of Canada than it was in the United States," she said. "But when it started to work for me in the United States, well, they kind of had no choice."
Polly Anthony, the president of Ms. Dion's label, 550 Music, a subsidiary of Sony, said her march toward the top of the charts had been remarkable because it had been so steady and so quick. In the United States alone, her first English album sold a million copies, her second two million and her third three million. Her fourth, "Falling Into You," which spent almost an entire year in Billboard magazine's top five, is now at eight million in the United States.
"The timing was right for a pure pop artist," said Chuck Taylor, radio editor of Billboard. "But there's a lot more to her success than just timing and luck."
Mr. Taylor also attributed part of Celine Dion's good fortune to a general weariness with 60's style rock-and-roll, which he said had helped open radio airwaves for ballads and pop music.
Ms. Dion is often compared to Mariah Carey for her style and Barbra Streisand for her voice. Her latest CD in French, called simply "The French Album," is a simple production, filled with soulful songs and a few recordings that hint at contemporary jazz. But on "Falling Into You," almost nothing is simple.
The slickly produced torch song "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," written by Jim Steinman, starts with a dramatic piano chord swept by howling winds and builds from there for seven and a half minutes. Sexy ballads like the title cut and a remake of "All by Myself," which lets Ms. Dion show off her powerful voice, deal with recaptured love and longing.
Her voice was attraction enough to get the producer Phil Spector to begin a rare recording session in 1994. But the session ended in a disastrous clash of views. Mr. Spector would not discuss the incident but last spring he told Entertainment Weekly that he had quit the project because Ms. Dion's team "simply wanted to record 'hits' even if they were contrived and repugnant." Mr. Angelil says Mr. Spector mistakenly thought he would produce an entire album when there was only time to do three songs. The album they were working on with Mr. Spector became "Falling Into You."
Still, Ms. Dion said she was growing weary of just being a voice, of running to the studio to lay a track of lyrics someone else wrote on top of music that is already recorded. She says she is eager to take more control of her career, which until now has been under the strong hand of Mr. Angelil.
"Sometimes I have to read the liner notes to find out who played guitar on my record, who played percussion," she said. "It doesn't mean that what we've done is no good, but the last French album I recorded in one week, the English album in two weeks. I'd like to take the time to record an album."
She keeps a blue-and-white Fender Stratocaster in her dressing room, and her fingernails have been pared back by practice sessions on the guitar. She wants to continue recording in both French and English, but she also wants to learn Spanish and maybe Japanese (one of her songs was No. 1 in Japan last year).
Any artist can be overexposed, however, and with her many concerts, talk show appearances, even the Celine Dion phone cards advertised in "Falling Into You," Ms. Dion may have come dangerously close to her limit. Mr. Angelil says that is why they are going to take a year off, starting in May. They are building a mansion in Florida, a state that has long been a favorite among French Canadians. They are also planning to start a family, though not a family anywhere near as large as her parents'.

LOAD-DATE: February 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH 

GRAPHIC: Photos: Celine Dion, top and below left, at a hometown concert in Montreal in December and, above, her fans--"I believe in them," she says of her audiences. (Photographs by Christopher Morris for The New York times)

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February 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Personal Tales of 300 Years of Life in Connecticut

BYLINE: By ALBERTA EISEMAN 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 23; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1019 words

THE experiences of a young soldier during the Revolutionary War, the impressions of an English immigrant writing home in 1870, the reminiscences of a group of working women in the year 1914 -- these are some of the stories told first-hand in a new book, "Connecticut Speaks for Itself."
Published by the Connecticut Humanities Council, the state arm of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the anthology is drawn from diaries, letters, journals and interviews reflecting 300 years of life in Connecticut. 
 The volume starts with the diary of Joshua Hempsted of New London, who recorded, in 1711, that he had "met with some hurt with a cow which, having newly calved and being angry at me, struck me in the face, cut my lip and hurt my arm and leg" and ends with a 1994 interview with nonagenarian Gladys Tantaquidgeon who founded the Mohegan Museum in Montville and calls herself "the last of the Mohegans."
Edited by David P. Shuldiner, scholar in residence with the elderly services division of the Department of Social Services, and Thomas R. Beardsley, a British historian who has specialized in American urban history, the anthology sheds light on themes like the growth and subsequent decline of the state's industries, the immigrant experience, the role of women at home and at work and the response of established residents to ethnic changes. The selections are arranged in three major parts, devoted respectively to cultural diversity, changing occupations and women's lives. Each is introduced by an essay written by a scholar in Connecticut history.
The project originated in 1984, when Dr. Shuldiner, a folklorist and anthropologist, began assembling materials for programs for older adults in senior centers, libraries and nursing homes.
"One of the most important steps I took was to go out and talk with elders throughout the state, to get a sense of what they wanted to learn more about and discuss," he related. "I found that many of the people I met had an avid interest in local history. No matter how long or short a time they had lived in the state, they seemed to adopt it."
Later, Dr. Shuldiner began to explore the possibility of developing an anthology of personal accounts. From colleges around the state he recruited a group of scholars who searched for archival material. "I discovered to my surprise and delight diaries, journals, collections of letters and oral histories going back to some first-hand accounts of encounters between Colonial settlers and Native Americans," he said.
"In addition, several of my colleagues had conducted interviews of their own and shared their transcripts. When I started out I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough first-hand accounts for a whole book, but I ended up having to pick and choose from an embarrassement of riches."
Few famous names appear in the book's pages. Most of the men and women selected are average people, engaged in everyday pursuits -- "history from below," it has been called.
The insights provided by these testimonies are considerable. Take for example the diary kept by Hannah Heaton of North Haven during the 1700's. It illustrates not only the hard life of Colonial farm women but also the pervasive influence of the Great Awakening, the religious revival movement that swept New England in the mid-18th century.
The memories of William Grimes, born a slave in Virginia in 1784, document the hazards of fleeing to the North and the hardships endured while attempting to begin a new life in Connecticut.
The hostility that some established residents felt toward newcomers were made clear in several entries, perhaps most strikingly in a 1940 conversation with a young man named Raymond Blair. The interview, one of hundreds conducted as part of the Works Project Administration, a New Deal program, quotes Mr. Blair as boasting that he was "early taught that the old American stock was superior to all other races" and that "members of those races which have settled in America during the past 50 years . . . pay no attention to our laws."
Listening to the diverse voices -- kind or negative, humorous or poignant -- the reader is struck by the irony of certain stereotypes widely believed about Connecticut.
Take the term Yankee state: The passages reveal the diverse backgrounds of the residents, the variety of cultures from which they had sprung. As for "the land of steady habits" -- the state has undergone radical changes over the centuries, from farming to skilled crafts to small industries and peddling; then powerful industrial empires, insurance and other service fields.
The versatility of many of the characters is a source of amazement. Joshua Hempsted, for example, describes his activities as farmer, surveyor, house and ship's carpenter, lawyer, stone cutter and sailor. All the while he was also serving on juries and participating in frequent town meetings.
Details of daily life make the account vivid. Readers can visualize the dull routine of endless marches, meals, church services, laundry duty, seasickness and distant battles reported by the young soldier Simeon Lymon in 1775.
One of the few people whose name strikes a familiar chord is Isabella Beecher Hooker, younger half-sister of the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe. Like other members of the enlightened Hartford family, Mrs. Hooker was an advocate of voting rights for women. Her fervor and high intelligence are evident in "A Mother's Letter to A Daughter on Woman Suffrage," a tract published anonymously in a magazine in 1868 and then reprinted under her name by the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, of which she became president.
Equally interesting is the response of a farm woman with "only the dreary routine of household cares to occupy my mind." Married to a tight-fisted man "bitterly opposed to woman's rights," she wrote to seek Mrs. Hooker's advice "for you are a friend to us all."
Copies of "Connecticut Speaks for Itself" ($15.95) are available at the Connecticut Humanities Council, 955 South Main Street, Middletown, Conn. 06457, or by calling 860-685-2260.

LOAD-DATE: February 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: From "Connecticut Speaks for Itself," the Himmelstein family's homestead and farmhouse in 1910 (above), at work in a spinning mill circa 1915 (top right) and Lucius Bigelow on his peddler's cart circa 1920. The cart was donated to and may still be seen at the Simsbury Historical Society.

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February 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

COMMUNITY;
Increasingly, Grandparents Raise Their Children's Children

BYLINE: By JULIE BEGLIN 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 6; Column 2; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 910 words

On a typical day, Rita Tyler is up at 6 A.M. to make breakfast for her 5-year-old, Kamillah, and her 10-year-old, Leslie. She walks them to the school bus, does errands and house cleaning until 3 P.M., then watches over homework and playtime until it's time for dinner and, afterward, baths.
At bedtime, Kamillah wants a story. Mrs. Tyler tries to comply, but every once in a while she cheats a little by using a storytelling cassette tape. 
 "They're a joy most of the time," she said, "but sometimes I get so tired. I just get so tired."
Being a single parent is draining enough. But not only is Mrs. Tyler a single mother; she is also a senior citizen. "I thought I'd be a swinging single grandmother," said Mrs. Tyler, 70, an Orange resident who was widowed years before she took her grandchildren in.
She is one of a growing number of grandparents in New Jersey caring fulltime for their grandchildren. Social service workers throughout the state say they have seen more and more grandparents coming to them with concerns about school placements, day care, child discipline and health insurance, as well as questions about applying for public assistance for the additional mouths to feed.
Yet the exact number of grandparent caregivers is not known, and their needs are not fully understood. To fill in this knowledge, the state Legislature in December passed a law establishing committees in Atlantic, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Bergen counties to count the number of grandparents raising their grandchildren and assess their needs.
"We may find that the services that are out there need to be expanded to include programs geared specifically to the grandparent parent, such as how you raise a child on Social Security," said state Senator John Bennett, who sponsored the bill with two other Republicans, state Senator Peter Inverso and Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina.  "The only way to do that is to compile the information and see what's needed to address the problem."
Five years ago, Mrs. Taylor's daughter was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and Mrs. Tyler started caring for the children. Now Mrs. Tyler supports her household of three on Social Security, welfare payments and food stamps that total about $1,100 a month.
Mental illness is one reason a parent's parents take over raising the children. Others are drug and alcohol addiction, teen-age motherhood, incarceration and serious illness or death. In New Jersey, this trend is expected to increase because of changes in the welfare law, the effects of AIDS and crack cocaine, and an emphasis on keeping children out of foster care, said Claudette Haba, of the state Division of Youth and Family Services.
Alice Abner of Piscataway has been raising her 18-, 13- and 12-year-old grandchildren singlehandedly for 12 years. In 1989 she started a support group called the Grandparents Need More Than a Hug of Central New Jersey, which has grown from 12 to 40 active members and accumulated a mailing list of 400.
Similarly, officers in the Salvation Army of New Jersey noticed that an increasing number of their clients cared full-time for grandchildren. After receiving a grant from the United Way of Essex and West Hudson, the Army began grandparent support groups in its Newark and East Orange offices in September. There is already a waiting list for the monthly sessions.
"It's helpful to know you're not the only one going through what you're going through," said Frances Banks, a 61-year-old East Orange woman who has attended every meeting of the East Orange group since it started. She is the mother of six children, and raised a granddaughter when the child's mother died of AIDS; she is now raising a great-grandson whose mother is addicted to drugs.
Other parenting groups offer little help. "I tried them," Mrs. Banks said. "They were talking about boyfriends and wanting to go out Saturday nights.."
At the January meeting of the Salvation Army's East Orange support group, Donny Bellamy of the organization Parents Anonymous, which tries to deter child abuse, talked with the grandparents about parenting skills.Many of the 17 grandparents said the children in their houses were harder to raise than children a generation earlier.  "These children challenge a lot more," Mr. Bellamy said. "Why do you think they're mad?"
"We're paying for what the parents have done to them," said Mrs. Banks.
Financial matters also weigh heavily. Nationally, the median income for grandparent-caregiver households is $18,000 -- or about half of the $36,204 median income of traditional households with children, according to a 1992 study by the American Association of Retired Persons.
Grandparents receive far less aid for the children they raise than do people raising foster children. Nancy Feldman, staff attorney for the Association for Children of New Jersey, suggests the state direct foster care prevention money to these households.
The state's new welfare initiative requires teen mothers to live with their parents or other adults if they are to receive public assistance. Welfare recipients must also find work within two years of receiving assistance, which means that many grandparents may be caring for grandchildren while the parent is at a job.
"I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing," said state Senator Bennett. "You could have the child going out to work and the grandparent watching the baby. That's the way it used to be."

LOAD-DATE: February 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Rita Tyler, 70, is raising her grandchildren, Kamillah, 5, and Leslie, 10, in her home in Orange. (Lenore Victoria Davis for The New York Times)

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February 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

IN BRIEF;
Drug Council Proposes Switch to Managed Care

BYLINE: By KAREN DeMASTERS 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 6; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 237 words

The Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse would like Medicaid substance-abuse treatment programs to be handled through managed-care organizations, just like other medical treatment for Medicaid patients. The switch could save substantial amounts of money, said the council's executive director, Carolyn Bronson. But instead of putting the money back into the state and Federal coffers, the council would like the money used to increase the number of people eligible for treatment and the types of treatment.
The recommendation, delivered to the Assembly on Thursday, is part of the council's three-year master plan. A few other states already have switched substance-abuse programs to managed-care organizations, with varying results, Ms. Bronson said. 
 In New Jersey, 700,000 residents -- women and children who receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children and blind, disabled and some elderly residents -- are eligible for Medicaid, paid half by the state and half by the Federal government. Last year, $35 million from Medicaid was spent on alcohol- and drug-abuse programs in New Jersey, but currently only inpatient hospital programs and outpatient programs connected with hospitals are covered.
The switch from standard coverage to managed care would require changes in regulations of the Department of Human Services and possible legislative changes, Ms. Bronson said.   KAREN DeMASTERS

LOAD-DATE: February 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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February 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Labor to Recruit Elderly Protesters

BYLINE: By STEVEN GREENHOUSE 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 30; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 792 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20

From the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s point of view, the internship program it set up last year to immerse college students in the labor movement was such a success that it has decided to set up a similar program for retirees.
The new program, Senior Summer, is intended to tap the wisdom, commitment and spare time of hundreds of retirees by getting them to help with strikes, organizing drives and political campaigns. 
 "These are the people who built the labor movement," said Richard Bensinger, the federation's organizing director. "We can learn lots from them. It's tragic not to tap their potential."
Officials of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which has 13 million members, stay in regular touch with nearly 4 million retired members, usually asking them to mobilize in political campaigns, but not in battles with employers.
Jay Mazur, chairman of the federation's committee on older citizens and president of the Union of Needletrade, Industrial and Textile Employees, said he had come up with the idea when he saw how the energy and commitment of young people had added much-needed vitality to the labor movement last year in the internship program Union Summer. Coming from the needle trade union, which has more than 250,000 former workers in 175 clubs for retired members, Mr. Mazur said he was convinced that older people could be a great help to the federation.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. leaders quickly embraced his idea.
"Many senior citizens still feel they are part of unions," said Mr. Mazur, who attended the federation's winter meeting, which ended here today.
A.F.L.-C.I.O. officials say Senior Summer will involve hundreds of retirees from at least 10 cities, which have yet to be selected. Among those under serious consideration are New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.
Senior Summer is part of a strategy in which John J. Sweeney, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s president, has tried to increase labor's popularity and clout by forming alliances with many segments of society, including academics, women's organizations, minorities, community workers and environmental groups.
In Union Summer, a total of about 1,200 college students and young workers spent three weeks in 22 cities, walking picket lines, distributing fliers and learning at the feet of labor leaders. Union Summer participants, who received weekly stipends of $210, usually stayed in dormitories, many in their hometowns, many hundreds of miles from home.
A.F.L.-C.I.O. officials say they still have to work out many details for Senior Summer, but organizers said that it would last one or two weeks and that retirees would probably participate in the cities where they live. The federation has not decided whether retirees involved in Senior Summer will receive stipends.
Roosevelt Alexander, 78, a retired garment cutter from the Bronx, said he would be thrilled to participate in Senior Summer because he had already been involved in several labor protests a year as president of a union retirees' club.
"Working people often don't have the time to get out and protest," Mr. Alexander said. "We retirees have time on our hands. We can bring problems before the people."
Andrew Levin, the federation official who oversaw Union Summer and will coordinate Senior Summer, said he hoped that the retirees would often work side by side with college students taking part in the second edition of Union Summer.
"It's totally false to think that seniors care only about their own issues," Mr. Levin said. "The most exciting thing for me is not just getting seniors involved, but the cross-fertilization. They will have a lot to teach Union Summer participants about their days in the labor movement."
Union leaders said Union Summer and Senior Summer would have a common theme this year: informing Americans about the right to organize. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. selected that theme after undertaking a campaign to recruit millions of new members to reverse its decline in numbers and bargaining power.
Mr. Bensinger said Senior Summer would build on some small-scale union efforts in which retirees have taken part. In Florida, retirees often join picket lines at nursing homes that unions are trying to organize. In the Boston area, several older people were arrested for sitting in at a rug factory to protest its opposition to unionization.
Mr. Bensinger said a stroke victim had offered to support a drive to unionize 20,000 strawberry workers by lying in a grower's driveway. At a demonstration at a factory, Mr. Bensinger said, the employer offered chairs to some octogenarian pickets.
"Senior citizens carry themselves with a reverence and moral authority," Mr. Bensinger said, "that it's impossible for even a callous boss to ignore."

LOAD-DATE: February 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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February 24, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Rectifying a Legislative Blunder

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 458 words

When Representative Steven LaTourette of Ohio introduced a bill last month to repeal a section of the Kassebaum-Kennedy health insurance reform legislation enacted last year, he assumed someone would come forward to defend its purpose. He has yet to hear from anyone willing to claim authorship. The language apparently migrated from an earlier budget bill that was vetoed by President Clinton, but how it wound up in the health insurance law remains a mystery. End-of-session legislative fatigue could explain why no one seems to remember anything about it now.
The silence is not surprising. The provision, which became effective Jan. 1, is supposed to impose criminal penalties on the elderly who give away their assets in order to qualify for Medicaid assistance with nursing home bills. But it is so poorly worded that fair enforcement is impossible. Worse, it does not target those who abuse the system but escape detection by hiding their assets. 
 Under longstanding law, individuals are not eligible for nursing home assistance under Medicaid if, in the 36 months prior to being institutionalized, they gave away assets that would have allowed them to pay their own way. The law allows some exemptions, like transfers to a spouse or disabled child. The penalty period is determined by the size of the asset transfer and the average monthly cost of nursing home care, which in most states is about $3,000. An individual who gives away $36,000, for example, is ineligible for Medicaid assistance for 12 months. In other words, those who give away assets must live with the consequences.
The new law adds criminal penalties of up to $10,000 in fines and one year in jail for those who are deemed ineligible for Medicaid because they transferred assets. But it would only affect those who play by the rules and report their asset transfers. Individuals who make sham transfers or fail to report transfers would not be punished under this provision.
Jailing the honest and the ignorant will not reduce Medicaid fraud. Besides, there is little evidence that large numbers of the elderly are intentionally impoverishing themselves in order to get Medicaid. The cost of nursing home care is so high that many seniors become eligible for Medicaid in a short time anyway.
The Federal Health Care Financing Administration, which oversees Medicaid, has asked Congress to repeal the provision. Other groups such as the National Senior Citizens Law Center, the American Association of Retired Persons, the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar are also calling for repeal. Congress should take action against a flawed law that serves no purpose other than to threaten unwitting senior citizens with the prospect of jail.

LOAD-DATE: February 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Editorial

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February 25, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Scientists Rethinking the Role Of Chromosomal 'Leader Tape'

BYLINE: By GINA KOLATA

SECTION: Section C; Page 3; Column 1; Science Desk

LENGTH: 602 words

A TANTALIZING hypothesis linking the length of the ends of chromosomes to aging and cancer is wrong, new research suggests.
Every time cells divide, they reproduce their chromosomes. But the cellular enzymes that copy the DNA in the chromosomes have a problem with the chromosome ends, called telomeres, and cannot copy them completely. 
 The hypothesis was that telomeres were intimately related to cancer and aging. As people grew older, this hypothesis said, their telomeres got shorter until they finally reached a length that meant a person's time was up. Cancer cells, which are immortal (they appear to be able to divide forever in a laboratory) were said to have telomeres that remained as long as a newborn baby's.
The theory said that if scientists could lengthen the telomeres of the elderly, they might be able to restore youth. And if they could shorten the telomeres of cancer cells, they might cure cancer.
But, said Dr. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, a cell biologist at the University of California in San Francisco, it turns out that telomeres do not always shorten significantly with age and that cancer cells do not always have telomeres of a constant length.
The telomere hypothesis, she said, is no more true than proposing that since everyone who grows old gets wrinkled, it is wrinkles that cause old age.
"It was a black-and-white world a few years ago," Dr. Blackburn said. "But now the real world has intruded."
As the old hypothesis has fallen, however, researchers are beginning to understand what does happen with telomeres and why they are important to cells.
New research, reported in the past two weeks in the journals Science and Nature, suggests that telomeres shrink and lengthen over and over as cell division is repeated many times. Because the telomeres are stretches of nonsense DNA, no important information is lost. They function as buffer zones to protect the more important DNA in the rest of the chromosome.
The cyclic changes in chromosome size depend on the proteins that attach themselves to telomeres. The proteins group tightly together so that the longer a telomere is, the more proteins are attached to it.
When the number of proteins exceeds a critical value, an enzyme that lengthens telomeres cannot work. As a consequence, when the cell divides, its telomere shortens. It continues to shorten with each cell division until it finally becomes so short that it is not binding enough proteins to inhibit the enzyme that lengthens the telomeres.
At that point, the enzyme goes to work, copying the telomere and making it grow long again.
Dr. Titia de Lange , a cell biologist at Rockefeller University who recently published a paper on this phenomenon in human cells, said that telomeres "are constantly moving back and forth between states." They alternate between growing and shrinking "in a dynamic equilibrium," Dr. de Lange said.
A wide variety of species use the same mechanism, said Dr. Thomas R. Cech, a Nobel Prize-winning cell biologist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who published a paper recently on telomere length regulation in yeast.
"The story is consistent," he said.
That still leaves the question whether telomeres have any use other than as buffer zones. Dr. Blackburn said an answer was imminent. She and others, she said, are about to publish papers showing that telomeres are essential for nuclear division, the process of pulling apart the chromosomes when cells divide.
So, she said, the telomere story may not be the simple one of a few years ago but "scientifically, it is a lot more interesting."

LOAD-DATE: February 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Proteins show up as light spots at the ends of human chromosomes. (Elsevier)

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February 25, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

THE MEDIA BUSINESS;
Quarterly Edition of Money Planned for Asian Readers

BYLINE: By CONSTANCE L. HAYS 

SECTION: Section D; Page 8; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 689 words

Seeking to capitalize on what it says is an era of growing interest in personal financial planning in Southeast Asia, Time Inc. plans a quarterly Asian edition of Money magazine.
The 28-page, English-language quarterly, which will hit newsstands in the region on May 26, will be produced in Hong Kong by freelance journalists, bound into the Asian edition of Time and presented as Time Money, said Caroline Donnelly, an executive editor at Money in New York, who will be moving temporarily to Hong Kong to direct the coverage. 
 "It will be 100 percent local," she said. "Most American magazines publishing over there use essentially domestic content with a thin overlay of local content. This will all be produced by Asian reporters and writers."
Time's Asian edition has 133,494 readers in Southeast Asia, Ms. Donnelly said, almost half of the edition's total paid subscribers. In the six months ending Dec. 31, Time, a unit of Time Warner Inc., had 288,063 paid subscriptions for its Asian edition, said Ginny Sexton, communications director for the Audit Bureau of Circulations in Schaumburg, Ill.
The decision to produce Time Money comes at a time when workers and professionals in the region are feeling less secure about their futures and are also more willing to take on some investing matters themselves, Ms. Donnelly said. "All over Asia, planning for retirement has become an issue," she said. "The state is not there to take care of you as it once was. Real estate is so hideous that there is no room to put your elderly parents in your home."
She added: "This generation is in much more of a self-help mode. These are people who are young, with big ambitions for themselves and their families, who don't see prosperity or even security quite guaranteed to them the way it might have been in another time."
That may be, but one publishing expert in the region cautioned that an English-language publication would encounter obstacles.
"For that kind of magazine to have an impact, it has to be localized, and in the local language of whatever country it's in," said one media analyst in Hong Kong who works for a large Wall Street firm and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The South China Morning Post, a major daily newspaper in Hong Kong, plans to publish a personal-finance magazine called M, the analyst said. It will be written in Chinese, which is spoken by the majority of Hong Kong's 6.3 million people.
At the same time, other English-language financial magazines are written and sold in Southeast Asia, including Asia Inc. and the Far Eastern Economic Review, both of which run features on personal finance and investing topics.
Ms. Donnelly said publishing in every language spoken in the seven countries where Time Money will be sold -- Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines -- would not be possible economically. And an analyst in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said Time Money might do well in Asian countries with no comparable, local personal-finance publication.
John Marcom, publisher of Time's Asia edition, said English-language publications were complementary to other media in the region and were attractive to advertisers because they were read by people who used English on the job -- generally, better-educated professionals. "We never pretend we're reaching the bulk of the Asian population," he said.
Articles in the planning stages include preparing for buying a house, paying for education and establishing retirement funds, Ms. Donnelly said. All of the articles will discuss the specifics of doing so in each of the countries where the magazine will be sold. The newsstand price for the Asian edition of Time, $35 (Hong Kong), or about $4.50 (United States), is not supposed to rise when the Money insert is included, Mr. Marcom said.
"Because this is a market that is more interested in certain topics than the market in the U.S., I expect we'll write a bit more on things like real estate, currency trading, small business and family businesses," Ms. Donnelly said. "We hardly ever write about family business."      

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February 25, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

MAJORITY LEADER PROPOSES A PANEL ON INFLATION INDEX

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1049 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 24

The Senate majority leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, proposed a commission to find a way to fix the Government's main inflation gauge today, providing possible political cover for a deal that would help balance the budget by reducing cost-of-living increases for Social Security.
Mr. Lott's statement was the first specific proposal from a Republican leader to solve the problems with the Consumer Price Index, which many economists believe overstates inflation and leads the Government to overcompensate benefit recipients by billions of dollars a year. It seemed intended to draw the Clinton Administration into a shared effort to resolve the issue, which holds great political peril for both parties but could yield some of the savings that many in Congress think would be necessary to eliminate the Federal budget deficit. 
 Mr. Lott said the panel of experts he has in mind should make a specific recommendation for a cost-of-living adjustment, and that Congress and the White House should accept it. "I think we will do it," Mr. Lott said. "I think it should be done."
White House officials were noncommittal in their response but did not criticize Mr. Lott's idea.
"Our goal is to find the best broad-based technical agreement on this technical issue," said Gene Sperling, the chairman of the White House's National Economic Council. "We have not ruled in or out any specific means for exploring where that agreement lies."
Any reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment made to Social Security and other benefit payments would probably be small at first -- less than $100 a year for most recipients -- but could build over time to thousands of dollars a year. Powerful lobbying groups like the American Association of Retired Persons have warned that they would vigorously oppose any adjustment that was not based on rigorous technical study and have warned against engineering a reduction in the payments as a political solution to balancing the budget.
Wary of angering senior citizens and other constituencies yet intrigued by the potential fiscal benefits, the Administration has held the position that there are problems with the index that need to be fixed, but that any change should be the result of a consensus among economists.
Leaders of the two parties have been maneuvering for the last several months to find a way to deal with the issue without leaving themselves to suffer the political consequences alone. In endorsing the idea of a commission, Mr. Lott was clearly hoping to accelerate the tempo of what will no doubt continue to be a delicate political dance without directly exposing himself or his party to the attacks that would inevitably be unleashed on a detailed proposal for reducing cost-of-living payments.
"If the number is accurate, leave it alone," Mr. Lott said. "If it's understated, fix it. If it's overstated, fix it."
Speaking at a conference of the National Association of Broadcasters, Mr. Lott said he would like to see a cost-of-living formula developed by a group of four "graybeards" -- presumably prominent economists -- who would be chosen by the White House and the Congressional leadership with advice from Senator William V. Roth, the Delaware Republican who heads the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York.
Mr. Lott, who made the proposal in response to a question from the audience of broadcast executives, said he would want to see the commission get to work quickly and make its recommendations this year. Such a timetable could enable any change in the formula to be accounted for in negotiations to balance the budget.
The idea of a nonpartisan commission of experts was first floated several months ago by Michael J. Boskin, a Stanford University economist and former Bush Administration adviser. Mr. Boskin led a Congressionally appointed commission that concluded in December that the price index overstates inflation by about 1.1 percentage points a year. The index rose 3.3 percent last year.
The Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, gave his support to a commission last month, saying it could determine the proper cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security and other Federal benefit programs each year while the technical experts at the Bureau of Labor Statistics continue to refine the price index.
The Consumer Price Index attempts to measure inflation by tracking the prices of a "market basket" of products meant to approximate typical consumer purchases. Although it was never intended as a broad cost-of-living index, it has been widely used as one, and currently is the basis not just for annual increases in Social Security and other benefits, but for adjusting tax brackets for the effects of inflation and for determining wage increases under many union contracts.
By reducing outlays for benefits and generating higher tax revenues, any reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment below the current forecast for the price index would go a long way toward solving the nation's fiscal difficulties.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated last year that a 1 percentage point reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment would narrow the deficit by $195 billion over the next five years. In 2002, the year by which both parties have pledged to balance the budget, it would save $63.5 billion, about a third of the $188 billion deficit projected for that year.
Social Security recipients would be most directly affected by any change to the cost-of-living formula. Social Security payments for this year were calculated on the basis of a 2.9 percent increase in the index over a certain period last year.
If that increase had been 1.1 percent lower, as advocated by the Boskin commission, the average monthly payment would have gone from $724 to $737 rather than to $745 -- a difference of $8 a month. But the effect would build on itself each year, with the difference ultimately amounting to thousands of dollars a year for each recipient.
With both parties eager to reach a balanced budget agreement but loath to give up their priorities to do so -- sweeping tax cuts for Republicans, education and health care initiatives for Democrats -- the appeal of an adjustment to the price index has grown strong in Congress.
      

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February 25, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING;
Seniors Take Joke Seriously

BYLINE: By TERRY PRISTIN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 117 words

DATELINE: MOUNT LAUREL

The issue the passage of a $28 million school bond referendum -- was serious. But Chuck Fest, the president of the Mount Laurel teachers' union, said yesterday that he thought he was being funny when he referred to the elderly opponents of the measure as "old coots" in his February newsletter. A copy wound up at a senior citizens' home, where residents did not appreciate the attempt at humor. 
 Mr. Fest had also suggested handing each of Mount Laurel's 3,050 elderly residents a roll of quarters on the day of the vote and shipping them to Atlantic City. He said yesterday that he planned to apologize to the senior citizens at a Board of Education meeting tonight.
   TERRY PRISTIN

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February 25, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

New York Study Finds Uninsured Are on the Rise

BYLINE: By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1193 words

In a report that has implications for the entire country, researchers have found that the number of New Yorkers without health insurance has jumped in the last five years.
One quarter of New York City residents under 65 now have no health insurance at all: the exact figure is 24.8 percent, up from 20.9 percent five years ago. Surprisingly, most of the uninsured hold full-time jobs. 
 More and more companies have curtailed health benefits as the cost of health care has gone up, requiring employees to contribute heavily to premiums, especially for family members.
Others have stopped offering health coverage altogether. So while government insurance programs have continued to cover the elderly and large numbers of the poor, low-income workers and their families are increasingly vulnerable.
Most uninsured families make between $15,000 and $45,000 a year, the report found. The number of children without insurance has gone up twice as fast as the number of adults.
"This is a crisis that is growing exponentially," said Mark Green, the New York City Public Advocate, who released report. "But unlike kids being shot on the streets, the rising uninsured rates among kids and working families is a quiet crisis that is too easy to overlook."
One of President Clinton's main goals in his failed health plan was to provide health coverage for the 38 million Americans who lacked it. He and Hillary Rodham Clinton repeatedly showcased poor working people who were uninsured. But since that plan failed, their plight has faded into the background. Although managed care companies have effectively taken up the President's call to practice more cost-conscious medicine, they have little incentive to worry about the uninsured.
By 1995, the number of Americans without health insurance had grown to 40.3 million, or 17.4 percent of the population under 65, the Employee Benefit Research Institute said.
In New York State, the percentage of people under 65 who are uninsured was 17.2 percent, up from 13.9 percent in 1990. The Public Advocate's office said the higher rate in New York City reflects a concentration of the working poor and immigrants, who tend to be in low-paying jobs and are not always eligible for government insurance. Many of New York's poor are part of the underground economy, meaning they are paid in cash, their earnings are unrecorded and they do not receive benefits. The proportion of people without health insurance is even higher in California (22.7 percent) and Texas (27 percent), states that have large immigrant populations.
This growth in the number of people without medical insurance comes at a particularly inopportune time. In the past, such people have relied on emergency rooms or clinics that dispensed care cheaply or free. But now, even that option is becoming less available, since hospitals under pressure to cut costs are increasingly unwilling and unable to dispense care below cost to the uninsured.
"Everyone's going to be competing for paying patients, but there's no one looking out for the uninsured," said Kenneth E. Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospitals Association, an industry group. "And with the squeeze on doctors and hospitals, the problem will become more acute as you go along."
The state has earmarked tens of millions of dollars to compensate hospitals for charity care, but Mr. Raske said that with the number of uninsured New Yorkers growing, that pool could be overwhelmed. He said his organization is about to begin a national campaign to highlight the growing number of people who lack health insurance, hoping to encourage a national solution.
Angela Pollatos of Washington Heights in northern Manhattan is typical of those who have lost insurance in the last five years. Her husband is a painter, working for a midsize company, who made $30,000 last year. His company does not offer health insurance.
Three years ago, when Mrs. Pollatos was working, the family bought private insurance through a government-subsidized program. But the premiums were rising quickly, and when Mrs. Pollatos stopped working after the birth of a son, the family could no longer afford the program.  Mrs. Pollatos has tried to buy insurance, but has been discouraged by the cost: $500 a month for the cheapest family plans. She found free coverage for her 2-year-old son at a health maintenance organization, the Bronx Health Plan, through a state program that offers insurance to cover outpatient care for children of the working poor.
But she had close to $3,000 in medical bills after she suffered an ectopic pregnancy last year. Her husband, who lives with chronic pain in his shoulder, cannot afford a scan that might determine the cause. Patients without insurance coverage tend to delay care so that minor illnesses fester, becoming more serious problems, health experts say.
"We try to put a little money away each month in case for God's sake something happens," Mrs. Pollatos said. "Then your stomach hurts and you go to the doctor and you use it all up."
Mr. Green's report, "Who Are New York City's Uninsured?" contains this information:
*Fewer than half of New York City residents now have private insurance, down from almost 60 percent five years ago.
*The proportion of children who have no medical insurance rose to almost 20 percent in 1995, up from 14 percent in 1990, despite new state programs to subsidize insurance for children.
*About 22 percent of the uninsured work for companies of more than 1,000 employees, contradicting the conventional wisdom that large companies usually offer comprehensive benefits.
*Forty-one percent of men and 28.4 percent of women between 18 and 34 were uninsured in 1995. People in this age group are the most likely to be uninsured.
Having failed at systemwide reform, Mr. Clinton has had to settle for piecemeal change. Last August, Congress passed legislation that allows workers to keep their health insurance if they lose or change jobs, and forbids insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Statistics in the Green report predate this legislation, but health experts doubt that these provisions will reverse a quickly growing trend.
Many say that the situation could worsen in the short term, since many states, including New York, are trying to trim Medicaid rolls.
Doctors who run primary care clinics say that since the failure of the Clinton health plan, the trend has been in one direction: growth in the number of uninsured.
At the Covenant House medical clinic in midtown Manhattan, doctors say they are suddenly treating patients from working-class families, in addition to their usual patients, poor homeless teen-agers. The doctors say that when they advertised their free medical clinic on the subways last spring, they were overwhelmed by the response.
"We are seeing college kids who live at home but were off the family budget, who saw the ad on their way to C.C.N.Y. and have no other access to health care," said Bruce J. Henry, the executive director of Covenant House. "We are seeing kids falling through the cracks all across the spectrum."

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GRAPHIC: Graph: "KEEPING TRACK: The Growing Uninsured" shows the number of New York City residents who are uninsured, have public insurance and have private insurance from 1993 to 1995 and shows uninsured New York City residents below age 65, by income. (Source: Office of the Public Advocate)(pg. B2)      

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February 26, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Remember the Neediest

SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 1; Editorial Desk

LENGTH: 313 words

A family burned out of its home is given help to avoid living in the street. A single mother receives money for food and shelter so that her child does not have to go into foster care. A onetime drug addict receives money for clothing so he can train for a job. These and other stories have stirred readers to respond generously to The New York Times Neediest Cases appeal for 1996-97, which ends Friday.
At a time when New York City is experiencing an economic boom, pressures on the city's most vulnerable people -- the sick, the elderly and the poor -- are greater than ever. In part that is because longstanding government programs like food stamps and disability payments are being cut back. The seven social-service agencies that receive contributions from the Neediest Cases Fund are finding it tougher to fulfill their mandates. 
 As of yesterday, the Neediest Cases Fund had received contributions this year of $4,690,188.96, much more than last year but still short of the record $5 million received in 1992. Along with contributions from celebrities and people of means have come extraordinary gifts from schoolchildren who contribute their allowances and from families who have suffered themselves and want to give others the chance they were given in a moment of crisis.
There is still time to contribute. Though this year's drive is ending, the institutions that receive the money operate year round and can receive gifts anytime. Any money received by The Times after Friday will go into next year's drive. All gifts go directly to help people in need. No money is kept to pay for administration or solicitation by agencies the fund supports. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Checks should be made payable to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 5193, General Post Office, New York, N.Y. 10087.

LOAD-DATE: February 26, 1997

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February 27, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
ROSENTHAL, ALEXANDER E.

SECTION: Section B; Page 10; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 157 words

ROSENTHAL - Alexander E. Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute notes with profound sorrow the passing of friend and benefactor Alexander E. Rosenthal on Tuesday, February 25. Recently named an honorary president, Alexander Rosenthal was involved with the center for half a century. He was president of the facility from 1972 to 1976 and served on many committees including chairing the Investment Committee, co-chairing the Nominations Committee, treasurer of the Daughters of Miriam Foundation, senior vice president of the Brawer Building Association and a member of the Executive and Development Committees. A dedicated champion of the aged and steadfast supporter of the center, Alexander Rosenthal leaves a legacy of years of service to the elderly of the Jewish community. The Board of Trustees & the entire Daughters of Miriam family extend their most heartfelt condolences to Lorraine, Richard and his grandchildren.

LOAD-DATE: February 28, 1997

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March 1, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Doctors Assert There Are Too Many of Them

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR  

SECTION: Section 1;  Page 9;  Column 4;  National Desk  

LENGTH: 682 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 28

The American Medical Association and representatives of the nation's medical schools said today that the United States was training far too many doctors and that the number should be cut by at least 20 percent.
"The United States is on the verge of a serious oversupply of physicians," the A.M.A. and five other medical groups said in a joint statement. "The current rate of physician supply -- the number of physicians entering the work force each year -- is clearly excessive." 
 The groups, representing a large segment of the medical establishment, proposed limits on the number of doctors who enter training programs as residents each year.
The number of medical residents, now 25,000, should be much lower, the groups said. While they did not endorse a specific number, they suggested that 18,700 might be appropriate.
In the statement, the groups acknowledged that many inner-city neighborhoods and rural areas had too few doctors. But they said this would not be helped by increasing the overall supply of doctors.
Dr. Jordan J. Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, said: "Simply continuing to flood the country with excess physicians, the vast majority of whom wind up in suburbia, will not do."
The groups said the Federal Government should address that problem by providing financial incentives for medical schools to train doctors in inner cities and rural areas, and should encourage new doctors to practice in those places.
And to achieve the goal of reducing the overall number of residents, they said, the Federal Government should limit the amount it spends on training doctors. Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, subsidizes such training through special payments of more than $7 billion a year to teaching hospitals.
The recommendations are a response to changes revolutionizing the health care industry. More and more Americans now receive care from health maintenance organizations and other managed-care plans, which emphasize outpatient services and the use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to help doctors. Many doctors have lost their jobs as hospitals merge and shrink under pressure from managed care.
The surplus of doctors is particularly large in New York State, which has 15 percent of the nation's medical residents but only 7 percent of the nation's population. Federal officials last week announced an experimental program under which 41 of New York's teaching hospitals will be paid to train fewer doctors.
Dr. Cohen said medical schools had been producing the same number of doctors, 17,000 a year, for more than a decade. But, he said, there has been "explosive growth in the number of entry-level positions for residents." About 8,000 of the 25,000 such positions are filled by graduates of medical schools outside the United States.
American medical schools "are already turning out an ample supply of doctors for the country's needs," but the nation imports 8,000 graduates of foreign medical schools, Dr. Cohen said. Some graduates of foreign medical schools are United States citizens, but most are citizens of India, Pakistan or the Philippines.
Dr. Cohen said Federal money should "no longer be used to support the training of foreign nationals."
Dr. William E. Jacott, a trustee of the American Medical Association, said that the new policy did not "close the door on foreign medical graduates."
Foreign-born doctors who graduate from foreign medical schools could still come to this country for training as residents. But the policy statement says, "It is important that these physicians return to their country of origin after completing graduate medical education in this country."
At a news conference, Dr. Jacott was asked whether the proposals sought to protect doctors' incomes by limiting the supply of doctors.
"That is not the agenda of this initiative," he replied. It is socially irresponsible to invest large sums in training doctors who are unlikely to find jobs practicing medicine after their training, he said.

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March 1, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

A Rational Way to Reduce the Deficit

SECTION: Section 1; Page 22; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 327 words

The Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, has bravely called for a commission to fix -- more accurately, lower -- the Government's measure of inflation, the first step toward reducing Social Security payments to the elderly and raising personal income taxes. Revising that yardstick, the Consumer Price Index, would knock perhaps $1 trillion off the deficit over 12 years and spread the burden of the budget cuts across the population.
But President Clinton and most Congressional leaders -- with the notable exception of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York -- have refused to take on the elderly and other beneficiaries of an overly generous inflation gauge until Mr. Lott made the first move. The Senate minority leader, Tom Daschle, embraced the proposal. The White House expressed lukewarm acceptance. 
 A panel of economists reported last year to Congress that the gauge was probably off by about one percentage point a year. The panel estimated that if Congress adjusted its benefit and tax schedules accordingly, it could reduce the deficit by about a third, or $60 billion, by 2002. The correction would reduce Social Security benefits by an average of $100 next year, and raise taxes by about the same amount for a family earning $50,000.
To fix the problem, Congress need not tamper with the actual computation of the index, which is produced by a professional, nonpartisan staff at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Instead it could forthrightly acknowledge that the official measure is exaggerated, that a reliable measure is not yet available and that it will make a reasonable correction for the purposes of adjusting Federal spending and tax programs. But because the exact size of the correction is uncertain, Congress should exempt disability benefits and other payments to the poor.
Adjusting the Consumer Price Index is a better way to balance the budget than big cuts to public investments and other valuable Federal programs.

LOAD-DATE: March 1, 1997

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March 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Q. & A.

SECTION: Section 9; Page 8; Column 6; Real Estate Desk

LENGTH: 564 words


Apartment Succession Rules
 
Q What are the regulations concerning rent-stabilized apartments and family members? I have lived in the same apartment for 22 years. There is a possibility that I may be going away to school for nine months out of the year but spending summers in New York. My mother recently moved in with me. If I have to leave New York City, can her name be put onto the lease in addition to mine? Also, what are the limits to subletting a rent-stabilized apartment? . . . Gerry Visco Capello, Manhattan.
 
A Sherwin Belkin, a Manhattan lawyer who specializes in landlord-tenant matters, said that a landlord of a rent-stabilized apartment is under no obligation to add a name to a lease. However, Mr. Belkin said, a family member living with a rent-stabilized tenant can often succeed to the tenant's apartment if the tenant dies or permanently vacates the apartment.
Generally, he said, for that to happen the family member must have resided in the apartment with the original tenant for at least two years.  In the case of family members who are 62 and older, and those who are disabled, the time period is reduced to one year. 
 But since it appears that the letter-writer's absence from the apartment will be on a temporary basis, Mr. Belkin said, succession rights would not be triggered.
With regard to subletting, Mr. Belkin said, the state's real property law allows a tenant to ask for a landlord's permission to sublet an apartment for up to two out of every four years. By law, Mr. Belkin said, a landlord cannot unreasonably withhold such permission.
However, he said, in the case of a rent-stabilized tenant, the tenant must be able to establish that the apartment being sublet is his or her primary residence and that it will once again become the primary residence at the end of the sublet term.
 
Guidelines for Scrie
 
Q Could you please sum up the main guidelines for applying for the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption (Scrie) program? Please include specifics regarding eligible age, qualifying income and any other pertinent factors. . . . Mary Cameron, Manhattan.

A The Scrie program exempts qualified tenants in rent-controlled, rent-stabilized, Mitchell-Lama and hotel housing in New York City from certain rent increases. Generally, the program covers maximum base rent increases, fuel pass-alongs, landlord hardships, lease renewal increases and increases attributable to major capital improvements. (Landlords are reimbursed through property tax abatements from the New York City Department of Finance.)
As of Jan. 10, 53,950 households were participating in the program.
To be eligible for Scrie, the head of the household must be 62 or older. Total household income -- after taxes and court-ordered support payments -- cannot exceed $20,000, and the monthly rent must be at least a third of the net monthly income.  Also, rent-stabilized tenants must have a valid one- or two-year lease.
Applications for the program may be obtained by writing to the New York City Department for the Aging, 2 Lafayette Street, 6th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10007. The telephone number is (212) 442-1000. Generally, it takes about 10 days for the department to issue an acknowledgment and reference number after an application is received. The total time required for approval of an application is about 60 days.

LOAD-DATE: March 2, 1997

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TYPE: Question

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March 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Whatever Went Wrong With Amy?

BYLINE: By BILL RYAN 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 1; Column 2; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1250 words

IN a way, Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan might be considered a pioneer in health care in Connecticut. In the early part of this century, Mrs. Gilligan operated a home "for elderly people and chronic invalids," in the town of Windsor. She offered some enticements for living there: Most of her clients were elderly men and they could get lifetime care simply by signing over their life insurance policies to her or by giving her $1,000, a healthy amount of money at the time, when they checked in. In 1916, however, Mrs. Gilligan was arrested. State police, after an investigation, concluded that she had shortened the lives of up to two dozen or so men by poisoning them with arsenic. One of them was Michael W. Gilligan, her second husband. The union had lasted three months when Mr. Gilligan turned up dead. The arrest of Mrs. Gilligan and her trial in 1917, after many bodies had been exhumed, rocked the state; there were headlines that would do credit to today's tabloids: "Police Believe Archer Home for Aged a Murder Factory," screamed The Hartford Courant's Page 1 on the morning of May 9, 1916, the day after Mrs. Gilligan was arrested. It set the tone.
Mrs. Gilligan, a prim woman approaching her mid-40's, was tried for one murder only, at the discretion of the state's attorney. She was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. 
 But the verdict was eventually reversed on a technicality and during a second trial she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. She was incarcerated at the state prison, then a grim old fortress near Wethersfield Cove that normally housed only men. Subsequently Mrs. Gilligan was certified as insane and spent her final years at the state mental hospital in Middletown. In 1962 she died there at the age of 89, having outlived nearly everyone involved in the case. But her story has never died.
For more than eight decades of this century, it has never been totally out of the public consciousness for a couple of reasons. The first is the macabre nature of the case itself, inspiring its retelling in various publications from time to time.
The other is that it was also the inspiration for -- of all things -- a stage comedy. Many people know of Amy Gilligan, although perhaps not by name.
In the late 1930's, a New Yorker named Joseph Kesselring, who had read about the Gilligan case as a boy, decided to write a play about it. He journeyed to Connecticut to talk to the people involved and to study court records. The result was "Arsenic and Old Lace," the Amy Gilligan story with a lot of poetic license by Mr. Kesselring.
He transformed Amy into a pair of Brooklyn spinsters, Abby and Martha Brewster, who took to murdering elderly gentlemen by giving them elderberry wine spiced with arsenic and then burying them in the cellar. The cast of characters included an equally dotty brother, Teddy, who thought he was Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill, forever yelling "CHARGE!" and running up the stairs, and two nephews, the sane Mortimer and the homicidal Jonathan.
The play opened on Broadway early in 1941 and stayed there for three years, allowing people a pleasant few hours' escape from the real homicide en masse going on in World War II. The stage run was followed by a Frank Capra movie, starring Cary Grant as Mortimer, that also was a big commercial success.
Both the stage play and movie have lived on healthily since, the play in countless productions varying from high school drama clubs to a successful revival on Broadway in 1986, the movie on video cassette.
One new bit of evidence for the abiding interest in the Amy Gilligan story is a book to be published this spring by Rainbow Press in Torrington.
It is called "Chronicles of Milton: Village Left Behind by Time." Milton is a section of the town of Litchfield and the book has been written by a dozen members of the Milton Woman's Club, some of whom once attended a one-room schoolhouse in the village. Each has written one chapter, in a cooperative effort to detail the history of the village from 1740 and tell about some of the more fascinating people who have lived there.
One of the latter was Amy Duggan.
The Duggan family, says one club member, lived on Saw Mill Road, in a house that still stands. One of Amy Duggan's sisters was an invalid, because of a jump or fall from a second floor window. There was a brother who would stand in front of a mirror all day, playing the violin.
As Hazel W. Perret, one of the authors. put it, Amy Duggan, and her eventual infamy, is only one small part of the book. "And the rest of it is very good." Conversely, she will admit that a bit of sensationalism doesn't hurt to sell some copies.
Not that the club needs much help. It is paying Pioneer Press to run off 500 copies, 200 of which have been sold in advance, Mrs. Perret said.
In Windsor, 40 miles from Litchfield, interest in Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan continues.
"We get a lot of queries, particularly from students," said Laura Kahkonen, director of the Windsor Public Library. Some people ask about the old home for the aged, she said, and then go to check it out.
There it still sits, on a pleasant street called Prospect, just off the center of town, a three-story brick structure with little ornamentation. Today it contains three apartments, its lurid past put behind it.
At the Windsor Historical Society, people drop in to check the file on Amy Gilligan, said Connie Thomas, a staff member. Many visitors also want to watch a video cassette of a television pilot called "Local Legends." The story of Amy Gilligan was shot in 1991 by an independent production company as one of the initial offerings for the series, but the series was never sold.
On one recent day, Ruth Bonito, who is active in the historical society of the nearby town of Windsor Locks, was at the Windsor society, checking out the Gilligan file and advancing a theory not often heard about the old case.
She believes that Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan, a woman vilified for most of this century, just might have been innocent.
As far as she can determine, Mrs. Bonito said, all the evidence against Mrs. Gilligan was circumstantial. She did buy arsenic but said it was to control rats at her home. She never confessed to any crimes. The home she ran did have a high death rate, but that didn't prove the men who lived there were poisoned.
Besides, said Mrs. Bonito, Mrs. Gilligan was a church-going woman who donated a stained-glass window to a Windsor church. Is this the kind of woman who systematically murders people with arsenic?
And then, Mrs. Bonito added, there is even some question about the post-exhumation arsenic found. Mrs. Bonito said she has been informed by Connecticut's state archeologist, Nicholas Bellantoni, that arsenic was once used extensively by American embalmers. Could that explain the arsenic found in the bodies from Mrs. Gilligan's home?
"I had heard the story of Amy Gilligan for years and I never doubted it until now," said Mrs. Bonito.
Dr. Bellantoni confirms that arsenic was indeed widely used for embalming, from the Civil War to about 1910 and cites a recent publication of the Interior Department that warns that elevated levels of arsenic near old cemeteries is only now beginning to emerge. However, Dr. Bellantoni says he is not sure that those facts can be connected to the Gilligan case.
One thing is sure however. Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan does have a certain fascination.

LOAD-DATE: March 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Hartford Courant photo of Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan, above right, at time of her arrest in 1916; eventually she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Above, the house in Windsor where her elderly boarders died. Top, a playbill for "Arsenic and Old Lace." (Photographs by Helen Neafsey for The New York Times)

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March 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Donation of Property for Housing Is Withdrawn

BYLINE: By MERRI ROSENBERG 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 4; Column 3; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 606 words

DATELINE: IRVINGTON

A DONATED half-acre parcel of property, which had been intended for a 14-unit affordable-housing town house project here, was recently withdrawn by its owners, the Immaculate Conception Church.
Instead of providing housing for elderly residents, municipal workers, volunteer firefighters and ambulance corps workers, the land will now be used for a playground and parking lot for the church's school. 
 While reaction here has been muted, the village's Mayor, Dennis P. Flood, said, "We've contacted just about everybody who has been involved with this project, and at this point in time, no one has come up with an alternative." Mr. Flood, along with other village officials, had been working on the affordable-housing plan for the last four years.
"We're disappointed," he said. "We put so much time and effort into it, and we're very disheartened. Everybody seemed to be on board, and when you put so much time and effort into something like this, it just hurts. The reaction from the community has not been what I had hoped. People seem to be silently disappointed, but there have been no outcries."
A former village resident, James Dinan, bought the property from the Catholic Archdiocese of New York in 1988. He decided to donate the land to the village for a project to benefit the community, like affordable housing. When Mr. Dinan, who has since moved out of state, offered the land to the village last year, the village declined because of liability reasons. Mr. Dinan then donated the land to the church. Although the Rev. Raymond Byrne, the pastor at Immaculate Conception Church, had agreed in a letter dated Feb. 22, 1996, to give the village 18 months to develop the affordable-housing project, last November Father Byrne told the village that the church would be using the land.
"The reasons given were that the church needed more parking and needed to expand its school playground," said Stephen McCabe, Village Administrator. Despite the apparent thwarting of the donor's original intention, Mr. McCabe said, "The Village Board is determined not to go forward with litigation."
Father Byrne, however, sees the situation differently. "Affordable housing was my idea," he said. "When the parishioner came to me and asked what should be done with the land, I told him to donate it for affordable housing. However, my ideas of affordable housing are different from other people's ideas of affordable housing. I'd like to provide housing for the working poor, but the village didn't seem interested in that. These proposed units were going to be two-bedroom units at $100,000 to $125,000.
"And the village didn't move on this for almost five years, and in that time, my needs have changed," he continued. "I need a safe place for my children to play, and I need more parking since the parish has grown tremendously."
The project's demise highlights some of the pitfalls and obstacles that continue to plague the development of affordable-housing projects in the county.
"The village of Irvington, to its credit, has engaged in efforts to develop affordable housing," said George E. Raymond, chairman of the County Housing Opportunity Commission. "This only shows how difficult it is to bring about affordable housing to Westchester County. Here you seemed to have all favorable conditions -- donated land, a total commitment by the Village Board -- and it still didn't happen. I hope the reasons for which the church has decided to thwart the village's efforts are sufficiently important to justify denying people who have been waiting years for these affordable housing units."   MERRI ROSENBERG

LOAD-DATE: March 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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March 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Other Mexican Drug Trade;
Pill-Popping Deals by Prescription

BYLINE: By ALLEN R. MYERSON 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 3; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 929 words

DATELINE: NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico

AS more reports of corrupt dealings between narcotics traffickers and top Mexican officials emerged last week, another, more open form of drug dealing continued to flourish along the border here.
On a street steps away from the bridge linking this city's downtown with Laredo, Texas, up a narrow flight of stairs with exposed wiring leading to a bare bulb, was a doctor's office to which a visitor had been referred by a pharmacy around the corner. 
 "Valium?" said a woman in a white doctor's jacket, who didn't seem at all to be the physician named Horacio whose name appeared on her prescription forms. The visitor confirmed his request with a nod.
She filled out two forms, one for the drugstore, one for United States Customs. "Ten dollars, please," she said.
She changed a twenty. Was she a doctor too, or perhaps a nurse? "The doctor's assistant," she said.
Back on the street, half a dozen drugstores could be found nearby during a three-minute stroll, along with several more doctors' offices, at the ready to dispense prescriptions for American customers.
They are outlets in the other, less-publicized Mexican-American drug trade. American retirees and pill-popping youths have becomes mules of a sort in a market with some of the same dynamics as the violent trade in illicit drugs. There is robust demand on the American side, cheap and ample supply on the Mexican and a casual regard for legal niceties.
Though nobody keeps precise records, one recent study estimated that visitors legally brought back about 4 million Valium tablets through Laredo alone in a one-year period, along with large quantities of drugs like Halcion, Ritalin and Percodan. Law enforcement officials say that while some customers buy just for themselves, others go across day after day, stocking up on pills for pennies to resell illegally for $5 each back home.
 
Young and Old

Traditionally, the buyers have been ailing elderly Americans whose Medicare insurance doesn't cover drugs and who can afford essential medicines only at Mexican prices. They sometimes ride buses for 14 hours or more each way, from as far away as Louisiana. Increasingly, however, the customers are hard-partying, drug-dealing youths in their own cars.
Jose A. Garcia, a top Customs Service official in Laredo, said inspectors are nearly weaponless against such young buyers in what he calls the "pill war." Especially on weekends, swarms return from trips to Nuevo Laredo with 90-day supplies (the legal maximum) of drugs like Valium, each brandishing the Mexican doctor's prescription needed to make the purchase legal.
"Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah -- you can't touch me," he said, loudly mimicking their attitude. "They look you right in the eye and say, 'I'm 19 years old and I have had a nervous breakdown.' "
By now, Mr. Garcia looked like he needed some Valium himself. "There's nothing I can do," he said.
Mexico has long been a destination for Americans seeking pleasures harder to obtain back home. Nuevo Laredo has a red-light "zona de tolerancia" and the old Cadillac Bar (albeit renamed in an ownership feud), a dusky refuge dating back to Prohibition.
 
Growth Industry

In border towns like this, however, the hawking of pharmaceuticals to Americans has become the growth industry, the more so since the peso's crash two years ago made drugs even cheaper for those with dollars.
At Benavides Pharmacy in Nuevo Laredo, 90 Valium tablets come to $9.58. At a chain drugstore in Dallas, the same supply would cost $68.57. Fifty tablets of Zantac, the ulcer medication, costs $73.59 in the United States with a prescription, but only $23.74 in Mexico, no prescription needed.
Explaining lower prices south of the border, drug companies point to lower production costs in Mexico, adding that they have to recoup research and development expenses in the more lucrative United States market. Many critics say these costs are overstated.
Under Mexican regulations, all but mood-altering drugs are generally available without a prescription. And new, experimental and even doubtful drugs are approved more readily than they are in the United States.
Decades ago, American cancer patients come south of the border for sham treatments like Laetrile. In the late 1980's, AIDS victims came to buy promising drugs that the Food and Drug Administration was slow to approve. Since then, the agency has speeded its approvals; the most advanced drugs are now available only in the United States.
Three years ago, several American pharmacists' associations, smarting from their Mexican competition and eager to denigrate it, hired scholars from the University of Texas College of Pharmacy to study Customs declarations at Laredo.
The 14 drugs most often purchased through the year ended June 1995 were all what the United States somewhat vainly calls controlled substances. Valium was the most popular, followed by Rohypnol, or "roofies" -- a powerful anxiety-relief medication used in the commission of so many "date rapes" that the Drug Enforcement Administration banned the tablets a year ago.
More than 60 percent of the buyers were men, median age 24.
With such traffic growing over the last few years, Texas has been applying its own laws banning controlled substances not prescribed by a doctor licensed in the state. So those who clear the Feds at the border can still be pulled over and arrested by state troopers.
As Sgt. Charles A. Haight of the Texas Highway Patrol, put it, "It's not grandma and grandpa getting their heart medicine out here."

LOAD-DATE: March 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Prescription drugs are cheap and easily obtainable at stores in Mexican border towns like Nuevo Laredo. (J. Michael Short for The New York Times)

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March 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

U.N. Workers Leave City As the Rebels Gain in Zaire

BYLINE: By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

SECTION: Section 1; Page 4; Column 1; Foreign Desk

LENGTH: 607 words

DATELINE: NAIROBI, Kenya, March 1

The United Nations has evacuated all foreign aid workers from the eastern Zairian city of Kisangani, leaving thousands of Rwandan refugees to an uncertain fate, United Nations officials said today.
The move came one day after the United Nations Secretary General called for an international peacekeeping force in eastern Zaire. 
 United Nations officials said aid workers had been pulled out because the increasingly feeble Zairian Government could no longer guarantee their security in Kisangani, a strategically important city on the Congo River that rebel forces have been trying to capture.
The evacuation set back the United Nations' effort to save between 100,000 and 200,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees in the region from disease and starvation. Kisangani is the headquarters for the relief operation that has been flying food to the refugees.
"This is almost a catastrophic blow to the whole aid effort in the east," said Peter Kessler, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency.
Kisangani is also the nerve center of the Zairian Army's operations against the rebels. In the last month, the army's counteroffensive has sputtered to a standstill, while the rebels have continued to advance on several fronts.
There were unconfirmed reports today that the rebels had taken Kindu, a transportation hub on the Lualaba River about 250 miles south of Kisangani.
With rumors circulating in Kisangani that the rebels were pressing close to that city as well, tensions have been running high, aid officials said. United Nations officials said they feared that panicking Zairian soldiers would loot aid organizations and attack relief workers while retreating, as they did in Goma and Bukavu when the rebels took those cities last fall.
"If we have learned anything in this past year, it's that aid workers working in insecure areas are not only vulnerable to the circumstances around them, but can even be targeted in these situations," said Michele Quintaglie, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program.
Ms. Quintaglie said 57 relief workers were flown out of Kisangani today.
On Friday, aid workers had retreated to Kisangani from the two main refugee camps near the village of Tingi Tingi, 140 miles to the southeast, where Hutu refugees have been bivouacked in squalid conditions for weeks. The aid workers withdrew from Tingi Tingi because refugee leaders passed on rumors that the camps were about to be attacked by the rebels, missionaries and aid officials said.
By Friday evening, thousands of refugees were packing their belongings and beginning to move away from the camps, though it was unclear where they were going, United Nations officials said.
The refugees, mostly Hutu who fled Rwanda in 1994 to escape a Tutsi rebel army, are not all innocent victims of war, complicating efforts to help them.
Although the camps contain thousands of malnourished children, women and elderly people who are at risk of dying if relief is cut off, the refugees also also include tens of thousands of former Rwandan soldiers and militiamen who took part in massacres of Tutsi in Rwanda and have been fighting on the side of the Zairian Army against the rebels.
In the last two weeks, the Zairian Government has armed these groups, flying in planeloads of weapons to the camps as part of an effort to check the rebel advance.
The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, said on Friday that the United Nations should reconsider its decision not to send in a multinational force to extricate the refugees and deliver food. The idea was dropped in December after more than 600,000 refugees returned to Rwanda.

LOAD-DATE: March 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Map showing the location of Kisangani, Zaire: The United Nations has pulled its aid workers out of Kisangani.

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March 3, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER REVIEW;
He's an Errant Husband, So She Has a Face Lift

BYLINE: By PETER MARKS 

SECTION: Section C; Page 14; Column 3; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 825 words

Too fat, too passive, too wrinkled. The older women in Peter Hedges's movies and plays are neurotics disfigured in their quest for male approval. In "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," a 1993 movie written by Mr. Hedges based on his own novel, Gilbert's mother balloons to 500 pounds after her husband abandons her. In "Imagining Brad," his 1990 surreal stage comedy, a Nashville Stepford wife, beaten black and blue by her husband, comes to believe the only trustworthy man is one without fists.
In his scattershot new work, "Good as New," which opened last night at the MCC Theater on West 28th Street, an aging, enlightened woman of the 90's, pretty certain that her husband is unfaithful, decides her only recourse is to go under the knife. Jan, played by the sad-eyed Laura Esterman, has the skin on her face tightened and lifted, "like a bedsheet," in the words of her disgusted 16-year-old daughter, Maggie (Jennifer Dundas). 
 As far as Jan is concerned, the nip and tuck is as much a rite of passage as the change of life. Driving home with Maggie from the hospital, Jan, bruised and bandaged, rationalizes her decision, reciting a list of the famous women over 50 who have been surgically transformed: the sisterhood of the operating room. "Look," she explains, "I didn't like my situation, and I did something about it. I changed it."
Ms. Esterman is so sure-footed in her portrayals of women trampled by the stampede of life. Her superb work as the homebody Bessie in the stage version of "Marvin's Room" and as the mercy-killing daughter in last season's "Curtains" are prime examples. She does a variation here on the good-hearted martyr. Jan's no saint. (She, too, has "wandered," as her husband, Dennis, played by John Spencer, patly couches his acts of sexual betrayal.) But she has never abandoned her 60's idealism, devoting herself to worthy causes like Amnesty International and the equal rights amendment. She even gets Christmas cards from Gloria Steinem.
Still, it isn't Dennis who has let Jan down as much as Mr. Hedges. After a promising start, "Good as New" wanders aimlessly through a mushy swamp of dysfunctional-family issues. Jan's predicament -- first she wanted to change the world; now she settles for changing her face -- is by far the evening's most intriguing. But it is forced to compete with the more tiresome problems of Dennis, a lawyer of waning energy lost in nostalgia for his one shining argument before the United States Supreme Court, and of Maggie, a whining teen-ager whose chief grievance is that her friends think her parents are cool.
As a playwright, Mr. Hedges is a kind of family practitioner, and "Good as New" is filled with acutely observed household behavior, which is capably drawn from the actors by the director, Brian Mertes. Ms. Esterman and Mr. Spencer have down the body language of partners in a decaying marriage who pace the same floors but are no longer in step. Mr. Spencer, who played a hard-boiled New York-style defense lawyer on "L.A. Law" for several seasons, provides an incisive accounting of a disaffected spouse who still has the decency to tread lightly around his wife.
The behavior, however, gives no clue as to what has gone wrong in this family. The characters remain opaque. Mr. Hedges spends so much time airing complaints, heaping problem upon problem, that there's no psychic payoff in the final escalation, when Maggie obnoxiously taunts her shellshocked parents with a tattoo on her backside and an intimation of precocious sex.
The shrill, unappealing Maggie is a tough role for any actress. The talented Ms. Dundas ("Arcadia") has a particular credibility problem here. She may have a baby face, but it's clear that she has a woman's figure. (She is, in fact, 26.) She's simply too old to be playing not-so-sweet 16 believably.
Ms. Esterman, too, has an uphill struggle. Although she came late to the production, replacing Mercedes Ruehl, the difficulty is not preparation. Jan seems underwritten. There's a lot about the character's plight, a woman of intelligence and accomplishment resorting to a painful cosmetic overhaul because her husband is straying, that is left unexplored in this play. In the pantheon of Mr. Hedges's mutilated women, Jan, in a sense, doesn't get the face time she deserves.
 
GOOD AS NEW
By Peter Hedges; directed by Brian Mertes; production stage manager, David Sugarman; sets by Rob Odorisio; costumes by Sharon Sprague; lighting by Blake Burba; music and sound by David Van Tieghem; properties and dressing, Jeffrey Wallach; makeup artist, Helen Gallagher; production supervisor, Ira Mont; production manager, Bernadette McGay. Presented by MCC Theater, Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey, executive directors; W. D. Cantler, associate director; Lynne McCreary, administrative director. At 120 West 28th Street, Chelsea.

WITH: Jennifer Dundas (Maggie), John Spencer (Dennis) and Laura Esterman (Jan).

LOAD-DATE: March 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Laura Esterman as Jan, after her face lift, in "Good as New." (Joan Marcus/"Good as New")
 

TYPE: Review

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March 4, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Gene Discovery May Lead to Test for Devastating Eye Disorder

BYLINE: By DENISE GRADY 

SECTION: Section C; Page 3; Column 1; Science Desk 

LENGTH: 1240 words

WHEN people first meet him, John Kebodeaux says, most do not notice anything unusual.  But after a few minutes, some notice that he seems to be gazing past them, and they start glancing back over their shoulders, trying to see what he is looking at.
If he catches them fidgeting, Mr. Kebodeaux, a personable 19-year-old, will try to put them at ease by explaining that he is legally blind. He sees light, some color and the broad outlines of things, but little detail: the shape of a person, but not the face. Much of his central vision is gone, meaning that if he looks straight at an object, he cannot really see it. What remains of his eyesight is essentially his peripheral vision, which he makes the most of by swiveling his head so that he can look at things, and people, out of the corners of his eyes. 
 Ten years ago, Mr. Kebodeaux and his mother learned that he had a rare genetic disorder, Stargardt disease, which affects about 25,000 Americans. It is a progressive degeneration of the retina, the layer of light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. More specifically, the disease attacks the macula, the few square millimeters of cells in the center of the retina that are responsible for central vision. There is no treatment for it. Damage to the macula destroys not just the ability to look straight ahead, but also to see details, to read, to drive, to recognize faces and to cross the street safely.
With the help of Mr. Kebodeaux and others who have Stargardt disease, a team of researchers from four institutions has identified the gene that causes the disorder. The discovery, reported in the March issue of the journal Nature Genetics, will make it possible to offer a blood test for the disease, simplifying a diagnosis that can be hard to pin down. In addition, for children known to be at risk (usually because a sibling has already been affected), the test will also predict whether they, too, will lose their eyesight -- a bleak forecast that some families may choose not to seek.
Finding the gene also has implications that extend beyond Stargardt disease. The scientists think their discoveries may also improve the understanding of a far more common eye disease, age-related macular degeneration.
Stargardt disease is a type of macular degeneration, but it strikes children and young adults, whereas the age-related form affects older people, usually those over 60. About 1.7 million elderly Americans have severe vision loss or blindness from advanced macular degeneration, and another 11 million show signs of earlier stages of the disease. The cause of the age-related form is unknown, but it does run in some families, suggesting that heredity plays a role. There is no treatment, though laser treatments can sometimes slow the progression.
Although Stargardt disease is not identical to age-related macular degeneration, "it is the closest approximation," said Dr. James Lupski, an author of the paper, who is a professor of pediatrics and molecular and human genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
The hunt for the gene began 10 years ago at Baylor, when Dr. Richard Lewis, Mr. Kebodeaux's ophthalmologist and a specialist at Baylor in hereditary diseases of the retina, began to collect blood samples from families with Stargardt disease. It was already known that Stargardt is caused by a recessive gene.
Because most human traits are determined by a pair of genes, one from each parent, people affected by a recessive trait like Stargardt disease must have inherited copies of a defective gene from both parents. The parents, who carry just one copy themselves, are normal.
The Baylor researchers, working with Dr. Mark Leppert, a geneticist at the University of Utah, began searching for genetic markers, distinctive stretches of DNA that would occur only in patients and carriers and that would act as signposts to the actual gene. In 1993, a French group edged ahead of them, by mapping the gene to a region on chromosome No. 1 (there are 23 pairs in humans).
Subsequent studies at Baylor and Utah pinpointed the gene even further, and then, last fall, a third team joined the hunt, when Dr. Michael Dean, of the National Cancer Institute, called Dr. Leppert.
"He said, 'Hey, I've got a gene for you,' " Dr. Leppert recalled. A gene that Dr. Dean and a colleague, Dr. Rando Allikmets, had been studying, mapped to the precise location that the Baylor and Utah groups had described as the site of the Stargardt gene. Moreover, Dr. Dean said, the gene was expressed, or active, only in the retina.
"It turned out to be an absolute, ground-zero, dead-square hit," Dr. Lewis said.
The gene belongs to a family of genes known as ABC transporters. They code for proteins that, bound into cell membranes, function as one-way pumps. Most are exporters, meaning that they pump a single type of molecule out of the cell.
"A quite remarkable number of genes from this family are involved in diseases," Dr. Dean said. Transporters make some tumors drug resistant by enabling cancer cells to pump out chemotherapy drugs swiftly. Similarly, they render some parasites immune to medication. In addition, the gene that causes the disease cystic fibrosis is a type of transporter.
The researchers do not know what molecule the Stargardt transporter is pumping. But what they have learned about it already has come as a surprise.
The fourth collaborator in the study, Dr. Jeremy Nathans, a molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has shown that the newly discovered gene is active in the retinal cells known as rods. And yet the devastating effects of Stargardt disease derive from its destruction of the macula, the part of the retina most densely populated not with rods, but with cone cells, which are responsible for the perception of both detail and color.
That finding has led the researchers to suggest a chain of events that may lead to Stargardt disease and age-related macular degeneration as well. First, a substance that should be pumped out of the rod cells instead builds up inside them, because of the defective transporter. Gradually, the unwanted substance makes its way into the pigment epithelium, a layer of cells underlying the rods and cones. It poisons that layer, which in turn leads to damage to the cone cells of the macula.
"If we can figure out what substance is being pumped," Dr. Dean said, "we might figure out a way to correct the condition."
Another important question that the researchers are trying to answer is whether the Stargardt gene is also linked to age-related macular degeneration. They suspect that in some cases it is, and that being a carrier, even though it does not bring on Stargardt disease, may increase the risk of the age-related disease later in life.
"There is no clue as to how age-related macular degeneration occurs," Dr. Lupski said. "Now, I think we've made a molecular entry into what may be going on."
It is not clear when or even if the genetic findings will lead to treatments for macular degeneration. For people with advanced cases of the disease, in which much of the macula has been destroyed, the damage may be irreversible.
Mr. Kebodeaux was pleased that the hunt for the gene had succeeded.  But he said: "I'm not going to sit and wait on a cure. You've got to do the best with what you've got. The research had to start somewhere, and I'm just glad to be part of it."

LOAD-DATE: March 4, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Diagram: "A New Theory of Vision Loss"
New findings on a rare genetic disorder, Stargardt disease, suggest that loss of vision may occur when a defect in photoreceptors called rods leads to accumulation of lipofusin, a compound that cells cannot digest, in nearby cells of the retinal pigment epithelium. (Source: Dr. Jeremy Nathans/Johns Hopkins University)

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March 4, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Abroad at Home;
The Clinton Mystery

BYLINE: By ANTHONY LEWIS;  A. M. Rosenthal is on vacation.

SECTION: Section A; Page 23; Column 5; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 687 words

DATELINE: BOSTON

President Clinton's fund-raising abuses are the focus of political attention these days. But for me there are far more serious questions about his substantive policies. Sleazy money will dissipate. Unprincipled policy is likely to leave its mark on the law of the United States for years to come.
Welfare is a signal example. Last August Mr. Clinton signed legislation described as welfare "reform." Its true character, not reforming but vindictive, is brought out in a devastating article by Peter Edelman in The Atlantic Monthly for March. 
 Mr. Edelman, who was an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, resigned over the welfare bill. He said little at the time. Now he has spoken out, in a voice more compelling than anger: a cool, clear analysis of the welfare law's human consequences.
A total of 11 million poor families will lose income as a result of the legislation, Mr. Edelman shows -- 10 percent of all American families. Of those, eight million are families with children.
Sponsors of the legislation said it would get people to work instead of depending on welfare. Mr. Edelman agrees with that aim. But the new law, he shows, does little to see that those who have been on welfare get jobs or are qualified to do the work. It simply ends the Federal assurance of help to needy families with children. And it puts an outside limit of five years on how long any family, however desperate, can get help.
Then, beyond welfare, the legislation makes savage cuts in food stamps for the poor, including working families. (That is a blow at the philosophy of work that the law purports to embrace.) It cuts out food stamps and other benefits for legal immigrants, many of them elderly and disabled people who have paid Social Security and other taxes for years.
Much of the legislation, indeed, has nothing to do with welfare or reform. It cuts Federal spending at the expense of the poor while leaving middle-class benefits untouched. Many provisions, Mr. Edelman says, "are just mean, with no good policy justification."
The excuse made for President Clinton when he signed the legislation was that he had to do it to win re-election. And it is true that Republicans in Congress pushed the meanest provisions, hoping to embarrass the President with his 1992 promise to "end welfare as we know it."
But Mr. Edelman demonstrates that the President had many opportunities to head off the worst. Instead he neither did nor said anything. At crucial points he just caved in.
"The Worst Thing Bill Clinton Has Done" is the title of the article in The Atlantic Monthly. I am not so sure. There is a strong argument that what he has done to civil liberties will have even more damaging consequences for American ideals.
The anti-terrorism bill and the immigration bill that he signed into law last year contain numerous provisions stripping courts of their power to hold government officials to constitutional standards. Not even in the worst days of McCarthyism did legislation so trample on individual rights. Bill Clinton has the worst civil liberties record of any President in at least 60 years.
Why has it happened? How can a man so bright have done those things to principles about which he seemed to care? People ask those questions, mystified by this President.
But it is not really a mystery. President Clinton will not stand on principle when he thinks he might be damaged politically. In the end he is interested in only one thing: his own survival.
In signing the welfare law Mr. Clinton quoted Robert Kennedy on the value of work. In April 1967 Senator Kennedy went to Mississippi to look into reports of hunger. He found children with swollen bellies and sores that would not heal. He held a child on his lap, tears running down his face. And then he fought for more food for those desperate Americans.
Robert Kennedy would never have traded off the poor of this country for transitory political advantage, or agreed to strip the courts of power to protect individual rights. In the long run, in history, Bill Clinton will pay a heavy price for doing so.

LOAD-DATE: March 4, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Op-Ed

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March 4, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton Figures On the Budget Are Questioned

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 15; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 419 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 3

The Congressional Budget Office said today that President Clinton's budget plan would leave the Government with a deficit of $69 billion in 2002, rather than a surplus of $17 billion, as Mr. Clinton asserted last month.
Most of the discrepancy is caused by the Administration's having more optimistic economic assumptions. 
 In addition, the Congressional Budget Office said that Mr. Clinton's proposals to slow the growth of Medicare would not save as much as he has predicted. The program finances health care for 38 million people who are elderly or disabled, and the conflict over it was a large factor in the stalemate between Mr. Clinton and Congress in 1995 and 1996.
Commenting on the report, Representative John R. Kasich, the Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House Budget Committee, said, "The President should submit a new budget, one that is in balance in 2002."
Representative John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, said the new figures from the budget office, especially the Medicare numbers, were disheartening.
Mr. Clinton submitted his budget on Feb. 6. The nonpartisan budget office reviews the President's plan on behalf of Congress. It often disagrees with the White House.
On Feb. 13, the director of the office, June E. O'Neill, said the Administration's plan would produce a deficit of at least $50 billion in 2002. But that estimate was based only on differences in economic assumptions. Today's estimates reflect a more detailed analysis of the substance of the President's proposals.
With no change in law, the Congressional Budget Office said, the Federal deficit would rise to $153 billion in 2002, from $107 billion last year. Mr. Clinton's proposals would cut the deficit in that year by 55 percent, the office said.
Mr. Clinton has said that his Medicare proposals would save $34.6 billion in 2002 and a total of $100 billion from 1998 through 2002. But the Congressional Budget Office said that Mr. Clinton's proposals would save $29 billion in 2002 and $82 billion over all five years.
In his budget, Mr. Clinton proposed expanding Medicare benefits and cutting payments to doctors, hospitals and other providers. The Congressional office found that the new benefits would cost more than Mr. Clinton said, while the cuts in payments to providers would save less.
Without a change in law, the office said, the deficit would rise to $121 billion next year and under Mr. Clinton's plan it would be $145 billion.

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Clinton Wants Deal With Congress on Cost-of-Living Adjustments

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 476 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 3

President Clinton gave his aides the go-ahead today to try to forge a deal with Congress to reduce cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and other benefit programs, White House officials said.
The officials said the Administration had not decided on a specific proposal but would start consulting on Tuesday with members of Congress from both parties, as well as with outside economists, to find a bipartisan way of dealing with the issue, which could determine the success of efforts to balance the budget. 
 The decision is the Administration's response to a call last week from Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican majority leader, for a commission of experts to make a binding judgment on how big the cost-of-living adjustment should be each year for Social Security and other programs.
Although it does not irrevocably commit the Administration to backing a politically explosive effort to reduce increases in Social Security, the decision is the first overt sign that Mr. Clinton is willing to join Republicans in taking the inevitable heat over the issue from powerful constituencies like the elderly.
The officials said the Administration would float several ideas, including the creation of a commission to make nonbinding recommendations to Congress and the Administration.
They said the emphasis would be on trying to create a panel that would have technical credibility on a subject that is complex even for economists.
The Administration would prefer a panel whose members do not already have strong views on the subject so that their work did not appear rigged to find budget savings at the expense of benefit recipients.
The Government now relies on the Consumer Price Index, which most economists agree overstates inflation to some degree.
The index is used to set increases each year in Social Security and other Government benefit programs, and is also used to adjust tax brackets for the effects of inflation.
A panel of economists appointed by Congress reported last year that the index overstated increases in the cost of living by about 1.1 percentage points a year. By inflating benefit payments and decreasing tax revenue, an overstatement of that size would cost the Government tens of billions of dollars a year, money that could go a long way toward eliminating the Federal deficit.
Administration officials including Robert E. Rubin, the Treasury Secretary; Franklin D. Raines, the budget chief; Gene Sperling, the chairman of the National Economic Council, and Erskine B. Bowles, the White House chief of staff, will begin sounding out members of Congress about a deal, White House aides said.
Other officials, including Janet Yellen, the head of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Lawrence H. Summers, the Deputy Treasury Secretary, will solicit opinions from economists, they said.

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Metropolitan Diary

BYLINE: By Ron Alexander 

SECTION: Section C; Page 2; Column 4; Living Desk 

LENGTH: 547 words


DEAR DIARY:
It is a cloudy, showery afternoon on Hudson Street, below Jane Street. A visitor from Maryland emerges from a bar and automatically raises his newly purchased umbrella. Threading his way through the rush-hour pedestrians, always careful with the beaded points, he looks down to see that a very short man has popped up under his umbrella. 
 "I've got news for ya, buddy," the short man announces. "It ain't raining." And with that, he vanishes. A few more steps and the visitor sheepishly closes the umbrella.
I often tell this story when asked, "What's it like in New York?"
   THEODORE F. WATTS
 
Dear Diary:
The scene is the Rainbow Room, on the occasion of her 46th birthday. She is dressed in black, the beading on her dress picking up the lighting just so. He is elegant in pinstripes and white shirt, with antique enamel cuff links.
Doing the mambo, they reap the benefits of weeks of dance lessons. They are pleased with themselves. He turns her and turns her again. On the third turn, his wrist dips slightly and her hair becomes entwined around a cuff link. They attempt grace, gingerly returning to the table, head attached to wrist.
Martinis await their separation. They start to giggle, humor trying to overcome embarrassment. No one stares overtly, except two teen-age girls dining with their parents, whose boredom is interrupted by this live cartoon.
It will be a story they will all tell over and over again.   RUTH COHEN
 
Dear Diary:
I found myself sharing an elevator in the trendy SoHo building where I have my office with two smartly dressed women in their 30's. One was dressed and accessorized entirely in brown and the other, with similar attention to detail, entirely in red.
After a few moments Red spoke up and offered warmly, "I love your brown."
Brown, apparently flattered, responded: "Thank you. Of course, brown is this year's black."
After a very slight hesitation, Brown said, "I love your red."
Red could hardly stifle the cattiness in her rejoinder: "Yes, you know, red is this year's brown."
They settled into semi-satisfied silence.
   CHARLES GIFFORD
 
Dear Diary:
On a recent flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the plane was filled with senior citizens. Before takeoff, the flight attendant walked up and down the aisle. Holding a bottle of water and small cups, she made this announcement: "Does anyone else need to take their pills?"   BRIAN BRASH
 
Dear Diary:
While attending a recent international trade show in Frankfurt, Germany, I ran into Charlie, an American friend and client of mine. Our conversation drifted from his worldwide travels to our common Upper East Side upbringing.
"But," he said with a sigh, "I've had enough. I'm thinking of moving west."
"To California?" I queried.
"Oh, no," he replied. "I was thinking about Columbus or Broadway in the high 70's."   NANCY WOLKOW
 Observations for this column may be sent to Metropolitan Diary (The Living Section), The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York 10036. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number; upon request, names may be withheld in print. Letters become the property of The Times and cannot be returned. They may be edited, and may be republished in all media.

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Alzheimer Studies Thwarted

BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY 

SECTION: Section C; Page 10; Column 1; National Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 1256 words

EVIDENCE that taking estrogen after menopause may prevent or delay and perhaps even treat Alzheimer's disease is increasingly compelling. But it is hardly conclusive, and the precise role that estrogen may play in curbing this devastating brain disease remains uncertain.
Now, however, researchers fear that recent publicity has made it nearly impossible to conduct a proper study of estrogen's ability to protect the brain from the leading cause of dementia. 
 At a recent symposium on estrogen and Alzheimer's disease at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, researchers said that the needed clinical studies might never be completed because so many women were already convinced of benefits from estrogen and were unwilling to take part in studies that might place them on a dummy medication for years.
To define a clear role for estrogen as a preventive of Alzheimer's disease requires two or more large, long-term clinical trials like the Women's Health Initiative, in which thousands of healthy older women are randomly assigned to receive either estrogen or a look-alike placebo and are then followed for years to see who develops dementia and at what age, how severe the symptoms are and how rapidly they progress. To determine the value of treating Alzheimer's patients with estrogen, hundreds would have to be randomly assigned to receive either the hormone or a placebo for several years.
The federally financed Women's Health Initiative has had difficulty recruiting participants in a long-term prevention study intended to follow 5,000 women over 70 years old for eight years. So far, only 1,500 have agreed to take part in the 39-center study.
"Estrogen has had so much publicity that women don't want to chance being placed on placebo for eight years," said Dr. Ruth Mulnard, a nurse-researcher at the University of California at Irvine.
Treatment studies are also having recruitment problems. Dr. Lon S. Schneider, a psychiatrist at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, said: "Many Alzheimer's patients and their families and physicians think estrogen is the treatment and they don't want to try anything else. It's been really difficult to recruit patients into estrogen studies, in part because they believe it works and their doctors can prescribe it."
Yet, Dr. Caleb E. Finch, who organized the recent symposium, said: "We are still at a very early stage in the discovery process. Although estrogen is a powerful physiological molecule that appears to modify various aspects of aging in the brain, the effect is not universal."
Dr. Finch, a gerontologist and neurobiologist, noted that Jeanne Calment of Arles, France, the oldest person in the world of confirmed age, turned 122 on Feb. 21. Although she is nearly blind and deaf, he said, she is not demented. "She's a wily, witty, manipulative old lady who loves to twist questions to suit her own purposes," Dr. Finch said. "Yet she is 70 years past menopause, has had no estrogen replacement and has no sign of Alzheimer's disease."
At the moment, the only certainties are that Alzheimer's disease, which already afflicts 4.5 million Americans and costs at least $80 billion a year, will become increasingly prevalent and costly as the population ages. After the age of 65, the incidence of the disease doubles every five years and, by 85, it affects nearly half the population. Within 40 or 50 years, experts predict that 10 million Americans will have their memories and learning abilities subverted by the disease.
Even if studies proved that estrogen could keep the disease at bay, researchers would still have to establish who might be most likely to benefit from taking the hormone, what form of estrogen would be most helpful and whether men, who have a lesser risk of dementia, might also be helped by some sort of hormone replacement.
Nonetheless, professional excitement about the potential of estrogen to diminish the ravages of age on the brain is growing by leaps and bounds. Speaking of estrogen, Dr. Galen Buckwalter, a psychologist at the gerontology center, said: "The brain just lights up with this stuff." He noted that estrogen acts on cells in specific areas of the brain that are damaged by the disease and also on neurotransmitter systems -- the chemicals that transmit messages between brain cells -- that are disrupted in dementia.
Animal experiments have shown that estrogen stimulates growth of brain cell branches, which increases the connections between cells "precisely in those areas of the brain damaged in Alzheimer's disease: the regions required for verbal memory and certain kinds of learning," Dr. Finch said. Estrogen also stimulates the activity of brain cells that release a major chemical messenger, acetylcholine.
Dr. Victor Henderson, a professor of neurology at the University of Southern California, listed other potentially beneficial actions of estrogen in the brain, including its role in regulating the proteins that end up as brain-destroying plaques in Alzheimer patients and its ability to increase cerebral blood flow and the use of glucose, brain energy source.
Even in a healthy brain, estrogen can improve cognitive function, Dr. Henderson said. Dr. Buckwalter reported that "women generally perform better than men on a variety of verbal tasks" and that menstruating women "show better verbal skills during the parts of the menstrual cycle when estrogen levels are high."
In men's brains, the enzyme aromatase converts testosterone to estrogen, and, Dr. Buckwalter suggested, the fact that men do not experience a precipitous decline in testosterone in midlife may be why they are less susceptible to Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, he said, among men and women with Alzheimer's disease of equal duration, cognitive skills in men are likely to be more intact than they are in female patients who do not take estrogen. But female patients on estrogen are on a cognitive par with men.
Clues to estrogen's role in the brain have been around for nearly half a century. A placebo-controlled study in 1952 first suggested that estrogen could combat brain atrophy in Alzheimer's patients. Thirty nursing home residents with dementia were given injections of either estrogen and progesterone or a placebo for six months. Those receiving the hormones showed improvements in comprehension, memory, learning and test-taking behavior. A second treatment study in 1968 of 50 nursing home residents with dementia revealed improved performance in activities of daily living and behavior among women randomly assigned to treatment with Premarin, a mix of estrogens that is used by millions of postmenopausal women.
Most exciting to researchers and public health officials are indications from recent studies that estrogen replacement after menopause can prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Several studies that compared hundreds of Alzheimer's patients with otherwise similar but healthy women showed that those who took estrogen after menopause had a one-third to two-thirds lower risk of developing dementia. And in two of three large long-term studies, older women who took postmenopausal estrogen were 60 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
But until the completion of clinical trials in which thousands of women are randomly assigned to receive either estrogen or a placebo, researchers cannot be certain that estrogen, and not some other unrecognized factor, was responsible for the benefits observed in these studies.

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National News Briefs;
Glaucoma Link Found In Some Inhalants

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section A; Page 15; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 217 words

DATELINE: CHICAGO, March 4

Older people may raise their risk of developing glaucoma if for months at a time they take high doses of asthma inhalants that contain steroids, new research has concluded.
The study, being published on Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that eye patients in Quebec over the age of 65 were 44 percent more likely to have glaucoma or conditions that commonly precede it if they had been using such inhalants for three months or more. 
 But a co-author, Dr. Samy Suissa, an epidemiology professor at McGill University in Montreal, urged asthma patients not to stop taking their medications but instead to have their eyes checked for early signs of glaucoma.
Further, while it is well known that steroids can promote glaucoma, Dr. Harry A. Quigley, director of the Glaucoma Service and the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that this particular study had many flaws and that more research was needed to confirm a link between glaucoma and the steroids in inhalants.
One problem is that the researchers depended on insurance records rather than actual medical charts. As a result, they had no way of being sure whether glaucoma diagnoses were correct or asthma medications were actually taken.

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National News Briefs;
6 Are Accused of Fraud In Sweepstakes Scheme

BYLINE: Reuters 

SECTION: Section A; Page 15; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 135 words

DATELINE: SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March 4

Six people were charged today with cheating elderly people out of more than $1 million by leading them to believe they were winners of the Publishers' Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.
Four Massachusetts residents and two Connecticut ones were charged in Federal District Court in Springfield, Mass., with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the alleged scam, the United States Attorney for Massachusetts said. 
 The six people are alleged to have defrauded elderly residents of nine states in 1992 and 1993 by telling them they had won the grand prize of up to $10 million, but first had to pay Federal income taxes on the prize money, according to the United States Attorney's office.
Each of those deceived by the fraud sent from $20,000 to $270,000 to private mailboxes in Massachusetts and Florida.

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Doctor in Insurance Scheme Admits It Was All for Vanity

BYLINE: By JOSEPH P. FRIED

SECTION: Section B; Page 2; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 404 words

A doctor who gave his patients fuller lips and wrinkle-free skin ended up getting into trouble by making private insurers and the Federal Government pay, claiming he had performed medically necessary procedures instead.
Admitting what prosecutors called a "massive health-insurance fraud," the now-retired doctor, Leon Cantor, told a judge in Federal District Court in Brooklyn yesterday that from 1987 to early last year, "I billed various insurance companies for services I did not render." 
 "I knew these cosmetic procedures were not covered by health insurance or Medicare," he told Judge Raymond J. Dearie.
Dr. Cantor defrauded private insurance companies and Medicare out of nearly $1.5 million, investigators said. While he claimed he had performed medically necessary diagnostic procedures, all he really did, in many cases, was inject the patients with collagen to smooth out wrinkles and puff up lips, prosecutors said. In some cases, he did not perform any procedures at all.
The doctor, who practiced in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and Manhasset, L.I., before retiring last year -- because of his own health problems, his lawyer said -- faces up to three years in prison and a $3 million fine. Under a plea deal, he is required to pay back the swindled money to the insurance carriers and Medicare.
The 58-year-old former resident of East Hills, L.I., who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., was permitted to remain free on a $500,000 bond until sentencing June 13.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, later said that Dr. Cantor would likely lose his medical license, but that this would be moot because a heart condition had caused him to retire. He termed Dr. Cantor's crimes a far cry from his days as an Army surgeon during the Vietnam War, when, he said, his client had been highly decorated for rescuing wounded soldiers under enemy fire.
According to Lisa J. Klem, an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, at least 150 of Dr. Cantor's patients received cosmetic treatments in the false-billing scheme, most often injections of collagen. She said that Dr. Cantor would falsely tell insurers or, in the case of elderly patients, Medicare officials, that he had performed such procedures as bronchoscopies and laryngoscopies. She said the scheme was uncovered when Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield became suspicious of Dr. Cantor's billings and notified the F.B.I.
      

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Backlog Threatens Immigrants With Benefits Loss

BYLINE: By CELIA W. DUGGER

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 1162 words

The backlog in processing citizenship applications has grown so large that many immigrants will almost certainly lose their welfare benefits because they cannot get citizenship credentials before an August deadline, Federal immigration officials say.
The slowdown in approving the applications began late last year. Officials said then that they hoped it would be temporary, but so far it has persisted. And in recent months, the number of immigrants applying to become citizens has grown, greatly increasing the number of people in the pipeline. 
 The longer wait for citizenship could not have happened at a worse time, advocates for immigrants say. Elderly and disabled people who are not citizens are, with some exceptions, scheduled to lose their benefits in August and September as a result of a welfare law adopted last year.
 David Rosenberg, who heads the citizenship program at the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said that once an application is filed, the naturalization process now takes nine months or longer in New York City, Los Angeles and Miami, an increase from five or six months last year.
The Social Security Administration last month began notifying 544,000 aged and disabled immigrants -- 86,000 in New York City -- that they will lose their benefits in five or six months if they have not been naturalized by then.
"I'm very scared," said Salvador De Leon, a 76-year old retired carpenter from the Dominican Republic who lives alone in a rented room in Washington Heights and receives Supplemental Security Income. "I can't work because I have a weak heart and S.S.I. is my only income."
Federal officials say three factors have slowed the processing of citizenship applications: a computer system relying on obsolete software, a large increase in the volume of applicants, and more stringent, time-consuming procedures for criminal background checks.
 The panicky rush to naturalize, visible in New York City centers for the elderly where immigrants are rolling to citizenship classes in wheelchairs and filling out applications with trembling hands, has helped drive the number of citizenship seekers to a record high in recent months. From October to December, the number of people applying for citizenship rose 55 percent nationally and 96 percent in New York City compared with the same period the year before. Immigration officials expect 1.8 million people to apply this year.
In New York, the state, the city and the philanthropist George Soros's nonprofit Emma Lazarus Fund are planning to put up a total of $4 million to help immigrants apply for naturalization this year.
But the New York Immigration Coalition, an umbrella association of more than 100 groups that serve immigrants, estimates that it would cost $17 million, or $200 a person, just to provide citizenship classes and other help to the old and disabled people expected to have their benefits cut off in New York City.
Those who lose Federal Supplemental Security Income and food stamps, typically worth $600 to $650 a month in New York, could then apply for about $350 a month from a welfare program financed by the state and city. But there is now a 45-day waiting period before an applicant can qualify for aid, a delay that advocates say would leave thousands of immigrants with no income for at least a month and a half.
Social workers, doctors and others who assist this vulnerable population of immigrants say they are worried not only that the immigrants will temporarily lose benefits that pay for rent and food until they can be naturalized, but also that the very old will be too anxious and forgetful to learn enough English and American civics to pass the citizenship test.
Enriqueta Echeverria, a 78-year-old widow from Ecuador who lives in Washington Heights, in Manhattan, admits she is very nervous about taking the test. She was confident as she named the colors of the American flag but grew flustered when asked to name the introduction to the United States Constitution.
"The Supreme Court?" she tentatively asked, knowing she was wrong. (It's known as the Preamble.) "I study every morning, but sometimes I forget."
Mr. Rosenberg, of the immigration service, said that citizenship would not be a solution for many immigrants. Some will not be eligible because they have not been legal residents for five years. Others will fail the test or become citizens too late to avoid losing their federal benefits temporarily.
"We're trying to lower expectations," he said. "There are a lot of people who won't qualify, and logistically it's going to be hard for people who are not already in the process to become citizens before the deadlines."
This week, the immigration service was harshly questioned by Republican Congressmen at several hearings about the 180,000 immigrants who were naturalized without undergoing criminal background checks. The Congressmen said the immigrants were made citizens as part of a the Clinton Administration's politically motivated push to generate voters for the November election, while immigration officials contended that the failure to perform the background checks was the result of a flawed system swamped with record numbers of cases.
Whatever the reasons for the problem, the solution imposed in December -- that the immigration service must receive a written clearance for each citizenship applicant from the Federal Bureau of Investigation before the oath is administered -- has significantly slowed the nationwide naturalization process.
In June, 187,281 people were naturalized nationally, 43,138 of them in New York City. In December, the number of people naturalized plummeted to 42,281 nationally, and 7,291 in New York.
Not surprisingly, the number of immigrants waiting in line to become citizens has grown to about one million, from 700,000 last year.
"For the last few months, we have been particularly slow," Mr. Rosenberg of the immigration service said. "If you look ahead at the current low rates of production, it's very scary. We had a couple of districts that swore in almost no one."
But Mr. Rosenberg said he believed the pace would pick up as computer problems are fixed and the new process for criminal background checks becomes established.
The 15-year-old computer software that serves the New York district was built to handle a fraction of the volume of citizenship cases and is written in a language that is now "completely obsolete," Mr. Rosenberg said. Just a handful of people even know how to write in the language the computer understands.
"They keep telling us it's just about fixed," he said.
Advocates for immigrants say they fear that the computer system will continue to malfunction. And they also worry that the immigration service is being overly optimistic about how quickly it can gear back up, especially as it starts working with a growing number of old and disabled people who will take more time to process.
      

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Doctor in Insurance Scheme Admits It Was All for Vanity

BYLINE: By JOSEPH P. FRIED  By JOSEPH P. FRIED

SECTION: Section B; Page 2; Column 5; Metropolitan DeskSection B;Page 2;Column 5;Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 404 words

A doctor who gave his patients fuller lips and wrinkle-free skin ended up getting into trouble by making private insurers and the Federal Government pay, claiming he had performed medically necessary procedures instead.
Admitting what prosecutors called a "massive health-insurance fraud," the now-retired doctor, Leon Cantor, told a judge in Federal District Court in Brooklyn yesterday that from 1987 to early last year, "I billed various insurance companies for services I did not render." 
 "I knew these cosmetic procedures were not covered by health insurance or Medicare," he told Judge Raymond J. Dearie.
Dr. Cantor defrauded private insurance companies and Medicare out of nearly $1.5 million, investigators said. While he claimed he had performed medically necessary diagnostic procedures, all he really did, in many cases, was inject the patients with collagen to smooth out wrinkles and puff up lips, prosecutors said. In some cases, he did not perform any procedures at all.
The doctor, who practiced in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and Manhasset, L.I., before retiring last year -- because of his own health problems, his lawyer said -- faces up to three years in prison and a $3 million fine. Under a plea deal, he is required to pay back the swindled money to the insurance carriers and Medicare.
The 58-year-old former resident of East Hills, L.I., who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., was permitted to remain free on a $500,000 bond until sentencing June 13.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, later said that Dr. Cantor would likely lose his medical license, but that this would be moot because a heart condition had caused him to retire. He termed Dr. Cantor's crimes a far cry from his days as an Army surgeon during the Vietnam War, when, he said, his client had been highly decorated for rescuing wounded soldiers under enemy fire.
According to Lisa J. Klem, an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, at least 150 of Dr. Cantor's patients received cosmetic treatments in the false-billing scheme, most often injections of collagen. She said that Dr. Cantor would falsely tell insurers or, in the case of elderly patients, Medicare officials, that he had performed such procedures as bronchoscopies and laryngoscopies. She said the scheme was uncovered when Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield became suspicious of Dr. Cantor's billings and notified the F.B.I.
      

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Backlog Threatens Immigrants With Benefits Loss

BYLINE: By CELIA W. DUGGER  By CELIA W. DUGGER

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 3; Metropolitan DeskSection A;Page 1;Column 3;Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 1162 words

The backlog in processing citizenship applications has grown so large that many immigrants will almost certainly lose their welfare benefits because they cannot get citizenship credentials before an August deadline, Federal immigration officials say.
The slowdown in approving the applications began late last year. Officials said then that they hoped it would be temporary, but so far it has persisted. And in recent months, the number of immigrants applying to become citizens has grown, greatly increasing the number of people in the pipeline. 
 The longer wait for citizenship could not have happened at a worse time, advocates for immigrants say. Elderly and disabled people who are not citizens are, with some exceptions, scheduled to lose their benefits in August and September as a result of a welfare law adopted last year.
 David Rosenberg, who heads the citizenship program at the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said that once an application is filed, the naturalization process now takes nine months or longer in New York City, Los Angeles and Miami, an increase from five or six months last year.
The Social Security Administration last month began notifying 544,000 aged and disabled immigrants -- 86,000 in New York City -- that they will lose their benefits in five or six months if they have not been naturalized by then.
"I'm very scared," said Salvador De Leon, a 76-year old retired carpenter from the Dominican Republic who lives alone in a rented room in Washington Heights and receives Supplemental Security Income. "I can't work because I have a weak heart and S.S.I. is my only income."
Federal officials say three factors have slowed the processing of citizenship applications: a computer system relying on obsolete software, a large increase in the volume of applicants, and more stringent, time-consuming procedures for criminal background checks.
 The panicky rush to naturalize, visible in New York City centers for the elderly where immigrants are rolling to citizenship classes in wheelchairs and filling out applications with trembling hands, has helped drive the number of citizenship seekers to a record high in recent months. From October to December, the number of people applying for citizenship rose 55 percent nationally and 96 percent in New York City compared with the same period the year before. Immigration officials expect 1.8 million people to apply this year.
In New York, the state, the city and the philanthropist George Soros's nonprofit Emma Lazarus Fund are planning to put up a total of $4 million to help immigrants apply for naturalization this year.
But the New York Immigration Coalition, an umbrella association of more than 100 groups that serve immigrants, estimates that it would cost $17 million, or $200 a person, just to provide citizenship classes and other help to the old and disabled people expected to have their benefits cut off in New York City.
Those who lose Federal Supplemental Security Income and food stamps, typically worth $600 to $650 a month in New York, could then apply for about $350 a month from a welfare program financed by the state and city. But there is now a 45-day waiting period before an applicant can qualify for aid, a delay that advocates say would leave thousands of immigrants with no income for at least a month and a half.
Social workers, doctors and others who assist this vulnerable population of immigrants say they are worried not only that the immigrants will temporarily lose benefits that pay for rent and food until they can be naturalized, but also that the very old will be too anxious and forgetful to learn enough English and American civics to pass the citizenship test.
Enriqueta Echeverria, a 78-year-old widow from Ecuador who lives in Washington Heights, in Manhattan, admits she is very nervous about taking the test. She was confident as she named the colors of the American flag but grew flustered when asked to name the introduction to the United States Constitution.
"The Supreme Court?" she tentatively asked, knowing she was wrong. (It's known as the Preamble.) "I study every morning, but sometimes I forget."
Mr. Rosenberg, of the immigration service, said that citizenship would not be a solution for many immigrants. Some will not be eligible because they have not been legal residents for five years. Others will fail the test or become citizens too late to avoid losing their federal benefits temporarily.
"We're trying to lower expectations," he said. "There are a lot of people who won't qualify, and logistically it's going to be hard for people who are not already in the process to become citizens before the deadlines."
This week, the immigration service was harshly questioned by Republican Congressmen at several hearings about the 180,000 immigrants who were naturalized without undergoing criminal background checks. The Congressmen said the immigrants were made citizens as part of a the Clinton Administration's politically motivated push to generate voters for the November election, while immigration officials contended that the failure to perform the background checks was the result of a flawed system swamped with record numbers of cases.
Whatever the reasons for the problem, the solution imposed in December -- that the immigration service must receive a written clearance for each citizenship applicant from the Federal Bureau of Investigation before the oath is administered -- has significantly slowed the nationwide naturalization process.
In June, 187,281 people were naturalized nationally, 43,138 of them in New York City. In December, the number of people naturalized plummeted to 42,281 nationally, and 7,291 in New York.
Not surprisingly, the number of immigrants waiting in line to become citizens has grown to about one million, from 700,000 last year.
"For the last few months, we have been particularly slow," Mr. Rosenberg of the immigration service said. "If you look ahead at the current low rates of production, it's very scary. We had a couple of districts that swore in almost no one."
But Mr. Rosenberg said he believed the pace would pick up as computer problems are fixed and the new process for criminal background checks becomes established.
The 15-year-old computer software that serves the New York district was built to handle a fraction of the volume of citizenship cases and is written in a language that is now "completely obsolete," Mr. Rosenberg said. Just a handful of people even know how to write in the language the computer understands.
"They keep telling us it's just about fixed," he said.
Advocates for immigrants say they fear that the computer system will continue to malfunction. And they also worry that the immigration service is being overly optimistic about how quickly it can gear back up, especially as it starts working with a growing number of old and disabled people who will take more time to process.
      

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March 8, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING;
Checking on Aides for Elderly

BYLINE: By TERRY PRISTIN 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 25; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk; Second Front

LENGTH: 106 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

More than half the 35,000 residents in Manchester, in Ocean County, are elderly, and many fall prey to crimes committed by the people hired to take care of them, State Senator Leonard T. Connors, Republican of Surf City, said yesterday. Starting in 1989, Mr. Connors unsuccessfully sponsored legislation that would require criminal background checks for people who work with the elderly. 
 After an elderly woman from Ocean County was killed in January and a home health aide was charged in her death -- the second such case since 1993 -- Mr. Connors's bill was revived. It is expected to be voted on by the Senate on Monday.

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WORD & IMAGE;
Less Medicare, More Magic

BYLINE: By Max Frankel 

SECTION: Section 6; Page 30; Column 4; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 1010 words

The serious journals are full of alarms about a budgetary crisis that threatens to sink America in perhaps 20, maybe 30, surely 50 years. They say that I, as one of the elderly, am a major cause of the impending catastrophe. I am accused of bleeding the Government by claiming a richer pension and health insurance than my contributions would have earned from an insurance company. And I am accused of producing so many boomer children that *their* retirement with similar benefits will surely deplete the Treasury.
Duly shamed, I am struggling to help shape a remedy. I have absorbed Peter Peterson's "Will America Grow Up Before It Grows Old?" in hardcover and newsprint and scores of reactions: Paul Krugman's rave (and recantation) on the Web; critiques by John Judis in The New Republic and John Cassidy in The New Yorker; caveats from Herbert Stein in The Wall Street Journal and a ream of Op-Ed essays in The Washington Post and The New York Times. I've come through a dense semantic fog. 
 Plainly, the Social Security payroll taxes exacted from me and my boss by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act of 1935 (F.I.C.A.) were never handled as "insurance contributions" to any "trust fund." The taxes were simply mingled with Treasury revenues and spent not only for pension and Medicare payments to my parents but also on highways, moon shots, drug busts and jungle wars. Similarly, the retirement benefits now owed to me are being paid, along with all other Government expenses, with all the taxes drawn from the working population.
So while Social Security and Medicare masquerade as capitalistic insurance schemes, they serve the socialistic function of redistributing wealth, from the energetic young to the retired old. And the popularity of those programs, I am convinced, is sustained by this duplicity. By covering almost all the elderly, irrespective of need, they have avoided the stigma that attaches to other redistributions, like welfare and Medicaid. The young have borne a growing burden because they were assured their turn to benefit would come. The old have cashed their checks with no trace of guilt because they've been led to believe they are only drawing down their own investments.
"The resulting consensus about the system is its magic," said the late Arthur Okun, a Great Society economist; the fiction of earmarked contributions "serves mainly to preserve pride" while actually fulfilling a "right to survival." But he wrote 20 years ago. Now Peterson and other hardheaded analysts condemn Okun's consensus as a cruel Ponzi scheme, a promise of entitlements that threaten to bankrupt the nation. Whereas every person over 65 is currently supported by the taxes of five working people, the rapid aging of the population, they warn, means that every retiree in 2030 can expect support from only three.
That bleak prospect assumes that Medicare outlays will continue to grow much faster than the general cost of living and go on claiming two of every three Government dollars paid to the elderly. Yet though we old folks run up huge hospital and nursing bills in the last years of life, Americans have only begun to discover how to reduce medical costs. I don't think we should bet against our learning to live more healthily and to age less expensively.
Still, the number of the aged will soon explode, and they will live longer than ever before. The sooner we cover their deficits the less painful the retrenchment. All the available remedies involve some increase in payroll deductions -- either modest tax increases or genuine contributions to annuity schemes. And all the experts urge assorted caps and cutbacks in Social Security and Medicare allowances, with new efforts to steer benefits away from the affluent toward the needy. There are suggestions to raise the retirement age past the already scheduled increase from 65 to 67. There are responsible plans to reduce the cost-of-living increases in Social Security pensions and to withhold benefits from retirees with sizable earnings or investments. And there are many ideas for making most of the elderly pay a larger share of their medical expenses.
My greatest concern, however, is not for the economics of the remedy, but for the ecumenism of its design. I want to preserve Arthur Okun's magical consensus -- and the psychic income that the liberated young have derived for half a century from the independence of the old.
"My mother thanks you," I said to Lyndon Johnson after he signed Medicare into law in 1965.
"No," he replied, "It's *you* who should be thanking me."
As Peterson and other conservatives urge, Congress could invoke the specter of bankruptcy to impose forced savings on future generations and to ration payments to the elderly with a means test that would eventually pay benefits only to the "truly needy." But as we know from Medicaid, a means test will have two deplorable consequences. It will tempt the non-needy to shed their assets to qualify for benefits, as many have done to get Medicaid coverage in nursing homes. And it will stigmatize all aid to the elderly poor as "welfare," depriving them of significant political support.
The only effective way to favor the poor without robbing them of dignity and public favor is to preserve the universality of Social Security -- and to quietly reclaim moneys from the affluent by progressively taxing their medical and pension benefits.
One other image in this discussion urgently needs repair. It is destructive to stir up intergenerational warfare. That would occur if a powerful voting bloc of the elderly were pitted against an angry younger population. But there is no profit for either side in such a war. If the elderly emerged with wildly excessive benefits, they would only succeed in devaluing the currency in which they are ultimately paid. And if the young reneged on too many promised benefits, they would only inherit the burden of their parents' distress and feel compelled to support them in other ways.
Cut back on Medicare. But keep the magic.

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Age Boom: The Boom Is Discovered;
Still at Work on a Self

BYLINE: By Mary Cantwell;  Mary Cantwell is a former member of the editorial board of The Times and the author, most recently, of "Manhattan, When I Was Young."

SECTION: Section 6; Page 57; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 833 words

Twenty-three years ago, I flew to England to interview the novelist Jean Rhys, whom I idolized. Rhys, by then in her 80's, had dressed for the occasion, and so had I -- she in a lame jacket and I in gypsyish gear. We may have looked odd, but not to each other, not given the pleasure she took in my festive rags and I in her glints of gold.
Perhaps it was that recognition of our mutual vanity that made us, despite her age and my awe, cozy. "You know what I miss as I get older?" I said, my tongue loosened by camaraderie. "That look of anticipation in a man's eyes when he first meets you." 
 "Yes," she sighed. "I miss it still."
I had forgotten that conversation until last month, when a pretty young woman joined a group of partygoers for after-dinner coffee and turned the other women among us into part of the wallpaper. Once, I might have felt a Rhysian pang. But not now, now that I have discovered my powers.
Talking is one of them. The pretty young girl I was once could not talk, but I can. In a sense, I sing for my supper. Most older men don't have to. They just have to show up and use the right forks. But the days when I had only to "be" are gone, along with my skimpy Puccis. Do I care? Scarlett, I don't give a damn.
Having the guts to declare my dislikes is another power. I hate football, basketball and sitcoms and have never, except on the wonderful night when Madonna told David Letterman that urine cured athlete's foot, watched a talk show. I haven't seen half the movies celebrated by the Academy Awards and don't know half the musicians celebrated by the Grammys. Once, I would have pretended enthusiasm, so anxious was I to join the mainstream. Today I am content to travel my own tributary.
Third, I am finally released from the desire to make nice. No longer do I find excuses for those acquaintances with the tongues of adders. Instead, I shake them off as surely as I do raindrops from an umbrella.
A famously beautiful friend of 73 says, "I am younger now than I ever was, and my health is a blessing." Although I have not always had that blessing, my ailments are the type that can come anytime. So I associate them with living, not with aging. As for dying, that as well is a concomitant of life. At Sunday school, I was taught that since death doesn't count one's years, one must always live in a state of grace. My younger self would have been embarrassed to admit that she tries, however fruitlessly, to live without sinning. But not I.
A family trait had me going gray at 20 and taking action by 25. I have also taken action against several nuisances that arrived years later, including a nose that without makeup is a perennial pink. But despite the urging of my beautiful friend, I will not go to the plastic surgeon who magics her back to, say, 45. I am given to telling myself, "You'll do."
But I am lucky. Free at last of the workplace, I no longer feel a need to look ageless and a la mode. To many of my editors I am only a voice on a phone. That is not true for a publicist I know. "I'm smarter than I was, and better able to do the job because I'm past being distracted by children or a husband," she says. "But possible employers look at me twice. Before they see my skills, they see my age -- and devalue me."
I am lucky, too, because had it not been for a passion for work, I might be one of the millions of divorced and widowed American women who are poor or close to poor. I have not had a husband since I was 39, but I have had a job since I was 18. "Every woman should have a trade," my hard-headed great-aunt announced, and I heard the message. Twice in my life I have seen money disappear, when my father died and when my husband left. But my mother, a schoolteacher, had a trade. So, eventually, did I. Ensconced in marriage, we never dreamed that one day our trades would be our bank accounts.
"Love," my beautiful friend says. "One cannot live without love." Sexual love, though, is not all she is speaking of. I knew someone whose greatest love affair was with objects, another whose was with books and a third whose was with ideas. Even so, there is something one gets by loving another person that one cannot get elsewhere.
"I don't know if I miss sex," the publicist, a widow, says. "But I miss his arms around me and the way he cradled me when I slept." She won't get those hugs again, not simply because he is the only man from whom she would have wanted them but also because the odds on her remarrying are slim. My friend's male counterpart, statistics say, is almost certain to wed her junior. For him, to look at the widow is to see himself in a mirror. But to look at a younger woman is to see reflected a vibrant, more macho man.
Ah, this getting older, however fortunate one's circumstances, is a scary business. I fear my memories, of which, good and bad, I have far too many. But lost friends are better honored with smiles than with tears. And having too many memories is better than having too few.

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON LANGUAGE;
The Young Old

BYLINE: By William Safire 

SECTION: Section 6; Page 14; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 951 words

'Geezer Strategy' was the headline of a front-page story in The Wall Street Journal about the attempt of CBS to woo an older audience back to the network. The lead: "The italics grown-ups are battling back."
Those two locutions -- geezer and grown-up -- run the gamut of characterizations of age. As a modifier, grown-up has all those good things going for it: "mature, experienced, dry behind the ears." But the last time I used geezer in a column -- denouncing the "geezer power" of the most powerful lobby in Washington -- a mail clerk, with a military cry of 'incoming!' dragged in a load of mail complaining of an age-ist slur. These advocates of the silver set were far from T.S. Eliot's "quiet voiced elders" -- one creative soul signed his blast "Gerry Atrix." 
 Age-ist is an awkward word, easy enough to say, harder to put on a page. The spelling ageist, though sanctioned by Webster's New World Dictionary, looks as if it should sound like 'aguyst,' and when you drop the e, to agist, it seems analogous to aginner. The hyphen can be used to signal the pronunciation of a hard a and a soft g, at least until the word and its -ism become more familiar.
Oldsters in their 60's can use geezer with impunity because we're ensconced in early codgerhood. The word may be rooted in disguise: in Scotland, the guisers were revelers who, like Mummers, dressed in ancient costumes, or guises, on certain holidays. (Sound farfetched? You got a better etymology, y'old coot?) With the meaning "fool," usually but not necessarily old, coot had its first citation in 1766; old coot is not redundant, while old geezer is; all geezers, no matter how sprightly, are old, just as all pups are young.
But how old is old? To many, it seems that the old-age clock begins to run at Social Security's 65, though the American Association of Retired Persons begins hitting you up for membership at 50. "You're as old as you feel" is a helpful adage, reminding us that age can be a state of mind.
With the general aging of the population, a differentiation is being made among the young old (65 to 75), the old old (75 to 85) and the oldest old (85 to 99). Beyond that is centenarian, a word chosen by David J. Mahoney, the philanthropist who heads the Charles H. Dana Foundation, for his seminal Rutgers commencement address, "The Centenarian Strategy." He spoke about how the old young -- now in their 20's, just beginning to trust anybody over 30 -- should plan their lives on the probability of living to 100 -- with worn-out organs transplanted and brain functions, especially memory, relatively unimpaired.
In the synonymy of age, elderly -- with its comparative sense of "older than," as in "elder sister" -- is the gentlest, signifying the respect bordering on veneration, as in "tribal elder" and "elder statesman." As an adjective, elderly connotes judgment based on experience rather than only the seniority of age; as a noun, it suggests a group only approaching old age. Plain old, without the modifiers of young or old, deals with "advanced years" but not with degrees of physical decrepitude, first cited in this space in 1980 as "the dwindles." Superannuated, though fallen into linguistic desuetude, occasionally gets used to describe people pensioned or forced to retire because of arbitrary age limits. However, to be in one's dotage , from the Middle Low German dotten, "to be foolish," suggests a state of near-senility, though the portmanteau pun anecdotage has softened that word's meaning.
Slang treats age breezily. Granny, from grandmother via the British grandam, is gaily applied in fashion's granny glasses and granny dresses, but is more poignantly applied in the abandonment of aged dependents, called granny dumping.
The shunning of elderly women shown by the disparaging crone or hag is to be discouraged.At the 1972 Mscovw summit, Alexei Kosygin pointed to a female American reporter and asked Pat Nixon, "Who is that bag of rocks?" Mrs. Nixon professed not to hear. However, no spring chicken is acceptable, and of a certain age is preferred. The American equivalent of the Russian bag of rocks is battle-ax. (Spelled either ax or axe, it will get you a pocketbook in the choppers.) Wise guys who use the pejorative gramps are invariably called whippersnappers. Fogy, cited in 1879 as "phogey," extra military pay for long service, can be young or old, but old fogy is a label more derogatory of hidebound beliefs than of age.
The hypersensitive old or their unctuous caregivers are constantly plumbing the depths of the fountain of euphemism. Senior citizen has had its day, as has golden years and sunset years. The jocular chronologically advanced is a play on correctness, and old folks is considered patronizing.
What's good geezer etiquette? Gray is acceptable, but silver is the preferred adjective; forget gold. Those teeth in the glasses will really smile at the use of the aforesaid grown-up. Although adult has been seized by the porno crowd to describe sexy movies, that has not tarnished the adjective in the minds of what used to be known as the Geritol set; older adult is guaranteed to offend nobody.
The best-loved euphemism of all is mature. (The name of the A.A.R.P.'s publication is Modern Maturity, Pops, not Old-Fashioned Old Age.) In the reality-avoiding terminology of Geezerland, mature is to old what full figured is to buxom.
When the band strikes up the Stephen Collins Foster tune that begins "Way down upon the Swanee River," substitute "Lordy" for "darkie" to bypass racism and then watch out for that last line. Ditch its reference to old folks and get ready for a fast fix at the end to the updated title, "Mature Adults at Home."

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Connecticut Q&A: Dr. Michael McCloud;
Practical Geriatrics for an Aging Nation

BYLINE: By GITTA MORRIS 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 3; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1530 words

PAST civilizations venerated their elderly, considering them to possess magical powers and wisdom," says Dr. Michael McCloud, director of geriatrics for Yale-New Haven Hospital and medical director for the Dorothy Adler Geriatric Assessment Center. "And I believe they were right. Yet, older people today are regarded as being dependent and unable to contribute."
Over the past decade, the over-65 age group grew by 33 percent while the general population rose only 11 percent. There are now about 36,000 people 100 years old or older in the United States. 
 Not surprisingly, gerontology and geriatrics are in great demand. The Adler Center, founded in 1981, is one of the oldest and busiest in the country. Dr. McCloud joined the staff last fall, after completing a fellowship at Duke University Medical Center; previously he was in private practice in San Francisco.
A proponent of "successful aging," he maintains it is possible to compress the inevitable problems we all face to the very end of our lives and to enjoy comfortable living until that point.
In his office at the Adler Center, Dr. McCloud talked about comprehensive geriatric assessment, a multidisciplinary approach that is his particular area of interest. Following are excerpts from that conversation.
Q. Why did you decide to specialize in geriatric medicine?
A. I've always been fascinated by the common thread amongst the very elderly: They didn't die. Through some combination of genetics, life style choices, luck and sheer grit, they have outlived their peers and often their own children. They have much to teach the rest of us.
Q. What is a multidisciplinary approach to treating an older patient?
A. It incorporates not only the physician's assessment, but nursing, social services, physical therapists, pharmacists and additional disciplines. We really focus on older patients with threatened independence and declining levels of function, and try to make recommendations and interventions that will allow them to perform at the maximal capacity and to remain independent. The impact that we make is tangible and enormously gratifying.
Q. Who is your typical patient?
A. I recall a woman in her early 90's who lived in Florida, who was on her annual trip here to see her family. She suddenly developed weakness in her arms and legs, trouble walking, and was virtually wheelchair confined in a matter of weeks. Her family brought her in for a comprehensive assessment.
We determined that she had an arthritic spur that was depressing her spinal chord but she was otherwise in superb health. We referred her to a neural surgeon who was able to decompress the spinal cord surgically. She has done beautifully and has returned to living independently in Florida.
Q. What other reasons might a patient come in for evaluation?
A. Memory loss and confusion. The first step is to determine, is this something mimicking a dementia, such as depression, or is it perhaps related to an illness, medication or alcohol. Once we determine if there is a true dementia, we ask, is this an irreversible decline, such as Alzheimer's, or a process we can possibly reverse or prevent from getting worse, such as small strokes caused by hypertension.
It's very exciting to find a process that mimics Alzheimer's, such as an underactive thyroid condition, vitamin B12 deficiency, a depression that's gone untreated. These are often our most rewarding cases.
Q. How would you treat depression?
A. We use drugs in conjunction with other interventions and therapies. Fortunately, in recent years we have developed psychopharmacological agents that are quite safe in this age group.
Q. What does the evaluation entail?
A. The initial evaluation is usually 90 minutes. If the problems are complex we have the patient return a second or third time. We arrange for all the involved family members to be present and we separate; a case manager will meet privately with the family to discuss issues that they are not comfortable bringing up in the presence of the patient. And we sit with the patient separately and have a heart to heart.
We perform the physical and psychological examinations. Then we have a huddle between the staff, propose recommendations and discuss them with the family. We provide a report for the referring physician; if the patient doesn't have one, we are very good at finding one.
Q. Is over-medication a problem?
A. Absolutely. We have many patients who are on 6, 8, 10 or more medications. I can only guess at the potential interactions these medications have. Often they're taking over-the-counter remedies that they don't even consider medication. We ask a patient to bring a brown bag with everything from the medicine cabinet. We look it over, ask the physician if it is still necessary and then chart the essential medications.
Q. Did we have the same geriatric problems 50 years ago?
A. They were there, but who was talking about senile dementia 50 years ago? Who was concerned about osteoporosis? We just didn't recognize it.
Another crucial issue is that while the age of menopause has not changed -- it's about 50 -- a woman is spending hopefully several decades in post-menopause. It becomes much more important now to address hormone replacement therapy than it was for her grandmother.
Q. What is your view on estrogen replacement therapy?
A. I'm a very strong proponent of it unless there is a good medical reason not to. Life expectancy increases by at least one year, and it greatly enhances the quality of life.
Q. Should an older woman still have mammograms?
A. Yes. A woman's risk of developing breast cancer increases with age at least until around age 80.
Q. What's about older men?
A. Prostate cancer remains the No. 1 cancer in men, and we're still struggling to find the best approach to it. But we have made great progress in what is often the bane of the older man's life: benign prostate enlargement. Medications are providing an effective means of delaying or avoiding surgery.
We're also hitting some home runs in treating male impotence -- beyond implants and vacuum pumps. A self-injected, generally safe, medication, alprostadil, is our best treatment, although it has drawbacks.
Q. What innovations do you see ahead?
A. We now have very effective medications to retard the osteoporosis process. And within the past month, we have our second memory enhancing medication for treatment in Alzheimer's disease. We're developing ways to reduce the risk of falls -- for example, home assessment visits by a physical therapist and a nurse to look at environmental hazards or medications. One large managed care organization will be offering it to its Medicare enrollees.
Q. In addition to advice about nutrition, alcohol and exercise, what are other tips for successful aging?
A. First, stop smoking. Even if you've smoked for 50 years, the benefits of quitting accrue rapidly at any age.
Secondly, immunizations are the best health insurance bargain you will find. An annual influenza vaccination, and the once-in-a-lifetime vaccination against Pneumococcal pneumonia, the most common bacterial pneumonia. Tetanus boosters every 10 years; tetanus has become uncommon, but when it occurs it is usually in the older unvaccinated person. And speaking of "protection," be aware that 10 percent of new H.I.V. infections are now in the over-50 age group.
Q. What about romance between very elderly people?
A. It's wonderful to see. I have to confess in my private geriatric practice, we sometimes scheduled them to come on days when other patients were in the waiting room. And we sparked a few romances.
Certainly after we grow older, we don't lose our basic needs for intimacy and love. Children often fail to recognize that, and underestimate the impact that nursing home placement has on older individuals.
Q. Can you comment on physician-assisted suicide for older people?
A. It certainly is a topic that many geriatricians are actively debating right now. I continue to take my Hippocratic oath very seriously, not to provide the medications to allow a person to take one's own life. But I do think it's a dialogue that we need to have as a society. My frustration is, why haven't we become better at relieving the suffering of chronic terminal disease?
Q. But aren't many nursing home patients beyond attaining any enjoyment of life?
A. There's no reason why a nursing home should be a place where people sit and wait to die. My colleagues at Duke University went into a nursing facility with computers and had volunteers teach the residents how to use them so they could have access to E-mail and the Internet. These people benefited enormously in terms of loneliness and quality of life.
Q. What do you think of a doctor who tells you, "Well, you're getting older, you've got to expect these aches and pains?"
A. We don't accept that response. It brings to mind a story that every geriatrician loves to cite. The 95-year-old man goes to the doctor complaining of knee pain. The doctor says, "What do you expect at your age?" And the man responds, "Well, my other knee is the same age and it doesn't hurt."

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Michael McCloud at his office at Yale-New Haven Hospital. (Helen Neafsey for The New York Times)
 

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The View From: Yonkers;
Burial Society's Sacred Task of Performing a Ritual for the Dead

BYLINE: By LYNNE AMES 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 2; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1121 words

DATELINE: YONKERS

GEORGE BERMAN is neither doctor nor mortician, yet he deals with death on a regular basis. Two or three times a month, he enters the preparation room of a funeral home, peels the plastic body bag from a corpse and prepares it for burial. The work he does is not part of his profession -- he and his wife Rochel, both 61, own a public relations concern here -- but, he said, it is a calling, a religious activity "of the highest order." Readers should know at the outset, however, that this article contains some graphic details.
The Bermans are members of the Jewish Burial Society, or Hevra Kadisha. They and 45 other volunteers countywide go to funeral homes as needed to conduct the Tahara, the purification ritual that observant Jews have performed for their dead since ancient times. Working in teams of three men or three women, depending on the sex of the deceased, they say prayers, wash the body, clothe it in shrouds and place it in a coffin made of wood. 
 Although the work they do is spiritual in nature, there is a highly visceral component as well. For example, corpses coming from a hospital often have catheters or intravenous tubes still attached to them, Mr. Berman said, and the elderly may bear bruises and bedsores. Members of the Burial Society are inoculated to guard against hepatitis B; when working on the body of someone who has died of AIDS, they wear masks, gowns and double pairs of rubber gloves.
Mr. Berman acknowledged that the tasks of the Hevra Kadisha are not for everyone, but he said that he is not unnerved. "Usually what I see is just a little old man who has accumulated the insults of a lifetime," he said. "Maybe there is a colostomy. Maybe a catheter. We remove everything, even the tiniest bandages. Then we begin the purification. It makes me feel good -- in fact, elated -- that after the doctors have stopped, after all the tubes have been disconnected, there is still something I can do for him."
Mrs. Berman added that she finds a sort of peace in the simple act of repetition, finds comfort in the predictable order of the ritual. "I'm a task-oriented person. I'm methodical. This has a beginning, a middle and an end. When I'm preparing the body the world stands still."
Tahara dates from ancient times, Mrs. Berman said, explaining that the Talmud stipulates that every town should have a designated burial society. Today the local organization consists of volunteers ranging from their 20's to their 90's, including lawyers, business people and artists. Each receives a 90-minute training session with Mr. Berman or Nancy Klein, co-chairwoman of the local society with Mr. Berman, and a dummy like those used in cardiopulmonary resuscitation classes. Mr. Berman founded the group 12 years ago when he saw a need for the services locally -- until then, Westchester people needing help from a Hevra Kadisha had to get in touch with one in New York City. The Westchester Hevra Kadisha charges $180, $30 of which goes to defray operating costs, with the remaining $150 going to charities. The society will perform its services free of charge, however, for anyone unable to pay.
Funeral parlors that need the services of a society member, contact the group's scheduler, who in turn lines up a team to handle the particular job. Men perform rituals only for men; women do it for women; anyone who feels he or she cannot emotionally handle a specific situation may decline the task. For example, when a society member who had small children of her own recently got nervous, Mrs. Berman took part in a Tahara for an 18-month-old baby who had died of cancer.
In the room with the corpse, the first step is to say a prayer in Hebrew "introducing the person to God," Mr. Berman said. The body is taken from its plastic bag and covered with a sheet, and all medical equipment, clothing and jewelry are stripped away. The body is washed (the water runs into wells in the preparation table), and while this is going on, someone recites a prayer, which says, in part, "I have removed your iniquity from you." Even nail polish is taken off (nail polish remover is part of a kit that society members take with them to an assignment).
At this point, society members peel off the rubber gloves they are wearing and put on new ones, signifying that the process has gone from impure to pure. Then, in accordance with custom, 24 quarts -- three bucketsful -- of water are poured over the body continuously, including the face and genitals, which have previously been covered. As the water is poured in a stream, a prayer about purification is chanted. Then the Hevra Kadisha members say three times in Hebrew in unison either, "He is pure" or "She is pure."
The next step is to dry the body with a sheet and dab a mixture of egg white and vinegar on the forehead. The Bermans are not sure of the origin of this custom, although some speculate that during the Middle Ages, when plague-ridden corpses were piled in the street, the glossy mark left by the mixture indicated that the body was to be taken to a Jewish graveyard. After this, the shrouds are put on. These are two tunic-like tops and a pair of pants sewed shut at the feet, like a child's pajamas. The women wear pants as well as the men, Mrs. Berman said, "because everyone is supposed to be the same in the eyes of God." The head and face are completely covered by a hood or a bonnet and veil. All knots on the shrouds are tied only halfway -- "The idea is that the decomposition process, the return to earth, should be as fast as possible," Mrs. Berman said. The use of embalming fluids are prohibited by Jewish law, Mr. Berman said.
The coffin must be made of wood and be completely free of metal. It has three holes in its base. In Israel, Mr. Berman said, the coffin is dispensed with, and the body is put directly into the ground. In America, Israeli earth, imported by a Brooklyn-based company that makes the shrouds, is placed on the facial hood. So are pieces of broken pottery, to symbolize the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem.
The Hevra Kadisha's work would probably repel or frighten many people other than those who are professionally conversant with death, like morticians and doctors. Mr. and Mrs. Berman, however, say that their own metaphysical fears have been eased, not exacerbated, by their experiences.
"I used to think death was like walking into an abyss, into nothingness, that I would be nothing but food for the worms," Mr. Berman said. "But now I have been touched by the ceremony, touched by the prayers. I see that the body retains its sanctity after the soul departs. I see death as a rite of passage. I now feel that after death, there will still, somewhere, be a me."

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: George and Rochel Berman, demonstrating some aspects of the ceremony at a home in New Rochelle. (James Estrin/The New York Times)

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Testing Younger Women for Osteoporosis

BYLINE: By VIVIEN KELLERMAN 

SECTION: Section 13LI; Page 4; Column 3; Long Island Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1348 words

KATHLEEN MUCCIOLO was 35 when her mother Katherine, then 57, was diagnosed with osteoporosis. The disease seemed to come without warning, when a vertebrae in her mother's back spontaneously collapsed while she was gardening.  "She had never even complained of a backache before that," said Ms. Mucciolo of Manhattan. "Suddenly, her life revolved around pain and fractures."
In the 11 years since her diagnosis, Katherine Mucciolo, of Floral Park, has suffered spontaneous fractures in bones throughout her body, until she wryly refers to herself as an eggshell. Meanwhile, her daughter has been a witness to a future that could be hers. 
 Recognizing that she herself might be at risk for the same disease, Ms. Mucciolo, now 46, nevertheless resisted the idea of getting tested for it. "I guess I didn't want to think it would actually happen to me. I was still so young."
At the urging of her mother, she took her first bone density test, and to her dismay discovered that she was already in the early stages of the disease. "I had been in denial," she said. "That didn't last long."
Although the knowledge that her bones were already thinning took her by surprise, the discovery has allowed her to take steps to educate herself about new treatments and to attempt to slow the progress of the disease through a program of calcium intake, weight-bearing exercises and annual bone density screenings.
"My mother's life has become one of canceled plans, no travel and theater tickets bought and sold at the last minute," she said. "I'm determined that will not happen to me."
Most people think of osteoporosis as a disease of the frail elderly, said Liz Stone, manager for support services for the National Osteoporosis Foundation in Chicago. Long before the first symptoms appear, osteoporosis is silently doing its damage. In 1988, 250,000 Americans aged 45 and over were admitted to hospitals with hip fractures related to osteoporosis.
"Building strong bones, especially before the age of 35, can be the best defense against developing osteoporosis," said Ms. Stone. Unfortunately, getting that message out has been frustrating.
"People don't want to talk about it because they equate it with old age," she said. "But it's not something that has to happen. It can be prevented."
Ms. Stone said risk factors, like being a small-boned female Caucasian with a family history of the disease, may be unavoidable. But she said, not enough calcium intake, lack of exercise, especially weight-bearing activities, cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, hormone replacement therapy after menopause and at least one baseline bone density test are choices that can and should be addressed.
"Women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years following menopause," she said.
Osteoporosis, or porous bone, is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue. It is often called the "silent disease" because bone loss occurs without symptoms. People may not know they have it until their bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump or fall causes a fracture or a vertebra to collapse.
In the United States today, 7 million to 8 million individuals already have the disease and 17 million more have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis.
"In terms of awareness, osteoporosis is today where breast cancer was 10 years ago," said Ms. Stone.  "But while mammograms are considered a crucial element in breast cancer prevention, bone density testing is not. What I'd like to see are some high profile people come out and admit to having it. I think that would be an important step in facilitating a change in attitude."
Lillian Langhorst, a retired music teacher from Sound Beach, discovered that many women do not even want to talk about it. In the seven years she has had the disease, which has taken her from being an independent woman who sawed branches off trees to one who cannot even lift a grocery bag, she said she often felt as if she were all alone.
Her first attempt at getting a support group failed, after a request to the retired teachers' association for fellow-sufferers brought not one response.
She said: "Can you believe that?  Not even one?"
Undaunted, Ms. Langhorst has reached out to anyone who will listen.  Finally, in January, , she held her first meeting, at the Emma S. Clark Library in Setauket, and to her pleasant surprise, 15 people showed up.  Some had the disease, some were family members who wanted to know more about it. All shared stories similar to hers. "It made all the difference to know that I wasn't alone," she said.
Ms. Langhorst's support group comes on the heels of the introduction of an osteoporosis center at the Stony Brook University Hospital.  The center, which opened in March 1996, engages in clinical research trials and offers bone density screening and a prevention program that includes both a nutritional and an exercise component.
"Even people that have the disease can still be helped," said Dr. Barry Gruber, director of the center.  Hormone replacement therapy to prevent bone loss and a fairly new drug, with the generic name of Alendronate, that actually increase bone mass as much as 3 to 4 percent the first year and 2 percent each year after that, has proved to be successful in treating the disease.
A year and a half ago, Mrs. Mucciolo began drug therapy and since that time has had no fractures. Normally, she said, she would have fractured every three or four months.  Ms. Langhorst recently began drug therapy and is hopeful that her decline has also been halted.
But Alendronate has only been around for three years, and while it appears safe and with minimal side effects, doctors say they cannot know for sure what the long term effects will be.
Dr. Gruber said that in the future, Alendronate may be taken as a preventative drug by people at risk.  Moreover, even more powerful drugs show promise. Some may only need to be taken by injection every three months.
At Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, an osteoporosis diagnostic and treatment center and a related support group has been in existence for 20 years. Patients learn how to obtain proper calcium and vitamin D without compromising cholesterol and fat intake and how to read and understand labels on supplements. Exercise programs are tailored to individual needs and abilities.
Dr. John Aloia, director of the center, said that he had seen a marked change in the perception of osteoporosis over the last few years, with more than 2,000 people a year coming in just for bone density testing.
"Ten to 15 years ago, this was a disease where you went to an orthopedist who told you it was just a part of getting older and there was nothing you could do about it," said Dr. Aloia. "I think as people become aware that is not true, they take a more proactive stance in prevention and treatment."
Although bone mass loss is part of the aging process, Dr. Jordan Tobin, chief of applied physiology for the National Institute of Aging, said that not all bone loss meant osteoporosis.
Unless one bone density test is measured against another, there is no way of knowing just how much or how quickly the loss is occurring.  Accelerated loss, which begins after menopause, lasts for 10 to 15 years.  After that it slows, but continues throughout life. Dr. Tobin said the problem was that by the time it slowed, so much damage might have been done, that the risk for fractures had dramatically increased. A proponent of hormone replacement therapy, Dr. Tobin said estrogen could prevent that acceleration for a decade or more.
Long before menopause, he said, women should be thinking about osteoporosis, because during childbearing years they can do the most to minimize the effects of later bone mass loss.
"Building bone mass while young is the most important preventative step you can take to preventing osteoporosis," said Dr. Tobin. "We've said often that the best way to treat the mother is to treat the daughter as well."

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: A bone densitometry shows the density of a spine; At Winthrop Hospital, Sharon R. Sprintz runs a bone densitometry on Selma Stutchbury. (Photographs by Vic DeLucia/The New York Times)
 

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

CONNECTICUT GUIDE

BYLINE: By ELEANOR CHARLES

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 12; Column 4; Connecticut Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 1018 words


A LIGHTSHIP ARRIVES
Ceremonies welcoming Lightship No. 112, the Nantucket, to its permanent home in Bridgeport will begin at 11 A.M. on Saturday at Captain's Cove Seaport. The vessel will open for tours from noon to 5 P.M. 
 The 61-year-old ship served at the most isolated spot in the Coast Guard's lightship network, standing guard and guiding ships through the treacherous shoals of Nantucket Island on their way to Boston and New York.
The only United States lightship stationed in international waters, she was called the Statue of Liberty of the Sea because she was the first glimpse of America for immigrants nearing the end of their voyage.
Lightships were retired in the 1980's and the 897-ton Nantucket, built in 1936, was donated to the H.M.S. Rose Foundation in Bridgeport by the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in Manhattan, joining the reproduction of the 1757 H.M.S. Rose frigate on permanent display at Captain's Cove. The Rose serves as a sailing school vessel.
Tour fees for the Nantucket are $3, $2 for children and the elderly. The ship will be open for tours on a regular basis on Saturdays and Sundays through April, then from Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. In the fall she will be taken on a month-long tour of Northeastern ports. The number is 203-335-1433 for directions or more information.

INNOVATIVE DANCING
The Mary Barnett/In Good Company troupe presents an evening of innovative choreography on Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. at the Educational Center for the Arts, 55 Audubon Street in New Haven.
"Back Dancing" is the 11th concert in a five-year-old series titled "Dancing Out Loud," produced with four additional choreographers: Sarah Franklin, Sandra Kopell, Rebecca Lazier and Alison Molloy.
The title "Dancing Out Loud" indicates the occasional use of spoken text, and "the way we try to speak to the audience through dance," said Ms. Barnett. "Back Dancing" is a play on words, signifying Ms. Barnett's return to the stage following an injury.
Each of the five choreographers will have a piece on the program, plus a work by Christina Duffy Burnett, guest artist, who will present the Yale dancers in choreography set to a Beethoven adagio.
Tickets are $15, with discounts for students and older people. The number is 203-245-3090 for reservations or more information.

ANTIQUES IN WILTON
At least 107 antique dealers from Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, D.C. will participate in the 30th annual Wilton Historical Society Antiques Show next weekend.
The event, which will be held at the Wilton High School Field House on Route 7 on Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 5, may be previewed in abuying and breakfast session on Saturday from 8:30 to 10 A.M. Admission for early birds will be $25, admission at regular hours will be $8. Proceeds will benefit the Wilton Heritage Museum.
A variety of furniture and accessories will be displayed in room settings, offering items in a wide price range. An array of formal 19th-century furniture, American country style pieces, quilts, coverlets, samplers, hooked rugs, oriental carpets, samplers and early needlework will be displayed.
Ceramics includes Delftware, English creamware, pearlware, historical Staffordshire, spatterware, spongeware, redware, Bennington ware, and Chinese porcelain.
American Indian arts will be represented in baskets, blankets, rugs, pottery and jewelry; additional categories include American folk art, 19th-century fine art, period clocks, rare maps, early glass and silver, jewelry and decorative arts from the Arts and Crafts Movement, and architectural elements. For more information, the number is 203-762-7257.

BITS AND PIECES
An unusual exhibition of the work of Jackie Nach may be seen at Art/ Place, 400 Center Street, in the westbound railroad station of Southport through March 29. A reception will be held today from 3 to 5:30 P.M.
Ms. Nach's art might be described somewhat inadequately as the ultimate collage, composed of old photographs and bits and pieces of dressmaker patterns, clothing racks, fabric, coat hooks and mannequins, some seen through diaphanous material, some free-standing, some on the wall, embellished with hand-painting, needlework and graphite.
As a child Ms. Nach escaped with her mother from Kelm, Lithuania, at the outbreak of World War II and lost many friends and relatives in the Holocaust. They landed in South Africa, where Ms. Nach spent her adolescence. Fascinated by her mother's collection of photographs depicting the warm community life in Kelm from 1922 to 1935, she sought to bring closure not only to the loss of that life and the suffering in concentration camps, but also to the effects of apartheid and censorship that she was exposed to in South Africa.
The exhibition, titled "Yiskor/ Lithuanian Legacy" may be seen on Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 4:30. The number is 203-255-9847 for directions or more information.
 
YALE THEATER
"The Ride Across Lake Constance," a rarely produced but celebrated 1972 drama by the Austrian playwright, novelist, screenwriter and poet Peter Handke, will have a limited engagement at the Yale University Theater, 222 York Street, New Haven, this week.
Presented by the Yale School of Drama, performances are scheduled on Tuesday through Saturday at 8 P.M., with a Saturday matinee at 2 P.M.
Handke is considered by many critics to be the most original playwright since Beckett, and this particular play is generally acknowledged to be his best work.
Its setting is a dream-like soiree attended by elegant people seeking to make sense of their refined environment. With a mixture of humor, eccentricity and menace they explore words, stories, gestures and attitudes usually taken for granted as though they were part of a parlor game. The audience is thereby drawn into self-examination of the most basic elements of living.
Tickets are $10 and $15 and may be reserved by calling 203-321-1234.   ELEANOR CHARLES.

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The lightship Nantucket has a new permanent home at Captain's Cove Seaport in Bridgeport.

TYPE: Schedule

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: WESTCHESTER SQUARE;
Quiet by Day, Coffee by Night

BYLINE: By ANDREA K. WALKER 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 9; Column 5; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 307 words

The main room of the Owen Dolen Golden Age Center on Westchester Square was lifeless and empty except for a few blue plastic chairs scattered around small, square tables. Every now and then an elderly person straggled in to watch the old wooden television sitting on a carpeted stage.
In an attempt to add a little spice to this otherwise drab atmosphere, the Northeast Bronx Coalition, a consortium of 45 community groups, and the City Department of Parks and Recreation, which runs the senior center, is transforming the room into the Underground Coffeehouse. They envision a performance space where, on Friday evenings twice a month, dim lighting will replace bright lights, the sounds of live folk-rock, blues and jazz will replace the low murmur of the television, and the smell of hot cappuccino and coffee will permeate the air. 
 "The Bronx is always lacking in culture and entertainment," said John Collazzi, a board member of the Northeast Bronx Coalition. "A lot of people go to Manhattan and Westchester for the things we'll offer here."
The coffeehouse will give Bronx-born entertainers a chance to perform in their home territory. Poetry readings, comedy and open-microphone nights are future plans for the establishment.
While the Parks Department continually tries to increase use of its five centers for the elderly citywide, the department said the coffeehouse was the first such establishment at one of its centers.
"Centers around the country are looking for programming day and night," said William Castro, Bronx Commissioner for the Parks Department. "The question usually is what to do at night."
Admission to the coffeehouse, which will be open next on March 21, is $8 for adults. Proceeds will go toward scholarships for local youths and financing other projects at Owen Dolen.   ANDREA K. WALKER

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Age Boom: The Boom Is Discovered;
The Man Who Saw Old Anew

BYLINE: By Michael Norman;  Michael Norman is an associate professor of journalism at New York University. He wrote about the meaning of old age for the Magazine in January 1996.

SECTION: Section 6; Page 54; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 2434 words

His career started at a chicken farm in the rural reaches of southern New Jersey, the perfect place, as it turned out, to nurture a curiosity about life and its limits. Today Robert Neil Butler, a 70-year-old neuropsychiatrist with a gentle countenance and a penchant for building organizations, is one of the foremost American experts on old age. He helped create and was the first director of the National Institute on Aging, a Federal agency. And perhaps more than anyone else, he is responsible for establishing geriatrics as a formally recognized medical discipline in the United States. 
 Butler, an agile, almost stately looking man, got the notion to become a doctor as a small boy in the care of his maternal grandparents on their farm in Vineland. That notion, set against his grandmother's pluck and verve, led to an interest in aging and a career in gerontology. In 1990, in conjunction with Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, where he teaches and practices, Butler established the International Longevity Center, an organization with offices in Japan, France and, soon, Britain. The center serves as a think tank, research institute and development office for intergenerational community-based programs. Butler is also the author of the groundbreaking book Why Survive? Being Old in America, which won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.
 
Q:In Why Survive? you coined the term ageism to describe bigotry toward the old. Are we still a country that treats its older people with cultural prejudice?
A:I don't think any country has the kind of smallness or harshness with respect to older people that America does -- the very idea of calling them, as one magazine did, greedy geezers. So, yes, I think there is still ageism.
 
Q:What is the image of older people in 1997?
A:Some people think of older people as impoverished, impaired, ready for nursing homes, senile, sexless. Others see them as rich, as playing golf.
 
Q:Creatures of leisure?
A:Yes. In fact, there are pampered older people, rich older people. But it is dramatic to see, for instance, the special problems of older women, who have a poverty rate very much like minority children.
 
Q:When did you first distinguish between the so-called young-old and the old-old?
A:In 1955, when I went to work at the National Institutes of Health, we purposely selected community residents -- healthy older people -- to study, whereas in the past old-age studies had been conducted largely on nursing-home chronic-disease populations. Almost from Day 1, the prejudice or the imagery of decrepit old age sort of drained away in my mind. I still have some films of our subjects playing volleyball.
 
Q:When did that image begin to take some kind of formal shape?
A:In 1963, I wrote a paper called The Facade of Chronological Age, which has to do with this new stage of life, if you want to call it that. I said that we had attributed to age much that was actually a function of disease, social adversity and personality but not aging. And that attracted Bernice Neugarten, who was a professor of human development at the University of Chicago. She was, to my knowledge, the first to use the categorization of young-old and old-old, and what she had in mind was function. That is, the young-old still retain function, and the old-old have begun to show pathology of one sort or another related to disease or disability. So I've always thought this was a stage in the life cycle, whereas people in classical medicine didn't feel quite the same way.
 
Q:You seem to be saying that clinicians were not taking into account the advances that medical science was making in longevity.
A:I think physicians have always realized there was this healthy group. It's just that it has expanded.
 
Q:When did this growth begin?
A:Well, when I first started seeing patients, in the 50's, the age of admission in the nursing homes was around 70. Now it's around 81. So in the 50's and early 60's, we knew about what I always called the new gerontology.
 
Q:So when is the rest of the culture going to catch up?
A:I'm waiting for you baby boomers. I think they've been the transformative generation, and now they're into the menopause story. Bill Clinton will be 51 this August, which means he's 14 years away from 65. So I think the culture will start to catch up. There'll be more movies with heroes and heroines that are older, more attention to the silver industries.
 
Q:When in your calculations does the period of old-old age begin?
A:It's a functional designation. It's not so much a matter of years --that's the point. More and more, I don't even begin to think of patients as geriatric until they're in their late 70's or 80's. While the definition is intended to be functional and not chronological, after 80 and 85 function probably begins to be impaired.
 
Q:You went to live with your grandparents when you were 11 months old, after your parents separated and your mother set out to build a career.
A:Yes, my grandparents had a chicken farm, and that's how I got introduced to medicine. At the end of the chicken coop, my grandfather had what he called a hospital. He would cut the craws of chickens when they got things in their throat, and he would put drops in their eyes. I think seeing that stimulated my interest in medicine.
 
Q:Your grandfather died about six years after you arrived on the farm.
A:I was 7 and sort of mystified. I wrestled with whether it would be possible to have kept this person, who I thought was spectacular, alive. I had this thought that there should be some sort of celestial commission that would decide who were the good people and who was bad and would die. But then I decided that there would always be mistakes or politics and that it wouldn't always work out the way it should. So I thought about Dr. Rose, our family doctor. My sense of his mission was that he did his best to bring comfort to people and keep them alive as long as possible. Being a doctor seemed like an appropriate compromise to my commission idea.
 
Q:As a child, did you have a sense that you were being raised by people who were much older than the parents of other children?
A:I had a sense that they were certainly chronologically older than the parents of my pals but also that they were just as vigorous as anyone. My grandmother began to work in a W.P.A. sewing room, then she learned how to type and became a secretary -- and all of this in her later life. I made about $12 a week fixing bicycles and selling and delivering newspapers. I was working and she was working. We were like a couple of troupers trying to survive in rough times.
 
Q:So you had a picture of old age that was quite different from the popular conception.
A:I think I was just privileged enough to see that there was such a beast as healthy, community-residing, ambitious, hard-working older people.
 
Q:At what point did you decide to specialize in psychiatry?
A:Actually I was all set to be a hematologist, but about halfway through my internship, in 1953, it began to hit me: a lot of the patients I was seeing clearly had psychological, behavioral and social issues, not just medical ones. It also occurred to me that we didn't know anything about aging. So both of those ideas were in my mind while I was training.
 
Q:Did anything specific happen?
A:Well, there was one incident at St. Luke's in which I was called down by the charge nurse because a 72-year-old man was very agitated. In the tradition of the times, I prescribed Seconal. Instead of quieting down, he became more agitated. So that led me to pore through the books, and I found that there were some descriptions of older people with brain damage who actually became more agitated by the drug instead of less -- a paradoxical drug reaction. I concluded that either I was asleep in class at Columbia or they never gave that lecture. So I thought, there is something about old age that I've got to know.
 Also, the average age of the patients on our wards was much higher than those I saw during medical school. And that was because Columbia referred stroke patients, problematic old patients, to the city hospital on the grounds that they were not good teaching material. There was quite a bit of age prejudice then. I had heard my professor use terms like old crocks.
 Anyway, I couldn't go for that because of this very special experience I'd had with my grandparents. So then I thought I should try psychiatry, and in 1954 I applied to a neuropsychiatric institute that is part of the University of California, San Francisco. As it turned out, the chair and the vice chair were both interested in aging, which was very unusual, and that made my own interest seem more respectable.
 
Q:For the most part, the national press covers only one disease of old age -- Alzheimer's -- but there are many other forms of dementia, and there is the huge problem of depression in older age.
A:Don't forget suicide.
 
Q:Yes. Is there enough research going into those other areas?
A:No. In fact, we know that as we grow older we become more susceptible to disease -- all kinds of disease -- and we've known this for a long time. Out of a nearly $12 billion N.I.H. budget, we spend only $60 million on the basic biology of aging.
 
Q:So why the emphasis on Alzheimer's?
A:Well, it's partly my fault -- it is! -- because when I asked to start the National Institute on Aging, my perception was that we shouldn't just focus on aging, because aging was not considered a disease and was obviously not something that was immediately eradicable. And since one of the key horrifying diseases of old age was dementia, the one I myself had studied, it seemed reasonable for me to try to make it a household word. So I did. And it was so successful. I don't regret the push for Alzheimer's disease, but I do think it's out of balance.
 
Q:You helped pioneer the life review -- the individual practice of cataloging memory or creating autobiography as a tool for older people who are seeking meaning. How did that begin?
A:In 1955, I was taking part in an 11-year study on the life span. It was striking that the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic and statistical manual labeled people who reminisced as garrulous and that this was seen as an early sign of what at that time was called senile psychosis. Now, here I was seeing these incredibly interesting people who would talk about their past and would be dealing with some of their concerns, maybe estrangements with siblings or whatever. I was more and more struck by the evaluative aspect of this life review, and I began to use that term in my mind. It seems so ridiculous now because how could anybody in their right mind today even think that reminiscence wouldn't have some importance psychologically? But at the time, it was against the image, against the stereotype.
 
Q:From your studies in life review, as death draws closer in the minds of the old and as they begin to reconsider their lives, do common themes begin to emerge?
A:Well, certainly reconciliation. With siblings, with relationships, even with a spouse. This brings to mind a traveling salesman who had affairs on the road, which his wife discovered. And he had to deal with that much later. That was a life review of some power. So reconciliation in terms of acts of commission and omission, acts of cowardice, acts of estrangement, anger, injustice, acts one regrets.
 
Q:What was most important to the people you studied?
A:A sense of love and affection and closeness and how they had behaved. Those are the key issues, I think.
 
Q:At what point do people begin to think about death?
A:People think about death all their lives, mostly when there are crises. Schopenhauer said there comes a point when you begin to think backward from death instead of forward from birth, and that may be a way to define middle age. I mean, that's when you get serious. Death is a powerful motivator. One of the reasons I think older people respond effectively to psychotherapy is because of death. They know they don't have all that much time to mess around, whereas a 20-year-old or a 40-year-old thinks he can go on forever.
 
Q:At my father's 80th birthday, in January, we had a little roast for him, and I noticed that a number of the older folks who got up to speak made jokes about death. The other older people in the room were laughing at the jokes, while those of us who were under 50 were wincing.
A:Some of it's nervous humor, of course, and some of it is a way to deal with death, because you can kind of laugh about it. Freud said that wit was a way to deal with tension and conflict.
 
Q:I had the feeling that a lot of what these older folks were saying was going over my head.
A:I remember the first two people I interviewed when I took part in a major study on old age in 1955. Part of the protocol was to inquire in depth about death and sex, and I was beside myself. How could I possibly, at 28, ask these older people whether or not they masturbated? How could I ask them if they'd made burial arrangements or if they were afraid of death? I really had to screw up my courage to do it, only to find that the first two interviewees jumped right in. They were happy to get into it. So, just like at your dad's party, it's partly a way to adapt and to survive and to solve your anxiety. Their behavior is counterphobic, like facing the fear directly.
 
Q:Does that mean that we become more courageous as we get older?
A:No, I think it means we're more and more realistic as to what's going to happen and we take some comfort in being with others who also know.
 
Q:You're 70 years old this year. Is old age what you thought it would be? Were there any surprises?
A:I do think I've been awfully lucky. I have not been ill. You know, there is something that might be called a frailty identity crisis -- a moment when someone realizes they really are not immortal. They become really sick for the first time, or they have a fall and break a hip or something, and you then begin to feel more frail. Of course the next one is when you know you're dying. I'm not there, fortunately, with either the frailty or the dying -- so I haven't really had my mettle tested yet.nof what at thathey have a fall and break a hip or something, and you then begin to feel more frail. Of course the next one is when you know you're dying. I'm not there, fortunately, with either the frailty or the, dying -- so I haven't really had my mettle tested yet.

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Robert Butler. (PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTIAN WITKIN/ART DEPARTMENT, FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. 55)

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Age Boom

BYLINE: By Jack Rosenthal;  Jack Rosenthal is the editor of The New York Times Magazine.

SECTION: Section 6; Page 39; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 3187 words

When my father died at 67, leaving my mother alone in Portland, Ore., I thought almost automatically that she should come home with me to New York. Considering her heavy Lithuanian accent and how she shrank from dealing with authority, I thought she'd surely need help getting along. "Are you kidding?" she exclaimed. Managing her affairs became her work and her pride, and it soon occurred to me that this was the first time that she, traditional wife, had ever experienced autonomy. Every few days she would make her rounds to the bank, the doctor, the class in calligraphy. Then, in her personal brand of English, she would make her telephone rounds. She would complain that waiting for her pension check was "like sitting on pins and noodles" or entreat her granddaughter to stop spending money "like a drunken driver." Proudly, stubbornly, she managed on her own for 18 years. And even then, at 83, frustrated by strokes and angry at the very the thought of a nursing home, she refused to eat. In days, she made herself die.
 Reflecting on those last days, I realize that the striking thing was not her death but those 18 years of later life. For almost all that time, she had the health and the modest income to live on her own terms. She could travel if she chose, or send birthday checks to family members, or buy yet another pair of shoes. A woman who had been swept by the waves of two world wars from continent to continent to continent -- who had experienced some of this century's worst aspects -- came finally to typify one of its best. I began to understand what people around America are coming to understand: the transformation of old age. We are discovering the emergence of a new stage of life. 
 The transformation begins with longer life. Increased longevity is one of the striking developments of the century; it has grown more in the last 100 years than in the prior 5,000, since the Bronze Age. But it's easy to misconstrue. What's new is not the number of years people live; it's the number of people who live them. Science hasn't lengthened life, says Dr. Robert Butler, a pioneering authority on aging. It has enabled many more people to reach very old age. And at this moment in history, even to say "many more people" is an understatement. The baby boom generation is about to turn into an age boom.
 Still, there's an even larger story rumbling here, and longevity and boomers tell only part of it. The enduring anguish of many elders lays continuing claim on our conscience. But as my mother's last 18 years attest, older adults are not only living longer; generally speaking, they're living better -- in reasonably good health and with enough money to escape the anxiety and poverty long associated with aging.
 Shakespeare perceived seven ages of man -- mewling infant, whining schoolboy, sighing lover, quarrelsome soldier, bearded justice, spectacled wheezer and finally second childhood, "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." This special issue of the Magazine examines the emerging new stage, a warm autumn that's already altering the climate of life for millions of older adults, for their children, indeed for all society.
 
Longer Life
In 1900, life expectancy at birth in America was 49. Today, it is 76, and people who have reached 55 can expect to live into their 80's. Improved nutrition and modern medical miracles sound like obvious explanations. But a noted demographer, Samuel Preston of the University of Pennsylvania, has just published a paper in which he contends that, at least until mid-century, the principal reason was neither. It was what he calls the "germ theory of disease" that generated personal health reforms like washing hands, protecting food from flies, isolating sick children, boiling bottles and milk and ventilating rooms. Since 1950, he argues likewise, the continuing longevity gains derive less from Big Medicine than from changes in personal behavior, like stopping smoking.
 The rapid increase in longevity is now about to be magnified. The baby boom generation born between 1946 and 1964 has always bulged out -- population peristalsis -- like a pig in a python. Twice as many Americans were born in 1955 as in 1935. Between now and the year 2030, the proportion of people over 65 will almost double. In short, more old people. And there's a parallel fact now starting to reverberate around the world: fewer young people. An aging population inescapably results when younger couples bear fewer children -- which is what they are doing almost everywhere.
 The fertility news is particularly striking in developed countries. To maintain a stable population size, the necessary replacement rate is 2.1 children per couple. The United States figure is barely 2.0, and it has been below the replacement rate for 30 years. The figure in China is 1.8. Couples in Japan are typically having 1.5 children, in Germany 1.3 and in Italy and Spain, 1.2.
 To some people, these are alarming portents of national decline and call for pro-natalist policies. That smacks of coarse chauvinism. The challenge is not to dilute the number of older people by promoting more births. It is to improve the quality of life at all ages, and a good place to start is to conquer misconceptions about later life.
 
Better Health
This, Gloria Steinem once said famously, "is what 40 looks like."And this, many older adults now say, is what 60, 70 and even 80 look like. Health and vitality are constantly improving, as a result of more exercise, better medicine and much better prevention. I can't imagine my late father in a sweatsuit, let alone on a Stairmaster, but when I look into the mirrored halls of a health-club gym on upper Broadway I see, among the intent young women in black leotards, white-haired men who are every bit as earnest, climbing, climbing, climbing.
 Consider the glow that radiates from the faces on today's cover, or contemplate the standards maintained by people like Bob Cousy, Max Roach, Ruth Bernhard and others who speak out in the following pages.
 That people are living healthier lives is evident from the work of Kenneth G. Manton and his colleagues at Duke's Center for Demographic Studies. The National Long-Term Care Survey they started in 1982 shows a steady decline in disability, a 15 percent drop in 12 years. Some of this progress derives from advances in medicine. For instance, estrogen supplements substantially relieve bone weakness in older women -- and now seem effective also against other diseases. But much of the progress may also derive from advances in perception.
 When Clare Friedman, the mother of a New York lawyer, observed her 80th birthday, she said to her son, "You know, Steve, I'm not middle-aged anymore." It's no joke. Manton recalls survey research in which people over 50 are asked when old age begins. Typically, they, too, say "80." Traditionally, spirited older adults have been urged to act their age. But what age is that in this era of 80-year-old marathoners and 90-year-old ice skaters? As Manton says, "We no longer need to accept loss of physical function as an inevitable consequence of aging." To act younger is, in a very real sense, to be younger.
 Stirring evidence of that comes from a 1994 research project in which high-resistance strength training was given to 100 frail nursing-home residents in Boston, median age 87 and some as old as 98. Dr. Maria Fiatarone of Tufts University and her fellow researchers found that after 10 weeks of leg-extension exercises, participants typically doubled the strength of the quadriceps, the major thigh muscle. For many, that meant they could walk, or walk without shuffling; the implications for reduced falls are obvious. Consider what this single change -- enabling many, for instance, to go to the bathroom alone -- means to the quality and dignity of their lives.
 Just as old does not necessarily mean feeble, older does not necessarily mean sicker. Harry Moody, executive director of Hunter College's Brookdale Center on Aging, makes a telling distinction between the "wellderly" and the "illderly." Yes, one of every three people over 65 needs some kind of hospital care in any given year. But only one in 20 needs nursing-home care at any given time. That is, 95 percent of people over 65 continue to live in the community.
 
Greater Security
The very words "poor" and "old" glide easily together, just as "poverty" and "age" have kept sad company through history. But suddenly that's changing. In the mid-1960's, when Medicare began, the poverty rate among elders was 29 percent, nearly three times the rate of the rest of the population. Now it is 11 percent, if anything a little below the rate for everyone else. That still leaves five million old people struggling below the poverty line, many of them women. And not many of the other 30 million elders are free of anxiety or free to indulge themselves in luxury. Yet most are, literally, socially secure, able to taste pleasures like travel and education that they may have denied themselves during decades of work. Indeed, many find this to be the time of their lives.
 Elderhostel offers a striking illustration. This program, begun in 1975, combines inexpensive travel with courses in an array of subjects and cultures. It started as a summer program with 220 participants at six New Hampshire colleges. Last year, it enrolled 323,000 participants at sites in every state and in 70 foreign countries. Older Americans already exercise formidable electoral force, given how many of them vote. With the age boom bearing down, that influence is growing. As a result, minutemen like the investment banker Peter G. Peterson are sounding alarms about the impending explosion in Social Security and Medicare costs. Others regard such alarms as merely alarmist; either way a result is a spirited public debate, joined by Max Frankel in his column on page 30 and by the economist Paul Krugman in his appraisal of the future of Medicare and medical costs on page 58.
 Politicians respect the electoral power of the senior vote; why is the economic power of older adults not understood? Television networks and advertisers remain oddly blind to this market, says Vicki Thomas of Thomas & Partners, a Westport, Conn., firm specializing in the "mature market." One reason is probably the youth of copywriters and media buyers. Another is advertisers' desire to identify with imagery that is young, hip, cool. Yet she cites a stream of survey data showing that householders 45 and over buy half of all new cars and trucks, that those 55 and over buy almost a third of the total and that people over 50 take 163 million trips a year and a third of all overseas packaged tours.
 How much silver there is in this "silver market" is Jerry Della Femina's subject, on page 74. It is also evident from Modern Maturity magazine, published by the American Association of Retired Persons. Its bimonthly circulation is more than 20 million; a full-page ad costs $244,000.
 All this spending by older adults may not please everyone. Andrew Hacker, the Queens College political scientist, observes that the longer the parents live, the less they're likely to leave to the children -- and the longer the wait. He reports spotting a bumper sticker to that effect, on a passing Winnebago: "I'm Spending My Kids' Inheritance!" Even so, the net effect of generational income transfers remains highly favorable to the next generation. For one thing, every dollar the public spends to support older adults is a dollar that their children won't be called on to spend. For another, older adults sooner or later engage in some pretty sizable income transfers of their own. As Hacker observes, the baby boomers' children may have to wait for their legacies, but their ultimate inheritances will constitute the largest income transfer to any generation ever.
 Longer years, better health, comparative security: this new stage of life emerges more clearly every day. What's less clear is how older adults will spend it. The other stages of life are bounded by expectations and institutions. We start life in the institution called family. That's soon augmented for 15 or 20 years by school, tightly organized by age, subject and social webs. Then follows the still-more-structured world of work, for 40 or 50 years. And then -- fanfare! -- what? What institutions then give shape and meaning to everyday life?
 Some people are satisfied, as my mother was, by managing their finances, by tending to family relationships and by prayer, worship and hobbies. Others, more restless, will invent new institutions, just as they did in Cleveland in the 1950's with Golden Age Clubs, or in the 1970's with Elderhostel. For the moment, the institutions that figure most heavily for older adults are precisely those that govern the other stages of life -- family, school and work.
 
FAMILY: The focus on family often arises out of necessity. In a world of divorce and working parents, grandparents are raising 3.4 million children; six million families depend on grandparents for primary child care. And that's only one of the intensified relationships arising among the generations. Children have many more years to relate to their parents as adults, as equals, as friends -- a fact demonstrated firsthand by the Kotlowitz-to-Kotlowitz letters on page 46.
 
SCHOOL: Increasingly, many elders go back to school, to get the education they've always longed for, or to learn new skills -- or for the sheer joy of learning. Nearly half a million people over 50 have gone back to school at the college level, giving a senior cast to junior colleges; adults over age 40 now account for about 15 percent of all college students. The 92d Street Y in New York has sponsored activities for seniors since 1874. Suddenly, it finds, many "New Age seniors" want to do more than play cards or float in the pool. They are signing up by the score for classes on, for instance, Greece and Rome. At a senior center in Westport, Conn., older adults, far from being averse to technology, flock to computer classes and find satisfaction in managing their finances on line and traversing the Internet.
 
WORK: American attitudes toward retirement have never been simple. The justifications include a humane belief that retirees have earned their rest; or a bottom-line argument that employers need cheaper workers; or a theoretical contention that a healthy economy needs to make room for younger workers. In any case, scholars find a notable trend toward early retirement, arguably in response to pension and Social Security incentives. Two out of three men on Social Security retire before age 65. One explanation is that they are likely to have spent their lives on a boring assembly line or in debilitating service jobs. Others, typically from more fulfilling professional work, retire gradually, continuing to work part time or to find engagement in serious volunteer effort. In Florida, many schools, hospitals and local governments have come to depend on elders who volunteer their skills and time.
 
FAMILY, SCHOOL, WORK -- AND INSTITUTIONS yet to come: these are the framework for the evolving new stage of later life. But even if happy and healthy, it only precedes and does not replace the last of Shakespeare's age of mankind. One need not be 80 or 90 to understand that there comes a time to be tired, or sick, or caught up by the deeply rooted desire to reflect on the meaning of one's life. For many people, there comes a moment when the proud desire for independence turns into frank, mutual acknowledgment of dependence. As the Boston University sociologist Alan Wolfe wrote in The New Republic in 1995, "We owe [our elders] the courage to acknowledge their dependence on us. Only then will we be able, when we are like them, to ask for help."
 That time will come, as it always has, for each of us -- as children and then as parents. But it will come later. The new challenge is to explore the broad terrain of longer, fuller life with intelligence and respect. One such explorer, a woman named Florida Scott-Maxwell, reported her findings in "The Measure of My Days," a diary she began in her 80's. "Age puzzles me," she wrote, expressing sentiments that my mother personified. "I thought it was a quiet time. My 70's were interesting and fairly serene, but my 80's are passionate. I grow more intense as I age. To my surprise I burst out with hot conviction. . . . I must calm down."
 
Bob Cousy, 68, Sports Commentator.
 I still thrive on competition, and when I feel those competitive juices flowing I've got to find an outlet. Of course, at 68, it's not going to be playing basketball. Basketball's not a sport you grow old with. Sure, I can manage a few from the free-throw line, but being in shape for basketball's something you lose three months after you retire. I stay in shape by doing as little as possible. I play mediocre golf and terrible tennis. My wife calls it my doubleheader days, when I go out and play 18 holes of golf in the morning and then three sets of tennis in the afternoon.
Now I'm working in broadcasting and schmoozing the corporates. I'm a commentator for the Celtics' away games. I like it because I'm controlling my own destiny. People always said I was born 20 years too soon, that I was the highest-paid player in the league. I was getting $30,000 a season. The last time Rodman had that incident with the official in New Jersey, he had to pay something like $200,000, that's almost as much as I made in my 13-year career! But the professional game's changed. There's a sameness out there now. The coaches are too conservative. The plays are too structured. There was much more of a free flow when we were playing. That's what's exciting for the fans, not redundancy.
Everything I've done since I graduated from Holy Cross in 1950 has been sports-related, and it's all because I learned to throw a little ball into a hole. A playground director taught me how to play when I was 13. To me it'll always be a child's game.
 
Ann Cole, Age "Between 59 and Forest Lawn", Swimsuit Designer
 Everyone has certain features that they hate, and that doesn't change much as you get older -- it just gets closer to the ground, as Gypsy Rose Lee once said. So you do just grin and bear it unless you want to sit indoors and grump about it. I get a lot of women who come in and say, "You wouldn't wear that." And I say, "Why, yes I would." I haven't become more comfortable with my body. I've just taken an attitude that its easier not to care or worry. Just do it. Sure, someone's probably saying: "Oh, my God! What's this old bag doing in that suit?" I've always been a great advocate of people not listening to their children. There used to be a lot of children who weren't happy unless their mother wore a skirted suit down to her knees. They'd say, "Oh, Mom, you can't wear that." I tried to get people over that in the 60's and 70's, because what do they know? You can't be worried about every bump and lump.

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Bob Cousy, 68, Sports Commentator -- "I go out and play 18 holes in the morning and then three sets in the afternoon." (pg. 41); Ann Cole, Swimsuit Designer -- Age: "Between 59 and Forest Lawn" Sure, someone's probably saying: 'Oh, my God! What's this old bag doing in that suit?' (PHOTOGRAPH BY FRED R. CONRAD/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. 43)

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The New York Times

March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: ELMHURST;
Church Says Center for the Elderly Must Go, Dancing Quietly or Not

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 8; Column 3; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 404 words

There was no dancing or card games Thursday morning at what has become known as the mah-jongg church in Elmhurst. Instead, there was a quiet trilingual discussion about eye care for the elderly.
The Christian Testimony Church, at 87-11 Whitney Avenue, made news in late 1995, when it moved to evict the Elmhurst Jackson Heights Senior Center from its basement, complaining that the dancing and mah-jongg games among the members went against the tenets of the church. 
 But after some pressure by local officials, church elders acquiesced, and the city-financed center was granted a lease extension last year. That extension expires March 31, and what happens to the center as of April 1 is anyone's guess.
"We just don't know what's going to happen," said Lucy Bermudez, assistant director of the center. "We are hoping to hear some good news soon, but we just don't know."
The city's Department of General Services, which finances the center, has not found an alternative site and seemed unaware that the lease extension was about to expire when a reporter phoned for comment. A spokeswoman, Paula Young, said the department would investigate.
To accommodate the church, center workers discouraged mah-jongg playing and asked everyone to dance quietly. Although they could not persuade all 2,000 members to obey, the noise was cut to a minimum, workers said. Still, the church wanted its basement and first floor back.
The church elder, Andrew Yu, said that the church has been trying to reclaim its space for the last five years to accommodate a growing, mostly Chinese, congregation. "The city said we were going to get the place for ourselves," Mr. Yu said. "It has not happened. This time the extension expires at the end of the month and we are expecting the people to move on."
The matter is pending in court, said the church's lawyer, Burton Apat, adding that the only reason the center has remained this long is by the goodwill of the church. "But as of April 1, they're out of there for good," Mr. Apat said.
At 11 A.M. Thursday, the smell of lunch -- chicken in tomato sauce -- permeated the church. Three health-care workers discussed eye care with an audience of about 50, fielding questions in English, Spanish and Chinese. Afterward, many members were surprised to hear that the center may be forced to leave.
"It's moving?" said Han Park, 68. "No. It's not moving."   CHARLIE LeDUFF

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Card players at the senior center are facing their last games at a church. (Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times)

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

THE BIG CITY;
No Stairs, No Driving, No Tropical-Colored Pants

BYLINE: By John Tierney 

SECTION: Section 6; Page 20; Column 4; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 1472 words

It may sound a lit-tle strange, especially to the elderly natives fleeing to Florida, but a few entrepreneurs have begun marketing New York City as a lovely place to retire.
 The Esplanade, a hotel building at West End Avenue and 74th Street that was recently converted into a residence for the elderly, is enticing customers with this advertisement: "Just one block west is lovely Riverside Park, with its splendid views of the Hudson, walking paths and year-round enjoyment of the ever-changing scenery. Then one block east is bustling Broadway with its potpourri of specialty shops, restaurants, boutiques and bookstores. Just a short stroll downtown are the many cultural offerings of Lincoln Center. Excitement or tranquillity are just steps away." 
 You might question how much tranquillity anyone can find in Manhattan, but otherwise you can't really fault the ad's pitch. What other retirement community offers so much so conveniently? In New York, you can get everywhere without driving; you can get whatever you want delivered to your door. In other places, the elderly complain about feeling isolated; here, you have seven million neighbors. You don't have to beg your relatives to visit you; if you have a free guest bed, they will come.
 In New York, an elderly person can live a full existence without ever being expected to walk up a staircase, ride in a tour bus or put on a pair of tropical-colored pants. The city encourages black formal dresses and dark business suits -- a great look for the elderly, as Italian villagers have known for generations. New York may not be the most serene place to retire, but at least you can age here in dignity.
 The Esplanade, which offers housekeeping services and meals to the elderly who rent apartments there, has proved so popular that it has a nine-month waiting list. Charging between $2,500 and $4,500 a month per person, it is attracting people who could afford to flee to more bucolic settings -- people like Hannah Kimmel, who's known as Honey, and her partner, Harry Rackow. She's 82; he's 89. In 1995, when they decided to sell their apartments in the Rockaways, they considered traditional retirement communities.
 "We looked at a beautiful place up the Hudson that had 4,000 acres," Harry explained recently as he and Honey sat in their two-bedroom apartment at the Esplanade. "But it was too isolated."
 "It was a million miles from nowhere," Honey said. "If there's a sale in a department store, we want to go right away."
 Why not Florida? Honey grimaced. Harry tried to be diplomatic.
 "We spent winters around Boca Raton and found it enjoyable," he said. "They're beginning to get more culture in the Miami and Lauderdale area. They're getting museums."
 "They're getting a muse-um," she said.
"Some touring theater companies."
 "One-night stands."
 "But you can't compare it to New York," he concluded.
 "It's the opposite side of the universe," she said. "You go to Florida to die. Here in New York, your brain is still working."
 One of their neighbors, Beatrice Grossman, has become a devout Manhat-
 tanophile since moving in last year from Nanuet, a suburb 25 miles northwest of New York. "It was kind of lonely for me in Nanuet after I retired," she said. "It got boring. You could take a walk, but you wouldn't see anybody unless you went to the mall. Here, you leave your apartment and there's always something going on." In the suburbs, she had felt especially limited once she stopped driving after dark.
 "Now I'm as busy as the day is long," she said. "I go to the gym a block away every day -- I've got a personal trainer. I go out and shop on Broadway for the other people in the building. I have subscriptions to both opera companies at Lincoln Center, and I can go to the evening performances without worrying about driving home. I walk to the ballet, to the movies, all the way to midtown. Last year, someone spotted me and hired me to do a music video with Sheryl Crow. They had me stand in the background wearing a short, tight dress and a red fake fur. That's not the kind of thing that happens to you in Nanuet."
 Statistically, Beatrice is still the exception: New York hasn't been attracting many elderly immigrants. The typical old New Yorker is a woman who has lived here for many years. Of the roughly 950,000 New Yorkers 65 and over included in the 1990 census, fewer than 15,000 had moved here from another place in America during the previous five years. Meanwhile, the census found that more than 90,000 elderly New Yorkers had left the city during that five-year period. (A third of them moved to local suburbs, and a third went to Florida.)
 New York politicians have tried to persuade the elderly to love New York. The city has its own Department for the Aging, which delivers meals, pays for trips to the doctor and runs a raft of programs ranging from computer training to a counseling service billed as the nation's only Grandparent Resource Center. But the city and state governments have also done their part to drive away the elderly. Besides high income taxes, New York has one of America's most onerous estate taxes; it also has a set of burdensome regulations that has discouraged large companies from opening "assisted living" facilities for people who don't need a nursing home but do want some special services.
 These facilities, already popular in other states, are only now starting to be built in New York by developers who recently worked their way around the confining regulations. (The solution is for the facility's operator to provide just basic housekeeping services and meals, and for an independent agency to provide personal-care attendants.) One such facility is the Prospect Park Residence on Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Scheduled to open in May, it will include private apartments, communal facilities and a branch of the New York University Medical Center.
 "We're going to take advantage of the city's cultural resources," says Stanley Diamond, the chairman of Castle Senior Living, one of the facility's partners. "We're going to set up programs with the Brooklyn Museum and Public Library. Experts from the Botanic Garden are going to help the residents with a garden on the roof. New York offers the elderly more opportunities than any place in the world. We're hoping to build a dozen of these residences around the city in the next two years. The challenge is to keep down the costs so it's affordable. If we do that, it won't be hard to find people who want to retire here."
 While New York's cost of living is intimidating to people on fixed incomes, the elderly do meet one of the crucial criteria for surviving in Manhattan: childlessness. Young families are practically forced to go to the suburbs for backyards and better schools, but once the children are grown, the city becomes more affordable. Even the most skeptical aging suburbanites sometimes come to appreciate the city's pleasures, as Sig Gissler and his wife, Mary, recently discovered.
 Until 1993, the Gisslers were living in a suburb of Milwaukee. She was a retired nurse; he was the editor of The Milwaukee Journal. New York did not strike them as a great place to live. In 1990, after the much-publicized murder of a Utah tourist on a subway platform, Gissler dispatched a reporter and photographer to do a series about New York's evils. One of Gissler's sons, who was living in New York, tried telling him that he was exaggerating the problems. But he didn't believe them until he retired from The Journal and came to Manhattan for a nine-month fellowship at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center.
 To everyone's surprise, the Gisslers ended up selling their house (and two cars) and settling in New York. Mary began doing volunteer work with AIDS patients; Sig became a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. They bought a two-bedroom apartment on Columbus Avenue and took to calling Central Park "our 844-acre front yard." When Mary happened to mention to a relative back in Wisconsin that she had just returned from taking a nap in the park, she heard a gasp at the other end of the line, then a question: "You did what?" Sig's friends heard about him circling the park on Rollerblades.
 "I've become a repentant New York-basher," he says. Gissler, 61, has no plans to leave New York when he eventually retires from teaching. "I'd rather be here than in some retirement community named Sun City," he says. "People start to go to seed in those places because they're so isolated from the young and from new ideas. Here, you feel the energy pulsating as soon as you walk out the door. If you come here at age 60 or 70, you find that New York has a hidden elixir of youth -- no matter how much you thought you knew, the city gives you a good kick in the pants."

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Illustration by Mark Matcho)

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March 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Age Boom: The New In-My-70's Life Style;
And at Their Age!

BYLINE: By Philip Weiss;  Philip Weiss is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine.

SECTION: Section 6; Page 63; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 2506 words

The bus reached new orleans at about 1 o'clock on a Tuesday in January and went down City Park Avenue, past the Greenwood Cemetery. The people on board looked out at the sinuous shapes of the live oaks and the raised graves beyond. The Elks mausoleum had a bronze clock, the hands fixed forever at 11 o'clock.
 "Time is near," Sam Dodson, 81, announced dryly. 
 "Do you know there's a difference between interment and inurnment?" his 80-year-old wife, Tena, said, leaning across the aisle toward me. "We're going to be cremated and have our ashes in a columbarium. Sam calls it a common-bury-em. I was concerned that my sister would be upset about it."
 "I said, 'So what if she is,' " Sam said. "We could send her part of the ashes by U.P.S. and put the rest in the common-bury-em."
 The bus pulled up at the New Orleans Museum of Art. We were going to see a show called "Faberge in America." Sam Dodson went one direction into the museum, and Tena went another. They never stick too close, she explained earlier over a lunch of shrimp remoulade: "Togetherness is two bridges in the same glass."
 The trip began that morning at 7 outside Jackson, Miss., under the auspices of St. Dominic Health Services. I went along with 35 oldsters because I'd heard that "old" doesn't mean what it used to. It's true; these people are enjoying themselves in ways that my grandparents would never have thought was allowed. "We are living it up," 81-year-old Mary Coleman said. Then, knitting her brow, she added, "And sometimes I wonder what will be left for the young people."
 The place where the trip began, St. Catherine's Village, is typical of modern retirement communities that provide "life care," with most of its 381 residents (100 percent white, average age 79) living independently in apartments. Still, someday many of them will pull the emergency cord in the wall near the bed and possibly move to a nearby building where they will live less independently. Rather than keep up their private homes till a collapse forces relatives to make panicked arrangements for nursing, these privileged old people -- it costs between $40,000 and $96,000 to move into St. Catherine's -- are taking matters into their own hands. "There was a very strong determination on my wife's and my part that we did not want to wind up on our children's backs," said Gus Blanchard, one of the residents.
 St. Catherine's is also typical in that it is a whirl of activities, from senior Olympics to lectures and classes. Many residents have computers. The night I arrived at St. Catherine's, which is run by the Dominican sisters of Springfield, Ill., there was a sculptor in the chapel working a thick column of clay into an image of Jesus. Last year, in the same chapel, the community staged a "womanless wedding." Men in drag played bride and mother of the bride; women with mascara mustaches played groomsmen.
 Not all the vows involve playacting. St. Catherine's has had two real weddings. "Our picture was on the front page of The Clarion-Ledger," said one groom, Philip Kolb. "The switchboard lit up. People said, 'I thought you were a nursing home -- what are you doing having line dances and marriages!"'
 After spending an hour and a half at the Faberge exhibit, we boarded the bus and were driven down to Le Richelieu, a hotel in the French Quarter. Workmen had set up a ladder over the walk in front of the hotel, and almost everyone walked right under it. These are the winners in the age race -- generally 75 to 85 and showing few signs of flagging -- and one of the marathoners' secrets is, worry kills. As the imperturbable Mary Coleman said, "I used to never have aspirin in my medicine cabinet, till my boys complained."
 We went to our rooms, and at 6:30 the bus came to take us to the river. It was dark, and I tilted over the seat in front of me to gossip with two women, one with silver hair and one with white hair, who asked that I not use their names. One of them informed me that they had just dipped into their flasks upstairs. "I like good Scotch," she said.
 St. Catherine's is about 70 percent female. On the bus trip, there were 34 women and one man, Sam Dodson. I asked the ladies in front of me whether they sought male companionship. "I wouldn't mind a young one, say 62, who can see at night to drive," the silver-haired one said with a wicked chuckle.
 "I have found you get better service if you have a man sitting with you ordering," the white-haired one said. "And he can pick up the check."
 "Not for me," her friend said. "We're dutching it. I don't want any obligations."
 "I guess you don't need anyone," I said.
 The white-haired woman regarded me quizzically. "Right, that's the problem," she explained. "You don't need a man, so you're critical. You look at them all with a fine-toothed comb."
 Our group spilled out onto the dark terraces of Riverwalk, the shopping area that a freighter hit back in December. We had a half-hour before we could board the paddle-wheel boat for the cruise, and all the bars were closed. Someone reported that there was one open two blocks away, at the top of the New Orleans World Trade Center, and without hesitation our group set out for it. When we got up to the revolving restaurant on the 33d floor, my table ordered Scotch on the rocks, bourbon and 7-Up, vodka Collins, vodka martinis. (The ladies were parched!)
 I asked them about the female culture of old age. The big mistake, it seems, is to be too male-defined. One woman said that someone at St. Catherine's was mildly ostracized for saying, "It'd be nice to talk to a man around here for a change." Then there was the woman who sat at a table with a man and hissed when another woman sat down with them. She now wears her unfortunate comment on her back: "We call her 'He's mine,' " my informant said. Old-fashioned feminine wiles are scorned. One woman told me, derisively, about a woman who studied obituaries, looking for women about her age who had died, so she could show up at a funeral and palm herself off to a widower as one of his late wife's friends. (Yes, she landed a sucker.)
 "Are you feminists?" I said.
 They laughed at me.
 I took the elevator down with Tena and Sam Dodson, who'd been at another table.
 "I got coffee and they served it in a glass cup -- that's just not right," Tena said. "It reminds me of Depression glass. You know, Martha Stewart set a table with Depression glass and it was beautiful, but I won't have it. I don't think it tastes the same in a glass."
 We came outside and walked up the steps to Riverwalk. "Of course, in my other life I wouldn't say that," Tena said. "I would think that was too negative."
 Sam was somewhere behind us, trailing along in the shadows. Since abdominal surgery, he has lost a step.
 "When did that other life end?" I asked Tena.
 "Maybe when I started to drive," she said. And for another thing, she went to work. Sam had fought the idea for years -- "Gentlemen's wives didn't work," she said -- till one day Tena told him to meet her at 5 in the bar of the Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati, where they lived.
 "He came in, his face was white," she said. "He didn't know what I was going to say. I don't know how to embellish anything except embroidery. He sat down and I said: 'Sam, I've got a job. I'm going to work tomorrow.' He just said O.K. He didn't have a word to say."
 "What did he think -- that you were having an affair?" I said.
 "Oh, no. Sam's not jealous. He's too sure of me. Sam would trust me if he saw me in bed with another man."
 Sam caught up with us, and we boarded the Creole Queen. I couldn't help thinking that the women are having the times of their lives, while the men seem to be having a harder time adjusting to old age. John Stennis, the longtime Mississippi Senator, had never wanted to leave the Senate, and the word at St. Catherine's is that he never did. After he retired, he moved into the community, and he soon began treating the dining room like another Senate parlor, giving orations over breakfast about bills and riders.
 "Men grew up with their vision being to provide for their family," said Charles Carter, who is 73 and still practices law. "They wanted to excel. When they get to the part of their life where that's over, they don't quite know how to live it. They've lost their responsibility for children. They've lost their contact with the business world. Maybe they give up."
 Most of the men I met at St. Catherine's seemed to have come to terms. They gathered for calisthenics every day in the swimming pool. Kem Risley finagled a key to a storage room and turned it into a shop. Sam Dodson is one of the village's best bridge players. Gus Blanchard, a retired Coca-Cola executive, just bought a new computer.
 "I figured out that I had always been a 'we' person," Blanchard told me over stiff vodka tonics that he poured one night. "I thought of myself as being a part of a team. When my wife died, four years ago, the team was dissolved. Now I'm an 'I' person. I've had to figure out how to live and be productive with that notion."
 Something else happened to Blanchard. "I was amazed to think I could fall in love at my age," he said. He did, with a widow across the hall. They travel together everywhere, sometimes to children's homes across the country. "I count on her," he said. "But I never commit her without checking."
 The creole queen steamed up river for a while past giant freighters loading rice for foreign ports. A jazz band played, and I danced with Mary Coleman. When we sat down, she told me about a man on a dance floor in Mexico who had whirled her in the air. I asked her to list her travels. "I've been to Turkey, Russia, the Galapagos, China, India, Israel," she said. "I've been to Japan and Europe and to Alaska twice. I went whitewater rafting in Alaska last year, in Denali Park. And I blew a wad going to Antarctica."
 Like many other old people today, Coleman is well off. How well? Coleman splayed her long fingers in the air helplessly. "Frankly, I cannot tell you how much I have," she said. "I was just working, and I'd put a thousand or a couple thousand in a CD, and I don't ever add them up. I've gotten to the point where I don't balance my checkbook. When I had four boys growing up, we watched every penny."
 Coleman told me about a man who pushed for her to invite him on one of her trips, and I could relate to him. Who wouldn't want to go somewhere with such an attractive, vital person? Someday Mary Coleman will dance on my columbarium. But she has been a widow for 29 years, and she cherishes her independence. She doesn't seek male companionship; she likes traveling with a girlfriend.
 The bus trippers' attitudes were not a great advertisement for the institution of marriage. Now and then I heard of a great relationship, but there was more talk about alcoholism, and domineering men who had held them back. "My mother gave me bad advice -- that the husband was the leader and you should look up to him," one widow said ruefully. "I was 19, and I married him because he was a take-charge sort of guy. It wasn't a few years before I realized he was insecure. He wanted a mother."
 There were cautionary tales about late marriage: that 70-year-old men might have AIDS from dating younger women, that a woman they knew married a perfectly healthy 85-year-old and seven months later he developed cancer. "You can get a geezer -- but who wants a geezer?" one woman said. Another told me about the birds and the bees: "When a man starts to lose other things, he loses his ability to have sex. That's not true for women." Then there was a story about a woman who, having just buried an abusive husband, took a cruise to the Caribbean. She sat down for dinner one night, and a man promptly took an empty seat next to her. Her sister reported: "He had just become widowed, and he said he was looking for a wife. She said, 'Don't look at me.' "
 "A man is just interested in two things," a strong-jawed woman explained that day over lunch. "Nurse. Or purse."
 The newlyweds I met at St. Catherine's seemed an exception. Everyone respected the Kolbs because Colleen had a difficult first marriage and because Philip Kolb is a gentle, loving man who -- most important -- courted her. "The first date he asked me for I turned him down," she said. "My husband hadn't been dead a year. Later, I found out his wife hadn't been dead very long. I said: 'Phil, I apologize. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. Delay is not denial.'
 "Our first date he picked me up in an Oldsmobile. We came home, and I had told myself, I'm not going to invite him up to my apartment. Then I heard myself saying, 'Would you like to come back to my apartment?' I was just dumbfounded."
 Their friendship ripened into love. "There's an old swing in the wooded section," she said. "It has the nicest little squeak in it. We used to sit in that swing and talk about what we expected and what we wanted."
 One of the things they talked about was money. Philip Kolb said his accountant told him to get a prenuptial agreement. Colleen consented to it after he told her that he'd marry her whether she signed it or not. "I pay 60 percent of all household expenses," he told me. "I deposit it in our account at the beginning of every month."
 Another thing they discussed was Colleen's bed, a mahogany four-poster she'd been born on. Her first husband never liked the bed, so it was in storage. When Colleen and Philip set up house, they got it out and refinished it. That's the bed they sleep on. This has been the happiest year of my life," she said. Someone said to me, how does it feel to fall in love at over 70? I said, I hope it happens to you."
 Then Colleen got out her wedding invitation. It said, "God in his Providence has brought together Colleen Hamilton Watrous and Philip Kolb." She said, "I knew that's what had happened."
 After the jazz cruise, we didn't get back to the hotel till 11, and the next morning the schedule was jammed. During a bus tour of the French Quarter, Tena Dodson cried: "Hey girls, there's Gucci's!"
 We didn't stop there, but we fanned out across Jackson Square for lunch. Mary Coleman and I were finishing up at a cafe when Ruth Simmons came in from a neighboring place. She had a knowing expression as she sidled up to our table.
 "We checked on where you powder your nose -- here or across the street," she said. "Powder it here."
 Then we got back on the bus. At dusk, as we crossed into Mississippi on I-55, Jean Clark, the young woman who runs St. Dominic's program for seniors, stood up and announced: "We're already planning a Gulf Coast pilgrimage in March. We'll spend the night at the Grand, go to the Grand Casino in Biloxi. We'll eat at Mary Mahoney's, see a few of the homes around there."
 There was a stir of excitement among the weary New Orleans gang. "I've got to go to that," Tena Dodson said. "But I'm not taking Sam. I'm going to be footloose and fancy free."

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Over 80 and still swinging: Tena and Sam Dodson on a jazz cruise. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX WEBB/MAGNUM PHOTOS, FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. 63); Daniel Bell, 77, Sociologist -- "As one gets older, one modifies one's utopian view. It's not easy to be holy and pure." (PHOTOGRAPH BY FRED CONRAD/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. 65)

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March 10, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

TRACK AND FIELD;
This Time, Slaney Isn't Oldest, or Fastest

BYLINE: By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY 

SECTION: Section C; Page 10; Column 3; Sports Desk 

LENGTH: 856 words

DATELINE: PARIS, March 9

As she stood there on the podium at the world indoor championships with a silver medal dangling from her delicate neck, Mary Slaney could be excused for feeling "like a kid again."
For the first time in a long time, the famously fragile American runner was healthy for a major competition, and for the first time in a very long time, the woman who had just beaten the 38-year-old Slaney in the 1,500 meters was her elder. 
 "I'm surprised there is anyone older than me out here," Slaney said. "I had kind of gotten used to being the senior citizen."
Today, the senior citizen was a 44-year-old Russian citizen named Yekaterina Podkopayeva. Like Slaney, Podkopayeva juggles the demands of motherhood and world-class competition. Like Slaney, she has been competing internationally since the 1970's. But when the two grande dames sprinted toward the finish line in Paris, Podkopayeva caught Slaney in the last 5 meters to take the gold by the gut-wrenching margin of three-hundredths of a second in 4 minutes 5.19 seconds.
"Don't get me wrong; I don't like getting second, but I think it's neat that we're both older and still doing this successfully," said Slaney, who took the lead at 150 meters and held it until nearly the end.
Several other Americans fared better on the final day of these championships. The United States won four gold medals to finish atop the medal standing by a large margin over Cuba and Russia with six golds, three silvers and seven bronzes. The reigning Olympic champion Charles Austin won the men's high jump with a leap of 7 feet 8 1/2 inches. Jearl Miles-Clark came from behind to win the women's 400 meters in 50.96 seconds, but seemed more excited by her sister-in-law Joetta Clark's bronze medal in the 800.
The American men's relay team won the 4x400 in 3:04.93, which was more than three seconds better than the second-place Jamaicans. But the most surprising American victory of the day came from 25-year-old Stacy Dragila in the women's pole vault.  The engaging Dragila is a heptathlete by training and an assistant track coach at her alma mater, Idaho State, by trade. She upset Australia's Emma George and the Chinese by equaling George's indoor world record of 14 feet 5 1/4 inches.
"I guess I'm just glad to be here among these great athletes," Dragila said. "After college, I didn't think there was anything out there I could do at this level."
For the second time in three days, Wilson Kipketer of Denmark made astonishingly quick work of the 800-meter world indoor record, and once again, the Kenyan-born runner did it all on his own. In the first round on Friday, Kipketer broke the mark of another Kenyan-born runner, Paul Ereng, by nearly a second with a time of 1:43.96. Today in the final, he took the lead immediately and won the gold in 1:42.67.
"I decided after I broke the first one that today I would try to do better," Kipketer said.
Kipketer earned $50,000 for his victory, but did not improve on the $50,000 bonus he won on Friday. Meet rules stipulated that there was one bonus per customer. The only other athletes to profit in Paris were the members of the Russian women's 4x400-meter relay team who broke Germany's 1991 indoor mark of 3:27.22 by finishing in 3:26.84 today.
But the day's most poignant moment had little to do with prize money. Maria Mutola, the talented middle-distance runner from Mozambique who is based in Eugene, Ore., wore a black ribbon on her track uniform today in honor of her father, who died about two weeks ago. She initially planned to withdraw from these championships, but her family convinced her it would be a fine way to honor his memory. Moments after she won the 800 in 1:58.96, she was kneeling on the track, covering her eyes with her hands and sobbing.
"He used to like watching this sport so much," Mutola said later. "I don't know how I'm going to do it without him."
If the 24-year-old Mutola is looking for tips on how to endure through the pain, she need only consult a fellow Eugene resident, Slaney, whose career has been filled with nearly as many ailments and leg injuries as victories. But with a new treatment for the exercise-induced asthma that hampered her at last summer's Olympics, she has returned to form this winter and won the United States indoor title in a world-best 4:03.08.
Her luck remains poor, however.  When the Slaneys finally arrived in Paris -- after two days of flight troubles -- it was Friday morning, and Slaney admitted to feeling "heavy" and "tired" today as a result. Her time -- five seconds slower than she had hoped for -- reflected it.
"I certainly felt better in Atlanta, but I am very happy to medal in another world championship after all these years," she said.
The last time she did medal was in 1983, when she swept the 1,500 and 3,000 at the outdoor world championships in Helsinki, Finland. The bronze medalist in the 1,500 in Helsinki happened to be Podkopayeva. Until today, they had not raced each other again.
"Mary was too strong that day in Helsinki and I got third," Podkopayeva said. "But I'm very happy that at age 44, I finally got my revenge."

LOAD-DATE: March 10, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Yekaterina Podkopayeva, left, overtaking Mary Slaney in a sprint over the final 5 meters to win the 1,500. (Reuters)
 
 
 

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March 13, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

CLINTON TO DEFER PLANS FOR PANEL ON A PRICE INDEX

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 878 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 12

President Clinton has decided to shelve for now the idea of establishing a commission to recalculate cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and other benefit payments that are tied to an index that many economists say overstates inflation, Administration officials said today.
The officials said the Administration was not ruling out reopening the issue later, perhaps even in time to use it as part of any agreement between the White House and Congress this year to balance the Federal budget by 2002. 
 Reacting to studies saying that the Government's current inflation gauge, the Consumer Price Index, overstates inflation, some members of both parties have been seeking to reduce cost-of-living payments to help insure the long-term viability of the Social Security program and to help eliminate the Federal deficit.
For the last several weeks Mr. Clinton has been studying whether to support the creation of a commission of economists that would set a more accurate -- and presumably lower -- cost-of-living adjustment than the price index provides.
But after extensive talks with members of Congress and others, Administration officials said they had determined that there would be such strong opposition to setting up a panel now to deal with the issue that it would set off a political hue and cry sufficient to poison the entire budget process, perhaps fatally.
The decision, which was first reported by The Washington Post in its Thursday issue, is almost certain to provoke criticism of Mr. Clinton from proponents of the idea in both parties, particularly Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican majority leader. Mr. Lott has been publicly pushing for a commission to deal with the issue and last week said that only Mr. Clinton's leadership could overcome the political obstacles to making it happen.
But other Republicans were cool to the proposal, in part because they feared being attacked by Democrats as shortchanging the elderly to pay for the tax cut proposals being pushed by the Republican leadership. And indeed many Democrats, including Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the minority leader, came out staunchly against the idea of a commission.
At the same time, influential pressure groups like the American Association of Retired Persons and a number of labor organizations made clear that they would go all-out to fight the idea of a commission, saying any improvements to the price index should be made by the experts within the Bureau of Labor Statistics and not by a politically appointed panel.
Opponents of a commission made clear to the White House that any downward adjustment in cost-of-living payments could not be seen as even indirectly paying for tax cuts, especially the capital gains tax cut proposed by the Republicans to trim the tax rate on investment profits.
"The goal of doing a cost-of-living commission at this moment was to take the issue out of politics and to make it an issue of technical accuracy only," a senior Administration official said tonight. "There was a large, significant reaction from all sides that doing a commission at this moment, in this context, might have the opposite reaction and serve to politicize the issue."
But the official said the White House wanted to leave open the possibility of finding a less politically explosive way of dealing with the issue, perhaps by postponing consideration of it until after Congress and the Administration reach a broad agreement on balancing the budget.
"We are not ruling in or out whether it could be done at other times or in other contexts," the official said.
Reducing the cost-of-living formula, even slightly, could save tens of billions of dollars in the next five years, making it much easier for Congressional Republicans and the White House to agree on a budget deal. Given the differences between the Administration and the Republican leadership on taxes and spending, some members of Congress had said the only way to get a budget agreement was to have a bipartisan agreement on the cost-of-living issue.
Efforts to negotiate a budget deal have been stalled for weeks. Republicans have been lambasting the Administration's budget proposal as built on unrealistic assumptions, and today the House passed a resolution asking the White House to submit a new budget.
Administration officials responded by noting that the Republicans have yet to make a proposal of their own and that any Republican proposal would have to include such deep spending cuts to pay for the party's proposed tax cuts that it would subject the Republicans to a painful political backlash. To some extent, both parties have been waiting for a resolution of the cost-of-living issue before determining how to proceed on budget negotiations.
Whether Mr. Clinton's decision today accelerates the budget process or derails it could depend on how much Republican criticism is generated. With relations between the parties already strained by revelations about possible campaign finance abuses by the Administration, some Democrats have said in recent days that the budget process could be imperiled by any return to the intense partisanship that surrounded budget talks over the past few years.
 
 
 
      

LOAD-DATE: March 13, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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March 13, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
FAULDING, CHARLES

SECTION: Section D; Page 22; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 357 words

FAULDING-Charles. The 100,000member Transport Workers Union of America mourns the passing of our retired Secretary Treasurer on March 9, 1997 after a brief illness at Parkway Hospital, Forest Hills, Queens. He was 81. He had retired in February 1991 after a distinguished 48-year career as a member and officer of TWU's flagship Local 100 in New York City and the national TWU of America. In 1980, as Secretary Treasurer of the 35,000-member Local 100, Mr. Faulding played a key role in the 11-day New York City transit strike. Despite his retirement from TWU, Mr. Faulding remained 1st Vice President of the New York City Central Labor Council's Black Trade Union Leadership Committee; an officer of the Municipal Credit Union; a member of One Hundred Black Men, a life member of the NAACP, and was founder of the Senior Citizens Garden Club in Roy Wilkins Park, Queens. During his nearly five decades as a union officer for TWU, Mr. Faulding held almost every elected position in Local 100, except President, including 26 years of service as Shop Steward, Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Local's United Motormen's Division. Born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, in 1916, he came to New York at the age of 11. He became involved in the union movement for transit workers when he became a Trolley Motorman. He joined Local 100, and soon after was selected Shop Steward and immediately became a solidifying force. Mr. Faulding joined the national union's staff in 1985 as Secretary Treasurer, a position he held until his retirement. He is a charter member and former President of the BMT Surface Operators Club which was founded in 1943 when minorities were first hired into New York Surface transportation. Our deepest condolences to his son George, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Friends may pay their respects at J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home, 179-24 Linden Blvd, Jamaica, NY Friday, March 14, 1997. Funeral Services Saturday 9 AM, Trinity Lutheran Church of Locust Manor, 121-02 Merril St, Jamaica, NY. Sonny Hall, International President Frank McCann, Executive Vice President John Kerrigan, Secretary Treasurer

LOAD-DATE: March 14, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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March 14, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

TALKS ON BUDGET REACH AN IMPASSE, LEADERS DECLARE

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1367 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 13

Just weeks after both sides expressed optimism that they could reach quick agreement on balancing the Federal budget, the White House and Congressional Republicans are again deadlocked, raising the prospect of another long and acrimonious standoff.
With their earlier pledges of bipartisanship giving way to rancor, leaders of both parties were openly pessimistic today about getting substantive negotiations started soon. And they warned that, if there was not a breakthrough soon, positions on both sides could harden further, leading to a repeat of the bitter partisan budget battles that led to Government shutdowns in the last two years. 
 In the day's starkest indication of the deteriorating atmosphere, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, the chairman of the Budget Committee and the Republican most directly involved in early negotiations with the White House, said the chances "of getting a negotiated budget between Republicans and the President are finished."
Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican leader, said he had been unable to get the White House to focus on serious budget negotiations. Mr. Lott declared that President Clinton lacked the courage and leadership to deal with one of the principal issues, saving billions of dollars by recalculating the cost-of-living index in a way that would reduce inflationary increases for Social Security and other benefit programs.
Mr. Clinton decided on Wednesday not to pursue that enticing but politically risky avenue for now in the face of more vehement opposition than he had expected from his party and constituencies like labor and the elderly. Republican sensitivity over the matter was also heightened in recent weeks by disclosure of a two-year-old White House memorandum outlining how Democrats could exploit the issue against Republicans.
Mr. Lott warned that unless the Administration proved more responsive to the need for compromises, Republicans would declare Mr. Clinton's budget plan dead and start working on a purely Republican proposal. But Republicans themselves are divided over how to proceed, as are Democrats, further complicating efforts to forge a strategy that could bring the parties together.
White House officials continued to call on Republicans either to develop their own detailed blueprint for eliminating the deficit by 2002 or to stop attacking the Administration's plan. But they said they would otherwise keep their responses to Republican criticism muted in the hopes of eventually developing a consensus about how a deal could be struck.
"Our hope is to continue engaging everyone who is interested in being engaged in a serious dialogue as to how you could put together a majority in each party to agree on a balanced budget," said Gene Sperling, the chairman of the White House's National Economic Council. "By continuing that constructive dialogue we hope things will start moving in the right direction, perhaps gradually as opposed to in a dramatic moment."
Congressional Democrats were more downbeat, castigating Republicans for attacking Mr. Clinton's budget but refusing to put forth their own specific alternatives.
"While the President and Democrats in Congress have stepped up to the line with a balanced budget, Republicans are afraid to even reveal their game," said Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader.
The Republicans' goal, Mr. Daschle said, "continues to be a huge tax break for people who don't need them, paid for with spending cuts from people who can't afford them."
Today's sniping was set off in large part by Mr. Clinton's decision not to proceed, at least for now, with a plan to establish a commission to devise a new way to calculate cost-of-living increases, which are now based on the Consumer Price Index, a measure that many economists believe overstates the effects of inflation and costs the Government billions of dollars each year in overpayments to benefit recipients.
If the Administration will not support an effort to reduce the cost of living formula, it will be extremely difficult to bridge the gaps separating the two sides' tax and spending plans, members of both parties said.
"I don't think it's possible to come forward with a candid budget, so to speak, that comes to balance in 2002 without it," said Senator John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island. Senator John B. Breaux, Democrat of Louisiana, said that reaching a budget deal would be "much, much more difficult" without a change in the formula.
Although some White House officials had been optimistic in recent weeks about forging a bipartisan consensus to set up such a panel, they said they had run into strident opposition from Democrats and Republicans, as well as powerful interest groups like the elderly.
Despite support for the proposal from a bipartisan core of several dozen senators, liberal Democrats, especially in the House, said they objected to anything that would be seen as abandoning their traditional protection of benefits from entitlement programs. They were led by Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the minority leader, who, as a potential rival to Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2000, has not been shy about distancing himself from the White House.
More conservative Democrats did not want a reduction in the cost-of-living formula to pay for the sweeping tax cuts Republicans are seeking. And Republicans in the House, still smarting from Democratic attacks last year on their proposals to slow the growth in Medicare, proved deeply suspicious that Democrats would similarly attack them for cutting Social Security benefits.
The Republican fears were crystalized by a memorandum written in 1995 by Harold M. Ickes, then a top White House aide, detailing how Democrats would respond to plans Republicans were formulating to recalculate the cost of living formula.
The memorandum, which was among the documents turned over last month to Congressional committees investigating campaign financing activities, contained a draft Democratic fund-raising letter accusing Republicans of "trying to use a cowardly, backdoor political gimmick to take tens of billions of dollars out of the pockets of senior citizens."
Republicans said that Representatives Dick Armey and Bill Archer, both Texas Republicans, had waved a copy of the memo at a meeting of the Republican leadership recently.
"They told the Republican leadership that this was the trap waiting for them," said one Republican aide. "It scared every Republican on the Hill, especially those in the House, who face re-election every two years, from taking action on an important policy front."
Over the past several months, the cost-of-living issue has stood at the center of an extremely delicate political dance that both sides privately admit was heading toward a trade-off critical to any budget deal: the savings from a reduction in the cost-of-living formula would help pay for the tax cuts Republicans are demanding, while allowing Mr. Clinton his spending proposals in areas like health and education.
White House officials said they had not ruled out reopening the question of adjusting the Consumer Price Index, perhaps after reaching a general agreement with the Republicans on tax and spending priorities.
But the two sides are having enough trouble even sitting down to talk generally about the budget. Since President Clinton visited Capitol Hill a month ago to meet with leaders of both parties, there has been only sporadic contact.
An agreement reached during the President's visit to Capitol Hill to set up bipartisan working groups to hash out deals on taxes and four other issues has so far come to nothing.
Republicans are feuding among themselves over how hard to push for deep tax cuts and whether to put out their own detailed budget proposals. Democrats in Congress are themselves divided over how to proceed, with some eager to take a hard line with the Republicans and others more open to compromise. And both sides are trying to determine how much the furor over campaign finance will wound President Clinton and poison whatever air of bipartisanship remains.

LOAD-DATE: March 14, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Preparing for a briefing on the budget were, from left, Senators Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina, all Democrats. (Paul Hosefros/The New York Times)(pg. A22)
      

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March 14, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
FAULDING, CHARLES

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 357 words

FAULDING-Charles. The 100,000member Transport Workers Union of America mourns the passing of our retired Secretary Treasurer on March 9, 1997 after a brief illness at Parkway Hospital, Forest Hills, Queens. He was 81. He had retired in February 1991 after a distinguished 48-year career as a member and officer of TWU's flagship Local 100 in New York City and the national TWU of America. In 1980, as Secretary Treasurer of the 35,000-member Local 100, Mr. Faulding played a key role in the 11-day New York City transit strike. Despite his retirement from TWU, Mr. Faulding remained 1st Vice President of the New York City Central Labor Council's Black Trade Union Leadership Committee; an officer of the Municipal Credit Union; a member of One Hundred Black Men, a life member of the NAACP, and was founder of the Senior Citizens Garden Club in Roy Wilkins Park, Queens. During his nearly five decades as a union officer for TWU, Mr. Faulding held almost every elected position in Local 100, except President, including 26 years of service as Shop Steward, Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Local's United Motormen's Division. Born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, in 1916, he came to New York at the age of 11. He became involved in the union movement for transit workers when he became a Trolley Motorman. He joined Local 100, and soon after was selected Shop Steward and immediately became a solidifying force. Mr. Faulding joined the national union's staff in 1985 as Secretary Treasurer, a position he held until his retirement. He is a charter member and former President of the BMT Surface Operators Club which was founded in 1943 when minorities were first hired into New York Surface transportation. Our deepest condolences to his son George, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Friends may pay their respects at J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home, 179-24 Linden Blvd, Jamaica, NY Friday, March 14, 1997. Funeral Services Saturday 9 AM, Trinity Lutheran Church of Locust Manor, 121-02 Merril St, Jamaica, NY. Sonny Hall, International President Frank McCann, Executive Vice President John Kerrigan, Secretary Treasurer

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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March 15, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Dwight L. Wilbur, 93, President Of A.M.A. Who Aided Medicare

BYLINE: By WOLFGANG SAXON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 31; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 541 words

Dr. Dwight Locke Wilbur, a prominent San Francisco gastroenterologist and past president of the American Medical Association, who helped overcome the organization's aversion to Medicare as "socialized medicine," died on Sunday at his home in San Francisco. He was 93.
In the 1960's, when Dr. Wilbur rose to leadership in the A.M.A., his profession, like the rest of the nation, was deeply divided over crucial issues. Medical insurance for the country's elderly was one of them, and he was considered a moderate in the A.M.A.'s determined struggle against Government encroachment in medical care. 
 Medicare, the basic Federal health insurance program for everyone over 65, was enacted in Social Security amendments in 1965 in the Johnson Administration. The A.M.A., supported by private insurers and hospitals, pursued its own alternative, called Eldercare, as a comprehensive plan for the elderly needy.
Upon his inauguration as president of the A.M.A. in June 1968 for a one-year term, Dr. Wilbur broke with his predecessor, Dr. Milford O. Rouse of Dallas, and endorsed the notion that adequate health care was a right of all citizens. Although he personally favored the private approach wherever possible, he had resigned himself to the Social Security-based program as a new fact of life, and the organization reluctantly went along.
Dr. Wilbur is the only son of a former A.M.A. president to attain the organization's highest office. His father, Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, who was president in 1923-24, also served as president of Stanford University and as Secretary of the Interior in the Hoover Administration.
Dwight Wilbur was born in Harrow-on-the-Hill, England, while his father was studying medicine there.  From boyhood, he said, he could not conceive of anything but following his father's footsteps into medicine.
Like his father, he was an outdoorsman and rugged individualist. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford in 1923 and received his M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1926.
He held teaching positions at the Stanford School of Medicine throughout his career of more than 50 years, rising to clinical professor in 1949, and retired from private practice in 1983. He founded both the San Francisco and the California Societies of Internal Medicine.
He held office in various other professional organizations and served in clinical and teaching assignments in and beyond California. He wrote more than 200 papers and articles on conditions affecting the kidneys, the gastrointestinal tract and nutrition, as well as on general health.
As for retirement at age 65, Dr. Wilbur considered it "biologically unsound" and advised careful planning and a new activity to stay "young in spirit." A person shows signs of an aging mind, he once observed, when he reads the obituary page before the sports section, studies the menu before looking at the waitress, and mopes at a party "because he thinks of how he is going to feel in the morning."
He is survived by his wife, Ruth; two sons, Jordan R., of Mill Valley, Calif., and Gregory F., of Menlo Park, Calif.; a sister, Lois W. Hopper, of Palo Alto, Calif., and seven grandchildren. A son, Dwight L. 3d, also a gastroenterologist, died last fall.

NAME: Dwight Locke Wilbur

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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March 15, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Liberties;
Banks For the Memories

BYLINE: By MAUREEN DOWD 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 23; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 718 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

I told my mother I was writing a memoir.
"Of whom?" she asked.
She doesn't get it. She's still in the dark ages, stuck in a time when people wrote about themselves only if they had something interesting and valuable and exceptional and wise to say. A time when people kept their dirty laundry in the hamper.
Now we are in an exhibitionist era and publishers are frantically signing up the hampers. We have revenge memoirs. Good mommy memoirs. Bad mommy memoirs. Bad daddy memoirs. Very bad surrogate daddy memoirs. Celebrity memoirs. Nonentity memoirs. Pubescent memoirs. Senescent memoirs. Anyone remotely associated with a celebrity memoirs. I-could-have-run-I-did-run-I-might-still-run-for-President memoirs 
 As Mark Fuhrman's literary agent, Lucianne Goldberg, so eloquently puts it, "Everybody deserves to tell their story."
This week's publishing sensation is an almost-centenarian. A Wall Street Journal story brought to light an autobiography, written in longhand for a senior-citizens program, by a 97-year-old Kansas woman -- "The Life of Jessie Lee Brown From Birth Up to 80 Years." A bidding frenzy erupted over her picaresque tale of surviving two wars, the Great Depression, an alcoholic husband, eight children, a job as a door-to-door cosmetics peddler and the first time she saw Lawrence Welk.
"It feels like real people talking about real people," enthused a Random House editor.
Creepy people talking about creepy people works even better. Kathryn Harrison, who wrote "The Kiss" about her four-year consensual adult love affair with her father, is also hot. "It's a book without villains," she told The New York Observer.
Out of the top 11 books on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list, 9 are autobiographical. Katharine Graham, Frank McCourt, Mark Fuhrman, Cardinal Bernardin, Walter Cronkite, Ron Goldman's family, O. J. detectives, the widow of the Russian ice skater who collapsed on the ice and Mia Farrow.
But the kicker for me was when Little, Brown announced that they were so impressed with Paula Barbieri's "honesty and sensitivity" that they were paying O. J.'s ex $3 million for a book. "She has a bittersweet story to tell," said Rafe Sagalyn, her Washington literary agent.
Hey, Rafe, I have a bittersweet story to tell. And you can have it for $2.4.
I never experienced incest, but I had a couple of very annoying boyfriends. I didn't break Watergate, but I've eaten there. A President never asked me for advice on foreign policy, but I did give Dan Quayle the proper pronunciation of Pago Pago.
George Stephanopoulos is getting $3 million from Little, Brown for his thoughtful assessment on Clintonian governance: a tempestuous tale of mussable hair, a President who stressed him out by day and a Stairmaster that calmed him by night.
I can do that. I have hair. The President stresses me out. I use a Stairmaster. Okay, so it doesn't calm me down. Like I said, only $2.4.
I don't have anything as dramatic as Walter Cronkite or Katharine Graham. Mrs. Graham, after all, had Lyndon Johnson bawling her out in his bedroom at the White House while he stripped and put on pajamas. But George Bush once sent me a picture of himself wearing Bermuda shorts at Bohemian Grove.
In his $2.5 million stab at rehabilitation, Dick Morris wrote about growing up with a chip on his shoulder: "I began life weighing only two pounds, eleven ounces, and spent my first three months in incubators, untouched by anyone, even my mother. Only after years of therapy did I begin to understand how this early deprivation affected my personality thereafter."
Well, get this: When I was born, a nurse, trying to clean out my throat, accidentally slit it on the inside. I couldn't cry for months, only make little mewling sounds, like a kitten. I could spend pages exploring how this early deprivation affected my personality thereafter. I'm a recovering wailer with a wound that will not heal.
And as for my mother. I thought she was wonderful in every way. But, for $2.4 mil, the scales will suddenly fall from my eyes and I will see what I really endured. What about that night, when I was 10, and I said I was in the mood for Italian, and she put an unopened can of Chef Boyardee ravioli on my plate?
Harsh. That's the kind of thing that can haunt a girl.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Op-Ed

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March 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

New Face of AIDS: Older and Overlooked;
As More Cases Arise in People Over 50, a Silent Group Slowly Gets Help

BYLINE: By JANE GROSS 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 41; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk; Second Front

LENGTH: 1367 words

Wrinkled faces do not appear on billboards promoting safe sex. Researchers have not investigated the interaction of AIDS drugs with those for high blood pressure and other ailments of aging. AIDS and older people is not a popular topic with the Gay Men's Health Crisis or the American Association of Retired Persons.
But the overlooked victims of the AIDS epidemic are no longer totally invisible. 
 Nearly 7,000 cases were diagnosed nationwide last year in people over 50, a number that has climbed steadily through the epidemic. That represents 11 percent of the new AIDS cases in 1995, a slight increase from previous years. In New York, by contrast, 15 percent of the new diagnoses are in those past the age of 50, the standard cutoff point for Federal and local statistics, up from 8 percent when AIDS first surfaced in the early 1980's.
The sharp increase in the number of cases in this age group has inspired the first advocates, conferences and support groups devoted to AIDS and older patients, with much of this activity in the New York region. But with doctors often overlooking AIDS as a diagnosis in older adults, and the patients themselves tight-lipped about their personal lives, the issue of caring for them is much more complex than among the younger population.
The director of a New Jersey AIDS organization, Carol DeGraw, is among the earliest AIDS workers to make a specific effort to reach out to older people. She learned firsthand of their ordeal not long ago when a woman in her late 50's went to the Coalition on AIDS in Passaic County, begging for an H.I.V. test.
The woman's partner, now dead, had been an intravenous drug user. She was steadily losing weight and complaining of thrush and swollen glands. But despite clear risk factors and classic symptoms, her doctor scoffed at the idea that she might have AIDS.
"Some doctors just don't believe old people have sex or do drugs," Ms. DeGraw said.
With new drugs prolonging life, she and other patient advocates expect the number of older people with the disease to grow. But Ms. DeGraw, familiar with statistics that showed the number of older people with AIDS as more than double the number of infants, teen-agers and young adults combined, thought this fast-growing group was slipping through the cracks. So she ventured to housing projects and nutrition centers to offer condoms, counseling, case management and care.
The most polite among the aging met her presentation with blank stares.
Some blurted, "Not me or anyone I know." Others demanded to know who had authorized her visit. Ms. DeGraw conceded that her effort had failed. The doctors, she saw, were not alone in their denial. The stoic generations of older adults were their collaborators, unwilling to confide in strangers. In 1994, a study conducted at the University of California at San Francisco showed that people over 50 known to be at risk of AIDS were one-sixth as likely as those in their 20's to use condoms and one-fifth as likely to be tested.
Other patient advocates were learning similar lessons, including Joan Zimmerman at the Park Slope Center for Mental Health in Brooklyn, who has a grant to run support groups for older AIDS patients but cannot fill them.
"The discomfort the younger doctor has in asking the right questions and the discomfort the older person has in disclosing these things are two sides of the same coin," Ms. Zimmerman said.
Charles DeGuzman, 64, of the Bronx, said that after one episode of infidelity in a 32-year marriage, he had a mysterious string of illnesses, including viral meningitis and pneumonia. But not until his third hospitalization did doctors discuss his sexual history and diagnose AIDS.
"I don't care if you're young, old or what, in a medical work-up they should ask about these things," Mr. DeGuzman said. "But doctors are skittish with senior citizens. They're afraid of getting a growl and a what-business-is-it-of-yours?"
There are signs of change.
*A conference on AIDS and aging was held for the first time last year, under the leadership of the Brookdale Center for Aging at Hunter College in New York City. Two more conferences are scheduled soon, one in San Francisco this Saturday and another in New York in April.
*A task force on AIDS and aging, also born at the Brookdale Center, last year pressured the American Association of Retired Persons, whose primary constituency is retirees, to produce an educational video called "It Can Happen to Me."
*The National Institute on Aging financed another video, "The Forgotten 10th," and also made a grant to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where scores of older AIDS patients are now being interviewed to assess their social and psychological needs.
One of the few support groups for older adults with AIDS meets biweekly at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Mary Ann Malone, a social worker and the group leader, knows the half-dozen women would be out the door in a heartbeat if she forced them to "sit around and talk about their feelings."
Instead, Ms. Malone reels them in with guest speakers, videos and her homemade apple-dapple cake. And every once in a while, raw anger or heartache breaks through. Recently, Ms. Malone said, a woman railed against the man who knew that he had AIDS before their one-night stand, but told her he had an ear infection.
Participants say they would be totally alone were it not for the group. Sandra Baker, for one, who was infected through intravenous drug use, has been shunned by most of her family; has lost the one child who stood by her, a gay son, to AIDS, and stopped seeing old friends when they served her Thanksgiving dinner on paper plates.
"My world is the group," Ms. Baker, a 60-year-old Harlem woman, said. "I have nobody to talk to but strangers."
The risks for AIDS among the older groups are the same as in the population at large, although the demographics of the disease are different and so are the burdens.
Gay men represent the majority of the 56,000 AIDS cases diagnosed in those over 50. But unlike their younger peers, they grew up in a world in which homosexuals could be imprisoned or institutionalized.
The few social workers or health experts who have reached out to this group say they are often closeted, married to unsuspecting women and unwilling to turn to the advocacy groups that have supported younger men throughout the epidemic.
"If you feel the sex you're having is wrong and not to be discussed, are you going to be comfortable in a sex workshop with a bunch of young guys talking about what they do?" said James Masten, a social worker at SAGE, or Senior Action in a Gay Environment, who counsels older men. "Would the younger people even understand how these people had to live their lives?"
Among the older heterosexuals with AIDS, 15 percent were infected through transfusions, before testing largely eliminated tainted blood in 1985. Once they were the lion's share of cases in this age group, terrified they had infected spouses during unprotected sex -- a realistic fear -- or irrationally afraid of transmitting the virus by kissing a grandchild.
But as the transfusion cases have died off, the proportion of older men and women infected through heterosexual sex has increased, to 10 percent, the highest proportion to get AIDS this way in any adult age group.
Many are low-income women endangered by drug use or promiscuous partners. They are aware of the peril, unlike most middle-class heterosexuals in their age group, but doggedly loyal to their mates, said Dr. Mark Johnson, a specialist in infectious diseases at Queens Hospital Center. And they are at increased risk if they have passed menopause, Dr. Johnson and others said, sometimes infected more easily because they see no need to use birth control.
"People my age are totally ignorant," Mr. DeGuzman said. "We don't even know what safe sex is."
Jane Fowler agreed. A 61-year-old well-to-do woman, she began dating men in her social set in Kansas City after the end of a 23-year marriage.
Now she has AIDS.
"You don't know the sexual history of anyone," Ms. Fowler said. "Not anyone. You may think you do, but you don't."

LOAD-DATE: March 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Forgotten Voices -- Charles DeGuzman, left, was hospitalized three times before doctors discussed his sexual history and diagnosed AIDS. His struggles with depression, drugs, bereavement and guilt mirror those of many other older AIDS patients. "People my age, we think it could never happen to us," said Mr. DeGuzman, 64, one of several patients who spoke about their illness. Article, Page 44. (James Estrin/The New York Times)
 
Graphs: "A Rising Toll" shows number of new AIDS cases in the United States among those 50 years of age and older, 1983-1995. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(pg. 41); "BREAKDOWN: AIDS and Aging" shows percentage breakdown, by age and sex, of adult AIDS cases reported from 1980 to 1996. (Source: New York City Department of Health, Office of AIDS Surveillance)(pg. 44)

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March 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

A LA CARTE;
In a World of Flux, an Atypical Evergreen

BYLINE: By RICHARD J. SCHOLEM 

SECTION: Section 13LI; Page 25; Column 1; Long Island Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1410 words

VOLATILE is the word that best describes restaurants on Long Island. They come and go, open and close, with dizzying rapidity. Many of them do not make it through the first year. Yesterday's darling is today's forgotten wallflower.
In this world of flux, virtually nothing is static, much less permanent, except, perhaps, for Hildebrandt's in Williston Park, the most atypical of Island restaurants. Yes, there are still traditional, nostalgic, unapologetically-old-fashioned places like Hildebrandt's in middle America, but few remain in Nassau or Suffolk. 
 Hildebrandt's has never moved from 84 Hillside Avenue (741-0608), the first building to be constructed on the Williston Park portion of that thoroughfare. A picture of the structure on a dirt road with a horse-drawn carriage in front shows the same siding and neon sign that are in place today.
Fortunately, this restaurant, luncheonette, ice cream parlor, candy store has itself not changed much over the years. Al and Joanne Strano, the custodians of this Island institution, still grind their own hamburger meat, hand cut their french fries, make their own syrups and hot fudge and even turn out candy canes by hand. Hildebrandt's 1946 Ford truck continues to putter around the streets of Williston Park. Dishes like pork chops and meat loaf are always on the menu.
Mr. Strano learned to prepare Hildebrandt's renowned homemade ice cream and chocolates from Henry Shriever, the original candy and ice-cream maker, 23 years ago. Mr. Shriever, who lives in New Hyde Park, is in his 90's, and Hildebrandt's, which opened in 1927, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
Although Island restaurants that are 40 years old are extremely rare, Hildebrandt's has many customers that have been coming to this hometown hangout for that period of time. A few couples even got engaged there.
At the front of the restaurant, where the soda fountain of everyone's youth lives, elderly women eating banana, butter pecan, coffee and coconut ice cream (with a 17 percent butterfat content) can be heard telling tiny children, "This is where your father and grandfather had their first ice cream."
Other patrons sit at the marble counter sipping what might well be the Island's best hot chocolate (made with evaporated milk and top-quality cocoa) and everything from grilled cheese sandwiches ($3.25) to salmon ($16.95).
One of those youngsters eating ice cream 15 years ago, Tom Bauman, is now making it under Mr. Strano's direction. His brother, Jim, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, is the chef. His repertory includes straightforward Italian fare like bruschetta, lasagna, manicotti and chicken scapariello (some of it from Mr. Strano's Sicilian mother's recipes), occasional thai and contemporary American dishes.
Most nights Mr. Strano emerges from the candy factory under his restaurant with chocolate on his shoes, on his nose and under his fingernails, after making Valentine's hearts or Easter bunnies. He washes in time to escort the evening's ever-waiting lines of customers past the soda fountain, with its 13 leatherette counter stools, to the booths in the rear room, where two of his three daughters met the men they married.
Island diners continue to congregate at this reassuring restaurant, with its time-warp atmosphere and its very appropriate slogan, "Since 1927. . . . because one person tells another."

Openings
Despite a substantial Polish population and a growing Russian presence, Nassau-Suffolk has until now offered diners only two Russian choices and one all-Polish possibility. The ranks of both were joined a couple of months ago when Polonez Restaurant, featuring both Polish and Russian cuisine, opened at 123 West Main Street in Riverhead (369-8878).
The bargain-priced, 60-seat spot is owned by Elizabeth Sorka, who came to this country from Poland, and Alla Kouznetsoza, who emigrated from Russia. Their experienced Polish and Russian chefs specialize in hearty peasant fare like stuffed cabbage with mashed potatoes and salad ($5.50), bigos, a layered sauerkraut, onion, apple, meat casserole ($5), a Polish sampler platter ($8.50) and Russian-style shish kebab ($12). Sixteen entrees and six or seven specials are available seven days a week at Polonez.
The rumors that the owners of the Bridgehampton Cafe are negotiating to buy the shortlived Boom Bistro on Main Street in Bridgehampton have been confirmed. They plan to open the Bull Head Tavern, a 125-seat moderately priced restaurant with a woodburning grill. It will feature casual, contemporary, tavern dishes like hanger steak sandwiches and whole fish from the grill at entree prices of $10 to $17, and, if approved by the town, outdoor dining for 50.
Don Evans, who along with Carmine Parisi and Frank Gemino owns the Bridgehampton Cafe, said John Lopresti, the cafe's sous chef, will be the kitchen commander at Bull Head while Robert Fairbrother, formerly the assistant general manager of Oceana in Manhattan, would manage both restaurants.
Portofino, a Mineola Boulevard mainstay for 13 years, opened an all- new Portofino Ristorante last month at 2024 Hillside Avenue, in New Hyde Park (488-5100). The moderately priced, 80-seat, family-oriented operation offers more moderate prices than the original upscale spot. Pastas start at $9, chicken dishes at $10.50, fish, $13.50, and veal, $14.50.
The Northern Italian restaurant, which took two years to complete, has European villa decor that includes murals, terra cotta roofs and neon highlights. John Gardi, the owner, indicated that an upstairs banquet room would soon be available.
Atavola, which means "at the table," is the name of a 13-month-old restaurant at 39 Mineola Boulevard (739-3094), where Portofino had been. The 65-seat, Northern Italian-continental spot offers main courses from $12 for pastas to $24.95 for porterhouse steak or lobster tails. It is owned by two brothers, Augistino and Maurice Benavedes.
Augistino Benavedes was a chef at La Cisterna in Mineola while his brother cooked at Bevans in Garden City. They have retained much of Portofino's decor and added a grand piano and partitions that separate the bar from the dining room.
There will be a change for the 1997 season when the Downtown Grille and Wine Bar, South Elmwood, Montauk (668-4200), opens on May 1. Tom Schaudel, the chef and owner, has sold the operation to a husband-and-wife team: Lonnie Lewis and Maureen Kinney.
Mr. Lewis is an experienced Montauk chef and restaurateur who most recently was the chef and general manager at the Port Royal. His menu will continue to feature eclectic American cuisine with a distinct Asian influence.
Ms. Kinney, who formerly owned Country Flowers in Montauk and was once a floral designer at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, will oversee the front of the house. The wine bar will also continue to offer an all-American selection of wines by the glass.

Wine Tastings
Capriccio's Restaurant in Jericho (931-2727) is presenting a dinner on Thursday at 7 P.M., that features the wines of the Wine Wave. The $60 Hello, Spring! meal includes an entree of roast rack of veal, porcini mushrooms and polenta accompanied by a 1991 Barolo Artone vineyard, Gigi Rosso.
The Mykonian House Restaurant in Great Neck (466-1194), which features eclectic Hellenic cuisine, is offering a special four-course, wine-and-dine, gourmet dinner every Monday and Wednesday night from tomorrow through April 30. The $50, prix-fixe menu includes a different glass of Greek wine with each course, a variety of Greek hors d'oeuvres, a grilled shrimp orzo salad appetizer, a choice of two entrees and a platter of Greek desserts.

Potpourri
Pomodoro Restaurants of Long Island received an unexpected boost from television recently when NBC selected their Manhattan restaurant, at 229 Columbus Avenue, to be included in five episodes of "Seinfeld."
Bill Wharton, a recording artist known as the Sauce Boss, is bringing his traveling gumbo show to Big Daddy's in Massapequa (799-8877) next Sunday at 3:30 P.M.
Mr. Wharton dons a chef's coat and toque, straps on his guitar and tends to a pot of gumbo as he tears through 75 minutes of rocking blues with the help of his backup band, the Ingredients. At the close of the set, patrons are invited up to sample the smoking pot of gumbo. The Big Daddy's show is his only area appearance. Tickets are available at Big Daddy's for $5.

LOAD-DATE: March 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Patrons at the counter of Hildebrandt's, an old-time luncheonette in Williston Park. (Linda Rosier for The New York Times)

TYPE: Review

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The New York Times

March 17, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

In Manhattan's Big Race, Task Is to Become Known

BYLINE: By JONATHAN P. HICKS 

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 839 words

They are already spending their days and nights crisscrossing Manhattan, appearing before everything from block associations and tenant groups to senior citizens and labor audiences.
Though the Democratic primary for Manhattan borough president is six months away, the campaign is moving ever so gradually from preseason to the main event. And as the candidates immerse themselves in the campaign, their most formidable challenge is simply to be recognized by an electorate that knows little about them or the office they seek. 
 The task is doubly difficult because their views on issues are strikingly similar and they often describe themselves in the same terms, as independent or progressive.
For now, their energies seem to be focused on striking chords they hope will appeal to voters beyond their home areas.
The candidates seeking to succeed Borough President Ruth W. Messinger are Deborah J. Glick, an Assemblywoman from Greenwich Village, and three members of the City Council: C. Virginia Fields, who represents central Harlem and the Upper West Side; Antonio Pagan, who represents the Lower East Side, and Adam Clayton Powell 4th, who represents East Harlem and portions of the Upper West Side.
"For these candidates, becoming well known is a task of herculean proportion," said Hank Morris, a political consultant who works with Democratic candidates.
"They are in the most information clogged area in the world, campaigning for an office that most people don't really understand," Mr. Morris said. "The person who wins will be the person who figures out a way to communicate outside of their base."
That mission, the candidates agree, will be particularly difficult. The borough president, who is now widely characterized as half figurehead, half ombudsman, is far less powerful than presidents were before 1990, when the position meant having a seat on the Board of Estimate and, with it, significant influence over the budget and land use in New York City. The Board of Estimate was abolished in 1990.
But the borough presidency is still seen as a stepping stone for officials with mayoral aspirations, like Ms. Messinger, who is seeking to challenge Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
At a forum for Democratic candidates for borough president last week, sponsored by two political clubs on the Upper West Side, all of the candidates stressed an ability to collaborate with groups outside their political bases and to champion issues that are not often associated with them.
Ms. Fields, a former social worker who has been a Councilwoman for eight years, focused on economic and development issues rather than some of the social service issues for which she is well known. She says she aims to woo voters from the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side.
Ms. Glick, the first openly lesbian member of the Assembly, reminded the audience that she had been an advocate of tenant rights and abortion rights as well as gay rights, and an opponent of overdevelopment on Manhattan's West Side.
"I have not been a single-issue legislator," she said, explaining that she had been able to forge strong political alliances outside her Greenwich Village district. "I have always been involved in progressive struggles."
Mr. Powell sought to counter speculation, rampant in political circles, that he was not seeking to become borough president so much as trying to enhance his name recognition and campaign contributions for another City Council race. "Many people thought I wasn't very serious and I was just putting my name out there," Mr. Powell said. "But I have made my decision."
Mr. Pagan, too, emphasized that he could appeal to voters outside his Council district on the Lower East Side.
Each candidate is allowed to spend $1 million on the race, and most have suggested that they need at least half that much to conduct a viable campaign. So far, Ms. Glick is leading the group in contributions, having collected nearly $200,000. Next is Ms. Fields, who has raised $170,000, followed by Mr. Pagan, who has raised $150,000. Mr. Powell has raised $50,000.
Much of the attention paid to the race has been devoted to which candidates would remain in it. Last week, David A. Paterson, a State Senator from Harlem, announced that he was no longer a candidate, a move that was widely seen as assisting Ms. Fields, since it would most likely lessen the splitting of the Harlem vote.
Because many Manhattan politicians cast the race as a contest between Ms. Glick and Ms. Fields, Mr. Powell and Mr. Pagan are busy assuring audiences that they are serious about the campaign.
Mr. Powell, in an effort to show that his campaign is in earnest, often brandishes a poll that he commissioned. In the poll, conducted by Zogby Group International, Mr. Powell said he placed first, the choice of 20.2 percent of the 461 respondents. Ms. Glick was next, with 12.1 percent, followed by Ms. Fields, with 9.6 percent. Mr. Pagan was the choice of 6.3 percent. More than half of those surveyed said they had no opinion.

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Cyril Brickfield, 78, Leader Who Made A.A.R.P. a Power

BYLINE: By WOLFGANG SAXON 

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 375 words

Cyril Francis Brickfield, formerexecutive director of the American Association of Retired Persons and once the No. 2 official at the Veterans Administration, died on Friday at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. He was 78 and lived in Bethesda.
The cause was cancer, said the A.A.R.P., from which he retired as executive director 10 years ago. 
 Mr. Brickfield spent 20 years with the association, serving as executive director for 12 of them and in other periods filling posts like legal counsel and director of legislative activities. He is credited with a swelling of the organization's membership, from a million in 1967 to 28 million two decades later, by which time the A.A.R.P. had become one of the largest secular groups in the country.
He was also a former president of the Federal Bar Association and, for part of his time with the A.A.R.P., served concurrently as executive director of the National Association of Retired Teachers.
A tireless advocate for the elderly, Mr. Brickfield was an American delegate to the United Nations' World Assembly on Aging in Vienna in 1981, and a member of the advisory council for the White House Conference on Aging that year.
Mr. Brickfield was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Fordham University. He piloted B-17 bombers over Europe in World War II, left the Army Air Forces with the rank of captain, then graduated from Fordham Law School in 1948 and later, at George Washington University, earned a master's degree in public administration and a doctorate of law.
He was a law clerk for the chief judge of the Court of Appeals, New York State's highest court, from 1949 to 1951 and then worked for 10 years as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee in Washington.
He was appointed counsel to the Veterans Administration in 1961, then became the agency's chief benefits director before he was appointed Deputy Administrator in 1965. In that post, he established a V.A. nursing care system and oversaw the agency's 169 hospitals and 70 regional offices.
Mr. Brickfield is survived by his wife of 46 years, Ann Jacobsen Brickfield; a daughter, Ann Brickfield of Reston, Va.; a son, Edmund, of Arlington, Va.; a brother, Francis X. Brickfield of Brooklyn, and one granddaughter.

NAME: Cyril Francis Brickfield

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Cyril F. Brickfield (American Association of Retired Persons)
      

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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March 18, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Housing Chief Going to Bat For Elderly

BYLINE: By MICHAEL JANOFSKY 

SECTION: Section A; Page 12; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 730 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 17

When the telephone solicitor told Maxine Wittig of Norwalk, Calif., that she could borrow money against the equity in her house, she was elated.
Mrs. Wittig, a 69-year-old widow, had lent money to a friend and now needed some of her own. The solicitor arranged for a representative from America's Trust Inc., of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., to visit and explain how she could take out a "reverse mortgage," a bank loan that could be repaid by Mrs. Wittig if she ever sold her house or by her estate after her death. The deal sounded fine to her, and she signed to borrow $60,000. 
 But when the representative asked for the consulting fee of $5,571, she was stunned. Later, Mrs. Wittig learned that the same service is provided at no cost by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for people applying for such loans.
"Needless to say, I was shocked," Mrs. Wittig said in an interview.
She is hardly alone. With a growing number of elderly people paying for mortgage services that are offered elsewhere without charge, Housing Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo today called marketing companies like America's Trust "scam artists" and announced that the department was taking steps to shut them down and to try to get the applicants' money back.
"We are going to put an end to a scam targeting senior citizens, literally charging them thousands of dollars for nothing," Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference. Referring to the Federal Housing Agency, a branch of the housing department that guarantees the reverse mortgages, he added that the companies "will be eliminated from all F.H.A. business."
"That's how strongly we feel about it," he said.
Mr. Cuomo said that the department had so far found "a couple hundred" people who had used paid consultants to help secure reverse mortgages among 20,000 who have applied for them since the program was introduced in 1989.
To insure that the number does not rise, he said, a letter was sent today from the department to thousands of lending institutions around the country, notifying them that, effective immediately, the F.H.A. will stop insuring any reverse mortgages that are "obtained with the assistance of estate planning services."
Mr. Cuomo also said the department would seek whatever criminal, civil and administrative sanctions against the companies that might be available, as well as refunds for the mortgage buyers.
Jeff Butler, owner of America's Trust and another service cited by the housing agency, Patriot Inc., said that the housing department was acting precipitously and unfairly in attacking the service companies.
Mr. Butler said that all the printed material for his companies told customers that they did not need to use the service to secure a loan. He also said that in recent conversations with housing officials in Washington, he had offered to help write guidelines for the role that companies like his could play in loan applications.
"But they never got back to me," Mr. Butler said. "What this is really about is that we're making money and they don't like it."
Mr. Butler said that his companies were involved in helping secure 260 reverse mortgage loans in 35 states. But those applications, he said, have been "frozen" by the housing department's efforts to put the companies out of business.
He denied that his companies had violated any laws and said that none of the applicants his companies had helped had complained to any Better Business Bureau in California.
But applicants have begun complaining to the housing department, lenders and the American Association of Retired Persons, Mr. Cuomo said, and that has prompted housing investigators to try to find out how active the services have become.
Mrs. Wittig, who joined two other elderly people in relating their experiences by conference call at the news conference, berated herself for not reading the material from America's Trust, part of which indicated that she would pay the company a percentage, but no more than 10 percent, of her loan request.
"I didn't pay attention," she said. "It was there, and it was my error for not being more careful."
She also said she felt betrayed by the company.
"A friend of mine was going to do this; I stopped her," Mrs. Wittig said. "I didn't want her to pay the fees like I did. I wouldn't want my worst enemy to be taken the way I was. To me, $5,000 is a lot of money."

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H.M.O.'S LIMITING MEDICARE APPEALS, U.S. INQUIRY FINDS

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 932 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 17

Elderly people in health maintenance organizations often find that they cannot obtain the medical services they need because H.M.O.'s limit their ability to appeal adverse decisions on treatment, Federal investigators said today.
June Gibbs Brown, inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, said that many Medicare beneficiaries were never informed of their appeal rights. And Ms. Brown said that many H.M.O.'s -- more than half of those examined by Federal auditors -- did not fully comply with Federal rules for handling appeals and grievances. 
 Five million of the 38 million Medicare beneficiaries are in H.M.O.'s, and enrollment is growing by more than 80,000 a month.
The Congressional Budget Office predicts that more than 15 million Medicare beneficiaries will be in H.M.O.'s by 2007.
H.M.O.'s receive a fixed monthly payment, set in advance, for each subscriber, regardless of what services the person receives. This method of payment, Ms. Brown said, "may provide incentives to limit services," so it is important for H.M.O.'s to rule promptly on appeals challenging the denial, reduction or termination of services, including home health care and skilled nursing home services.
A report on the appeal procedures of Medicare H.M.O.'s, written by Medicare officials, says that the Government has received "increasing numbers of complaints from beneficiaries" who had difficulty appealing cutbacks in care.
Federal officials said that some H.M.O.'s had told Medicare patients that they could not appeal decisions terminating or reducing services. The H.M.O.'s argue that "because a service was provided, not denied, the reduction or termination of the service is not appealable," the report by Medicare officials said.
Thus, the officials said, H.M.O.'s sometimes terminate coverage for skilled nursing home stays and patients are discharged without any further services, but they are not allowed to appeal.
Bruce C. Vladeck, administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare, said he agreed that "improvements are needed." And he said that his agency would soon issue new rules to clarify the appeal rights of Medicare beneficiaries.
But the new rules do not go nearly as far as an order issued this month in a nationwide class-action lawsuit. In that case, Federal District Judge Alfredo C. Marquez of Tucson, Ariz., said that Medicare H.M.O.'s must give written notice to beneficiaries whenever they deny, reduce or terminate services.
"Notice shall be given promptly, but no more than five working days after written or oral request for a service or referral by a health care provider" or a patient, "and at least one working day before reduction or termination of a course of treatment," the judge said.
In addition, he said, when an H.M.O. denies services to a Medicare patient, it must provide "an explanation in lay language of the coverage rule upon which the adverse decision was based," so the patient can appeal. The judge said, if an H.M.O. does not substantially comply with these requirements, the Government "is prohibited from renewing or entering into a subsequent Medicare contract with the H.M.O."
Without waiting to see what policies might be devised by the Clinton Administration, Judge Marquez said that Medicare H.M.O.'s must rule on patients' appeals within three days if services are urgently needed. And if the H.M.O. denies such appeals, he said, an independent decision-maker must review the case and rule within 10 days of the request for review.
Peter Garrett, a spokesman for the Health Care Financing Administration, and Sheila M. Lieber, a Justice Department lawyer working on the case, refused today to comment on the order by Judge Marquez. The judge said that the Government had until July 1 to carry out the changes described in his order.
Dr. Beatrice Braun, a director of the American Association of Retired Persons, which represents 19 million Medicare beneficiaries, said: "The biggest problem in the current appeal process is the lack of meaningful time limits. Under current regulations, an H.M.O. can take as long as 60 days to make a formal denial of care and then an additional 60 days to reconsider its denial. This is unacceptable."
Existing rules generally do not require H.M.O.'s to continue services while patients pursue appeals. As a result, Dr. Braun said, treatment like therapy or rehabilitation "can be cut off abruptly and then later resumed, after irreparable harm has been done, when a decision is finally rendered in the beneficiary's favor."
Judge Marquez addressed this problem in his order. "When acute care services are denied so as to trigger the expedited reconsideration process," he said, "services must continue until a final reconsideration decision has been issued."
Candace K. Schaller, a lawyer at the American Association of Health Plans, which represents H.M.O.'s, said: "Our members make every effort to do what they're expected and required to do. But the current rules are not all that clear. So plans understand their obligations differently, and regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services answer the same questions in different ways."
Medicare patients are not alone in wanting to appeal H.M.O. decisions. Thousands of younger patients challenge H.M.O. treatment and coverage decisions every year. The Federal Government does not normally regulate H.M.O.'s operating in the private health insurance market, but many states have begun to set standards for their appeal procedures.
      

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BUSINESS DIGEST

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 587 words


Ahmanson Sweetens Bid For Great Western Financial
H. F. Ahmanson & Company, battling to acquire Great Western Financial, a rival California savings and loan, sweetened its all-stock hostile bid for the company, to $6.6 billion, or about $50 a share.
The value of the revised deal would change with the price of Ahmanson stock, but it appears to top the friendly $6.25 billion offer that Great Western accepted on March 6 from Washington Mutual. [Page D6.]
 
Dow Rises as Nasdaq Falls
Blue chips staged a late rebound, with the Dow Jones industrials closing up 20.02 points at 6,955.48. But losers exceeded winners by almost 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq index lost 13.54 points, closing at 1,279.43. [D10.] 

Prices of Treasury securities slipped, as investors worried about a possible Fed rate increase and were wary ahead of the week's economic data. The yield on the 30-year bond edged up to 6.95 percent. [D20.]
 
S.E.C. Considers Shift on Funds
The S.E.C. is considering dropping its requirement that mutual funds disclose to shareholders all the securities they hold. Rather, it might require a list of the top 25 to 50 holdings. Industry analysts were critical. [D2.]
 
Thyssen Sees Hostile Krupp Bid
Thyssen A.G., Germany's largest steel producer, said that the Krupp-Hoesch group was planning to attempt a rare hostile takeover, and that Thyssen would fight it. Krupp refused to comment. [D2.]
 
For Time Warner, Delay Could Pay
Time Warner may be able to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in capital gains tax if it keeps its troubled partnership with U S West intact through late June. Market Place. [D10.]
 
News Corp. to Acquire Heritage
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation said that it would acquire Heritage Media, a direct-marketing and broadcasting company, in a tax-free stock deal worth $754 million. [D4.]
 
Rockwell to Shed Auto Operations
Rockwell International, continuing to reposition itself as an electronics and communications company, said that it would spin off its automotive parts operations as an independent, publicly traded company. [D2.]
 
A New Approach at Pearson P.L.C.
Pearson P.L.C., the British media and entertainment company, announced it would invest $160 million in The Financial Times over the next five years in the United States and Asia. Marjorie M. Scardino, the chief executive, also said she had put a new management team in place and begun a system to raise profits and cut costs. [D4.]
 
H.M.O.'s Found To Limit Elderly
Elderly people in health maintenance organizations often find that they cannot obtain the medical services they need because H.M.O.'s limit their ability to appeal adverse decisions on treatment, Federal investigators said. More than half the H.M.O.'s examined by Federal auditors did not fully comply with Federal rules for handling appeals and grievances. [A1.]
 
Canada Criticizes U.S. Plan on Air
The Government of Canada criticized proposals in the United States to toughen air quality standards -- denounced by industry as too demanding -- saying they "will continue to result in health damages and death." [A17.]
 
Former Chief Returns to Luby's
Luby's Cafeterias, whose chief executive, John Edward Curtis Jr., died last week in what the police have ruled a suicide, said that its chairman, Ralph Erben, had quit. A former chairman of the chain, John Lahourcade, will return as chairman and chief executive. [D20.]

LOAD-DATE: March 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Graph: "TODAY"
 
Housing Starts
 February figures due at 8:30 A.M. Eastern.
 Expected: +5.9%
 
Chart: "YESTERDAY"
Dow Industrials -- 6,955.48, up 20.02
30-yr. Treasury yield -- 6.95%, up 0.01
The Dollar -- 123.66 yen, up 0.28

TYPE: Summary

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March 19, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Ukrainians Demand Return of Communists

BYLINE: Reuters 

SECTION: Section A; Page 4; Column 4; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 174 words

DATELINE: KIEV, Ukraine, March 18

Angered over unpaid wages and pensions, tens of thousands of people across Ukraine marched today to demand a return to Communist rule.
Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko was quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency as saying that as many as 85,000 people had taken part in the demonstrations, which were called by left-wing groups. 
 "Wages! Wages!" chanted a crowd of about 3,000 mostly elderly people as they marched under a red flag past Parliament and the main government building in Kiev.
The crowd carried an effigy of a businessman hanging upside down with American dollars falling from his pockets, an expression of resentment against the new dollar-rich class that has emerged since independence in 1991.
Some 5,000 Communist supporters demonstrated in Dnipropetrovsk, an eastern industrial city that is Mr. Kuchma's hometown. A crowd of about 3,500 gathered in the southern Crimean city of Simferopol, chanting "Power to the Communists!" And some 7,000 protesters rallied in Donetsk, center of the eastern coal region.

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U.S. Says Mental Impairment Might Be a Bar to Citizenship

BYLINE: By CELIA W. DUGGER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1438 words

Under new Federal rules announced yesterday, legal immigrants who cannot knowingly take an oath of allegiance to the United States because they are disabled by Alzheimer's disease, severe retardation or other mental impairments will be unable to become citizens.
A 1994 law exempted seriously disabled immigrants from English proficiency and civics requirements, but the rules announced yesterday made clear that these same immigrants will not be exempted from taking the citizenship oath. 
 The rules come after Congress passed a separate welfare law last year that denies welfare benefits to elderly and disabled legal immigrants who are not citizens. The two laws together mean that the most severely mentally handicapped immigrants will lose Federal welfare benefits in five or six months because they cannot become citizens.
In seven states -- Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Delaware -- elderly and disabled legal immigrants who have not become citizens by the deadline will also have their Medicaid benefits cut off unless those states change their laws, Federal officials said.
Federal officials say they do not know how many of the disabled legal immigrants now receiving benefits are mentally incompetent.
The Social Security Administration is now in the process of notifying 544,000 elderly and disabled immigrants -- 86,000 of them in New York City -- that they will lose their Supplemental Security Income if they have not become naturalized citizens by a deadline that takes effect in August for some, September for others.
News of the new rules yesterday sent a shudder of fear through the relatives of the severely mentally impaired.
"So they have to be able to take the oath?" said Helene Calderon, whose 81-year-old grandmother, Fredesvinda Marmol, a Dominican immigrant living in Washington Heights, has Alzheimer's and cannot remember her own name. "Oh, my God."
President Clinton has proposed restoring S.S.I. benefits to legal immigrants who became disabled after entering the United States, but his proposal is part of budget negotiations with Congress that will go on for months.
Republican leaders have opposed benefits to legal noncitizen immigrants, who they believe have abused the system, using it as a substitute pension system and a way for immigrants to avoid supporting elderly relatives they brought into the country.
Representative Clay Shaw, a Republican from South Florida who was the chief sponsor of the welfare law and is chairman of the human resources subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, said yesterday that proposals to restore benefits are simply too costly. He said he favors a two- or three-year block grant to states to help elderly and disabled immigrants who lose their Federal benefits.
His spokeswoman, Donna Boyer, acknowledged: "It would be a Band-Aid approach. It would not permanently help the people who didn't become citizens."
But Representative Shaw said he is confident that the number of very severely mentally incompetent people will shrink over the years of the block grant "simply because of natural attrition."
"The death rate will see that that population shrinks in those two to three years. There will be some left but it will be much smaller, and if necessary, we'll revisit the issue then. We're not going to see people pushed out of nursing homes onto the sidewalk with no one to care for them."
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service announced the new rules, which go into effect today, almost two and a half years after Congress passed a law to exempt mentally and physically disabled legal immigrants seeking citizenship from requirements that they prove their English proficiency and knowledge of American civics.
The rules released yesterday spell out who qualifies for the exemptions (those whose disabilities make them unable to demonstrate an understanding of English or civics), which doctors can certify a person's disability (doctors licensed in the United States who have experience diagnosing such impairments), and the immigration service's right to ask for a second opinion from another doctor if it doubts the claim.
The immigration service has estimated that 300,000 people may apply for the exemption from the English and civics tests.
Despite the waivers for the English and civics tests, immigration officials said they decided they could not waive the oath of citizenship for those too mentally impaired to understand they are taking it.
"The oath is a thorny legal issue," said Terrance O'Reilly, acting assistant commissioner for naturalization. "The way the naturalization section is written, each person has to take the oath. There was no wiggle room."
The immigration service will try to be flexible about ways that immigrants can show they understand they are becoming citizens and forswearing allegiance to their homelands. If they can communicate only by nodding their heads or blinking their eyes, that would be acceptable, officials said.
Naturalization examiners will decide whether an applicant can knowingly take the oath. The examiners are not required to have college degrees, though immigration officials say most have them.
They receive 14 weeks of training at an academy in Georgia to qualify for the task. Immigrants whose applications are denied can reapply or file an appeal to the immigration service.
Advocates for disabled immigrants say the immigration service has taken such a long time to issue the regulations that many immigrants who are ultimately able to become citizens because of the new waivers of the English and civics tests will not be able to do so before the deadline for losing their benefits.
They will be joining a general stampede to citizenship at a time when the immigration service's processing of citizenship applications has slowed because of the huge volume, an obsolete computer system and more stringent procedures for criminal background checks. There are now about a million people in line to become citizens, and the wait has grown to nine months or more, immigration officials say.
"These regulations are too little, too late," said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Miami who is herself a naturalized citizen. "This bill was passed in October 1994 and it's taken the I.N.S. two and a half years to come out with regulations. We've had thousands of constituents twisting in the wind in that time."
Mr. O'Reilly, of the immigration service, said that he wishes the rules could have been prepared more quickly but that immigration officials had to engage in time-consuming consultations with several federal agencies, as well as advocates for the immigrants.
"It would have been nice if they had come out sooner, but this is the Government," he said. "We have so many bases we have to touch."
As to whether the immigration service will be able to process the applications of the disabled before the benefits cutoff deadline, Mr. O'Reilly said, "The I.N.S. will adjudicate the cases as fairly as possible and will try to complete as many as we can by August, but there are no guarantees, of course."
For the families of mentally incompetent immigrants who are likely to lose their benefits, the new rules are a frightening jolt.
Luz Gross, an 88-year-old widow from the Dominican Republic, is one of those with severe Alzheimer's. She lives alone in an apartment in Washington Heights, a tiny, stooped woman whose lips are sunken and whose home attendant had neatly brushed her hair into a ponytail and painted her nails on a recent day. Mrs. Gross receives $570 a month from Supplemental Security Income.
With help from her social worker, Patricia Hernandez-Kenis, who works at a geriatric clinic that is part of Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, Mrs. Gross applied for citizenship last month, but it seems unlikely she will qualify.
Asked when she was born, Mrs. Gross said, "When I came to the United States, I wasn't born." Asked if she wanted to become a citizen, she began talking about her childhood when she lived close to the sea in Santo Domingo.
Mrs. Gross's only child, Felix, is 72 himself, retired and living on $10,320 a year from Social Security and a small union pension he earned after working for 18 years as a building handyman in Manhattan. He visits his mother every day, repairing whatever breaks in her apartment and watching television with her.
But he said he cannot afford to support her. And there is no room for her to live in his small one-bedroom apartment.
"I feel in denial," he said. "I can't believe this is happening."

LOAD-DATE: March 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Fredesvinda Marmol, 81, an immigrant with Alzheimer's disease. New rules could prevent her from becoming a naturalized citizen. (Librado Romero/The New York Times) (pg. B6)      

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March 19, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

COMPANY NEWS;
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL UNIT SELLING 29 PROPERTIES

SECTION: Section D; Page 4; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 118 words

DATELINE: Reuters

A subsidiary of Marriott International Inc. has agreed in principle to sell 29 of its residential communities for the elderly to the Host Marriott Corporation in a deal valued at about $540 million, the companies said yesterday. Under the agreement Marriott Senior Living Services would sell all of the common stock of Forum Group, which owns the communities, to Host Marriott. Host Marriott would pay about $433 million for the communities and has set up a $107 million plan to add 1,075 residential units by January 1999. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels. Host Marriott owns controlling interests in 83 upscale and luxury hotel properties. Both companies are based in Bethesda, Md.

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When Money Counts

BYLINE: By Marianne Rohrlich 

SECTION: Section C; Page 8; Column 3; Home Desk 

LENGTH: 289 words

LIFE is uncertain enough. Why climb on a shaky chair or an unsteady carton to change the light bulb when you can rise to any household occasion safely with a well-balanced, easy-to-stow step stool? They come in all shapes and sizes, from a tall, dark and handsome model to a short-legged number disguised as a toolbox.
For the elderly or those with uncertain balance, any step stool poses a serious hazard. "Know yourself, know your limits," cautioned David Stern, the executive vice president of Jewish Association of Services to the Aged in New York. 
 Rubbermaid's plastic step-stool toolbox (No. 1) is 13 inches high and has a skid-resistant top and space for a full complement of tools. It can be ordered for $18.29, plus shipping, from the Everything Rubbermaid Store in Wooster, Ohio; (330) 264-7119. For local retailers, call (800) 643-3490.
The small nonskid three-step ladder (No. 2) by Polder has a rail to hold on to or to lean against. It is $59.98 at Zabar's, 2245 Broadway (80th Street).
An Italian-made double step (No. 4) has locking wheels. The banister is sturdy enough to grab, but not to lean against. It is $185 at MOMA Design Store, 44 West 53d Street.
After using the white metal and black rubber two-step stool (No. 5), you can fold it flat and hang it up. It is $39.99 at S. Feldman Housewares, 1304 Madison Avenue (93d Street).
A wooden step stool (No. 6), which doubles as a seat, is $49.98 at Zabar's.
Joyce Greenberg, an owner of Take Good Care, a health-care department store in Springfield, N.J., recommends a "reacher" for anyone for whom steps pose a risk. The Reach-It Grabber (No. 3) adds five feet to your reach. It is $34.99 at Gracious Home, 1220 Third Avenue (71st Street).

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo (David Corio for The New York Times)

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Sometimes Mother Nature Knows Best

BYLINE: By Susan Love;  Susan Love is a breast surgeon and an adjunct associate professor of clinical surgery at U.C.L.A. She is the author, most recently, of "Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book."

SECTION: Section A; Page 25; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 1104 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

Just as the baby boomers hit middle age, the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession have discovered a new disease: menopause, or as it is called clinically, estrogen deficiency disease.
That this diagnosis automatically applies to the 40 million women turning 50 over the next decade doesn't seem to bother the medical powers that be, especially since they have a remedy at hand: artificial replacement hormones. 
 It is true that women who have had hysterectomies may want to take hormones until the natural age of menopause. Other women have troubling symptoms like hot flashes and insomnia as they approach menopause that warrant treatment with hormones. No one has argued that short-term use of hormones is dangerous.
The symptoms before menopause are transient, a kind of puberty in reverse. After three to five years, women can gradually taper off the treatment and suffer no more symptoms. But now the push is on to use these drugs on a long-term basis, in the name of disease "prevention." From my position as a breast cancer surgeon, I worry that prolonged hormone treatment increases the risk of a woman developing breast cancer and other diseases.
Yet pharmaceutical companies have launched an expensive "educational" (read: advertising) campaign directed at both doctors and women. Premarin, an estrogen product made from the urine of pregnant horses, is already the biggest-selling drug in the United States. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends that every postmenopausal woman should be on "replacement" hormones for the rest of her life unless she has a compelling medical reason not to be.
But this sweeping recommendation is based on inadequate scientific evidence. Menopause is not a disease; it is a normal part of life. A woman's ovaries don't shut down at menopause. They continue to produce low levels of hormones well into a woman's 80's. Synthetic hormones don't replace something that is missing when women reach menopause. They add something that is not naturally there.
Many gynecologists who favor long-term hormone therapy argue that as the average life expectancy has expanded, these drugs are necessary to maintain our health. Wrong. Women have long lived well beyond menopause into old age. Our ovaries are genetically programmed to shift gears.
Pharmaceutical companies have realized that in marketing their products to women it is smarter to emphasize diseases rather than the hormone treatment. Some advertisements warn women about conditions like osteoporosis, which occur in postmenopausal women.
In this effort, the companies are helped by the medical profession, which in recent years has redefined osteoporosis. The disease used to refer only to actual fractures caused by the thin bones of old women. Now osteoporosis is defined as low bone density. This is like telling someone with high cholesterol that he or she has heart disease.
Women are also encouraged to have bone-density tests just as they are encouraged to have mammograms or Pap smears. The result is an epidemic of healthy 50-year-old women being "diagnosed" with osteoporosis -- even though women on average don't have hip fractures until they turn 79. (Someone once said that if you are healthy, you haven't had enough tests done yet.)
There is some question whether a woman has to take hormones starting at age 50 to prevent these fractures. In a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, women who took hormones after the age of 50 had a better bone density at age 70 than women who had not taken the drugs or who had stopped taking them.
But the research also indicated that women who started taking hormones in their mid- to late 60's had almost the same bone density in their mid-70's as those who had taken them for 25 years.
The studies on osteoporosis are confusing; the data on heart disease are inconclusive. The most often quoted studies that claim estrogen prevents heart disease are based on studies observing women who are on hormones for whatever reason compared with women who are not on hormones.
True, the women on hormones have 50 percent less heart disease -- but they are also better educated, richer and more likely to see a doctor and take care of their health than the women not on hormones. Until a study takes these factors into account, we won't know whether hormones make women healthy, or whether healthy women take hormones.
There is one thing we do know: Taking hormones for more than 10 years could increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. The Nurse's Health Study, a definitive 14-year study of 122,000 nurses issued in 1995, estimated that women between ages 60 and 64 who took hormones for at least five years increased their risk of getting breast cancer by 71 percent. They increased their risk of dying of breast cancer by 45 percent.
Yet pharmaceutical companies defend their products by pointing out that one in three women dies of heart disease, while one in eight women gets breast cancer. Although this is true, it is important to note that in women younger than age 75 there are actually three times as many deaths from breast cancer as there are from heart disease.
If you take smokers out of the mix (smokers are more likely to develop early heart disease than nonsmokers), there are six times as many deaths from breast cancer as from heart disease for women under 75.
And several studies have concluded that hormones also increase the risk that women will develop blood clots and gall bladder disease. Uterine cancer is 14 times higher in women on estrogen alone and four times higher in women on both estrogen and progestins.
Estrogen therapy may prevent diseases, yet it could cause others. Are there women who could benefit from taking hormones for prevention? Probably. But should all postmenopausal women be on them? Certainly not.
Graham Colditz, one of the authors of the Nurse's Health study, estimates that 90 percent of heart disease cases could be eliminated if people changed their life style; this means encouraging women to exercise, watch their diet and quit smoking. But no one would get rich. And hormone therapy is, after all, about money, isn't it?
Merck and Wyeth Ayerst have announced a joint venture to develop "disease management" programs for women. I can imagine what these programs will suggest to postmenopausal women.
Women must redefine menopause as something natural. We need to make sure that we have accurate information and not wishful thinking. And we must be on our guard lest vested interests sell us a bill of goods.

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing. (Paula Scher)

TYPE: Op-Ed

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The New York Times

March 21, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Giuliani Pushes Plan To Change Welfare Law

BYLINE: By DAVID FIRESTONE 

SECTION: Section B; Page 2; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 783 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 20

Faced with the impending cutoff of Federal benefits for 200,000 legal immigrants in New York City, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani came here today to lobby Senate Republicans for a change in the new welfare law that would minimize the effect on immigrants already in the country.
The Mayor met with his on-and-off rival, Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato of New York, who said he agreed with Mr. Giuliani on the need for a "grandfather" provision that would allow legal immigrants already in the United States to retain the right to receive food stamps and Supplemental Security Income, which provides benefits to the elderly and disabled. Under the current law, legal immigrants who are not citizens will lose these benefits on Aug. 22. 
 The two officials also spoke to Senator Trent Lott, the Republican majority leader, whom they described as noncommittal but willing to consider the idea.
A telephone message to Mr. Lott seeking comment was not returned.
Mr. Giuliani and other like-minded governors and mayors face an uphill battle in persuading Congress to consider such a major change to the welfare law, which was signed by President Clinton last fall. Not only are many conservative legislators opposed to the idea but the proposal also could cost more than $2 billion a year and would complicate budget negotiations now taking place. The removal of benefits from immigrants represents about 44 percent of the $54.6 billion savings in the welfare law.
Senator D'Amato, who voted for the welfare bill, said that passage of a grandfather provision would be "tough," because of the budgetary impact, but that he was more optimistic that the Aug. 22 date could be delayed by as much as a year to cushion the impact on immigrants, and on the cities and states likely to pick up much of the cost. The four states most affected by the cutoff are New York, California, Florida and Texas.
In a speech to an immigration conference today, Mayor Giuliani asserted that preserving basic benefits for immigrants who pay taxes represents the most elemental level of governmental fairness.
"You don't treat people unfairly like that," he said in an address to the Center for Migration Studies at Georgetown University, which presented him an award for his pro-immigration positions. "A government that does that changes the nature of the kind of government that it is. If you're going to let people in and charge them the full rates you charge anyone else, then if they have difficulties, as some percentage of them will have because human life is not perfect, then they should be treated in exactly the same way."
City officials say there are about 75,000 legal immigrants in New York City now receiving S.S.I. benefits, and an additional 135,000 people receiving food stamps. Because the city and the state are considered obligated under the State Constitution to pick up the cost of those benefits, the cutoff could cost the two New York governments about $450 million a year, according to Giuliani administration estimates.
President Clinton has also urged Congress to restore benefits for legal immigrants, as have several governors, including George E. Pataki of New York. But Republican Congressional leaders have been skeptical.
Representative E. Clay Shaw Jr. of Florida, chairman of a key House subcommittee that controls the issue, said recently that the welfare bill would not be reopened and that restoring benefits would be too costly. He has proposed a two- or three-year block grant to states to help elderly or disabled immigrants, but the solution would be temporary.
Senator D'Amato said a delay in the cutoff -- the Mayor's second choice, after the grandfather provision -- might allow more immigrants to become citizens, although many of those affected are too disabled to take the oath. If they are cut off from benefits, Mr. Giuliani said, it could change the image of America.
"The message would become that America is an unfair place to come to, because it takes your money and it doesn't treat you fairly," the Mayor said in his speech, his voice crackling from a cold. "That would be a different kind of America than the one that built up over 200 years."
The Mayor, joined by Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew, also met with Attorney General Janet Reno to urge the Justice Department not to overturn a new state law that gives the Chancellor more power to supervise community school districts. The department has been investigating whether the school governance law violates the Federal Voting Rights Act, but the Mayor contended that the act was not applicable.
Ms. Reno, who also met with Mr. Crew last week, said she would issue her decision soon, city officials said.

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The New York Times

March 21, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Afraid to Compromise

SECTION: Section A; Page 30; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 473 words

The Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, took a chance last week when he called for a commission to reduce cost-of-living adjustments, an act that would lower Social Security benefits and raise income taxes. This would be a sensible, fair way to cut the deficit. President Clinton and Vice President Gore dismissed the idea, afraid to take on factions of their party that want no part of slowing Social Security increases.
Mr. Clinton had a second chance to forge a budget compromise this week when the Republican leaders Newt Gingrich, Pete Domenici and Tom DeLay broke with the conservative wing of their party by offering to drop for now the G.O.P.'s huge proposed tax cuts, the centerpiece of the Republican economic strategy. Again, Mr. Clinton made no equivalent concession. 
 This is a sorry turn of affairs. The Republicans are unlikely to take any more risks if the White House refuses to back their initial, timid steps toward a responsible budget this year.
Until Mr. Lott's move, budget negotiations were at an impasse. Both parties knew they could never fulfill their pledge to balance the budget in five years -- a regrettable pledge, in this page's view -- unless they chipped away at entitlements through a cut in cost-of-living adjustments.
Such a cut is justified because many economists believe the adjustments overstate the actual increases in the cost of living. But neither side would say so first, fearing a backlash from the elderly and other taxpayers. The deadlock appeared unbreakable until Mr. Lott spoke up. Sadly, Mr. Clinton refused to align himself with Mr. Lott, blaming the lack of bipartisan support. But the best way to create support is for the President to make the case for change.
The White House missed a similar chance to back away from harmful tax cuts. For months now, Democrats have criticized the G.O.P.'s proposed $200 billion tax cut that would be offset by equally huge cuts in welfare and other spending programs for the needy. Mr. Clinton knew that tax cuts have no logical place in a deficit-reduction plan, yet he felt politically compelled to offer his own, smaller tax-cut proposals during an election year.
This week Mr. Gingrich and friends offered the White House a risk-free way to drop tax cuts completely. The speaker suggested that the Republicans forgo tax cuts until after Congress passes a balanced-budget plan. Then the G.O.P. would reopen a fight for tax cuts, along with spending reductions to keep the budget balanced. Instead of embracing the idea and dropping his own tax-cut plan, Mr. Clinton merely called Mr. Gingrich's comments "a positive sign" and sought bipartisan talks.
Voters have a right to expect their President to lead Congress out of budgetary gridlock. Mr. Clinton ought to recognize the Republican offers as a good place to start.

LOAD-DATE: March 21, 1997

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The New York Times

March 22, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Health Chief Quits to Take Job as Adviser In Washington

BYLINE: By DAVID FIRESTONE 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 26; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 398 words

Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the City Health Commissioner, resigned yesterday after five years on the job to take a senior position in the Clinton Administration, city officials said yesterday.
She will become Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In her new position, Dr. Hamburg will be the senior policy official in the sprawling department, and one of the principal advisers to Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
 As Assistant Secretary, she will be responsible for strategic planning as well as budgetary and legislative issues, and will help determine the long-range direction of the department rather than administer specific agencies.
Dr. Hamburg declined to comment yesterday on her resignation, which she presented personally to the Mayor and which is effective April 15. No successor has been named.
Dr. Hamburg, 41, was one of the few city commissioners appointed by former Mayor David N. Dinkins who was asked to stay on when Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani took office in 1994. She had been a deputy commissioner in the department when she become Acting Commissioner in 1991, and was named Commissioner the next year -- the youngest Health Commissioner in city history and the third woman in the position.
She has a long background in public health, having served as assistant director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health. A native New Yorker, she is married and has two children.
As Health Commissioner, Dr. Hamburg was best known for developing a tuberculosis control program that produced sharp declines in the incidence of the disease in New York. The program, recently cited as an international model by the World Health Organization, has produced an 82 percent decline in the drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis since 1992.
Also under her tenure, child immunization rates rose in the city, and the number of AIDS cases declined. She was often seen at City Hall news conferences urging senior citizens to get their flu shots, or parents to get their children immunized.
Officials described her parting as amicable and said she had planned to stay with the city until she was recruited by the Clinton Administration for a high-ranking position.

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The New York Times

March 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Final Days, at Home

BYLINE: By BARBARA STEWART 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 1; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 3026 words

JOHN CLAUSE always urged his children to settle close to his Hasbrouck Heights home and, with his generosity and jokes, made them want to. Now dying of Parkinson's disease, suffering the effects of strokes and dementia, bedridden and unable to remember his wife's or daughters' names, he is still the center of the home and the focus of the family.
One or another of his three daughters, their husbands and his five grandchildren are continually dropping by to see him. Opening the front door, they immediately peer through the living room into the back room where he lies, where he has lain for more than a year. At 89 pounds, down from 200, he barely makes a dent under the neatly tucked blue flannel sheets. He lies on his back, motionless except for his eyes, huge and expressive in his skeletal head, which seek out and follow the movements of his family, especially his wife, Ann. 
 Family members gather around Mr. Clause, now 74, as if he were a newborn baby -- rubbing and patting, cooing and singing.
"Hey, Pop," crooned Debra DeVoe, his middle daughter, stroking his sunken cheek on a recent afternoon. Donna Rizzo, the eldest, reached over and adjusted his homemade plaid flannel nightshirt. Ann Clause stood to the side, smiling slightly, as her husband's dark, liquid eyes darted around the room before resting on her face.
For five years, Mrs. Clause has cared for her husband of a half-century as he has gradually deteriorated. The care of her husband has absorbed all her time, day and night. She has become isolated from friends. Her blood pressure has risen. She is frequently depressed, has gained weight and is exhausted all the time. She can't even take long breaks to duck away and cry. The expenses are diminishing her finances. She longs for and dreads the end.
She is one of countless thousands who give months or years of their lives to care for dying family members at home. These are the unpaid care givers who must balance the intensity of death with the mundane, endless chores of nursing -- all day, every day, with few breaks.
Like Mrs. Clause, a majority of these people are over 65 years old and female. Except for hospice services, which counsel and provide palliative medical care and equipment during a dying person's final six months, Medicare and private insurance -- with rare exceptions -- do not cover home health care. Care givers take on the exhausting job because nursing homes can bankrupt them and because they want the patient at home, for their own and the patient's sake. While Medicaid may cover nursing-home expenses for the poor, older people who are not impoverished frequently must spend or give away most of their assets to qualify for subsidized -- and very expensive -- nursing-home care.
With modern medical care, a terminal illness can slip almost imperceptibly from merely annoying to incapacitating, as it did with Mr. Clause.
Four or five years ago, as his health declined, his gait slowed. He began to shuffle. His fingers fumbled as he pulled on a sweater from his huge collection. He began to mumble, and forget. As he worsened, he hallucinated and wandered. Dressing, feeding and supervising him became an overwhelming chore.
"It was like having an 18-month-old," Mrs. Clause said. "He'd go out the door. He'd turn the gas jets on full. He'd fall down and hit his head and cut his face."
It was easier, in a way, when he could no longer walk. She helped him into his wheelchair and pushed it until he could no longer sit up. Like a wary swimmer slowly slipping a toe into chilly water, each day he has seemed to step a little further from his corporeal and emotional ties -- forgetting where he is, who is with him, seeing angelic visions on the wall. As he has lain in bed, Mrs. Clause has tended to him -- feeding, washing, turning, administering medications. Mr. Clause is unable to name the woman caring for him, but he is almost certainly aware that she belongs to him, and he to her.
Many times Mrs. Clause has expected her husband to die before dawn. Family members have crowded into the living room to pray and grieve and wait out the night. Each time Mr. Clause has rallied, surviving to deteriorate further. "He's my Energizer Bunny," said Mrs. Clause, her voice sweet, with an edge of exhaustion.
The family never debated whether to put Mr. Clause into a nursing home. This was the uniformed merchant mariner who so dazzled 18-year-old Ann at the Passaic Armory dance that she never bothered to meet her blind date. This is the father who, after Sunday dinners, would play songs on the piano -- "the corny ones, 'Five foot two, eyes of blue,' " said Jonni, his youngest daughter -- and who would advise his teen-agers' friends as they gravitated to the Clause house.
"I couldn't imagine walking out and leaving him," Mrs. Clause said of nursing home care. "It would definitely kill me."
At home someone is there, always, to meticulously bathe and soothe Mr. Clause and to catch and wonder over his every mouthed word. "We really listen," Mrs. Rizzo said. "We don't want to miss a minute. He does, too. He opens his eyes and looks right at you. He doesn't know our names. But he knows he trusts us. We tell him: 'This is your home. You are home.' "

Life Span Increases; Death Is More Complex
 At the turn of the century, virtually all Americans died at home. The primary causes of death were injury, infection and parasitic diseases. Half of all women died in childbirth, half the men of work-related injuries. Influenza and pneumonia were common killers. Life expectancy was 47. Most dying people lingered a few weeks or months, almost always nursed by female family members.
Today the primary causes of death are degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer and emphysema. Life expectancy is 77. A person with a terminal illness may linger for years, in need of increasingly intensive care. "It is not an emergency," said Marilyn Webb, author of "The Good Death: The New American Search to Reshape the End of Life, " to be published this fall by Bantam Books.
"It's a way of life," she said. "The dying process goes on so long. Caretaking becomes overwhelming, confusing, exhausting. It's the hidden impact of great medical successes."
After World War II, most terminally ill people went to hospitals to die. Now, 77 percent of Americans die in institutions, a majority in hospitals. For people whose illnesses are too advanced to try to cure, who need only palliative care, hospital care may be unnecessary.
"The imperative in a hospital is to save lives," said Dr. Steven Schroeder, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, which studies health and health care and recently completed a study called Support, a analysis of 4,301 terminally ill patients who died in hospitals. "It is not a good place to die. A large proportion of people die in pain. The hospital wards are busy; the nurses and doctors are busy. They're surrounded by people they don't know. They're not with their loved ones."
Certainly, if the needs of both the family and the patient can be met reasonably well, most terminally ill people would prefer to stay home. But that's a big if. The terminally ill person needs an adequate home, attentive care, sufficient pain medication and, frequently, specialized medical equipment and doctors' visits. Many worry, with justification, about burdening their families and draining their finances. Family members worry about becoming overwhelmed with stress, neglecting themselves and their spouses and children, losing savings on medical care and hired aides, and losing income.
"If you're living behind six locks and can't go to the deli for food, nursing homes can be liberating, like summer camp," said Joanne Lynn, director fof the Center to Improve Dying in Washington.
Nursing homes provide meals and palliative care but cannot give the close attention an attentive care giver can offer at home. At least as important is the comfort most people feel at home, the sense of belonging that cannot be quantified.
"You have much more control of your day-to-day bodily processes," said Dr. Schroeder, describing the advantages to the dying person. "You're minimally hooked up to machines. You're likely to be with people and things you love -- pets, neighbors, family. You have direct control over pain medication. You eat when and what you want. You can have the music you want. It's much quieter."
But someone, usually a family member, must provide or oversee care, which is demanding, often round-the-clock work. Several studies indicate that 30 percent of families with terminally ill members, either at home or in hospitals, lose most or all their savings. In 1 of 4 families, a primary care giver has to quit work or make another major life change, further reducing household income. And until a doctor has given the patient six months or less to live, the family is frequently on its own to patch together care.
Those expected to die within that time can receive Medicare-covered help from a network of hospice centers offering pain medication, medical advice and on-call care, equipment like hospital beds, and psychological and spiritual counseling for the terminally ill and their families. Many care givers say hospice made the seemingly impossible task possible.
"By myself, I just couldn't have," said Janet Frins, who has drastically cut her hours managing a dentist's office to care for her 81-year-old mother, who has a brain tumor. Many care givers feel the same way.

Those Who Give Care Not Well Themselves
But care givers, not hospice workers, must provide bedside nursing. Although for-profit and hospice home care is the most rapidly growing segment of health care -- hospice care is available throughout New Jersey -- many regions have no hospice. Of the 2.2 million people who died in the United States last year, only 300,000 received hospice care, and a majority received care for less than six months.
In the United States, more than 7 million spouses, adult children, friends and relatives provide long-term care to the elderly each year, without pay. Most of those people care for a terminally ill family member for at least a year, according to a study by the Families U.S.A. Foundation, a nonprofit organization for health-care consumers in Washington. A vast majority of care givers are women. Half are over age 65; one-third are in poor health themselves. A high percentage have developed chronic depression, insomnia, stress-related illness and exhaustion, according to a survey by the National Family Caregivers Association in Kensington, Md. Frustration and feelings of isolation are common. In New Jersey, hired aides cost about $15 an hour, making their regular use prohibitively expensive for most families.
"It's a 24-hour-job, no respite," Ms. Lynn said. "It's not a role that enjoys a lot of favor; we don't even want to talk about it. But almost all, especially women, will have that role."
When she was caring for a terminally ill father-in-law, people thought it was "odd, excessively ethical behavior to take him in," she said.
" But when my child was sick," she said, "people couldn't accommodate fast enough.
Dr. Ira Byock, president of the American Academy of Hospice Physicians and author of "Dying Well: The Prospect of Growth at the End of Life" (Riverhead Books, 1997), said: "It's constant attention to basic needs: going to the bathroom, brushing teeth, showering, shaving, cooking. It takes a toll on your time and schedule and sleep patterns and emotions. It is tough and gritty and hard work. I cannot glorify or romanticize this experience.
"But it goes to the core of what it means to be a family: caring for each other because to do otherwise would be unnatural," he said. "It can be extremely valuable to the care giver, knowing the dying person was cared for in a way that meets their standards, and was being honored and cherished in their passing."
Dying people fear physical agony and abandonment, Dr. Schroeder said. "If they're lucky, they've got a loved one who can give them medicine, meals, toileting, keep them out of pain. Those that aren't lucky are likely to die in the hospital."
Anne Langdon, 68, known to her four children as the General, used to repair the plumbing, drop the ceilings and talk shop with the man at the hardware story. "She was very, very strong and very independent," said Suzanne Congdon, her eldest daughter, who lives in Harrington Park, where she and her two sisters and brother grew up.
Maybe the loss of her independence was what made Mrs. Langdon miserable when she spent a few weeks in a nursing home after lung cancer was diagnosed. "She was a johnny one-note," said Mrs. Congdon. " 'When am I going home?' "
The children worked out a system. Mrs. Congdon, who lives nearby with her husband and two children, would quit her part-time library job to care for her mother. Her sisters, who live out of state, would compensate her for the lost wages.
But nursing her mother took enormous amounts of time. She was rarely home. Her 13-year-old son, an honor-roll student, started bringing home C's and D's. She would go home to find him in front of the television set eating crackers and cookies. "I was neglecting them terribly," she said.
She made rules. She would be home weekdays between 3 and 5 P.M. A sitter or her 83-year-old father, unable to handle much nursing, would watch her mother. She hung a big calendar in the kitchen and scheduled the days her siblings were on duty a month in advance. "It's like having a baby," she said. "You can plan your brains out, but it doesn't mean it's going to work."
For 14 months, her own household chores have given way to her caretaking duties. "My house is a disaster. I drag big bags of laundry here and try to do it when the home health aide is on. I feel like I've aged." When she had surgery last summer for a pre-cancerous pancreatic tumor, she cut her convalescence short to return to her post.
Her brother and two sisters, who spell Ms. Congdon about three days each twice a month, are also strained.
"My life is, I work, I take care of my mother," said a sister, Jeanne Langdon, an environmental prosecutor in Delaware. "My work has suffered, very much. My house has gone to hell in a handbasket."
Mrs. Langdon's children -- and, experts say, most families grappling with terminal illness -- did not debate or plan for their mother's long-term care. "At this time she needs me," Jeanne Langdon said. "It was never a decision. It was one situation at a time. We've been adapting to each change of circumstances."
The ceaseless, gritty chores have the advantage of making people forget what is really going on, forget that it is their mother or husband slipping from life. But during breaks, they have time to feel the emotions. That's when the grief or anger can be overwhelming.
Pat Roberts, a nurse from Paramus, loves caring for the sick. From childhood, she never wanted to do anything else. Her father, Sal LoPinto, is dying of congestive heart failure and liver cancer. She moved in to care for him. When Mr. LoPinto's catheter fell out, she could insert it expertly. When he fell and broke his hand, she could diagnose and bandage it. She can track the course of his illness with precision, picking up on symptoms that would bewilder a lay person, and with a nurse's efficiency, even keeps the rooms immaculate.
But at night, she says, she becomes frightened. This is not just another patient. This is her father. By day, little problems shake her. "Monday night, the garage door broke," she said, placing a doughnut in front of her father, who sat in a wheelchair at the kitchen table. "The dog came in covered in tar. I had to bathe him outside. That's what makes me cry -- stupid things. That's when I feel overwhelmed."
The question of how much of a family's resources -- time, money, attention -- should be devoted to a terminally ill member is given short shrift by medical ethicists. Unlike assisted suicide, for example, it is a quiet issue. But it is one that far more people, at some time in their lives, are likely to face.
"How far can people be expected to go to help others?" said Daniel Callahan, co-founder of the Hastings Institute in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., a biomedical ethics research center. "The concern is when the care begins to destroy the care taker."
Managed-care organizations are insisting patients shorten hospital stays and be cared for at home or nursing institutions. Nursing homes are not being built fast enough to keep up with the demand. The proposed Federal budget includes disproportionate cuts in home care -- 13 percent of Medicare's cuts, as opposed to 6 percent for nursing homes -- and more restrictive time limits.
In addition, hospices, under pressure from the Federal Government, are getting stricter about adhering to their six-month limit. Although a majority of patients use hospice far fewer days than are allotted -- the national average stay is 37 days -- people who survive too long may be cut from hospice services. Last week, Hackensack Medical Center dropped John Clause from its hospice because, as Patricia Puchalik, the director, put it, "he wasn't progressing fast enough." Mr. Clause has received only three months of Medicare-covered services, but hospice workers were concerned he would run out of benefits when his condition worsened. Mrs. Clause, who is unable to lift or turn or bathe her husband, had relied on hospice workers, who came two hours a day. Now she will have to pay for this help, as well as $600 a month for the hospital bed, unless it is determined to be medically necessary.
The government, in short, says Mr. Clause is living longer than he should. Therefore the family must get along without Medicare-covered hospice services. Mrs. Clause's only choice is to push herself harder. In the future, more American families will share her plight, one way or another, Mr. Callahan said.
"Families will be more burdened," he said. "The question is how to live out our ancient, but still viable, still important, obligation."

LOAD-DATE: March 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Pat Roberts of Paramus, tucking in her father, Sal LoPinto, who is dying of cancer. Those who give relatives long-term care at home often find themselves suffering from depression or other stress-related illnesses. (Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times)(pg. 1); Eileen Ford, a cousin who is also a nurse, helps Rita LoPinto at her Paramus home. Mrs. LoPinto, whose husband is also seriously ill, suffers from Alzheimer's disease; Family photos on a living room table just outside the room where John Clause lies gravely ill in a rented hospital bed. His wife, Ann, has cared for him at home for several years. (Photographs by Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times)(pg. 9)
 
Graphs: "Care Without Pay"
In 1993, a study found that the vast majority of elderly Americans receiving long-term care at home got only unpaid help from family and friends. Graphs show demographics. (Source: Families USA Foundation)(pg. 9)

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March 24, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Accidental Author: From Doily Maker to Literary Light

BYLINE: By TRIP GABRIEL 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1486 words

DATELINE: MANHATTAN, Kan., March 23

The nation's latest literary sensation is used to spending days watching soap operas, napping in the afternoon and fashioning lacy bookmarks for each new member of her church.
She has lived a simple, homespun life rearing eight children and, before retirement, working in a laundry and as a nurse's aide. 
 But nothing has been simple since word got around publishing circles two weeks ago about the memoir that Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux wrote at age 80, describing the quietly heroic struggles of a woman to win her independence while in a bitter marriage to an alcoholic.
A barrage of phone calls has come from publishers, agents and television producers. Family members, for whom Mrs. Foveaux (pronounced FOH-voh) originally wrote her memories in longhand nearly 20 years ago, have gathered from as far as Georgia and Minnesota. Television crews invaded her tiny, immaculately kept house, where there is a 1977 Jimmy Carter calendar on the wall.
On Thursday she learned that after a frenzied book auction 1,500 miles away in another Manhattan, Warner Books had bought her 208-page memoir, "The Life of Jessie Lee Brown From Birth Up to 80," for more than $1 million.
And last week the mayor of Manhattan, a town of 60,000 on the broken brown prairie along the Kansas River, proclaimed a day in Mrs. Foveaux's honor.
It was too overwhelming for the snowy-haired author, a great-great-grandmother who last week turned 98. A party for her scheduled for today had to be canceled when she was hospitalized with exhaustion and a sinus infection on Friday. A new digital hearing aid, her one indulgence since becoming a celebrity, may have been partly to blame. It amplified sounds so intensely that even a mouse inside the walls could be heard, and gave her a headache.
"When you're used to sitting quietly and making doilies, it's all too much," said Joan Foveaux, the wife of one of Mrs. Foveaux's 14 grandchildren.
Mrs. Foveaux's rather stunned emergence into the literary spotlight offers a striking lesson in how publishing works at a time when commercial success is so closely tied to attention in the news media.
Publishers who took part in the auction said the high price paid the unknown author was in part a result of the recent success of other memoirs by older people, like "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years." But they said the real coin of the realm was the built-in publicity that Mrs. Foveaux's book arrives with.
Her life story first came to light in a front-page article in The Wall Street Journal on March 7, which imbued her Kansas struggles with a mythic quality. Had her manuscript arrived unsolicited at major publishing houses, it almost surely would have been ignored. But the national attention conferred by the newspaper set off frantic efforts to buy the book, even before publishers had read a full paragraph.
The frenzied tone was echoed by Sue Carswell, a senior editor at Simon & Schuster's Pocket Books, who predicted in a second Wall Street Journal article on March 14 that the auction would be "the biggest day in publishing this year." Adding fuel to the fire, word spread that "60 Minutes" planned a story about Mrs. Foveaux timed to publication day in the fall, one of the greatest marketing send-offs a book can have.
"It's absolute gold," said an agent who competed unsuccessfully to represent the book and spoke on condition of anonymity. "It sets off all the commercial bells."
Carolyn Reidy, the president and publisher of Simon & Schuster's trade division, said: "This is not about the insight of the book. It's about how we try to sell them. If she didn't have this flush of publicity, I doubt it would have gotten past an editor."
None of these doings in elite Manhattan media circles mean much to the residents of hard-working Manhattan, Kan., an agricultural center and home of Kansas State University about two hours west of Kansas City. On Saturday, after recuperating for a night at Memorial Hospital, Mrs. Foveaux was helped back into the single-story house on Thurston Street where she has lived 74 years.  "I feel much stronger than I did yesterday," she said. "The phone was ringing from 8 o'clock on the 7th until I left the house. It was getting on my nerves." Her fingernails were freshly manicured and her skin had a translucent glow. Despite her frailness, she shows a remarkable independence of spirit.
Her three surviving children have pleaded with her to move in with them, especially after she broke a hip two years ago, but Mrs. Foveaux insists on living on her own. She makes her bed each morning, then puts a kettle on for oatmeal. She has refused to let family members buy her a dishwasher or a clothes dryer.
Family members scoffed at the possibility that she might move to a bigger house. "She wouldn't move if we bought her six of them," said her son Marion Foveaux, 62, a retired crane operator who looks in on her two or three times a day. Mrs. Foveaux said she would donate some money to the First Baptist Church and to home care and hospice groups. She could think of almost nothing she wanted for herself.
Her mind seemed sharp and she displayed a sly sense of humor.  Asked if she would now buy cars and houses for her relatives, she shot back, "They didn't help me, did they?" As a dozen family members burst into nervous laughter, Mrs. Foveaux smiled serenely.
"To tell the truth," she said, "I haven't decided on what I want to do.  I imagine it'll be like everyone else that ever got into a mess like this."
Her memoir, which she never intended for publication, was written while she attended a class at Manhattan's Adult Learning Center taught by Charley Kempthorne, who was also a part-time farmer. "This story just poured out," Mr. Kempthorne recalled. "She had bottled it up for many, many years."
Married at age 20 to Bill Foveaux, a World War I veteran, Mrs. Foveaux had child after child while her husband sank into heavy drinking, sometimes landing in jail after fights. He was unable to support the family, so she took a series of menial jobs. Reluctant to seek a divorce at a time it was considered shameful, she finally went to court to end the marriage in the early 1940's.
"I made up my mind to live my life so that I need not be ashamed to look at myself in the mirror," she wrote.
Over the years, photocopies of her manuscript circulated beyond her extended family, nearly all of whom know her as "Granny." In 1994 Mr. Kempthorne wrote to a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Clare Ansberry, pitching an idea for an article about family history writing, and later sent along Mrs. Foveaux's work.
The day the first news article appeared, Marion Foveaux recalled, "Granny called me at 8 in the morning and said, 'Marion, come up because there's something going on here I don't understand.'
"Everyone was calling, clear for a week. Book companies, movie companies, TV companies, agents. You'd get one name scribbled down and hang up and it would ring again."
Mr. Foveaux hired a local lawyer, and together they picked a New York City agent, Laurie E. Liss, who had represented the self-published best seller "The Christmas Box." Almost 20 publishers were originally reported ready to bid in the auction. Warner Books, a unit of Time Warner, won the right to top the best offer by setting a $375,000 floor price. But by last Wednesday, the number of bidders dropped to four and Simon & Schuster was notably absent, even though three of its divisions had initially shown interest.
Ballantine, a division of Random House, dropped out at a bid of $750,000. Another division, Villard, declined to get involved. "The piece about her was more interesting than the book," said David Rosenthal, Villard's publisher.
Seven people reviewed the manuscript for Simon & Schuster and ultimately came to a similar conclusion. "It was so boring it was unbelievable," said a Simon & Schuster executive, who insisted on anonymity.
The word at Simon & Schuster was that Mrs. Foveaux's prose needed heavy rewriting. Penguin USA also passed on the manuscript, though its executive director, Cathy D. Hemming, was more charitable: "pretty raw and rough, but absolutely compelling."
But at Warner Books, the manuscript struck Claire Zion, the editor who acquired it, as the "very plain, very clear" writing of an everyday heroine. "We're not going to touch it because we feel it's evocative and emotionally powerful," Ms. Zion said. "We in New York try to sit here and think what the country is thinking. This is Kansas talking."
Back in the other Manhattan, Mrs. Foveaux and her family are united in asserting that the windfall and sudden celebrity will change little about their lives and not cause familial dissension. "We like to keep things simple and calm," Joan Foveaux, 52, said. "Yesterday was yesterday and today's today and nothing's changed.  Grandma's still grandma."

NAME: Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux

LOAD-DATE: March 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux, in her Manhattan, Kan., home, gets a hug from her granddaughter, Linda Rutledge Clavin, who lives in Georgia. (Chris Ochsner for The New York Times)(pg. D7)
      

TYPE: Biography

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March 25, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton to Offer New Steps to Eliminate Fraud in Health Care

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 17; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1071 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 24

President Clinton will soon propose new steps to crack down on health care fraud, following the discovery that many doctors still receive Medicare payments after their licenses have been revoked or they have been expelled from Medicare for professional misconduct.
Administration officials said Mr. Clinton would announce the legislative proposals in a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday. 
 In a new report, June Gibbs Brown, inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, found there was "no centralized source of information" on state actions revoking the licenses of doctors, dentists and other practitioners. As a result, Ms. Brown said, Medicare, the health care program for the elderly, and Medicaid, the program for the poor, often continue paying doctors who have lost their licenses.
The report also said the Administration had not carried out laws passed in 1996 and 1987 to help exclude unscrupulous doctors from Medicare and other Federal health care programs.
Under the Federal law passed last year, the Secretary of Health and Human Services was supposed to establish "a national health care fraud and abuse data collection program for the reporting of final adverse actions against health care providers, suppliers or practitioners." The law set a Jan. 1 deadline for the new program, but Federal health officials said that it had not yet been established.
Representative Christopher Shays, the Connecticut Republican who heads a subcommittee that monitors the Department of Health and Human Services, said today, "We will follow up on this, not to criticize the department, but to encourage prompt action."
The inspector general expelled 1,937 health care providers from Medicare for various offenses last year, double the number expelled in 1993 and four times the number barred in 1988.
Medicare officials have no estimate of how much these providers collected in Medicare payments. But the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said recently that fraud and abuse accounted for perhaps 3 percent to 10 percent of all Medicare outlays, or $6 billion to $20 billion of the $197 billion Medicare paid last year.
In her report, Ms. Brown said: "Better controls are needed to prevent improper payments. Without improved controls, unsuspecting beneficiaries are vulnerable to the dangers of unfit and unscrupulous health care providers."
The huge sums spent under Medicare and Medicaid have proved irresistibly attractive to dishonest health care practitioners. In the last decade, Congress has repeatedly tightened the laws governing these programs, giving new powers to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to detect fraud and abuse. But scam artists have devised ever more clever schemes to outwit auditors and prosecutors.
For example, doctors move easily from state to state, Ms. Brown said. Thus, she said, "it is possible for providers who hold licenses in more than one state to have one license suspended or revoked by a state licensing board, and then relocate and continue to treat Medicare patients in another state."
In one instance, Federal investigators said that Medicare paid $172,000 for services provided in Virginia by a doctor who had lost his license in Maryland and been forbidden to practice in New York and Ohio.
The doctor's patients are probably unaware of the disciplinary actions taken against him, the inspector general said.
Such health care providers "can endanger the lives of beneficiaries and should not be allowed to further abuse our health care system," Ms. Brown said.
One of the measures to be announced by Mr. Clinton would require doctors and other health care providers to list their Social Security numbers when they apply for permission to participate in Medicare or Medicaid. Doctors, home health agencies and medical supply companies often circumvent existing law by using different names to re-enter the programs after being expelled for fraud or other offenses.
The President will also ask Congress to close what he describes as loopholes, including one that has allowed some health care providers to avoid civil fines and other penalties by declaring bankruptcy.
White House documents show that Mr. Clinton will also propose these steps:
*Hospitals, health maintenance organizations, home health agencies and medical equipment companies would be prohibited from hiring anyone who had been expelled from Medicare for misconduct and not been reinstated.
*Any health care provider convicted of a felony could be expelled from Medicare and Medicaid, regardless of whether the crime was related to health care.
*Providers expelled from Medicare or Medicaid could not re-enter the programs for at least six months, and they would first have to correct all the deficiencies for which they were cited.
In 1987, Congress required states to inform the Federal Government of "any negative action" taken by state authorities against doctors or other practitioners.
States were supposed to notify the Federal Government whenever they reprimanded or censured doctors or revoked their licenses.
But Ms. Brown found that the 1987 law "has not been implemented." As a result, she said, the "data bases that contain exclusion and adverse licensure actions are incomplete and inaccessible," making it difficult for Federal authorities to halt payments to doctors who have lost their licenses or been found incompetent.
Bruce C. Vladeck, administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration for the last four years, agreed with many of the inspector general's recommendations.
"Licensing of health care professionals is a state responsibility, and most states have at best a very rudimentary system for maintaining and sharing licensure information with their sister states," Mr. Vladeck said. "They are even less able to make the information available for use by Federal agencies."
Claims for services to Medicare beneficiaries are reviewed and paid by private companies working under contract to the Government. Mr. Vladeck said he was instructing these companies to revise their computer programs to prevent payments to doctors who have lost their licenses.
Mr. Vladeck acknowledged that the Public Health Service "has not exercised its authority" under the 1987 law to collect and share information on doctors punished by state authorities for misconduct or fraud.
      

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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March 26, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Backers of Rival Health Tests Fight to Get Medicare Dollars

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1083 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 25

Legislation to expand Medicare coverage of preventive health services is all the rage on Capitol Hill as Republicans and Democrats trumpet the value of tests to detect breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes and other diseases.
But behind the scenes, lobbyists are waging a shadowy, fierce battle to win the Government's imprimatur for some tests while denying coverage for others. At stake are millions of patients' lives and billions of dollars in revenues for doctors and medical-supply companies. 
 The debate over testing for one particularly deadly disease, colorectal cancer, illustrates how Congress grapples with such issues, which raise complex questions of science, economics and politics.
Gastroenterologists say they can best detect cancers, and the benign polyps that can turn malignant, by inspecting the colon with a fiber-optic instrument in a procedure known as a colonoscopy.
Radiologists say they can spot the abnormalities just as well by taking X-rays of the large intestine filled with a barium solution that shows up on film. The largest maker of barium products used in the X-ray procedure, E-Z-EM, says that test is cheaper and safer than the colonoscopy but just as effective.
Each side has lined up a politically well-connected law firm to argue the case, knowing that private insurers and health plans often follow the example set by Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
The American College of Gastroenterology has hired the law firm of Patton Boggs here to obtain Medicare coverage of colonoscopy as a screening procedure.
E-Z-EM, of Westbury, L.I., has hired the law firm of Manatt Phelps Phillips, which has a large office here, to obtain coverage of barium X-rays for screening.
A Congressional aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, "You'd think barium was gold, the way they've lobbied on this."
Daniel R. Martin, president of E-Z-EM, said: "Barium is not gold. It's a product that happens to be opaque and inert and exceedingly safe, much safer than colonoscopy. I won't allow anyone in my family to have a colonoscopy if they can get a barium examination."
Mr. Martin wants Medicare to cover barium exams and colonoscopies "on an equal footing" so doctors and patients can choose whichever they prefer.
But Dr. Seymour Katz of Great Neck, L.I., a former president of the American College of Gastroenterology, said: "We have overwhelming evidence to show that colonoscopy is the best screening device for high-risk patients. The barium lobby, the companies that sell products used in barium X-ray procedures, have, in my view, placed their own commercial interests ahead of the best interests of patients."
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of death from cancer in the United States, killing 55,000 people a year. It strikes men and women in roughly equal numbers. Doctors say it is largely preventable because most colorectal cancers develop slowly over many years from benign polyps. Finding and removing these polyps radically reduces the risk of such cancer.
David M. Klaus, a lawyer at Manatt Phelps who lobbies for E-Z-EM, said: "There is some pretty tough politics going on here. I've never seen a medical specialty group campaign so vigorously to knock out a competitor."
Mr. Martin of E-Z-EM said: "Colonoscopies account for a very significant part of gastroenterologists' income. The gastroenterologists have made a very determined effort on Capitol Hill to exclude barium procedures. And they have misrepresented the effectiveness of these procedures."
The College of Gastroenterology and Patton Boggs insist that colonoscopy is the preferred method of screening, especially among blacks, who are much more likely than whites to die of colon cancer. And they say the fight over barium may confuse Congress and jeopardize the passage of legislation providing colorectal screening for the 38 million people covered by Medicare.
But Dr. C. Daniel Johnson, a radiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said the barium examination was "the most cost-effective way of screening for colorectal cancer" and should at least be available to Medicare patients as an option.
Medicare now covers these procedures for treatment but not screening. The Medicare fee schedule for 1995 shows that the Government paid $131 for an X-ray examination and $434 for a colonoscopy with removal of tumors or polyps.
Dr. Johnson, the chairman of the colon cancer committee of the American College of Radiology, said: "I hope this legislation doesn't get bogged down because of disputes over these techniques. Let's hope the patient doesn't lose in the end."
Each side has inundated Congressional offices with articles from medical journals to support the use of its preferred technique.
President Clinton; Representative Bill Thomas, Republican of California, and Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, have all proposed wider Medicare coverage of preventive services, including colon cancer tests, and their proposals have broad bipartisan support. But the proposals differ on details.
Representative Norman Sisisky, Democrat of Virginia, has an intense interest in the issue because his own colon cancer was detected in a routine screening two years ago. He praised Mr. Thomas's efforts, but faulted his bill on the ground that it would not immediately cover barium X-ray tests, which Mr. Sisisky described as "one of the most cost-effective screening procedures currently available."
Mr. Sisisky's cancer was found by colonoscopy in August 1995. He had surgery, and doctors then performed barium X-ray tests to confirm that the operation had been successful.
On the other hand, Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., a professor of surgery at the Howard University College of Medicine, said colonoscopy was "the best means presently available for detecting and preventing colorectal cancer." With that test, Dr. Leffall said, a physician can remove cancerous and precancerous growths as they are identified, with no need for separate surgery later. But "barium X-ray has not been well established for colorectal cancer screening in either the average-risk or high-risk populations," he said.
In a newsletter summarizing the issue, the College of Gastroenterology said it was resisting a compromise with "the barium lobby," fearing that private health plans would cite Medicare to justify "selection of lower-cost barium enema instead of colonoscopy for high-risk patients."

LOAD-DATE: March 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

SERIES: SPECIAL PLEADERS: A look at lobbying.

TYPE: Series

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March 28, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

HEALTH CARE'S GIANT: Powerhouse Under Scrutiny -- A special report.;
Biggest Hospital Operator Attracts Federal Inquiries

BYLINE: By Martin Gottlieb, Kurt Eichenwald and Josh Barbanel; This article was written and reported by Martin Gottlieb and Kurt Eichenwald. The computer analysis was by Josh Barbanel, who also contributed additional reporting.

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 3743 words

Law enforcement officials and several Government agencies are investigating an array of business practices at the nation's largest health care company, the Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, which runs about 350 hospitals and treats 125,000 people a day.
The Government's scrutiny of Columbia came to light last week in a Federal criminal investigation of Columbia operations in El Paso. In a raid of Columbia hospitals and doctors' offices, agents with search warrants carted off truckloads of billing and medical records. The inquiry appears, at least in part, to involve the company's dealings with Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for the elderly. 
 But a yearlong examination of Columbia by The New York Times has found that the company faces problems on several fronts. The Federal agency that runs Medicare is trying to determine if certain Columbia hospitals engaged in a practice known as upcoding, in which hospitals receive larger payments from Medicare by inflating the seriousness of illnesses they treat.
"A specific review is going on of upcoding at Columbia hospitals," said Bruce Vladeck, the head of the agency, the Health Care Financing Administration.
In addition, Federal civil and criminal investigators are examining whether it is illegal for Columbia doctors with a financial interest in outside medical services associated with the company's hospitals -- like home care and rehabilitation -- to send patients to them.
The Times's examination of Columbia, including a computer analysis of more than 30 million billing records, casts some light on the Government's concerns. Among the findings were these:
*Many Columbia hospitals bill Medicare for high-paying respiratory treatments far more often than do competing hospitals serving similar populations. Federal authorities called such findings an indication of possible overbilling of the program.
*In Texas, where Columbia has its greatest number of hospitals, Medicare paid unusually high amounts for Columbia patients who received costly services like home care. Mainly because of Columbia's use of these services, Medicare pays nearly 10 percent more for treatment that begins at a Columbia hospital than at other Texas hospitals. That meant extra Federal payouts of nearly $50 million in 1995, the last year for which data are available, the analysis shows.
*In a Federal-state investigation last year in Florida, law-enforcement agents interviewed four hospital officials who said they or their colleagues had been offered enticements or approached about jobs while Columbia was trying to buy their institutions. The inquiry was closed without prosecution, but a memo summarizing the inquiry has been referred for review to a dozen other law enforcement agencies.
Columbia executives said that the company's policies and practices adhered to the law, and that its use of medical services outside the hospital were in the best medical interests of its patients.
As for billing practices, the executives attributed any disparities between the company and its competitors to Columbia's more efficient operation. Rather than billing too much, the executives said, its competitors are billing too little.
"We believe that Columbia is more efficient in accurately billing the Medicare program than are our competitors," said David Manning, a Columbia vice president. He said that the company maintained an internal compliance program that was charged with making sure Medicare was billed appropriately.
In response to the Federal-state inquiry in Florida, a company spokeswoman, Lindy B. Richardson, said Columbia could not comment completely because it had not seen the summary memorandum, which describes the testimony obtained by the Government. But she added that based on The Times's description the testimony appeared to be uncorroborated by documents, "thus undermining the credibility of the allegations."
The investigations of Columbia's Medicare billing practices come as the Clinton Administration has introduced legislative proposals to crack down on fraud and abuse in the program, which many in Washington fear could go broke in less than five years.
Columbia, which is based in Nashville, has been a leader in the impressive revival of the nation's for-profit hospital business. Not yet 10 years old, Columbia controls about 7 percent of the nation's hospitals -- as well as hundreds of related medical operations -- in 38 states, mostly in the Sun Belt. With 285,000 employees, it is the nation's ninth-largest employer, bigger than General Electric, bigger than McDonald's.
Because of its size, Columbia is Medicare's single largest biller. Reimbursements from the program make up 36 percent of the company's revenue, by far its largest source.
As Columbia has tried to acquire hospitals across the country, it has often found itself at loggerheads with some state regulators, not-for-profit hospitals and community groups. At the same time, though, it has helped bring a bottom-line sense of efficiency to the hospital industry. Columbia, which has $20 billion in annual revenue, has also become a top-performing health care stock.
But since the El Paso raid last week, Columbia's stock price has suffered, falling almost 7 percent in the first two days after the investigation was disclosed. Yesterday, the shares closed at $37.50, down 12.5 cents, in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
A Federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that investigations of Columbia were going on in cities besides El Paso. From Florida to Texas to Illinois to Nevada, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been interviewing witnesses about the company's practices. Peter Young, a consultant in Florida who has advised a number of Columbia's not-for-profit competitors, said that Federal agents had gotten in touch with him several times about Columbia's dealings with Medicare and other Federal programs.
 
The Billing
A Propensity For Higher Fees
The Federal review of Columbia's billing practices began at a small Kentucky hospital, Columbia Spring View Medical Center.
Responding to queries from The Times about the hospital last year, the Medicare agency reviewed Spring View's records. The agency's review, which focused on billings for four related respiratory illnesses, found that the hospital charged Medicare for the most expensive one far more often than did nearby competitors. And it charged for the least expensive ones far less often.
Federal officials said the results raised concerns that Spring View might be inflating its Medicare payments through upcoding.
Medicare pays a fixed rate for treatment of each of roughly 470 coded illnesses. Rates vary sharply -- the more severe the illness, the more Medicare pays. In upcoding, a hospital bills for a more severe illness than the one treated -- and is thus paid more.
At Spring View, the review found its bills were "skewed" toward the highest-paying cases, Mr. Vladeck said: "The a priori numbers are definitely a source of concern."
In 1995, Spring View billed for treating 191 cases of complex respiratory infection and only 10 cases of the lower-paying pneumonia with complications. By contrast, four nearby hospitals billed more than twice as many cases of pneumonia with complications as of the complex infection -- 263 to 117. At Spring View, Medicare pays roughly $5,700 for treatment of a complex respiratory infection, or about $1,700 more than a case of pneumonia with complications.
In the wake of those findings, Mr. Vladeck said, the agency opened its wider examination of Columbia hospitals. Mr. Vladeck made his comments over several months, as The Times's investigation evolved.
To examine Columbia's billing on a larger scale, The Times analyzed records from Florida and Texas -- where Columbia's hospitals are most concentrated -- and found the same pattern as at Spring View.
The Times's analysis found that in Texas in 1995, the latest year for which data are available, five Columbia general-care hospitals ranked tops for the proportion of cases billed at the highest-paying of the four respiratory codes. In Florida, the top 6 billers, and 7 of the top 10, were Columbia hospitals.
At Columbia's Cedars Medical Center in Miami, 93 percent of the respiratory cases in the four codes were in the highest-paying category, ranking it fourth in the state. Across the street at the county hospital, Jackson Memorial, only 28 percent of the billings were for that code.
Cedars billed for 355 cases of complex respiratory infection -- the best-paying diagnosis -- and only 28 cases of the three lower-paying diagnoses. Among the cases studied, it did not bill a single case of the lowest-paying illness, simple pneumonia. At Cedars, Medicare pays roughly $6,800 for a case of complex respiratory infection, and only $3,150 for simple pneumonia.
Particularly striking was how the billing at Cedars changed after Columbia took over. In 1992, when it last operated independently, 31 percent of the respiratory cases were billed at the highest rate. A year later, 76 percent were, and in 1995, 9 of 10 cases came under the top category.
When The Times examined more than 100 pairs of Medicare codes that define an illness as simple or complex, it found that, in an aggregate 9 cases out of 10, Columbia hospitals in Florida were more likely than others to choose the more complex -- and more highly paid -- code. The magnitude of the differences varied but over all were found to be statistically significant.
At Columbia, employees responsible for billing Medicare recalled being presented with lists of "focus codes" on which Columbia wanted them to concentrate, each with alternatives that were far more remunerative. In particular, they mentioned several codes later examined by The Times.
Hospitals across the country try to code as aggressively as possible, to receive the highest reimbursement a patient's symptoms will allow. Before Columbia even came into existence, hospitals were being caught going beyond simply aggressive billing. A series of Federal studies on upcoding, some of which focused on the respiratory codes, concluded that upcoding had cost Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars.
If upcoding is found, the agency seeks restitution. If a pattern of upcoding is found, the case can be referred for possible prosecution for fraud. Few cases have been prosecuted but Medicare overbilling related to upcoding and other activities has been identified at numerous hospitals and among large numbers of doctors.
Mark Krushat, who participated in those studies for the Inspector General office that monitors Medicare, called the findings by The Times an initial indicator of a potential problem. But he said that only an analysis of patient charts could confirm violations.
Mr. Manning of Columbia said that the company's billing is "in complete adherence to all applicable Federal laws."
 
The Investing
Physicians Have Stake In Costly Services
Since its start, Columbia has invited doctors to invest in the hospitals where they practice. At the same time, it built highly profitable networks of medical services affiliated with the hospitals, offering home care, rehabilitation and the like.
Now, Government investigators are examining whether those two initiatives might, in combination, violate a law prohibiting doctors from referring patients to facilities in which they invest.
The 1992 law, written by Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, was intended to curb doctors who might tailor treatments to their personal investments, rather than patient need. Physicians were barred from referring patients to medical businesses like home care agencies if they owned a stake in them.
But Congress allowed hospital investments, in part because doctors were often the only ones willing to open rural hospitals.
Columbia relied on the exemption to sell hundreds of doctors stakes in health networks anchored by its hospitals. But those networks also own such services as home care agencies and skilled nursing facilities built around the hospitals.
Should those services really be considered part of the hospital exemption? Medicare is examining whether Columbia's doctor investors may be violating the law by indirectly profiting from referrals to businesses they cannot otherwise own.
"To the extent that their physicians have ownership relationships with any of these long-term-care services, I think that raises real legal questions about whether that's allowable behavior under the law," Mr. Vladeck said. "If we have physicians who are referring patients to home-care agencies or skilled nursing facilities in which they have an ownership, that may very well be against the law."
The agency is analyzing whether to issue rules specifically barring physician-investors from referring patients to any outpatient service facilities included in their investment, Government officials said.
Compounding Medicare's concern is the runaway cost of the services, the fastest-growing piece of the program's budget.
Last year, a Congressional advisory panel noted that such services consumed almost a quarter of all Medicare payments in 1995, compared with just 9 percent in 1990.
While it pays a pre-set amount for hospital care no matter how much that treatment actually costs, Medicare uses a far more lucrative method to pay for treatment outside the hospital: it pays an amount based on what the provider says its costs were.
The Government hoped that payment structure would limit expensive hospitalization. And hospitalization rates have dropped.
But the structure also led to huge, unanticipated expenses, particularly for services provided after hospitalization. The advisory panel, the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, concluded that the system "encourages the development of new facilities and rewards those that have high cost."
An analysis by The Times of Columbia's business in Texas shows that care provided after hospitalization cost Medicare far more than such services provided by rivals. That was mainly because Columbia patients use the services more often, and at higher cost.
For example, Medicare's cost from the time of hospitalization until 30 days after the patient was discharged averaged $9,011 at non-Columbia hospitals in Texas. But at Columbia hospitals, that same course of care cost on average 9.5 percent more, or a difference of $855. Alone, the treatment after hospitalization cost Medicare on average nearly 23 percent more, or $667, at Columbia. All figures were adjusted for differences in severity and conditions of illnesses.
As a result, the course of care for patients treated at Columbia hospitals in 1995 cost Medicare at least $48 million more than if the care had been billed at the state average.
Columbia patients were sent to skilled-nursing units 27 percent more often than other patients with similar illnesses, the analysis found, and they cost Medicare 44 percent more for such care, or an extra $306 each. Similar outcomes were found for rehabilitation. Columbia used home care at the same rate as its rivals, but home care at Columbia cost more.
In El Paso, as in other Texas cities, scores of doctors are investors in Columbia medical networks. In that city, the average cost in 1995 for the course of care -- $11,072 -- exceeds the average for the city's non-Columbia hospitals by more than 11 percent. The cost for treatment outside the hospital was 23 percent higher.
Mr. Manning, the Columbia vice president, said that the company's development of these services demonstrated its commitment to providing a quality continuum of care. One factor in their costs to Medicare, he said, was the program's policy of paying start-up costs for these units in the first few years of their operation.
"It is not in any patient's interest to be served in an acute-care setting when less-intensive care is more appropriate," he said, adding that Medicare encouraged "hospitals and physicians to deliver care in the most appropriate setting."
A Columbia consultant also noted that large Columbia hospitals with teaching programs -- a modest part of the company's Texas presence -- were somewhat less expensive than other similar hospitals.
But Mr. Vladeck questioned the value of much of the care provided by these ancillary services throughout the industry.
"I don't have confidence that the dollars we are spending are buying increased benefits for beneficiaries," he said. "They're buying services, but the extent people are benefiting is really questionable."
 
The Acquiring
Accusations of Offers Made to Executives
Investigators from some agencies now examining Columbia practices in El Paso and elsewhere earlier spent more than a year delving into another key piece of Columbia's business: How it acquires hospitals.
Agents from the F.B.I., the Internal Revenue Service and the State of Florida worked with Federal prosecutors examining Columbia's acquisition efforts there.
They found executives who said that as they talked with the company about the sale of hospitals they managed Columbia offered them perquisites and promises of jobs. The agents concluded that such offers might have violated laws against bribes to officials of institutions receiving Federal money.
"All of these inducements were made by, or on behalf of, Columbia to persons in position of responsibility at hospitals which received millions of dollars in Federal funds and were arguably made for the purpose of affecting the decisions of those persons," the agents wrote in a Feb. 26, 1996, memorandum summarizing the inquiry.
The agents recommended against prosecution, in part because of the small value of the perks offered and also because of concerns about the quality of evidence, which involved conversations difficult to corroborate. But they recommended referring the evidence to 12 state and Federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
The memo summarizing that evidence was distributed to those agencies late last year. A copy was obtained by The Times.
In it, the agents describe the story of John Geanes, the administrator of South Miami Hospital in Miami. Columbia was one of the hospital's several suitors, and Mr. Geanes played an important role in negotiations.
The memo says that Mr. Geanes reported that he was first approached by a consultant to South Miami who told him "that large sums of money were available to people who delivered a hospital to Columbia."
Soon, Dan Moen, president of Columbia's Florida division, approached Mr. Geanes. According to the memorandum, Mr. Moen "offered to 'protect' Geanes by creating a position for him at Columbia and offered him investment opportunities with Columbia which would make him 'wealthy.' "
Shortly after, Mr. Geanes told investigators, he ran into Richard L. Scott, Columbia's chief executive, in a restaurant parking lot. In that encounter, the memo says, Mr. Scott "inquired of Geanes regarding Geanes' desire to work in North Carolina."
Within days, Mr. Geanes received a call from another Columbia executive offering him a job in that state, the memo says.
Mr. Geanes immediately informed hospital lawyers of each approach. South Miami was sold to another hospital. Once the hospital "decided not to sell out to Columbia, the offers to Geanes ceased," the memo says.
Mr. Geanes, who is no longer with the hospital, said he had made his statements under subpoena before a grand jury and refused to comment further.
Mr. Moen did not return phone calls. Ms. Richardson, the Columbia spokeswoman, declined to comment fully until she researched the events, but she said "the integrity of this company is impeccable."
Three other hospital officials told law enforcement agents that they or their colleagues had been offered personal benefits or approached about jobs as the company was negotiating to buy their hospitals.
For example, Joe Kiefer, the chief executive of a hospital in Tarpon Springs, Fla., told investigators that, while negotiating a sale to Columbia, the company offered him a trip to the Super Bowl -- including tickets, travel and hotel accommodations. Mr. Kiefer declined; the negotiations were unsuccessful.
During the investigation, the agents made oral and written requests for interviews with senior Columbia executives, including Mr. Scott and Mr. Moen. The case was closed months later, the memo says, without any response from the executives.
 
How the Analysis of Medicare Costs Was Done
The study of Medicare costs is based on an analysis of more than 30 million records of Medicare patients who were admitted to hospitals in Texas and Florida in 1995. The New York Times matched records of these patients with bills for hospital readmissions, admissions to rehabilitation and skilled nursing units, outpatient services and doctor bills within 30 days of discharge.
To account for differences among patients, hospital stays were grouped into 1,500 categories that took into account the type and severity of patient conditions. Costs figures and referral rates were then calculated and adjusted to account for differences in conditions.
The possibility that differences found in costs or referral rates between Columbia/ HCA hospitals and the typical Texas hospital were due to chance alone is less than 1 in 10,000. Differences remained after taking into account statewide variations in hospital size and wage rates.
The study included only patients in conventional Medicare programs for the elderly who were admitted to an acute care hospital. It excluded patients admitted for drug or psychiatric treatment, patients transferred to hospitals from nursing homes and other institutions, patients living out of state and patients discharged in the last 30 days of 1995.
The study did not calculate precisely how much of the post-hospital care was paid to a Columbia/HCA affiliate across Texas. But it examined such payments for referrals to rehabilitation units in two metropolitan areas, Corpus Christi and El Paso, and found that a large proportion went to Columbia facilities.
To examine differences in medical coding practices for simple and complex respiratory infection and pneumonia, The Times compared groups of related Medicare payment codes using 1995 Medicare records for Florida and Texas.
   JOSH BARBANEL

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GRAPHIC: Graphs: "Columbia Bills Medicare Aggressively. . ." shows number of billings at the lowest and highest reinbursement levels for Columbia Spring View Medical Center and other selected Kentucky medical centers, for 1995 and shows percentage of cases billed at highest reimbursement levels for Cedars Medical Center and Jackson Memorial Hospital from Dec. 1992 to Dec. 1995. ". . . Outside as Well as Inside the Hospital" shows Medicare spending on up to 30 days post-hospital care for Columbia hospitals, other for-profit hospitals, Government hospitals and nonprofit hospitals, in Texas, for 1995. (Sources: New York Times computer analysis; Health Care Financing Administration; Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration)(pg. D15)      

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Paralyzed, Again, in Albany

SECTION: Section 1; Page 18; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 593 words

For the 13th year in a row, New York State will start a new fiscal year next week without a budget and with a Governor and Legislature once again paralyzed by arguments over money. But the spectacle seems sorrier than ever, since the two sides cannot even agree on how far apart they are. An even sadder reality is that there is enough money available to finance a sensible compromise between Republicans and Democrats, if only there were leadership instead of posturing.
Gov. George Pataki started the budget cycle off on a confrontational note by proposing another round of unnecessary cuts in payments to hospitals, nursing homes, community health centers and home care for the elderly poor. Once again he advocated raising tuition at the State and City University systems and cutting tuition assistance for those who desperately need it. His school aid and property tax cut formulas are almost brazen in the way they discriminate against New York City. These cutbacks are unconscionable at a time when tax revenues are rolling in from Wall Street and an expanding economy elsewhere. 
 Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the top Democrat in Albany, obviously suspects that Mr. Pataki wants to push through tough budget cuts this year so he can have a surplus handy to pay for popular programs when he runs for re-election in 1998. To head off that possibility, Mr. Silver's budget goes to the other extreme. Passed in part by the Assembly last week, it would add $2.25 billion in spending and tax cuts by the Democrats' estimate. Republicans say the Democratic proposals will actually add $4 billion.
At this point in the annual Albany budget game, the two sides are at least supposed to agree on the cost of what they want to do, but partisanship has fuzzed even the numbers.
Then there is the problem of holding the budget hostage to each side's pet concerns. Last year Mr. Pataki successfully demanded that the Democrats accept reform of the workers' compensation system before he would agree to a budget. This year the Democrats are naming their price, threatening to resist any budget negotiations until Republicans agree to drop their threat to remove rent controls from New York City apartments. The law governing rents expires June 15, and many fear that there will be no budget until then.
The first priority for Mr. Pataki, Mr. Silver and other legislative leaders is to separate rent, welfare reform and other emotional issues from the budget itself. Second, they should direct their aides to reach a sensible compromise on the amount of revenue available for the budget. That compromise should be a cautious one, reflecting the realistic concern that the current stock market boom will not go on forever. Both sides should drop their destructive habit of enacting multi-year tax cuts and spending programs that cause deficits to balloon in the years ahead.
Finally, Mr. Pataki should accept the idea that the budget cannot be balanced with cuts that fall disproportionately on the poor, as they now do, and that his tax cut proposals should not penalize New York City. The Governor says he wants to increase the city's portion of school aid, but the budget for next year goes in the opposite direction. Only about 9 percent of Mr. Pataki's $1.7 billion proposed cut in the property tax would benefit New York City homeowners.
The Governor says that he is ready to compromise on his ideas, but that the Democrats are being unreasonable. All sides could use a dose of reality. There is no reason they could not get to it right away.

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Cut Urged in Medicare Money to H.M.O.'s

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 10; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1001 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, March 28

A Federal advisory panel says that explosive growth in managed health care for the elderly is increasing costs for the Government, and it recommends that Medicare reduce its payments to health maintenance organizations.
In a report being sent to Congress on Monday, the panel says the Government overpays such health plans because it assumes that their patients are just like those treated outside H.M.O.'s, when in fact the H.M.O. patients tend to be healthier. 
 Also, it said, H.M.O.'s receive extra Federal money to help cover the costs of treating Medicare patients at teaching hospitals, but they do not have to pass the money on to the hospitals. As a result, it said, there is no guarantee that the payments subsidize the training of new doctors, as Congress intended.
Gail R. Wilensky, chairwoman of the panel, the Physician Payment Review Commission, said some H.M.O.'s were reaping "windfall gains" on their Medicare business. The commission estimated the overpayments at $2 billion a year and said they were growing "as H.M.O. enrollment grows."
H.M.O.'s deny they are overpaid, and say that if Medicare cuts payments to them, they will have to reduce benefits like prescription drug coverage or raise charges to beneficiaries.
"We reject the assumption that H.M.O.'s have healthier populations than the regular Medicare program," said Donald B. White, a spokesman for the American Association of Health Plans. "It may have been correct at one time. It's not correct now."
The recommendations from the panel come amid turmoil in the health care industry, as doctors, hospitals and other health care providers scramble for financial survival in fiercely competitive markets.
Five million of the 38 million Medicare beneficiaries are in H.M.O.'s, and enrollment is growing by more than 80,000 a month. Medicare spent $18 billion on H.M.O.'s last year, and the Congressional Budget Office predicts that such spending will soar to $150 billion in the next decade as the number of Medicare beneficiaries in H.M.O.'s leaps to 15 million.
In its annual report, the commission, which advises Congress on how to pay doctors and H.M.O.'s, said, "Beneficiaries in managed-care plans are healthier than average," but Medicare payments to these plans are based on the costs of a typical beneficiary in the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program, who is sicker than the average.
The Government pays H.M.O.'s about 95 percent of the average cost of patients in the traditional Medicare program, but the commission found that new H.M.O. subscribers were so healthy that their costs just before enrollment were only 63 percent of the average for patients in the traditional program.
Private employers have embraced managed care as a way to control the cost of employee health benefits. But the panel said promoting managed care for the elderly "will lead to higher Medicare outlays" unless Congress eliminates the overpayments.
The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, reached a similar conclusion. In California alone, it said, "excess payments" in 1995 amounted to $1 billion, out of $6 billion in total Medicare payments to H.M.O.'s in the state.
H.M.O.'s contend that such problems have disappeared because they now enroll a broad cross section of the elderly, including people with chronic illnesses.
But Jonathan Ratner, a health policy analyst at the G.A.O., disagreed.
"Contrary to what the industry predicts, the severity of the problem appears to be greater when H.M.O.'s succeed in attracting more beneficiaries," Mr. Ratner said. "The excess payments were much larger in California counties with a large proportion of their Medicare beneficiaries in H.M.O.'s."
Medicare rules forbid overt discrimination against people in poor health. But Dr. Wilensky said the overpayments encouraged H.M.O.'s to engage in "undesirable behavior" by signing up healthy people and avoiding those with costly medical problems like heart disease.
"You are asking for trouble if you don't make adjustments for the health risk" of beneficiaries, Dr. Wilensky said. "It's time to start."
President Clinton addressed the problem in his new budget. He proposed cutting Medicare payments to H.M.O.'s across the board, starting in 2000. He would reduce the basic payment for each H.M.O. member to 90 percent of fee-for-service rates, down from 95 percent.
But Dr. Wilensky and her panel said this adjustment was too crude because it would not take account of differences among H.M.O.'s and would, in effect, penalize those with large numbers of high-cost patients.
The commission said that Congress should take immediate action to reduce the overpayments and should not wait till 2000, as Mr. Clinton proposed.
Specifically, the panel said, Congress should reduce Medicare payments for H.M.O. members during their first year or two in such health plans, "based on solid evidence that they typically have low costs prior to enrollment." Dr. Wilensky acknowledged that this was an imperfect method of calculating the true cost of caring for H.M.O. patients, but she said it was more accurate than the President's proposal and could be used right away.
The panel's recommendation would affect many H.M.O.'s because new members account for much of total enrollment. About 55 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries in H.M.O.'s have been enrolled for three years or less, the panel said.
If Medicare paid H.M.O.'s less to care for healthy people and more for sick people, the commission said, consumers would benefit because health plans would have a financial incentive to enroll people with costly medical problems.
 While managed care offers advantages to patients who are seriously ill, the commission said, Medicare does not adequately protect H.M.O.'s against the "high cost of catastrophic losses" that may be incurred in treating such patients. Five percent of the elderly account for more than half of all Medicare spending on the elderly, the panel noted.

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When Memory Speaks

BYLINE: By Larry Wolff;  Larry Wolff is the author of "Inventing Eastern Europe" and "Child Abuse in Freud's Vienna."

SECTION: Section 7; Page 19; Column 1; Book Review Desk 

LENGTH: 1457 words


THE EMIGRANTS
 By W. G. Sebald.
 Translated by Michael Hulse.
 Illustrated. 237 pp. New York:
 New Directions. $22.95. 
 A profound and original work of fiction, "The Emigrants" pursues the stories of four people as they move from land to land -- and, above all, as they move through history. In tracing these wanderings, W. G. Sebald has created an end-of-century meditation that explores the most delicate, most painful, most nervously repressed and carefully concealed lesions of the last hundred years.
Published in German in 1992, Mr. Sebald's book is now appearing in a sensitive and elegant English translation by Michael Hulse. In German fiction, "The Emigrants" stands alongside Gregor von Rezzori's "Memoirs of an Anti-Semite," which similarly is composed of related stories, explores the personal past in historical circumstances and meditates upon the significance of the Jews and of Jewish identity in our understanding of the cultural complexes of modern Europe. Yet "The Emigrants" is not exactly a fictional memoir. Rather, it is the record of its narrator's investigations into the mysterious memories of others, preserved in stories that dramatize the sometimes treacherous enchantment of memory itself. In the shaping of these stories, Mr. Sebald's book reflects the irresistible retrospective circlings of our contemporary culture, even as he pursues a post-modern fictional inspection of the delicate relationship between memory and history.
In the opening section, the novel's narrator meets Dr. Henry Selwyn, an elderly Englishman, devoted to gardening, whom he eventually discovers is not English by birth. The old man, we are told, "confessed (no other word will do) that in recent years he had been beset with homesickness more and more." Home turns out to be the village in Lithuania that he left at the age of 7, in 1899. "For years the images of that exodus had been gone from his memory, but recently, he said, they had been returning once again and making their presence felt."
In the second section, the narrator learns of the suicide of the man who had been his favorite elementary school teacher in Germany: "Almost by way of an aside, the obituary added, with no further explanation, that during the Third Reich Paul Bereyter had been prevented from practicing his chosen profession. It was this curiously unconnected, inconsequential statement, as much as the violent manner of his death, which led me in the years that followed to think more and more about Paul Bereyter, until, in the end, I had to get beyond my own very fond memories of him and discover the story I did not know." It emerges that Bereyter's paternal grandfather was Jewish, and that although Bereyter believed "he was a German to the marrow" and fought in the German Army during World War II, he finally realized "that he belonged to the exiles."
Inspired by a family photo album, the narrator goes to America to interview surviving relatives in New Jersey about his third subject, his own long-dead great-uncle. The story that he learns takes him back to the years before World War I, when Ambros Adelwarth immigrated to America and became the butler for a wealthy Jewish family on Long Island, returning to Europe as the valet and lover of the polo-playing scion, Cosmo Solomon. Through Ambros's pocket diary, the narrator traces the two men to the casinos of Deauville in 1912 and 1913, then across the Mediterranean to Constantinople and Jerusalem, a city that looms mythologically large as the point of departure for the original emigrant diaspora. The narrator himself arrives at Deauville in 1991, and returns in a dream to the resort as it was in 1913 to look for Cosmo and Ambros. Here the roll call of the aristocrats recalls the grand and ghostly survivors assembled at the party of the Prince de Guermantes, as described by Proust in the final volume of "Remembrance of Things Past." In their midst sit Ambros and Cosmo, dining together romantically, sharing a lobster on a silver platter, surrounded by speculative interest and prurient murmurs.
In a telling passage in his diary, Ambros Adelwarth comments on the phenomenon of memory: "It makes one's head heavy and giddy, as if one were not looking back down the receding perspectives of time but rather down on the earth from a great height, from one of those towers whose tops are lost to view in the clouds."
Mr. Sebald's last subject, Max Ferber, an artist in Manchester, again opens up a family history that rolls back through the years to the beginning of the century. In 1939, at the age of 15, Ferber had been sent by his family from Germany to England; his parents stayed too long in Germany and were deported to Latvia, then murdered by the Nazis. Ferber tells of his own attempts to recover the memories of his youth -- looking, for instance, at a book on Tiepolo and studying the Wurzburg frescoes in order to recall the summer of 1936: "I sat looking at those pictures with a magnifying glass, trying to see further and further into them. And little by little that summer day in Wurzburg came back to me."
Gazing at Tiepolo's work, Ferber succeeds in seeing deeper and deeper into himself, remembering a time of Nazi rallies and bonfires, and his parents' deepening uneasiness. The story also includes a girlhood memoir by his mother, Luisa Ferber, an idyllic remembrance of Jewish family life at the beginning of the century in the German spa town of Bad Kissingen. In 1991, the narrator visits the Jewish cemetery there and finds Luisa's name on a family gravestone, though he knows that only her mother, "who took her own life, lies in that grave."
The impact of the Holocaust on the novel's emigrant survivors lies at the silent heart of the book, the suppressed tragedy they find so difficult to address directly. Henry Selwyn remarks that "the years of the second war, and the decades after, were a blinding, bad time for me, about which I could not say a thing even if I wanted to." Like Selwyn, Mr. Sebald's other tormented characters reach back in their remembrances to the years before World War I, seeking to establish the kind of continuity that will help them make sense out of a century so brutally ruptured by horror at its center.
Himself an emigrant from his native Germany, Mr. Sebald has lived in Norwich, England, since 1970. A professor at the University of East Anglia, he has published two other works of fiction in German, as well as several important books of literary criticism, with a particular focus on Austrian writers. These interests surface in "The Emigrants" -- when, for instance, the narrator's Deauville dream world involves a mysterious Austrian countess who seems to have stepped out of the pages of a novella by Arthur Schnitzler.
Mr. Sebald's art of allusion culminates, however, in Luisa Ferber's memoir, when she notices at Bad Kissingen "two very refined Russian gentlemen, one of whom (who looked particularly majestic) was speaking seriously to a boy of about 10 who had been chasing butterflies and had lagged so far behind that they had had to wait for him." Butterflies, as well as a spectral lepidopterist called "the butterfly man," flutter on the margins of all these stories, but in this case the boy can be identified from Vladimir Nabokov's autobiography, "Speak, Memory," which describes this exact scene taking place at Bad Kissingen; the boy was the young Nabokov. The spirit of the great Russian writer, pre-eminent among literary emigres, presides over Mr. Sebald's entire book.
The author has also made photographs an integral part of this fiction, from the Jewish cemetery at Bad Kissingen to the hotels of Deauville. And he includes photographs that purport to show the characters themselves: Ambros Adelwarth in Arab costume in Jerusalem, Paul Bereyter in the German Army. Playing upon the boundaries between imaginative fiction and personal history, "The Emigrants" thus becomes a kind of scrapbook of the 20th century, set with haunting images of its victims and survivors. As the narrator remarks, when looking at these old photographs one feels "as if the dead were coming back, or as if we were on the point of joining them."
Illuminatingly engaged with the history and literature of the modern era, Mr. Sebald's book gains power through its poetic obsessions with the past. When Max Ferber hands over his mother's memoir, the warning he gives to the narrator is one that might also apply to "The Emigrants" as a whole: it is "like one of those evil German fairy tales in which, once you are under the spell, you have to carry on to the finish, till your heart breaks, with whatever work you have begun -- in this case, the remembering, writing and reading."

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NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: ELMHURST;
They're Ready to Move but Not Twice

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 8; Column 5; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 322 words

The ink had not even dried on the new lease at the Knights of Columbus hall in Elmhurst, when the elderly began kicking up their heels.
"Never underestimate old folks," said one sexagenarian, who is a member of the Elmhurst Jackson Heights Senior Center. "We are not going anywhere." 
 That remains to be seen.
The center, which has occupied the first two floors of the Christian Testimony Church on Whitney Avenue for 20 years, was ordered by a court to leave by tomorrow..
The red-brick building had become known as the mah-jongg church, since it was reported that church elders objected to the gambling by senior citizens who played the game, as well as their after-lunch dancing.
The center has been occupying the space without a lease for the past five years and the congregation wants its church back to conduct its own programs. Last month, the church's lawyer served the center with eviction papers.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services said it had found a temporary 5,000-square-foot site at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 91-28 43d Avenue, and officials hope to complete negotiations for the group's permanent site on the old 14,000 square foot Nynex building.
But the elderly want to remain at the church while completing negotiations for the Nynex building. They say that the Knights of Columbus hall is three blocks farther from the nearest subway stop and the roof leaks.
Jose Prince, the director of the center, said the idea of moving twice in eight months concerns the elderly. He has asked the church to grant one more extension until the permanent center is completed. But the church is owed five months rent, or nearly $40,000.
"If the rent is paid in full, and the city can demonstrate that they will have a permanent site for these people, then the church will entertain an application to extend their time," said Burton Apat, the lawyer for the church.   CHARLIE LeDUFF

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The Nation;
Acting Their Attitude, Not Their Age

BYLINE: By ALLEN R. MYERSON 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 3; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 1009 words

THOUGH inspirational to some, former President George Bush's sky dive over the Arizona desert last week at age 72 -- just like his political career, perhaps -- was less on the leading edge and more part of a trailing afterburn. Many other elder-heroes have been there and done that and much more.
Why, just last June, Al Dietzel, an executive at The Limited, the retailing conglomerate, celebrated his 65th birthday with his own parachute jump -- which came before 18 holes of golf (a 93, with no cart) and after two sets of singles tennis, a 180-pound bench press and a two-mile run at a nine-minute-a-mile pace. "I'm stronger at 65, 66, than I ever was in my life," he says. For his 66th birthday he is planning, among other feats, a 190-pound-plus bench press, three miles at his nine-minute pace and a six-mile kayak trip ending at the Statue of Liberty. 
 Kenneth Cooper, founder of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, recalls being taught back in medical school that vigorous exercise over 40 increased the risk of a heart attack. Hah! Now, at 66, he still runs or race-walks several times a week, lifts weights, skis at least two weeks a year and scales a 13,000-foot peak every summer in the Colorado Rockies. He says the effects of aging can be not only slowed but actually reversed through a diet-and-fitness regimen that strengthens bones and builds muscle mass. "We're eventually going to rewrite the textbooks on aging," he adds.
The new-found capabilities of the elderly are forcing the revision of a lot else: health and demographic studies, rules of athletic competition, marketing plans and -- soon perhaps -- assumptions about geezers that permeate popular culture. It could be goodbye Walter Matthau and hello Walter Mitty in a new era of modern immaturity.
 
More Active
 Aging studies have been more apt to measure a duffer's ability to dress himself than clock his performance in a triathlon, so as yet it's hard to definitively gauge a trend toward sport and risk-taking among the elderly. But even existing surveys suggest a more active elderly population, because as a group the elderly have become healthier and more functional in daily life.
The Duke University Center for Demographic Studies -- whose surveyers periodically sample 20,000 Americans over 65 -- has noted a 15 percent drop from 1982 to 1994 in what it calls chronic disability rates -- measuring things like the ability to feed oneself.  Now the center is beginning to track activities like tennis, bicycling and long-distance running -- although "jumping out of airplanes is beyond what I would measure," says Kenneth G. Manton, the professor who oversees the studies.
 
Watch It

He attributes higher activity rates more to healthier, smarter living than to better medical treatment. And in fact would-be superseniors are forewarned that they are not indestructible. Mr. Bush took his doctor along as a precaution. And though Dr. Cooper once ran marathons, he now says that running long distances leaves older people vulnerable to injuries that outweigh the added benefits. Woe to the elderly who try skiing at Colorado's high altitudes without having followed an exercise program that went beyond hoisting second helpings onto their plates.  "You'd be surprised at the number of heart attacks that occur in Colorado," Dr. Cooper says. "It's primarily older people who conk out."
But many who began exercising when young now continue throughout their lives, while others who never dreamed of bungie-jumping are pondering the actuarial probabilities and thinking, oh, what the heck.
Swimming, track and bodybuilding are only some of the sports that have strong national programs for older athletes. Organizers of even the most challenging, downright masochistic events are having to add older and older award categories.
Helen Klein, 74, successfully hectored the directors of ultra-marathons like the Western States 100, a 100-mile jaunt across the Sierra Nevada, to add awards for women over 70. Older athletes like Mrs. Klein are gaining a measure of celebrity -- appearing, for example, on the TV networks' morning shows -- as well as profiting from their obsession, in Mrs. Klein's case through sponsorship by an outdoors clothing maker.
Consulting and marketing firms like Age Wave of Emeryville, Calif., are bringing forth 90-year-old black belts and Iditarod sled-mushers to help persuade clients like American Express, Coca-Cola and General Motors that the elderly can be vigorous customers too. The company's stated goal: "to replace gerontophobic marketing with a new, more positive image of aging."
In the downsizing workplace -- at a time when courts are holding that dismissing a company's best-paid workers is not age discrimination -- some older employees appear to have concluded that the best defense is a solid marathon time or bench-press mark. "It keeps me competitive in a young environment," Mr. Dietzel says of his regimen. Speaking from his office at The Limited, he explains: "The average age around here is 29. I got a young lady sitting right across from me who is 24. She knows I can work as hard as she can."
Four years ago, not just his career but also his life was at stake, when he had surgery to remove a cancerous left kidney. Now, not even his children can keep up with him. "My grandkids, they go out jogging with me, or bicycling," Mr. Dietzel says. "Their dads can't do it and their moms can't do it, but they go get the old man."
An even greater challenge for the age wave might be revising cultural stereotypes that stretch from ancient Roman comedy through King Lear to Mr. Magoo and "Grumpy Old Men." A corporate King Lear of today would never sink into senility as his daughters arranged for his outplacement. He would refresh himself with an Outward Bound adventure, then mount a comeback. Any jibes about his "infirm and choleric years," as his daughter Goneril put it, he might deal with by inviting his tormentors to keep up with his infirmities down at the weight room.

LOAD-DATE: March 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: 
Photos: Less Walter Matthau, more Walter Mitty: an eightysomething set for a 200-yard dash. (Jim West/Impact Visuals); He came from 12,500 feet: Bush lands. (Pool Photograph by Mike Nelson)

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April 1, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

TELEVISION REVIEW;
Putting the Cheesy on a Pedestal

BYLINE: By JOHN J. O'CONNOR 

SECTION: Section C; Page 14; Column 4; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 476 words

The scene is a chintzy set presided over by a sleazy host named Mr. Laupin (pronounced lah-PAAN, a little like the rabbit), who fancies himself to be Mr. Show Biz. His co-host is the haughty Agatha, the former Mrs. Laupin, for whom he still hopelessly lusts. Their eager sidekick, sporting a pompadour out of a fourth-rate tour of "Bye Bye Birdie," is Johnny Blue Jeans, who yearns for people to look at him and say in awe, "Hey, that guy can party!"
Welcome to "Viva Variety," momentarily indistinguishable from any of those curious European variety shows that can be glimpsed while channel surfing on a stormy night. The hosts are irrepressible; the audiences applaud anything. "Viva Variety" supposedly takes place in France, but this New York production was created by Michael Ian Black, Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, members of The State, a sketch-comedy company once on MTV. The talented men met eight years ago at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. 
 The soul of "Viva Variety" hovers somewhere between "The Ed Sullivan Show" and the Three Stooges, spiced with Folies-Bergere-like dancers called the Swimsuit Squad who, Comedy Central says proudly, have been likened to the Gold Diggers on "The Dean Martin Show."
Pushed along by the loopy Laupins (Mr. Lennon and Kerri Kenney), the first couple of half-hour installments include the Bandbaz Brothers, who perform balancing feats on knife points, and Larry Cisweski, a knife thrower. Let's not get into Yogi Baird, the world's only contortionist fiddle player.
Johnny Blue Jeans (Mr. Black), a regular Yankee Doodle Dandy who has never been to America, is a sort of dimwitted foil for all occasions. In the studio, he's the reluctant volunteer for the knife-throwing act. Outside, he judges the gymnastic competition between a young Olympics contender and a monkey. After singing his heart out for senior citizens at a suburban mall, he confronts the devastating question, "So what do you do for a living?"
Meanwhile, the music segments feature established music groups like They Might Be Giants and Shudder to Think. The celebrity guests, diving happily into the wackiness, include Ben Stiller, who next week gets caught playing the Fonz in a dizzy tribute to "Happy Days."
The variety is certainly different, and frequently hilarious. Did I mention Scotland's premier regurgitator, Stevie Star, who swallows a pool ball and other things and then spits them up triumphantly? The concept of Eurotrash takes on deliciously new dimensions.
 
VIVA VARIETY
Comedy Central, tonight at 10
 
Jim Sharp, executive producer; Thomas Lennon, Michael Black and Ben Garant, producers; Rich Goldman, line producer. A production of Comedy Central.
 
WITH: Thomas Lennon (Mr. Laupin), Kerri Kenney (the former Mrs. Laupin) and Michael Black (Johnny Blue Jeans).

LOAD-DATE: April 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Michael Black, left, with Thomas Lennon, Walter Koenig and Kerri Kenney in "Viva Variety" on Comedy Central tonight at 10. (Comedy Central)

TYPE: Review

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April 1, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

DEATH IN A CULT: THE SILENCE;
For Ex-Wife of Leader, No Wish for the Limelight

BYLINE: By JAMES BROOKE 

SECTION: Section A; Page 18; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 307 words

Down a long ranch road in the rural Southwest, where grazing deer mingle with cows, is a rustic wooden house marked "Gran's Cabin," the retirement home of Ann P. Nickerson, once the wife of Marshall Herff Applewhite.
After the news last week that Mr. Applewhite had led his followers into mass suicide, Mrs. Nickerson and her husband, Sam, retreated behind three "No Trespassing" signs and a chained cattle gate. Forgoing Easter services at their church, the couple remained secluded at home on Sunday, screening telephone calls with an answering machine and watching the Heaven's Gate story unfold on their television set. 
 In the evening, a knock on the front door brought a response from Mr. Nickerson, a lean mustachioed man in blue jeans and a denim shirt. Anticipating the question, the elderly man quickly volunteered, "We have nothing to say."
Referring to the attention that had followed Mr. Applewhite's earlier brushes with notoriety, the rancher said, "We don't want to go through all that again."
He said his wife had not heard from her first husband since he left in 1964.
Emphasizing the distance created by more than 30 years of separation, he added, "My stepson hadn't heard from him since he was 5 years old."
Stepping into the night air and closing the door behind him, Mr. Nickerson added that his wife had recently commented that Mr. Applewhite had never shown any interest in the occult in their decadelong marriage.
"The guy who killed himself in California, he wasn't the same man" as the music teacher who married Ann Pearce, Mr. Nickerson said. Referring to the first reports of the mass suicide, he added, "We had no idea it was him."
As the Hale-Bopp comet burned low in the sky, Mr. Nickerson, a retired elementary school principal, said in parting, "We'll call you if we see any U.F.O.'s."

LOAD-DATE: April 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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April 2, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

What's Wrong With This Plan?

BYLINE: By David Frum;  David Frum is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

SECTION: Section A; Page 21; Column 2; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 906 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

For conservatives, the performance of the Republican Congress is rapidly deteriorating from the depressing to the embarrassing. Each week we wonder, can things get worse? And the answer always seems to be, yes, they can.
Now Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah has unveiled a plan to give the Government an even greater role in health care. Senator Hatch and his Democratic co-sponsor, Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, propose to give states up to $5 billion a year to subsidize health coverage for children who lack insurance but whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. The Senators would raise the money by increasing the Federal tax on cigarettes by 43 cents a pack. 
 Politically, the plan is perfect -- Dick Morris himself couldn't have triangulated anything more clever. It goes after everybody's favorite bad guy -- the cigarette industry -- and redistributes the money to the most photogenic beneficiaries possible. But the plan begs a follow-up question: If Federal spending is the key to providing coverage for uninsured children, why hasn't the problem been solved already?
After all, back in 1986 Congress greatly enlarged the reach of Medicaid by permitting states to use Federal dollars to provide health coverage to all children under 19 they considered poor, even those whose parents didn't receive welfare. Then in 1990, Congress took a further step and made it mandatory that states provide Medicaid coverage to all poor children by the year 2002.
What has been the result of all this largess? In 1986, Medicaid consumed a little more than $27 billion a year. In 1997, the program cost $105 billion, and by 2002, when the mandate to extend Medicaid is to be fully imposed, it will cost more than $133 billion. Yet despite this colossal tide of money, the number of uninsured youngsters under 19 remains enormous: an estimated 10 million (as compared with 7.8 million in the late 80's).
So Senators Hatch and Kennedy are now suggesting that the Government spend even more: Their program would subsidize even families earning up to 185 percent of the official poverty level, or nearly $20,000 a year.
Some might say, well, why not insure all the kids we can? Because the Hatch-Kennedy plan would not be as helpful as it seems.
First, few people really believe that insurance is a children's issue. The real casualties of the breakdown in the insurance market aren't 15-year-olds -- they tend not to need much medical care in the first place -- but older people, like the 50-year-old salesman who was downsized a year ago and is now working part time without benefits. Health-care reforms that ignore the middle-aged in favor of children are sentimental, not sensible.
Second, the Hatch-Kennedy proposal has a perverse incentive for employers: It would encourage them to quit providing health benefits to their workers. Employers pay the cost of health benefits, for the most part, not because they're kind-hearted, but because they couldn't attract workers otherwise. When unscrupulous employers of low-wage labor hear that Washington is volunteering to take responsibility for every working parent's biggest worry -- his or her children -- they will be tempted to offload that cost.
Third, the financing plan for Hatch-Kennedy is extremely wobbly. The $5 billion it would give the states wouldn't insure very many kids -- probably fewer than half of those now without coverage. And that's before employers accept Hatch-Kennedy's invitation to reduce coverage for their workers' children.
Fourth, nobody can truthfully promise to bring the number of uninsured children down to anywhere near zero through a Government program. Too many of the uninsured young -- at least one million of them and possibly twice that number -- are the children of illegal residents and therefore are ineligible for any Federal benefit.
The sad truth is, the failures of the American health-care system are what doctors call iatrogenic: a problem caused by failed attempts to cure it. Yet members of Congress who complain that insurance is unaffordable ought to remember the enormous new costs they themselves have imposed on providers. For example, it's now illegal to sell a health-insurance policy that does not include mental health benefits and a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for new mothers.
Yes, mental health coverage and 48-hour maternity stays are desirable things. But it makes no sense to require that every plan be as loaded down with features as a brand-new Cadillac if that means that millions of Americans are locked out of the health-insurance market as a result.
What America needs from Washington is not more regulation followed by more subsidies to compensate for those regulations. Rather, the Government should allow insurers and other health-care providers to sell basic coverage that lower- and middle-income earners can afford on their own. And it should give the self-employed and others who buy their own insurance equivalent tax benefits to those given businesses who provide coverage for their employees.
Americans should have a choice among comprehensive health plans, but the 38 million uninsured -- adults and children -- need a stripped-down plan that's adequate and affordable: a Model T for health insurance. This idea may not poll well with focus groups. But over the long term it would do more good than any policy gimmick that's come out of Washington so far.

LOAD-DATE: April 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Gary Panter)

TYPE: Op-Ed

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April 3, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

DUST BOWL '97;
A Little Help From Friends

BYLINE: By MARIANNE ROHRLICH 

SECTION: Section C; Page 4; Column 5; Home Desk 

LENGTH: 419 words

EVEN for those elderly who may need a little help with chores, spring is prime time for cleaning and sprucing up the home. Following are some organizations that offer minor repair services or housekeeping. Unless otherwise noted, services are free, with clients paying only for materials. But donations are always encouraged. The New York City Department for the Aging can make further referrals; (212) 442-1000. The Jewish Association for Services for the Aged will mail a home-safety checklist to identify problem areas. Write to the JASA Help Center at 40 West 68th Street, New York 10023.
 
Repairs
 
MET COUNCIL'S PROJECT METROPAIR -- Does minor repairs for low and middle-income people over 60 in all boroughs; (212) 267-9500.
 
CARING COMMUNITY -- A minor-repair program for people 60 and older in Manhattan; (212) 675-2257.
 
NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS -- Helps low- and middle-income elderly owners of houses and some co-ops and condominiums. The group also provides safety inspections to identify hazards. Participation requires verification of home ownership, age and income; (212) 962-7653.
 
CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU -- Does minor home repairs for Bronx residents. The agency also has a referral list of cleaners; (718) 293-0202).
 
RICHMOND SENIOR SERVICES -- Provides minor home repairs for anyone over 60 and for physically disabled people of any age. Work is done only on Staten Island, for $5 a visit, plus materials. The center will make referrals for other types of work; (718) 816-1811.
 
 
Home Care and Housekeeping
 
SELF-HELP COMMUNITY SERVICES -- Home help for the elderly in all boroughs except Staten Island, for $12.25 an hour. The agency assesses home needs and accepts both private and Medicaid clients; (212) 971-7723.
 
NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS -- Short-term home care for the elderly in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The fee is $6 an hour, plus carfare; (212) 962-7559.
 
IDA'S EMPLOYMENT AGENCY -- Specializes in people who work with elderly clients. Helpers do light housekeeping for a minimum of four hours a day, twice a week, at $8 an hour; (212) 730-8323.
 
EMANUEL AGENCY -- Specializes in elderly clients who need light housekeeping. Workers are trained in kosher dietary laws. Fees are $6 to $10 an hour plus carfare; (718) 692-0812.
 
NEW YORK STATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE -- Provides workers who will do heavier housework, at $7 to $10 an hour, plus carfare and lunch; minimum of four hours; (212) 621-0719.

LOAD-DATE: April 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Good Grips tools have egg-shaped handles of soft slip-proof rubber that make cleaning easier for those with painful joints. (Photo by Naum Kazhdan/The New York Times; Good Grips brush, left, at Mxyplyzyk; other tools, Bed, Bath and Beyond; feather duster, top, Bed Bath and Beyond.)

TYPE: List

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April 3, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

A War-Crimes Trial, but of Muslims, Not Serbs

BYLINE: By MARLISE SIMONS 

SECTION: Section A; Page 3; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1157 words

DATELINE: THE HAGUE

Once again, the courtroom of the war-crimes tribunal here echoes with accounts of cruelty and murder, the ghastly but now familiar tales of Bosnia's war.
But in this case, it is not Serbs but Bosnian Muslims who are on trial. 
 The three Bosnian Muslims and one Croat stand charged with 14 murders and numerous incidents of torture and abuse committed against Serbs at a prison camp in 1992.
The Bosnian Serbs are blamed for almost all the horrors of the war, and they in turn accuse the tribunal of political prejudice. But court officials have insisted that the United Nations tribunal is not driven by politics. Cases like this one, officials say, show that the court will try war-crimes suspects regardless of their politics or ethnic origin.
At the same time, the latest trial is also a reminder of how little the tribunal has achieved since its creation in 1993. It has only seven defendants in its custody, four of whom are now in court. Of the 74 people indicted here for war crimes, 67 remain at large, even though in many cases their whereabouts are known.
The four men now on trial are charged with terrorizing hundreds of men and women who spent time at a prison camp controlled by Bosnian Muslims between May and December of 1992. The camp, at Celebici in the mountains some 30 miles southwest of Sarajevo, used to be a military storage site.
Prosecutors said that some 500 people passed through the camp during those months, most of them Serbs from villages around Konjic. Some had helped defend their villages when Muslim forces attacked, but others had not. The indictment said that many of the camp's inmates suffered hunger, beatings, torture and rape.
The camp conditions described in the court sound familiar. They mirror the stories that have been told and retold by survivors of dozens of Serbian-run camps where Bosnian Muslims were held and persecuted.
But Celebici was run by Muslims and the victims were Serbs. Two of the men charged in the Celebici case are the highest-ranking defendants so far to stand trial in The Hague: Zejnil Delalic, 48, and Zdravko Mucic, 41, the Croat, who are charged with overall responsibility for the atrocities linked to the camp, Mr. Delalic as regional commander of the Bosnian Muslim forces, Mr. Mucic as the camp commander.
Hazim Delic, 32, deputy commander of the camp, is individually charged with four murders and torture, including the rapes of two women. Esad Landzo, 24, a camp guard, is accused in five deaths, and of torture and cruelty. Their crimes, as listed by the prosecutor, included beating elderly men to death with wooden planks, baseball bats and shovels. The prosecutor said the two charged with torture also used pliers, acid, electric shocks and hot pincers to torment their prisoners.
In the courtroom, the four defendants appeared to follow the proceedings, conducted in English, via earphones providing them with translations. At times they took notes; often they looked bored or dozed. Each defendant has two lawyers paid for by the court.
The defense lawyers have requested that their clients be tried separately, in part because they fear that the suspects may testify against each other, as they already have in pretrial statements.
But the court has ruled that the four were closely linked through the chain of command and that separate trials would mean duplicating much work and recalling the same witnesses many times.
Among the first witnesses to appear was Mirko Babic, 63, a Serb. He pulled up his trouser leg to show his scars. He said Mr. Landzo had poured gasoline on his legs and set fire to them. "I saw the flames, it was very painful," he told the court.
Another witness, Branco Gotovac, 66, also a Serb, said Mr. Landzo had beaten him so hard that he swallowed his tongue and nearly suffocated until a fellow prisoner, a nurse, rescued him. "I had to put my hands behind my head and then he kicked me in the testicles," Mr. Gotovac said. "During all this, my tongue went inside my throat. I was urinating blood." He said he had lasting injuries.
Mr. Gotovac, a frail and sick man, was questioned by Mr. Landzo's lawyer in such a strident way that the presiding judge, Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, from Nigeria, intervened. He said to the lawyer, Cynthia White McMurrey, an American, "I left you at large when some of the things you said have been complete rubbish. If you continue being irresponsible, I think I will have to take a different attitude."
In the courtroom, Grozdana Cecez, 47, a Serb, came face to face with the man who she said had raped her at the camp. Speaking of Mr. Delic, she said: "I thought he was going to beat me. Then he started to rape me. I will never be the woman that I was."
On another night, four men raped her, she said. Mr. Delic did not look at his accuser. While she described the event in detail, he chewed gum and kept his hand over his face.
For this trial, Bosnian Serbs have cooperated with prosecutors and agreed to testify. Until a year ago, tribunal workers frequently complained that they were unable to conduct their investigations in Belgrade or in the Serbian-controlled part of Bosnia. As a result, much of the evidence they collected involved crimes against Muslims or Croats, to whom the investigators did have access, but they learned little of what had happened to Serbs. Serbs nonetheless accused the court of being anti-Serbian.
Belgrade's attitude toward the court began to change when, as Antonio Cassese, the tribunal president, put it, "the Serbs understood finally that they were making a huge blunder" by not talking to court investigators.
Even during this trial, some Serbs continue to criticize what they call the tribunal's anti-Serbian bias.
Branco Jovanovic, a representative of an association of Serbian war victims based in Belgrade, said her group is demanding that charges against the four defendants be broadened. Prosecutors have defined the charges as "grave breaches of the Geneva Convention" and as "violations of the laws and customs of war." But Ms. Jovanovic said her group wants the crimes to be classified as "genocide" and as "crimes against humanity," which carry greater legal and moral weight.
"What happened at Konjic was ethnic cleansing against Serbs," she said. "More than 5,000 Serbs were driven out. More than 150 were killed and 120 women were raped. Why is that different, I ask, why are those attacks defined only as war crimes, and not as crimes against humanity?"
The prosecution has not explained why it selected some charges over others. But crimes against humanity must involve a widespread or systematic attack on a people or group, court officials say, and many Serbs have been indicted on these charges in connection with planning and carrying out ethnic cleansing.
The trial is expected to go on for several months. Prosecutors said they have a list of 76 witnesses but may not call all of them.

LOAD-DATE: April 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Three Bosnian Muslims and a Croat, shown with a courtroom guard at the center, are standing trial in The Hague accused of war crimes, though it is the Serbs who are blamed for almost all the horrors of the war. The trial of the men -- from left to right, Esad Landzo, Hazim Delic, Zdravko Mucic (the Croat) and Zejnil Delalic -- addresses charges of murder and rape at a prison camp in 1992. (Reuters)
 
 

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April 3, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING;
Neighbors May Get Their Say

BYLINE: By TERRY PRISTIN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 118 words

DATELINE: MONROE TOWNSHIP

When residents at Rossmoor, a senior citizens development, learned that Nobody Beats the Wiz planned to build a warehouse nearby, they were outraged. But they had a problem. Although the warehouse would be a few hundred feet away from Rossmoor, it would be across the municipal border in Cranbury Township. Monroe Township officials would have no say in the plans. 
 But a bill to be unveiled today would require county planning boards to review plans for proposed projects that would be within 500 feet of a municipal border and to consider complaints from residents of neighboring towns, said Bobbie Schott, an aide to Assemblywoman Barbara Wright, Republican of Plainsboro.   TERRY PRISTIN

LOAD-DATE: April 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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April 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/Long Island;
A Mix of Uses for a Port Washington Wasteland

BYLINE: By DIANA SHAMAN 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1317 words

DATELINE: PORT WASHINGTON

A 460-ACRE tract on West Shore Road owned by the Town of North Hempstead will soon be transformed from barren wasteland into a mix of municipally owned recreational facilities and privately owned housing.
The major components of the plan are an 18-hole golf course, a 165-acre nature preserve and housing for people 55 and older. 
 Its 675 residential units will range from 3,000-square-foot, single-family detached houses overlooking the golf course to a 400-unit life-care facility for the elderly, a concept that includes skilled nursing care.
The property, a scarred valley stretching below eroded cliffs left behind by more than a century of sand mining, has been costing town taxpayers $3 million a year to maintain because it is encumbered by a $73 million loan.
"We are taking a neglected burden and are turning it into a major asset both from an environmental and from a fiscal point of view, while pioneering the idea of a life-care community," said May W. Newburger, the Town of North Hempstead Supervisor. "This was a horror movie, but we've rewritten the script and given it a happy ending."
The town bought the tract known as the Morewood property in 1988 for $33.1 million, intending to build a solid-waste incinerator. The site had been mined for sand since the 1860's.
The incinerator proposal was abandoned because of environmental fears and concerns that it would not prove profitable. While the land lay fallow, the town's costs mounted.
An original $33.1 million debt was refinanced and increased to the $73 million, incurring annual interest-only payments of $3 million. Developers wanted to buy the land, but offers were rejected because of fears of the impact major development would have on schools and traffic. Environmental groups wanted to preserve the tract as parkland.
Mrs. Newburger, who became supervisor in January 1994, said her priority on taking office was to "find a solution that would be fiscally and environmentally responsible." She added, "Our goal was to retain as much open space as possible and still solve the fiscal problem."
At the suggestion of Alma E. Hyman, the town planning directorr, the town conducted an environmental study, hiring Saccardi & Schiff, planning consultants in White Plains.
What evolved was a plan under which 89 percent of the land will stay open space, addressing some of the concerns of environmentalists. And since housing sales are restricted to older people, schools will get tax revenues without adding pupils. The impact on traffic also will be reduced.
The town will retain ownership of 420 acres, with the remaining 40 acres sold to North Shore Associates of Great Neck, which will develop the residences.
North Shore has agreed to pay $26.9 million for its site, which will be used to reduce the existing $73 million debt.
However, the town will incur $27 million in new debt. That sum, which is to be paid for through bond issues, will go in part toward construction of recreational facilities that include the 18-hole golf course, a nine-hole course and a driving range, a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse and several athletic fields.
More than $8 million will be spent on environmental cleanup and site remediation, which includes stabilizing severely eroded sand cliffs, some of which are 200 feet high. A road into the property also has to be built.
Town officials say the golf courses will generate sufficient income to pay off all debt over 20 years. In addition, the facilities are expected to generate $400,000 in net income annually.
After the 20th year, the town will receive $1.6 million annually from the properties, said Michael P. Locorriere, the town comptroller.
The golf course, designed by Michael J. Hurdzan of Columbus, Ohio, will have an irrigation system that will minimize demands on public water supplies.
Water used for irrigation will come in part from rainfall trapped in a lined basin that can hold up to seven million gallons of water. Another source will be runoff from nearby town landfills, which will be drained into underground wells where it will be purified before being pumped back to the surface.
COMPOST will be added to the soil to minimize the use of fertilizers, and hardy grasses will help cut maintenance costs of fairways, said Paul M. Roth, Commissioner of the Department of Public Works.
North Shore Associates was chosen from among 19 respondents to a request for proposals issued by the town in 1995. Guidelines called for housing for the elderly.
In addition to the $26.9 million purchase price, the developers will give the town a $2 million endowment to be used for subsidizing moderately priced housing for the elderly elsewhere within the town.
North Shore is a partnership of Jobco Realty and Construction of Great Neck; Pearson Partners, a Manhattan-based investment banking company, and Tully Construction of Flushing, Queens, a road building contractor.
Jobco, which will build the housing, is an experienced builder of moderately priced housing for the elderly.
However, residences at Harbor Ridge, as the new development is to be called, will sell for whatever the market can command, said Michael F. Puntillo, Jobco's vice president. He said prices had not yet been established for the different housing types, which will include co-op apartments.
There will be 275 houses and condominium units for sale. The 150 houses will be a mix of detached, semi-attached and town-house styles.
The 3,000-square-foot, two-bedroom detached houses will occupy 6,000-square-foot lots. The semi-attached houses and the town houses, all of which will also have two-bedrooms, will range from 2,400 to 2,700 square feet. Homeowners will belong to a homeowners' association that will take care of outside maintenance and recreational amenities.
There will also be a 125-unit apartment house with one- and two-bedroom condominium apartments averaging 1,500 square feet.
The 400-unit life-care building, if approved as planned, will have a 300-unit co-op and a 100-bed assisted-living and nursing-home facility. Marriott Senior Housing Services of Bethesda, Md., will be in charge of management, and North Shore University Hospital will provide health-related services.
The building will have on-site recreational facilities, lounges, a store, a bank, a library and a communal dining room.
The one- and two-bedroom co-op apartments will range from 750 to 1,550 square feet. Prices have not been established, but in similar operations managed by Marriott, such units typically sell for $175,000 to $350,000, said Michael J. Giacopelli, vice president of development at Marriott.
Co-op residents will have 25 meals a month included in their monthly maintenance. Although fee structures have not been established, monthly fees generally range from $1,900 to $3,000 for an individual and about $600 more for a couple, Mr. Giacopelli said.
Part of the fee at the Harbor Ridge project will support the assisted-living and nursing-home component of the co-op. Should co-op residents need those services, they will move from their apartments into those facilities, but their monthly overhead will only be increased by the amount needed to cover the cost of extra meals, all of which would then be provided. If the move is permanent, the co-op apartment can be sold, with all revenues from the sale going to the owner.
Thus co-op residents will never face catastrophic nursing-home expenses and will be able to stay in noninstitutional and familiar surroundings for as long as they live, Mr. Giacopelli said.
Cleanup of the Morewood property, which was littered with debris left behind by mining operations that continued up to 1989, began in January and has been completed.
Construction of the 18-hole golf course has begun. Construction of the housing is expected to start in the fall, with occupancy in the spring of 1998.

LOAD-DATE: April 6, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: North Hempstead Town Supervisor May W. Newburger at development site. She calls project a major asset. (Steve Berman for The New York Times)

Map showing the location of Port Washington, L.I.

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April 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

CONNECTICUT GUIDE

BYLINE: By ELEANOR CHARLES

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 15; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 1087 words


MARINE ART
"Wind, Waves and Sail: Marine Art and Artifacts," the largest interdisciplinary exhibition undertaken by the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, will open on Saturday in several of the museum's galleries.
More than 50 paintings and prints by Winslow Homer, James E. Buttersworth, Antonio Jacobsen, Fitz Hugh Lane and other artists illustrate two centuries of change in the design of sailing vessels and yachts. They are embellished by photographs and models of some of the more significant ships, and more than 100 marine-related objects. Four sections of the exhibition will cover warships and battle scenes, clipper ships, whaling and fishing vessels, and racing yachts and cruising vessels.
Among the lenders to the exhibit are Mystic Seaport, the United States Naval Academy, the Smith College Museum of Art, the Peabody Essex Museum and 15 yacht clubs in Fairfield and Westchester Counties. Ship models and trophies from the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich will be on display.
Among the special events planned in conjunction with the exhibition is a dinner-lecture series with James Taylor from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England; Revell Carr from the Mystic Seaport Museum, and Peter Neill from the South Street Seaport Museum in Manhattan.
The exhibition will remain open through July 13, Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 5, Sunday from 1 to 5. Admission is $3.50, $2.50 for people 65 and older, and children 5 through 12 years of age. There is no charge on Tuesday.
The museum is just off Exit 3 of Interstate 95. The number for more information is 203-869-0375.

SONTAG AT YALE
Susan Sontag will present a lecture entitled "The Art of Fiction: A Reading" on Tuesday at 4:30 in the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall Street on the Yale campus, followed at 8:30 P.M. with an informal conversational session at Ezra Stiles College, 9 Tower Parkway. Both events are open to the public free of charge.

OLD LYME ARTISTS
A collection of paintings by members of Old Lyme's turn-of-the-century artists' colony are preserved in the Florence Griswold Museum, a historic landmark that was then a summer boarding house for the American Impressionists.
Through June 20 the stately yellow and white building will house an exhibition of landscape paintings that depict scenes in a five-acre contiguous parcel that the museum is in the process of acquiring.
The museum, at 96 Lyme Street, is also the headquarters of the Lyme Historical Society and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 5. Admission is $4, $3 for older people and students, free to children under 12. The number is 860-434-5542 for more information.

PETERS AT FAIRFIELD
A concert of light operatic classics will be performed by Roberta Peters next Saturday at 7:30 in the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. The event is a benefit for the Children's Community Day Care Center. Ms. Peters, of the Metropolitan Opera Company, has in recent years been a musical ambassador to Russia, where she was the first American to receive the Bolshoi Medal, and to China, where she gave recitals and conducted master classes.
Tickets are priced from $25 to $75 and may be reserved by calling 203-254-4242.

ART BY LEAR
Donald Gallup, former curator of the Yale Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Library, has given the university his collection of the works of Edward Lear. It is housed in the Yale Center for British Art, and until it is formally exhibited in 2000 it may be seen by scholars who must call 203-432-2800 to arrange an appointment.
Lear is more familiar as the author of verses like "The Owl and The Pussycat" than for his skill as a painter, illustrator and draftsman. This collection contains 7 oil paintings, 2 oil studies, 362 drawings, 30 prints, 10 autograph letters and additional manuscripts and printed matter.
Among the works are drawings of the Lake District in England from the 1830's, works in oil of Corfu and sites in India, Italy and Egypt, and illustrations for a tract on parrots. His documentations of landscapes are now considered invaluable.

WEAVERS' ART
A juried exhibition of handwoven rugs, wall hangings, baskets, tapestries, bobbin lace, off-loom weaving and other prime examples of the weavers' art are on view and for sale at the Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme through Saturday.
A special feature of the show, held every other year by the Handweavers Guild of Connecticut, is the work of Helena Hernmark, whose tapestries are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, among others.
Visiting hours are Tuesday through Friday from noon to 4:30 and today and Saturday from 1 to 4:30. Admission is $2 and the number for more information is 203-434-7802.

FORESTS' FUTURE
Scientists, researchers, land planners and forest managers will present their varied perspectives on the future of America's Northeastern forests during a symposium to be held next Saturday from 8 to 5:30 at Connecticut College in New London.
Sponsored by the college's Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies and the Connecticut Forest and Parks Association, the event is open to the public for a fee of $25, including Continental breakfast and lunch. An additional $25 will cover attendance at an evening reception, dinner and keynote address.
Robert Askins, professor of zoology at the college, says "many new developments, from the introduction of new pathogens to acid raid and new construction projects, will take an enormous toll on our forests."
The number is 860-4390-5021 for reservation, directions or more information.

BOGART BIOGRAPHY
"Bogart," a new biography of the actor, was written by two authors who never met him. One of them, Eric Lax, will discuss the book today at 2 P.M. at the R. J. Julia bookstore, 768 Post Road in Madison.
Mr. Lax took over the writing of "Bogart" after Ann M. Sperber, author of "Murrow: His Life and Times," had spent seven years compiling a massive archive of material. Ms. Sperber died in 1994. Mr. Lax is known for "Woody Allen," a 1991 best-seller.
Also at the bookstore, Sydney Eddison, author of "The Self-Taught Gardener: Lessons from a Country Garden" and other books and articles on gardening, will give a talk on Thursday at 7 P.M. for beginners and experienced home gardeners alike. Free reservations are required by calling 203-245-3959.   ELEANOR CHARLES

LOAD-DATE: April 6, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: "U.S.S. Pennsylvania Off Gibraltar," by James E. Buttersworth, is among the marine art at the Bruce Museum.

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April 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Rare Look Uncovers Wartime Anguish of Many Part-Jewish Germans

BYLINE: By WARREN HOGE 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 16; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1160 words

DATELINE: CAMBRIDGE, England

It was 1938 in Berlin, and 19-year-old Hannah was shocked to hear that her father had been arrested by the Nazis. She had been raised in the Lutheran faith of her mother, and her father's being a Jew had never been an issue, much less a deportable crime. So she went to the Gestapo to complain.
Officers said they couldn't help her and told her to go to the Jewish community center. Once there, she told people what had happened and was questioned about her upbringing. "We don't help your kind," she remembers being told. 
 Determined, she went back to the Gestapo to protest. This time the officer in charge took her into a back room and asked two leering junior officers if they "liked what they saw." The commander left, and the two men raped her.
Hannah was one of tens of thousands of Germans with Jewish forebears who in the late 1930's learned that their Nazi leaders were categorizing them as human mongrels and giving them dreadful options for survival.
Now 78 and living outside Hamburg, she tearfully told her story to Bryan Mark Rigg, a personable 25-year-old former Texas high school football star and honors graduate of Yale who is now on a research fellowship at Cambridge University. Through videotaped interviews, painstaking attention to personnel files and banal documents not normally consulted by historians, and spurred by a keen sense of personal mission, he has turned up an unexplored and confounding chapter in the history of the Holocaust. The extent of his findings has surprised scholars.
"These people have suffered the same fate in academic life as they did in fact," said Jonathan Steinberg, the modern European history teacher here who is Mr. Rigg's supervisor. "They were nobody's property, so nobody talked about them."
Mr. Rigg said: "They didn't know where they belonged. They were the so-called mischlinge, a horrible word, a bastard, a half-breed."
Mr. Rigg's project began with a chance encounter in a movie theater in Berlin with an elderly man of Jewish parentage who had fought for the Germans. The meeting led him to explore similar cases and in the process discover that he himself, a Bible-belt Protestant, had a Jewish great-grandmother and 22 relatives who disappeared during the war.
Over the next four years he was to discover documents called "declarations of German blood" that Hitler had personally signed to keep valuable officers with Jewish forebears in the Wehrmacht. The existence of such people had been known -- one was Field Marshal Erhard Milch, deputy to Hermann Goring, the Luftwaffe chief -- but Mr. Rigg has discovered that their numbers were far greater than anyone had imagined.
Helmut Schmidt, the West German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982, kept secret the existence of a Jewish grandfather to remain a lieutenant in the Luftwaffe. Mr. Schmidt told Mr. Rigg he had always thought his own case was rare, and was startled to learn that the young researcher had unearthed a previously unknown 1944 German personnel document listing 77 generals and colonels "of mixed Jewish race or married to a Jew" whom Hitler had declared "of German blood." By now Mr. Rigg has confirmed the existence of more than 80 additional individuals formally exonerated for having Jewish forebears.
Mr. Schmidt has written letters of introduction for Mr. Rigg praising the "seriousness of the undertaking" to aid him in his interviewing. "I had no idea of the extent of the phenomenon and I am stunned by it," he wrote.
Some of the people whose stories Mr. Rigg has uncovered considered themselves Jews and hid their backgrounds to survive, sometimes serving in the army of the regime that was annihilating their relatives. But many -- Mr. Rigg believes them to be the great majority -- were raised as Christians and had never thought of themselves as Jews or people of Jewish heritage.
Only after the 1935 Nuremberg laws for the "protection" of German blood did thousands of Germans find out that the Nazis considered them "quarter Jews" (people with one Jewish grandparent), "half Jews" (people with two Jewish grandparents) or "full Jews" (people with at least three Jewish grandparents).
While Mr. Rigg's research does not alter understanding of the Third Reich or dispute Holocaust studies, it shows that assimilation in Germany was far more a fixture of the culture than the Nazis anticipated, forcing them into such categorizing. "Hitler was not only fighting against the Jews, he was fighting against hundreds of years of assimilation," Mr. Rigg said. "This makes the story much more complicated, much more difficult, but much more real."
Mr. Rigg says he is not interested in passing judgment. But he finds himself continually brought up short in pondering the choices people faced and wondering about those who ended up serving in the Wehrmacht.
Mr. Rigg has encountered feelings of shame among those who falsified papers to survive, while their relatives were being killed in death camps. He has also met former officers who believe their families were spared by Gestapo officers who intruded in a Jewish household, only to spot a framed picture of a son in full uniform fighting on the front.
Some servicemen of Jewish parentage, on learning of the treatment their relatives were receiving, raised objections.
"After the French campaign in 1940," Mr. Rigg said, "a lot of petitions came to Hitler from these officers saying, 'I have an Iron Cross, and I come home to find my mother and my grandmother being persecuted.' Hitler had to decide either to protect the parents, or kick the officers and N.C.O.'s out. So there was a huge discharge in 1940."
Arnold Paucker, 76, director of the London office of the Leo Baeck Institute that chronicles the history of German-speaking Central European Jews, said that he worried about the authenticity of stories told 50 years later, but that he found Mr. Rigg's discoveries about the depth of assimilation in Germany "surprising."
"Every story is different, but I would call them Christians of Jewish descent," he said.
Mr. Rigg now has more than 400 hours of video interviews documenting more than 2,000 soldiers of Jewish parentage. He has spoken personally with some 350 veterans and their families, and projects the number of such people who served as having reached as high as 80,000.
Each new lead in Mr. Rigg's research raises new questions, but one of his discoveries allowed the Lubavitcher movement to answer a question. Lubavitcher legend has always held that the grand rebbe, Joseph Schneersohn, and his followers were spirited through German lines by a Jew in a German uniform after being trapped in Warsaw in September 1939. Mr. Rigg established the truth of the story and identified the officer as Maj. Ernest Bloch, whose father was Jewish and who obtained a declaration of German blood signed by Hitler.
Rabbi Avraham Laber, speaking from Troy, N.Y., said, "He has really helped us uncover the mystery."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Bryan Mark Rigg, an American at Cambridge University, is studying the wartime fate of Christian Germans who had Jewish forebears, and has found that their numbers were far greater than anyone had imagined. (Justin Leighton for The New York Times)

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April 7, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

THE RENT DEBATE: THE ANTICIPATION;
On Upper East Side, Anxiety Over Rent Rules

BYLINE: By CLIFFORD J. LEVY 

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 843 words

The Upper East Side of Manhattan often seems to have a stately air, a place where just eking by is not much of a concern. But even this neighborhood has many middle- and working-class residents apprehensively watching the debate over rent regulations, as if bracing for a long-awaited storm.
"People are worried -- people on fixed incomes who have been here for years," said Arden Cohen, 55, who pays $760 a month for a rent-stabilized studio apartment on East 83d Street. "They are so anxious about what is going to happen. They feel that after June 15, they are going to be out on the streets." 
 There are more than 80,000 rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartments on the Upper East Side out of the 1.1 million regulated apartments in the state. In recent interviews that took place throughout the Upper East Side, residents generally favored continuing the rules, particularly for the elderly, the disabled and the poor.
Of course, there was talk of the need to crack down on wealthy people who might be abusing the system by taking apartments with rents that are only a fraction of their incomes. But even the well-to-do who own co-ops and brownstones expressed fears that the gutting of rent regulations in Albany might rend the fabric of the Upper East Side.
The conversations also revealed a simmering sense of powerlessness and anger among residents in rent-regulated apartments, an emotion not normally associated with so politically potent an area. Some said they feared that they might no longer be able to afford their homes because of the crusade by upstate Republians in the State Senate to scale back or abolish the rules, which expire on June 15.
"It creates a very anxious situation," said Colleen Fitzgerald, 27, a public-school teacher who pays $547.97 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. "I would not be living in this city if this apartment didn't have the rent it did."
A few residents said the rules should be ended, asserting that housing would improve for all classes of people if government allowed the free market to set rents. "It would be a great thing for the city," said Mike Tepedino, 33, an investment banker who pays about $1,000 a month for a one-bedroom rent-stabilized apartment. "Even if it works against me, it's a great idea. The rent rules are working for the benefit of the few at the expense of the rest."
Opinions on the Upper East Side may be more important to the rent debate in Albany than those in many other city neighborhoods because the area is represented in the State Senate by Roy M. Goodman, a Republican who says he is trying to mount a mutiny against his own party's plan.
Democrats contend that if the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, an upstate Republican, succeeds in doing away with rent regulations, then Mr. Goodman's standing will suffer, even if he defies Mr. Bruno. So if the outcry in Mr. Goodman's district is large enough, it might help persuade Mr. Bruno to scale back his plan to avoid jeopardizing a Republican seat.
In the last two months, Mr. Goodman's office has received more than 1,300 letters from people who want to keep rent regulations, and only a handful from opponents. On some days, the office has fielded more than 50 calls from supporters of the rules. Like Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, his fellow Republican, Mr. Goodman has been trying to distance himself from Mr. Bruno. So far, this strategy may be working.
Ms. Fitzgerald said, "I would think negatively about his party, but if he is trying his hardest, I wouldn't necessarily hold it against him."
Mr. Bruno himself appears to have become more well known in the district than any other upstate legislator in memory. Most of this sentiment is not flattering. "This guy Bruno should be dipped in this Hudson with weights on his feet," one elderly woman said as she hurried out of a supermarket on Third Avenue.
Democrats say such views may ultimately damage Mr. Goodman, who has represented the district since 1968 even though it has more Democrats than Republicans.
"I think that people might be fed up about hearing about how hard Roy fights for them, if in the end result, people are still getting hurt," said Assemblyman Alexander B. Grannis, a Democrat whose district overlaps Mr. Goodman's.
Mr. Goodman acknowledged that his constituents were angry. "They are distrustful of Republicans, but they know that I have been a champion of tenant protections throughout my career," he said. Asked whether he thought the rent fight would injure his reputation, he said: "I would tend to doubt it. I have been around a long time, and people know my record."
For many residents of the Upper East Side, though, the politics of rent regulation is less important than what will be in place on June 16.
"It's very, very frightening," said Kim A. Bosotina, 30, whose family has lived in a two-bedroom rent-controlled apartment for 35 years. The rent is now $400 a month.
"There is going to be a mass exodus, God forbid this happens," he said. "It's another assault on the working class."

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Colleen Fitzgerald -- "It creates a very anxious situation. I would not be living in this city if this apartment didn't have the rent it did;" Arden Cohen -- "People are worried -- people on fixed incomes who have been here for years. They are so anxious about what is going to happen;" Kim A. Bosotina -- "There is going to be a mass exodus, God forbids this happens. It's another assault on the working class;" Mike Tepedino -- "Even if it works against me, it's a great idea. The rent rules are working for the benefit of the few at the expense of the rest." (Photographs by Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)

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April 8, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton and Congress at Odds On Aid to Legal Immigrants

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1091 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 7

Republicans said today that they were drafting legislation to provide as much as $2 billion in aid to states with large numbers of legal immigrants who will lose benefits under the new welfare law, but Clinton Administration officials said they strenuously opposed the plan because it would result in disparate policies in different states.
Instead, the officials said they wanted full restoration of disability benefits for most legal immigrants, including children and elderly people who have not become citizens. 
 Republicans in Congress want to provide states with lump sums of money, or block grants, to help legal immigrants. House Republicans, led by Representative E. Clay Shaw Jr. of Florida, said they were considering a maximum of $2 billion in aid over the next two or three years.
By contrast, Mr. Clinton would permanently restore disability benefits and Medicaid for many legal immigrants, at a cost of $15 billion over six years. New York would receive about 15 percent of the money in each case, while New Jersey would receive perhaps 3 percent.
The dispute continues a philosophical debate that has raged since Republicans took control of Congress in 1995 on whether states or the Federal Government can better design social welfare programs.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna E. Shalala, said the Administration opposed block grants because they would be "unfair and unworkable."
In an interview, Dr. Shalala said the Administration believed that the Federal Government should set uniform national standards for providing disability benefits to legal immigrants, who were admitted to the United States under Federal policies.
"We believe that an elderly disabled immigrant -- a 75-year-old disabled woman -- in New Hampshire ought to be treated the same as a woman of the same age in California or Ohio," Dr. Shalala said. "Their eligibility should be determined through national policy, not left to the discretion of the states."
Republicans on Capitol Hill said that they were surprised by the Administration's position -- and they said it could backfire. The President and the immigrants risked ending up with nothing if they insisted on getting far more than Congress was willing to provide to legal immigrants, the Republicans said.
Mr. Shaw, the chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, said he recently had a sobering conversation with the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Robert L. Livingston, of Louisiana, who said it would be difficult to find even $2 billion to assist states with benefits for many legal immigrants.
As for the $15 billion sought by President Clinton, Mr. Shaw said: "That's just out of sight. It ain't going to happen. There's no way Congress is going to be able to find that kind of money. There's no sense even thinking about it."
With some exceptions, the 1996 welfare law bans immigrants from receiving Federal Supplemental Security Income and food stamps unless they become citizens.
But Cecilia Munoz, deputy vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization, said today: "A 95-year-old woman losing Supplemental Security Income benefits is not going to be comforted by the fact that her governor will get a block grant. What she needs is her S.S.I. check. It will be extremely difficult for states to find the people most in need and get them enrolled in a new program."
The Congressional Budget Office has said that more than 40 percent of the savings attributable to the new welfare law -- $24 billion of $55 billion over six years -- would result from restrictions on benefits for legal immigrants. Republicans see these savings as essential to their plan to balance the budget.
New York Republicans, including Gov. George E. Pataki, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Representative Susan Molinari, strongly support efforts to restore Federal benefits for legal immigrants who are disabled or elderly.
Immigrants in New York and California recently filed class-action lawsuits challenging the denial of Supplemental Security Income benefits and food stamps to noncitizens. They said the restrictions violated the constitutional guarantee of "equal protection of the laws."
Under the new law, states may deny welfare and Medicaid to noncitizens here before Aug. 22, when Mr. Clinton signed the law. A recent commentary in the Harvard Law Review said that this last provision authorized states to violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The welfare law says that the denial of benefits to immigrants is warranted by two "compelling Government interests": to assure that aliens will be self-reliant and to "remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits." But plaintiffs in the two lawsuits said that the denial of subsistence benefits to legal immigrants would do nothing to deter illegal immigration.
On a lobbying trip to Capitol Hill last month, Mr. Giuliani won some initial support for a proposal that would allow legal immigrants already in the United States to continue receiving benefits. City officials estimate that 75,000 legal immigrants in New York City are receiving Supplemental Security Income, while 135,000 receive food stamps.
A wide range of bills to revise the welfare law have been introduced in Congress. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois and Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, both Democrats, have offered the most comprehensive proposals, which would repeal all of the new restrictions on benefits for immigrants. They would cover the cost by eliminating some corporate tax breaks.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Representative Tom Campbell, Republican of California, have introduced bills that would restore S.S.I. benefits for legal immigrants who were in the United States on Aug. 22 and are elderly, disabled and poor.
Other bills to restore benefits have been introduced by Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, both Florida Republicans who were born in Cuba and represent many Cuban-Americans; Carrie P. Meek, Democrat of Florida; Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island.
Mr. Campbell and Ms. Molinari said they strongly supported the 1996 welfare law. But Mr. Campbell said: "No law is perfect. There is one glaring problem to be corrected, dealing with those legal immigrants who are too old and infirm to obtain their citizenship."      

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April 9, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Health Watch

BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY 

SECTION: Section C; Page 10; Column 5; National Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 494 words


A Noisy Cure for Colic
GRANDMAS have been the source of much health wisdom. So Lisa VonCanon, a pediatric nurse at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond and a first-time mother, did not question her grandmother's advice to run the vacuum or clothes dryer to soothe her colicky infant son, Tucker. Nor was she surprised when the remedy offered by her grandmother, Hope Clapp, worked. Tucker stopped his heart-wrenching sobbing almost immediately. Again and again, the "white noise" of a household machine provedable to calm the irritable baby. Mrs. VonCanon's sister, Andrea Edmunds, had similar success with her baby.
So Mrs. Edmunds's husband, Andy, a musician with a small home-recording studio, produced a compact disk of six white noise sounds: vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, water running into a tub, clothes dryer, dishwasher and lawn mower. Called "Grandma's Colic Cure," the CD is sold for $11.95 in stores in Richmond and, with an additional $2 handling fee, through its inventors: Two Sisters Productions, P.O. Box 29362, Richmond, Va. 23242. Tucker's favorites, his mother reports, are "The Hoover Hustle" and "Someone to Wash Over Me." 
 Grandma Clapp and her granddaughters are not the only advocates of white noise to calm babies. Dr. William Sears, author of "Nighttime Parenting" (NAL/Dutton, 1993; La Leche, 1985), also noted that "babies often settle best with what is known as 'white noise,' such as the fan of an air-conditioner, a dishwasher or a vacuum cleaner.
 
Pets' Power to Soothe
Ask cat or dog lovers and they are likely to tell you that their pets are as good companions as people or even better, always ready to offer unconditional love and affection. New research also suggests that pets can enhance physical as well as emotional well-being.
Dr. Karen Allen and her colleagues at the University of Buffalo have shown that four-legged companions are nearly as effective as two-legged friends and relatives at controlling blood pressure in women who live alone. The results of their research were presented last month at the meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Santa Fe, N.M.
The six-month study was conducted among 100 such women, half in their mid-20's and the other half in their early 70's. Half the women in each group owned a dog or cat to which they were very attached. The other half had never owned a pet.
Repeated recordings of the women's blood pressure showed that over all, the blood pressure of pet owners was lower in both age groups than it was among the women who did not have pets. Among the older women, the differences in blood pressure were medically highly significant, with systolic pressure (the pressure when the heart beats) lower by 20 points, on average, in the women with pets. In fact, elderly women with pets but little human companionship had blood pressure readings nearly as low as those of young women with lots of friends and family around.

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April 9, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

PRESIDENT OFFERS $18 BILLION MORE IN MEDICARE CUTS

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 919 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 8

The Clinton Administration offered today to make additional cuts of $18 billion in projected Medicare spending over the next five years to help reach agreement on eliminating the Federal deficit, people involved in the budget negotiations said today.
In saying that it was willing to compromise further on Medicare, the issue that has most divided the Administration and Congressional Republicans through two years of budget wars, the White House was clearly seeking to appear flexible as the two sides began their first serious negotiations since their impasse in late 1995 led to a Government shutdown. 
 The Administration had previously proposed a plan that it said would cut the growth of Government health care spending for the elderly by $100 billion over five years, while the most recent Republican offer was $158 billion over six years.
"There is a serious intent here to show that we want to get this process off to the right start," said a senior Administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Republicans said that they welcomed the Administration proposal but that they wanted to study it further. They said they had offered their own proposals, which they did not specify, for narrowing the gap between the White House and Republican plans for slowing the growth in Medicare spending and averting a long-term financial crisis in the program.
Today's meeting on Capitol Hill, attended by the leaders of the Congressional budget committees and members of the White House economic team, was the first of several scheduled over the next week.
President Clinton has proposed meeting directly with the Republican leadership at the White House next week in an effort to give the process further impetus.
Expressions of optimism by both sides early this year have given way in the last month to predictions that the effort to eliminate the deficit by 2002 was on the verge of collapse. But with both parties eager to strike a deal, the Administration and Congressional Republicans have been conducting quiet preliminary talks for several months even as each tried to pin the blame on the other for the apparent lack of progress.
Both sides said today's discussion had improved the atmosphere and the prospects for a deal, although they must still address myriad other differences, like the size of any tax cut and the depth of spending cuts in military and domestic programs.
"I would assess it for an opening round as a very successful three-and-a-half hour discussion," said Senator Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who heads the Budget Committee.
Franklin D. Raines, the White House budget director, told reporters after the meeting that the two sides were "making progress in that we are moving forward with discussions and we are seeing common ground."
President Clinton had already made one effort at compromise on Medicare this year, saying the day after his inauguration in January that he would move halfway to the last Republican proposal. Mr. Clinton said that compromise would reduce Medicare spending by $100 billion over five years or $138 billion over six years.
But the Congressional Budget Office analyzed Mr. Clinton's plan and found that it would save $82 billion over five years, or $18 billion less than Mr. Clinton said. Republicans have insisted that the budget be balanced using the budget office's analysis rather than on the slightly more optimistic assessments of the White House's Office of Management and Budget.
In today's meeting, Administration officials essentially offered to accept the Congressional Budget Office analysis on Medicare. They presented specific proposals to increase the savings from their plan, mainly by reducing payments to hospitals and other health-care providers, so that their plan would yield $100 billion in reduced spending over five years even under the Congressional Budget Office's assumptions.
Mr. Clinton used the Republican proposals to reduce the growth of Medicare spending as a major theme in his effort to recover from the Republican sweep of Congress in 1994 and to win re-election last year. His continued move toward compromise -- without the Republicans having made any specific counteroffer -- is likely to generate grumbling or worse from liberal Democrats.
White House political strategists have kept a close eye on Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the Democratic leader in the House, who is a likely challenger to Vice President Al Gore for the party's Presidential nomination in 2000 and who has shown a willingness to clash with the Administration.
It is unclear whether the White House can win enough support from Democrats to pass a compromise budget if the party's liberal wing objects. Similarly, Republicans remain divided over how hard to push for deep spending and tax cuts, and Republican negotiators are looking back over their shoulders at their party's right wing, which had vowed to oppose any deal that does not significantly reduce the size and role of the Federal Government and provide sweeping tax cuts.
Republican leaders including Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, have threatened in recent days to declare the President's budget proposals dead and to proceed with their own if there is not progress in the negotiations with the White House in the next week.
But Republicans have so far not produced their own budget proposals, which would require spending reductions to pay for proposed tax cuts.
      

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April 11, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

The Spoken Word

SECTION: Section C; Page 29; Column 1; Weekend Desk

LENGTH: 270 words


PETER BOGDANOVICH, Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway, at 66th Street. The director and author will discuss his new book, "Who the Devil Made It" (Knopf, 1997). Tonight at 7. Free. Information: (212) 595-6859.
 
"QUILTING WORKSHOPS AND STORYTELLING," American Craft Museum, 40 West 53d Street, Manhattan. In celebration of African-American Quilters. Tomorrow and Sunday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $5; $2.50 for students and the elderly; free for those under 12. Information: (212) 956-3535. 

"AN ASTRONAUT'S EXPERIENCE IN SPACE," New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th Street, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Flushing, Queens. A lecture by Ellen Baker, a veteran of the United States space program. Sunday at 4 P.M. Free with hall admission: $4.50; $3 for children 4 to 15 years old and the elderly. Information: (718) 699-0005.
 
"SONGS OF MY ANCESTORS: TAINO POETS IN NEW YORK CITY," Huntington Free Library and Reading Room, 9 Westchester Square, the intersection of East Tremont and Westchester Avenues, the Bronx. Featuring readings by poets with ties to the Taino people of Puerto Rico, including Machiste Quintana, Gypsie RunningCloud, Bobby Gonzalez and Magda Martas. Tomorrow at 2 P.M. Free. Information: (718) 829-7770.
 
"THE POLITICS OF POWER -- THE POWER OF FILM," Ethical Society of Northern Westchester, 108 Pinesbridge Road, Ossining, N.Y. A screening of the 1962 film "The Manchurian Candidate," followed by a discussion with David Amram, who composed the score for the film. Tomorrow at 7:30 P.M. Suggested donation: $5; $4 for students and the elderly. Information: (914) 241-6922.

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April 11, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

A Bad Deal Is Worse Than None

SECTION: Section A; Page 28; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 580 words

Congressional and White House negotiators will meet again today to prepare for possible budget talks next week involving President Clinton. These talks are likely to determine not only what a future budget might look like, but even whether any budget deal at all will be struck this year. The pressure is on both sides to reach agreement and prove they know how to govern. But unless the concessions made by each side are right, the better outcome would be no deal at all.
Mr. Clinton's first task is to follow offers already made by his Republican rivals. Trent Lott, the Senate majority leader, has proposed that Mr. Clinton join him in appointing a commission that would pare back cost-of-living adjustments used to calculate benefit levels as well as tax brackets -- the best way to spread the pain of deficit reduction across the population. But Mr. Clinton let Mr. Lott's proposal die, no doubt fearing backlash from the elderly, whose Social Security benefits would be reduced, and other voters whose taxes would be slightly raised. Speaker Newt Gingrich angered his conservative backers by proposing that tax cuts be postponed until after a balanced budget is passed. A Democratic President should have seized this proposal in order to spare huge offsetting cuts to his spending initiatives. Instead Mr. Clinton reacted with reckless indifference. 
 Many presume that the President will eventually embrace these sensible ideas in the eleventh hour of negotiating. But the Republicans are already backing away. Besides, they do not trust that he will do what he might promise in private. The leaders need public declarations, and soon.
For the Republicans, the task is to admit that their vaunted welfare "reform" wrongly victimized legal immigrants and childless adults. The President has proposed reinstating disability payments and Medicaid coverage to legal immigrants who become disabled after they enter the United States and to the children of legal immigrants. He also proposes reinstating uninterrupted food-stamp benefits for adults who cannot find private- or public-sector work or a government-provided workfare slot. Some Republicans counter these socially responsible suggestions with offers to postpone some of these provisions, or turn over small blocks of money to states that bear the heaviest burdens of poor immigrants.
But these palliatives are much too small and badly targeted. The Republicans need to accept that their bill was, at least with respect to legal immigrants and childless adults, wrong in principle. The solution is a change in principle, as Mr. Clinton has proposed, not a pittance of temporary money.
Mr. Clinton wants to spend about $20 billion on legal immigrants and food stamps and about $50 billion on a variety of programs of much less importance. His first responsibility is to stand firm on the $20 billion to partially fix a welfare law he should never have signed. Only then can he push for spending more on the rest of his list.
If the appropriate concessions are not made by each side, with the President following Mr. Lott's lead on cost-of-living adjustments and Mr. Gingrich's lead on taxes while standing firm on welfare, then the best outcome would be budget impasse.  That would suspend for one year any progress on deficit reduction -- but that is hardly threatening since the goal of zero deficit by the year 2002 is of little economic significance. Impasse would at least not make matters worse.

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April 12, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Ending Battle, Suburb Allows Homes for Poor

BYLINE: By RONALD SMOTHERS 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 21; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk; Second Front

LENGTH: 1425 words

DATELINE: MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., April 11

Planning officials in this prosperous suburb in southern New Jersey approved a rental complex of 140 town houses for low- and moderate-income families early today, culminating a 26-year legal battle that turned Mount Laurel into a national symbol of suburbs that used their zoning laws to exclude the poor.
The project, to be built on 63 acres of farmland, will be named for Ethel R. Lawrence, who brought the original complaint after township officials rejected a proposal from her and a group of other black residents to use Federal subsidies to build 38 garden apartments. 
 The unanimous vote by the board came after midnight, and after more than 200 opponents of the plan, fearful of increased taxes, crime and devalued property, had peppered the developers and board members with derisive taunts and angry threats. In the speeches of many of the opponents in this township 21 miles east of Philadelphia, there was a sense that the Planning Board vote would usher in the same urban ills that they had fled years before.
"You're history," shouted Jacob Herman, one of the leaders of a group of opponents from a senior citizens development across the road from the proposed town houses, as he gestured toward board members, the Mayor and members of the Township Council.
But for Peter O'Connor and Carl Bisgaier, the lawyers who undertook the lawsuit 26 years ago; Ethel Halley, the daughter of Mrs. Lawrence, and Mayor Peter R. McCaffrey, there was another sense of history in that moment, growing out of the landmark ruling in the legal battle.
Minutes after the vote, Mayor McCaffrey walked up to Mr. O'Connor and Ms. Halley, who now head the nonprofit development company that will build the housing, stretched out his hand and said, "Welcome to Mount Laurel."
The contrast could not have been sharper with the words of his predecessor back in 1970. According to historians of the fight here, Bill Haines, who was then Mayor, went to the small black church attended by many of those who were seeking approval for their low-income housing proposal to deliver the town's response.
The answer was no, and then he added, "If you people can't afford to live in our town, then you'll just have to move."
The nine-member Planning Board had been under a state court order to evaluate the housing proposal only in light of whether it complied with local ordinances.
They had little room to turn it down, even in the face of vocal opposition from residents of neighboring subdivisions, where homes range in price from $150,000 to $400,000.
According to Census Bureau data, more than 30,000 people lived in Mount Laurel in 1990, about 3 percent of them black. Race, though, was never directly mentioned in the hearings on this latest proposal.
Mayor McCaffrey later praised the sponsors of the housing for their calm amid the emotions surrounding the proposal.
"But knowing the history, it was inevitable that this was going to come," he said. "I'm happy it's over, and I'm sure that the people who move in will be good citizens and will be accepted."
Mr. O'Connor and Ms. Halley said they were proud of the board members for the message of support their unanimous vote sent. They were particularly pleased, they said, with two of the board members who expressed unequivocal support for the plan as "right" and "only fair."
"It's taken us more than 25 years to bring about a fundamental change in the relationship between the suburbs and the cities in America," Mr. O'Connor said. "The unanimous vote by the Mount Laurel planning board indicates that a new day in affordable housing in the nation is dawning."
Ms. Halley said the vote had "lifted a weight" for her. After the years of watching her mother fight local officials over housing and become a target for racist taunts and threats, she applauded the courage that board members had shown in overturning past actions, particularly in the face of an angry crowd gathered in the auditorium of the Harrington Middle School.
"I appreciate what they have gone through because people can be cruel," she said, as she sat with two of her sisters after the vote. "But I'm not sure whether more than a few of them appreciate what we have been through."
The vote will allow Fair Share Housing Development Inc., the nonprofit developer, to meet the April 31 deadline for applying for the scarce Federal tax credits that are crucial to the financing of the $15 million project. There had been some fears among supporters of the development that the planning board, which usually holds a single hearing on a project but had allowed three public hearings on this one, might again delay a vote. Mr. O'Connor said the company could begin construction by the end of the year, if the tax credits are awarded. The tax credits are awarded to such projects on a competitive basis.
The Planning Board, in an apparent acknowledgment of some of the specific complaints of opponents or in a face-saving move, did impose about a dozen conditions on their approval of the plan. But they were carefully worded in recognition that they often exceeded the actual authority of the board and might run afoul of the order from the Supreme Court that town officials had to judge the plan on its compliance with local ordinances and state law, not their personal preferences.
The board asked the developers to "look into" the possibility of including patios for the town houses, relocating the recreation complex from a position bordering the woods next to a neighboring subdivision, and building a second emergency access over sensitive wetlands. They also asked them to include local residents in the development of tenant selection criteria and meet with some neighboring subdivisions to discuss some of their concerns.
"We have to make a judgment on whether we can live with the conditions and, if not, seek relief from the planning board or relief from the court," Mr. O'Connor said. Privately, however, some experts suggested that none of the conditions could be required under the terms of the court order.
John Payne, a professor at Rutgers University Law School, said the Planning Board vote was at once a "significant development" and a "drop in the bucket" in terms of the need for low-income housing. He said that it was not likely that the arrival at this milestone of sorts would have any ripple effects since there is little money for low-income housing now and most state legislatures are dominated by suburban interests likely to oppose measures that would spur such proposals.
"But this is unequivocally a good development in the history of the case," he said.
At the time Mrs. Lawrence began the fight, Mount Laurel's zoning did not allow multifamily housing. In the court battle that followed, advocates for the housing not only won the right to build up to 255 low-income units in the town, but won a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that extended to other communities across the state and prohibited them from using zoning to block low- and moderate-income housing plans. But the impact of the ruling went beyond New Jersey and popularized nationally the concept of towns being required to shoulder a fair share of regional housing needs.
Philip Caton, the court-appointed master who supervises the court decree covering Mount Laurel, said that the larger significance of the series of rulings in the case was that they "created an obligation on the part of municipalities to affirmatively provide for the construction of affordable housing."
The court rulings also led to the passage of New Jersey's Fair Housing Act, a law that set up a system of determining the need statewide for such housing and allocating it to each community. But that law has been criticized for failing to set a realistic level of need and creating loopholes that allow communities to avoid building such housing. Critics have also said the law encouraged construction of moderately priced single-family homes for those who could qualify for mortgages to the exclusion of low-income rentals.
When the Ethel R. Lawrence Homes are completed, 50 percent of its units will be allocated for families whose income is 45 to 65 percent of the area's median income, and 50 percent will be for families earning 65 to 80 percent of the median income. Consequently, a family of four with a moderate income of $34,678 to $41,000 will pay a maximum rent of $778 a month for a three-bedroom unit while a low-income family of the same size with income of $24,008 a year would pay $511 a month for the same unit.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Dorothy Fox, who lives near the Ethel R. Lawrence Houses site, shook hands yesterday with Roosevelt Nesmith, Burlington County president of the N.A.A.C.P., during a Mount Laurel Planning Board meeting. (Laura Pedrick for The New York Times)(pg. 22)
 
Chart: "CHRONOLOGY: The Push for Yes"
 
1970 -- Mt. Laurel's zoning board rejects a plan put forward by Ethel Lawrence and her neighbors to build low-income housing. The following year they file suit challenging the township's action.
 
1975 -- The New Jersey Supreme Court rules in favor of the low-income housing advocates. The ruling holds that "developing" communities have a constitutional obligation to provide a fair share of regional housing needs.
 
1976 -- In response to the ruling, Mt. Laurel Township changes its zoning law, allowing the low-income housing project to be built, but on unusable, swampy land. Mrs. Lawrence and her neighbors return to court.
 
1983 -- The state's highest court again rules in favor of the advocates for low-income housing in a ruling known as Mt. Laurel II. In addition, the court specifies how many units of affordable housing should be built in the township, and, in response to some 60 similar court challenges from around the state, instructs lower court judges to set similar goals for the towns also facing lawsuits.
 
1985 -- The State Legislature, under pressure from towns that object to the Mt. Laurel rulings, passes the Fair Housing Act, creating a Council on Affordable Housing and an administrative process for setting local housing goals. Groups on both sides of the issue who are unhappy with the law challenge its constitutionality.
 
1986 -- In what came to be known as Mt. Laurel III, the State Supreme Court unanimously upholds the law as constitutional and consistent with Mt. Laurel I and II.
 
1994 -- Ethel Lawrence dies.
 
1997 -- The Fair Housing Corporation, the non-profit group which grew out of Mrs. Lawrence's early efforts, wins approval from the Mt. Laurel Planning Board to build 140 units of low- and moderate-income housing. (pg. 22)
 
Map of Mount Laurel. (pg. 22)

TYPE: Chronology

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April 13, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Program Helped Westighouse Finalist

BYLINE: By MERRI ROSENBERG 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 15; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 812 words

DATELINE: ARMONK

ONE way to measure improved scientific training in the classroom is seeing how students fare in national competitions like the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. Although such contests are not the only measure of students' scientific prowess, they reflect the opportunities schools offer for performing scientific research.
This year, 9 students from Westchester were named among the 300 national semifinalists for their research in areas as diverse as how ballet training affects academic performance; the cardiac benefits for the elderly from having pets and identifying natural predators of the ticks that carry Lyme disease, among others. 
 The students are Caroline DeFilippo, James Masi, Farah Mehta and Jason Post of the Byram Hills High School in Armonk; Brent Gottesman of the Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua; Brian Chin of Mamaroneck High School; Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury of New Rochelle High School; Heather Fletcher of Rye Country Day School, and Elizabeth Gallagher of the Ursuline School in New Rochelle. Caroline, 17, a senior, was selected as one of 40 finalists for her research into the effects of zebra mussels on a stream in the Mianus River. During the Science Talent Institute part of the competition, which was held in Washington last month, Caroline's research earned her 12th place as well as a $1,000 scholarship.
Caroline did her research at the Louis Calder Center, a field station of Fordham University, under the auspices of the Byram Hills Science Research Program. The program was developed eight years ago by Dr. Robert Pavlica, who directs it, to allow students who are interested in science to pursue complex and challenging projects.
"Science education has to go beyond the learning of concepts," Dr. Pavlica said. "It has to give greater attention to the development of scientific thinking and processes. The students in this program do exactly what professional scientists would do in their lab. They identify the focus of their research, identify a hypothesis, map out a methodology and do an extensive literature search."
Students in the course, which offers three Regents credits after three years, take biology, chemistry and physics in addition to the course. To pursue their research projects, students apply for grants and work with mentors. They are required to spend seven hours every two weeks on research outside the classroom and one hour in class every two weeks. Thirty-six sophomores, juniors and seniors at Byram Hills are taking part in the program.
The program, which has been copied in other districts -- including Croton-Harmon, Mamaroneck, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle -- will be added next year in Edgemont, the John Jay High School in Somers, Rye High School, Yonkers and White Plains, among others.
"This is raising the level of the essential ingredients of what you should know," Dr. Pavlica said. "What I do for three years is try to develop scientific minds. The process is a transferable skill."
For Caroline, who has been accepted by Harvard for next year's freshman class as an early-decision admission, curiosity about zebra mussels spurred her investigation.
"I've always loved science," said Caroline, who is an avid fly fisherman and grew up with a pond in her backyard. Among her many other interests are serving as captain of the varsity tennis and lacrosse teams, running winter track, being sports editor of the school newspaper, serving as president of the Outdoor Club, playing flute in the All-County Orchestra and the Byram Hills High School Orchestra, being president of the school's debate club and running a catering business.
Her interest in stream ecology prompted her to study the threat that zebra mussels pose to North American waterways. "The zebra mussels came from Europe and clog water pipes," she said. "They remove all food from a stream and pose a problem for all animals in that system. We're looking for a solution on how to manage their spread."
Her experiment involved setting up two tanks in a laboratory to mimic conditions in the Mianus River and identifying exactly how the zebra mussels contaminated the stream. "The zebra mussels disrupt the entire food web," said Caroline, who plans to continue her research. "The Westinghouse is not an end-all. I hope to publish in science research journals and enter other competitions."
Caroline's research has potentially valuable applications. "Because of the dangers associated with zebra mussels invading the waters of North America, there is a concern," said John D. Wehr, associate professor of biology and director of the Louis Calder Center. "The mystery is why they haven't taken hold in smaller streams. Mianus River is one of the county's most precious resources. This research is not only scientifically important but also stands very well from a conservation point of view."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Caroline DeFilippo with tanks used in zebra mussel study at science center in Armonk. (Chris Maynard for The New York Times)

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April 13, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/New Jersey;
A Plan to Raise Jersey City's Home-Ownership Rate

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1251 words

AT 30 percent, Jersey City's homeownership rate is less than half of the nation's 65.2 percent. And for the city's Hispanic residents it is even lower -- 18 percent.
To help raise those rates a program called Everyone's at Home in Jersey City was initiated last month after more than a year of discussion and planning by the city in partnership with the Federal National Mortgage Association, known as Fannie Mae. It will offer low- to middle-income buyers mortgages with flexible credit and income requirements as well as reduced down payments and lower closing costs. 
 "We have a disproportionate number of people at the margins of home ownership," said Mayor Bret D. Schundler. "What this initiative will do is shift those margins because it opens the gates of home ownership that much wider for more people to qualify for mortgages."
Among other things, the program is designed to allow the city's elderly homeowners to retain their homes by making reverse mortgages, which allow homeowners to borrow against the value of their houses, available to them and to maintain the municipality's aging housing stock by providing loans tp purchase and, if necessary, to renovate a home. The loans are available for one- as well as two-family homes, a predominant housing form in Jersey City.
The city will also assist buyers with down payments and closing costs. And to encourage lenders to approve such loans, which have traditionally been considered risky, Fannie Mae has agreed to buy them. The federally chartered mortgage company purchases loans made by lending institutions and combines them with other such loans in pools that are sold to investors -- and therefore strongly influences the underwriting standards used by lenders.
There are income restrictions for some loans, and private mortgage insurance may be needed, depending on the amount of the down payment. Borrowers must also attend a home-buyer education class to guard against mortgage defaults.
"The city has been pushing home ownership for three years," said Annemarie C. Uebbing, director of Jersey City's Division of Affordable Housing. But there were only a few lenders, she said, making it difficult for prospective buyers to get mortgages. The guarantee that Fannie Mae will buy the loans reduces the risk to lenders and will encourage more of them to make more loans in Jersey City, she said.
Under the program, borrowers can obtain mortgages of up to $214,000 through some 25 lenders with as little as 3 percent down.
Projections are that the program will help raise the city's home-ownership rate by five percentage points over the next two years. In that same time it is also expected to increase by an equal amount the pace of production for new and renovated for-sale housing for low- and moderate-income families in the city. Some 100 such units have been developed each year for the last three years, said Ms. Uebbing. Estimates are that the city, which has 229,000 residents, needs 2,431 of these units by 1999.
At present about 318 rental and for-sale housing units affordable to low- and moderate-income families are in various stages of development in the city. They include the renovation of eight burned-out, two-family rowhouses on Astor Place in the historic area of the city's Bergen Hill neighborhood. The three- to five-bedroom homes are expected to sell for $72,500 to $90,000. The project is being developed by the nonprofit Astor Place Neighborhood Association.
Construction on another project consisting of 27 two-family homes is expected to start soon on scattered vacant lots along Wilkinson and Bayview Avenues in the city's Greenville section. The homes are expected to sell for $98,500. The project will be developed with city and state funds by a nonprofit group, Minority Contractors and Coalition of Trade Workers of New Jersey, based in Jersey City.
Ms. Uebbing said both projects would be helped by the new mortgage financing provided under Everyone's at Home in Jersey City. The added hope is that the program will help spur housing for middle-income residents, she said.
THE program, seen as way to help Jersey City's revitalization efforts, is Fannie Mae's sole community partnership in the state. It is also part of the corporation's nationwide plan, announced in 1994, to make housing more affordable.
Fannie Mae has made its made its mortgage underwriting guidelines more flexible and tailored loans "to meet the unmet housing need in Jersey City," said Rosemary McManus, its vice president for housing impact.
For example, she said, the reverse mortgages are available to elderly Jersey City residents who own two- as well as one-family homes. Elsewhere they are available only for one-family homes.
Such loans enable homeowners to borrow against the value of their homes to make home improvements or to have extra cash flow. To qualify people must be 62 or older and own their homes outright or have a low mortgage debt remaining.
With the home-improvement mortgages borrowers in Jersey City may finance repair costs of up to 50 percent of the estimated appraised value of a home after it has been renovated, said Ms. McManus. Elsewhere the maximum is 30 percent.
With those mortgages, as well as the program's flexible home loans, the minimum down payment for two-family homes is 5 percent and there are no income restrictions. For one-family homes the down payment could be as low as 3 percent, but borrowers can earn no more than the median income in Jersey City, which is $44,700 for a family of four.
The program's flexible mortgages will also be combined with down-payment and closing-cost assistance from Jersey City. The city's assistance includes grants of up to $2,500 to eligible city employees who purchase homes in Jersey City as a primary residence. Initially, the city has allocated $100,000 for that purpose and low-income employees will be given first preference, said Ms. Uebbing. The assistance will be available in July.
The city is also setting aside Federal funds to help first-time buyers earning up to $38,300 a year with down payment and closing costs and to provide an additional $20,000 to city employees who are first-time buyers. The program also allows 33 percent of a borrower's monthly income to be used toward the mortgage, compared to the usual 28 percent. And borrowers who lack a traditional credit history may count their ability to meet monthly rent payments as part of their credit requirement.
In addition Fannie Mae awarded grants to two nonprofit organizations to increase home-buyer education and counseling services in English and Spanish. They are Jersey Citizen Action, a statewide group, and the local Puertorriquenos Asociados for Community Organization, or Paco.
The program generally has been well received by lenders.
"It makes more money available to and expands the opportunities for low- and moderate-income families by lowering the down-payment requirements," said Joseph L. Grabowski, senior vice president of The Trust Company of New Jersey, based in Jersey City.
Robert A. Jordan, president of County Mortgage in Jersey City added: "It is a good step, but still only a step and more needs to be done." He said his company was approaching the program cautiously.
Ms. Uebbing, Jersey City's affordable housing director acknowledged that the program would not solve all the city's housing concerns. But, she said, it provides "an additional incentive to get more people to become homeowners."

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GRAPHIC: Photos: Eight rowhouses are being renovated on Astor Place by a local nonprofit group. But owners of No. 29, right, opted to renovate on their own. (Photographs by Norman Y. Lono for The New York Times)

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April 13, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

MUSIC;
One Man's Harmony, in Many Tongues

BYLINE: By LESLIE KANDELL 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 14; Column 3; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 864 words

FINDING that voice, accented from everywhere, on the phone message machine may not be the same as winning the lottery, but it sure feels that way. "Hello, this is Theodore Bikel." Would it be all right to call back and sing "Edelweiss" on his tape?
It would not. Those timeless lyrics, the last that Oscar Hammerstein penned, may be universal, yet they are somehow Mr. Bikel's. And they were sung and played eight times a week for two years in "The Sound of Music," by a man who never took a guitar or singing lesson in his life. 
 Mr. Bikel, who created the role of Baron von Trapp, doesn't even recall which folk song he auditioned with, on a whim -- even though it was that song, and not his prepared "Luck be a Lady," that won him the part.
He looks good at 72, and has dropped some unneeded weight.  Onstage, he invokes his show credits with Tevye's exasperated gestures upward, Alfred Doolittle's spry kicks, and Zorba's strong finger snaps, between folk songs of many nations and even more languages. The big baritone voice is still there, top and bottom, aided now and then by an octave change.  "I'm in my late youth now," he joked to an appreciative audience at a "senior citizens" concert at Queens College on Tuesday.
Next Sunday afternoon he and Jonathan Irving, a teacher and administrator at Queens College who is Mr. Bikel's usual pianist, will bring a similar program of show tunes, folk tunes, discursions and lore, to the State Theater in New Brunswick. Some of it is on the 20 albums he has recorded, mostly for Elektra. And he also tours with a new little revue, "Greetings . . . Sholem Aleichem Lives!"
Like the babel of tongues he turns into sense, his homeland provenance is a mix. In 1938, a year after his bar mitzvah, his family joined the hordes fleeing Vienna to Israel. Moving toward an acting career, he settled some years later in London, appearing in major productions, including "A Streetcar Named Desire," under Laurence Olivier's direction. Though Mr. Bikel saw himself as an actor, and von Trapp as just another acting role -- like those in "The African Queen" and "The Defiant Ones," (which gained him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor) he also loved folk songs and playing guitar. On trips to Paris, he frequented nightclubs, "spending money I didn't have on champagne I didn't want," to learn from gypsy performers.
With 21 languages to perform in, he could probably dream up a concert where you couldn't make out one word, but that's the opposite of his objective. Introducing each song, he injects an English verse or two, often in his own translation.
In the film "My Fair Lady," he played the language expert whose opinion Henry Higgins gloats over: "Her English is too good," his character says. "That clearly indicates that she is foreign." Mr. Bikel, however, rarely sings in his mother tongue, German, though he gave no political reason. He prefers songs of Russia, which he visited only later in life.
He can point to differences in delivery of show and folk music -- "in a show tune I dance, and keep to framework" -- but acting infuses and enlivens his folk songs. Mr. Bikel is not above mumbling and snoring in "Un az der rebbe tanzt," or hissing and stage-whispering in "Mac the Knife" (by now virtual folk music).
A man of many hats, from the Greek fisherman's he usually sports -- he was Zorba in the national company -- to a borsalino from San Francisco, he wears figurative hats too. A review of his autobiography, "Theo," (HarperCollins, 1994) says he "invented himself over and over again as a character actor, a folk singer, an impresario, a union activist."
His activism is manifest in the high-level elected positions he continues to serve in for Associated Actors and Artists of America, Actor's Equity, the National Council for the Arts, Amnesty International and the American Jewish Congress. On his lapel is a six-pointed star with a red AIDS ribbon. Asked if all this service to professional organizations means he has big gripes, he replied simply, "I don't like to see people exploited or denigrated."
By the same token, he refuses to accept current Orthodox pronouncements that are causing debate about who is a Jew. "It's abominable that anyone seeks to invalidate people as Jews," he said.  "It's politicizing the law of return to the homeland, so that Jews can be refused automatic citizenship. Fundamentalists of any stripe are very dangerous people. They are the least democratic, the least tolerant." He abhors what he calls "long-distance hawks," Jews outside Israel who support the radical right, sending money to exterminate Arabs.
"My guitar is the only weapon I care to have," he said onstage, by way of introducing the song "Two Brothers." His setup Tuesday for that song, about brothers on opposite sides of the American Civil War, was that when he entertained Israeli soldiers in a Golan Heights bunker, it was the one requested. And as a postlude, patting the strings like a funereal drum, he said softly, "There is no alternative to peace -- none."

THEODORE BIKEL
 State Theater
15 Livingston Ave.
New Brunswick
April 20, 2 P.M.;
 (908) 246-7469.

LOAD-DATE: April 13, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Theodore Bikel, at Queens College last week, will bring his songs to New Brunswick next Sunday. (Steve Berman for The New York Times)

TYPE: Review

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April 13, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: FLUSHING;
Inexplicably, New Worker at Botanical Garden Fit in Well

BYLINE: By EDWARD LEWINE 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 9; Column 3; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 445 words

When In Soo Song began doing some part-time work at the Queens Botanical Garden in February 1996, Patricia Cook was not sure why he was so good. Mr. Song does not speak much English, and so Ms. Cook, who is one of two head gardeners, could judge him only by his work.
"If I asked him to weed the roses," she said, "he would also lay out a line and edge the area. He made it look good." 
 At first, Mr. Song, 58, did not have the words to tell Ms. Cook that he had received a bachelor's degree in horticulture in his native South Korea, but eventually he did get it across. Last week he was hired, full time, as a garden maintenance worker.
On a recent day, Mr. Song seemed content as he weeded a sun-dappled row of oaks in the 39-acre garden. Never mind that he is an educated man whose duties now include collecting the trash. Never mind that it takes him two hours to commute each way from his apartment in upper Manhattan to the garden, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
"This job is good for my health and my mind," Mr. Song said. "And hopefully the garden will be happy too."
The garden is happy. Its director, Susan Lacerte, said that Mr. Song got the job "on the merits," when another worker quit, but that Mr. Song's background is also a bonus. Around 90,000 Koreans live near the garden and many visit each year. In recognition of this, a new formal Korean garden will be planted, she said, a task for which "Mr. Song will be invaluable."
Mr. Song said he came to America in 1978, looking for an easier life for his four children. Today, his son is a doctor, one daughter is a nurse, one an accountant and one a college student. But Mr. Song, who had taught horticulture in the city of Inchon, did not fare as well.
First he ran a grocery, but after he was pistol-whipped by a robber in 1982, he said, he closed the store. Then he worked in a warehouse, but the company folded in 1989, leaving him unemployed for seven years.
"I decided to immigrate," he says with a shrug. "I had to expect a little hardship."
Finally Mr. Song enrolled in an employment program for older people at Korean Community Services of Woodside, Queens. By chance Patricia Hong, who runs the program, had an agreement to place people at the botanical garden.
"I said, 'My God, do I have a job for you,' " Ms. Hong said.
Mr. Song says he would like to remain at the garden until he retires. Ms. Lacerte says if his English improves, he might be promoted. Even without a fancy title, he is a figure who is respected. "I still call him Mr. Song," said his boss, Ms. Cook. "Now that he's hired, I'm going to talk to him about using his first name."
   EDWARD LEWINE

LOAD-DATE: April 13, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: In Soo Song's skill impressed a boss at the Queens Botanical Garden. (Frances Roberts for The New York Times)
 
Chart: "VITAL STATISTICS: Queens Botanical Garden"
Size -- 39 acres
Where -- Northeast orner of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. (718) 886-3800.
Founded -- 1946
Attractions -- The Woodland Garden, a small forest with trails; the Wedding Garden, a Victorian-style area with a gazebo; the Cherry Circle, with Japanese Kwanzan cherry trees; the Rose Garden, with many varieties of roses; the Arboretum, 21 acres of trees and lawns.

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April 15, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Senate Takes A First Step To Restoring Aid for Aliens

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 17; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 786 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 14

Several thousand people rallied on Capitol Hill today, urging Congress to restore welfare and disability benefits for legal immigrants who have not become citizens. And the Senate took a first step to address the concerns that prompted the rally.
By unanimous consent, the Senate endorsed a measure declaring that "elderly and disabled legal immigrants who are unable to work should receive assistance essential to their well-being." Further, it said, "the President, Congress, the states and faith-based and other organizations should continue to work together toward that end." 
 The declaration, expressing "the sense of the Senate," originated in a proposal by Senator Paul Wellstone, Democrat of Minnesota. But Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican leader, offered a substitute, which was adopted by the Senate.
The resolution does not provide money or alter the 1996 welfare law, which made noncitizens ineligible for many types of Federal aid. But it does suggest that lawmakers are coming under political pressure to soften the most stringent provisions of the law affecting immigrants.
Earlier today several Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in saying they would try to relax the restrictions imposed on benefits for immigrants last year.
Senators John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, and Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said they would soon introduce legislation to preserve disability benefits and food stamps for legal immigrants who were receiving such assistance before Aug. 22, 1996, when President Clinton signed the welfare bill.
Republican Representatives like Susan Molinari and Peter T. King of New York and Nancy L. Johnson of Connecticut have signed up as co-sponsors of a separate bill to allow food stamps and Supplemental Security Income benefits for legal immigrants who became disabled after entering the United States. The bill was introduced by Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who was born in Cuba and represents many Cuban-Americans.
Of today's vote, Mr. Wellstone said: "It's a small victory, but it can lead to a bigger victory. It shows that pressure is bubbling up from different states, from mayors, county commissioners and governors."
Mr. Lott expressed no interest in providing assistance to legal immigrants when Republican governors first appealed to him in late January, but he now says he is willing to help if the money can be found.
Mr. Wellstone said that while many elderly immigrants were not citizens, they had sons and daughters who were citizens and would vote. Yosef I. Abramowitz, president of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, said: "We will play electoral hardball in November 1998. We will penalize those in Congress who are trying to throw our parents, grandparents and neighbors into the streets."
Today's rally was organized mainly by immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and other republics of the former Soviet Union, who had not previously lobbied much on the welfare law. The protesters included many older men wearing medals from World War II, who said they had fought the Nazis and then been persecuted by the Communists. Koreans and Hispanic-Americans were also in the crowd.
The rally began with klezmer music as Russian immigrants gathered on the west side of the Capitol with signs and banners. Many said they would soon lose disability benefits because they could not pass the required English-language test.
Sabina Pello of Chicago held a notice from the Social Security Administration that warns immigrants that they may soon lose disability benefits. "This letter is a death sentence for many people in their 80's and 90's," she said. "They are shocked by the new welfare law."
Mr. Abramowitz told the immigrants: "You came to our shores for a safe haven from persecution. By Labor Day, we may have half a million new homeless and starving people."
In an interview, Representative King said: "From a parochial point of view, cutting off welfare benefits for legal immigrants will have a devastating effect on New York State and its budget. We have a large number of legal immigrants, and under our state constitution, we have to make aid available to them. Legal immigrants came to this country legally, played by the rules and should not be penalized. To just cut them off altogether is unconscionable."
Representatives Jerrold Nadler of New York, Carrie P. Meek of Florida and Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois, all Democrats, spoke at the rally.
Mr. Nadler called the ban on benefits for immigrants "un-American and disgusting, cruel, mean-spirited, unjust." Ms. Meek said she hoped that Congress would repeal the ban or delay it at least a year.
      

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April 16, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Personal Health

BYLINE: By Jane E. Brody 

SECTION: Section C; Page 8; Column 1; National Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 1193 words

CHARLIE HAMM, the 59-year-old president and chief executive of the Independence Savings Bank in Brooklyn, is not the retiring type. He is an irrepressible leader, a champion of his borough and the people who live there. He has also been a lifelong squash and tennis player, but his hips gradually became so stiff and painful he could hardly walk. So in January, Mr. Hamm joined about 125,000 Americans who will undergo hip replacement surgery this year. With two new titanium joints and daily physical therapy, he will soon be ready to engage in all kinds of activities that he has been watching from the sidelines for years.
The procedure was once limited almost entirely to people over 60, who would be likely to subject their new joint to less stress for fewer years than younger people. But improved techniques have removed the age barriers, and growing numbers of people in their 30's, 40's and 50's are rediscovering an active life after having crippled joints replaced with artificial ones. About one-third of hip replacements are now done on adults younger than 65. 
 Even 20 years after hip replacement surgery in which old methods were used in older people, 95 percent of the patients rated the results as better or much better than their condition before surgery, according to a study of 112 patients who were operated on at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in 1968 and 1969. And in a study of 180 patients who got new hips at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York in 1988, more than 90 percent said they were satisfied with the pain relief, improved ability to walk and psychological benefits and would have the surgery again if necessary.
Although orthopedic surgeons who specialize in hip replacement do not encourage their postoperative patients to pursue stressful activities like football, basketball, downhill skiing, ice skating or singles tennis, some do return to vigorous sports, and a vast majority are able to be physically active, usually for the first time in many years.
Robert M. Doherty, then of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., and an agent for the New York Life Insurance Company, was thrilled to find that after hip replacement surgery at the age of 57 and postoperative physical therapy, he was able to go back to playing golf and tennis. "With the latest techniques doctors are using today, it is amazing what can be accomplished," he said.
Bo Jackson, whose professional football career was abruptly ended by a routine tackle that severely damaged his hip, returned after hip replacement surgery to his first sport: baseball. In his first at-bat as a member of the Chicago White Sox, he hit a home run and sent the spirits of hundreds of thousands of hip replacement patients soaring. But experts fear that Mr. Jackson has also sent the wrong message to fellow patients because the demands of baseball will almost certainly shorten the life span of his new hip.
 
Getting a New Hip
Arthritis -- rheumatoid in most younger people and osteoarthritis in those over 60 -- is the most common reason for needing a hip replaced. Other candidates, also usually young, are athletes and accident victims with severe injuries to a hip joint. For those with arthritis, the surgery is usually recommended when the pain can no longer be managed by medication and the person's ability to meet the demands of life has become seriously impaired.
Total hip replacement results in an almost immediate transformation. It relieves pain, restores virtually all motion and dramatically improves the person's quality of life. Even among the elderly, about 90 percent are able to get along without assistance. The replacements last, on average, 20 to 30 years, but they can last indefinitely.
The hip is a ball-in-socket joint, with the ball being the upper end of the femur (thigh bone) and the socket an indentation in the pelvis. Lining the end of the bone and the socket is articular cartilage, which acts as a cushion, keeping the bones from rubbing together. In osteoarthritis, with chronic wear and tear, the cartilage gradually deteriorates, resulting in grinding pain and inflammation with each movement of the hip joint.
The artificial hip replaces the damaged ball-in-socket joint. It has two main pieces. A nonreactive metal shaft, with a metal or ceramic ball at the top, is fitted into the thigh bone. The other half is a cup-shaped socket of tough plastic, encased in metal, into which the ball of the metal shaft fits.
The original hip replacements relied entirely on cement to hold the artificial joint in place. But through the years, pressure on the new joint often caused the cement to crack and the artificial joint to loosen. The younger the patient and the more vigorous the person's activities, the more quickly the artificial hip was likely to fail.
To get around this problem, surgeons devised a new technique in the 1980's: the cementless joint. Instead of being a smooth, solid piece, the cementless implant has a roughened, porous surface into which bone can grow and hold the new joint in place. Dr. Jacob D. Rozbruch, former chief of orthopedic surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center North in New York, explained, "A special coating on the implant encourages the surrounding bone to grow into the prosthesis, making it an integral part of the body."
Cementless joints are now being used in most younger patients in need of hip replacement, among them Sandy Reynolds of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., who at 35 needed two new hips because of bilateral hip dysplasia, a hip deformity that she was born with, and Phil Bilba of New York City, who at 40 could no longer tie his shoelaces because of chronic inflammatory arthritis in his hip.
In some patients, especially those 50 to 70 years old, a combination of a cementless socket and a cemented thigh piece is often used, but in older patients, a totally cemented joint is still preferred by most surgeons.
 
After the Surgery
Hip replacement does not end with the surgery. Physical therapy begins almost immediately, while the patient is still in the hospital, and continues after the patient leaves the hospital, usually within a week of the operation.
There are also some lasting precautions to consider. In addition to avoiding undue stress on the artificial joint, anyone with an implanted prosthesis has to be concerned about the possibility of infection. Since the new joint has no blood supply, it is not able to prevent the growth of infectious microorganisms. Any time such a patient has dental work or surgery (even minor surgery), or develops a bacterial infection or undergoes catheterization, a large dose of antibiotics must be taken to reduce the risk of a hip infection.
A single hip replacement costs about $20,000 to $25,000; annually, $2.5 billion to $3 billion is spent on such operations, most of which is paid for by Medicare and other health insurers. But Dr. Rowland W. Chang of Northwestern University Medical School has calculated that the procedure nearly always saves money. Over the remaining years of life for a 60-year-old woman, for example, more than $100,000 would be saved in the cost of her care.

LOAD-DATE: April 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Diagram: "Cementless Replacement Joint"
In the 1980's, hip replacements were devised with porous surfaces into which bone can grow to hold the joint in place. They hold up better under the stresses put on them by physically active people. Diagram illustrates how this replacement techology works.
 
(Source: Bristol-Meyers/Zimmer)

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April 18, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Easing Stand, Bruno Sees Rent Decontrol Over 4 Years

BYLINE: By RANDY KENNEDY 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 888 words

Responding to pressure from fellow Republicans, the majority leader of the New York State Senate, Joseph L. Bruno, softened his stance yesterday on ending almost all rent regulations, saying that he would consider phasing out the laws over four years instead of two.
It is the second time Mr. Bruno has moderated his position since he first vowed last December to do away with laws limiting rents on 1.2 million apartments, most in New York City, by mid-1999 for all but the elderly and the disabled. Shortly afterward, Mr. Bruno promised to maintain protections for poor renters as well, though he did not specify who would be covered. 
 Yesterday, addressing the New York Building Congress, a group of contractors and labor organizations, at Windows on the World, Mr. Bruno said that several Republican state senators from New York City had warned him recently that ending the laws in two years would be too hasty. "I'm told that that's too short a period of time," he said to reporters afterward. "I'm listening."
"I want to do something that's responsible," he said. "And if four years is more responsible than two, then that's where we can be."
But Mr. Bruno continued to insist that he would accept nothing less than a complete elimination of rent protections for all but the most vulnerable. In response to a question, he said that included eliminating a 1974 provision that guarantees tenants the right to a lease renewal.
"I don't think that we have to be the negotiator between tenants and landlords, because that's artificial," he said. "Common sense tells me if a landlord doesn't want a tenant or tenants, O.K., then maybe there's some reason. Do we force a tenant to stay in a building whether he wants to or not?"
"So it ought to work both ways, I guess, is all I'm saying," he added.
Mr. Bruno also strongly criticized parts of the current laws that give spouses, family members and those in long-term relationships the right to take over rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartments when the leaseholder or primary tenant dies. "Common sense tells me that if I don't own something, then I shouldn't have the right to will it to someone else," he said. "I would like to be able to, maybe, have my daughter use your car. That would be very nice. But that's not mine."
Sheldon Silver, the Democratic Speaker of the Assembly and the leading defender of rent protection laws, said he questioned whether "Senator Bruno is suggesting that when a husband dies we throw out the children or a widow. I don't know."
While Mr. Bruno's concession yesterday appeared unlikely to mollify proponents of rent regulations, it did shed some light on the struggles the issue has caused within his own party.
Mr. Bruno said he was prompted to consider allowing four years instead of two for an end to the laws because several Republican senators had urged him to do so. He mentioned Guy J. Velella, the Bronx Republican leader and a critical fund-raiser for Republicans, and Nicholas A. Spano, chairman of the powerful Westchester County Republican Party.
Both Senators had expressed their opposition to Mr. Bruno's initial proposal. They and other Republican senators, vulnerable to attacks in districts where there are many rent-regulated apartments, have privately urged a compromise that would change the laws far less than Mr. Bruno wants. Gov. George E. Pataki has also called the Bruno plan too hasty and said he would push for a more gradual approach.
Senator Roy M. Goodman, a Manhattan Republican who represents the Upper East Side and advocates continuing the regulations as they are, said yesterday Mr. Bruno's softening would not affect his position. "The problem we are faced with here is that the removal of protections would cause rents to skyrocket," he said. "Whether they skyrocket in four years rather than two is a distinction without a difference."
By again modifying his initial position, however slightly, Mr. Bruno also seemed to be trying to put the ball back in the Democrats' court on moving toward a compromise. Describing his initial call for an end to rent regulations in two years as his opener, he said the Democratic-controlled Assembly's response was to urge that the laws be extended with no changes and to try to make it harder to challenge them in the future. "And that's their position, totally polarized," he said. "I at least talked about a transition."
Asked whether a four-year transition period was the longest he would consider, Mr. Bruno responded that it was "not a line in the sand."
"It's an indication that I want to do what's responsible and reasonable as we transition out of rent control," he said. "We don't want to hurt anyone here."
Mr. Bruno has threatened to allow the current rules to die when they expire at midnight on June 14 if the Assembly Democrats do not agree to phase them out.
Martin Brennan, campaign coordinator for the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, which opposes any changes in rent protections, said he thought that Mr. Bruno's statements yesterday reflected his fears that he is becoming increasingly isolated within his party.
"He clearly appears to be negotiating with himself," Mr. Brennan said. "It also appears clear that he doesn't have the votes to pass his extremist agenda even in his own conference."

LOAD-DATE: April 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Paul Carroll, center, an advocate of keeping rent regulations, and supporters demonstrating last night outside the South Street Seaport in Manhattan, where a Republican fund-raiser, with Gov. George E. Pataki, was held. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)(pg. B4)
      

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April 18, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Nordic Study Links Dementia To Drivers in Fatal Crashes

BYLINE: By DENISE GRADY 

SECTION: Section A; Page 17; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 895 words

A study of the brains of elderly drivers killed in automobile accidents in Sweden and Finland has found that an unusually high percentage, as many as half, showed signs of early Alzheimer's disease, researchers said today. But the condition had not been diagnosed before their deaths, which led the scientists to suggest that even in its preliminary stages, Alzheimer's can cause enough mental impairment to make driving dangerous.
Finding such a high incidence of Alzheimer's disease in crash victims over the age of 65 surprised the researchers, they said. In Sweden's general population over 65, they said, only 5 percent have the disease. In the United States, from 5 to 10 percent of people older than 65 and nearly half of those older than 85 are estimated to have the disease. 
 The Swedish researchers reported their findings in today's issue of The Lancet, a British medical journal.
They appear to raise the possibility both that many more accidents than thought are caused by Alzheimer's and that the incidence of Alzheimer's in the population is higher than thought.
Hazards created by drivers with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia have become a focus of increasing concern and research in the United States, as the share of the elderly in the population increases. There were 13 million drivers older than 70 in this country in 1995, and the number is expected to rise to 30 million by 2020.
"It's an area of considerable concern," said Dr. Barry Gordon, a neurologist and director of the memory clinic at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in the study. "In many areas, if you don't drive you're effectively trapped. But individual needs must be balanced against societal needs."
The Swedish researchers examined the brains of 98 drivers, 65 to 90 years old, who were killed in traffic accidents in Sweden and Finland. They paid special attention to two regions of the cerebral cortex involved in decision-making, judgment and visual and spatial ability. In 33 percent of the accident victims, they found brain lesions characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, and in 20 percent, they found lesions that suggested it, perhaps reflecting an earlier stage of the disease. The accident victims also had an unusually high incidence of a gene that has been associated with an increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
About half the accidents in the study involved only the drivers' vehicle, but in the rest, which often occurred at intersections, other motorists were injured as well, Dr. Bengt Winblad, an author of the study, said in a telephone interview. Dr. Winblad is head of the department of geriatric medicine at the Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm.
"This is a good study," Dr. Gordon said, "and it adds to the growing evidence that there's undiagnosed or perhaps unappreciated dementia in a fair proportion of older individuals, and that dementia might be contributing to societal problems as well as the individuals' problems."
Dr. Karlene Ball, a professor of psychology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, who has devised tests to detect cognitive impairment in drivers, said she was not surprised by the new findings. "Studies in the U.S. of Alzheimer's and driving have shown pretty much that even in the mild stages of the disease most of the drivers are not fit to drive," she said. "If mild dementia corresponds to this undiagnosed category, that would make sense."
Dan Foley, a biostatistician at the National Institute on Aging, one of the National Institutes of Health, said that studies in this country indicated that the onset of Alzheimer's disease led to a two- or threefold increase in a driver's risk of a crash. The increased risk does not occur right away, he said, but it becomes significant as the dementia progresses from mild to moderate. "Then they pass the margin of safety and need to quit," he said. "But severely demented people don't drive. They can't."
Dr. Winblad and his colleagues urged that older drivers, their families and doctors be on the lookout for cognitive problems that might interfere with driving. They suggested that older people who have already had accidents be tested to see whether they should continue driving, but Dr. Winblad advised against the routine testing of elderly drivers in general.
"I agree with that conclusion," said Dr. Leonard Berg, director of the Alzheimer's Disease research center at Washington University in St. Louis, and vice president of the Alzheimer's Association, a national group based in Chicago. But Dr. Berg emphasized that a diagnosis of Alzheimer's does not mean a patient must give up driving immediately.  Many can drive safely for a while, he said, though they should be tested regularly.
"Driving is such an emotional issue," said Linda Hunt, an occupational therapist at Washington University who often conducts road tests to assess the driving ability of patients with dementia.
"Nobody is willing to step up and make a statement like, 'Anyone with a dementia diagnosis should not drive.' "
Only one state, California, requires that doctors report a diagnosis of dementia to the state authorities, who may then order an evaluation. "There's controversy in the field about whether that's a good idea," Mr. Foley said. "Doctors worry that it scares people away from coming in to be assessed."

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April 18, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Metro Business;
Caring for Aged Parents

BYLINE: BY DAVID CHEN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 183 words

Baby boomers and their aging parents have vastly different views over how much financial responsibility and personal attention are involved in providing health care for the parents, according to a national survey.
While 80 percent of the children say that their parents' health condition has affected the quality of their life, 94 percent of their parents believe that there has been little effect. While 53 percent of the children anticipate that their parents will eventually move in with them, 22 percent of parents think so. And while 31 percent of the children feel that they will have to offer a great deal of financial support to their parents, only 18 percent of parents feel that way. 
 "There seems to be a lack of communication," said Harriet Dronska, vice president and chief operating officer of Elderplan Inc., which conducted the survey of more than 500 people. Elderplan Inc., is part of the Metropolitan Jewish Health System, a Brooklyn-based organization providing health care programs to almost 20,000 people annually in the New York metropolitan area.
   DAVID CHEN

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April 20, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/New Jersey;
A Small Town Helps to Save a Big Rental Complex

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1317 words

DATELINE: COLLINGSWOOD

FOR more than a decade this Camden County borough watched the 1,037-unit Sutton Towers, its biggest apartment complex, steadily slip into decline. In the summer of 1995 its owner filed for bankruptcy.
Rather than leave the future of the local landmark to an uncertain fate, the borough took ownership to the land beneath the complex and, in an innovative agreement, became a 45 percent owner of the four-building site to insure its revival as a mixed-income rental. 
 Now the property at the corner of Collings Avenue and Whitehorse Pike, which had been 50 percent vacant as recently as last fall, is in the midst of a leasing and renovation program. It also has been renamed Parkview, its name when built in the 50's as one of the first high-rise apartment complexes in South Jersey.
Eighty percent of the 550- to 1,000-square foot one- and two-bedroom units in the 9- and 10-story buildings are being leased at market rents of $575 to $875. The remaining units are reserved for elderly residents with low and moderate incomes -- a housing product that is in short supply in the area, borough officials said.
Getting involved in the project was a way for Collingswood "to control its own future," said M. James Maley Jr., a borough commissioner and lawyer who led the negotiations on the agreement. It was struck last July after nearly a year of discussion involving the borough, GE Capital Corporation, which took back the property through bankruptcy in late 1995, and Capital Properties Associates, a Manhattan-based developer.
Under the agreement the borough and Capital Properties formed the for-profit Park Collingswood Urban Renewal Corporation to buy and redevelop Parkview. Capital Properties, which owns the remaining 55 percent of the complex, is also managing and renovating it.
Financing for the nearly $50 million redevelopment is coming mostly from the sale of bonds, including $36.5 million issued by the Camden County Improvement Authority to buy the complex from GE Capital, retiring its $27 million mortgage. GE Capital is guaranteeing those bonds against default.
The $9.5 million remaining after the mortgage is retired is to be used for the renovation, along with $7.6 million from separate bonds sold by the borough and invested in the project and $5 million from Capital Properties. The borough also gave the project a 25-year tax abatement.
"We assured ourselves that the market was there, but without these financing incentives we would not have done the project because it would not have made economic sense," said Richard Cohen, president of Capital Properties. Putting the package together required joint action by the county, borough and GE Capital along with his company, Mr. Cohen said, adding that "we need each other, desperately."
This is the first project in New Jersey for Capital Properties, which has worked with GE Capital on other troubled developments and owns and manages some 7,000 condominium and rental units in 10 states.
Betty D. Davis, senior vice president of GE Capital, said of the deal: "It is the best strategy to maximize the value of the asset."
The deal was appproved by the state's Local Finance Board, part of the state's Department of Community Affairs, which oversees housing. The board provides financial oversight to municipalities, counties and improvement authorities.
Mr. Maley. the borough commissioner, said the borough would repay its debt from several sources -- payments in lieu of taxes, which will be at least the $819,000 a year the property had paid the borough, and profits from the project's rental income.
He said that since the project was not initially expected to be profitable the borough projected Parkview's redevelopment would have cost each taxpayer $25 in each of the first two years. By trimming its budget that cost was eliminated this year.
The borough still could lose money if the project fails. But, said Mr. Maley, "there was more to lose if we did nothing."
PARKVIEW is the biggest taxpayer in the 1.2 square mile borough. And at full occupancy it represents 20 percent of Collingswood's 5,000 households.
"If Parkview went south it had the potential of taking the whole community down with it," said Frank Law, the Mayor of Collingswood, referring to concerns of its impact on the borough's finances, schools and property values.
Wendy Morze, who with her husband, Ronald, have owned their home across the street from the complex for 24 years, said she feared the value of her property would fall if Parkview was left to deteriorate. As for the deal, she said: "It is a big responsibility for the community and there is no 100 percent guarantee of success. But something had to be done to keep Collingswood a family-oriented town."
Mary M. DiBartolomeo, a 72-year-old widow who has lived at Parkview for eight years, was also worried. "I was ready to leave because the complex was close to becoming a slum," said Mrs. DiBartolomeo. But she said the redevelopment effort convinced her to stay. "It will be a beautiful place again when all the work gets done," she said.
Through the late 60's Parkview flourished, attracting tenants who included a Federal judge, a United States Representative and many doctors and lawyers. But in the 80's a series of changes in ownership and management pushed the complex into a downward spiral.
The situation worsened in the first half of this decade. The owner, Sutton Towers Associates of Newark, Del., fell behind on its tax payments, ultimately accummulating arrears of more than $1 million, and stopped making needed improvements.
From 1990 to 1995 over 200 violations were filed against the complex. After the borough made two unsuccessful attempts to work with Sutton to turn the property around Sutton filed for bankruptcy.
Despite its risks, industry professionals consider the strategy to revive Parkview a creative way to rescue a troubled project.
The number of troubled properties has dwindled as the state's real estate market has improved. Moreover, the investment climate for apartments has remained strong nationally for the last five years.
But troubled properties still exist, said Nathan Slovin, executive vice president of the New Jersey Apartment Association, a trade group in East Brunswick. The major reasons are poor management or owners' inability to anticipate improvement costs, he added.
Parkview's redevelopment "involves players not typically involved in such projects, Collingswood key among them," said Mr. Slovin. If successful, Parkview could be a model, he added.
Involvement in such a deal is possible under a 1992 amended state law that enables municipalities to assist in redevelopment of areas that they designate as in need of rehabilitation. Collingswood declared the Parkview site such an area.
The law also puts limits on the amount of profits the redevelopment entity could earn based on a formula tied to the renovation cost and acquistion price. In the case of Parkview Collingswood, which owns the apartment complex here, the for-profit entity can earn 12 to 15 percent in profits a year, said Mr. Maley, and any additional profits go to the borough.
To rebuild its value, Parkview is undergoing a $16 million renovation. The improvements, to be completed by year's end, include installing new mechanical systems and windows in the four buildings and upgrading their lobbies and common areas, said Mr. Cohen of Capital Properties.
Apartments are also being renovated at a cost of $10,000 each, he said, and a health club is being added to the existing amenities, among them a swimming pool and tennis courts. The buildings frame a retail plaza, overlook a municipal park, and offer views of Philadelphia.
Since leasing began in February more than 200 apartments, 30 of which had been set aside for the elderly with low or moderate incomes, have been leased, said Mr. Cohen.

LOAD-DATE: April 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The 1,037-unit Parkview rental complex in Collingswood, now undergoing a leasing and renovation program. (Frank C. Dougherty for The New York Times)

Map showing the location of Collingswood, N.J.

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April 20, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SPENDING IT;
When the Policy Covers Only One Disease

BYLINE: By CAROL MARIE CROPPER 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 8; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1657 words

ANN AND JOHN HARRELL had paid cancer insurance premiums for half a century, starting long before his liver cancer was diagnosed. So as Mr. Harrell was dying last year, Mrs. Harrell, a retiree in Windermere, Fla., turned to the insurance company for help with about $6,000 in bills that Medicare and a Medicare supplement did not pay.
Instead of thousands, she said she got hundreds -- one check for $50, another for $250 -- from her carrier, the American General Life and Accident Insurance Company. "They said that's all I was entitled to," Mrs. Harrell, 83, said. "Truthfully, I've quarreled with them so much I don't want to hear from them." 
 The company, based in Nashville, said it had honored the policy. "We paid all claims in full covered under the policy," said John Pluhowski, director of corporate communications for the American General Corporation, the holding company for the insurer. State insurance officials agreed with that assessment. Mr. Pluhowski said some of the claims Mrs. Harrell submitted were not covered, including claims for X-rays used to diagnose her husband's cancer.
The company added that it had paid Mrs. Harrell about $4,000 for two other claims since her husband's cancer was first diagnosed in 1994.
Consumer groups widely criticize cancer insurance, calling it a waste of money and contending that its marketing literature preys on people's fears, especially those of the elderly. They say consumers sometimes do not understand the limitations of the coverage and can have a difficult time collecting even when they do contract cancer. Besides, they say, anyone with standard health insurance or Medicare is already covered for cancer.
The biggest complaint about cancer insurance is that it returns fewer premium dollars to policyholders than standard health insurance. A 1994 study by the Federal General Accounting Office showed that the largest companies that sold plans providing coverage only for hospital stays or dreaded diseases like cancer paid out as little as 35 percent of the premiums they took in. In comparison, New York State sets 82 percent as payout targets for most standard major-medical policies bought by individuals, and 75 percent for group policies, said Peter Newell, an aide to Assemblyman Alexander B. Grannis, a Manhattan Democrat who is the chairman of the State Assembly Insurance Committee.
"They don't pay out much; that's the concern," said Cheryl Matheis, a legislative representative for the American Association of Retired Persons.
Because of the complaints, New Jersey and New York do not allow the sale of stand-alone cancer policies, but the New York Insurance Department is considering lifting its ban, saying it is simply trying to permit the sale of a product that people want. Connecticut recently changed its law, with policy sales scheduled to start in June.
Aflac Inc., the country's largest seller of cancer coverage, spent about $175,000 on lobbyists and campaign contributions in an effort to change the rules in New York. The company says cancer insurance is a product that fills a need and rates highly with those who buy it. Such a policy often pays a $1,500 lump sum when cancer is diagnosed and a fixed amount, typically $200, for each day that a policyholder is hospitalized or is being treated as an outpatient for the disease. It will also pay for specific procedures -- up to $3,000 for surgery, for instance, and $10,000 for a bone-marrow transplant.
AFLAC, based in Columbus, Ga., and the holding company for the American Family Life Assurance Company, points to happy customers like Harold Keller, 51, of Gladewater, Tex. Mr. Keller, an elementary school principal, bought an American Family policy in 1973. His older brother had died of bone cancer at 26.
"I just thought, not a bad idea," Mr. Keller said. "A lot of people die with cancer. You're always looking for things to make life easier for the people you leave behind." Besides, he said, the policy cost only $11 a month for family coverage.
Twenty years later, it was not Mr. Keller but one of his 18-year-old twin sons who contracted leukemia. Mr. Keller remembers the frantic 120-mile trip to Dallas, made without packing even a shaving kit, to take his son Jeff for the tests that would confirm their local doctor's suspicions. He recalls the weeks the young man spent in the hospital, with family members staying in hotel rooms and paying for transportation to and from Dallas.
Jeff was covered under his father's standard medical insurance, but American Family also sent more than $18,000 to the family under the cancer policy, Mr. Keller said. Some of that money was left to help send Jeff to his first year of college. He has been free of cancer for three years. "He is doing quite well," his father said. "He is fixing to graduate from Texas A & M with a degree in information management systems. He plans to get married in August."
Mr. Keller still has the cancer policy, which now costs $27.50 a month. "I'm sold on it," he said. "It was a godsend for us."
But consumer advocates like Bonnie Burns, a consultant with the California Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, worry that low-income families without employer-provided insurance might be tempted by a cancer policy's low premium to buy only that policy and wind up with coverage for cancer but nothing else. The Florida Department of Insurance says that some people, not understanding that the policies covered only cancer, have complained about cancer insurers' not paying their medical bills when they were hospitalized for other ailments, said Henry Burke, an insurance administrator there.
There are also concerns that elderly consumers, anxious about health costs, become targets for people hawking one-disease-only insurance. A 1986 lawsuit in California helped persuade Congress to pass a law to protect the elderly from unnecessary policies.
In the California case, filed against a San Jose insurance agency, evidence showed that one elderly couple had been sold 29 insurance policies in 18 months. An 87-year-old woman later found to have Alzheimer's disease bought 14 policies from another agent with the same agency in a year and a half. Most of the unnecessary policies were Medicare supplements, said Don Gartner, an assistant district attorney in Santa Cruz County, but some were cancer policies.
Congress passed a law in 1990 prohibiting the sale of any policy that duplicated Medicare coverage and allowing the sale of only one Medigap policy to a recipient, said Paul Olenick, an administrator with the Health Care Financing Administration, which oversees Medicare. But in 1994 and last year, lawmakers weakened those protections, opening the door again to widespread sales of cancer policies as well as heart-disease coverage and other narrow policies to the elderly, Ms. Burns said.
MS. MATHEIS of the A.A.R.P. warned that the policies had some restrictions. They might require a multi year waiting period after purchase, during which the policy will not pay for cancer treatment. Or they might insist on a pathologist's confirmation of the cancer rather than just a doctor's diagnosis, meaning that a biopsy would be required. That might not be practical if, say, the patient had an inoperable brain tumor or had died and already been buried.
Tom Schermaul, an insurance specialist in Florida, recalls a man who complained to the Florida Department of Insurance after burying his mother, who had died of cancer. He had discovered her cancer policy after the funeral. The insurance company wouldn't pay without a pathology report, which he didn't have, Mr. Schermaul said.
William Kahn, 74, of Orlando, Fla., fought with his cancer insurer, the American Pioneer Life Insurance Company, when it refused to cover a follow-up exam to make sure his colon cancer had not returned.
Mr. Kahn, a retired college professor, underwent surgery to remove the cancer in 1992. At first the company paid, he said, but it started balking late last year when he returned to his doctor for the follow-up examination. He says he was told that such check-ups don't count as cancer treatment.
American Pioneer, a subsidiary of the Universal American Financial Corporation based in Orlando, finally paid him about $1,700 this month after he complained to the Florida Department of Insurance. "The pressure was on them," Mr. Kahn said.
"It was an error," said Dorothy Jordan, claims manager at American Pioneer, explaining why it took the company seven months to pay. She said the medical forms did not indicate the exam was for cancer.
Kriss Cloninger 3d, the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Aflac, defends cancer insurance, saying many of the consumer complaints are based on problems in polices from 20 years ago.
Aflac policies have a 30-day waiting period and require a pathologist's confirmation, Mr. Cloninger said, although that requirement can be waived by a physicians' committee working with Aflac. The company also says that it will not sell an individual cancer policy to anyone over 65 and that the average age of its policyholders is 41.
Moreover, the company said a 1995 survey had found that 94 percent of Aflac cancer policyholders had other coverage. The company also said its cancer insurance paid out 62.4 percent of its premiums to policyholders.
"We agree that people ought to have comprehensive health insurance," Mr. Cloninger said. But "there are many costs that aren't covered by comprehensive health insurance."
"I think the proof is in the marketplace," he said. "People do find it a valuable product."
Ms. Burns disagrees. "Insurance is a real confusing subject area, not just for older people but for a lot of people." Cancer insurance, she said, is simply "a dubious purchase."
"In most cases," she said, "it is a waste of insurance dollars that could be better spent on, say, long-term care insurance."

LOAD-DATE: April 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: William Kahn of Orlando, Fla., fought with a cancer insurer over coverage of a follow-up examination. He collected about $1,700 after he complained to the state. (Joe Skipper for The New York Times)
 
Chart: "Dominating a Market' shows premiums collected in 1995 by dread-disease insurers. (Source: A.M. Best Company)

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April 21, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

U.S. Challenges Courts on Disabilities

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section B; Page 9; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1417 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 20

In a move that could delay or deny benefits for tens of thousands of people, the Social Security Administration has told its judges that they should, in most cases, disregard Federal court precedents if those rulings conflict with agency policies.
The order, issued as the agency faces a huge backlog of disputed claims, has drawn protests from Federal courts, members of Congress and agency employees. 
 Moreover, it is being compared to positions taken in the early 1980's by the Reagan Administration, which said it was bound only by Supreme Court decisions and did not have to "acquiesce" in decisions of lower courts that contradicted its reading of the Social Security law. Democrats denounced the Reagan Administration's practice as lawless, and the Administration took a more moderate position after Congress made clear that it disapproved of the practice. This week, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing to examine the practice.
The Social Security agency recently told its administrative law judges, who rule on claims for benefits, that they might face remedial training and "disciplinary action" if they did not follow the agency's policies or if their productivity was considered too low.
"An administrative law judge is bound to follow agency policy even if, in the administrative law judge's opinion, the policy is contrary to law," the agency said in a confidential memorandum to its judges. A copy of the memorandum was obtained from a Social Security employee who disagrees with its conclusions.
In practice, the directive means that some people who file claims will be less likely to obtain benefits because the agency's policies are often stricter than the court decisions.
The disputes often involve evaluating pain. A person, for example, complains of excruciating pain, but doctors cannot fully explain its cause with X-rays or other "objective medical evidence." In thousands of cases, Social Security officials have given such complaints less weight than courts have said they should in deciding whether to award or continue benefits. At issue are benefits under the Social Security Disability Insurance Program and Supplemental Security Income, which is for the needy elderly, disabled and blind.
Likewise, a claimant's doctor might find disability in a 58-year-old man who has had a heart attack and has chronic respiratory problems. Government doctors might say the man could still work. But courts often conclude that the treating doctor's opinion is entitled to much more weight than the Social Security Administration gave it.
Social Security officials said they could not operate a uniform nationwide program if they had to follow the potentially conflicting decisions of various courts around the country.
"Administrative law judges can decide facts, but not the law," said a spokesman for the agency, Philip A. Gambino. "They have to apply the law as written in our regulations and policies."
But Ronald G. Bernoski, acting president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges, which represents Social Security judges, said he and his colleagues in the organization had taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States and should not be required to disregard court decisions.
In a recent policy statement, the Social Security Administration reserved the right to accept or reject decisions from Federal appeals courts as precedents in other cases that raise the same legal issues in the same judicial circuit.
When the agency disagrees with a court's interpretation of the law, the new statement says, "Social Security Administration decision makers will continue to be bound by S.S.A.'s nationwide policy rather than the court's holding," unless the Social Security Commissioner voluntarily chooses to accept the court ruling as a precedent.
Mr. Bernoski, who presides over hearings in Milwaukee, said the agency's action threatened the independence of the 1,042 Social Security judges across the country.
The Clinton Administration says it will apply the final decision of a Federal appeals court to a plaintiff in the specific case decided by the court. But the Administration says administrative law judges should not follow the decision as a precedent in other cases, unless the Social Security Commissioner has accepted it by issuing a formal notice of "acquiescence."
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in St. Louis, recently admonished the Clinton Administration on that issue.
"Regardless of whether the Commissioner formally announces her acquiescence, she is still bound by the law of this circuit and does not have the discretion to decide whether to adhere to it," the court said in an opinion written by Judge Roger L. Wollman. "The regulations of the Social Security Administration are not the supreme law of the land. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is, and the Commissioner will ignore that principle at her peril."
Arthur J. Fried, general counsel of the Social Security Administration, said the number of requests for hearings had exploded in recent years. The number rose 90 percent, to 588,596 in 1995 from 310,529 in 1990. The average time from the request for a hearing to the issuance of a decision has nearly doubled, to more than a year, and "that's unacceptable to all of us," Mr. Fried said on April 3 at a conference of lawyers who specialize in Social Security cases.
The agency's chief administrative law judge, Charles R. Boyer, said he worried that the backlog might increase. "I look with fear and trepidation at the possible workload that's going to hit us in the fall," Mr. Boyer said. The Government, he added, expects tens of thousands of immigrants and children to pursue appeals that challenge the denial or loss of disability benefits under the new welfare law.
The Social Security Administration pays more than $1 billion a week in cash benefits to people with disabilities. Few of the recipients leave the rolls and return to work. In the last decade, the number of beneficiaries of working age jumped, to 6.6 million from 4 million. The number of children on the rolls has nearly tripled since 1990, to more than 965,000.
Victor G. Rosenblum, a law professor at Northwestern University, said, the new policies "raise a real risk of politicizing the function of the administrative law judge and making him or her a mere flunky of the agency."
Representative George W. Gekas, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, deplored the practice of "nonacquiescence." Mr. Gekas, a Republican of Pennsylvania, said he would hold hearings and introduce legislation to curb the practice, as recommended by the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policy-making arm of the Federal judiciary.
The Social Security Administration is an independent Federal agency, but it is closely supervised by the White House. Congress controls the agency's budget and can change its policies by passing laws or by exerting informal pressure. The Judicial Conference said the policy of refusing to follow circuit court precedents was "unfair to litigants" and of "questionable propriety."
Nancy G. Shor, executive director of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives, which includes more than 3,000 lawyers, said she was surprised to see Federal officials once again asserting a right to disregard court decisions.
"The institutional memory seems to have been erased in the last 12 to 15 years," Ms. Shor said. "There are so many new faces in new places that the crisis of the early 1980's has become an item of history."
Lyle D. Lieberman of Miami, a former president of the organization of claimants' representatives, said the Government's refusal to accept court precedents could easily delay the payment of benefits to disabled workers for two or three years.
"The Federal courts will just send the cases back to the agency to follow circuit court precedents," Mr. Lieberman said.
If that happens, Judge Bernoski said, the backlog at the Social Security Administration will grow as the agency is forced to re-examine the cases and issue new decisions.
Social Security officials said their policy was somewhat similar to that of the Internal Revenue Service. But tax officials said they followed the precedent set by a Federal appeals court decision in the circuit in which it was issued, even if they sought different rulings elsewhere.

LOAD-DATE: April 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Graph: "SNAPSHOT: Busy Times in Disability Courts"
Judges at the Social Security Administration have been ordered to follow agency guidelines rather than Federal court rulings when deciding cases. The Social Security judges face a heavy caseload as disability benefit programs continue to grow. Graph tracks number of new requests for hearings and of cases pending at the end of the year, from 1990 through 1996. Also tracked is the number of people receiving disability benefits and the amount of benefits paid, from 1985 through 1995. (Sources: Social Security Administration; U.S. General Accounting Office)      

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April 22, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Governor Orders a Clarification on Medicaid

BYLINE: By RACHEL L. SWARNS 

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 494 words

Hoping to stop nursing homes from mistakenly turning away legal immigrants needing care, Gov. George E. Pataki directed his staff yesterday to send letters to all the state's nursing homes to make it clear that most immigrants will not lose Medicaid coverage.
Confused by the new Federal welfare law that will terminate the benefits of thousands of noncitizens, some nursing homes had begun to improperly deny admission to legal immigrants eligible for care, fearing they would default on their bills. 
 "The Governor is concerned that seniors and those families be assured access to nursing home care," Dr. Barbara A. DeBuono, the Commissioner of Health, said in an interview yesterday.
"The number of people potentially losing their benefits is very small," she said. "We don't want them to use this as an excuse to deny people deserving home care."
Officials said Mr. Pataki's order was issued in response to an article on Sunday in The New York Times, which reported that some health care centers had begun to turn away dozens of sickly and elderly legal immigrants, leaving them to languish in hospitals and with families who could no longer care for them.
In fact, state health officials say that virtually all of the state's legal immigrants, those who arrived before Aug. 22 of last year, will keep Medicaid, which covers nursing home costs. Only a small group of people, including those granted temporary residency and those who arrived after Aug. 22, are expected to lose Medicaid coverage.
The letters, which were being drafted yesterday, will be sent out to health care centers this week, Dr. DeBuono said. "We will have the guidelines that nursing homes are specifically to use," she said.
Several congressmen had expressed concern about the issue yesterday afternoon, including Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, the Republican from New York, and Representative E. Clay Shaw, a Republican from Florida and the chief sponsor of the Federal welfare law.
"We need a clarification with respect to that," Mr. D'Amato said of the changes in Medicaid eligibility, "and I would hope we would be able to get one so that question can be answered and we will not have a situation where people are being turned away when they need not be turned away." He said he planned to seek further clarification of the law.
Mr. Shaw said he intended to hold Congressional hearings to weigh the impact of welfare reform on elderly immigrants. "We're going to have to watch this whole thing to see who gets hurt by it."
Advocates for the elderly applauded the efforts to clarify the issue to insure that legal immigrants receive the care they need.
"Nursing homes now will have no reason to refuse people who in fact will have a source of payment," said Cynthia Rudder, director of the Nursing Home Community Coalition of New York States, which lobbies on behalf of nursing home patients. "I'm really pleased they're going to clear up the entire confusion."

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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April 22, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
BEYDA, JOSEPH

SECTION: Section B; Page 10; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 104 words

BEYDA-Joseph. Once in a generation, the Almighty gives us a gift and puts on this earth a person whose purpose is to lead, and make a difference. In his 57 short years, Joseph has touched thousands of souls from children to senior citizens. His humanity, his kindness, and his caring inspires us all. His impact on our community and on the lives of those he touched will last forever. We miss you, Joseph, but you will never be gone. Our heartfelt condolences to his wife Barbara, his daughter Shirley, sons David and Jeffrey, his mother Shirley and the whole family. May he continue to look after us all from above.

LOAD-DATE: April 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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April 23, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Exercise Aids Older Women

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section C; Page 8; Column 3; National Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 205 words

DATELINE: CHICAGO, April 22

A new study finds that women who exercise after menopause tend to outlive sedentary women, and as little as one long walk a week can make a difference.
The more older women exercise, the better their chances of a long life, the researchers added in a report in Wednesday's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. 
 Findings in the seven-year study of more than 40,000 postmenopausal women in Iowa parallel earlier research in men, in younger adults of both sexes and in small studies that included older women.
Women who engaged in moderate activity, likw bowling, gardening or a long walk, four or more times a week were 33 percent less likely to die during the study than women who were never physically active, researchers found. Women who engaged in moderate activity just once weekly were 12 percent less likely to die than their sedentary counterparts, said researchers led by Dr. Lawrence H. Kushi of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis.
Vigorous activity -- jogging, racket sports, swimming or aerobics -- appeared to afford even greater advantages, but so few subjects regularly engaged in vigorous activity that results were not statistically significant.

LOAD-DATE: April 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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April 23, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Boys of the Holocaust Tell Their Stories;
732 Were Found and Flown to England, and They've Kept in Touch

BYLINE: By DINITIA SMITH 

SECTION: Section C; Page 9; Column 3; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 1729 words

On Aug. 14, 1945, 300 Jewish orphans recently liberated from Nazi concentration camps sat huddled on the floor of 12 Lancaster bombers on their way to the British Isles. "The precious cargo," their social workers called them.
The children were cold and airsick but excited. The philanthropist Leonard Montefiore had persuaded the reluctant British Government to take them in, and the Home Office had given permission for 1,000 to land. But such was the toll in the camps that only 732 children could be found, mostly boys age 12 to 16. There were only 80 girls. 
 Over the next few months, the children were flown to England, Ireland and Scotland and nursed back to health. Eventually, as young adults, they scattered. But they kept in touch. They formed the '45 Aid Society to help one another in time of need. And as the years passed "the boys," as they continue to call themselves well into their 60's, had annual reunions.
Now they have told their story in "The Boys," a book by Sir Martin Gilbert, a British historian of the Holocaust and the official biographer of Winston Churchill. It compiles their reminiscences from Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia before and during the war. There are accounts of the death camps, of parents killed in front of their children's eyes, of hunger, of bodies ridden with lice. There are the memories of the long road back to health.
About 650 boys are alive, including 250 in Britain and 120 in the United States. Their unofficial leader for nearly 50 years has been Ben Helfgott, 67, originally from the Polish town of Piotrkow, south of Lodz, now a retired clothing manufacturer in Harrow, England. His mother and younger sister were shot in a roundup of Jews. His father was killed trying to escape a death march. On May 9, 1945, at 15, he was liberated from Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. He was on the first transport of Jewish children from Prague to Windermere, in the Lake District. He is chairman of the '45 Aid Society.
"For our 1995 anniversary, I thought it was time a book was written about us," Mr. Helfgott said recently in a phone interview from London. "I approached Sir Martin," the honorary president of the '45 Aid Society.
"He agreed," Mr. Helfgott continued, "so we wrote to all our members to ask them to send in their stories." "The Boys" (Henry Holt & Company) was published in England last year and will be issued in the United States tomorrow. The story is little known except for journalists' accounts from the time. There is little if anything about the boys' journey in the Holocaust archives, Sir Martin discovered.
Sir Martin found that in many ways the lives of the younger survivors had taken a different trajectory from those of older people who emerged from the camps. There is a sense among them of buoyancy and hope, a zest for life. "There is something different about them from older survivors," he said. "The older survivors came out of the camps as individuals. This group stayed together for three, four, five years. It seemed to have given them a sort of collective strength. They were never without someone who understood.
"Very few of the older survivors had that opportunity to be in a group for which there is no shame, no inhibitions."

One Typical Story Of Losing a Family
For some of the boys, it took nearly 50 years and Sir Martin's prodding to be able to express their memories. Some still cannot; they have not fully shared their stories even with wives and children.
In many ways, Maurice Vegh's story is typical. Mr. Vegh, a 66-year-old hairdresser in Long Beach, N.Y., recalled an idyllic childhood in Rakhov, then in Czechoslovakia, now in Ukraine. "It was peaceful, very pretty," he said in an interview at his home. "My mother prepared lovely Sabbath meals. The smells on Friday evening were marvelous."
Mr. Vegh was 13 when he was taken to Auschwitz with his parents and 11-year-old sister. There, Josef Mengele, the camp's SS doctor, selected his mother and sister to die. He was sent to work as a slave laborer in a coal mine and never saw his father again.
In January 1945, Mr. Vegh was sent on a forced march to Buchenwald. "It was windy and cold," he said. "All we had were our striped clothing and wooden shoes. They told us to rest in the snow. Half of us never got up."
Mr. Vegh was 15 and weighed 68 pounds. On April 11, the Americans arrived. "It was deadly silent," he remembered in the interview. "All of a sudden, roaring tanks broke through the barbed wire. We saw American uniforms. I have never seen soldiers cry before."
As soon as he was well enough, Mr. Vegh made his way to Prague, where he was reunited with an uncle. But as the Communists gained their grip on Czechoslovakia, he got on the second transport of children, from Prague to Scotland, where he was taken to Polton House, a manor in Midlothian.

Some Had to Fib To Get on the Planes
Mr. Vegh contributed to "The Boys." Victor Breitburg, the retired owner of a woodworking plant in nearby Levittown, N.Y., may have found the effort too painful. He appears in the book in a group photograph of the first contingent of children on their way from Prague to Windermere when he was 18.
Mr. Breitburg did agree to talk about his experiences in an interview. He was one of the children who lied about their age, shaving a year or two, to get on the transports. "You had to be 16," he said. "I was 18. I was tall, but skinny."
Mr. Breitburg's father died of malnutrition in the Lodz ghetto in 1943. His mother, brother and sister were separated from him at Auschwitz. "I wanted to stay with them," he said. "My mother said, 'You go.' I never saw them again."
Social workers who met the planes in England, Ireland and Scotland were surprised that the children, several months out of the camps by then, seemed relatively healthy and had already gained some weight. But that appearance was only superficial, said a report on the Windermere children by the Westmorland County Council that Sir Martin cites in "The Boys." Some had running sores, tuberculosis, teeth knocked out by guards, toes missing from frostbite. "On exertion, it was found they easily became breathless," the report said.
Social workers noticed that many wore "an anxious expression."
Having known only hunger for years, the children grabbed food at meals, fought over it and hoarded it. "They just kept giving us food," Mr. Breitburg said. "They gave us clothes, whatever we wanted. And it worked. We learned for the first time that you had to take clothes off to be cleaned."
In many ways, though, they were typical teen-agers. Sir Martin quotes the Westmorland report: "They seemed to attach more importance to being clothed decently than to anything else, feeling that this was a certain proof that they were to be cared for and looked after."
The strength that helped the children survive also made them demanding. They insisted on pocket money, bicycles and movies. But they did not cry, social workers noted.
By July 1947, the boys had begun to feel safe. A magazine article noted, "Boys who on their arrival would have flown out in a passion at any rebuke, now accept a telling off with an engaging grin."
When they were well enough, the children were sent to hostels. Their lives revolved around the London hostel at 27 Belsize Park, which they named the Primrose Club. There they played football and had dances where some, like Mr. Vegh, met future wives.
"One Saturday night I walked into the Primrose Club like a big shot in my suit and tie," Mr. Vegh remembered. "I saw this pretty little blonde girl. I thought, I would like to dance with that girl. She didn't say no. It was love at first sight. We have been dancing ever since."

Achieving Success And Staying Hopeful
As the boys became young men, some returned to Europe to look for lost relatives. Almost all were disappointed. Some never gave up hope. "Help me to find my brother," Sam Weizenbluth of Toronto wrote in the memoir he sent to Sir Martin.
Most remained in England. Some went to Israel and fought in the Israeli war of independence. In 1963, the Primrose Club was replaced by the '45 Aid Society.
"By and large, the men were successful," Sir Martin said on the phone from London. A few earned Ph.D's. Some were tailors or jewelers. Mr. Helfgott represented Britain twice on its Olympic weight lifting team. Hugo Gryn, a survivor of Auschwitz, became a prominent rabbi.
"We came here naked," Mr. Helfgott said from London. "We've tried to build a family and inject into it a zest for life. You would think we could not have had a family. There were very, very few divorces."
Mr. Helfgott agreed that the children who survived the camps seemed to fare better than the adults who did. "Most older survivors lost wives and children," he said. "Then in their 20's and 30's, they remarried. The husband and wife led a double life: in their minds they always thought of the past.
"But the children, beyond our original loss, we didn't have a family. We married local girls. They had a family. Then our lives were bringing up our children."

A Sense of Closure And a 50th Reunion
In 1995 the boys had their 50th reunion in London. There was a reception and a dinner dance. Some boys found long lost friends. They danced, teased each other, talked into the night. "At the reunions, the affection, intimacy and hugging each other is quite extraordinary," Sir Martin said.
"It is no accident," he said, that the boys want their story told now. "They are all into their late 60's," Sir Martin explained. "Their life struggle has ended. Their children have grown up, gone to universities. They have seen their grandchildren, seen a continuity. They now have more leisure, to look back and to be caught in their dreams and nightmares."
With the book and with the coming of old age, a sense of closure has affected the boys. Last year Mr. Breitburg returned to Poland. "I went to Auschwitz, went to the apartment where I lived," he said. "I showed my wife the ghetto. I was saying goodbye."
At the end of the book, Moniek Goldberg, who lives in Florida, observes: "Fifty years on I reflect that I could tell my father that I have not forgotten what I learned as a boy. I helped my fellow man when I could. We were among the beasts, and I am proud to declare that we upheld the dignity of man."

LOAD-DATE: April 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: FROM PRAGUE TO NEW YORK -- Some of "the boys" in Prague, top, before leaving for England; at the Theresienstadt camp; and at a picnic and on a beach on the Isle of Wight. (Archival photographs from "The Boys" [Henry Holt, 1997]; At bottom, Victor Breitburg, left, and Maurice Vegh in New York this Year. (Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times); Sir Martin Gilbert.
 
Chart: "Birth of a Book"
"It all began with my wededing, " Sir Martin Gilbert, the historian, said by telephone from London. "We needed a rabbi. And my wife-to-be knew Hugo Gryn, who was one of 'the boys.' He became my best friend." Through Rabbi Gryn, Sir Martin met the others. Over dinner in 1977, Rabbi Gryn suggested that the historian take on the Holocaust as his subject. "Like many survivors, Hugo got what he wanted," Sir Martin said: in 1986, the historian published "The Holocaust," his monumental work. "Then, Ben Helfgott began to say I should write a book about the boys." Sir Martin initally resisted, then started soliciting memories.

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April 23, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Nursing Home Lobbyists Had Access

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section D; Page 21; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1489 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 22

Nursing home executives were lobbying the Clinton Administration to relax enforcement of rules affecting their industry even as they contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party last year.
The executives attended coffees at the White House with President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. One slept in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House and has since become finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee. 
 Several big contributors in the industry pressed their case in meetings with Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Bruce C. Vladeck, who supervises Medicaid and Medicare as administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration.
The executives were also fighting cuts in the two Federal health programs, for poor people and the elderly. They did not get everything they wanted, they say, but interviews with Federal officials and nursing home executives suggest that their contributions helped them gain more access than they would otherwise have had.
Nursing homes, which are extensively regulated by the Federal Government, derive more than half of their revenue from Medicaid and Medicare. Even small changes in rules or reimbursement can have enormous implications for them.
Alan D. Solomont was chief executive of the ADS Group, the largest nursing home company in Massachusetts, when he wrote to Mr. Vladeck complaining about "serious problems and flaws" in the enforcement of nursing home regulations last May. In his letter, he urged the Administration to limit the use of "civil monetary penalties," or fines, imposed on nursing homes found to have violated Federal standards.
Fines for violating the regulations, covering almost every aspect of nursing home care, can range up to $10,000 a day.
When he wrote the letter, Mr. Solomont was chairman of the Democratic Business Council, which raised almost $20 million for the Democratic Party last year. On Jan. 22 of this year, he became finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
"I believe I was recommended for this job by the President and the Vice President," he said in an interview last week. Administration officials confirmed his statement.
The Democratic National Committee has been at the center of a furor over fund-raising, as investigators try to determine what, if anything, donors got for their contributions.
Mr. Solomont, a former president of the Massachusetts Federation of Nursing Homes, said he met with Federal officials last year not because he was a big donor, but because he was "a credible, progressive voice" for the industry. At the time, he said, he and Mr. Clinton were resisting Republican efforts to dismantle the Medicaid program and to roll back Federal standards for nursing homes.
"I wanted to get nursing home people solidly behind the President's plan to preserve Medicaid and to preserve Federal standards," Mr. Solomont said in the interview.
"I thought that the Administration would find more support for its stand if it listened to the legitimate concerns of health care providers. The average nursing home provider hates Government and feels burdened by Federal regulation. I wanted the providers and the Government to sit down and see how they could collaborate to elevate the quality of care."
Mr. Clinton had already unveiled his own plan to reduce the growth of Medicaid, but it would not have saved as much or turned the program over to the states.
The Multicare Companies of Hackensack, N.J., bought Mr. Solomont's company for $60 million in December. He recently relinquished his position as vice chairman of Multicare, but remains a consultant.
In 1995 and 1996, Mr. Solomont, his company, his wife, his mother and his three brothers gave more than $187,000 to the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton-Gore campaign. Since becoming finance chairman of the Democratic Party in January, Mr. Solomont said, "I have not engaged in any advocacy on matters related to nursing homes."
Mr. Clinton has repeatedly asserted that big campaign contributors received no special favors from his Administration, and nursing home executives echo that view. Some of their requests were granted; some were denied. But the executives had exceptional access to top Administration officials.
Though money often buys access to power in Washington, the efforts of the nursing home industry are particularly well documented. Federal election laws limit donations to candidates to $1,000 from an individual and $5,000 from a political action committee. But there is no ceiling on contributions to political parties for party-building activities.
Paul R. Willging, executive vice president of the American Health Care Association, which represents more than 10,000 nursing homes, said he wanted the Government to take "a more reasonable approach" to enforcement of nursing home rules.
"I have never seen money tied to favors," said Mr. Willging, who was deputy administrator of the health care financing agency under President Ronald Reagan. "But access is critical. There is no question that a willingness to participate in the electoral process, including financial participation, does help insure access."
Bruce Yarwood, chief lobbyist for the American Health Care Association, attended coffees with Mr. Gore in May 1995 and March 1996, according to White House records. Records of the Federal Election Commission show that Mr. Yarwood donated $90,000 to the Democratic National Committee in those years. Mr. Willging said most of the money came from the trade association.
Mr. Vladeck came to Washington as a critic of the nursing home industry. In a 1980 book, "Unloving Care," he documented mistreatment of nursing home residents. He served on a panel of the National Academy of Sciences that recommended tougher regulation of the industry in 1986. Most of the recommendations were incorporated in a 1987 law.
Howard J. Bedlin, vice president of the National Council on the Aging, a research and advocacy group, said: "Bruce is probably the best H.C.F.A. administrator we've had. But in the last 18 months, there has been a clear pattern of the agency caving in to industry pressure to weaken the nursing home quality law, to the detriment of nursing home residents."
Chris Jennings, a White House aide who coordinates health policy for the President, said he met with Mr. Solomont several times and knew he was a big contributor, but was not influenced by him any more than by the consumer advocates he met with. In any event, Mr. Jennings said, nursing home executives dislike many of the President's policies, because they believe the policies will reduce their revenues.
Another big contributor, Dr. Robert N. Elkins, chairman of Integrated Health Services of Owings Mills, Md., and his company gave $560,000 to the Democratic National Committee from December 1995 to November 1996. Two of the contributions, totaling $125,000, were made on Dec. 20, 1995, one day before Dr. Elkins attended a coffee with Mr. Clinton. White House records show that Dr. Elkins attended one coffee with Mr. Gore and three with Mr. Clinton in a six-week period in 1995-96.
Dr. Elkins's company operates nursing homes, home health care agencies, hospices and other medical services regulated and reimbursed by the Federal Government. Marc B. Levin, executive vice president of the company, said that neither he nor Dr. Elkins would discuss the campaign contributions.
Nursing home executives and Federal health officials were particularly active in July 1996, as the Presidential campaign heated up, though people on both sides now insist that the timing was just a coincidence.
Government records show that Dr. Elkins's company gave $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee on July 5 and $120,000 on July 24.
In a letter to the nursing home association on July 26, Dr. Vladeck said he had given the industry a draft policy statement describing the proper use of civil monetary penalties, and he added, "My staff is available to discuss the language of this instruction before it is final."
In the past, the Government had authorized the use of fines to correct minor violations. In the new policy issued in January, the Government said such penalties should be "reserved for situations of serious noncompliance."
Toby S. Edelman, a lawyer at the National Senior Citizens Law Center, a consumer group, said: "Advocates for nursing home residents had far less access to senior Federal officials and much less opportunity to review the changes in policy on civil monetary penalties. Indeed, we saw no reason to change the policy."
In October, the Administration came up with a proposal that would have scaled back inspections of many nursing homes. But in December, after the plan became public, the White House shelved it under a barrage of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress.

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April 23, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
VAN LEER, PIET

SECTION: Section D; Page 23; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 76 words

VAN LEER-Piet, died on April 12th from chronic Lyme Disease. Born in 1914 in Amsterdam, Holland. Investment manager and then Vice President of DrexelBurnham-Lambert. Retired in 1982. Mr. Van Leer is survived by a son and three daughters. Remembrances: Older Adult Services at Mt. Hood Community Mental Health Center, 400 NE 7th Street, Gresham, Oregon 97030. For further information contact Bateman Carroll Funeral Chapel, Gresham, OR. (503-665-2128).

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April 24, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING;
Money for Buses Is Sought

BYLINE: By TERRY PRISTIN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 110 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

During last-minute budget deliberations last year, the State Legislature eliminated $700,000 from a $22.2 million bus and van program serving the elderly and disabled, cutting service throughout the state, several lawmakers said.
Yesterday, three Republican legislators urged that the money be restored in next year's budget. 
 Ocean County lost only $52,000, but officials said that small cutback has made it impossible to keep up with the demands of a growing population of elderly residents.
The money would have paid for a badly needed new bus, said Richard A. Pinho, director of the county's Department of Transportation.
   TERRY PRISTIN

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Correction Appended

A Record and Big Questions As Woman Gives Birth at 63

BYLINE: By GINA KOLATA 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1470 words

In a feat that has raised questions about the uses of medical science, a woman 63 years and 9 months old recently gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Her doctors say that as far as they know, she is the oldest woman ever to give birth.
The woman was well past menopause, but she became pregnant by using a donated egg from a much younger woman. 
 The woman's doctors refused to identify the woman, saying she was adamant about preserving her privacy. They said only that she lived in the Los Angeles area, that her baby was delivered by Caesarean section late last year, that the woman recovered uneventfully and that she breast-fed her baby. The fertility center that assisted her bars women over 55, but her doctor said she had lied about her age.
The woman's successful pregnancy and births to other women over age 60 raise questions about whether there should be an age limit for pregnancy and, if so, who should decide that a woman is too old to bear a child.
Doctors who run infertility centers set their own age limits for pregnancies and decide for themselves who is a suitable mother. Some find it abhorrent that women past menopause can now bear children and others find it only fair that older women, like older men, can become parents.
"I'm on her side," said Dr. Ronald Munson, an ethicist at the University of Missouri. Arbitrary age cutoffs are "just a matter of age discrimination," he said, and it is irrational to wink and grin at an older man who has a new baby but to look with horror at an older woman. "Quite frankly, I can understand why that woman lied," Dr. Munson said.
Until recently, and despite the growing use of donor eggs, doctors would never have suspected that a woman who was 63 -- or even 55 -- could become pregnant and carry a fetus to term, even if she used a donated egg from a younger woman.
"We really believed that, as we see in other animals, that as women reached the age of 50 or so, pregnancy wastage might be high, the uterus might not be fit to carry a baby," said Dr. Mark V. Sauer, who directs the infertility program at Columbia University in New York.
Now it has become clear that any woman who has a uterus can potentially become pregnant with a donated egg, as long as it comes from a relatively young woman. Women who have gone through menopause are just as likely as younger women to become pregnant using donor eggs and their babies are just as healthy, said Dr. Richard J. Paulson, the director of the infertility center at the University of Southern California and the doctor for the 63-year-old woman. The age of the oldest mother keeps getting pushed forward. Until now, the record-holder was a woman in Italy but she was younger by months than the woman who gave birth in California.
The donated egg is genetically unrelated to the woman, but because her husband's sperm fertilized it, the baby received half her genes from him. Dr. Arthur Wisot, executive director of the Center for Advanced Reproductive Care in Redondo Beach, Calif., said that older couples have few other options if they want to have children. Adoption agencies will not give them babies and, in any event, he added, many couples prefer using an egg from a catalogue of donors, who provide information on their appearance, interests, ethnic background and education.
It is expensive to try to become pregnant with donor eggs, costing about $15,000 for each attempt, and it takes an average of four attempts before women succeed. Health insurance virtually never covers the procedure for older women. But, doctors said, if a woman stays with the program, she is very likely to have a baby. "Persistence is the name of the game," Dr. Sauer said.
"I'm sure we are going to run into a biological clock as far as pregnancies are concerned," Dr. Paulson said, "but so far we have not."
Some doctors have loose age limits at best, saying it is the woman's choice; others say it is unnatural or medically unsound to have a baby late in life and refuse to do the procedure. Some found that their limits kept changing as women lied about their ages and had successful pregnancies.
The 63-year-old had enrolled in a program that had one of the most generous age limits of all. Women who were age 55 or under could enroll and become pregnant with donated eggs. Dr. Paulson said the 63-year-old woman conceded later she knew the program rules, so she told her doctors that she was 53. She had never had any children and had been married for 13 years.
Dr. Paulson said that he accepted the woman into the program and that her 57-year-old husband's sperm fertilized the donated eggs. On her third try, she became pregnant, Dr. Paulson said, and he referred her to an obstetrician for prenatal care. "A week later, we got a call from her obstetrician," Dr. Paulson said. "He said, 'She's 63, not 53.' I called her and said, 'How do I know this is true?' " The woman produced her passport showing she was 63.
Dr. Paulson and his colleagues reported the case in the current issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility.
Dr. Sauer, a pioneer in establishing pregnancies in older women and a former director of the infertility program at the University of Southern California, said he had seen similar situations ever since he first used donor eggs and started setting an age limit for pregnancies.
It began about a decade ago, when Dr. Sauer, like virtually everyone else running infertility clinics, decided that they would only provide donor eggs for women who were under 40. Then, he said, he discovered that some women had misled him about their ages and that he had helped women in their early 40's become pregnant. He reported seven of those pregnancies, in women ages 40 to 44 whose ovaries had failed prematurely, in a paper in The New England Journal of Medicine, concluding that it was possible to establish successful pregnancies "even in older women."
And so Dr. Sauer decided to raise his age limit. He set the limit at 50. Soon he discovered that there were women over 50 lying to get into the program. So he raised the age limit to 55 and added medical tests, like mammograms and treadmill tests.
But even with an limit of 55, women above that age tried to enter the program and it was hard to spot them. Many had had plastic surgery, Dr. Sauer said. The first time he discovered he had established a pregnancy in a woman over 55, Dr. Sauer had thought the woman was 50. "After she delivered, in Wyoming, one of her so-called girlfriends called to let me know she was 61," he said.
That is a common way for a woman's deception to be unmasked, Dr. Sauer said. "A friend will call us and say, 'Ha, Ha. The trick's on you.' " This month, for example, he was just about to use a donor egg on a woman from London, when "we had an anonymous call from someone in London who said she's known this woman from the time she was a child and that she was in her early 60's," Dr. Sauer said. He called the woman's doctor in London who admitted that he had put a false age on the woman's medical records to allow her to have donor eggs at Dr. Sauer's clinic. Dr. Sauer subsequently refused to help the woman become pregnant.
When Dr. Sauer confronts women who lied about their age, they say, "We knew there was a cutoff at 55 but we know we're as healthy as 50-year-olds are," Dr. Sauer said. "They'll say, 'It was just a small white lie.' I look at them and say, 'Well, yes and no.' "
And yet, doctors say, there is no particular reason that 55, or any other age, should be the limit for donated eggs and different medical centers have different age cutoffs.
"There are no hard and fast rules, there is no legislation," said Dr. Wisot at the Center for Advanced Reproductive Care. "This whole area of medicine is totally unregulated. We don't answer to anyone but our peers."
His age limit is 50, Dr. Wisot said, because he does not think that it is "fair to the child" to have a very old mother and because "we feel more comfortable using women in this age group."
Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York, said age 46 or 47 is about as high as he will go. "I believe it's not that easy for someone in their 50's to bring up a baby," he explained.
Dr. Joseph Schulman, director of the Genetics and IVF Center in Fairfax, Va., says his limit is 55 but he does not treat his guidelines "as rigid rules."
Dr. Sauer is torn. He looks at the handful of women he treated who were over 55 and whose deceptions came to light after they became pregnant and sees that "despite their dishonesty, the outcomes were really good." And so, he said, "I'm glad in my heart that they did lie to me." Yet, he said, "on the other hand, I think, 'Gee, what have I done?' "      

LOAD-DATE: April 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: May 1, 1997, Thursday

 CORRECTION:
A front-page article last Thursday about a woman from the Los Angeles area who gave birth at age 63 referred incorrectly to Dr. Mark V. Sauer, an infertility researcher who has established pregnancies in older women. He is the former director of the donor egg program at the University of Southern California, not the former director of the infertility program there.

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April 25, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Medicare's Hospital Fund Going Insolvent, Trustees Affirm

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 820 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 24

The Government said today that the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital bills for elderly people would run out of money in just four years if Congress took no action to slow spending or raise taxes.
In their annual report, the Medicare trustees, including three members of President Clinton's Cabinet, said no progress had been made in alleviating the program's severe short- and long-term financial problems. 
 Last year's report also predicted insolvency in 2001. Since then, Congress and Mr. Clinton have taken no action to shore up the finances of Medicare, the health insurance program for 33 million elderly and 5 million disabled people.
Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, said she wanted to assure elderly people that "there is no immediate crisis facing the Medicare trust fund," which gets most of its revenue from payroll taxes.
"The health of the Medicare trust fund has not gotten any worse in the last year," Dr. Shalala said, but "2001 is one year closer today than it was when we issued our last report."
Thus, she said, in a comment echoed today by members of both parties on Capitol Hill, "we cannot afford to debate and delay."
"It is time for action," the Secretary said. "It is time for an agreement."
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said: "Democrats have insisted on using Medicare reform as a weapon against Republicans. They've been cynically exploiting people's fears, making responsible debate almost impossible."
Medicare was a flash point in conflicts between Mr. Clinton and the Republican Congress over the last two years. It was also a pivotal issue in the 1996 elections, as Democrats accused Republicans of wanting to finance tax cuts for the affluent by cutting health benefits for the elderly.
Budget negotiations now under way on Capitol Hill would address Medicare's short-term problems. In his latest budget, Mr. Clinton proposed to cut $100 billion, or 7.5 percent, from projected Medicare spending in the next five years, largely by curbing payments to health care providers.
The Medicare trust fund had a balance of $130.3 billion at the end of December 1995, when Mr. Clinton vetoed a Republican bill that would have redesigned Medicare and slowed the growth of the program. The trustees predict that the assets of the fund will decline to $115.4 billion by Oct. 1, the earliest date on which any Medicare agreement would take effect.
Richard S. Foster, chief actuary for the Medicare program, said today that the President's budget proposals would prolong the life of the trust fund by seven years, to 2008. But it would not keep the program solvent for members of the baby boom generation, who will start to retire in 2011.
In general, the Congressional Budget Office says, the longer Congress defers action, the deeper the cuts that must eventually be made in Medicare spending.
The Hospital Insurance Trust Fund's outlays exceeded its revenue by $2.6 billion in 1995 and $5.3 billion in 1996. The trustees predicted today that without corrective action, the losses would grow to $12.8 billion this year, $20.1 billion next year and $28.6 billion in 1999.
The report suggests that the Medicare trust fund will contribute a total of $148 billion to Federal budget deficits in the next five years. On the other hand, the Social Security trust fund is running surpluses, which are expected to total $438 billion in the same period.
Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who oversees Medicare as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said lawmakers could strike a deal with Mr. Clinton "if the President can resist the pressure from liberal Democrats who want him to avoid making a Medicare agreement with Congressional Republicans."
Medicare's hospital trust fund spent an average of $3,400 for each person on the rolls last year, an increase of 9 percent from 1995. Administrative costs accounted for just 1 percent of the $130 billion spent by the fund.
Doctor and laboratory bills are paid by a separate Medicare trust fund. It is much smaller than the hospital trust fund and is financed in a different way, with general revenue and with premiums paid by beneficiaries. It is virtually impossible for this trust fund to run out of money, because it can tap general revenue as needed.
In a separate report today, the Administration said the Social Security trust fund would increase for two decades and then start to decline. If there is no change in current law, it said, the trust fund will be depleted in 2029, just as the last of the baby boomers reach 65.
But John J. Callahan, the Acting Commissioner of Social Security, said that even after 2029, annual tax revenue would be enough to pay 75 percent of each year's benefits.
"Contrary to what many people think," Mr. Callahan said, "Social Security will not go broke."
      

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April 25, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Pregnant At 63? Why Not?

BYLINE: By Marcia Angell;  Marcia Angell, a physician, is executive editor of The New England Journal of Medicine.

SECTION: Section A; Page 27; Column 2; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 550 words

DATELINE: BOSTON

To any middle-aged mother, having a baby at age 63 probably seems like a colossally bad idea. Imagine the constant backache at that age, the 2 A.M. feedings and the endless diaper changes. Didn't nature arrange for us to stop doing this sort of thing after our mid-40's?
But nature has been overruled. It has recently been announced that a 63-year-old woman gave birth late last year to a healthy baby girl. A doctor implanted into her hormonally primed uterus an embryo created in a test tube with her husband's sperm and a young donor's egg. The woman's doctor, Dr. Richard J. Paulson, said she had lied about her age to get around his age limit of 55 years for in vitro fertilization. 
 The 63-year-old woman was not the first postmenopausal woman to have a baby, only the oldest. In the last several years, progressively older women have given birth through in vitro fertilization. So we now must contemplate the curious possibility of women on Medicare becoming pregnant.
Many people are probably offended, even repelled, by postmenopausal women's having babies. To many observers, it seems somehow unethical; they believe that if a woman doesn't know any better, her doctor should. There will probably be calls to regulate this technology and forbid women of a certain age to receive in vitro fertilization.
This would be a mistake. Why is it wrong for a woman in her 60's to have a baby? If the technology exists, why shouldn't she take advantage of it? For a healthy woman who is willing to take the medical risk of being pregnant at an advanced age, it may be her last chance to become a mother.
Many people will object that it is unnatural for postmenopausal women to have babies, that it is a perverse use of a technology that has been widely accepted for younger women since 1978. To these critics, women in their 60's are simply too old to become good mothers.
But all sorts of women who, by nearly anyone's standards, are extremely unlikely to be fit mothers can choose to have babies, including girls barely in their teens, drug abusers and the homeless.
Some people also point out that an older mother is less likely than a younger mother to live long enough to raise her children to adulthood. But any responsible mother, young or old, should make provisions for the care of her baby should she die before her child is grown. A postmenopausal woman who is willing to have a baby is especially likely to do so.
Much of the distaste for older women's having babies, I suspect, is age and sex discrimination masquerading as high-flown ethical concern. Many of us feel uncomfortable when old people behave in unexpected ways, like deciding to have babies. Our expectations are more restrictive for older women than for older men. We are more likely to react to older men's becoming fathers with amused tolerance rather than disapproval.
One thing is clear: Women in their 50's and 60's who are willing to undergo the rigors of pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing must really want to be mothers. Their children will be greatly cherished in a world where many children are not, and where many young women have babies with scarcely a thought.
If an older woman still wants to become pregnant after the risks are explained to her, I see no good reason not to help her.

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Luba Lukova)

TYPE: Op-Ed

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April 25, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

INSIDE

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 89 words


Warning on Medicare Fund
Medicare trustees warned that no progress had been made in alleviating the financial problems of the fund that pays hospital bills for the elderly. Page A16.
 
Suing Over Filtration Plant
The Federal Government sued New York City for failing to build a $600 million plant to filter drinking water from polluted reservoirs. Page B4.
 
No Proof of Abuse at Shelter
No evidence has been found to back charges of serious misconduct by the staff of a Bronx women's shelter, an official said. Page B1.

LOAD-DATE: April 25, 1997

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TYPE: Summary

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April 26, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Giving Birth at 63

SECTION: Section 1; Page 20; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 435 words

The news that a 63-year-old California woman gave birth late last year has prompted calls to set a maximum age limit for women who receive treatment at fertility centers to get pregnant. While individual fertility centers can, and already do, set age limits, this is not an area that requires regulation or other government intervention. The decision on whether to undergo pregnancy after menopause should remain a private choice between a woman and her doctor, based on individual circumstances.
Advancing technology has rapidly expanded the possibilities for assisted reproduction, and eggs donated by younger women have allowed older women to conquer infertility. As long as a uterus is healthy, the pregnancy barrier can be pushed well beyond menopause. 
 The clinic that assisted the California woman bars women over 55 from receiving donated eggs, and many fertility clinics set age limits at 50 or lower, usually because of health concerns. But the California woman, like many others in her position, simply lied about her age. She told the infertility specialists that she was 50 at the time she started treatment when she was, in fact, 10 years older. Even so, she passed extensive medical evaluations.
It was not until three years later, after she was successfully implanted with a donated egg fertilized with her now 60-year-old husband's sperm, that she revealed her true age. According to her doctors, she experienced few complications during the pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby girl late last year. She now goes into the record books as the oldest known woman in the world to deliver a child.
While this older mother is a monument to the increasing health and fitness of senior citizens, she has become the focus of debate over the propriety of becoming a parent at an age when contemporaries are enjoying the freedom of being grandparents. But in terms of maturity and knowledge, a child may be better off with a 60-year-old mother than a 15-year-old one, especially if the older woman makes provisions for the child in the event she dies or is incapacitated. Society already accepts the notion that older men can be fathers. Surely it is no more selfish or shortsighted for an older woman to have a child.
The ethics committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine believes that postmenopausal pregnancies should be discouraged because of physical and psychological risks to the mother or child. But the society says such pregnancies are not unethical and that individual circumstances, not age alone, should dictate a woman's eligibility for egg donation.

LOAD-DATE: April 26, 1997

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April 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Study Focuses on the Health of Older Women

BYLINE: By LINDA PUNER 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 11; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 908 words

DATELINE: HARTSDALE

BARBARA TORINA, 57, does not have time to get old. The New Rochelle resident is too busy teaching music, playing tennis, bowling, singing in a choir, playing guitar, doing organic gardening and making habits for a monastery in the South Bronx. And she traveled to Florida on spring break with her two college-age children.
In the future, she said, "I will keep active and maintain my weight -- it hasn't changed in 33 years -- or maybe lose a little." 
 To insure this, Mrs. Torina has volunteered to take part in the Women's Health Initiative, a study of 160,000 postmenopausal women, which examines how to prevent the major health risks for older women and how to improve the quality of their later life.
Financed by the National Institutes of Health, the $628 million research project is being conducted at 40 medical centers nationwide. Albert Einstein College in the Bronx runs the study and recently opened a satellite clinic for the study here.
More than 500 women from 50 to 79 have offered to take part here in tests that may cover 10 years. All of the slots for women 50 to 54 are filled, but the clinic, at 141 South Central Avenue, needs more women from 55 to 79. The number to call for more information, is (800) 549-6636.
The Women's Health Initiative is studying heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis and assessing three treatments of the diseases: hormone-replacement therapy, a low-fat diet and calcium and vitamin D supplements. A side study will take a look at the effects of hormone-replacement therapy in preventing or delaying memory loss in women from 65 to 79.
"Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in postmenopausal women," said Dr. Sylvia Smoller, an epidemiologist who heads the Einstein study. "The myth is that it's a man's disease. Men do get it earlier and die younger, but one in three postmenopausal women dies of heart disease."
Dr. Smoller said the study is notable for its size and because it focuses on older women, who have been ignored or excluded from previous medical research. "W.H.I. is possible now because women have an increasing voice in this country," she said, adding that it has helped to have had women like Representative Patricia Schroeder in Congress to raise research money and Bernadine Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health, to promote women's health issues.
"Women are living longer," said Dr. Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, lead nutritionist for the study. "Some women will spend half their lives after menopause."
Dr. Smoller and Dr. Mossavar-Rahmani said the study is the only clinical trial to assess the effects of hormones on heart disease and bone loss as well as those of diet on memory. Other studies have been less controlled or what medical researchers call observational.
Dr. Smoller said: "In observational trials, for example, you look at a group of women on hormones and look at some not taking hormones, then you compare them. The problem is those taking hormones may have different characteristics, like higher educational or income levels. In clinical trials, a computer randomly assigns women to one group or the other so the inequities are equalized."
The motivation for joining the Women's Health Initiative is varied. Some women seek the immediate free health attention provided by screening tests like pap tests and cervical exams.
"After taking care of my husband night and day before he died of brain cancer in October, I wanted to do something for my own health," said Muriel Woodson of Elmsford, a participant in the hormone-therapy group.
Kathryn Vollmer, a medical technologist from Scarsdale who attends low-fat diet sessions for the study at Einstein College, said: "I don't have many of the risk factors for disease. But what I think is important is what can be learned about women totally."
Many participants worry about the lack of information about women's health and hope the study will change that. "I was intrigued by the idea of a large study of older women and the incidence of heart disease and cancer. In the past, the studies were all of men," said Phyllis Rodriguez, a 54-year-old artist from White Plains.
She is part of the low-fat diet group here and has found keeping a food diary revealing. "I thought I basically ate well," she said. "But I'm learning that my little transgressions -- like snacking on cheese -- are more significant than I thought."
Ms. Rodriguez said the sessions were fun. Recently, while emphasizing the importance of five servings of fruits and vegetables and six servings of grain daily, Dr. Mossavar-Rahmani offered tastings of low-fat lasagna and brownies.
"One of the benefits is that the women like to get together and talk," Dr. Smoller said. "They want a sense of community. Separation and isolation are problems of aging." Some women indicated that they were interested in the Women's Health Initiative because they believed they have been misdiagnosed or mistreated by doctors uninformed about women's health issues. Emma Damico of Elmsford, who attended an informational talk but did not enroll in the study, reported finally finding effective treatment for the onset of menopause from a certified midwife rather than a doctor.
Even now some participants hesitated to set a chronological marker for old age. "It keeps moving away as I get older," Kathryn Vollmer said.
Dr. Smoller observed: "Who knows? With all the attention age is getting, maybe age is in."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Participants in the Women's Health Initiative eating low-fat food at a clinic in Hartsdale. (Susan Farley for The New York Times)

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April 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON THE MAP;
A Pro to the Rescue of a Place Where He Shot Hoops as a Kid

BYLINE: By STEVE STRUNSKY 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 3; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 707 words

The multiplayer deal that brought the NBA All-Star Chris Gatling to the Nets from Dallas in February marked his return to a New Jersey basketball team for the first time since high school. But the 6-foot 10-inch, 230-pound forward has been sidelined by an ear infection since Feb. 23, and as the regular season ends he is already focusing on another homecoming of sorts, in Irvington.
Mr. Gatling, 29, grew up in the Irvington and played his first organized ball at the Police Athletic League recreation center there. But a lack of funding forced the center to shut in 1994. Last fall Mr. Gatling bought the brick building for $135,000 and in January began leasing it to the town for $1 a year. "It's the kind of thing you hope your child will do when he grows up," said his mother, Rebecca Gatling. Officials hope to have the Chris Gatling Irvington P.A.L. in action by winter. Its benefactor recently talked about the center's comeback. 
 Q. Why are you doing this?
A. If I can do something positive, maybe I can make some other people wake up. Because there's a lot of people in the pros who have a lot more money than I do and they could do it very simply. But they're just selfish and they're blind.
Q. What prompted you?
A. I guess when I used to come home all the time to my aunt's house and eat chicken and fish and stuff, and I'd drive by the P.A.L. building and say, "Why isn't anybody doing anything with the P.A.L. building?" Now I've got a living and I said, "Well, why can't I do something?" So I called one of my good friends, Larry Reynolds -- he's a police officer in Irvington. He's like, "I can get in touch with my chief, he can get in touch with the mayor." And my aunt -- she does a lot of stuff for Irvington, like Little League -- why don't I call her? Get my dad (Ray Gatling) involved -- Dad's my business manager, handles all my business.
Q. What do you plan for the center?
A. I want to get away from the tile floor [on the basketball court] and put a wood floor in there. I want to do some things for the senior citizens. I want them to get bingo back, but I want to do it at an early hour, not as late as it usually is because of the crime and things of that sort. A lot of teens now are having pregnancies, and I want to have a program set up so they can drop their kids off at a day-care there -- because there's plenty of room -- and be able to go to school, get a degree, finish up. I want to do some leagues there for the summer. I want it to open up for the police also, so that they can come there and have a place to work out. And they can do some community services there and things of that sort.
So that's what I want to do to the P.A.L., make it like it was when I grew up, to give kids a chance to get off of the street. Because they are our future. I remember a lot of times, you know, I was growing up, I was a kid, "Hey, let's go over here, do this, do that." But I would go to the P.A.L. and play some basketball. You know, you have your little card, you go in, you show it. It made me more responsible. That's what it's all about: being responsible.
And now I have a lot of people calling me, writing me, and they want to donate things, which is good.  I have a paper company, they want to donate my writing materials. Reebok, they want to donate sneakers. No Fear, they want to put a big banner up and put up stickers and give away T-shirts and different apparel. And I can go there and do some off-season training, shoot, things of that sort, and interact with the kids.
Q. What was a typical day like at the P.A.L.?
A. Sometimes we'd get there in the morning, we'd play, the league. There was a sub pace down the street called Suzy's. We used to all run down there and get a cheese steak, and then run back to the P.A.L. And I didn't live too far from the P.A.L., so I could walk home, hang out, and then go back down there and meet the guys. They had a rim in the back and we used to go back there after hours and play because there's a street light that lit up the back. We'd shoot all night. It was definitely an outlet.
Q. Did the P.A.L. contribute to your NBA career?
A. I would say so. I mean, more than anything, it's my foundation.   STEVE STRUNSKY

LOAD-DATE: April 27, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Chris Gatling has bought the Police Athletic League center and leased it to Irvington for $1 a year. (Frank C. Dougherty for The New York Times)

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April 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Word for Word/Age Lines;
Some Truths About Getting Old Are Only Too Self-Evident

BYLINE: By ROBERT W. STOCK 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 7; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 1239 words

THE lot of America's elders has vastly improved over the last few decades. Their income, their health and their longevity are all up. Many men and women in their 60's and 70's today remain vigorous, adventurous and amorous. Last week came word of yet another record-breaking event: the birth of a healthy baby girl to a 63-year-old woman.
What has not changed much, if at all, however, is the negative attitude that Americans of all ages have toward older people and the experience of aging. In "The Spectator Bird" (1976), Wallace Stegner perfectly captured that view. Society, he wrote, "does not value the old in the slightest, finds them an expense and an embarrassment, laughs at their experience, evades their problems, isolates them in hospitals and Sunshine Cities and generally ignores them except when soliciting their votes or ripping off their handbags and their Social Security checks." 
 The simple reality of the human condition -- that age steals our hair and loosens our skin on the way toward our eventual demise -- has metamorphosed our youth-worshiping culture into an irrational fear and loathing of all aspects of growing old. So that when one's elderliness can no longer be denied, it can be a painful, even traumatic, moment. Some of the ways that people cope with that experience were on display recently when the American Association of Retired Persons invited visitors to its America Online site to take part in an electronic bulletin board discussion called "I Knew I Was Old When . . . ."
Following are some of the contributions.   ROBERT W. STOCK
I knew I was growing old when I stopped wearing a girdle and high-heeled shoes because I realized no one was looking anymore!KOFAN
A waitress gave me the senior citizen discount when I didn't even ask!
Youngorig
I knew I was old when I had my fourth grandchild. I stopped coloring my hair. Focci5
An old friend said, "Gee, you're looking good." I realized there are three stages of life: YOUTH, MIDDLE AGE and "YOU'RE LOOKING GOOD." WalterW336
When I saw a sign on the freeway which said, "Forgive and forget: It will add years to your life." I said to my spouse, "I'm getting so good at the forgetting part I may live forever!"
JRYELT
Everything I have either started leaking or dried up. ConductorB
I helped an old lady across the busy intersection and she turned out to be my wife.
DANKNOTT
I kissed my wife and she yawned.
Jmoore5727
When I knew quality was more important than quantity. Circle1234
Reality Knocks
Knew I was getting old when I started getting some urges and couldn't remember what they were for. Llen106
I knew I was getting old when I realized that my children belonged to the A.A.R.P.
WALKERDOYL
I really felt ancient when last Halloween a little kid in my apartment complex said that since I couldn't go trick or treat for myself (I use a cane), he'd go for me and later brought me a share of his "loot"! His folks are sure doing something right to have a six- or seven-year-old so thoughtful and kind! Bridget612
When most of the people in our wedding album had died. THELMSH
I returned home from the dentist today and was entering my next appointment in my datebook and noted that my appointment was not for today but for tomorrow.
I phoned the dentist to apologize and the receptionist informed me they were aware of my mistake and informed the dentist I was there a day early and he agreed to fit me in rather than have me make another trip tomorrow and they were trying to be kind to me by not mentioning it.GordoCrock
I knew I was old when I couldn't find anyone who knew about Burma Shave signs.
CMDRBIX
I knew I was old when a kindergarten student looked up at me and said, "Whose grandma are you?"JCSTOFFEL
I was reading the comics and I said to myself, "That Mary Worth is a damn fine-looking woman." Jpreusse
I was giving my four-year-old grandson a horseback ride on my shoulders when he said, "Grandpa, you are getting taller and taller." I said, "No, honey. Grandpas may get bigger around but they never get taller. Why do you think I am getting taller?" He said, "I know because your head is coming up through your hair."
DANF1924
 My great-grandchildren started arriving. I now have three. Hmgbird731
When the older I get, the better I WAS.
RCroweSr
I knew I was old when all the names in my address book ended in M.D. Maremark
My 12-year-old grandson said, "Grandma, were you alive when tennis balls used to be white?"
HelynneG
The Wal-Mart greeter offered me the motorized cart.MicLacRLTR
When at the local community fund-raiser everyone gets up to dance and they asked you to watch the table!
KAJ4889
I knew I was old when my husband passed away and I thought the only things left in life were getting from one day to the next and spending what time I had left with my children and grandchildren. And then -- I met a wonderful man who asked me to marry him after less than three months. Now I am a "teen-ager" again. Life has just begun all over for me.Eengelb561
I knew I was old when I ceased to worry about my gray hair, dentures, baggy knees and blue feet and started to really enjoy myself and life, and when I found myself saying, "Back in my day . . . ." Creaky9399
 
Those Were the Days
I remember our first whisker set.Only one person at a time listened with earphones and would tell the others what was being said. It lost something in translation. I was born in a log cabin updated with clapboard. We still had gas jets on our walls that worked.
I knew I was getting old when the whole world was being run by kids around my grandchildren's age. It's hard to take advice from a doctor 50 years younger than yourself.
SKinneyBB
I grew up with the outhouse out back, a one-room schoolhouse and the radio -- no TV. My Mom just loved Arthur Godfrey and listened to him on the radio along with all the soaps, "Stella Dallas" and "Ma Perkins." When Arthur Godfrey came to TV, she was in seventh heaven. When I have these fits of nostalgia, I know I'm getting old. But at least I feel pretty sure my memory is still pretty sharp. No one who was losing it could remember the junk that still fills my head. Talking about replacements, I've had the ultimate . . . a heart transplant. From goose grease for a chest cold to heart transplant. Oh, I feel like a time traveler sometimes.Pswan56193
Sitting in a diner alone eating my supper on Mother's Day, in walked a group of young men -- college age and older. One walked over to me and said, "You don't mind if I give you a kiss on the cheek and wish you happy mom's day, do you?  You could be my mom for now." With that, he leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek and said, "Thank you, Mom." . . . I never forgot that moment. Lwill34625
It surprises me when I look in the mirror and don't know who's looking back. When did this happen? When did my hands become my mother's? When did my sons get so old, to say nothing about my grandchildren? Why only yesterday I was saying how they were all driving me crazy and I wish they would all grow up. When did they?
It's not one thing that makes you realize you're growing old, but everyday things. Do you remember when it didn't hurt to get out of bed? How about not groaning when you've been on the floor too long playing with the grandkids?
OLD AGE IS NOT FOR WIMPS!!!
NoHose

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April 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Parent Trap;
Old Mother Hubbard Was Never a Sex Pot

BYLINE: By GINA KOLATA 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 5; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 805 words

ON April 11, at 12:05 a.m., Julia Randall was born in Manhattan's Beth Israel Hospital. The proud father, Tony Randall, age 77, announced, "I want to have another one right away."
The writer George Plimpton, at age 69, is the father of two-year-old twins. He said his babies and a tonic from the bark of pine trees that grow in the south of France are what invigorate him. 
 So, are these men sexy, or what? After all, they have young wives, presumably impregnated in the normal way, and what better proof is there of virility than the birth of a baby?
Compare those new parents with the 63-year-old Los Angeles woman who gave birth to a baby of her own, hiding under a cloak of anonymity. Like Mr. Randall, she had never had a baby before. But few cooed over her accomplishment (her doctors say she's the oldest woman on record to give birth). No one said she was sexy.
Those who are offended by last week's news of an old woman giving birth tend to cite reasons other than sexiness. They argue that it is not fair to the child to have two elderly parents, adding that old men who are fathers are different because they often have young wives who, presumably, will be healthy and energetic enough to raise the child. But old mothers usually come with old fathers. The husband of the 63-year-old woman was 57 when he fathered the child.
 
Maybe It's an Esthetic Question
 But is this really an ethical question or an esthetic one? Is the issue of old mothers really about parenthood or sexiness?
Dr. David M. Buss, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said he detects a sexual undertone to the public's reaction to the 63-year-old mother. There is no question, he said, that by giving birth this woman defied not only natural rules but sexual rules.
"It's absolutely right" that sex is part of the reaction, said Dr. Barbara Koenig, an anthropologist who is executive director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University. It is, she said, "a typical case of how technology is challenging some fundamental assumptions," in this case, about the sexuality of older women.
In the 37 cultures Dr. Buss has studied, he said, one truth prevails: Old men who are rich or powerful have erotic power as well. It can gain them a young wife and give them an air of sexuality even when their faces are wrinkled and their eyesight dimmed. Older women are in a different category. Men are not looking for a powerful woman. What they want is youth -- "smooth skin, clear skin, full lips, and a waist-hip ratio of .70," Dr. Buss said.
If movies are any guide, women are portrayed as over the hill when men are just hitting their sexual stride. Why else would men and women who are roughly the same age be cast in roles a generation apart? When Dustin Hoffman played a young college graduate in the 1967 movie "The Graduate" he was 31. The older woman, the friend of the young man's parents, was played by Anne Bancroft when she was 36. In the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film "North by Northwest," the Cary Grant character's mother was played by Jessie Royce Landis, when she was several months younger than Mr. Grant.
But it's not just a Hollywood fiction that young women often find old men -- particularly rich and powerful men -- sexy. Justice William O. Douglas of the Supreme Court was 76 when he married a 23-year-old woman. Senator Strom Thurmond was 66 when he took his second wife, a 22-year-old woman who was a former Miss South Carolina, Nancy Moore. Mr. Thurmond was older than his young wife's father. They had four children. "No one accused him of being a pervert," said Dr. John Gagnon, a sociologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
But power does not usually confer the glitter of sex appeal to older women. "No one is turned on by Madeleine Albright or Elizabeth Dole," Dr. Gagnon said.
"Women are primarily valued for sex and reproductive purposes," said Dr. Susan Sherwin, a professor of philosophy and women's studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. So, when they no longer are young and nubile, when they no longer carry the outward signs of fertility, they are cast aside. That may explain, Dr. Sherwin said, why there is "something approaching cultural horror" when a woman past menopause moves herself back into the role of the fertile woman.
Dr. Buss said he had noticed, among his own friends and colleagues, that men react differently than women to news of the 63-year-old mother. "The women I spoke to said, 'Go for it.' The men furrowed their brows and said it was repugnant," Dr. Buss said.
His own reaction? He said, "I believe people should live their lives whatever way they want to." That, he said, is his response "on a meta-cognitive level." And on an emotional level? "I don't want to say," Dr. Buss said.

LOAD-DATE: April 27, 1997

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April 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Thomas H. D. Mahoney, 83, Advocate for Elderly

BYLINE: By WOLFGANG SAXON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 40; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 478 words

Thomas H. D. Mahoney, an elder statesman of Massachusetts and world-traveling advocate for the elderly, died on Monday at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 83 and lived in Cambridge, Mass.
He was on the way home from Seoul, South Korea, after addressing the 97th conference of the Interparliamentary Union, a gathering of legislators from 125 countries, and suffered a stroke while stopping over in California, said his son, Thomas H. Mahoney 4th. 
 The younger Mr. Mahoney said his father attended a similar meeting last month in Russia. He was to have flown to Cairo soon to discuss the health and welfare of the elderly at a gathering of women from the parliamentary union, his son said.
Dr. Mahoney had a first career as an educator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the faculty in 1945, served as chairman of the history section twice in the 1960's and 1970's, and retired as a professor of history in 1984.
He wrote and edited a number of books on the life and thought of the 18th-century British political writer and statesman Edmund Burke, including volumes on his perspectives on Ireland, the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Another notable textbook was "The United States in World History," written with J. B. Rae.
Thomas Henry Donald Mahoney liked to note that he was born on an election day, Nov. 4, 1913, and never lost in his 11 campaigns for public office. His first election was as a school committeeman in his native Cambridge in 1948. He was a state representative in the 1970's when he became the founding chairman of the ethics committee and headed the energy committee.
In 1979, Gov. Edward King appointed him Massachusetts' first Secretary of Elder Affairs. It was the first such state office in the country and, with a yearly budget of $100 million, bolstered his standing as a national figure.
He led the state delegation to the White House Conference on Aging in 1981. He became a senior social gerontologist and adviser to the House of Representatives and was increasingly involved in the work of United Nations agencies, panels and conferences and other world bodies.
At his death he was a member of the executive committee of the United Nations Nongovernmental Organizations Committee.
A 1936 graduate of Boston College, he earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. at George Washington University. He may well have been the oldest recipient of a doctor of public affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government when he finished his dissertation in 1989 at the age of 75.
Besides his son, Thomas, who lives in Manhattan, Dr. Mahoney is survived by his wife of 45 years, Phyllis Norton Mahoney; three other sons, David, of San Francisco, Peter, of Newton, Mass., and Philip, of Los Altos Hills, Calif.; a daughter, Linda, of Cambridge, and four granddaughters.

NAME: Thomas H. D. Mahoney

LOAD-DATE: April 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Thomas H. D. Mahoney. (The Boston Globe)

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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April 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Florida Suing to Save Benefits for Its Poor but Legal Immigrants

BYLINE: By The New York Times 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 26; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 643 words

DATELINE: MIAMI, April 26

Florida has become the first state to sue the Federal Government to prevent the loss of $300 million a year in welfare benefits to the state's legal immigrants, many of them elderly or disabled.
A provision of the Federal overhaul of welfare would deny Supplemental Security Income, food stamps and other benefits to 100,000 legal immigrants in the state unless they become citizens by Aug. 1. 
 "These people have paid taxes -- they have contributed," said the state's Governor, Lawton Chiles, a Democrat. "And now they're pulling the rug out from under them. They have no other support. These are the disabled, the frail elderly. Congress saw this as the easy way to save billions of dollars. This will not hit equally across the nation. It is a terrible burden on states like Florida, California and Texas."
Governor Chiles said the loss of benefits could ultimately cost Florida $1 billion.
The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Miami by lawyers for Florida and Dade County, alleges that the denial of benefits to legal immigrants by the Federal Government under the welfare overhaul violates the equal-protection clause of the Constitution because it discriminates against noncitizens living legally in the country by singling them out to lose benefits. The suit also charges that the Federal action is unconstitutional because it forces Florida to shoulder the economic burden of supporting the people losing benefits.
The welfare overhaul is supposed to discourage illegal immigration and encourage able-bodied people to work, said Mark Schlakman, special counsel to the Governor.
"These people are legal immigrants and are already here," Mr. Schlakman said. "And, by definition, those that receive S.S.I. are the indigent, the elderly and the disabled, those that cannot work."
A similar lawsuit, seeking to keep benefits for legal immigrants, was filed by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York last month in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
About 98,000 of Florida's one million legal immigrants get an average of $76 a month in food stamps, and 54,000 receive an average of $342 a month in S.S.I. benefits. Seventy-two percent of those who stand to lose S.S.I. benefits are 65 or older. Under the welfare overhaul, all that aid will cease on Aug. 22 for immigrants who are not citizens by Aug. 1.
The State of Florida has extended Medicaid and other benefits indefinitely for legal immigrants, at an annual cost of $72 million to the state. The Florida House and Senate are working out a proposal that would earmark $18.5 million to $22 million for legal immigrants to cover the shortfall, but Governor Chiles said the amount was "infinitesimal" compared with what was needed.
A short-term welfare measure supported by Republicans in Congress would provide $125 million through September to extend benefits to elderly and disabled legal immigrants in certain areas, said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida.
Dade County, which has a large elderly immigrant population, would bear the brunt of the loss of benefits in the state. Most of the 11,000 elderly residents of the county who stand to lose all of their benefits are Cubans who immigrated legally 30 to 40 years ago but have not become citizens. In many cases, their monthly S.S.I. check is their only income.
"People are confused because they don't understand why, at this stage in their lives, the Government would do this," said Ramon Perez Goizueta, a spokesman for the Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Centers, which serve lunch and provide activities for approximately 4,000 poor elderly people every day.
About a third of the centers' regulars stand to lose their benefits in August, Mr. Perez Goizueta said. He said most of them were either too infirm or too limited in their language abilities to take citizenship tests.

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April 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Childbirth at 63 Says What About Life?

BYLINE: By GINA KOLATA 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 20; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1130 words

It was hard for most people to avoid a visceral reaction when a group of doctors at the University of Southern California announced last week that they had enabled a 63-year-old woman to become pregnant, with a donated egg, and give birth to a baby girl.
After all, the woman was at an age when most people are thinking about retirement, not 2 A.M. feedings. Yet the woman obviously wanted the child, so much that she lied about her age to meet the guidelines of an infertility program that had arbitrarily set 55 as its maximum age for recipients of donor eggs. 
 [The woman, Arceli Keh, revealed her identity in an interview published in the British newspaper The Express, The Associated Press reported yesterday. She said her 60-year-old husband, Isagani, was still working at a carpentry shop because they spent at least $50,000 on the treatment that led to the birth of their daughter, Cynthia. ]
With eggs donated by a younger woman and fertilized in the laboratory, almost any woman with a uterus can become pregnant. What matters is not the age of the mother but the age of the egg. But the birth announced last week and other births to women well past menopause have left ethicists with a question: Are older mothers yet another example of the way society encourages women to clutch at eternal youth or are they a laudable example of the way that technology can overcome the barriers of age, helping women seize opportunities that eluded them when they were younger?
Beyond that, is there a good reason to disapprove of older women who become mothers? After all, older men who father children are often greeted with a wink and a grin.
Few ethicists criticized the 63-year-old mother, but they had mixed reactions about infertility clinics that will, for a price, enable women who are well past the age of menopause to give birth.
Dr. Willard Gaylin, a founder of the Hastings Center, an ethics center in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., said he found pregnancies in women who are past menopause distasteful. "I certainly understand a desire for progeny," he said, "but I do feel we have a responsibility to the symmetry of life and to some of the rules of nature." By the way, he added, he is not happy about elderly fathers, either. "I do not think it's attractive for a 70-year-old man to have a child," Dr. Gaylin said.
Dr. Lisa Cahill, a theology professor at Boston College and a member of the National Advisory Board for Ethics and Reproduction, wondered what the new phenomenon says about the meaning of life and aging.
"As a feminist, I have to ask, What are these infertility programs saying about women's roles?" she said. "It is not enough to just say that it's wrong. We have to ask why pregnancy is perceived as a solution" as women seek meaning in their lives.
Dr. Gilbert C. Meilander Jr., an ethicist and theologian at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Ind., said he was "reluctant to use right-wrong language."
"I'm reluctant to say, 'Well, it's just wrong to bear a child at that age,' " Dr. Meilander said. "I might say something like, 'It just doesn't seem fitting.' That's a little weaker, but it captures our sense that there is a kind of unwillingness or inability to come to terms with what the trajectory of a life really is."
The argument that older men often father children and face little public censure does not sway Dr. Meilander and others. Almost always, he said, these are old men married to young women, "so there will be at least one member of the couple who is not pretending to be young." Dr. Leon Kass, a professor of social thought at the University of Chicago, was also troubled by pregnancies among older women. His gravest fear, he said, is that the woman's child "will be prevented from really being a child."
After all, he said, when she is 15, her mother will be 78, and, in essence, "she will be looking after her grandparents." A teen-ager, he said, "will have responsibility for people that those of us in our 40's and 50's have struggled with," people at an age when they "become senile, become ill."
The woman, Dr. Kass said, "has thought about herself and her desire to have a child," but he questions whether she has "really thought about what it means."
Beyond that, Dr. Kass said, pregnancies in older women raise profound questions about the human life cycle. "One feels that people are finding the natural boundaries of life unacceptable," he said. And, he added, "once you go that route, there's absolutely no limit."
"Nobody wants to stand around and point a finger at this woman and say, 'You're immoral,' " Dr. Kass said. "But generalize the practice and ask yourself, What does it really mean that we don't accept the life cycle or the life course? That's one of the big problems of the contemporary scene. You've got all kinds of people who make a living and support themselves but who psychologically are not grown up. We have a culture of functional immaturity."
And, he said, as the example of the 63-year-old woman illustrates, "there really is no cultural script that guides anyone."
But maybe such scripts are period pieces. R. Alta Charo, a law professor and ethicist at the University of Wisconsin, said the moral question of having mothers who had passed menopause was last discussed about two years ago when an Italian doctor announced a similar feat, with a woman who was just slightly younger than the one at the University of Southern California. The "argument from nature," Ms. Charo said, did not persuade her.
That argument, she said, assumes that "if women's bodies aren't capable of making babies after menopause, then there's something inherently wrong with doing something that nature doesn't permit." But, she said, we do not hesitate in medicine to do all sorts of unnatural things to heal the sick or to delay death. "Over and over again, we see very different reasons to circumvent what is biologically programmed," she said.
Dr. Susan Sherwin, a professor of philosophy and women's studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said she was concerned by the "worrisome social attitudes" that she saw in the anxiety about elderly women giving birth.
"I do think there is a tendency for society to want to write off postmenopausal women," she said. "Women are primarily valued as a class for sexual and reproductive purposes." She added that when, by allowing postmenopausal women to give birth, "we want to move them back into these categories, we feel there is something odd." But, Dr. Sherwin said, "what is it that we are horrified about?"
"Is it that she may not live long enough to see her child grow up?" she asked. "If so, we should be equally horrified by elderly men" who father children. "It seems to me that symmetry should apply."

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April 28, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Budget Negotiators Step Gingerly Toward Deal

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section B; Page 10; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 867 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 27

After years of partisan warfare over balancing the Federal budget, the White House and Congressional Republicans enter this week closer to a deal than ever before. But both sides are still wary that the delicate negotiations could collapse under an array of political pressures, officials said today.
After trading offers last week on critical components of any budget package, including tax cuts, spending levels for domestic and military programs and reductions in the rapid growth of Medicare expenditures, both sides now say their biggest problem is not the numerical gap between them, but finding a structure that allows both sides to claim victory on their priority issues. 
 Republican negotiators continue to insist that they cannot sell any deal to their party that does not include reductions in capital gains taxes, for example. But the Clinton Administration is arguing that it will not be able to bring Congressional Democrats along if its proposals on education, the environment and welfare are not accommodated, people involved in the talks said.
Discussions in coming days are likely to cover some of the most politically sensitive topics the negotiators have faced as they look for ways to pay for both sides' demands. Both sides have expressed some willingness to reduce the cost-of-living adjustments paid to Social Security recipients, a step that could set off explosive opposition from the elderly and other interest groups but that could save tens of billions of dollars over the next five years.
Republicans will also have to decide whether they are willing to accept the slightly more optimistic economic assumptions used by the Administration in calculating the size of future deficits, a largely technical step but one that could reduce the necessary spending cuts by billions of dollars a year. Republicans in earlier years have adamantly opposed such a move, saying the Administration's numbers could not be trusted, but they have softened their opposition as the White House's figures have proved credible, and they seem likely to agree to a compromise.
"We will know within a few days if we can get an agreement early or not," President Clinton said in an interview broadcast today on the CBS News program "Face the Nation."
"I think there's a good chance we can," Mr. Clinton said, adding that negotiations had reached a stage at which "the less we say about it in public and the more we work these things through, the better."
The budget negotiators hope to reach a deal by the time Mr. Clinton leaves on a trip to Central and South America on May 5. Republicans have made clear that if no bipartisan agreement is reached by then, they will press ahead in Congress with a budget blueprint of their own.
Although negotiations would no doubt continue if no deal is struck this week, both sides have warned that reaching an agreement will only become more difficult as the wings of both parties exert pressure on moderates to eschew any compromises.
Indeed, because the talks up to this point have been dominated by moderate pragmatists from both sides, both Republicans and Democrats said one of the biggest challenges to finalizing any deal would be selling it to their own parties. Both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans have been warning leaders of their parties not to sell out their principles to get a deal.
Although leaders of both parties have long since conceded that they will lose the extremists in their ranks in any compromise, they remain unsure whether they will be able to fashion a broad-based coalition of moderates willing to withstand the political pressure that would come from giving even a partial victory to the other side.
Officials said some of this week's negotiating sessions would be held in secret. Administration officials, including Franklin D. Raines, the budget chief, John Hilley, the Congressional liaison, and Gene Sperling, the chairman of the National Economic Council, have been working closely with a Republican team led by Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and Representative John R. Kasich of Ohio. Congressional Democrats have been represented in the talks by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Representative John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina.
On taxes, Republicans have reduced their initial demand for $200 billion in cuts over the next five years to $150 billion, partly paid for by nearly $50 billion raised by extending existing taxes or closing loopholes. The Administration has raised its offer of $98 billion in cuts to $125 billion, both offset by $76 billion from extending taxes and closing loopholes.
On Medicare, which has been one of the most divisive issues of the last several years, the Republicans want to cut the planned spending growth by $126 billion over five years, while the Administration's latest offer is $105 billion, up from an earlier proposal of $100 billion.
Both sides said that perhaps the most difficult remaining disagreement was over financing for domestic programs, where Republicans are seeking cuts roughly twice as deep as those the Clinton Administration and Congressional Democrats have been willing to consider.      

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April 29, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Lott Now Opposes Change in Inflation Adjuster

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 719 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 28

The Senate Republican leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, today all but ruled out reducing cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients to help balance the budget. His remarks complicated prospects for a bipartisan deal to eliminate the Federal deficit even as the two sides prepared for a big push to reach agreement this week.
Mr. Lott said President Clinton had waited too long to signal a willingness to take the political heat that changing the cost-of-living formula would generate. As a result, he said, Republicans have become so fearful of being blamed for harming the interests of the elderly and other powerful constituencies that they will not vote for any budget package that provides for revising the formula. 
 "I think it's too late," said Mr. Lott, who had publicly prodded Mr. Clinton for months to support such a change.
On Sunday, Mr. Clinton said he would be willing to consider changing the formula because most economists agree that the Consumer Price Index, on which the adjustments are based, overstates the effects of inflation. Although the White House had been wary of embracing any change publicly, Administration officials had said for months that they thought revising the index could be part of a budget package, saving tens of billions of dollars over the next five years.
Taking a change in the index off the table in the budget negotiations, as Mr. Lott apparently did today, puts increased pressure on the two sides to find other ways of bridging the differences between them. Among the most likely options now is for Republicans to adopt economic assumptions closer to the slightly more optimistic outlook used by the Administration in calculating how big the deficit will be in coming years.
Several Republicans said today that they were increasingly open to using more optimistic numbers, especially since strong economic growth and tax revenue so far this year make it likely that the deficit for 1997 will come in far lower than either the Administration or the Congressional Budget Office projected.
White House officials will consult with Democrats on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to gauge their willingness to go along with elements of a compromise that have taken shape over several months of negotiations.
Leaving Philadelphia today after attending the conference on volunteerism there, Mr. Clinton told reporters that he was returning to Washington "to try to conclude our budget negotiations within the next, I don't know, two days" -- a timetable he quickly amended to "two months, two years."
But in one sign of how far the negotiations have come, some influential House Republicans said they were largely satisfied with the tax-cutting package worked out between the two sides. That compromise would allow a net tax cut of about $100 billion over the next five years, after accounting for some $50 billion in revenue increases from the closing of loopholes and extending existing taxes that would otherwise expire.
Key Senate Republicans including William V. Roth Jr. of Delaware, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, have been pressing for net tax cuts of at least $143 billion, but they rely in part on reductions in the cost-of-living formula for Social Security to pay for them.
One Republican said that even at $100 billion, Republicans could get a reduction in the capital gains and estate taxes and a credit for families with children -- all goals they have considered non-negotiable.
After exchanging offers last week, Republicans and the White House remain about $50 billion short of eliminating the deficit by the target year, 2002. Both sides now say it is increasingly likely that they will find some way of saving at least half of that $50 billion by changing the economic assumptions underlying any deal.
The Administration's slightly more optimistic outlook for the economy and for future deficits has won increased credibility in recent weeks as strong growth and an unexpected surge in tax receipts have led forecasters to revise sharply downward their estimate for this year's deficit. Many economists are now projecting a deficit of around $90 billion, the lowest in 16 years and well below the $125 billion forecast by the Administration and the $113 billion forecast by the Congressional Budget Office.

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April 30, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Progress Reported in White House-Congress Talks on Budget

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section D; Page 22; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 867 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 29

The White House and negotiators from both parties in Congress inched closer to a deal on balancing the Federal budget today, with both sides saying a compromise was possible, but by no means certain, within days.
Clinton Administration officials scurried between meetings on Capitol Hill, sounding out Congressional Democrats and hearing almost nothing but criticism that the White House was too eager to get a deal with the Republicans. But officials said President Clinton was prepared to meet with the leaders of both parties to try to bridge the remaining differences, which center on the size and composition of the tax cuts demanded by Republicans and the insistence among Democrats that cuts in domestic spending be limited. 
 "We have an opportunity here in the next 24 hours to come to closure on this," said Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader.
The broad outlines of the deal under discussion include a net tax cut of about $100 billion over the next five years, a reduction in the growth of Medicare spending of at least $105 billion, and cuts in domestic programs greater than the $46 billion contained in the budget proposal that the President sent to Congress earlier this year.
But the two sides would still fall about $50 billion short of eliminating the deficit by the target date of 2002. They hope to plug that hole in part by adopting slightly more optimistic assumptions about the size of future deficits than Republicans had previously been willing to consider.
Last year's budget deficit was $107 billion, the lowest since 1981, and even without a budget deal the deficit is declining sharply again this year because of unexpectedly strong economic growth and a surprising surge in tax revenue. Government analysts said this year's deficit could be as low as $90 billion, and some private economists think that number could be as low as $70 billion. The total budget this year is $1.6 trillion.
Negotiators from both sides also showed a new willingness today to publicly embrace a change in the way cost-of-living adjustments are calculated for Social Security recipients, a money-saving move that budget analysts have long said would be a critical component in any deal. Both Democratic and Republican officials said they would support including in the budget a reduction in the Consumer Price Index of a quarter of a percentage point, or perhaps a bit more, to reflect revisions in the index being studied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Such a change would save tens of billions of dollars by 2002, the year by which both parties have pledged to eliminate the Federal deficit. Some influential Democrats and Republicans had been pressing for a far bigger revision on the ground that the index appears to overstate inflation by more than one percentage point, but they ran afoul of intense opposition from the elderly and other powerful interest groups.
As recently as Monday, Senator Lott had said Republicans could not vote for any change in the index. But today he said that if the change derived from recommendations by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "that would be a different matter."
Administration officials were slightly more cautious, especially after spending the day hearing warnings from Congressional Democrats that they would not go along with a deal that did not fully protect spending on education, health care, the environment and welfare.
Senate Democrats told Administration officials at a closed-door meeting that they were particularly concerned about the White House's apparent acquiescence to Republican demands for tax reductions that would become increasingly costly after the five years covered by the agreement they are negotiating. Republicans are particularly intent on a deep reduction in the capital gains tax on profit from the sale of stocks, real estate and other assets.
Tax analysts project that a reduction in the tax could generate additional revenue for the Government in the short run by encouraging people to sell assets that they would otherwise have held onto. But there is deep disagreement among economists about whether that effect would continue in the long run, with one camp insisting that the cost of the tax cuts would mount rapidly, and the other arguing that the tax cuts would spur greater economic growth and a continued surge in revenue.
Democrats in both the House and the Senate also subjected Administration officials, including the White House chief of staff, Erskine B. Bowles, to sharp criticism of the Administration's handling of the budget negotiations, saying Mr. Clinton should strike a more aggressive posture with Republicans and not be so eager to get a deal.
"Almost everyone there believes strongly that we need a balanced budget," Mr. Bowles said after meeting with House Democrats. "Some would rather for us to wait and discuss it for a longer period. "
But Administration officials as well as Mr. Lott are pushing hard to wrap up a deal before the President leaves on a trip to Mexico next week. While both sides said they were prepared to continue negotiating indefinitely, the negotiators have said their job will become harder as time passes.      

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May 1, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Conseco Planning to Acquire Colonial Penn

BYLINE: By Bloomberg News 

SECTION: Section D; Page 5; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 339 words

DATELINE: CARMEL, Ind., April 30

Conseco Inc., continuing a string of acquisitions that helped its earnings more than double in the first quarter, said today that it had agreed to buy a unit of the Leucadia National Corporation for $460 million.
The purchase of the unit, the Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company, from Leucadia, a New York holding company, will give Conseco a direct-mail sales system. That is consistent with a desire among larger insurance companies to sell insurance without using agents. 
 Colonial Penn relies on advertising, including television campaigns, to sell its policies. It focuses on elderly customers, offering a life insurance policy that requires no physical exam but that pays a lower benefit to those who die within two years of enrolling.
 The acquisition, for $60 million in cash and $400 million in five-year debt, is the latest in a series of consolidations in the insurance industry and furthers the transformation of Conseco through purchases. It may also help Conseco, which is based here, become a key seller to baby boomers planning for retirement.
 In seeking growth, Conseco is more "interested in the existing direct mail system that's set up there than they are in Colonial Penn's life insurance products," said Cathy Seifert, an equity analyst at Standard & Poor's.
 During the last year, Conseco has bought the Life Partners Group, Transport Holdings Inc., the American Travellers Corporation and the Capitol American Financial Corporation. It has also purchased the shares it did not already own of American Life Holdings Inc. and the Bankers Life Holding Corporation.
Reflecting its acquisitions, Conseco's operating profit rose to $119.1 million, or 59 cents a share, in the first quarter from $48.4 million, or 44 cents a share, in the comparable period a year earlier. Net income was $111.5 million, or 49 cents a share, up from $46.3 million, or 42 cents a share.
On the New York Stock Exchange today, Conseco was unchanged at $41.375. The price has almost quadrupled in two years.      

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May 2, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

THE BUDGET BATTLE: THE CUTS;
Negotiators Move to Rein In Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 24; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 856 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 1

The budget deal shaping up on Capitol Hill would significantly restrain the growth of spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, further reducing the Federal deficit. But lobbyists for the elderly and governors of both parties said today that they found parts of the agreement unacceptable.
Under the agreement, as outlined today by negotiators of both parties, millions of retirees would face higher Medicare premiums and would receive somewhat smaller Social Security checks in future years than they would get under current law. 
 In addition, Federal spending on health benefits for poor people under Medicaid would probably be capped for the first time, a radical change in a program that has been open-ended since its creation in 1965.
The negotiators also said they had accepted President Clinton's proposal to shore up Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund by shifting much of the cost of home health care to another account, which pays doctors' bills. But contrary to Mr. Clinton's suggestion, Republicans insisted that home health costs be financed by higher premiums, and they have apparently prevailed.
Congressional experts estimate that this change would eventually add $8.70 to the monthly Medicare premium, which is now $43.80 and is already expected to rise to $51.50 by 2002 under current law. Elderly people with incomes below a certain level, perhaps $30,000 a year, would not have to pay the extra premium for home health care.
Representative Pete Stark of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said he could not vote for the budget blueprint in its current form. But he offered to help the Republicans write their proposal to increase Medicare premiums.
"We'll win back the House if they do it," Mr. Stark said. In last year's election campaign, Democrats battered Republicans for proposing Medicare cutbacks, and Republicans acknowledge that the attacks hurt them.
Congressional Republicans and Clinton Administration officials said they had tentatively agreed to reduce projected Medicare spending by $115 billion, or 8.5 percent, over the next five years, splitting the difference between them. Mr. Clinton had originally proposed to cut Medicare spending by $100 billion in that period, but later increased his offer to $105 billion. The Republicans had sought savings of $125 billion.
The proposed changes would keep Medicare's hospital trust fund solvent until 2008 but would not address the huge fiscal problems that will face the entire program after baby boomers start to retire in 2011.
The emerging budget agreement would also shave perhaps four-tenths of one percentage point from the annual cost-of-living adjustment in Social Security and other benefits. Supporters of this proposal said it would partly correct the overstatement of inflation that many economists perceive in the Consumer Price Index.
Dan J. Schulder, a lobbyist for the National Council of Senior Citizens, said the developing budget agreement was "a bad deal for seniors."
John C. Rother, chief lobbyist at the American Association of Retired Persons, which has more than 33 million members, said:
"The authors of this agreement are cutting Medicaid. They're raising premiums for Medicare beneficiaries. They're cutting Social Security cost-of-living adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. Those changes all affect low-income people.
"At the same time, they're cutting taxes on estates and on capital gains to benefit the better-off. This is income redistribution in reverse. It makes us more unequal as a society."
The budget negotiators have agreed to cut projected spending on Medicaid, the Federal-state health program for low-income people, by $22 billion to $24 billion, or 4 percent, over the next five years.
The negotiators assume that much of the savings will be achieved by setting firm limits on Federal spending for each Medicaid beneficiary -- a "per capita cap," like the one Mr. Clinton proposed in February.
The National Governors' Association joined advocates for the elderly and for children in denouncing this proposal today. They said the proposal undercut efforts to expand health insurance coverage of children.
A letter to Mr. Clinton signed by 41 governors says, "We adamantly oppose a cap on Federal Medicaid spending in any form."
As for Medicare, budget negotiators said they were determined to curb its spending on home health services, which has exploded in recent years, rising to $16.7 billion in 1996 from $3.3 billion in 1990. Medicare patients treasure the benefit because it allows them to receive care in their own homes, rather than in a hospital, a doctor's office or a nursing home.
Home health agencies are now paid a separate amount for each visit, based on their costs, and there is no limit on the number of visits. Under the plan being devised in Congress, those agencies would receive a fixed amount of money for all the visits to a patient in a given period, perhaps four months. If they provided the services for less than that amount, they could keep some of the savings.      

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May 2, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Before His Armed Standoff, Texan Waged War on Neighbors in Court

BYLINE: By SAM HOWE VERHOVEK 

SECTION: Section A; Page 12; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1413 words

DATELINE: FORT DAVIS, Tex., May 1

From a trailer in the sun-bleached mountains of West Texas, Richard L. McLaren declared himself at war with the United States five days ago. But as far as the people of Fort Davis are concerned, he has been at war with them for the past 14 years.
His weapon of choice was the legal petition, his battleground the silver-domed Jeff Davis County Courthouse in the middle of town. Dressed in jeans, a tweed coat and beat-up tennis shoes, Mr. McLaren was a daily presence there, says the county clerk, Sue Blackley. And in a cramped file room, drawers of old legal documents offer evidence of a bewildering array of volleys -- lawsuits, affidavits, contested land surveys and deeds of trust -- aimed at his neighbors. 
 The lawsuits here offer a striking early preview of the tactic that Mr. McLaren more recently came to employ statewide and that Texas authorities have described as "paper terrorism." They say members of his Republic of Texas group, which claims that Texas is still an independent nation and that the group controls all state assets, have clogged courthouses around the state with thousands of bogus liens and other claims.
As the standoff continued tonight, state negotiators made their final offer, said Mike Cox, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. "It is now in his court to respond to this," Mr. Cox was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency, but he declined to give details of the offer and did not say how long Mr. McLaren had to respond.
In the earlier lawsuits, Mr. McLaren -- who is not even a native Texan, but a son of the Midwest who dates his fascination with Texas to a third-grade book report on the Alamo -- did much the same thing. He swamped his imagined enemies with so much paperwork that some simply surrendered, unable or unwilling to pay the legal fees to fight off his fraudulent claims.
With more than 80 of his neighbors thrown out of their homes by the government standoff with the Republic group that began on Sunday, people here have plenty of reason to dislike the 43-year-old Mr. McLaren. But his nasty legal battles here further help explain the profound enmity that so many residents of this quiet mile-high town feel for him.
The feeling seems to be universal: even mild-looking elderly women say they want the government to "blow him away" or "take him out," ending the siege and ridding Fort Davis forever of the town menace. To hear some people talk now, it is a wonder Mr. McLaren did not take a bullet in the back years ago.
"His whole operation has always involved getting something for nothing," said Joe Rowe, the man who was shot in the arm and taken hostage for 14 hours by three of Mr. McLaren's followers Sunday, and a former president of the property owners' association where Mr. McLaren lives. "He's been involved in one land grab after another."
Mr. McLaren filed a lawsuit in 1985 challenging the way the association spent its annual fees; after a decade of legal battles at the courthouse, an out-of-court agreement resulted in Mr. McLaren's being given 20 lots, $87,000 in cash, and two buildings, including the old firehouse that had served as his "embassy" until he moved further up the mountains.
Another property owner, desperate to care for a daughter who had cancer and a grandson who had been gravely hurt in a car crash, found his assets tied up by liens Mr. McLaren had filed. The man, Larry Stewart, gave up 100 acres of land in order to get Mr. McLaren to drop his claims.
In all cases that can be studied at the courthouse, those who decided to fight Mr. McLaren to the end did win, but often at great personal and financial cost.
"I just decided I'd be danged if this bozo was going to get anything of ours," said Mary Lynn Wofford, the owner of the Paradise Ranch Bed and Breakfast, whose family has been on the land for four generations. She spent 12 years and $100,000 battling 17 separate claims by Mr. McLaren that their 11,000-acre ranch was illegally surveyed.
Last September -- "It was the 17th of September, at 10:38 in the morning," Mrs. Wofford says -- she won in state court. But Mr. McLaren ignores any judgment that orders him to pay legal fees of his opponents, pointing up a supreme irony in all his legal battles.
As much as he has used the legal system against his opponents, he seems to have completely avoided paying any awards that have gone against him -- indeed, he has never paid his taxes here and is $3,300 in arrears, according to the county tax assessor. As Mr. McLaren explained in an interview earlier this year, such judgments against him are meaningless. He is the head of the nation of Texas, he said, and state courts are illegal entities.
Said Michael T. Morgan, a Midland, Tex., lawyer who represents a Houston title company that secured a $1.8 million judgment against Mr. McLaren for fraud and slander, which he has never paid: "Unless the judgment was granted by a court of his creation, he seems quite willing to ignore it."
Last spring, Mr. McLaren was jailed in Pecos after he refused to stop filing liens against the title company. In June, after posting a $10,000 bond and promising to stop, he was released. Back in the mountains, he quickly resumed directing a statewide campaign of "legal terrorism," as the state described it.
Members of his group filed liens against Gov. George W. Bush, the state's Chief Judge, the Attorney General, and hundreds of other individuals and businesses. Last year the A. H. Belo Corporation, which owns The Dallas Morning News, spent six months and $12,500 in legal fees to fight off a $1 billion lien.
The false liens, a tactic used by the Freemen separatist group in Montana, can cost thousands of dollars and months of aggravation to settle.
Governor Bush persuaded the State Legislature earlier this year to pass emergency legislation making the filing of false liens a criminal act under many circumstances.
In expanding his legal battles to the state, Mr. McLaren also has boasted of buying computers, cellular telephones, fax machines and other expensive equipment with official-looking Republic of Texas checks, which claim to be backed by the "full faith and credit of the people of Texas." State officials say group members have passed at least $3 million of the worthless checks.
All these tactics, it seems, had their incubation during the years Mr. McLaren was harassing his neighbors with legal claims, usually on property adjacent to his own. Indeed, he has said, it was while researching old land claims in West Texas a few years ago that it suddenly dawned on him: Texas was never legally annexed to the Union.
Mr. McLaren's roots hardly suggest those of a man who would come to proclaim himself the leader of the nation of Texas.
A graduate of the Wilmington, Ohio, High School class of 1972, Mr. McLaren was described by his former father-in-law as "a little high-strung" and "real nervous," as well as lazy, but also a man with a humorous side who was constantly cracking jokes, The Cincinnati Post reported this week. He attended some college; he never went to law school.
Mr. McLaren moved to West Texas sometime in the late 1970's, apparently after seeing an article in Texas Highways magazine that featured the spectacular scenery of the area. At first, he did a variety of odd jobs, including carpentry, and, in a place where many people come to be left alone, he did not seem to bother anybody. He later worked in an organic winery in the Davis Mountains Resort, the subdivision where he is holed up, and eventually came to own the enterprise.
While much can be gleaned about Mr. McLaren, less is known about his followers, especially the hard core of a dozen or so armed Republic "guards" now bunkered down with him at the "embassy."
A dissident faction of the Republic of Texas said today that it had issued an arrest warrant for Mr. McLaren, charging him with fraud and treason.
Several neighbors describe the people around Mr. McLaren, including the three who took Mr. Rowe and his wife hostage on Sunday, as "true believers" who are more than willing to die for the cause, preferably in an Alamo-style gun battle with state or Federal agents.
But, Mr. Cox said earlier, officials were not planning a gun battle, and remained hopeful that a peaceful surrender could be arranged. After a day and a half of silence, Mr. McLaren picked up the phone today at the trailer, and started talking again, Mr. Cox said.

LOAD-DATE: May 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: In a photograph taken on April 11, Richard McLaren, head of the Republic of Texas, sat in the Fort Davis, Tex., building he calls the group's embassy, where he has been holed with his followers since Sunday. (Annie Etheridge/Sygma)      

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May 3, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

THE BUDGET BATTLE: THE BENEFITS;
Budget Negotiators Soften Impact of Cuts for Elderly

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 12; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 813 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 2

The economic windfall that put billions of additional dollars into the budget pot allowed negotiators today to soften the impact of their proposed cutbacks in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
The last-minute revisions went far to assuage the concerns of the elderly, whose lobbyists said tonight that the agreement reached by President Clinton and Congressional Republicans had improved substantially in the last 36 hours and was now more acceptable to them. 
 Among the changes they applauded were the scaling back of an increase in monthly Medicare premiums to $1 from $8, the removal of a cap on Medicaid spending for the poor and the moderation of a proposed change in the Consumer Price Index that would have lowered Social Security and other Government benefit payments.
The budget negotiators said they had softened the effect of their plan on beneficiaries after adopting more optimistic economic assumptions, which produced higher estimates of expected revenues in the coming decade.
Martin A. Corry, director of Federal affairs at the American Association of Retired Persons, which has more than 33 million members, said tonight, "We want to get more details, but it appears that the package improved markedly in the last 36 hours."
Here are some highlights of the budget-balancing agreement, as provided by Congressional leaders and Administration officials:
*Projected spending on Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, would be reduced by $115 billion, or 8.5 percent, over the next five years.
*Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, now expected to run out of money in 2001, would remain solvent until 2008.
*The cost of home health care services, which has soared in recent years, would be shifted from the hospital trust fund to a separate Medicare trust fund, which pays doctors' bills. To help cover these costs, Medicare premiums, now $43.80 a month, would be gradually increased over the next five years. But beneficiaries would not have to pay the extra amounts if their family incomes were less than the official poverty level ($9,491 for an elderly couple) or as much as 20 percent above the poverty threshold.
*Projected Federal spending on Medicaid, the health program for low-income people, would be reduced by 3 percent, or $16 billion to $17 billion, over the next five years. Most of the savings would be achieved by cutting special payments to hospitals that serve large numbers of indigent patients.
At the last minute, negotiators dropped their plan to impose firm limits on Federal spending for each Medicaid beneficiary -- a "per capita cap," which would have saved $9 billion from 1998 to 2002. President Clinton had proposed such a cap, but it was vehemently opposed by governors of both parties and by advocates for children and the elderly.
The Federal Government would earmark $15 billion to $17 billion in the next five years for new initiatives to provide health insurance for children. The goal is to provide coverage for five million youngsters, or half of the nation's uninsured children. Budget negotiators did not say whether the money would be used to expand Medicaid, to provide lump-sum grants to the states or to finance some other approach.
Medicare would offer several new preventive health benefits, to help detect diabetes, colorectal cancer and breast cancer. Mr. Clinton proposed these benefits, and Speaker Newt Gingrich enthusiastically supported the proposal on diabetes.
Starting in 2000, the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits would be reduced slightly, compared with the amounts that would be paid under current law. Budget negotiators said this change would save perhaps $10 billion to $15 billion from 2000 to 2002. It is justified, they said, because many economists believe that the Consumer Price Index, used as a basis for computing the cost-of-living adjustment, overstates inflation.
House Republicans said the proposal would lower the cost-of-living adjustment by 0.1 to 0.25 of a percentage point -- less than $2 a month for a retired worker receiving the average Social Security benefit of $745 a month. Under the budget agreement, Congress will not legislate a specific cut, but assumes that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will make the appropriate "corrections" in the Consumer Price Index.
Senator John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, said it was fortunate that the budget negotiators had dropped the idea of a cap on Medicaid spending because "that proposal wouldn't have flown anyway," given the opposition of governors and health care advocates.
Jose M. Zuniga, a spokesman for the AIDS Action Council, a lobbying group for people with AIDS, said, "We are thrilled that the Medicaid cap has apparently been dropped." But he said, "We are still concerned about the other cuts in Medicaid."

LOAD-DATE: May 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Graph: "At Issue: Slowing the Growth" shows Medicaid and Medicare revenue from 1967-97. (Source: Office of Management and Budget)

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May 3, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

News Analysis;
The Mantra For 1997: It's the Best Of Times

BYLINE: By DAVID E. SANGER 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 37; Column 5; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 921 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 2

When it comes to economic news, it does not get much better than this.
Unemployment, the Government concluded today, fell below 5 percent for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. Economic growth in the first quarter of the year, at 5.6 percent, was nearly double the predictions. 
 And in striking the broad outlines of a budget deal, Democrats and Republicans engaged in the kind of budget negotiation no one could have anticipated a year ago: haggling over what to do with an unexpected surge in Government revenues that, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate that raced around Capitol Hill this morning, could bring an extra $200 billion to the Treasury over the next five years. (In minutes, they found several things to do with it.)
Spurred on by the dedication today of the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial on the Mall, people in Washington even began talking in overarching terms about today's economy as the fulfillment of a grander vision.
"If we were in 1945 now on the day F.D.R. died," Michael Beschloss, the historian, said today, "and we tried to imagine the best scenario for a half-century later, this would be it: unemployment this low and a country that is at the center of an interdependent world economy."
Herbert Stein, the chairman of the council of economic advisers in the Nixon Administration, said today, "I remember when we held a press conference around this time in 1972 and I said what we had was the best combination of economic numbers in history -- and then I amended that to say I meant the Christian era of history." But the numbers then, he added, were reached somewhat artificially, with the benefit of price controls. "I think the numbers are even better now," he added, "because they are purer."
But good economic news always has a way of making people nervous, and this time is no exception.
The political impact of prosperity has been clear here this week. It has forestalled some truly difficult political choices as the White House and Congressional leaders raced to put together the budget package.
With the extra $200 billion in hand (the fact that it was a projection, and a rough one at that, was considered a small detail), both parties were able to sidestep a politically unpopular recalculation of the rate of inflation, a recalculation that would effectively lower the increases for Social Security recipients and other beneficiaries of entitlement programs. Most of the evidence suggests that the current inflation rate is significantly overstated.
But the political reality is that the good times helped Washington avoid a face-off with the politically powerful groups that represent the elderly, led by the American Association of Retired Persons.
The longer-term risks of celebrating good times, though, are harder to measure.
Countries have a way of convincing themselves that they have found the magic formula, to the point of ignoring disturbing signals of trouble -- Japan in the late 1980's comes to mind.
Markets have the same tendency. The Treasury Secretary, Robert E. Rubin, never stops reminding his aides that Wall Street traders -- he once was one -- move from extremes of optimism to extremes of pessimism even faster than politicians do. Every new sign of economic expansion, profit growth and budget peace only fuels what Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, termed "irrational exuberance" -- because the news makes exuberance seem a lot more rational.
And perhaps it is more rational. "Looking at the last 20 or 25 years, what has recently been going on is one hell of a lot better -- well significantly better -- than virtually anybody thought possible," said Charles L. Schultze, who headed the Council of Economic Advisers in the inflation-ridden days of the Carter Administration.
"If you had told me and 90 percent of my colleagues just three of four years ago that you could push the unemployment rate down to below 5 percent, and inflation would have for all practical purposes no uptick, we would have said that you are just plain wrong," he said.
Mr. Schultze has identified only one of several recent economic guesses that have turned wrong.
The Treasury and the Congressional Budget Office were not even close in predicting the kind of revenue that has flowed into Washington, the logical consequence of economic growth rates that were also underestimated. Of course, that is the kind of mistake everyone likes to discover. "The scary part," said one Treasury official early this week, "is that if you can't make good guesses six months out, what does that say about our ability to project a balanced budget five years out?"
Naturally, all this good news leads to the natural question: Can it last?
Perhaps the better way to put that question is whether the Federal Reserve will let it last, or whether Mr. Greenspan thinks the heat will come out of the economy of its own accord.
The conventional wisdom, naturally, is that the decline in the unemployment rate will force the Fed's hand when it meets on May 20, even without evidence of inflation.
Nonetheless, the bond markets, perhaps looking to the long term, decided this afternoon that maybe a budget deal was not such a bad idea after all. Worries about the Fed were put aside, and interest rates dropped after the news flashed across screens around the world.
That was exactly the reassuring vote of confidence the White House was looking for, whether the deal President Clinton announced was the best to be had or not.

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May 3, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

THE BUDGET BATTLE: THE OVERVIEW;
AFTER YEARS OF WRANGLING, ACCORD IS REACHED ON PLAN TO BALANCE BUDGET BY 2002

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1658 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 2

The Clinton Administration reached agreement with the Republican leadership today on a plan to balance the Federal budget in five years, using a last-minute financial windfall to help forge a deal that could alter the nation's economic and political landscape.
The pact came after years of bitter partisan wrangling, months of intense negotiations and several hours of high drama in which an astounding piece of news -- that deficits over the next five years were likely to be $225 billion lower than the Republicans had previously projected -- provided the final impetus to completing the deal. 
 In the end, that unexpected maneuvering room enabled both sides to claim victory in achieving their primary goals without undue political pain, although both the White House and the Republican leadership still had to rally support for the package within their own parties.
President Clinton argued that he had won new spending for education, health insurance for children, welfare benefits and other programs that he had made the core of his second-term agenda, all while protecting the elderly from big increases in their Medicare premiums.
"I wanted a balanced budget with balanced values," Mr. Clinton said. "I believe we have got it today."
Republicans exultantly claimed a prize that has eluded them for years, a big tax cut, including a reduction in the capital gains tax, as well as success in scaling back overall domestic spending and beginning to rein in the costs of Medicare and other entitlement programs.
"Under this budget agreement, official Washington must learn to make do with less, while Americans will keep more of what they earn, and they will be able to save it and invest it in their own families," said Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican majority leader.
The agreement does not insure that the budget will be balanced by 2002, because it cannot anticipate possible economic downturns or tax and spending decisions by Congress. And although the agreement won far more support today from liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans than did the outline that circulated on Capitol Hill on Thursday, it must still go through a legislative process that provides opportunities for changes and conflicts.
In a broader sense, the agreement gave Mr. Clinton a chance at a place in history as the President who restored the nation to a degree of fiscal and economic health it has not enjoyed in decades, an assertion that was bolstered by the news today that unemployment had fallen to 4.9 percent, its lowest rate in 23 years.
For the Republican majority in Congress, it was a chance to repair its image as overly partisan and obstructionist and to take home to voters a fiscal austerity package that leaves them largely insulated from Democratic attacks.
That the two sides were able to reach an agreement with so little political pain was largely a function of the strong economy, and the resulting decline in the deficit. Even without a budget agreement, this year's deficit is now expected to fall nearly 30 percent, to $75 billion, its lowest level relative to the size of the economy in more than two decades.
The Federal budget was last in balance in 1969. It began growing rapidly in the early 1980's after President Reagan and a Democratic Congress enacted tax cuts and spending increases and hit a peak of $290 billion in 1992. Since then the deficit has steadily declined, thanks in part to tax increases pushed through by Mr. Clinton in 1993 over Republican objections but primarily to a long period of steady economic growth.
The deal's major provisions, covering 1998 through 2002, include these:
*A reduction of $58 billion in domestic nonmilitary spending, about $12 billion more than Mr. Clinton had initially proposed. But the budget would provide $34 billion for most of Mr. Clinton's priority programs, including health insurance for up to 5 million children, the restoration of welfare benefits to legal immigrants and expanding the student loan and Head Start programs.
*A reduction in the planned growth of Medicare spending by $115 billion, accomplished largely through reductions in payments to health care providers. Elderly beneficiaries would have to pay slightly higher premiums. The Medicare trust fund, which would otherwise go bankrupt in 2001, would remain solvent until 2007.
*Tax cuts of $135 billion, partly offset by $50 billion in revenues from closing loopholes and extending existing taxes set to expire. The Republicans assured the White House that $35 billion of the cuts would be allocated to the President's proposal for tuition tax breaks. The remaining $100 billion would go to a reduction in the capital gains tax, a phased-in doubling of the amount exempted from estate taxes to $1.2 million and a credit for families with children.
The deal does not specify the size of the capital gains tax cut, but aides to Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who, as head of the House Ways and Means Committee, is responsible for all tax legislation, said there appeared to be enough money available to reduce the top rate to the Republican leadership's goal of 19.8 percent from 28 percent if the members of the committee agree to do so.
The cost of the tax cuts in the five years after 2002, a major impediment to a deal in the last few days, would be limited to $165 billion, a level that both sides agreed would not lead to a return of big deficits.
Although the broad outlines of the budget deal were in place by Thursday, it was completed this afternoon only after the negotiators agreed to tradeoffs made possible by the Congressional Budget Office's dramatic decision on Thursday to slash its deficit estimates for coming years.
The new projections allowed negotiators to take out politically sensitive components of the deal like a legislated change in the cost-of-living formula for Social Security and to scale back cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
The budget office told Republicans on Wednesday that it was working on new projections that would show the scope of the nation's fiscal problems to be far smaller than anticipated. By Thursday, budget office officials had concluded that the deficit would be about $45 billion a year lower than they had previously projected, $225 billion lower over the five years covered by the budget deal.
The negotiators, however, had already decided on their own to use slightly more optimistic assumptions about the deficit. Still, the gain was substantial, $12 billion for 2002 alone.
And the news was shocking to both sides. Administration officials learned of it on Thursday from a phone call during a meeting with House Democrats. They returned to the White House to mull over the implications, with some aides saying it could scuttle the deal by causing Republicans to demand bigger tax cuts and Democrats more spending.
Indeed, when the negotiators met at 9:45 this morning in a hideaway office deep under the Capitol, there was considerable tension on both sides, participants said. The Republican team was led by Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and Representative John R. Kasich of Ohio, along with their top aides, G. William Hoagland and Rick May. Congressional Democrats were represented by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Representative John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina. The Administration's team included Erskine B. Bowles, the White House chief of staff; Franklin D. Raines, the budget chief; Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin; John Hilley, the Congressional liaison, and Gene Sperling, the head of the National Economic Council.
But it quickly became apparent that both sides were willing to carve up the windfall in a way that would improve the agreement's prospects for winning bipartisan support, particularly given the negative reaction that early reports of the package had brought on Thursday from liberal House Democrats and conservative Republicans.
The negotiators decided that the new-found money gave them the chance to remove from the agreement a proposal that would have had the effect of lowering cost-of-living increases in Social Security and other Government benefits and raising taxes for some people. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress had warned that they might have to vote against the package if it contained the provision reducing the Government's main cost of living gauge, the Consumer Price Index, to correct for an overestimate of inflation by about one percentage point. The negotiators had planned to seek legislative approval to double a 0.15 percentage point reduction in the index expected to be implemented on technical grounds by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The negotiators agreed to phase in increased Medicare premiums over seven years instead of five, and to exempt more low-income recipients from higher premiums. At the urging of Vice President Al Gore, they eliminated a per-person cap on Medicaid spending, a proposal that had drawn fire from the nation's governors and from many Democrats. And they agreed that about $8 billion in additional funding could be allocated over five years for transportation spending.
As word of the changes spread across Capitol Hill, the compromises defused much of the criticism leveled at the deal on Thursday. Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the Democratic leader, said he was "encouraged at the movement towards addressing Democratic concerns."
Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said, "There's been some improvement but I still want to see more details." And in a sentiment common to many members of both parties who had watched the budget wars rage for the last several years, Senator Charles S. Robb, a Virginia Democrat, said, "This is the best deal either side could get."
 The article also referred incorrectly to a $290 billion figure from the 1992 budget. It represented the deficit that year, not the entire budget.

LOAD-DATE: May 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: May 8, 1997, Thursday

 CORRECTION:
An article on Saturday about a balanced-budget agreement between the White House and Congressional Republicans referred incorrectly to the party makeup of Congress in the early 1980's. While Democrats controlled the House, Republicans held the Senate.

GRAPHIC: Photos: Representative Bill Archer of Texas, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, is responsible for all tax legislation. (Associated Press)(pg. 1); Negotiators announced a budget deal yesterday. The Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, discussed details. Behind him, from left, were Senator Connie Mack, Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Pete V. Domenici. (Scott Robinson for The New York Times)(p. 12)
 
Chart: "The Deal"
Here are the highlights of yesterday's budget agreement. Figures are five-year totals. Spending cuts are subtracted from what would otherwise be spent to maintain existing programs through 2002.
 
Taxes
$135 billion in cuts, offset by some $50 billion in revenues from renewing expired taxes and closing lopholes. Scholarships and tax credits for college tuition, a White House favorite, will claim $35 billion. The other $100 billion will be used largely for tax credits for families with children; to lower estate taxes and to reduce the 28 per cent tax rate on capital gains; Republicans aim for a 19.8 per cent rate.
 
Domestic programs & benefits
$58 billion in unspecified program cuts; $34 billion in new spending to extend health and disability benefits to legal immigrants and to provide free health insurance for up to 5 million poor children.
 
Medicare
About $115 billion in savings, mostly by cutting payments to medical providers and increasing many insurance premiums by $1 a month.
 
Medicaid
About $16 billion in savings from limiting payments to hospitals that serve large numbers of medicaid patients.
 
Military
About $85 billion in unspecified cuts.
(pg. 12)

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May 4, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The RENTOCRACY;
The Case for Rent Regulation

BYLINE: By Sam Roberts;  Sam Roberts is deputy editor of the Week in Review section of The New York Times.

SECTION: Section 6; Page 43; Column 5; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 791 words

Here's where Bill Eimicke comes out on rent regulation: "Fundamentally, I have a problem with it, and I can understand anyone who believes in the United States system of capitalism would have a problem." Despite these reservations, he's for keeping some version of rent regulation -- doing away with it would be even worse. "There's more to risk than there is go gain." 
 Eimicke has earned the right to be heard on the subject. He is an unabashed liberal and Columbia University professor (and Columbia tenant) who as State Housing Commissioner during the Cuomo years administered the tangle of regulations that govern rents on more than one in three New York City dwellings. But Eimicke isn't enlisting in the crusade to scrap the system altogether.
Nobody defends the rent regulation bureaucracy that was first codified during World War II. But given some important conditions, knowledgeable people like Eimicke think the system remains defensible. Here's how they answer the arguments made against the regulatory regime loosely called "rent control."
[Only 70,000 of the city's 1.1 million or so regulated apartments are subject to the strictest controls.]
Rent control governs apartments built before 1947 and occupied by the same tenant since 1971. About a million more apartments (those built before 1973 with more than six units) are rent stabilized -- governed by somewhat looser regulations but with rent increases still subject to official guidelines. Nearly 600,000 other rental apartments are unregulated.
[Rent regulation applies citywide, but the debate about price controls largely concerns Manhattan.]
Among apartments renting for less than $600 a month, three out of four are governed by rent regulation. But in poorer neighborhoods, the market is already determined by what tenants can afford: market rents are below nominal regulated rents. In Jamaica, Queens, for example, according to the real-estate industry's estimates, market prices are about 25 percent less than the regulated rate. On the Upper West Side, though, the median rent would rise 36 percent a month if they were rapidly decontrolled. Without special protection, where would tenants on fixed incomes, the poor, the elderly and struggling artists go?
[What about all those celebrities who pay peanuts to rent cavernous apartments?]
Generally, vacated apartments become deregulated if they can be rented for $2,000 a month or more. Even occupied apartments can legally be deregulated if the rent reaches $2,000 and the household income surpasses $250,000 for two consecutive years. Maybe those thresholds are too high. Still, a tenant who earns even $100,000 but has a spouse and children to support might be hard pressed to pay 25 percent of his income on rent.
[Arguably, rent regulation is a middle-class subsidy, like lower property taxes on one- and two-family homes. But regulation is also about guaranteeing at least minimal building maintenance and services.]
There's evidence that regulation -- and the threat of mandated rent reductions -- offers great leverage over aggressively greedy landlords, managing agents and even co-op boards that might otherwise find means to force tenants out.
[Rent regulation would lapse if more than 5 percent of apartments were available. But has regulation really deterred developers from building more?]
Somewhat. But to rectify the situation, swaths of manufacturing and commercial districts would have to be rezoned to allow for housing. Also, so-called affordable housing is hard to build without subsidies or tax abatements. Plenty of higher-priced apartments are being built anyway -- and landlords may charge the first tenants whatever the market will bear. And, what the Legislature taketh away it can bring back.
[Not all economists condemn rent regulation -- even if the theoretical goal is to redistribute income in a city where diversity is a virtue.]
Writing a few years ago in The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Richard Arnott of Boston College concluded that original rent controls aside, New York's more flexible system of rent stabilization deserves another look. "Many of the claimed effects of second-generation controls are imperceptible," he wrote. "It is possible to design a set of rent regulations that results in an improvement in efficiency over the unrestricted market equilibrium."
[Yes, but the truth is that the defenders of rent regulation aren't moved by economics, only politics.]
Cynics say that in repeatedly renewing rent regulation, the Legislature has been guided largely by one equation: Tenants outnumber landlords. To which Eimicke replies: "If you're arguing that it's because the people want it, excuse me. This is a democracy."

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May 4, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

STAGE VIEW;
A Banquet Of Classics On the Table In London

BYLINE: By Benedict Nightingale 

SECTION: Section 2; Page 4; Column 1; Arts and Leisure Desk 

LENGTH: 1696 words

DATELINE: LONDON

"OFF, OFF YOU LENDINGS!" bawls King Lear as madness overwhelms him, and, in every production of Shakespeare's play that I recall, he is stopped from stripping naked by a solicitous Fool.
Not Ian Holm; not in Richard Eyre's production at the National Theater. Lear, the "bare forked animal," stumbles helplessly about a bleak stage, his old man's pouchy, crinkled skin creating an impression of extreme vulnerability, as if some once-vital stroke-victim or once-eminent Alzheimer's sufferer were roaming the monkey house at the zoo. The Fool manages to shove a blanket over the ex-king's shoulders, but can't prevent him from clinging to the dirt-encrusted vagrant they have just encountered. Ian Holm's Lear and Paul Rhys's Edgar are united in the crackpot camaraderie of the lower depths. 
 It's one of many wrenching moments in what the critics are acclaiming as a major Shakespearean performance. It also helps answer a worrying question: With the Royal Shakespeare Company spending the next six months away from the Barbican Theater in the City of London, won't the metropolis be painfully short of its customary diet of classical work?
Last spring, the troupe brought "Romeo and Juliet," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Julius Caesar" to London, along with Jonson's play "The Devil Is an Ass" and works by Calderon and Vanbrugh. In 1997, and every year for the foreseeable future, the Royal Shakespeare Company will be out of town from April to late October, presenting productions in Stratford-on-Avon that will move on to Newcastle, Plymouth and other areas in the English regions. Will its absence leave us feeling like diners who wanted roast lamb -- and ended up with lots of potatoes, brussels sprouts and mint sauce, but barely a slice of good, yeomanly mutton?
Well, I can't say the R.S.C. isn't missed. Some of us resent the fact that 35 years after Peter Hall successfully battled to give the company he had created a year-round presence in London, his successors should decide to go summering elsewhere. But there's meat on the table, and maybe more waiting in the kitchen.
Sir Peter himself has opened what gives every sign of being a strong season of classic and new work at the Old Vic. In early June the Globe, or as close a replica of Shakespeare's original theater as scholarship can conceive, will be opening with "Henry V" and "The Winter's Tale." Even the R.S.C. has left London a fine keepsake in the form of Peter Whelan's play about Shakespeare's elder daughter, "The Herbal Bed." It has just transferred from the Barbican to the Duchess Theater in Covent Garden.

'King Lear'
 But "King Lear" seems in itself almost enough to fill any holes left in a theatergoer's stomach, heart and head. There's a stirring personal story behind the production too. In the 1960's Ian Holm rose from spear-carrier rank to become one of the R.S.C.'s young lions, playing Richard III, Henry V, Malvolio and the original Lenny in Harold Pinter's "Homecoming." But during a preview of Eugene O'Neill's "Iceman Cometh" in 1976, stage fright laid him low, forcing him more or less to abandon theater for television and film until he played the dying father in Mr. Pinter's "Moonlight" in 1993.
Now Mr. Holm has definitively emerged from his time capsule to take the most demanding role of all. Rip van Winkle has awoken on the mountain top. Lazarus is playing Lear. The potentially great actor who departed 21 years ago is back with us -- and at age 65, he touches greatness.
That is clear from the moment a squat, fierce old king half-struts, half-trips to the table where his cowed family sits, awaiting his latest largesse, explosion, or both. Unwisely, they mistake the dry cackle he gives when he talks of "crawling towards death" as evidence that he is making a joke. But it doesn't matter too much. Lear's scowl at the sycophantic laughter turns into a surprisingly soft smile as he fondles Regan and plays with Cordelia's hair.
But then his mood changes again, this time irrevocably. The smile is replaced by a great wail of anger and despair as, his mouth heaving and twitching, he actually clambers onto the table to formalize his rejection of Anne-Marie Duff's overhonest Cordelia. By the scene's end, Mr. Holm already has a remarkably complete purchase on the character. He is regal and paternal, erratic and authoritative, vindictive and tender, dangerous to himself and others, and old, old, old.
Everything Mr. Holm attempts afterward, then, is built on sound emotional foundations; and he attempts as much as any Lear I've seen. Even Paul Scofield, who famously played the role for Peter Brook in 1964, emphasized the dour, harsh tyrant at the expense of the loving father. Mr. Holm is both. His reconciliation scene with Cordelia, which begins with him abjectly on all fours and ends with him doddering out hand-in-hand with her, leaves you feeling there's something invasive in watching humility and happiness as private as this. But he's unrelenting in his bitterness at his bad daughters, and, when he finally carries in the body of his good one, his "howl, howl, howl!" is less a lament than a great accusing snarl directed at an uncaring world.
What links these moments is an intense capacity for feeling. With Mr. Holm's Lear, the emotional stakes always seem sky-high and, as a result, Mr. Eyre's revival fills the National's little Cottesloe auditorium with pain and pity. That's not to say the performance lacks detail. Note the panic that crosses Mr. Holm's face when Goneril threatens to ban Lear's unruly knights, or the uncontrollable tics of his head when he wildly vows vengeance on her and Regan, or his weird mixture of glee, grief, scorn and sympathy for the underdog as he scuttles round a Dover meadow dressed in wildflowers and tattered patchwork.
Yet his upright stance and baleful glare make you believe him when, in the very depths of his madness, he says he is "every inch a king." And when he slumps, mumbling and keening, over the platform from which the corpses of all three daughters seem to reproach him for his follies and failures -- well, you don't doubt he is a man too.
Though Mr. Eyre's production is lucid enough to show us every aspect of the play, including the political, it would be fanciful to see its portrait of an anguished leader battling for survival as especially topical. John Major's whitening haircut doesn't quite make him King Lear.

'Waste'
 But "Waste," the first of 12 plays Peter Hall is presenting at the Old Vic this year, is all about sleaze, scandal, jockeying for power, and much else that has preoccupied Britain during its general election campaign this spring. Harley Granville Barker, the author, was an actor, director, playwright and scholar eulogized by Shaw as "the most distinguished and incomparably the most cultivated person" to adorn the British theater in the century's opening decades. You can certainly see evidence for that view in "Waste," which was written in 1907, banned by the censor because of its candor about sex and politics, updated in 1926, and publicly staged a decade later. Barker's tale of the maverick politician ditched by a scared Tory Party is subtle, sophisticated -- and as contemporary as anything in London.
Michael Pennington plays Trebell, who loses one sort of child when his mistress dies during a back-street abortion and a second when he is prevented from fathering a reformist bill in Parliament. What Barker catches, better than any dramatist since, is the knowing banter in the airless Tory salons, the clubbish maneuvering as the party leaders loll in their leather armchairs with their smiles and their knives.
He also writes very well of a peculiar mindset. There is no affection in Trebell's seduction of Felicity Kendal's Amy and no malice in his rejection of her. A moment after she has escalated from a minor distraction to a major threat to his career, he manages to put her out of his head and launch into an excited discussion of the practicalities of his Church Disestablishment Act. Mr. Pennington's yellowing face shows the strain inside; but he gets the chilling realism, the casual brutality, the sheer monomania of the one-track public man.
Two other plays have so far joined the repertory currently playing 10 performances a week at the Old Vic, including Sunday and Monday, and, thanks to ultra-simple sets and staging, capable of changing productions three, four, five times in the same week. One of them is the British premiere of David Rabe's 1984 "Hurlyburly," with Elizabeth McGovern bringing a little class to its satire of the Hollywood reptile-house; and a revival of Caryl Churchill's 1979 play "Cloud Nine," which asks sharp questions about the complexities of gender in comic, caricature form. Classic stuff is on the way too, including Alan Howard's Lear, which Peter Hall will himself direct in August.

'The Herbal Bed'
 Anybody wanting more Shakespeare than London currently offers should consider a side-trip to "The Herbal Bed," a play that, had he been in the now-fashionable business of washing his dirty linen in public, the Bard might almost have written himself.
Actually, the curtain falls just as a sickly Shakespeare is being carried into the house of his son-in-law, the eminent physician John Hall. Until then, Mr. Whelan's play has concentrated on his daughter Susanna Hall, who spent 1613 suing the local loudmouth who claimed that Susanna had caught syphilis from a Stratford haberdasher. We know little of the case, except that Susanna was found innocent at a church court, but Mr. Whelan's guess is that behind the smoke there was just a little fire.
At any rate, Teresa Banham's calm, warm Susanna uses her inherited intelligence and imagination to construct a defense that nobody quite believes but that everybody agrees to accept. The result is a tense, tantalizing play, partly about the fibs and fixes that make everyday existence supportable, partly about the ambiguities of human nature. You leave the theater agreeing that our lives are "of a mingled yarn, good and ill together." And who wrote that? Susanna's father, of course.

LOAD-DATE: May 4, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photos: Ian Holm, in foreground above, in the title role of "King Lear," with Michael Bryant at the National Theater; Michael Pennington and Felicity Kendal, left, in "Waste," part of Peter Hall's repertory series at the Old Vic. (Conrad Blakemont; Alastair Muir)(pg. 4); Stephen Boxer and Teresa Banham in "The Herbal Bed" in London. (Alastair Muir)(pg. 18)

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May 4, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: RICHMOND HILL;
Shuffleboard Without a Shuffle

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF

SECTION: Section 13; Page 9; Column 3; The City Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 367 words

The game of shuffleboard takes a certain finesse, a particular stamina and an exact playing field.
According to the Florida Shuffleboard Association, the court must measure 6 feet wide by 52 feet long and the top surface must consist of one part cement to three parts sand, giving it a smooth veneer. 
 But when the Parks Department renovated Victory Field, which is part of Forest Park, seven years ago, an egregious error was made. In repaving courts, contractors used coarse cement. That left shuffleboard aficionados with a playing surface on which the disks do not slide.
But if all goes smoothly, the disks should be gliding again by summer. The Parks Department will soon begin taking bids for the repair job.
If the agency keeps its promise, shuffleboard players will have Irving Ohlberg to thank. For the past several years Mr. Ohlberg and his friends have lobbied for a proper court. But until recently, letters to the Parks Commissioner officials and the local Assemblyman went unanswered. "I told them when they were laying it in that they were doing it wrong," said Mr. Ohlberg, 79, a retired salesman. "What they gave us was the cheapest, not the best. The surface is so rough that even waxing the disks doesn't help."
For 25 years, Mr. Ohlberg played shuffleboard at the park on Woodhaven Boulevard, which is a short walk from his apartment. There he and dozens of other retirees gathered for daylong competitions and conversation. But now the players shun the park. Since then, he said, the empty courts have become magnets for wine-drinking loiterers and rowdy teen-agers. To play shuffleboard these days, he uses the courts at the senior citizens center in Rego Park.
Jacqueline Langsam, an administrator for Forest Park, said the Parks Department hopes to complete the work within the next month.  The cost of the renovations, expected to be about $2,000, will be paid for by the Friends of Forest Park, a volunteer group.
Mr. Ohlberg's goal is to play one more game on his home court. "I hope that I can play here once more in my lifetime," he said. "I don't want a plaque on court to say: 'In memoriam to Mr. Ohlberg. He wept here.' "   CHARLIE LeDUFF

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Coarse cement was used on the court, and the disks don't slide smoothly. (Steve Berman for The New York Times)

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Paid Notice: Deaths
LUTZ, WILLIAM CHARLES

SECTION: Section 1; Page 45; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 432 words

LUTZ-William Charles. December 12, 1911-April 14, 1997. Bill Lutz was born in Brooklyn, NY. He met "the light of my life," Natalie Trentowski, at the end of a fencing foil in 1937. They were married in 1940 and had three daughters: Winifred, Barbara, and Beverly. In 1945/46, he served as an Army Corps of Engineers 1st Lieutenant in Manila, the Philippines, utilizing his real estate appraisal skills in the reconstruction efforts. He had joined the New York Life Insurance Company at age 14 as office boy, and rose to Senior Vice President in charge of Real Estate and Mortgage Loans during his 51 years there. He was highly regarded for his ethical integrity, social conscience, and irreverent humor. His business career included membership in the Institute of Real Estate Appraisers, Institute of Real Estate Management, Chicago Real Estate Board, Mortgage Advisory Committee of the New York State Employees' Retirement System, and Advisory Board of NYU's Real Estate Institute. Bill's energy was boundless and his ability to focus this energy over a breadth of interests was amazing. A skillful self-taught carpenter, he obtained a patent on an adjustable rocking horse, remodeled four homes, built exquisite bookcases for his bibliophile wife. He exercised his considerable flair for drama at church play-reading groups and took his family camping in the national parks every summer. He served on the boards of the many Unitarian Universalist Churches he joined as his family moved across the U.S. due to his promotions at NYLIC. He also found time to write eloquent letters to the government against the Vietnam War, supporting reproductive rights, decrying pollution, advocating gun control and the fight against racism. On retirement, he embarked on an active schedule of Elderhostels, and also served as an RTM member in Greenwich, CT. Late in his 70's, he became a volunteer income tax counselor for "the old folks," ESL tutor, and blood donor to age 80. He will be remembered for his creativity, commitment to family and friends, his love of laughter, his embrace of life. After his wife died, Thanksgiving Day, 1996, Bill dreamt he heard her say, "why don't you join me?" A confirmed secular humanist, he responded, "where are you?" All of us who loved this remarkable, generous man are sure that he will find her. Memorial service, May 31, 3:30 PM, Unitarian Society of Stamford, CT (203-348-0708). In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions in his name to Environmental Defense Fund, 257 Park Ave., NY, NY or Unitarian Society, 20 Forest St., Stamford, CT 06901.

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May 5, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Worldwide, People Live Longer, Often in Poor Health, U.N. Says

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section A; Page 5; Column 3; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 489 words

DATELINE: GENEVA, May 4

Medical advances mean more people around the world are living longer lives, but bad habits mean they are not necessarily healthier and happier ones, a new United Nations report said.
The World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, warned that what it calls "diseases of the rich" -- cancers, heart attacks, strokes and other illnesses in which diet and lack of exercise are often believed to play a part -- are on the rise in poorer countries. The increase, it said, could be attributed to longer lives and changing life styles. 
 "Longer life can be a penalty as well as a prize," the group said in its World Health Report 1997. "A large part of the price to be paid is in the currency of chronic disease."
Thanks to medical progress, life expectancy is averaging 64 years in third-world countries and reaching 80 years in some industrialized nations, the report said. But it added that millions of people throw away the chance of a healthy old age because of sedentary life styles, bad diet, smoking and alcohol abuse.
Trying to improve the health of the elderly is of crucial economic importance, it said. In the next 25 years, the population of people older than 65 is likely to grow by 82 percent, compared with 46 percent in the working-age population and only 3 percent in newborns.
Still struggling with ailments linked to poverty, third-world countries are now facing the added burden of increased rates of heart disease and strokes, which killed 15.3 million people last year and are already the leading cause of death in many industrialized nations.
Cancers killed 6.3 million people worldwide in 1996, and there were 10 million new cases reported, not all of them fatal. The number of cases is expected to at least double in most countries in the next 25 years, the report said.
The agency said the increase in cancer was caused in part by the elimination of other fatal diseases, which lengthened lives and increased the odds of getting cancer. But it also said much of the cause was diet and, above all, cigarettes.
Smoking is on the increase throughout the third world and accounts for one in seven cancer cases worldwide, it said.
Long the leading cancer killer among men in industrialized countries, lung cancer is now the top cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States, killing 375,000 of them in 1996. The number of cases among women in the European Union is expected to increase by a third in less than 10 years, it said.
The agency said the risks of getting cancer in third-world countries were smaller but growing. The reasons for the rise are unclear, it said, although the main factor appears to be longer life expectancies.
The report also said that from 1995 to 2025 the number of people with diabetes will grow from 135 million to 300 million, with a resulting increase in kidney failure and blindness, a rise it again attributed to more sedentary life styles.

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May 6, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

A Newark Group Says It Lost Aid Because It Opposed a Ball Park

BYLINE: By RONALD SMOTHERS 

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 428 words

DATELINE: NEWARK, May 5

Officials of a Newark community organization that has fought city and county plans to build a minor league baseball stadium at a park in their East Ward neighborhood charged today that their opposition has cost them county financing for two programs they have run for 19 years without complaints.
Joseph Della Fave, the executive director of the Ironbound Community Corporation, said the group was notified late Friday that it would no longer receive $155,000 annually to provide meals for the elderly nor would it get an additional $15,000 for a transportation program for the elderly. Instead, the county said, two other community groups in the North Ward and Central Ward would be given the contracts for the programs in his area. 
 He contended that the group was being "targeted for political retribution for opposition to the sportsplex proposal," a plan to build a 6,000-seat, $22 million stadium in Riverbank Park. The stadium plan was approved in a nonbinding referendum in March, with the winning margin coming from the North and Central Wards. The Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders is scheduled to vote on the change at a meeting on Wednesday night.
Vincent A. DiMauro, the Essex County Administrator, disputed the group's contention, saying it was being replaced because of poor county audit reports from the last year. He said the two other groups could deliver the services at lower costs and therefore reach more people. As one example, he said, the new meal provider, because it had its own kitchen, could provide a meal for $3.29 as opposed to Ironbound's cost of $6.84 for catered meals.
He denied that the Ironbound group's position on the stadium had anything to do with the decision and added that he was unaware of what their position was.
Mr. DiMauro said that the county had solicited additional bids after the Ironbound group submitted the only proposal. He said that he had not approached them to amend their bid or improve their performance because the "deficiencies," documented by the 1996 audits, were clear.
Mr. Della Fave, however, said that he was unaware of any negative audits of the program and said that the Ironbound program had only received good evaluations from the county's Division on Aging, which oversees the funds. He added that the Division on Aging had on several occasions asked his organization to take on areas of the city that were not being served.
"Our service is the essence of community-based service," he said, adding that the group planned to contest the move at the freeholders' meeting.

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May 7, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Medicare Rift Becomes Sequel Of Earlier Budget Agreement

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section B; Page 10; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 970 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 6

Just 96 hours after celebrating a bipartisan agreement to balance the Federal budget, Republicans and Democrats started squabbling today over details of the provisions affecting Medicare.
The disputes did not imperil the overall agreement, but illustrated the problems sure to bedevil the process of translating the accord into law. 
 The ambiguities and misunderstandings involve the politically volatile question of how to protect low-income people against increases in premiums under Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
On Friday, the White House said that the budget deal would increase the number of low-income Americans exempted from having to pay the Medicare premium, which is now $43.80 a month and was already scheduled to rise to $51.50 in 2002 under current law. But several Republicans said their negotiators had not agreed to such a change.
"It's up in the air, it's not settled, it's a big area of misunderstanding," one Republican said today.
Advocates for the elderly scrambled to make sense of the confusion. "It's weird to have the celebration over and the negotiations still going forward," said John C. Rother, chief lobbyist at the American Association of Retired Persons.
Ari Fleischer, a spokesman for Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, said, "There have been various degrees of overreaching by Administration officials as they explain what's in the budget agreement."
Administration officials said the Republicans were backing away from their commitments. Democrats said the Republicans were showing insensitivity to widows with incomes of $10,000 a year.
The comments confirmed the observation of Howard J. Bedlin, vice president of the National Council on the Aging, a research and advocacy group, who said, "It's clear that there will still be lots of big fights over a number of issues involving the future of Medicare."
The disagreements appear to have two possible causes: confusion and jurisdictional rivalries.
Budget negotiators were harried as they rushed to announce an agreement last week, and they could not specify the detail of every provision affecting Medicare. In addition, Democrats suggest that Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, which write Medicare legislation, may now be balking at commitments made informally by the Republican negotiators, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and John R. Kasich of Ohio, the chairmen of the budget committees.
When the deal was announced last week, the White House said there would be "an excellent improvement" in Medicare to help low-income people. Under current law, those with incomes below 120 percent of the Federal poverty level are exempt from having to pay premiums. The White House said on Friday that the threshold would be increased to 150 percent of the poverty level. So an elderly couple could have annual income of $14,236, up from the current $11,389, without having to pay premiums.
In a summary of the budget agreement on Monday, the White House said, "Premium protection for low-income Medicare beneficiaries is expanded from its current 120 percent to 150 percent of poverty." It said that more than 8 million beneficiaries, including one-fourth of the elderly, would receive assistance with their Medicare premiums.
But Mr. Fleischer, the spokesman for Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee, said today: "We have not agreed to that. We'll work cooperatively and constructively with the Administration to resolve the disagreements about the budget agreement."
Administration officials said the Medicare provisions of the budget agreement were in flux today.
Another area of disagreement involved the amount of a new premium increase needed to pay for home health costs. On Friday, President Clinton said there would be a "modest one-dollar-a-month premium for home health services." White House officials said the monthly charge would rise $1 a year, adding no more than $5 to the premium by 2002, beyond the increases that would otherwise occur.
But a Republican said today that the President's account of the $1 increase was "not an accurate portrayal." And budget experts said it was unclear whether such premiums would generate as much revenue as the White House expected.
Medicare spending for home health care has skyrocketed in recent years, and it has become a major burden on the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital bills under Part A of the program. To prolong the life of this trust fund, budget negotiators agreed to shift most of the home health costs -- $86 billion over five years -- to a separate trust fund that pays doctors and laboratories under Part B.
After a seven-year transition, beneficiaries would be expected to pay 25 percent of the home health costs shifted to Part B of Medicare, just as they pay 25 percent of other Part B costs.
More generally, Republicans said they were determined to use the budget-balancing bill as a vehicle for major changes in the structure of Medicare, to provide elderly people with more choices, including new options for managed care.
Pamela G. Bailey, president of the Health Care Leadership Council, composed of top executives from the industry, said, "The worst outcome of the budget deal would be that Congress and the President bypass this opportunity to reform Medicare and instead just impose price controls on doctors, hospitals and health plans."
The Republicans are particularly eager to create tax incentives for the elderly to establish "medical savings accounts," which are anathema to the Administration and to many Democrats in Congress. Under this proposal, beneficiaries could use their share of Medicare money to set up tax-free savings accounts to pay routine medical bills.
      

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May 7, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

About New York;
Overdue Fame For Preserving That Rhythm

BYLINE: By DAVID GONZALEZ 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 741 words

IT don't mean a thing if nobody hears you swing. That's not in the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band's repertoire. It's in their hearts. Surely, Duke Ellington wouldn't mind their improvising on his classic. Some of these octogenarians played with him, after all, as well as with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Fats Waller.
They have seen it all after decades in jumping joints. What they don't see -- at least in their hometown -- are the crowds and respect their music gets in Europe. It is easier for their gigs to be listed in French newspapers when they hit Paris than in New York, where they play on Friday nights at Ed Sullivan's, at Broadway and 54th Street. 
 "Why?" asked Al Casey, the guitarist in Waller's band. "Every individual in this band is not too young. We worked with the biggest bands in the country. We don't sound that bad. I can't understand why we don't get the recognition."
How about a permanent listing? Tomorrow night, the band will be inducted into the People's Hall of Fame at the Museum of the City of New York along with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Bronx Old-Timers Stickball League, the Yeh Yu Chinese Opera Association and the newspaper The Forward. The idea of a Hall of Fame for regular folks is an oxymoron, but it is also an acknowledgement that ordinary people do extraordinary things to make sense of life in this crazy town. They toil by day to feed their families. At night, they pursue the muse and sustain their souls.
"We live in a society that is fame-crazy," said Steve Zeitlin, the executive director of City Lore, an urban folklore group that dreamed up the award four years ago. "The famous get more famous and the ordinary are getting obscure. They know they really don't matter except as consumers of other people's fame. We're trying to find people at the grass roots who contribute to our culture."
ART happens throughout the city, not just in the halls of high culture. It thrives in neighborhood haunts, on dimly lighted stages and out-of-the-way havens. Consider one past Hall of Famer, DJ Kool Herc.
At house parties in the South Bronx in the 1970's, Kool Herc used to stand behind two turntables, spinning records and blending beats. With a maestro's skill, he blasted body-rocking sonic booms from snippets of songs.
"People started coming up to the mike and doing riffs," Mr. Zeitlin said. "The early rappers were at those parties. A whole world of popular culture grew from that. Yet Herc was somebody who just loved to do what he did in his community."
It was no accident that DJ Kool Herc was from Jamaica, a nation where the proto-rappers known as toasters had taken to the stage years earlier. Nor was it chance that it took a few years in the hothouse of New York's streets for it to reach its potential.
"That's why New York will never become a strip mall," Mr. Zeitlin said. "People find communities. They take their immense frustration with living in the city and create expression."
Whether it leads to fame is another matter. Dr. Albert Vollmer, the manager of the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band, said the musicians were pleased but realistic about being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"They're fairly inured to getting their hopes up," said Dr. Vollmer, who put together the group in 1976 as a gesture of gratitude to the musicians whose recordings he treasured as a young man in Europe. "They're not just being cool. It's like the guitarist keeps saying, 'How many times we have to prove ourselves?' "
THEY already have, as architects of the swing era. They continue each weekend at gigs in the city. On Friday night, they sat in the balcony at Sullivan's as the revelers leaned back against the bar or nuzzled on banquettes.
Laurel Watson, the group's singer, scribbled her song set onto a scrap of paper as she waited to go on stage.
"Put it here," she said to a waitress carrying a tray of drinks. "I need it." On stage, the drummer pounded out a big-band beat, the kind that conjured up images of loose-hipped Lindy Hoppers.
"You know, I was with 16 bands," she said, segueing into a high-speed list of jazz greats. "The leaders of those bands passed. I'm lucky. I'm here."
Soon, she joined the band. Her rhinestone-studded gown sparkled, as did her eyes. "You're nobody until somebody loves you," she sang. "You're nobody until somebody cares."
She wooed the crowd, vamping with saucy winks and waves. She looked, and sounded, like a somebody.

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May 7, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Vitamin E May Enhance Immunity, Study Finds

BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 342 words

A new study suggests that the near-universal decline in the health of the immune system that accompanies aging may be slowed by supplements of vitamin E.
According to findings being published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, various immune functions were given a significant lift by daily supplements of vitamin E for 235 days, with the best results occurring with a supplement of 200 milligrams a day. (One milligram is roughly equal to one international unit of vitamin E.) 
 Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that has received much scientific and popular attention in recent years for its purported ability to delay the ravages of age.
The new study, directed by Dr. Simin Nikbin Meydani of Tufts University in Boston, involved 88 healthy men and women 65 and older who were randomly assigned to receive one of three levels of vitamin E -- 60, 200 or 800 milligrams a day -- or a look-alike placebo. The lowest dose tested represented twice the current daily recommended intake of vitamin E. The study measured such immune functions as the amount of antibody produced in response to a vaccine.
Since vitamin E is found primarily in vegetable oils and margarine, wheat germ, nuts and seeds, it is nearly impossible to consume amounts significantly higher than the recommended intake through a normal, wholesome diet, particularly a diet that is low in fat. Because of budgetary and health constraints, the elderly are especially likely to consume too little of this essential nutrient. Furthermore, some medications interfere with vitamin E and chronic diseases common among the elderly may impair their ability to absorb foods rich in vitamin E.
Vitamin E in amounts of 100 to 400 international units a day have previously been linked to a reduced risk of developing heart disease and some cancers. But higher doses of vitamin E can interfere with blood clotting and may increase the risk of bleeding disorders and hemorrhagic stroke. High doses also may weaken bones and reduce the body's stores of vitamin A.

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May 8, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Giuliani Urges Speedup in Naturalization of Immigrants

BYLINE: By CELIA W. DUGGER 

SECTION: Section B; Page 12; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 795 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 7

At a time when Republicans in Congress are regularly questioning the integrity of the naturalization process, New York's Mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, yet again struck a very different note from his Republican brethren today.
In a speech to the American Jewish Committee here, Mr. Giuliani hailed the value of citizenship, called for an infusion of staff at the Immigration and Naturalization Service to hasten the naturalization of more than a million waiting immigrants and advocated his new plan to create a $12 million city agency to assist citizenship seekers. 
 He pointedly made no mention of faulty fingerprinting procedures or botched criminal background checks of legal immigrants seeking citizenship. Instead, he attacked as "un-American" a Republican-sponsored welfare law, passed last year, that denies food stamps and other benefits to legal immigrants. They pay taxes just like citizens, he said, and are entitled to help if they are sick or down on their luck.
Mr. Giuliani, who opposed the cutoff of benefits to legal immigrants from the start, said the welfare law told immigrants, "We'll keep your money, but we won't give you benefits."
He also said that the political climate on Federal aid to legal immigrants had begun to change, in large part because state and local officials had realized that the Government was shifting a huge financial burden for the care of disabled and impoverished immigrants to them. Evidence of that shift has become clear only in the last week, he added.
"I feel that we have at last gotten the attention of Washington and people in other parts of the country," Mr. Giuliani said.
House and Senate budget negotiators have agreed to restore benefits to disabled immigrants in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Mr. Giuliani said New York City now believed that most of the elderly and disabled immigrants there who were expected to lose their Supplemental Security Income benefits in August and September would retain them under the new agreement.
"That's 40,000 or 50,000 of the most vulnerable people in the city of New York," he said.
And yesterday, the Senate overwhelmingly adopted a measure proposed by Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, to delay the cutoff of Supplemental Security Income benefits to both the elderly and disabled until Sept. 30, bridging the gap to the next fiscal year. The House has not yet taken up the proposal. Such a delay would also give immigrants a month or two more to complete the backlogged citizenship process, Mr. Giuliani said. Immigrants who become citizens will be able to keep their benefits.
National advocates for immigrants in the audience yesterday said the Mayor's emotional, wide-ranging speech on immigration, delivered without notes, only consolidated his position as one of the nation's leading champions of immigrants. As he has in the past, Mr. Giuliani even had kind words for illegal immigrants, who he said often work hard and pay taxes just like legal immigrants and citizens.
His decision to focus on the importance of helping immigrants become citizens, rather than on the flaws in the immigration service's management of the process, was typical of his leadership on the issue, the immigrant advocates said.
Several times yesterday, Mr. Giuliani said the immigration service needed more resources to handle the surge in citizenship applications, which has grown to an estimated 1.8 million this year from 1.2 million in 1996.
The Mayor this week proposed creating a new city office staffed by 100 caseworkers who would help immigrants through the citizenship process, especially focusing on those facing the loss of Federal benefits. But since it now takes up to a year to become a citizen because of a backlog of applicants, unless the immigration service hires more workers, the length of time it takes to become a citizen will be even longer.
The Mayor's efforts to help more people apply are likely to actually increase the backlog.
When an advocate in the audience asked what could be done to ease the bottleneck, Mr. Giuliani called for a concerted lobbying effort.
"You've got to put pressure on the President and the Justice Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to increase the number of people and resources to bring people through the citizenship process quickly," he said.
Immigration officials said yesterday that they were developing a proposal for more resources, which would have to be submitted to Congress for approval. "Obviously, when faced with a 50 percent increase in our workload in citizenship applications, we'll need to improve our infrastructure," said Eric Andrus, a spokesman for the immigration service. "We welcome the Mayor's own citizenship initiative."

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May 8, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

A Game of Strategy They Take Seriously: Dominoes

BYLINE: By TONY MARCANO 

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 471 words

There was a competition yesterday in a game of strategy, played with ceramic pieces, involving deep concentration and formidable opponents. But it is a safe bet that no one at this competition was named Garry, and the only things that brought deep blue to mind were the crepe-paper streamers hanging from the ceiling.
When all was said and done, the moves were not analyzed, there was no Internet chatter and there were no cash prizes. But the second annual Bronx Battle of the Dominoes was no less competitive than Garry Kasparov's world-class chess battle against his computer opponent, Deep Blue. 
 And it surely looked like a lot more fun. Just compare and contrast the scenes. In the staid Equitable Center in midtown Manhattan, there was Mr. Kasparov, a study in intensity, almost brooding over his bishops. In the Betances Senior Center on St. Ann's Avenue in Mott Haven, where pillars were wrapped in lavender construction paper, there were more than 40 senior citizens gossiping, arguing and laughing amid the sound of clicking dominoes and the aroma of arroz con gandules y pernil -- rice with pigeon peas, served with pork -- coming from the kitchen.
Still, there were similarities. Like the chess matches, the domino games were long -- the five-round elimination tournament was expected to last about two hours, but it went on for five. The players, it seemed, were better at their recreation and more serious about it than the organizers had expected.
And there was drama. As the field, culled from eight senior citizen centers in the Bronx, thinned out, there were loud arguments. Kibbitzers commented on players' strategies, leading one player, Jose Santana, to storm away.
Indeed, there was a lot of pressure on Morris from the start. With a 19-player contingent on hand, including the in-house champion, Sonia Quinonez, who was one step away from winning last year's first annual Bronx Battle, Ms. Ayala was expecting to bring the winning trophy back to the center. "I said at least two trophies," she said, recalling a pep talk with her players.
But Mr. Santana's forfeit left him as the highest-ranking Morris player, taking third place along with his partner, George Velez. In the end, it came down to the home team, Lydia Pagan and Rafael Compre of Betances, against Andy Rumbaut and Angel Rivera of the nearby Sebco Senior Center.
As about two dozen spectators gathered round, the teams squared off in the dining room. The tiles clicked. The competitors began slapping them down with aplomb, punctuating blocks and victories. But despite the home-field advantage, Mr. Rumbaut and Mr. Rivera won the final match by 243-112.
"We get plenty of time to practice," said Mr. Rivera, 70, a retiree who was a contracting company foreman. "All I have to do is collect my check and play dominoes."

LOAD-DATE: May 8, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: May 9, 1997, Friday

 CORRECTION:
Because of an editing error, an article yesterday about a domino tournament in the Bronx omitted the given name of the coordinator of the Morris Senior Center, which sponsored a team. She is Nilda Ayala.

GRAPHIC: Photo: The game pieces are black and white and the players concentrate at the Betances Senior Center, site of the Bronx Battle of the Dominoes. (John Sotomayor/The New York Times)

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May 9, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Landlord Group Begins Drive to Reassure Elderly Tenants

BYLINE: By RANDY KENNEDY 

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 789 words

Joining the battle for public opinion on the issue of rent regulation, New York City's largest landlords' group began mailing brochures yesterday to about 200,000 elderly residents of rent-regulated apartments, seeking to reassure them that they would not be affected if the laws were changed.
The glossy, two-page color brochures are intended to sway a group that has become increasingly vocal in the grass-roots campaign to preserve rent regulations. 
 And although landlords play down the suggestion, the mailing is also a tacit acknowledgment that the elderly go to the polls in high numbers, making their voice a persuasive one for Republican lawmakers in Albany who have vowed to scale back rent protections.
Joseph Strasburg, the president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents about 25,000 residential property owners, said the landlords' group decided to aim its first concerted public relations efforts at tenants age 62 and older mainly because it felt the message they were receiving from tenant advocacy groups was distorted.
"They will be protected under any resolution of this dispute and that has not been truly conveyed to them for a variety of reasons," Mr. Strasburg said. "Tenant advocates have told them not to trust anything their elected officials tell them. And to create unnecessary fear, using them as pawns, is very unfortunate."
While Republicans led by Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate majority leader, have threatened to let rent protection laws expire on June 15 if there is no agreement on a plan to phase them out, they have said from the beginning that they intend to protect elderly, disabled and poor tenants. There has been no agreement, however, on how those groups will be defined.
The brochures, which were mailed to tenants in New York City and Westchester and Nassau Counties, where most rent-regulated older tenants live, include a full-page picture of a smiling elderly woman with a shawl draped over her shoulders, sitting in what appears to be her living room.
The picture is emblazoned with the announcement, "No matter what happens with rent laws, seniors are safe."
Inside are seven more pictures of older people smiling, talking and embracing, interspersed with quotations from Gov. George E. Pataki and Mr. Bruno, in which they insist that protections must remain for elderly tenants.
The brochure warns the elderly not to be "fooled by the doom and gloomers."
"Even if rent regulations change, your rent will stay the same," the brochure says, adding that "some people with a political agenda are trying to panic" the elderly, "but seniors shouldn't worry."
Tenant advocacy groups rushed to condemn the mailing yesterday. They said that despite promises from Mr. Pataki and Mr. Bruno, elderly tenants had every reason to worry that their rent protections would eventually be eroded.
Martin Brennan, the campaign coordinator for the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, also dismissed as "a pathetic fabrication" suggestions that tenant leaders had engaged in fear-mongering to use the elderly as a cudgel.
"This message is a response to the extraordinary grass-roots organization that has formed over protecting rent regulations over the past few months," Mr. Brennan said. "And what they are doing is attempting to split out and divide the tenant mobilization against itself in order to severely weaken the laws."
The mailing, which will begin to reach most households early next week, comes at the end of a television and radio campaign by the state Democratic Party that urges voters to hold Governor Pataki and Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato personally responsible if the State Legislature allows rent laws to expire.
The Rent Stabilization Association and other opponents of rent regulation contend that they have been fighting an uphill battle to have their message heard amid the other side's ads and tenant rallies, which they say receive an inordinate amount of attention from the news media.
Mr. Strasburg, who would not disclose the cost of the mass-mail campaign, said that while the group believed that most advertisements and mailings would not be effective, they felt a need to address the elderly.
"They've been fed this stereotype of a landlord from an old movie, where this guy with a top hat and mustache is coming to kick people out of their apartments," Mr. Strasburg said. "Our side always gets lost in the stories."
He also acknowledged that the strategy of the message was to reach a much wider audience than 200,000. The message, he said, was intended to "trickle down" to the adult children of the elderly recipients, who may live in unregulated apartments but are concerned about their parents' fate.

LOAD-DATE: May 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Brochures from New York's largest landlords' group are going to roughly 200,000 tenants.
      

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May 9, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

GIULIANI'S BUDGET PLAN: SERVICES;
More Money for Schools and Child Welfare and Less for Police

BYLINE: By JACQUES STEINBERG 

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1272 words

After shearing more than $1 billion from the Board of Education's projected spending in the first two years of his administration, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday proposed increasing the board's budget next year. He wants to add $172 million for new programs, and nearly $1 billion over several years for new classrooms and computers.
The Mayor did not explain his reasoning yesterday, but he has done so many times in the last eight months, in announcing many of the plans that he bundled together yesterday in his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins on July 1. The reason is his confidence in Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew. 
 Whatever Dr. Crew's influence, critics have been quick to note that this is a mayoral election year, and they contend that the Mayor has been responding to polls showing that voters give him low marks for his handling of education issues.
Since schools opened in September, the Mayor has repeatedly referred to his intention to add money to the board's budget. The Mayor said yesterday that he wanted $125 million to go to a reading program for elementary school students and $25 million to restore some arts programs, and he said he would provide $22.7 million for technical support and staff development as more classrooms are equipped with computers.
Mr. Giuliani estimated that the budget would ultimately grow by 0.7 percent over the current fiscal year, to $8.3 billion next year. School enrollment, however, is expected to grow by 1.4 percent, or 15,000 students, to 1.09 million.
The proposed increases in capital spending are far more drastic. The Mayor has proposed spending $500 million to create thousands of new classrooms. The Mayor and the City Council have also agreed to spend $275 million to refurbish aging school buildings and $150 million on computers and wiring.
The Mayor's proposed spending drew praise from the Chancellor, but his operating budget drew criticism from the city teachers' union and parents' groups. Sandra Feldman, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, called the new programs "mostly one-shots that sound suspiciously like election-year promises."
And John Fager, the executive director of the Parents' Coalition, a citywide group, accused the Mayor of "micromanaging" the school system, and argued that school administrators, teachers and parents should decide how the money is spent.
 
Social Services
Advocates for the poor found nuggets of hope yesterday in Mayor Giuliani's proposed social services budget. While they said there was not nearly enough money for day care, there were 93 new positions for the child welfare agency, $75.9 million to support elderly and disabled immigrants expected to lose their Federal cash benefits and $900,000 to help finance a telephone line for public assistance recipients bewildered by changes in the Federal welfare law.
But to finance these initiatives, among others, Mr. Giuliani is relying, in part, on several assumptions.
He expects, for instance, that a state proposal will save the city $77 million by decreasing the amount of money the city must contribute toward public assistance for single parents with children. But the proposal has yet to be voted on by the State Legislature.
Mr. Giuliani also fails to include the potential costs of developing and running a new voucher program proposed by Mr. Pataki. The plan would replace the state's cash-assistance program for single adults and would offer the poor vouchers for food, shelter and clothing.
And in totaling the dollar figure needed for the city's legal immigrants, the Mayor is also hoping that the Federal Government will pay for many of them.
Under Mr. Giuliani's plan, the Administration for Children's Services, the child welfare agency created last year, would get $492.1 million in city money, $145.6 million more than was first forecast. Most of the increase is from the budget of the city's day-care agency, which was integrated into the children's agency.
But city financing for the Human Resources Administration would decline. Mr. Giuliani said he planned to spend $3.059 billion in 1998, a $587 million decrease from 1996. About 21 percent of that was the day-care budget that moved to the new children's services agency.
Already, day care seems to lack the necessary money. Mr. Giuliani plans to spend $4.4 million for 8,700 more day care slots in 1998 and $13.3 million in 1999 for 13,000 more children.
The city now helps pay for day care for about 75,000 children.
But the city estimates that about 15,000 single parents will enter the workfare and work-related programs in 1998, and many will need child care.
 
Police
The Police Department, long a sacred cow, will have less in 1998. The proposed budget has $89 million less than the last fiscal year, bringing the operating budget to $2.399 billion. When anticipated Federal money and private grants are included, officials said, the department faces a $29 million cut from last year.
Police Commissioner Howard Safir said there would be savings from such efficiencies as expanding new technologies, speeding arrests and cutting overtime. He also plans cheaper paint jobs and decals for police cars. The police also plan to stop patrolling the five city-owned tow pounds, and to award a contract to a private security company.
"We are not skimping in any way with officers on the street or operational equipment," Mr. Safir said.
In some areas, spending will go up: $1.3 million for the Intelligence Division, which will maintain an up-to-date crime data base and share information with state and Federal law enforcement agencies. And the police will open a new crime laboratory in January 1998.
 
Sanitation
The city's on-again, off-again recycling program appears to be on again, but not at levels desired by some private environmental groups.
The proposal noted that "the frequency of residential waste collection services has not been reduced," but critics of the administration said that this simply leaves the collection schedule almost everywhere in the city at every other week -- leaving residents to deal with 14-day accumulations of newspapers and other recyclable material.
In the 1998 fiscal year, programs for collecting metal and mixed paper like junk mail are scheduled to be expanded to the last boroughs without them: Brooklyn and Queens.
The budget calls for the first significant expenses related to closing the Fresh Kills Landfill in 2001. The city will begin sending some residential garbage, from the Bronx, to disposal sites outside city limits.
 
Cultural Affairs
For the second year in a row, the 33 city-owned cultural institutions financed by the Department of Cultural Affairs are facing a large cut.
Mayor Giuliani's budget for the 1997-98 fiscal year calls for aid to the department to be cut by $15 million, to $79.5 million. Of that, $63.8 million would be allocated to the 33 institutions, a 15 percent decrease from last year. Those that focus on children's programs would face smaller cuts than most others. The news came as a surprise and a disappointment to the Cultural Institutions Group, an informal organization of the 33 groups.
"There have been these two years of real cuts, but because of inflation we never recovered from the cuts in 1990," said Rochelle Slovin, the director of the American Museum of the Moving Image. The group plans to lobby for a restoration to the 1990 level, she said. "This Mayor really is a mayor who completely understands cultural life and cultural institutions," she said, "So it's very disappointing."

LOAD-DATE: May 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Chart: "BY THE NUMBERS: Examining the Increase" shows the current and proposed budget for the Board of Education. (Source: Office of Management and Budget)

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May 10, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Mixed Messages on Benefits;
Immigrants Don't Know What to Believe About S.S.I.

BYLINE: By JOE SEXTON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 21; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk; Second Front

LENGTH: 1862 words

Two years ago, the Federal Government sponsored advertisements broadcast on foreign-language radio stations telling immigrants to apply for Supplemental Security Income -- the 23-year-old welfare program for the elderly and disabled. Last year, President Clinton signed a welfare reform law that denies the benefits to immigrants who are not citizens. Government letters, 85,000 of them to New Yorkers, warned immigrants that the checks that sustain them, which average $410 a month, would end this August.
One week ago yesterday, political leaders in Washington annouced an agreement to continue benefits to disabled noncitizens. While they disagree about whether new immigrants would be eligible, as many as four out of five of those who faced cuts would have benefits restored. But as some politicians cautioned that last week's agreement may be unraveling, social workers in New York were warning immigrants that nothing is certain. 
 In Southside, a Brooklyn neighborhood of immigrants from Ecuador and Russia, Bulgaria and Cuba, uncertainty is the one thing the elderly and disabled know they can count on.
Maria Reyes Gonzalez, 76, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, counts her S.S.I. checks as her sole income. The front room of her Southside apartment had been an improvised war room over recent months. Grandchildren calculated how much they could contribute if she lost benefits, which she receives because she is elderly. Returning to the Dominican Republic was broached. Hard information was never in great supply.
The agreement in Washington last week, if it holds, will mean that Ms. Gonzalez, whose failing eyesight is among a number of her physical impairments, will have to prove she is disabled to maintain her monthly benefits of $470 a month.
"God is big," Ms. Gonzalez said, with a trembling smile. "God knows what he is doing."
The deal worked out by the White House and Republican leaders has allowed lawmakers to ease worries about disabled immigrants being left penniless and homeless. Many Republicans regard the agreement as a reasonable price for preserving a larger end: eliminating S.S.I. as an open-ended welfare program for noncitizens.
When modest dancing broke out in the building at 204 Ross Street May 2 after the budget agreement was announced, Danilda Suncar, 83, did not join in. Instead, the immigrant from the Dominican Republic sat in her kitchen and tried to figure out what to trust. She had her S.S.I. check, gained because of her age, but she also had a pacemaker and heart problems. Would that be enough to qualify for benefits for the disabled? She had spent the last several months studying for the citizenship exam -- naturalization would preserve her benefits -- but also talking of arriving "at the hour of death."
"They say this; they say that," Ms. Suncar said of the lawmakers. "I know nothing."
The welfare legislation signed by President Clinton last August eliminated S.S.I. benefits for roughly 500,000 legal immigrants who are not citizens -- 85,000 of whom lived in New York City. The reasons included concerns about abuse, a desire to set limits on what noncitizens could demand from the Government and enormous budgetary savings. The cuts accounted for $13.5 billion of the act's $55 billion in long-term savings.
The budget agreement, however, would rework the entire landscape again, restoring $10 billion of the $13.5 billion over the next five years. That means some immigrants would not receive benefits.
Under the agreement, legal immigrants who were receiving S.S.I. as of Aug. 22, 1996 because of a disability -- estimated to be 40 percent of the 500,000 -- would keep their checks and Medicaid coverage. The disabled among the other 60 percent, who receive S.S.I. because of their age, would be able to reapply for disability benefits. Congressional budget officials say they believe two-thirds of those applicants would qualify.
In all, then, as many as 400,000 of the 500,000 could be spared.
Senior lawmakers and Congressional staffers predicted there would be disputes as the proposed S.S.I. restorations move toward actual legislation. The agreement says that immigrants who were here legally on Aug. 22, 1996, who become disabled in the future would also be eligible. Some Republicans have said they would seek to strike that provision. There is a dispute over future immigrants. The White House's view is that S.S.I. will continue to be offered to all immigrants who come here legally and wind up disabled. Republicans say they have not promised aid to new immigrants.
"There is a lot about the deal that gives me indigestion," said Representative E. Clay Shaw, a Republican from Florida who was a chief sponsor of the welfare reform legislation. "But there are limits. S.S.I. will be ended as pension plan for third world countries. We are not giving on that."
John Clark, a spokesman for the city's Social Security Administration office, predicted that the agreement would require a vast review of thousands of cases. "It is not going to be a picnic," he said.
There are plenty of calculations to be done in a neighborhood like Southside, where roughly 900 elderly or impaired adults were set to lose their monthly checks. Not everyone would be protected, and no one knows how easy -- or difficult -- it would be for those who need to requalify, this time citing disability instead of age. Moreover, the budget deal would not restore food stamps or Medicaid to legal immigrants without disabilities.
The budget agreement would also retain the toughened eligibility requirements for disabled children. Roughly 15,000 children in the city who receive S.S.I. have been notified that they would likely lose their subsidies because their behavioral problems or learning difficulties like attention deficit disorder are no longer considered sufficiently severe. Many of those children live in Southside.
Many immigrants who feared they would lose benefits already face practical problems. Nursing homes, fearing payment hangups, have denied beds to S.S.I. recipients lacking citizenship. One Brooklyn landlord, Isaac Heitz, said he had refused apartments to 20 legal immigrants on S.S.I., saying that to grant the apartments "doesn't make business sense."
The word of mouth that has been most efficient at spreading fear across Southside has been slow to spread much relief. In classrooms and apartment bedrooms in Southside, immigrants gathered and studied citizenship exam sheets. Citizenship is the one absolute way to continue receiving benefits, and nothing about the budget agreement is expected to slow the flood of applications at the Immigration and Naturalization Service. At Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church, a list was kept of households willing to take in immigrants who were losing benefits, a list that will be kept no matter what the budget agreement says.
Justina Garcia could well need to take advantage of the list. Ms. Garcia, 72, came to Southside as a Mariel boatlift refugee from Cuba in 1980, and has received S.S.I. for years. While suffering from serious health problems, she obtained her S.S.I. because of her age. She lives in a housing project apartment with her nephew. The boy, Roberto Caraballo, 7, has been told he will lose his S.S.I. subsidy because his disability, a slight walking problem and hyperactivity, do not meet the toughened criteria.
Ms. Garcia has taken a citizenship exam. She believes she did well. She could keep her $400 a month. It could well not be enough. Her rent is $270 a month. She and her nephew have no other income.
"We hope," she said. "What else is there to do?"
Others plainly do not know what took place last week. Ida Steinmetz, a caseworker at the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, the main social services office for Southside's Hasidim, did not as of two days ago know any of the details of the agreement. Thus a client, Micha Katz, 76, a Russian immigrant, remained in his apartment on South 10th Street, angry and alone.
Indeed, interviews with immigrant S.S.I. recipients, both before the budget agreement and after, underscore how disconnected they are from the the political debate, how far they are from Washington.
When the initial reform legislation was signed into law last year, the memories of the immigrants were fresh with the recollection of Government workers only months before signing up as many immigrants as they could for S.S.I. Those legitimately receiving the benefits, many of whom had paid taxes for years, never hid their sense of appreciation for what they freely called generosity. Thus, they felt bewildered but powerless when they began receiving termination notices. They do not vote, often do not speak English, certainly do not have easy informational access to Washington.
"It has all happened so fast," said Gloria Guerrero, 63. She has received S.S.I. -- $560 a month -- for five years because of a herniated disc.
"I had worked. I had decided I would work again somehow if I had to," Ms. Guerrero said. "I decided to accept what they had said would happen. Now, they change their minds. They are the ones in a limbo state. They have passed so many laws they don't know how to implement them."
The Federal Government created S.S.I. in 1974, replacing more than 1,000 state programs assisting elderly, blind or disabled people with impoverished incomes. Over the years, however, the program increasingly became a retirement and disability fund for many new immigrants.
A 1995 investigation by the General Accounting Office reported that some immigrants were being coached to feign mental illness to obtain benefits, with the coach then demanding kickbacks. Social Security Administration officials acknowledge that some people came from other countries, signed up for benefits and left, their money forwarded.
And because household income is not considered in determining eligibility, the question of legitimate need has always been thorny. A 1995 analysis of census data by The New York Times showed that 20 percent of the nation's foreign-born S.S.I. recipients lived in households with incomes above $50,000.
The welfare reform law eliminating benefits came on the heels of what had been a Government effort to increase S.S.I. participation, including the foreign-language radio advertisements. Public school officials in New York City were trying last year to move children from public assistance to S.S.I. as a way of limiting costs to the city.
All of those efforts washed over Southside, making the legislation of last August perplexing as well as unnerving. Now, there is an alternative, if mostly comforting, twist to comprehend.
"I was always grateful for what this country gave me," Ms. Suncar, a widow, said. "I owe my life to this country. That's why it felt like entrapment when they said they were taking it all back. Now, I suppose they realized how many of us there were. I think they panicked."
 
Welfare Neighborhood
This is the fifth in a series of articles describing how an array of changes in welfare policy are coming together in one Brooklyn neighborhood, Southside, in Williamsburg.

LOAD-DATE: May 10, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

SERIES: WELFARE NEIGHBORHOOD: Change Comes to Southside.

GRAPHIC: Photos: Maria Reyes Gonzalez, 76, could lose her Supplemental Security Income check, her only source of money. (Angel Franco/The New York Times)(pg. 21); Both Justina Garcia, 73, and her nephew, Roberto Caraballo, 7, stood to lose their Supplemental Security Income benefits under the new rules. (Angel Franco/The New York Times)(pg. 22)
 
Graphs: "A CLOSER LOOK: Benefits at Risk for Legal Immigrants"
Although under the new budget agreement in Washington some benefits cut by the Welfare Reform Act would be restored, thousands of children and legal immigrants in New York City would still lose Supplemental Security Income (S.S.I.) benefits. Graphs show percentage of foreign-born elderly from each country receiving S.S.I., for selected countries and number of immigrants who were expected to lose S.S.I. benefits, for the five boroughs. About a third would still lose benefits under the agreement. (Sources: Analysis of 1990 Census data by Andrew Beveridge, professor of sociology at Queens College; Social Security Administration)(pg. 22)

TYPE: Series

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The New York Times

May 11, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

PLAYING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: PARK SLOPE;
If Mom Wants to Dance Like an Earth Goddess

SECTION: Section 13; Page 14; Column 3; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 202 words

FOR a change of pace from the usual Mother's Day flowers and visit, the Spoke the Hub Recreation Center is offering a daylong series of events today that might blow Mama's mind just a little.
The day begins at 11 A.M. with a choice of participatory sessions: "Macho Girls' Workout" with Elise Long; "Isadora Duncan Dancing" with Lynn Armentrout (pictured at left) and "Afro-Caribbean Earth Goddess Dancing" with Judith Samuel. 
 The sessions, which the center says are for "girl children of all ages," are free.
An entertainment schedule begins at 2 P.M. with music, theater, poetry and dance by various Brooklyn mothers, and storytelling by octogenarians from Elders Share the Arts.
At 4, there is free storytelling for the whole family, and at 5 a reception for Mary Elmer De-Witt, a photographer whose exhibition on children and childhood opens today at the center.
"Brooklyn Mothers of Invention Day," Spoke the Hub Recreation Center, 748 Union Street, near Sixth Avenue, Park Slope. All events free except the 2 P.M. entertainment segments, for which admission is $10, or $5 for children 17 or under and people 65 or over. A complete schedule of events is available by calling (718) 857-5158.

LOAD-DATE: May 11, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo

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May 11, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

IN BRIEF;
New Jersey Doctors Offer Least Access to Medicare

BYLINE: STATES NEWS SERVICE 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 6; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 165 words

New Jersey physicians and other health-care providers have the lowest Medicare participation rate in the nation, the United States Department of Health and Human Services reported last week.
The study found that, as of January, 62.8 percent of New Jersey's health-care providers were enrolled in Medicare, the Federal program for the elderly and the disabled -- well below the national average of 80 percent. But an official with the Medical Society of New Jersey said that many doctors are willing to accept Medicare patients on a case-by-case basis. 
 The same month as the study was taken, New Jersey doctors accepted more than 94 percent of the Medicare-eligible patients seeking treatment, said Eileen Moynihan, the medical society treasurer.
New Jersey is dominated by doctors in solo or small-group practices, Dr. Moynihan said, adding that such small operations often can't afford to hire staffto track Medicare billings, so they don't enroll.   STATES NEWS SERVICE

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May 11, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Harsh Medicine

BYLINE: By Robert Pear;  Robert Pear is a Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

SECTION: Section 7; Page 31; Column 2; Book Review Desk 

LENGTH: 699 words


MORTAL PERIL
 Our Inalienable Right
 to Health Care?
 By Richard A. Epstein.
 503 pp. Reading, Mass.:
 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. $27.50. 
 Richard A. Epstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago, is one of the stars in the firmament of conservative intellectuals. He knows more about economics than most lawyers, doctors and health policy analysts. And health policy desperately needs the insights to be gleaned through economists' and lawyers' intellectual discipline. Mr. Epstein would seem ideally suited to the task of analyzing the nation's health care system -- and in some ways he is. But "Mortal Peril" is a curiously uneven book, combining flashes of brilliant insight with commentary that may strike many readers as morally obtuse.
He is best as a critic. His critique of President Clinton's ill-fated plan for universal health insurance, which embodied, he writes, an "egalitarian impulse," is skillful: "Congress was told all or nothing, and nothing was the response." But like many conservatives, Mr. Epstein has a hard time constructing a coherent set of health care proposals to replace the conventional wisdom in this field.
His thesis, in short, centers on "the mortal peril of beneficent regulation," the "unintended consequences" of high-minded schemes to guarantee access to health care. "Taken together," he says, "the full range of reforms poses a mortal peril to the very ends they are supposed to advance: the health and prosperity of society." The effort to transform charitable impulses and "moral intuition" into legal rights, like a right to health care, is, for Mr. Epstein, futile. He is a purist, and he does not want the Government to dabble in health care because, he says, "noble intentions quickly lead to an endless tangle of hidden subsidies, perverse incentives and administrative nightmares."
Thus, Mr. Epstein is skeptical of Medicare for the same reason he scorned Mr. Clinton's health plan. Medicare, the health program for the elderly and disabled, establishes, he says, "a single-payer monopoly for large parts of the health care market -- a perfect microcosm of a command and control economy." He recalls that his father, a radiologist, railed against Medicare with the admonition that "he who pays the piper calls the tune."
Mr. Epstein's aversion to Government intervention is so strong that he disapproves of a 1986 Federal law requiring hospitals to examine and stabilize patients with "emergency medical conditions." The law was prompted by reports of patients who died or were sent to public hospitals after being denied care at private hospitals. Mr. Epstein describes the law as "an institutional mistake," whose "hidden costs" have forced some trauma centers to shut down because they are not assured of payment for the care they must provide. "As far as government is concerned, any hospital should be able to 'just say no' to any patient," he writes. He would let hospitals deny care to people who persist in abusing drugs or alcohol.
Mr. Epstein's analysis is more subtle and useful when he explores the frontiers of medicine, ethics and the law, grappling with issues like organ transplants and physician-assisted suicide. But it seems odd that after arguing that people have no right to health care, he insists that the terminally ill should be able to hasten death with a doctor's help. "Why balk at active euthanasia if it is honestly invoked to avoid the pain and suffering that would otherwise follow?" he asks. Nor is "public support for children in a permanent vegetative state" high on his list of priorities. "We should suck in our gut and say no when asked to provide life support devices for those without hope of recovery," he writes.
The system of individual rights and duties enshrined in English common law "does a far better job of providing health care than the endless set of legislative and judicial innovations of our day," Mr. Epstein says. But it is a bit late in the day to sweep away those innovations and erect a new health care system on the old foundations. A more pressing task is to repair the internal defects and contradictions that Mr. Epstein cogently catalogues.

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May 11, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

When Youngsters Become Their Elders' Teachers

BYLINE: By JACK CAVANAUGH 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 1; Column 4; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1154 words

JANET KLINGNER, seated in front of a computer at the Brunswick School in Greenwich, listened in rapt attention as Paul Wilford clarified a point about the Windows aspect of her computer. At about the same time at nearby Greenwich Academy, Karrie Martineau and Katherine McGirr showed Frank and Faye Simon how to play solitaire on the computers in front of them.
What made these scenes on a recent Friday afternoon particularly noteworthy is that Paul Wilford, Karrie Martineau and Katherine McGirr, all middle school pupils, are about six decades younger than those they were coaching. 
 In all, 31 men and women in their 60's, 70's and 80's are enrolled in the eight-week course that began in April as a joint venture of the Greenwich Commission on Aging, the Greenwich Retired Men's Association and the Brunswick School and Greenwich Academy. A faculty member from each school teaches the classes, which run for three hours each Friday afternoon, assisted by student coaches, veritably weaned on computers, and a half-dozen older people, including one who took the inaugural course last fall.
"It's a very rewarding experience for the kids," said Sydney Uhry, an instructor at the Brunswick School who taught the first class last fall. "They're so used to being told what to do and how to do it -- by parents, teachers and coaches, among others -- and here they are knowing something that the adults don't know."
That twist has not been lost on the young coaches. "It felt real weird at first," said Paul Wilford, a 13-year-old seventh-grade student who was also a coach during the first class. "Here I am trying to help teach them something and they know so much more than me in so many different fields."
On the flip side, as Ron Klingner said, the youngsters "know so much about computers, but they don't lord it over you. They take you through a problem step by step, if necessary, and they're very patient."
For the most part, the older people have proven to be quick, and very determined, students, say Ms. Uhry and Holly Silvestri, the instructor at the Greenwich Academy class.
Among the 17 students enrolled in the course at the otherwise all-male Brunswick School was Mrs.  Klingner, who was following in the footsteps of her husband, who took the course last fall. "Ron would come home so happy with what he was learning," she said, "and it motivated me to take the course."
Like the majority of the students, the Klingners were, in a sense, nudged along by family. "Everybody seems to be into computers, and we felt left out," Mrs. Klingner said. "Our two sons, our daughter and five of our six grandchildren all use them, and, when they talked about computers, we had no idea what they were saying." (The only grandchild who does not use a computer is 2 years old, "and he's trying to start up," Mr. Klingner said.)
During the first class last November, Ms. Uhry, who is a computer teacher at Brunswick, asked each older student why he or she was taking the course. "Most of them said they wanted to be able to keep in touch with their children and grandchildren through E-mail," she said. "But they also said they wanted to experience what others were talking about and to learn about the Internet and electronic communication in general."
Mrs. Klingner said she hoped that her classroom training would enable her to communicate with her sisters in Colorado, California and Ohio via E-mail, which is cheaper than by conventional long distance telephone calls.
Mr. Klingner has put his course to good use. "I write a weekly newsletter for the Retired Men's Association, and had been doing it longhand and then giving it to my daughter to do on her computer," he said. "But now I write it on the computer myself. Also, I now can do my voluntary public relations work for the Greenwich Call-A-Ride on the computer, instead of doing it longhand."
One of Mr. Klingner's fellow pupils last fall was Howard Conley, who is also a member of the Greenwich Retired Men's Association. Mr. Conley, a quick learner, is now one of the adult coaches at Brunswick. "I can now communicate with my three sons -- who are Washington, Newton, Mass., and London -- by E-mail," he said, "and for the last three and a half months I've been on the Internet."
At the all-female Greenwich Academy, the volunteer turnout has been so great that there are almost as many coaches are there are students. At the second class, for example, eight middle school students and three older coaches supplemented Ms. Silvestri's instruction. "The volunteers outnumber the students overall, since we have 14 enrolled in the class and between 15 and 20 coaches from the Academy," Ms. Silvestri said.
As in the class at the Brunswick School, most of the older people said children or grandchildren spurred them on, plus a feeling that time and technology were passing them by.  Robert Eichler, a retired engineer, said, "My daughter is fluent in computers, but then she moved to Pennsylvania. Now I'm catching up with the world."
Ross H. Ogden, a member of the Greenwich Commission on Aging and Brunswick alumnus, said "Here you have the wisest family members who knew nothing at all about computers. Their kids and grandchildren were all tuned in to computers but they were being left out. Now here they are learning the complexities of computers and even how to communicate through E-mail with children and grandchildren who are scattered all over."
After enlisting the aid of the Greenwich Retired Men's Association, Mr. Ogden asked the Brunswick School if it would be willing to join in the venture. "We were delighted to," said Steven Dudley, the assistant headmaster at the school. "It was a great match."
The program has received financial support from Christ Episcopal Church and several donations from Brunswick alumni. The $50 student fee goes toward paying the two instructors. And this year the students can use an optional one-hour practice lab session on Tuesdays, aided by their young volunteer coaches.
"We're looking for more sponsors, and we'd also like to expand the program to other schools in town," Mr. Ogden said. "We had to turn people away this year. A lot of the seniors who've taken the course, or are taking it now, are on the Internet and sending E-mail messages to their grandchildren."
While none of the older people have yet brought in apples for their teachers, Ms. Uhry's students found a novel way to show their appreciation for her at the end of the first class. "We felt we had to do something, and finally decided on flowers," Mr. Klingner said.
So it was that on the last day of class last December, Ms. Uhry walked into the computer lab and was given a long-stemmed rose by each of her 14 students. "I was very touched," she said. "We had become friends, and it was a lovely gesture and a marvelous way to end what had been a very pleasant and gratifying experience."

LOAD-DATE: May 11, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Leslie Santiana moving mouse for Bernadine Ponticelli, left; behind them are Nick Ponticelli and Karina Aguirre; In Greenwich, Adam Durity, left, working in a computer session with Len Mawhinney. (Photographs by Janet Durrans for The New York Times)

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May 13, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

NYC;
For Youth, Bargain Rent Is Just a Ticket

BYLINE: By CLYDE HABERMAN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 759 words

IT seems only right, given the political climate, that one of Broadway's hottest tickets is a high-wattage musical that dwells on tenant-landlord relations. "Rent" remains so popular that people, generally those too young to clearly remember any President before Ronald Reagan, start lining up the night before for the 30-odd tickets available for each performance at the rock-bottom price of $20 apiece.
Waiting for Sunday's matinee, some of them since 11 P.M. on Saturday, they looked like an encampment of the homeless, wrapping themselves in plastic sheets and huddling inside cardboard boxes against a chilling wind. "Now you know what it feels like to be on the street," a truly homeless man grumbled as he walked past them, outside the Nederlander Theater on West 41st Street. 
 These 20-somethings were for the most part newcomers to New York, proof that the city is still a beacon not just to struggling families from Rawalpindi and Santo Domingo but also to wide-eyed, hopeful youngsters from places like Grinnell, Iowa, and Upper Bluff, Mo. The city has always depended on their likes for infusions of creative energy.
They are not at the heart of the simultaneous monologues masquerading these days as political debate over rent controls. But their personal futures -- and with them, perhaps, New York's future vibrancy -- are as much on the line as the fate of the elderly couples and working-class families normally invoked in this argument.
NOT surprisingly, the people waiting for "Rent" worry about paying the rent, should decades-old regulations disappear just as they set out to make it in New York City.
"I'm leery, because there are bad people out there who would charge whatever they want," said Rusty Van Praag, the emigre from Upper Bluff, who studies at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy on the Upper West Side and is on the prowl for an affordable apartment. Lying on the pavement under a blanket, a young woman expressed a similar concern. "A lot of people come to the city in a not very stable financial condition," she said. "Rent controls give them a way to get started."
On the other hand, Mr. Van Praag had little sympathy for the rentocrats paying peanuts for sprawling apartments. Ditto for those who regard rent control, originally imposed 50 years ago as an emergency measure, as an entitlement to be taken to the grave or even beyond, if they have children to inherit their apartments.
(Gov. George E. Pataki, in endorsing "vacancy decontrol" yesterday while managing to avoid even once uttering those two words, recommended that the concept of family "succession" continue. One can already envision thousands of young people paying off rent-controlled old-timers to adopt them, much the way many immigrants have rushed to marry American citizens to stay in the country.)
"There definitely are people out there who should be paying more for the space they have," Mr. Van Praag said.
Jodi Conn, who left Iowa to become an assistant fashion designer in Manhattan, lucked into a rent-stabilized studio apartment on West 72d Street. She pays $567 a month, which is good these days.
She feared the worst when the rent monologues began, Ms. Conn said, but now she is not so sure. "At first, it sounded like they were going to make great changes," she said. "Now, it doesn't sound so bad."
FOR sure, neither she nor the others were steeped in the Borghesian ways of New York politics, guided by the imperative to do unto others before they do one to you. But they felt they had been around long enough to know an extreme position when they heard one.
They had difficulty accepting the apocalyptic visions of the tenant-group professionals who predict an end to civilization as we know it should rent regulations disappear. By the same token, they did not accept sweetness-and-light forecasts from State Senator Joseph L. Bruno and his allies, who see a deregulated paradise of new construction and overall lower rents.
Most of all, though relatively new to New York political wars, they were no less perplexed than older hands as to why decisions of such moment are made in Albany, by upstaters who, in some cases, do not even like the city. New Yorkers should decide their own fate, they said, a point made the same day by Manhattan Borough President Ruth W. Messinger, a Democratic candidate for mayor.
"This is the only city I know of that can get away with charging so much for tiny studios," Ms. Conn said. "People who live upstate probably have no idea how high rents already are here."

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May 16, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Pataki Weighs Portable Rent Protection for Some Elderly

BYLINE: By JAMES DAO 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 582 words

DATELINE: ALBANY, May 15

Gov. George E. Pataki said tonight that he was considering a proposal to let elderly tenants take rent protections with them if they moved from regulated apartments into unregulated ones.
The Governor said the idea of making rent protection portable under certain circumstances might make sense if the Legislature enacted a policy he supports called vacancy decontrol, under which rent limits are lifted from apartments that are vacated. One argument against vacancy decontrol is that it might discourage people in regulated apartments from moving, since any unit they would move to would be decontrolled. 
 In response to a question during a live call-in program on WCBS radio, Mr. Pataki gave an example in which an elderly couple wants to move from a large, rent-regulated apartment into a smaller, decontrolled one in the same building. In that circumstance, he said, it might make sense to allow the couple to take their protections with them, making the smaller unit rent-regulated.
In a telephone interview later, Mr. Pataki said the idea had not been fleshed out and was just one of many ideas he and his staff were reviewing to "enhance" his proposal to gradually phase out the rent protections. He did not elaborate, for example, on whether tenants might be allowed to transfer protections to a different building, or whether the transfers would require a landlord's consent.
The Governor's comments came as groups representing tenants planned an advertising campaign charging that he and United States Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato were working to dismantle rent regulation through vacancy decontrol.
The advertisement will begin running on several New York City television stations on Friday.
"The Pataki-D'Amato plan for vacancy decontrol means an end to rent protection, and it's a disaster for 2.7 million New York tenants," the narrator in the commercial says.
Current laws restrict rent increases on 1.1 million regulated apartments, even when they are vacated. But those laws are scheduled to expire on June 15, and are now the focus of a bruising political fight in Albany pitting Republicans, who want to abolish or scale back the rules, against Democrats, who want to extend them unchanged.
The tenants' advertising campaign is relatively modest, costing $100,000, and will place the 30-second spots in and around newscasts over the next two or three weeks, said Martin Brennan, campaign coordinator for the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, one of the groups paying for the campaign.
The campaign is part of a strategic shift by the tenants' group toward focusing their lobbying efforts against Mr. Pataki -- and, to a lesser degree, Mr. D'Amato -- and away from Republican state senators.
The shift indicates that the tenants' groups now believe that Mr. Pataki, who released a rent plan earlier this week endorsing vacancy decontrol, has replaced the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, as the main Republican negotiator with the Democrats over the rent laws.
"George Pataki and Al D'Amato are clearly the two most powerful Republican leaders in the state and have the most direct control over the policies that its party implements," Mr. Brennan said.
The tenants' campaign also comes just two weeks after the state Democratic Party began running commercials -- created by the same political consulting firm used for the tenants' ads -- that urged voters to hold Mr. Pataki and Mr. D'Amato responsible if the rent laws expire.

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May 16, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Crowd in Chinatown Reveals an Unexploited Market for Metrocards

BYLINE: By GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 829 words

Ask a transit official why the Metrocard has been so unpopular and you will get a variety of reasons, ranging from the fact that the electronic fare card is not accepted by the entire system, to New Yorkers' deep affection for the token.
Yesterday, transit officials learned two more reasons: they have done a poor job of telling New York's myriad ethnic groups about the cards, and they have made it too difficult for some straphangers to obtain them. 
 After the Transit Authority sent a news release to three Chinese-language newspapers announcing that a bus would be in Chinatown in which the cards would be sold, about 400 people showed up yesterday to enroll for a special Metrocard available to senior citizens for half price. Pandemonium broke out when the door to the bus was opened, with immigrants rushing the vehicle and overwhelming a police officer who was trying to keep order.
The unexpected response showed not only how advertising aimed at immigrants could push a product that transit officials have had trouble getting off the ground, but also how broad a market the immigrant population can be.
In the past, transit officials typically would let senior centers know when they would be in a neighborhood, and then hope that the word got around.
"We had no idea it was going to be like this," said Bill Woods, the director of the Transit Authority's Metrocard program, who added that he had expected about 50 people.
The bus, deep blue and yellow and emblazoned with a huge Metrocard sign, has been parking near senior centers around the city for about six months, after potential customers had complained that the card was not readily available.
The process to get the senior Metrocard is cumbersome, many seniors say. To get the discounted cards, seniors must fill out an application, pay to have it notarized and send it back with a passport-size photograph and a copy of a Medicare card to prove their age. But with the bus, the process is free and takes one step.
Immigrants have also complained that the application is only in English.
"I'm not sure how to use this," said Wah Ng, who lives in Chinatown, waving the application in the air. "They were speaking to me in English, and I didn't understand. How do you use this card? Do you slide it somewhere? Does money come out the other end? Can I still use my tokens? Do I need to use both the card and the token to ride the subway? It's all very confusing."
Yesterday, tempers flared when the bus, which was expected to be on the north side of Canal Street, appeared on the opposite side. Some of the Metrocard-hungry people, who had been waiting for more than three hours, began to push and shove in an effort to maintain their original positions in line.
"It was uncontrollable," said Mei Chen, program coordinator at the Chinese American Planning Council, a social service agency which helped coordinate the event. "At one point we were afraid to open the door of the bus because nine to 10 people wanted to get in."
Some people came from Queens and Brooklyn to sign up for the Metrocards, which officials said are now being used by 18 percent of the system's 3.5 million daily riders.
In a city with a fast-growing immigrant population, yesterday's event marked the first time that transit officials made a strong effort to reach out to one of New York's ethnic communities by advertising the Metrocard in a language other than English or Spanish.
"I heard about it this morning through the newspapers," said Wai Yee Fong, 67, of Woodside, Queens, who took the No. 7 train. "I didn't come this morning because there were too many people. I think this card is more convenient -- I don't have to show my Medicare card each time I take the subway to get a discount."
While people were lining up in Chinatown, a Transit Authority committee voted unanimously yesterday to allow free transfers between subways and buses throughout New York City beginning July 4 in what would be the biggest change in transit service since the three subway systems were unified in 1940.
The move is expected to gain final approval next month from the entire board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transit Authority's parent agency.
Under the proposed fare structure, for the first time, riders would be able to transfer within a two-hour period from any bus to another bus or subway, and vice versa, for a single fare of $1.50. Staten Island ferry riders will get the free transfer as well as riders of the 1,100 city-subsidized private buses. But the gold Metrocard cannot be used to re-enter the subway for free at a stop where a trip began. Senior citizens will continue to get their discount.
"It is a milestone," said Beverly J. Dolinsky, executive director of the Transit Riders Council, an organization whose members are appointed by elected officials. "I think it's really important for all customers and there probably will be a lot of changes in riding patterns."

LOAD-DATE: May 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Shoving broke out as about 400 people waited at Canal and Mott Streets in Manhattan to enroll for discounted Metrocards. A transit official said he had expected 50 people. (Carrie Boretz for The New York Times)

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May 17, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton Regrets 'Clearly Racist' U.S. Study

BYLINE: By ALISON MITCHELL  

SECTION: Section 1;  Page 10;  Column 1;  National Desk  

LENGTH: 913 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 16

A quarter of a century after the infamous Tuskegee experiment came to an end, President Clinton, his voice cracking with emotion, apologized today to the few remaining survivors and to relatives of 399 black men who for 40 years were left untreated for syphilis as part of the Federal Government's study.
"What was done cannot be undone, but we can end the silence," Mr. Clinton said in the White House East Room. "We can stop turning our heads away. We can look at you in the eye and finally say on the behalf of the American people: What the United States did was shameful, and I am sorry." 
 At one point as he spoke, the President extended his arms from his lectern toward the frail, elderly victims of the study -- one of them more than 100 years old -- men who he said had been "betrayed" by their Government.
The United States Public Health Service's "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male" represents an infamous chapter in the annals of American medical research. Starting in 1932, 399 indigent Southern black men were recruited by health researchers who led them to believe they would receive free medical treatment for what they called "bad blood," and were carefully monitored as the disease claimed its victims.
The men were not told they had syphilis, which can cause mental illness and death. And they were never treated for the disease, even after penicillin was found to be a successful cure in the mid-1940's.
Tuskegee, a historically black college in Alabama, did not participate in the syphilis study. The program was ended when it was publicly exposed in 1972, and only then were its survivors treated for syphilis.
Some of those sitting in the audience began to cry as Mr. Clinton spoke, and he, too, shed a tear. And a low murmur swept the room as the President said, "To our African-American citizens, I am sorry that your Federal Government orchestrated a study so clearly racist."
Before Mr. Clinton's apology, military escorts led five of the eight survivors of the study -- several of them in wheelchairs and all over 90 -- into the room. One of the men, Herman Shaw, introduced the President and said the day closed "this very tragic and painful chapter in our lives."
"We were treated unfairly," said Mr. Shaw, who will turn 95 on Sunday and was helped to the lectern by Mr. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. "To some extent like guinea pigs."
"We were not pigs, Mr. Shaw continued, his voice slow and steady. "We were all hard-working men, not boys, and citizens of the United States."
When he had finished speaking, he and the President embraced.
Since 1973 the Government, in an out-of-court settlement to a class action suit, has paid $10 million in compensation to the Tuskegee experiment's victims and heirs, but the nation's leaders had never formally apologized to the victims.
White House officials said that in the next few months the President plans to concentrate on race relations in the nation. Today he called the victims and their relatives "a living link to a time not so long ago that many Americans do not like to remember but we dare not forget."
The Government, he said, "did something that was wrong -- deeply, profoundly, morally wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all our citizens."
Mr. Clinton said the legacy of the experiment "has reached far and deep, in ways that hurt our progress and divide our nation," and added, "We cannot be one America when a whole segment of our nation has no trust in America."
For a moment his voice broke as he thanked the victims and their families for the fact that they had "not withheld the power to forgive."
Mr. Clinton announced a $200,000 planning grant to allow Tuskegee University to help establish a Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care. He also announced the creation of fellowships for post-graduate studies in bioethics, with a special effort to recruit minority students.
In addition, he extended the life of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission until 1999, and directed Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to report within 180 days on how to best involve communities -- particularly minority communities -- in research and health care. Doctors and medical researchers have said that the Tuskegee study left such a legacy of Government distrust among black Americans that it has hindered their ability to treat blacks for AIDS or H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.
For those who have long sought recognition of the pain inflicted on their families, Mr. Clinton's apology offered some solace. Albert Julkes Jr. of Columbus, Ga., whose father and two uncles had been subjects of the experiment, was left in tears. "I wish my father was here," said Mr. Julkes, whose father is dead. "He would have appreciated this."
Dr. Vanessa Northington Gamble, chairwoman of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Legacy Committee, a group formed last year to press for an apology, called the President's remarks moving but said that a $200,000 planning grant for Tuskegee University should be "just a beginning."
"It's not enough," she said. "It's not sufficient."
Dr. Randall Morgan, the president of the National Medical Association, the nation's oldest black professional medical association, said in a statement that Mr. Clinton's apology did not excuse the tragedy of the Tuskegee study, "but it may help close this unfortunate chapter in our nation's history."

LOAD-DATE: May 17, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: President Clinton yesterday hugged Herman Shaw, a survivor of the Tuskegee experiment, as Vice President Al Gore and Dr. David Satcher, right, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked on. (Paul Hosefros/The New York Times)

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May 17, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Democrats Use 2d Debate For Attacks on Each Other

BYLINE: By BRETT PULLEY 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 25; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 800 words

DATELINE: TRENTON, May 16

The three candidates competing in the Democratic primary for governor met in their second televised debate here tonight. And with little more than two weeks to go before Primary Day, they continued their chorus of attacks on Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, but also became much more aggressive in their attempts to discredit and stand apart from one another.
Representative Robert E. Andrews, the member of Congress from Camden County, in the southern region of the state, cited what he called "the Whitman record of failure" as he continued to blame the Republican Governor for high auto insurance rates, cuts in funding for the environment and poor allocation of state revenues. 
 While Mrs. Whitman's incumbency may make her the most formidable candidate in the governor's race, she is running unopposed in the June 3 Republican primary. So Mr. Andrews also used the debate, which was taped for broadcast on Sunday, to go after one of his opponents in the primary, James E. McGreevey, the State Senator and Mayor of Woodbridge.
Between them, Senator McGreevey and Representative Andrews have the backing of the state's 21 Democratic county organizations and are expected to win the most votes on Primary Day. While they attacked each other, the third candidate, Michael Murphy, played the role of the plain-talking, peaceful underdog with unabashed affection for his state, as he had in the first debate last week.
"I have chosen not to characterize the records of the other gentlemen at the podium," Mr. Murphy said at one point. And as he has done before, he talked about his "love affair" with New Jersey.
One of the more contentious moments came after Mr. McGreevey said he was concerned about protecting the state's shores. Mr. Andrews responded by attacking the State Senator for voting in favor of some parts of Mrs. Whitman's tax programs, which he said were harmful to the environment.
"Governor Whitman brought forward her tax programs that you knew would cut environmental protection, cut education, hurt our cities, hurt our senior citizens," Mr. Andrews said. "Candidate McGreevey is running against the Whitman tax plan, but Senator Jim McGreevey voted for the Whitman tax plan."
But Mr. McGreevey, looking earnestly into the camera and seeming more relaxed and polished than he did during last week's debate, said that he thought she had done the right thing by cutting taxes, but had not established the right priorities for spending.
And for his part, Mr. McGreevey took his own shots at Mr. Andrews, who has been forced to explain repeatedly why he voted in Congress for early versions of House Speaker Newt Gingrich's welfare reform bill.
"That would have placed two million children into poverty," Mr. McGreevey said, "It was wrong for the children. It was wrong. We should not be another flavor of Republicanism."
During the debate, campaign workers for Mr. Andrews walked around the room set up for reporters, passing out forms with what they dubbed "the truth" about Mr. McGreevey's record.
Meanwhile, Mr. Murphy, the former Morris County Prosecutor and stepson of the late Gov. Richard A. Hughes, was trying to take advantage of the fact that they were not bothering to attack him. Not needing to go on the offensive, he cast himself as the most civilized candidate and said that at 48, he is also more mature than the other two men, who are both 39.
The debate is scheduled to be broadcast at noon on Sunday on WABC in New York and at 1 P.M. on WPVI in Philadelphia. The third and final debate before the primary is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
When the candidates were asked if they would hold the line on taxes, only Mr. Murphy said that he would consider a tax hike. He proposed raising the cigarette tax by 25 cents a pack to cover education costs and cut property taxes.
"I do not accept the premise that Governor Whitman has cut taxes," Mr. Murphy said. "What we have seen is a shift in our state. Real New Jerseyans have not seen the benefit of those alleged tax cuts."
The candidates shared the same position on most issues. They support abortion rights. They believe in stricter gun laws. They favor the death penalty.
Each of the candidates told a personal story about how breast cancer had touched the lives of their families when asked whether they would support more money for breast cancer research. Mr. Andrews told of holding his wife's hand last year as she underwent a biopsy that turned out to be negative. Mr. Murphy revealed how his wife's breast cancer was diagnosed nine years ago, and how she underwent a mastectomy.
Mr. McGreevey said that breast cancer had touched his family, too, and he took the opportunity to promote legislation he had sponsored requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of mammograms.

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May 18, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Books in Brief: Fiction

BYLINE: By Tobin Harshaw 

SECTION: Section 7; Page 21; Column 2; Book Review Desk 

LENGTH: 268 words


 I Saw a Man Hit His Wife
 By Mark Greenside.
 White Pine Press, paper, $14. 
 It used to be that all men would be tyrants if they could. Nowadays, or so it would seem from Mark Greenside's collection of short fiction, men are struggling just to get a word in edgewise, and maybe catch a ball game once in a while. Consider the very funny first story, "What Is It With Women, Anyhow?" -- the rambling monologue of a 52-year-old lawyer who is profoundly befuddled by his second wife's infidelities, his secretary's sudden self-empowerment and his daughter's predilection for masturbating while watching "Oprah." Other stories offer us a suburban dad who frets that his son will never be able to hit a hanging curveball (and, worse, that he will never even care), as well as a middle-aged husband who finds himself abetting his wife's sexual liberation through S&M. The problem with writing about men's insecurities is that they aren't necessarily any more interesting than women's insecurities -- or your neighbor's or your butcher's. After a while, you too want these guys just to shut up and go walk the dog. For the most part, Mr. Greenside does best in the few stories in which he leaves men behind, as in "Dreamers of Dreams," where an elderly woman stranded in a nursing home finds romance outside her window, and "Inside and Out," set in a bordello on a slow New Year's Eve. But after such excursions to the female side of the trenches, the writer faithfully returns to more guys worrying about guy things, making us wonder why women bother with them in the first place.   Tobin Harshaw

LOAD-DATE: May 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Review

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May 18, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Taking the Bus to a Wider World

BYLINE: By ROBIN F. DeMATTIA 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 27; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1221 words

EARLY morning and late afternoon are busy times for JoAnn Miller, of New Milford, who has three children and a job outside the home. But thanks to the Kennedy Center in Bridgeport, she has one less thing to worry about -- how her sister, Jeanette Hipp, will get to work.
Ms. Hipp lives on the same street as Ms. Miller, and works as a packer at a company in Brookfield. Last summer, travel training staff members of the Kennedy Center -- which provides a wide range of services to people with disabilities -- taught Ms. Hipp how to use public buses instead of relying on family or on what is called paratransit, vans equipped to help those with disabilities. 
 "It was a good thing," Ms. Miller says, "because if this didn't happen, there's no way one of us would have been able to take her to the bus stop and pick her up every day. My Dad can't take her, and I have to get to work on time."
Ms. Miller says the family initially had reservations about letting Ms. Hipp ride the bus alone. "We were afraid she would get confused and end up in the wrong spot, because she had to do so much transferring. But she seems to be doing O.K. with it. The Kennedy Center told her about 911, and she always has change in her pocket to make a phone call."
Placating families' concerns was just one barrier the Kennedy Center has overcome since instituting its travel training program in 1991. The program, officially called People Accessing Community Transportation, involves training people with disabilities and elderly men and women who currently use the special vans to ride on public buses.
More than 350 people statewide have gone through the program, with nearly 95 percent continuing to use public transportation one year after their training. The idea is for individuals to develop more confidence and greater independence, and have increased options for jobs and housing because they can travel more freely.
The state also benefits, because fixed-route transportation costs for people with disabilities are much less than those of the paratransit vans. John Broker, a transit planner with the State Department of Transportation, estimates that the average passenger subsidy on a public bus is $2.50 a ride, while the subsidy for paratransit service is $20 a trip. He says the subsidies are paid through a transportation fund supported by state taxes. "Our main goal is cost savings to taxpayers," says Mr. Broker. The department now allocates $180,000 a year to the travel training program. He says that the Kennedy Center "has done a substantial and fantastic job" helping people use the regular buses.
In the beginning, however, there was skepticism from all sides about whether the training program could work.
A Kennedy Center administrator, Wendy Bloch said, "We thought that previous travel training hadn't been as successful as it could have been." Ms. Bloch continued: "Our first goal was to develop a generic travel training curriculum that could be used for a person with any type of disability."
First, there is individual attention. A trainer works one on one with an individual, tailoring the training to that person's needs and abilities. The trainer meets the trainee at his or her home; they walk to the bus stop together, and the trainer rides the bus with the trainee to and from a destination. The individuals with disabilities learn to deal with situations like missing the bus as well as with panhandlers, strangers and other events or people. The trainers stick with the plan until the individual demonstrates proficiency, whether it takes 2 hours or 60 hours. After the trainer rides the bus with the trainee for several trips, the trainer may then shadow the trainee -- much the way parents do when helping their children learn similar skills -- by driving behind the bus to make sure the trainee gets on and off at the right stops. The trainer follows up with the trainee at regular intervals throughout the first year after training, to insure that the person is still comfortable with public transportation. And, finally, families are included in the process so they can lend their support.
In the second year of the program, the need for some home-office education became apparent, Ms. Bloch said. Some Kennedy Center employees were hesitant to recommend the travel training, so the trainers asked their coworkers to ride a city bus.
"People had misconceptions of being on a bus," said Ms. Bloch, "because so many people have not used public transportation." The trainers also needed to address societal barriers, because "sometimes drivers' attitudes were a major deterrent. So we developed a driver training program."
The trainers' manager, Robert Hoyt, says the drivers learn how to help passengers with disabilities and how to get wheelchairs on and off buses.
Mr. Hoyt says some drivers initially didn't communicate well with people with disabilities. "For a couple of folks with wheelchairs, drivers would say 'That's what paratransit is for,' and it hurt the consumer, Mr. Hoyt said. But with training, he added, "the drivers have become much more cordial.'
Connecticut Transit's general manager, David Lee, calls the travel training program a "win-win-win arrangement."
"For us," Mr. Lee said, "it means more passengers, and that's what we're in business to do. For the paratransit service, which is oversubscribed and very costly to operate, it means that that service really only has to carry people who cannot use the fixed-route system. And for the individuals who receive travel training it opens up whole new opportunities for independent travel."
The president and chief executive officer of the Kennedy Center, Martin D. Schwartz, agrees. "The more access people with disabilities have to public transportation," he said, "the more they are going to be able to become involved in the community. It enables them to broaden their horizons for vocation, housing and social life."
Mr. Schwartz says the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority recently asked the Kennedy Center for help in widening access to bus, subway and ferry transportation in the Boston area. It poses challenges, he said, but "It's nice that another state recognizes the quality of our services."
In Connecticut, several people who took travel training four or five years ago have moved from sheltered work situations at the Kennedy Center site to new jobs with less Kennedy Center -- or no -- support.
Many have also moved from group homes to more independent living situations. "Getting back and forth to work without paratransit," Mr. Hoyt said, "gave them more confidence in their work and living situations." As Ms. Bloch sees it, "One of the nice things that happens is that if we train someone who lives in a group home and is successful, everyone else wants to try it themselves."
The program has achieved its goals for Barbara Clark of Bridgeport. "I was nervous,"she said, "because I used to take the bus with my Mom but not by myself. But somebody was with me when I travel trained. They taught me where to get off and how to get to and from the bus." Ms. Clark has taken the bus not only to work but also to visit friends and to meet a group for a boat cruise. "Now I will try to take the bus to Trumbull for shopping and to church," she said confidently.

LOAD-DATE: May 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: With Lisa Barney, a trainer from the Kennedy Center, Kevin Meadows of Andover heads for the Buckland Hills Mall. (George Ruhe for The New York Times)

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May 18, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: FLUSHING;
Reassuring The Arrivals In a New Age

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 8; Column 1; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 491 words

From the window of her new apartment, Galina Mankovskaya can see the former Russian soldiers playing chess in the courtyard. There is some friendly cursing down below, and Mrs. Mankovskaya, 65, can smile with them. It has been a tiring trip from Moscow to Flushing, Queens.
Mrs. Mankovskaya came to the United States in 1991, to find that it was not everything she had imagined. A librarian by training, she could not find a job. 
 "No one wants you with your age and poor English," she said. Without work, she became eligible for Supplemental Security Income. But the $500 a month barely covered her rent. She lived on morsels and fell into a deep depression.
These days, Mrs. Mankovskaya says she feels good. She wears pink lipstick and a fresh dress. She is one of 88 immigrants who have found affordable apartments in the new Harry and Jeanette Weinberg House at 140-16 45th Avenue in Flushing. More than 1,000 people applied for the new housing.
The seven-story building, which was constructed with a $6.5 million grant from the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and $1 million from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, has 66 apartments. The building was dedicated Thursday afternoon, in a small ceremony in the courtyard.
It is operated by Selfhelp Community Services, founded in 1936 by a group of German Jewish refugees to help other Holocaust survivors. The group operates three other nearby buildings in Flushing and one in Bayside, providing housing for 947 elderly people.
"Our mission has changed over the years," said Richard S. Arsonsen, chief operating officer of Selfhelp. "As there are fewer Holocaust survivors left, we've turned to helping the new Americans."
The ethnic mix of the new center is approximately one-third Russian, one-third Chinese and a combination of other nationalities. The rents are subsidized but residents are required to contribute about about one-third of their income to the cost. Most of them pay about $165 a month from their S.S.I. benefits. The center provides social services, English classes and hot kosher meals. The building is designed to be accessible for the handicapped, and all of the bathrooms have emergency chords. Legal help is also provided.
With impending cutbacks in S.S.I. benefits for noncitizens and affordable housing already at a premium, the elderly here are worried that they will not be able to afford to stay. But Grace S. Nierenberg, director of housing, said that whatever happens, no resident will be evicted. "We will manage and we will fight," she said.
Still, things have changed, said Gertrude Feinstadt, 90, who lives at the Helen R. Scheur residence that abuts the Weinberg House. Her apartment complex used to be comprised entirely of German Jews. "Most of the old people have died and their families have moved away and the new ones don't speak English," Mrs. Feinstadt said. "It gets lonely."   CHARLIE LeDUFF

LOAD-DATE: May 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Galina Mankovskaya, who left Russia in 1991, is among the tenants in new housing for the elderly in Flushing. (Photographs by Steve Berman for The New York Times)

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May 18, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Sports of The Times;
The Knicks May Replay This Forever

BYLINE: By GEORGE VECSEY 

SECTION: Section 8; Page 1; Column 1; Sports Desk 

LENGTH: 679 words

THE moment haunts Buck Williams. He reviews it in his mind, wondering how he could have stopped four of his impetuous teammates from leaving the bench during a brawl last Wednesday.
The Knicks and the Miami Heat are one game away from being the Branca and Thomson of basketball. Decades from now, when they are old men, scattered all over the world, the players on both teams may be pursued for their versions of this notorious shift of fortunes. 
 Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson -- two of the most gracious men of sport -- still relive the moment in 1951 when Branca strode out of the Brooklyn Dodgers' bullpen and Thomson hit the home run that won the pennant for the New York Giants.
Of course, the Knicks could clinch the seventh game of this playoff series today in Miami, without two of their suspended stars, and go on to face the Chicago Bulls at full strength.
What is transpiring between the Knicks and the Heat is merely the second round of the lumbering two-month playoffs that keep us indoors all spring. What happened in 1951 was the end of a taut three-game playoff for the pennant.
But at least in New York, this sudden reversal has the potential for bitter folklore for the ages. The Knicks had won three of the first four games in this series, and then played a sloppy and surly game down in Miami, which touched off this nightmare.
The Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951 had a 13 1/2-game lead in mid-August before it got away.
This may or may not be an omen: In 1951, the Giants were managed by Leo Durocher, the former manager of the Dodgers. In 1997, the Heat is coached by Pat Riley, the former coach of the Knicks. Leo the Lip was a spiffy dresser, and so is Coach Riley.
This 1997 reversal will always hinge on the impulsive choice by four Knicks to leave the bench when P. J. Brown dumped Charlie Ward under the near basket.
By league rule, Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston were suspended for Friday's game and Larry Johnson and John Starks were suspended for today. Ward missed Friday's game because of his part in the brawl.
On Friday night, the Knicks faltered, 95-90, running out of steam without Ewing, the focus of their offense. Afterward, Williams had the woulda-coulda-shoulda blues. He is a superb rebounder and mature adult and union leader who spent his first 15 seasons in New Jersey and Portland. He has been a joy to watch this season, with his intensity and discipline.
The discipline was evident Wednesday night in Miami. When the brawl broke out, Buck Williams immediately thought about the three-year-old rule forbidding players from leaving the bench. So did 39-year-old Herb Williams, no relation, another class act, sitting on the bench.
"It happened to us at Portland," Buck Williams said. "We got into a fight with Phoenix and guys left the bench and were suspended." He said he told Ewing, "Stay on the bench." He explained later, "I knew if he went out there, it would cost him one eighty-second" -- meaning a game's pay -- "and he would get suspended once they rolled the videotape."
Despite being warned, Ewing, who exists in a civil world halfway between leader and loner, wandered slowly away from the bench, to observe the action up close.
"He stayed out there two to three minutes," Buck Williams said Friday night, after he and Herb Williams had played valiantly in defeat. "He just casually walked on the floor and walked off the floor. He wasn't fighting. He wasn't a peacemaker. He was a jaywalker."
Sometimes jaywalkers get run over, and that is what happened when the league office employed the rule book like a Sherman tank rumbling down Broadway.
"If I had it to do all over again, I'd have grabbed two or three guys and pinned them to the ground," Buck Williams said.
Defiantly, he said the Knicks should have won Friday, once they were ahead in the second half, and he said they would win today with their normal "game plan" of getting the ball to the big feller. But it didn't have to be this way. The Knicks are one game away from being history, not fading history but indelible history.

LOAD-DATE: May 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Buck Williams. (Barton Silverman)

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May 18, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

EARNING IT;
For Some, Pensions Still Find Ways to Disappear

BYLINE: By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON

SECTION: Section 3; Page 11; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 1812 words

WHEN Vincent Russo of Forest Hills, Queens, retired in 1993 after 31 years as an insurance agent for the New York Life Insurance Company, he expected a secure future, with money coming in every month from two company pensions. But three years after he left work, New York Life reduced the monthly payments on one of his pensions, contending that he no longer deserved the money.
Mr. Russo sued the company, trying to get what he calls his full pension restored. A New York Supreme Court judge in Queens dismissed the suit in November, ruling that the company had acted within its rights. Mr. Russo is appealing that decision. 
 The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, known as Erisa, was supposed to end such disputes by protecting employees' pensions. But though many people think their pensions are secure thanks to the law, not all pensions fall under its jurisdiction, as Mr. Russo discovered.
Even for the vast majority of pensions that the law does govern, say lawyers who represent people fighting for their benefits, the courts have severely limited the remedies.
"Erisa has accomplished a lot," said David Levin, a lawyer with the Washington office of Reish & Luftman, a benefits law firm. But, he added, it is "incredibly more participant unfriendly than it needs to be."
ERISA covers all pensions from corporations as well as pensions from most nonprofit groups. It regulates whom pensions must cover and how much they can be reduced by Social Security, and it establishes financing standards.
But the law does not govern pensions from state and local governments or religious organizations. Nor does it govern the supplemental pensions that corporations provide to their higher-paid executives and salespeople, like Mr. Russo, when their earnings exceed Federal caps on traditional pensions. (Supplemental executive pensions are called "nonqualified" because they do not qualify for the tax breaks that employers receive when they sponsor qualified pension plans.)
Phyllis Borzi, a pension expert at George Washington University who was chief of staff to a House subcommittee on pensions for 16 years, says that if you are in a pension plan that is exempt from Erisa "they can do whatever they want to you."
Ralph B. Jackson worked for 27 years for the City of New York and for the state, retiring in 1988, but he never collected a penny in pension money. His lawyer, Edgar Pauk, deputy director of Legal Services for the Elderly in Manhattan, says that's because of a host of rules and technicalities set by his two employers and because Mr. Jackson made errors in his pension forms as he transferred between various city and state jobs.
"Everyone who looked at his case agreed it was unfair, but they would do nothing because there was nothing in the rules to correct this outrage," Mr. Pauk said.
In a letter to Mr. Pauk, the New York City Employees Retirement System said its board members had "concluded that they are statutorily barred from granting the relief Mr. Jackson seeks."
In Mr. Russo's case, New York Life reduced the payouts only from his supplemental pension; his qualified pension was not touched.
The company canceled 80 policies that Mr. Russo had sold since 1963, returning premiums to the customers in connection with a lawsuit it settled last year with policyholders who contended that many agents had used deceptive sales techniques. Mr. Russo says he did nothing improper. But the company says that it can take back an agent's commissions if it cancels a policy for any reason and that in docking Mr. Russo's supplemental pension it was merely following its longstanding practice.
Because his supplemental pension was based on his earnings, the company subtracted from those earnings the commissions he had received from the 80 policies. New York Life recalculated his supplemental pension and so far has reduced his pension payouts by about $55,000, said Mr. Russo's lawyer, Herman Kaufman, of Manhattan and Old Greenwich, Conn.
Mr. Kaufman said his client had sold policies as instructed by the company and that the company's rules allowed it to take back commissions only within about a month of a sale, not as much as 33 years later.
Even the thousands of people with pensions that are covered under Erisa can have problems collecting.
"In the normal course, benefits get paid," Mr. Levin, the benefits lawyer, said, "and how well it goes for the vast majority of people is a wonderful thing. But there are also all sorts of shenanigans."
THE most common problems, he and others said, are that companies are sold, merged and split up, and it is hard to track where the pension plans went. Once you locate your particular pension plan, the company may not have records of your employment, especially if you changed jobs years ago. Erisa requires companies to keep records for only six years.
John Kovalichik of Holyoke, Mass., worked for 31 years at Adams Pakkawood, a manufacturer there, and for its corporate predecessors. But when the company folded in 1991 he could not find out where to go to start collecting his pension. He and other workers eventually called on the Pension Assistance Project at the University of Massachussets Boston Gerontology Institute, which runs a clinic to help people collect their pensions. The clinic works with the Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Washington.
Jack Pizer, an institute employee who counsels people about their pension problems, said that in the Adams Pakkawood case, "it took nine months, but we finally learned that the pension plan was terminated and the money was used to buy annuities" at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
"Met Life made no attempt to find these people," Mr. Pizer said, "and when I confronted them about that, they told me that these people were not their clients so there was no reason for them to notify them that it had their money."
William Rhatigan, a Met Life vice president, said the problems began when Adams Pakkawood closed before all the annuities paperwork was finished. He also said that when the company sold off its equipment, it sold the file cabinets containing the pension records.
The Adams Pakkawood retirees are now receiving payments.
Another common difficulty occurs when a company refuses to respond to requests to begin payments or miscalculates the benefits when it does pay. The law makes it a wrongful act to pay either less or more than the pension plan specifies, but plans are so complicated that mistakes and disagreements can easily arise about what the proper amount is.
In recent years, the Labor Department's Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration and the Government-owned Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation have received a small but growing number of complaints about shortchanging, especially in lump-sum settlements.
"We are finding lots of calculation mistakes in lump-sum payments," said Judy Welles, senior spokeswoman for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which insures defined-benefit pensions and takes over those that fail.
Two years ago, Piggly Wiggly Southern Inc. paid $1 million to retirees of its Alabama supermarkets whom it had shortchanged by using an improper interest rate. But the company paid only after losing a lawsuit. The company had contended that it was entitled to use a different interest rate than the guaranty corporation required.
In March, TRW, the military contractor, was found by a Federal judge in Cleveland to have underpaid more than 5,000 employees by as much as $40 million in pension money by using improper interest rate calculations. TRW is appealing.
But pursuing claims for Erisa-protected pensions can be burdensome. The courts have held that lawyers' fees generally cannot be awarded unless there has been willful misconduct by the pension plan, a high hurdle to surmount. For example, it hardly pays to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees if your pension is short $100 a month.
And although it can be hard to receive pension payments when you think they are due, it's a lot tougher when you don't even know you are entitled to anything. According to Norman Stein, a law professor at the University of California at Davis who specializes in retirement law, some employers create pension plans but do not tell their workers, as the law requires.
"I have seen cases that border on outright fraud," he said, most of them in small plans. "A lot of problems in small plans simply go undetected. Some people don't know they earned a pension from an employer they left 20 or 25 years ago. It may not be much money, but for someone on a fixed income, even a $25- or $50-a-month pension can be pretty meaningful."
 
How to Protect Your Money
THERE are steps you can take to reduce the risk of not getting your full pension.
Susan Martin, a pension specialist at Martin & Bonnett, a benefits law firm in Phoenix, says many problems can be avoided if workers collect key documents.
"Keep a photocopy of all correspondence you send," she said. "Send everything by certified mail, and keep the receipts.
"If you have a problem, ask for not just the plan summary, but the complete and updated plan with all amendments," she added. "Your employer is allowed to charge up to 25 cents per page, but few plans are as long as 100 pages, so regard it as money well spent to protect yourself. And if there is a problem that requires you to hire an attorney, the first thing you will be told is to get those documents."
Before leaving your job, Ms. Martin said, get a copy of your statement of accrued benefits. Then, about a year after you leave, write for another one. By law you are entitled to such a statement each year.
If the pension plan administrator does not respond to your letters, send more and remind the administrator that Erisa, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, allows you to collect damages of $100 a day if the company fails to provide plan documents within 30 days.
"You should also keep photocopies of all your W-2 forms," Ms. Martin said, because Federal regulations require employers to maintain pension records for only six years. A company that is merged, sold, broken up or otherwise reorganized may not keep track of records, and when you file for your pension, it may contend that it has no records of your work or that it paid you less than it did.
When you receive your statement of benefits, a lump sum or your first pension check, study the numbers and the plan documents. If the amount seems low, Ms. Martin recommends hiring an actuary to calculate your benefits.
"How much an actuary costs depends on how nice the actuary is," she said. "A lot of actuaries will do it for under $200. Shop around. And call the Pension Rights Center in Washington for advice on finding a good actuary."   DAVID CAY JOHNSTON

LOAD-DATE: May 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Vincent Russo of Queens found that his supplemental pension from New York Life was not protected by the Federal law known as Erisa. (Steve Berman for The New York Times)

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May 21, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Honorary Avaiator Tends Blue Angels Shrine

BYLINE: By RICK BRAGG 

SECTION: Section A; Page 10; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1035 words

DATELINE: PENSACOLA, Fla., May 18

In the cool of the morning, before even the first of the daytime drinkers enters his ramshackle bar on Palafox Street, it is just Martin Weissman and the angels.
The angels, Blue Angels, peer down from hundreds of photographs tacked to the walls, all clean-cut, confident, smiling young men in flight suits, men who pose beside their lovely, dangerous planes. The old bar is a shrine to all aviators, but especially the Angels, the Navy's precision flying squadron, based here, that has thrilled and terrified air-show audiences for 50 years. 
 "It's natural to love guys who take chances," said Mr. Weissman, the elderly but spry owner of this world-famous aviators' bar, Trader Jon's.
Since he opened it in 1950, he has been like a father to these pilots, the Navy's best. He has flown with them, again and again, delighted, like some very old child on the grandest playground swing in the world.
Their relationship has outlived wars, has witnessed the change from propeller planes to jet engines, has even outdistanced the lives of some of the men whom he loves. They died in wars, in mid-air collisions, other ways, and here and there in the bar there is an empty flight suit, or a sentiment scribbled on a black and white picture by a dead man's hand.
Of the thousands of mementos that decorate this place, where pieces of wing hang from the ceiling and a giant tail fin adorns the scarred bar, it is those reminders of fallen angels that are most precious to an old man who turned a place to buy beer into a home for generations of pilots.
On one wall, past the pool tables where a civilian is drinking whisky straight up, is a golden flight suit hanging from a wall. The name patch reads "Harley Hall," who led the Blue Angels in 1970 and 1971. He befriended the old man, or the old man befriended him. When he left, he left his suit, about the most precious thing a pilot has to give.
"In 1973, he went to Vietnam," Mr. Weissman said, standing underneath the suit. "The day the war was over, he was shot down. Never been found. It wasn't right."
The face in the nearby picture is strong, intense. All of them look that way.
"It's hard to believe anything like that would come apart," the old man said.
He feels the same old sadnesses when he looks at Skip Umstead, who died in a mid-air collision in 1974. There are 12 in all, pilots of unusual reflexes and abilities who died from a twitch of the controls or a lucky shot, or other things. "Not too many. Twelve. In 50 years," he said, considering the dangers. Then he moves quickly along the walls to the ones still alive, the ones he can look at without it breaking his heart.
"He is flooded with memories," said Lieut. Comdr. Milton J. (Gus) Goss, United States Navy, retired, who flew Corsairs in World War II and taught a baseball player named Ted Williams how to fly. Commander Goss, who frequents the bar, carries a sack filled with magnolia blossoms, and hands them out to the pretty women.
"I've been everywhere and I've done it all," the former carrier pilot said. "The only thing is, I can't remember it," and he smiled.
"But he's the legend," he said, of Mr. Weismann, whom most people call by the name of the bar, Trader Jon. "I'm honored to know him."
Martin Weissman, who is 82, is as much a puzzle, a peculiarity, as the bar, where hundreds of model planes dangle from the ceiling by fishing line and old pilot helmets rest on a back bar. The Blue Angels are just part of this display, which includes photos, patches and paintings, from officers and enlisted men. They come to drink and talk jets, mixing with local people, listening to the blues.
Locals bring him their paychecks to cash. Pilots bring him a photo, or a patch or a small present, and take their place on the wall, in history. This has been the way it has been for almost 50 years. Some of the things left are a little puzzling, like the wooden statue of the South American headhunter who holds aloft a severed head.
Mr. Weissman works the bar most every night. Last week, he ate pork and beans out of a can with a spoon and explained how it all started.
He has loved to fly, since he was a boy on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. When he joined the Army in the late 1930's, he volunteered for the paratroopers, 36th Infantry.
He stepped from the plane and flew, for a few precious seconds.
"It was beautiful," he said.
Landing, he had trouble with. "I got hurt," he said, simply, and acknowledges that it is why he now walks in a kind of hurried limp, like that very old child that he is.
He has always been a bar owner, first in Manhattan, then in Key West, finally here, after the end of World War II. Word got around at the nearby naval base that the old man was friendly to fliers, to sailors.
"You got to earn their love, their friendship," he said. He found them to be like young men and boys anywhere, homesick, fearless in the sky but a little afraid on the ground. The pilots were tense, looking for someone to share their burdens. Mr. Weissman was a good listener.
They adopted him as much as he adopted them, and he has seen their characters faintly shift, especially the Blue Angels. Each team has had 10 members, and he remembers them all. In the 1950's and 1960's, they were more prone to swagger, to drink whisky. "Loose," he said. "Fancy free."
Now the young men seem much more a part of their highly technical aircraft. They drink beer. They are not swashbucklers, but triggers. If anything, they are more tense. The way Mr. Weissman sees it, they need an auxiliary family, a listener, a home away from home, more than ever.
They repay him with a ride in the clouds, a few times a year.
"I've never been afraid," he said.
He concedes that now they take it easy on him, with no loops or dives.
He flew himself, once, as a private pilot, but he has not been physically able to fly for a long time.
The Blue Angels made him an honorary flight leader some years back, but it is the rides he cherishes.
Among the mementos on the walls is a patch that was worn by an astronaut on the space shuttle. He acknowledges, sadly, that it is one flight he is just too old to make, now.
"But," he said, "wouldn't it be great?"

LOAD-DATE: May 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Martin Weissman, owner of Trader Jon's, a Pensacola, Fla., bar that honors aviators, showed visitors flight memorabilia. His fond relationship with the Blue Angels, the Navy's best pilots, has survived for decades. (Lee Celano for The New York Times)

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May 21, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Child Insurance Bill Opposed As Threat to Cigarette Revenue

BYLINE: By ADAM CLYMER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 20; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 605 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 20

Republican senators attacked a children's health insurance bill today, saying the higher Federal tax it would place on tobacco would cost the states more than $1 billion in revenues annually by cutting cigarette sales.
The measure, proposed by Senators Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, and Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, calls for raising the current 24-cents-a-pack Federal tax to 67 cents to pay for subsidized insurance for children of the working poor. The sponsors of the bill intend to offer it on Wednesday as an amendment to the budget resolution. 
 The Republican Policy Committee, an arm of the leadership, today called the sponsoring Senators' intention "admirable" but misguided, "because states depend to a great degree on excise tax revenue." The committee estimated that decreased smoking resulting from the tax increase would cost states and localities $6.5 billion over five years.
"Even if one believes that decreased demand for tobacco is positive from a societal view, it still has negative fiscal aspects for the states," the committee said.
Mr. Kennedy scoffed at the report.
"If we can keep people healthy and stop them from dying," he said, "I think most Americans would say 'Amen; isn't that a great result?' "
He added, "If fewer people smoke, states will save far more in lower health costs than they will lose in revenues from the cigarette tax."
Mr. Hatch called the report "absolutely preposterous."
He said: "Does that mean that 419,000 Americans must die every year in order to preserve the state tobacco revenues? That's like saying we should withhold life-saving treatment from senior citizens in order to save Medicare money. If raising taxes on cigarettes results in less consumption, then it's worth it."
Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, joined the policy committee in attacking the bill. Mr. Lott said that there was already a budget agreement that had money for children's health care in it and that he hoped "the Senate will not be duped" into backing the bill.
The cigarette industry gave Republicans more than $8 million for the last election, about four times what it gave Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But Senator Don Nickles, the deputy Republican leader, said that had nothing to do with the party leadership position.
"Oh, no, no, no," Mr. Nickles said. "It's a concern about having an open-ended entitlement program."
The legislation does not provide a formal entitlement, with as many individuals as qualify guaranteed benefits like those of Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Instead, it offers a specific sum of money in the form of block grants that states can apply for or not.
But Republicans still call the bill an entitlement, saying states would feel politically compelled to take the grants and provide the insurance. The policy committee report said the legislation would "create a situation where states will be persuaded to assume new Federal mandates."
Mr. Hatch and Mr. Kennedy do not expect to win Wednesday's Senate vote. But Mr. Hatch said they planned to keep bringing the measure up during the year, expecting support to build.
Today they announced the support of five former Republican Secretaries of Health, Education and Welfare or Health and Human Services, and a newspaper advertisement paid for by a coalition of 150 health and children's advocacy groups that asks, "Senators, who do you stand with: "Joe Camel or Joey?" It is accompanied by pictures of the Camel cigarette advertisement character and of a winsome tyke in a cowboy hat.
      

LOAD-DATE: May 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



253 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

May 21, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

N.B.A. PLAYOFFS;
The Bulls Wake Up To Beat Heat

BYLINE: By SELENA ROBERTS 

SECTION: Section B; Page 9; Column 5; Sports Desk 

LENGTH: 925 words

DATELINE: CHICAGO, May 20

There was no rivalry to stoke their intensity. No Jeff Van Gundy to prod Michael Jordan. No Knick cockiness to tweak them.
Only fear of losing to the Miami Heat seemed to excite the Chicago Bulls tonight. Only Michael Jordan's 37 points and Dennis Rodman's frenetic defense could roust them from their REM sleep, using a 12-4 run in a tense final four minutes to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, 84-77, at the United Center. 
 For some reason, that detested designer coach, Pat Riley, was not a suitable incentive substitute for the Bulls. They wanted the Knicks, a fact that appeared to leave the Bulls treating the Heat as an oversight for most of the game.
"I think we might have caught them napping a little bit today," Riley said. "I know they were yawning for two days when they found out they were going to play us. Maybe we woke them up and will get their very, very best in the next game."
Was this a challenge? Riley was at it again, already working on his mental game in this four-of-seven-game series.
The master of motivation had his team ready. The Heat was up by 11 points at the half and by 5 points heading into the fourth quarter. Then the Bulls revealed their best side, using the lively Rodman (19 rebounds) on the boards and aggressive defense to force three turnovers in the last 3 minutes 23 seconds.
Suddenly, a Bulls team that was looking rickety and vulnerable -- suggesting that the age issue Tim Hardaway brought up on Monday was a real factor -- perked up like kids on a sugar binge.
"We heard comments that we may be too old to deal with them," Jordan said. "Maybe in the first half we looked like old men, missing layups and things like that. We came out in the second like young men.
"We didn't look like old men to me."
They looked like the Bulls of old, a championship team that can gather itself at will.
That experience flustered the Heat, which scored just 11 points in the fourth quarter.
"They showed their greatness with defensive pressure at the end," Riley said. "We succumbed to that."
That wasn't all.
 After Alonzo Mourning had done so much -- 21 points, 6 blocked shots and 8 rebounds -- he unraveled under pressure. Once again, free throws befuddled him. He missed 5 of his last 6 attempts in the last 2:20 of the game. Same old problem.
"It's mental," Mourning said. "It's just going up there and being able to erase everything from my mind."
But how do you erase the indelible Rodman?
He slapped himself on Mourning like a neon decal in the second half, part of a double-team effort to stop the Heat's center. Rodman has a way of agitating big men, as well as officials. It was a test of who would crack first: Mourning, Rodman or the officials. At first, Rodman seemed to be sneaking by unnoticed, able to lower his shoulder into Mourning in the third quarter, leaving Mourning stretched out on the floor. He was holding his right rib cage. No Rodman foul was called.
"It's unfortunate we have to play with things like that happening on the court," Mourning said. "But if you slap me, I'm going to turn the other cheek. I can't do anything that would hurt my team. I need to be on the floor."
Mourning lasted longer than Rodman, who managed to pick up his 12th technical of the playoffs with 3:26 left in the third quarter -- when he flicked Mourning in the back -- and his sixth personal foul with 1:19 left in the game. In between the naughtiness, Rodman dived and scrambled and popped up and down. He did exactly what the Bulls needed.
The Bulls also needed that kind of effort from Ron Harper, who was assigned to contain Tim Hardaway.
All Hardaway needs is an inch on a pick-and-roll and he is launching 3-pointers as quick as skeet. Sometimes he doesn't even need an inch. Maybe he was distracted by the onslaught of his family and friends -- all of them wanting tickets from the Chicago native -- or maybe fatigue was a factor. Whatever it was, Hardaway did not have a chance to find his groove.
"They played good team defense on me," said Hardaway, who was 4 of 14 for 13 points. "We weren't aggressive with the ball at the end. We let this one slip away."
The Bulls did not seem to take the Heat seriously until the third quarter, able to trim the Heat's 49-38 halftime lead with an inspired 16-7 run. They drew that inspiration from Jordan and Rodman, able to force the Heat into turnovers and frustrate Miami's shot selection. Still, the Heat was able to remain calm enough to hold a 66-61 lead after the third quarter.
The Heat's Riley-induced will was evident from the start. Even though there was Riley on the sideline, even though the Heat had been the only team to beat the Bulls twice in the regular season, the Bulls were unprepared for what the Heat's quick start.
But in the end, the Bulls took the Heat seriously. The Knicks were the farthest thing from the Bulls' mind when they were down by 4 points with five minutes left. And yet, the Bulls won this game despite shooting just 36 percent, despite falling behind by 16 points in the first half. They won because they are the Bulls.
"With that big baseball bat they carry in Michael Jordan, they know they are going to have a chance to win at the end," Riley said. "We just needed to be stronger at the end. Instead, we got flustered.
"We led 45 minutes and we let it get away from us. We knew they were going to make a push at us. Experience has a lot to do with that."
Experience allowed the Bulls to take the Heat for granted before simply taking their opponents over.

LOAD-DATE: May 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The Bulls' Michael Jordan slicing to the basket in the first half last night as Chicago took a 1-0 series lead. (Agence France-Presse)(pg. B12)

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254 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

May 21, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Honorary Avaiator Tends Blue Angels Shrine

BYLINE: By RICK BRAGG

SECTION: Section A; Page 10; Column 1; National Desk

LENGTH: 1035 words

DATELINE: PENSACOLA, Fla., May 18

In the cool of the morning, before even the first of the daytime drinkers enters his ramshackle bar on Palafox Street, it is just Martin Weissman and the angels.
The angels, Blue Angels, peer down from hundreds of photographs tacked to the walls, all clean-cut, confident, smiling young men in flight suits, men who pose beside their lovely, dangerous planes. The old bar is a shrine to all aviators, but especially the Angels, the Navy's precision flying squadron, based here, that has thrilled and terrified air-show audiences for 50 years. 
 "It's natural to love guys who take chances," said Mr. Weissman, the elderly but spry owner of this world-famous aviators' bar, Trader Jon's.
Since he opened it in 1950, he has been like a father to these pilots, the Navy's best. He has flown with them, again and again, delighted, like some very old child on the grandest playground swing in the world.
Their relationship has outlived wars, has witnessed the change from propeller planes to jet engines, has even outdistanced the lives of some of the men whom he loves. They died in wars, in mid-air collisions, other ways, and here and there in the bar there is an empty flight suit, or a sentiment scribbled on a black and white picture by a dead man's hand.
Of the thousands of mementos that decorate this place, where pieces of wing hang from the ceiling and a giant tail fin adorns the scarred bar, it is those reminders of fallen angels that are most precious to an old man who turned a place to buy beer into a home for generations of pilots.
On one wall, past the pool tables where a civilian is drinking whisky straight up, is a golden flight suit hanging from a wall. The name patch reads "Harley Hall," who led the Blue Angels in 1970 and 1971. He befriended the old man, or the old man befriended him. When he left, he left his suit, about the most precious thing a pilot has to give.
"In 1973, he went to Vietnam," Mr. Weissman said, standing underneath the suit. "The day the war was over, he was shot down. Never been found. It wasn't right."
The face in the nearby picture is strong, intense. All of them look that way.
"It's hard to believe anything like that would come apart," the old man said.
He feels the same old sadnesses when he looks at Skip Umstead, who died in a mid-air collision in 1974. There are 12 in all, pilots of unusual reflexes and abilities who died from a twitch of the controls or a lucky shot, or other things. "Not too many. Twelve. In 50 years," he said, considering the dangers. Then he moves quickly along the walls to the ones still alive, the ones he can look at without it breaking his heart.
"He is flooded with memories," said Lieut. Comdr. Milton J. (Gus) Goss, United States Navy, retired, who flew Corsairs in World War II and taught a baseball player named Ted Williams how to fly. Commander Goss, who frequents the bar, carries a sack filled with magnolia blossoms, and hands them out to the pretty women.
"I've been everywhere and I've done it all," the former carrier pilot said. "The only thing is, I can't remember it," and he smiled.
"But he's the legend," he said, of Mr. Weismann, whom most people call by the name of the bar, Trader Jon. "I'm honored to know him."
Martin Weissman, who is 82, is as much a puzzle, a peculiarity, as the bar, where hundreds of model planes dangle from the ceiling by fishing line and old pilot helmets rest on a back bar. The Blue Angels are just part of this display, which includes photos, patches and paintings, from officers and enlisted men. They come to drink and talk jets, mixing with local people, listening to the blues.
Locals bring him their paychecks to cash. Pilots bring him a photo, or a patch or a small present, and take their place on the wall, in history. This has been the way it has been for almost 50 years. Some of the things left are a little puzzling, like the wooden statue of the South American headhunter who holds aloft a severed head.
Mr. Weissman works the bar most every night. Last week, he ate pork and beans out of a can with a spoon and explained how it all started.
He has loved to fly, since he was a boy on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. When he joined the Army in the late 1930's, he volunteered for the paratroopers, 36th Infantry.
He stepped from the plane and flew, for a few precious seconds.
"It was beautiful," he said.
Landing, he had trouble with. "I got hurt," he said, simply, and acknowledges that it is why he now walks in a kind of hurried limp, like that very old child that he is.
He has always been a bar owner, first in Manhattan, then in Key West, finally here, after the end of World War II. Word got around at the nearby naval base that the old man was friendly to fliers, to sailors.
"You got to earn their love, their friendship," he said. He found them to be like young men and boys anywhere, homesick, fearless in the sky but a little afraid on the ground. The pilots were tense, looking for someone to share their burdens. Mr. Weissman was a good listener.
They adopted him as much as he adopted them, and he has seen their characters faintly shift, especially the Blue Angels. Each team has had 10 members, and he remembers them all. In the 1950's and 1960's, they were more prone to swagger, to drink whisky. "Loose," he said. "Fancy free."
Now the young men seem much more a part of their highly technical aircraft. They drink beer. They are not swashbucklers, but triggers. If anything, they are more tense. The way Mr. Weissman sees it, they need an auxiliary family, a listener, a home away from home, more than ever.
They repay him with a ride in the clouds, a few times a year.
"I've never been afraid," he said.
He concedes that now they take it easy on him, with no loops or dives.
He flew himself, once, as a private pilot, but he has not been physically able to fly for a long time.
The Blue Angels made him an honorary flight leader some years back, but it is the rides he cherishes.
Among the mementos on the walls is a patch that was worn by an astronaut on the space shuttle. He acknowledges, sadly, that it is one flight he is just too old to make, now.
"But," he said, "wouldn't it be great?"

LOAD-DATE: May 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Martin Weissman, owner of Trader Jon's, a Pensacola, Fla., bar that honors aviators, showed visitors flight memorabilia. His fond relationship with the Blue Angels, the Navy's best pilots, has survived for decades. (Lee Celano for The New York Times)

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The New York Times

May 21, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Child Insurance Bill Opposed As Threat to Cigarette Revenue

BYLINE: By ADAM CLYMER

SECTION: Section A; Page 20; Column 3; National Desk

LENGTH: 605 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 20

Republican senators attacked a children's health insurance bill today, saying the higher Federal tax it would place on tobacco would cost the states more than $1 billion in revenues annually by cutting cigarette sales.
The measure, proposed by Senators Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, and Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, calls for raising the current 24-cents-a-pack Federal tax to 67 cents to pay for subsidized insurance for children of the working poor. The sponsors of the bill intend to offer it on Wednesday as an amendment to the budget resolution. 
 The Republican Policy Committee, an arm of the leadership, today called the sponsoring Senators' intention "admirable" but misguided, "because states depend to a great degree on excise tax revenue." The committee estimated that decreased smoking resulting from the tax increase would cost states and localities $6.5 billion over five years.
"Even if one believes that decreased demand for tobacco is positive from a societal view, it still has negative fiscal aspects for the states," the committee said.
Mr. Kennedy scoffed at the report.
"If we can keep people healthy and stop them from dying," he said, "I think most Americans would say 'Amen; isn't that a great result?' "
He added, "If fewer people smoke, states will save far more in lower health costs than they will lose in revenues from the cigarette tax."
Mr. Hatch called the report "absolutely preposterous."
He said: "Does that mean that 419,000 Americans must die every year in order to preserve the state tobacco revenues? That's like saying we should withhold life-saving treatment from senior citizens in order to save Medicare money. If raising taxes on cigarettes results in less consumption, then it's worth it."
Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, joined the policy committee in attacking the bill. Mr. Lott said that there was already a budget agreement that had money for children's health care in it and that he hoped "the Senate will not be duped" into backing the bill.
The cigarette industry gave Republicans more than $8 million for the last election, about four times what it gave Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But Senator Don Nickles, the deputy Republican leader, said that had nothing to do with the party leadership position.
"Oh, no, no, no," Mr. Nickles said. "It's a concern about having an open-ended entitlement program."
The legislation does not provide a formal entitlement, with as many individuals as qualify guaranteed benefits like those of Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Instead, it offers a specific sum of money in the form of block grants that states can apply for or not.
But Republicans still call the bill an entitlement, saying states would feel politically compelled to take the grants and provide the insurance. The policy committee report said the legislation would "create a situation where states will be persuaded to assume new Federal mandates."
Mr. Hatch and Mr. Kennedy do not expect to win Wednesday's Senate vote. But Mr. Hatch said they planned to keep bringing the measure up during the year, expecting support to build.
Today they announced the support of five former Republican Secretaries of Health, Education and Welfare or Health and Human Services, and a newspaper advertisement paid for by a coalition of 150 health and children's advocacy groups that asks, "Senators, who do you stand with: "Joe Camel or Joey?" It is accompanied by pictures of the Camel cigarette advertisement character and of a winsome tyke in a cowboy hat.
      

LOAD-DATE: May 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



256 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

May 21, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

N.B.A. PLAYOFFS;
The Bulls Wake Up To Beat Heat

BYLINE: By SELENA ROBERTS

SECTION: Section B; Page 9; Column 5; Sports Desk

LENGTH: 925 words

DATELINE: CHICAGO, May 20

There was no rivalry to stoke their intensity. No Jeff Van Gundy to prod Michael Jordan. No Knick cockiness to tweak them.
Only fear of losing to the Miami Heat seemed to excite the Chicago Bulls tonight. Only Michael Jordan's 37 points and Dennis Rodman's frenetic defense could roust them from their REM sleep, using a 12-4 run in a tense final four minutes to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, 84-77, at the United Center. 
 For some reason, that detested designer coach, Pat Riley, was not a suitable incentive substitute for the Bulls. They wanted the Knicks, a fact that appeared to leave the Bulls treating the Heat as an oversight for most of the game.
"I think we might have caught them napping a little bit today," Riley said. "I know they were yawning for two days when they found out they were going to play us. Maybe we woke them up and will get their very, very best in the next game."
Was this a challenge? Riley was at it again, already working on his mental game in this four-of-seven-game series.
The master of motivation had his team ready. The Heat was up by 11 points at the half and by 5 points heading into the fourth quarter. Then the Bulls revealed their best side, using the lively Rodman (19 rebounds) on the boards and aggressive defense to force three turnovers in the last 3 minutes 23 seconds.
Suddenly, a Bulls team that was looking rickety and vulnerable -- suggesting that the age issue Tim Hardaway brought up on Monday was a real factor -- perked up like kids on a sugar binge.
"We heard comments that we may be too old to deal with them," Jordan said. "Maybe in the first half we looked like old men, missing layups and things like that. We came out in the second like young men.
"We didn't look like old men to me."
They looked like the Bulls of old, a championship team that can gather itself at will.
That experience flustered the Heat, which scored just 11 points in the fourth quarter.
"They showed their greatness with defensive pressure at the end," Riley said. "We succumbed to that."
That wasn't all.
 After Alonzo Mourning had done so much -- 21 points, 6 blocked shots and 8 rebounds -- he unraveled under pressure. Once again, free throws befuddled him. He missed 5 of his last 6 attempts in the last 2:20 of the game. Same old problem.
"It's mental," Mourning said. "It's just going up there and being able to erase everything from my mind."
But how do you erase the indelible Rodman?
He slapped himself on Mourning like a neon decal in the second half, part of a double-team effort to stop the Heat's center. Rodman has a way of agitating big men, as well as officials. It was a test of who would crack first: Mourning, Rodman or the officials. At first, Rodman seemed to be sneaking by unnoticed, able to lower his shoulder into Mourning in the third quarter, leaving Mourning stretched out on the floor. He was holding his right rib cage. No Rodman foul was called.
"It's unfortunate we have to play with things like that happening on the court," Mourning said. "But if you slap me, I'm going to turn the other cheek. I can't do anything that would hurt my team. I need to be on the floor."
Mourning lasted longer than Rodman, who managed to pick up his 12th technical of the playoffs with 3:26 left in the third quarter -- when he flicked Mourning in the back -- and his sixth personal foul with 1:19 left in the game. In between the naughtiness, Rodman dived and scrambled and popped up and down. He did exactly what the Bulls needed.
The Bulls also needed that kind of effort from Ron Harper, who was assigned to contain Tim Hardaway.
All Hardaway needs is an inch on a pick-and-roll and he is launching 3-pointers as quick as skeet. Sometimes he doesn't even need an inch. Maybe he was distracted by the onslaught of his family and friends -- all of them wanting tickets from the Chicago native -- or maybe fatigue was a factor. Whatever it was, Hardaway did not have a chance to find his groove.
"They played good team defense on me," said Hardaway, who was 4 of 14 for 13 points. "We weren't aggressive with the ball at the end. We let this one slip away."
The Bulls did not seem to take the Heat seriously until the third quarter, able to trim the Heat's 49-38 halftime lead with an inspired 16-7 run. They drew that inspiration from Jordan and Rodman, able to force the Heat into turnovers and frustrate Miami's shot selection. Still, the Heat was able to remain calm enough to hold a 66-61 lead after the third quarter.
The Heat's Riley-induced will was evident from the start. Even though there was Riley on the sideline, even though the Heat had been the only team to beat the Bulls twice in the regular season, the Bulls were unprepared for what the Heat's quick start.
But in the end, the Bulls took the Heat seriously. The Knicks were the farthest thing from the Bulls' mind when they were down by 4 points with five minutes left. And yet, the Bulls won this game despite shooting just 36 percent, despite falling behind by 16 points in the first half. They won because they are the Bulls.
"With that big baseball bat they carry in Michael Jordan, they know they are going to have a chance to win at the end," Riley said. "We just needed to be stronger at the end. Instead, we got flustered.
"We led 45 minutes and we let it get away from us. We knew they were going to make a push at us. Experience has a lot to do with that."
Experience allowed the Bulls to take the Heat for granted before simply taking their opponents over.

LOAD-DATE: May 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The Bulls' Michael Jordan slicing to the basket in the first half last night as Chicago took a 1-0 series lead. (Agence France-Presse)(pg. B12)

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The New York Times

May 21, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
SCHORR, RABBI SEYMOUR

SECTION: Section D; Page 23; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 298 words

SCHORR-Rabbi Seymour, on May 17, 1997 (Shabbos). Precious darling husband of Audrey for 41 years. Most beloved father of Nanette and Ira, son-in-law Peter, daughter-in-law Bonnie, and sister Ruth Heller. He loved Hashem as no other has loved Hashem and, following his ordination from Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) of Yeshiva University where he received Smicha, he devoted more than two decades as a pulpit Rabbi where he served with distinction. He was lauded for his brilliant oratory, selfless dedication to the spiritual welfare of his congregants, his devotion to the Jewish community as well as the overall community having been Vice President of the Council of Social Agencies in one of the communities where he served. He was a was a member of the Executive Board of the ZOA during its early years having been an ardent Zionist during his youth even before the foundation of the State of Israel. Endowed with a broad intellectual curiosity, he was an accomplished Talmudic scholar, a superlative Hebrew grammarian having been instructed in his youth by the renowned Philip Birnbaum; he and Audrey were Patrons of the Metropolitan Opera for many years; he was a skilled chess player, a lover of English Literature, and a master of the English language. After retirement from the pulpit, he embarked on a successful entrepreneurial career becoming the owner of a retirement home for the elderly. He was adored by the residents for his intense, unique compassion and sense of humor, and they and the staff are devastated by his loss. He will be remembered with undying love by his heartbroken family, friends, and co-religionists at the Young Israel of North Woodmere and Young Israel of Woodmere. Please direct donations to the American Cancer Society.

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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The New York Times

May 22, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Questions Are Raised on Aggressive Heart Care

BYLINE: Reuters 

SECTION: Section A; Page 17; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 360 words

DATELINE: BOSTON, May 21

A comparison of heart attack patients in the United States and Canada shows that Americans get more aggressive care but their survival rate after one year is no better.
The study, being published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, may add fuel to a debate over whether expensive, high-tech treatments for heart attacks are as necessary as American doctors seem to think. 
 A team led by Dr. Jack Tu of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario compared the treatments and death rates for nearly 234,000 elderly people in the two countries, all of whom had heart attacks in 1991. They found that the Americans were eight times as likely to have angioplasty surgery, in which a balloon is inflated inside a narrowed artery to re-open it, and eight times as likely to have heart bypass surgery.
Although slightly more Americans were alive 30 days after their heart attacks, the death rates were virtually identical at the one-year mark, Dr. Tu and his colleagues discovered.
"The strikingly higher rates of the use of cardiac procedures in the United States, as compared with Canada, do not appear to result in better long-term survival rates for elderly U.S. patients" who have had heart attacks, the researchers concluded.
The study did not compare the quality of life of the survivors, however. "Patients could be deriving substantial benefit from these procedures without there being a survival benefit at one year," Dr. Harlan Krumholtz of the Yale University School of Medicine wrote in an editorial in the journal.
In a study published in 1995, Dr. Krumholtz said, Canadian heart attack patients were less able to get around and suffered more symptoms than patients in the United States.  "Whether differences of this magnitude justify our current approach requires further investigation," he said.
Other research has shown that heart attack victims are more likely to get expensive, high-tech treatments if they are admitted to hospitals that have the equipment for those treatments. If the hospital does not perform the procedure, the doctors who work there are less likely to recommend it.      

LOAD-DATE: May 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



259 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

May 23, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

THE AD CAMPAIGN;
First Negative Spot Attacks Opponent's Record in Congress

BYLINE: By BRETT PULLEY 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 449 words


The campaign of James E. McGreevey, a state senator, Mayor of Woodbridge and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, has released "Two Democrats," a 30-second commercial. It is being broadcast in the southern region of the state, where one of Mr. McGreevey's opponents, Robert E. Andrews, is a Congressman.
 
 PRODUCER -- Struble, Oppel and Donovan Communications.
 
 ON THE SCREEN -- With "McGreevey" superimposed on the screen, Mr. McGreevey appears, chatting with a voter. The next scene shows the words "Full Day Kindergarten," and Mr. McGreevey is in a classroom reading to children. Next he is shown talking to college students, with the words "Deduction for College" superimposed. Then he is standing in a yard, surrounded by families, with the words "Elected Insurance Commissioner" on the screen.
 
 Suddenly, a gray image of the United States Capitol appears, with a slow-motion video of Mr. Andrews. Then, a shot of House Speaker Newt Gingrich fades in next to Mr. Andrews. With the words "Threatened Medicare," Mr. Andrews's image is shown next to that of an elderly man. Next, two children are seen eating lunch, with the words "Abolish School Lunch." Then a child is being vaccinated, and the words "Cut Vaccines" appear. The spot ends with the words "Is Andrews on Our Side?"
 
 THE SCRIPT -- Man's Voice: Jim McGreevey is a real Democrat with real solutions. Woman's Voice: Like full-day kindergarten. Man: A tax deduction for college. Woman: An elected insurance commissioner to stand up to industry. Man: But Camden Congressman Rob Andrews voted for the Gingrich tax scheme that threatened Medicare. Woman: The Gingrich welfare plan that abolished the school lunch program. Man: Andrews even voted with Gingrich against vaccines for children. Woman: So ask yourself, is Rob Andrews really on our side?
 
 ACCURACY -- Mr. Andrews did vote for the Republican tax plan in 1995, but so did other New Jersey Democrats. He was one of only nine Democratic representatives, however, to support the Gingrich welfare reform bill. Mr. Andrews has said he voted against making the school lunch program part of a block grant to guarantee that all states would continue to administer the program. Also, after making a campaign promise not to support any new taxes, Mr. Andrews voted against the 1993 Clinton budget, which included a vaccination program.
 
 SCORECARD -- By contrasting what Mr. McGreevey wants to do with what he says his opponent has done, the campaign has found a way to criticize the other side. But voters may object to Mr. McGreevey's emergence as the first candidate to use negative television advertising.
   BRETT PULLEY

LOAD-DATE: May 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo

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May 24, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Man Finds His Voice, but Forgets Having Lost It

BYLINE: By ALAN FINDER  

SECTION: Section 1;  Page 22;  Column 4;  Metropolitan Desk  

LENGTH: 340 words

The Brooklyn man who had indicated to officials of a Newark hospital that he was deaf and mute has found his voice again upon returning home to New York City -- but he says he cannot remember being unable to hear or speak.
The man, Jose Gomez, began talking with doctors this week at Woodhull Medical Center, Renalda Higgins, a spokeswoman for the Human Resources Administration, the city's social service agency, said yesterday. Mr. Gomez told the doctors that he did not remember spending five days last week in St. James Hospital in Newark, seemingly unable to speak, hear, read or write. 
 Mr. Gomez appeared mysteriously early last week with his elderly mother at St. James Hospital. He communicated only by crude hand signals. His mother, Lydia Espina, who has Alzheimer's disease, was in a wheelchair and also appeared unable to speak. Both carried no identification, and hospital officials sought help from television stations to identify the anonymous pair.
That led to the appearance of several relatives and then a cascade of comments from Mr. Gomez's neighbors on Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick. More than a half-dozen neighbors insisted that Mr. Gomez could not only speak and write, but was fluent in Spanish and English. They said that his hearing and speech had never been a problem.
Mr. Gomez and his mother were transferred by ambulance from St. James Hospital to Woodhull, a city medical center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on May 16. Both have since undergone extensive testing. Mrs. Espina, who remains at Woodhull, will be discharged to a nursing home after her son's medical evaluation is completed, Ms. Higgins said.
Mr. Gomez was taken yesterday from Woodhull to the Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopedic Institute in Manhattan for neurological testing, she said. Some of his relatives said last week that he sometimes suffered seizures, and some hospital officials in Newark suggested that an accident or a neurological condition might have caused him to be temporarily unable to hear or speak.

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The New York Times

May 24, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

More Retirees Discover Small-Town South

BYLINE: By KEVIN SACK 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1860 words

DATELINE: HATTIESBURG, Miss.

There are no beaches here. No mountains. The public parks are equipped for softball, not shuffleboard. If there is a regular mah-jongg game anywhere in town, it is well hidden.
Yet retirees are migrating here in a steady stream, leaving the bustle and culture (and snow and congestion and crime) of the North to spend their leisure days in the piney woods of southern Mississippi. In the last four years, 267 retired couples have settled here in Hattiesburg, not an invasion of Floridian proportions perhaps, but enough to attract attention in a metropolitan area of only 100,000 people. 
 They are not alone. All across the rural South, retirees are moving to improbable places, lured by temperate weather, inexpensive living and savvy marketing by community leaders who have learned to court senior citizens as aggressively as they recruit automobile manufacturers.
Retirees who once would have flocked to the condominium canyons of South Florida, the golf resorts of coastal South Carolina or the mountains of North Carolina are today discovering small towns and country crossroads like Guntersville, Ala.; Mena, Ark., and Bainbridge, Ga., places that have never made anyone's list of retirement hot spots.
In other cases, huge retirement villages are springing up quite literally in the middle of nowhere, often far from airports and even midsize cities. In western South Carolina, for example, Cooper Communities of Bella Vista, Ark., has sold 3,600 home sites in its Savannah Lakes Village development near McCormick, a city that was described 15 years ago as a ghost town by U.S. News & World Report.
With the aging of the baby boomers making retirement a growth industry, several states are beginning to compete tenaciously for retirees. Some have established state agencies dedicated to the task.
And local governments and business groups around the South are developing tools for working the retirement market -- Web-site testimonials about the pleasures of small-town retirement, for example, and hospitality seminars that remind waitresses to show particular courtesy to elderly diners.
Mark Fagan, a professor at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, said his studies of retiree migration had demonstrated that senior citizens could help revive a slumbering economy.
"These counties in eastern Alabama didn't really have what it takes to compete in the smokestack chase, didn't have the infrastructure," Professor Fagan said. "But there are other ways to increase spending in an area."
Retirees have come to places like Hattiesburg, which is home to several hospitals and the University of Southern Mississippi, because of a growing sense that traditional retirement destinations like South Florida, Arizona and California are not as inviting as they once were. And many have come, demographers and sociologists say, because of a yearning for a sense of community that has vanished from many cities.
"We've lived in Los Angeles and Washington and New York and London, and when you live in the city, you don't become a part of the community," said Jean W. Carbonar, who moved here with her husband, Anthony, from the Upper East Side of Manhattan two years ago. "In New York, you don't meet your neighbors unless there's a real bad fire."
On paper, the Carbonars would seem unlikely prospects to spend the rest of their days in Hattiesburg. Before retiring, Mr. Carbonar was a partner with Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon, the Wall Street law firm where Richard M. Nixon hung his hat. In Manhattan, the Carbonars rented a $4,000-a-month apartment overlooking the Queensboro Bridge, and Mr. Carbonar collected boxes of exotic cigars. For a while, they considered retiring to New Zealand.
But after looking at Hattiesburg on the recommendation of their son-in-law, the Carbonars decided they liked the climate, the cost of living, the undulating fairways at the Hattiesburg Country Club and, perhaps above all, the hospitality extended by the community.
"We just felt we could look a long time and not find a place that duplicated it," said Mr. Carbonar, 63. "My friends in New York say, 'Isn't there a big culture shock down there?' And I say, 'Yeah, people here are polite, and for no good reason.' "
In couples like the Carbonars, business and political leaders in Mississippi and other Southern states see vast potential for economic development. When retirees relocate, they bring bank deposits and buy houses. They buy food, clothing, insurance and toys for visiting grandchildren. A 1990 study by William H. Haas, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, concluded that the average retiree household in western North Carolina injected about $36,000 a year into the local economy.
In addition, retirees pay taxes, usually on time, and place little strain on most municipal services. They do not pollute. They rarely commit crimes. They volunteer in schools and hospitals.
"Retirees have got more money than most folks," said Gov. Kirk Fordice of Mississippi, who created his state's Hometown Mississippi Retirement program in 1994. "They also are less of a strain on the infrastructure system. They don't use schools. They are what you might call ideal citizens."
The Census Bureau projects that the number of Americans age 65 and older, which was 33.5 million in 1995 (12.8 percent of the population), will grow to 45.6 million in 2015 (14.7 percent) and to 61.9 million in 2025 (18.5 percent).
In addition, some demographers predict that the percentage of retirees who migrate may begin to increase. From 1985 to 1990, 4.5 percent of all Americans 60 or older moved to another state, said Charles F. Longino Jr., a sociologist at Wake Forest University.
Florida, which has no state income tax, is still by far the most popular destination for migrating retirees, with 24 percent of the total moving there from 1985 to 1990, a study by Mr. Longino found.
But Florida's share of the retiree market declined by 2.5 percentage points during that period, while the share increased in states like Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Many of the migrants to other Southern states are moving from Florida to escape crowds, crime and traffic.
Demographers said the movement of retirees to small towns in nontraditional retirement states was too recent to have been measured by the 1990 census. But they predicted that the 2000 census would show an acceleration in the decline in Florida's share of the market and an increase in the share of states like Mississippi.
In the last eight years, several states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi and Pennsylvania, have established agencies and budgets devoted solely to recruiting retirees. South Carolina has enlisted a for-profit company, the Center for Carolina Living, to do the job.
There are, of course, potential liabilities in creating an economy that is excessively dependent on retirees. In some states, notably Arizona and Florida, retirees have shown a propensity to vote against tax and bonding measures for school construction. And if the Federal Government reduces Medicare benefits, state and local governments may be forced to pick up health care costs for their elderly populations.
The potential for a heavy health care burden concerns Patrick Mason, co-founder of the Center for Carolina Living.
"We are saying to ourselves, 'Yeah, we need retirees, but we need the Cadillac-class retirees,' " Mr. Mason said. "The no-taxes, y'all-come approach in Florida drew a few millionaires but thousands of middle-class retirees. And when they spend down their assets, they're on Medicaid."
But most states seem to have decided that the benefits outweigh the liabilities. And nowhere has that conclusion been reached more definitively than in Mississippi.
The state appropriates $500,000 a year, one-fifth of all state dollars spent on economic development marketing, to the Hometown Mississippi Retirement program. To make Mississippi more appealing to retirees, the state pointedly eliminated its income tax on pensions and other forms of retirement income in 1995.
Since the state retirement program began advertising in 1995, it has helped at least 700 couples relocate to the state and fielded 100,000 inquiries via a toll-free phone number. It publishes a glossy guide to retirement cities, provides matching grants to towns that undertake their own marketing campaigns, and pays for national advertising. A typical advertisement depicts a snow shovel and the text, "You could always use it to dig out of a sand trap."
Inquiries are followed up with telephone calls, handwritten notes, Christmas cards and invitations to visit, often extended by retirees who have already moved to the state.
"A lot of states just mail out brochures," said Barbara P. McDonald, director of the program. "We knew that Mississippi, not being a traditional retirement destination, would have to go a step farther. So we try the personal touch."
A central component of Mississippi's plan is the designation of 20 cities as certified retirement communities. The state deems that the cities have met certain standards for public safety, recreational amenities, health care and housing.
In Hattiesburg, one of the certified cities, officials sell the city's proximity to New Orleans, Jackson and the casino-clogged Gulf Coast, all within a 90-minute drive. They also highlight the area's 13 golf courses, its two hospitals and large medical clinic, its four-season warmth, and its low housing costs and tax rates.
The culture of college towns appeals to many retirees. The Institute for Learning in Retirement at the University of Southern Mississippi offers bargain courses.
The Area Development Partnership, the city's chamber of commerce, sponsors outings for retirees who have moved to town. It has also put more than 200 employees of motels, restaurants, gas stations, banks and stores through a half-day refresher course in Southern hospitality. The workers are encouraged to fawn over older customers on the theory that some may be considering moving to town.
Charles Short, a marketing executive from Rochester, and his wife, Helen, a microbiologist, got a heavy dose of hospitality when they happened upon Hattiesburg while on a camping trip in 1991. After expressing interest in retiring here, they received telephone calls every other week from other retirees who had already moved to Hattiesburg.
Now the Shorts are making the calls, telling prospects how the produce manager shakes their hands when they enter the grocery store and how they bought a larger house in Hattiesburg than they owned in Rochester and still save $4,000 a year in property taxes.
They also enjoy dispelling the notion, whether held by prospects or old friends in Rochester, that they have moved to a cultural backwater.
"The response from our friends and neighbors was universally negative, that we were going to some morass down here," said Mrs. Short, 67. "So it was with some pride that I wrote them to tell them that Itzhak Perlman was headlining the symphony series. That took the wind out of their sails."

LOAD-DATE: May 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Some states and cities are using brochures to try to attract retirees. (The New York Times)(pg. 1); Anthony and Jean W. Carbonar, former residents of Manhattan, considered retiring to New Zealand, but Hattiesburg, Miss., won their hearts. The Hattiesburg Country Club was part of the attraction.; Charles and Helen Short, impressed by the hospitality that was shown them on a visit to Hattiesburg, decided to retire there from Rochester. (Photographs by Alan S. Weiner for The New York Times)(pg. 9)
 
Map of the South: Hattiesburg, Miss., is among the Southern towns wooing retirees. (pg. 9)

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May 25, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

THE BIG CITY;
Mob Metaphysician

BYLINE: By John Tierney 

SECTION: Section 6; Page 22; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 967 words


They say I broke the oath. But it wasn't the oath I thought I was taking. I thought it was about honor and brotherhood. . . . It was none of that. It was all about greed and power. In reality, it was a total joke.
-- Salvatore Gravano, in his biography, "Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia," explaining his decision to testify against John Gotti.
 
Sept. 18, 1976. Induction Day! Dear diary, how can I describe the emotions that surged through me as I took the oath. They brought me to a basement in Bensonhurst, where a guy named Paul Castellano was presiding over a meeting. He explained that he was the leader of a "secret society" of gentlemen whose motto was Cosa Nostra -- I think that's Italian for "Community Service." It's kind of a religious group -- they burned a picture of a saint during the oath ceremony -- but they also work with a lot of local businesses, and out in Queens they have a place called the Bergin Hunt and Fish Social Club. Paul got me real inspired with his speech about family and honor and God. I was afraid the other members would look down on me because of my criminal record, but they all seemed friendly. The only awkward moment came when I stood up and asked, "When do we go fishing?" 
 Dec. 24, 1977. Last week, when Paul asked for a cut of my drywall company's contracts, I didn't understand the spirit of giving. I knew it was for a good charity -- Paul's raising money to build a senior-citizens residence on Staten Island -- but I didn't think my company could afford such a hefty donation. Sure enough, when I figure in charitable contributions, we get underbid for a big job at an office tower in midtown. Paul tells me to go visit the construction site. I'm shocked. "You're not asking me to whack ----."
"No, no," Paul says. "Just watch." I get to the site at 8 in the morning. The teamster at the front gate is inspecting a truck bringing in cement. He's checking the guy's union credentials, looking at the tires, the brakes -- going by every rule in the book. It takes him half an hour to wave the truck through. By noon there's 50 trucks lined up waiting for inspection. At 2 o'clock the developer calls my office and offers us the contract. I bring Paul his share of the money, but I'm still confused. "Why are the teamsters standing up for some old folks on Staten Island?" I ask.
"One word, Sammy. Brotherhood."
Dec. 15, 1985. I heard John Gotti was kind of a zealot -- besides his full-time job as a plumbing salesman, he runs an antismoking campaign in Queens that hijacks cigarette trucks -- so at first I didn't believe his accusations against Paul. Paul had set up a trash-carting operation with "exclusive routes" to make sure everyone participated in our recycling program. But today John showed me where the stuff was really going -- the Staten Island landfill! Then he drove toward the Verrazano Bridge and pointed to a huge white mansion on a hill. "That's Paul's estate," he said. "That's the senior-citizens residence you've been contributing to."
"What comes first," I ask, "our brotherhood with Paul or the club's honor?" John said he always turned to Machiavelli when he had a tough moral decision to make. He suggested I read "The Prince" before tomorrow's meeting with Paul at Sparks Steak House.
Dec. 16, 1985. I spent all night in my library. Machiavelli said some interesting things about the practical necessity of breaking promises, but I couldn't ignore what Socrates said about fidelity to your superiors. Finally at dawn I came across something in Kant's "The Metaphysics of Morals": "A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other purpose." I decided we had to investigate Paul's finances, no matter what. On the way to Sparks, John said he had always liked the categorical imperative and agreed something had to be done. But before we even got out of the car on East 46th Street, we heard shots, and then there was Paul lying in a pool of blood outside the steakhouse.
"Must have been a hit team from one of those radical environmental groups," John said as we drove away. I was stunned. I knew those guys took their recycling seriously, but. . . .
March 8, 1988. John had doubts about being able to fill Paul's shoes, but today he proved what a great leader he is. One of our members, Louie Milito, was killed on the club's hunting expedition. John never even liked Louie, but he was so concerned about Louie's family that he personally arranged for the funeral upstate. I helped his guys load the body into the trunk for the private burial.
Dec. 12, 1990. Dear diary! I never thought I'd be writing you from inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center. They indicted John and me for racketeering and obstruction of justice. They even say John planned the hit on Paul! I was proud when John stood up and pleaded innocent, but as I watched him in court, a strange thought occurred to me: How could a plumbing salesman afford that suit?
May 5, 1991. John got mad in the jail library when he saw me reading Machiavelli. He reminded me of our oath -- and I was deeply moved. Still, doubts persist. What is honor? What is brotherhood? Why hadn't they invited me to go along on that hunting expedition?
Oct. 9, 1991. The day began grimly with a visit from my lawyer. He says I'm looking at 50 years. Then, at long last -- a moment of ethical clarity! This afternoon I was reading "Being and Nothingness" and suddenly it was as if Sartre was speaking to me in my cell: "Man can will nothing unless he has first understood that he must count on no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth."
Should I share this insight with John? I think I'll talk to the prosecutor first.

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The New York Times

May 25, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Answering the Needs Of Elderly Alcoholics

BYLINE: By KATE STONE LOMBARDI  

SECTION: Section 13WC;  Page 1;  Column 5;  Westchester Weekly Desk  

LENGTH: 1339 words

DATELINE: HARRISON

A 73-year-old Yonkers man had never been much of a drinker. He spent his career in the newspaper business and his free time collecting trophies and medals from racing his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
But in the last five years, the things he cared about most began to pass from his life. At 68, he retired from his job. He could no longer ride his motorcycle. His health deteriorated; he had a heart attack, followed by crippling arthritis. 
 "All the things I could do with my eyes closed I couldn't do anymore," he said. "It had been 38 years since I drank, and all of a sudden I started drinking red wine. I found out that if I drank three or four glasses, I didn't have pain anymore. Soon I was going through a gallon a day."
For another 73-year-old, a New Rochelle resident, drinking had been a lifelong problem. He had been through several detoxification programs and had lost a number of jobs because of alcoholism. He had survived prostate cancer but had respiratory problems and a pacemaker. A widower, he had several years of sobriety behind him when he relapsed after losing a good friend. But this time, he found the problem even more intractable than it had been when he was younger.
"Lately, when I was feeling bad, I'd take a drink, but it didn't make me feel better," he said. "It made me feel worse. Your tolerance gets low. It doesn't take much to make you high and miserable. I got to the point where if I didn't feel good in the morning, I'd start drinking. The more I drank, the worse I would feel, but I couldn't stop once I had started."
Both men represent a problem of growing concern to doctors and social workers in the field of alcoholism: abuse among the elderly.
Experts estimate that about 7 to 10 percent of people older than 65 suffer from alcoholism and other drug dependencies, which is roughly the same as those in other age groups. But there are several factors that compound the problem for older people and can delay diagnosis and treatment.
First, as people age, some of the emotional stresses that can lead to alcohol abuse or chemical dependency begin to multiply rapidly. People whose lives had been full with work, marriage and friends may in a fairly short time find themselves isolated and in ill health. A succession of losses can transform the lives of the elderly, robbing them of companionship, support and structure.
"The most common thing we see is people who begin drinking heavily after the death of a spouse, retirement, serious physical illness or the loss of independence," said Sarah Davis, an alcohol counselor at St. Vincent's Westchester hospital here, which operates a program aimed at people older than 55 who suffer from alcoholism and other drug dependencies.
Ms. Davis said there are several reasons why older people are less likely to get treatment for alcohol or drug abuse. First, the effects of alcoholism can mimic those of aging. Memory loss, depression, sleeplessness, uneven gait, even slurred speech can be attributed to old age or senility when alcohol can be the culprit.
Also, because the elderly are often socially isolated, they are not subjected to the usual checks that might force a younger person to confront a problem. For instance, older people drive less, so they are less likely to be arrested for drunken driving. Most are retired, so they are not in a position to be dismissed from their jobs for alcoholism. Many are widowed, so they do not have a spouse who might detect a problem.
Compounding the difficulty in identifying the illness is the fact that while younger generations generally accept alcoholism as a disease, older people tend to view drinking problems with a sense of shame and often as a sign of weakness of character.
"Older people take a little more loving care to try to help them get past the shame and stigma of it," Ms. Davis said. "In some cases the denial of it is pretty strong. We have to work very hard to get them to understand that we are not trying to humiliate them and that this is a disease."
Ms. Davis and another counselor, John Krachenfels, helped organize the St. Vincent's Older Adult Recovery Program last August. The program, which is also offered at the Maxwell Institute of St. Vincent's Westchester in Bronxville, is part of the hospital's geriatric services.
Bernadette Kingham, a spokeswoman for St. Vincent's, said the hospital recognized that elderly people were not well served for drug and alcohol abuse treatment in the county. She said the staff realized earlythat the elderly needed to be treated for the problem somewhat differently from the way younger people are treated.
For instance, older people are less comfortable talking about their emotions and problems than are younger people, so traditional group therapy is less successful with them. When they meet in groups, older people also respond much better if they are among people of their own age and not mixed with younger alcoholics and drug abusers.
The 73-year-old New Rochelle resident, who went to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings before his relapse, said that he had not been comfortable at certain meetings. "I went to a couple of A.A. meetings in New Rochelle, but they had younger people there, and they used all types of language and they had been into drugs," he said. "I didn't feel comfortable there. The other day I was at a meeting at St. Vincent's, and there were people there that have the same problems I had. That program has become like a family."
At the same time, elderly people respond strongly to education about alcoholism, Ms. Davis said. "One of the things that's easier about working with older people is that they are good students," she said. "Once they hear the education they seem to absorb it and warm up to the idea pretty well. It's always easier to hear that you have a disease than that you have a moral weakness."
The Older Adult Recovery Program meets three days a week for 12 weeks. Only nine participants are accepted at a time. Each session is a combination of education and therapy. The group discussions are paced more slowly than those for younger participants, with the understanding that it takes longer for elderly people to discuss their emotions with a group. At the same time, Ms. Davis said, the peer group becomes critically important to this age group because it provides the connection to other people that many participants, in their social isolation, have been lacking.
Program counselors then try to connect each person with an Alcoholics Anonymous group in which they will be at ease. "For some of the older people this is the key, getting them connected," Ms. Davis said. "They need to feel that life has some meaning. They can have friends and a network through A.A. that can go on for the rest of their lives."
About 25 people have gone through the program. Participants come from all over the county and have been referred by a variety of sources: centers for the elderly, doctors, home health aides and family members. The program accepts most insurance and has a sliding fee scale.
One of the most troubling attitudes counselors have to face from family members as well as from elderly alcoholics is the idea that old age is a difficult time during which it is acceptable for the person to withdraw into drinking and that such indulgence somehow enhances the quality of the rest of their lives.
"One of the reasons people tend not to bring a person into treatment when they're old is the idea that they may not have many years left," Ms. Davis said. "Why not let them just enjoy what few pleasures they have left? But people are living longer and longer and often can live productive and rewarding lives into their 80's and 90's. To say someone in their 70's should just indulge and drink themselves to death is just wrong. It's only going to cause more misery."
More information about St. Vincent's Older Adult Recovery program is available by calling 925-5261 in Harrison or the Maxwell Institute at 337-6033 in Bronxville.

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May 25, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON POLITICS;
Not a Bumper-Sticker Issue, But Some Folks Are Curious

BYLINE: By Jennifer Preston;  Jennifer Preston is Trenton bureau chief of The New York Times.

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 2; Column 5; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 848 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

State Senator James E. McGreevey knew that Governor Whitman's proposed $2.75 billion borrowing for the state pension system was beginning to resonate with voters when two elderly women asked him about it after a church service.
Even Mr. McGreevey, one of the three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination on June 3 to challenge Mrs. Whitman this fall, was surprised. The Governor's plan is not what political analysts call a "bumper sticker issue." 
 But Mrs. Whitman's proposal to borrow $2.75 billion to help close a deficit in the state pension fund and her new state budget is beginning to raise questions in the minds of some voters about how exactly the Governor kept her promise to cut state income taxes by 30 percent.
And they are not questions that you necessarily want raised if you are Governor Whitman and you are running for re-election and your tax cut is what voters consider your most important achievement.
In many ways, the bond scheme is a brilliant budget maneuver. It is the latest in a series of moves by Brian W. Clymer, the soon-to-depart State Treasurer, who came up with ways to balance the budget over the last four years with a tax cut and without making equal spending reductions in state services and programs.
Under the plan, the state would use the borrowing proceeds and investment gains from the pension system to pay off a $4.2 billion deficit in the state's pension funds. That, in turn, would allow the state to use investment gains to cover the cost of $600 million that the state was scheduled to pay into the pension fund this year.
Most of the public employee unions, including the powerful teachers' union, have embraced the idea, although the New Jersey State AFL-CIO is still opposed to it. The Whitman administration insists that the plan will save the state billions of dollars in future payments on the deficit.
However, the plan has focused attention (perhaps unwanted by Mrs. Whitman) on the vast changes that she made to the pension system in 1994. It was largely those changes that helped pay for much of her celebrated tax cut. Since 1994, the changes have allowed the state to cut its scheduled contributions by more than $3 billion to the pension funds.
Democrats had planned to argue that the property taxpayers paid for most of the tax cut. Now they are arguing that Mrs. Whitman is paying for her tax cuts by trying to mortgage the state's future.
"The Governor brought this on herself," Mr. McGreevey said. "People in New Jersey are beginning to understand what this bond issue is all about."
When Mr. McGreevey and his Democratic rivals, Michael Murphy, and Robert E. Andrews, met for their televised debates, they hammered Mrs. Whitman with the bond issue almost as much as they lobbed criticism at her about property taxes and auto insurance, signaling that the pension bond issue will remain a topic of discussion in the fall campaign.
"This pension bond scheme is absolutely frightening," Mr. Murphy said last week when asked about it in the second televised debate. "This governor has brought us to the precipice of fiscal disaster."
Mrs. Whitman's top aides had not anticipated the political fallout from the proposal. They had expected that the state Legislature would have given approval to the deal by now. They had also expected that the $2.75 billion in bonds would have been sold and the $590 million budget gap would have been plugged.
But a handful of Senate lawmakers, concerned that their reputations as fiscal conservatives might be on the line, have balked, delaying passage, and therefore, the deal. And now, the budget gap could balloon by as much as $248 million more because the State Supreme Court insists that Governor Whitman and Republican lawmakers make up the difference between what the state's richest and poorest districts spend, not simply address the imbalance by setting core-curriculum standards.
Standard & Poor's, a major credit-rating agency, weighed in last week with its assessment that is certain to give Democrats more fodder.
In a newsletter distributed to thousands of prospective investors in the municipal bond market, Standard & Poor's issued a warning that the bond deal could jeopardize the state's AA-plus credit rating because it "only delays difficult decisions to achieve a prudently balanced budget."
The Senate president. Donald T. DiFrancesco, said that he would not put the pension borrowing plan up for a vote until after the June 3 primary because a handful of Republican Senate lawmakers are concerned that their support for the plan could cost them votes in contested primary elections.
That means that the Legislature will address in June what could be the three most contentious issues in this year's gubernatorial and legislative races: the bond deal, auto insurance and a new school-financing plan.
What Governor Whitman's aides hope is that voters forget all about this bond business during the summer. That's entirely possible, but unlikely. Especially when two elderly ladies are asking about it after a church gathering.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Jennifer Preston.

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The New York Times

May 25, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WEDDINGS;
Susannah Nathan And John Files 3d

SECTION: Section 1; Page 44; Column 2; Society Desk

LENGTH: 202 words

Susannah Day Nathan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David A. Nathan of Bethesda, Md., was married there yesterday to John Files 3d, a son of Jane B. McDermott and John R. Files, both of Portland, Me. Dr. Arthur C. Blecher, a rabbi, officiated at the Congressional Country Club. The Rev. Michael J. Kelley, a Roman Catholic priest, took part in the ceremony.
The couple graduated from Hamilton College. 
 The bride, 25, is an employment and mental-health counselor at Bay Cove Human Services, a social services agency in Boston for people with mental illnesses.
Her mother, Nancy B. Nathan, is the senior producer of "Meet the Press," the NBC television program in Washington. The bride's father is the director of government relations for the American Optometric Association in Washington. Her maternal grandfather, Daniel E. Button of Delmar, N.Y., was a Republican Congressman representing the Albany area from 1967 to 1971.
The bridegroom, 24, is a production editor at O'Reilly & Associates, a technical book publishing firm in Cambridge, Mass. His mother is a nurse's assistant at St. Joseph's Manor, a home for the elderly in Portland. His father retired as a sergeant first class in the Army.

LOAD-DATE: May 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Susannah Nathan. (Leslie Cashen)

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The New York Times

May 25, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: CARROLL GARDENS/RED HOOK;
For Elderly, New Rule Makes Check-Cashing a Task Full of Perils

BYLINE: By DAVID ROHDE  

SECTION: Section 13;  Page 8;  Column 3;  The City Weekly Desk  

LENGTH: 390 words

On paper, it might seem like a technicality. But in the sprawling Red Hook Houses, a new City Housing Authority policy is causing confusion among the complex's 690 elderly residents and spurring an effort to create an escort service for them.
Beginning June 1, the Red Hook Houses, which has 7,300 tenants in its 30 buildings, will be one of the last of the city's 341 public housing complexes to no longer allow tenants to cash government-issued checks at the complex's management offices. They will have to go to a bank, post office or check-cashing business. 
 In most other neighborhoods, traveling to a nearby bank or check-cashing business would be simple. But in Red Hook, the options are few. There is only one check-cashing business in the neighborhood. Until a new Independence Savings Bank branch opens near the corner of Columbia and Lorraine Streets in mid-September, there are no banks.
Under the old system, most tenants cashed their benefit checks in the Housing Authority's office and paid their rent in cash. All tenants will lose this convenience and for the elderly, who often have a hard time traveling, the loss will be greater.
"The government is supposed to care for senior citizens," said Esther Pelliccia, a 65-year-old resident of the Red Hook Houses. "Yet they're imposing more burdens on us."
Ruth Colon, a spokeswoman for the Housing Authority, said the new policy was an attempt to reduce the potential for robberies in Housing Authority offices. Thieves, aware that the offices have large amounts of cash on hand on the days that government-issued checks arrive, have robbed authority offices in the past. She said that under the new policy housing, the housing authority's managers are to offer their staff workers as security escorts if the elderly request them.
But Jimmi Hammond, a member of the Red Hook Public Safety Corps, who said there were not nearly enough Housing Authority staff workers to act as escorts, hopes to help the elderly avoid the risk of traveling to banks to cash checks. He wants to start an escort service.
"The seniors are scattered all over Red Hook," said Mr. Hammond, who is trying to recruit volunteers and obtain a van for the new service.
Ms. Colon said the housing authority welcomed the proposal for an escort service for the elderly.   DAVID ROHDE

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The New York Times

May 25, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Prosecutors Who Still Haven't Rested

BYLINE: By JOSEPH P. FRIED 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 30; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1081 words

Hunched forward in his chair, his hand trembling, the elderly man recalled how he had been assaulted and robbed in his Brooklyn home.
"A woman and two men," he said of the intruders, his Spanish translated by an interpreter for the two assistant district attorneys interviewing him in an office in a downtown Brooklyn courthouse. The woman was familiar from the neighborhood, he explained, so he had not been suspicious when she appeared at his apartment, seemingly alone. 
 "What happened then?" Caryn Stepner, 33, one of the prosecutors, asked.
"The men came in," the victim, in his 70's, replied. He said the men roughed him up after the woman told them, "He has money," and then made off with several hundred dollars. They are still being sought; the woman was arrested.
But Ms. Stepner needed more information to prepare the case against the woman, and her continuing questioning, and the constant intervention of the interpreter, made the man increasingly confused and agitated.
Suddenly, Ms. Stepner's colleague, Elizabeth Argar Fass, detoured into a seemingly irrelevant line of questions.
"How long have you had diabetes?"
"Thirty-five years."
"Do you take insulin?"
"Yes."
"How many times a day?"
"Two."
"How do you feel?"
"Nervous."
But the man had already begun to relax. He sat back, and the session continued with less strain. Perhaps Mrs. Fass's solicitous queries had soothed him, but her age, too, could have helped. At 85, a decade older than the man she was interviewing, she hardly fits the image of a hard-charging young prosecutor.
Mrs. Fass had provided the distressed victim with a "comfort zone," as she later put it. And that was the point. Mrs. Fass is one of a group of retired or semiretired lawyers who volunteer to work as unpaid assistant district attorneys in an unusual program in the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, helping to investigate and prosecute crimes against the elderly.
The District Attorney, Charles J. Hynes, said he established the program because retired lawyers "can relate and be sensitive to someone of similar age," giving elderly victims "more confidence in the system."
The 5-year-old program, in which the participants generally contribute a day or two of work each week, is the only one of its kind in the five district attorneys' offices in New York City. James Polley, director of government affairs for the National District Attorneys Association in Alexandria, Va., said he had not heard of another like it across the country.
Aside from Mrs. Fass, who retired in 1978 as a supervisor of city lawyers handling child-abuse cases and the like in Family Court, the nine volunteers include a former State Assemblyman as well as retired or partly retired lawyers with corporate, real estate or other backgrounds.
"Criminal law experience is not required," said Eugene Kelley, an executive assistant district attorney who runs the program. "We train them."
The volunteers cite various reasons for participating, usually boiling these down to a desire to remain vital by staying useful.
"Fifty percent of the people retire too early and I'm one of them," said John A. Esposito, 69, who was a Republican State Assemblyman from Queens for 11 years and who was a supervisor of bankruptcy trustees in Federal Court when he retired in 1989. Finding that it was not enough to "go fishing and do this and that," he was among those who responded to Mr. Hynes's original advertisement for volunteers in 1992.
Thomas T. Trunkes, 70, who retired a decade ago as an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board, said, "I have a good retirement and I have time to help people in distress, and it gives me satisfaction."
Mrs. Fass said that joining the program "was like coming home," a reference to the downtown Brooklyn area where the district attorney's office is located and where she had spent years as a city lawyer in the Brooklyn branch of Family Court.
Besides helping interview elderly victims -- "the color of my hair helps a lot" in putting them at ease, said the gray-haired Mrs. Fass -- the volunteers guide them through the criminal justice system, which Mr. Kelley says many elderly people find confusing and intimidating.
The volunteers also work to overcome the reluctance or fear many elderly people have when pressing charges, especially if the suspect is a relative or neighbor.
Some of the volunteers with commercial law experience pore over financial records -- particularly valued because of the work's time-consuming nature -- to build cases against people suspected of having swindled the elderly out of savings or property.
"This poor old lady has had her house stolen out from under her," James Patrick McGovern, a former corporate lawyer, said recently as he pointed to a pile of mortgage papers and deeds. He was examining them to determine how an 80-year-old widow had lost her house to so-called financial counselors that the woman had consulted after falling behind in her mortgage payments.
Instead of helping her erase the arrears, the counselors had used the house as collateral for schemes that enriched themselves and left her on the brink of eviction, Mr. McGovern said.
At 55, recuperating from cancer surgery, he is semiretired from a career that included posts like group counsel with Litton Industries, the maker of electronic guidance and control systems. His reason for joining the program provides a personal riff to Mr. Hynes's theme of giving the elderly more confidence in the justice system.
Mr. McGovern said his own parents were elderly victims of a mugging in their Manhattan apartment building. The suspects were seized, but never prosecuted, and his parents were never told why, Mr. McGovern said.
The memory of his late parents was not far away on a recent day as he sympathetically questioned the defrauded widow about legal documents that the mortgage "counselors" had induced her to sign without explaining their significance.
"I did not read it," the woman said sheepishly, referring to a power of attorney that had given the con artists carte blanche over her house. "For that I fault myself. I'm sorry."
"You need not apologize," Mr. McGovern responded, reassuring her that she was not alone in being vulnerable in a world where "it's amazing what people will do for the dollar."
Invoking his parents, he said: "Like you, they were part of a generation that trusted people. Fortunately, they did not own a house."

LOAD-DATE: May 25, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Elizabeth Argar Fass is among the retired lawyers who work as volunteer prosecutors for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. (Nancy Siesel/The New York Times)

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The New York Times

May 26, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Other Laws Could Expire In Rent Fight

BYLINE: By DENNIS HEVESI  

SECTION: Section 1;  Page 25;  Column 5;  Metropolitan Desk;  Second Front

LENGTH: 960 words

While the debate over ending rent regulations has focused on whether to continue the limits on rent increases, a host of other issues affecting thousands of tenants are dangling in legislative limbo.
They include the fate of a New York City program that exempts more than 55,000 elderly tenants from rent increases and the future of a state regulation that guarantees the right to a lease renewal. Also in limbo are a provision of the law that protects tenants from hasty evictions, and another that guarantees rights to tenants when their buildings are converted into co-ops or condominiums. 
 Although all parties to the debate insist that the elderly will be protected no matter what, no one has yet drafted legislation that would continue the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption Program if -- in the most extreme scenario -- the laws simply expire at midnight on June 15.
Discussing the senior citizens program, known as Scrie, the city's Commissioner for the Aging, Herbert W. Stupp, said, "Everyone says they want to protect seniors, but if rent regulation were abolished we would have nothing to peg the benefit to."
At literally the same second, a law governing the way that co-op and condominium conversions can proceed is also set to expire. As matters stand, the only legislation drafted to extend those conversion provisions has been tucked into the Democratic version of the rent-regulation legislation.
"Everyone seems to be playing chicken on this one," said Stuart Saft, chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives.
At the same time, other elemental provisions of the current rent laws hang in the balance. They include a tenant's right to a new lease upon the expiration of the old one, the grounds for eviction, a tenant's right to a base level of services and the issue of tenancy succession.
The succession question was raised recently when the State Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, a Republican of Rensselaer County, said that while he could support rules allowing immediate family members to inherit rent-regulated apartments, he insisted that gay and other unmarried couples should no longer have those rights.
The right to a lease renewal and protections against eviction are rights that many New Yorkers hold dear. As it now stands, landlords must offer a tenant a lease renewal except under specific circumstances, like illegal activity in an apartment, overcrowding by the tenant or the creation of a nuisance by the tenant.
Last December, Senator Bruno said he would let the state's rent laws expire, but he later softened his stance, saying he would support maintaining protections for the elderly, the disabled and the poor. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat of Manhattan, has insisted that the laws be renewed without changes.
Trying to negotiate a compromise, Gov. George E. Pataki proposed that the state's 1.1 million regulated apartments become exempt from rent increase limits as they become vacant -- a policy known as vacancy decontrol -- and that all households with incomes of $175,000 or more be decontrolled. Neither legislative leader budged.
Under the Scrie program, tenants who are 62 years or older and earn less than $20,000 a year are exempt from increases that would raise the rent beyond one-third of their disposable income. The difference between the allowable rent and the rent to which the landlord would otherwise be entitled becomes a tax deduction for the landlord.
If the rent regulations expire, tax laws would have to be amended to cover those formerly regulated apartments. "And if those apartments went to market rate," said Andrew Scherer, author of a 1995 book on New York's landlord-tenant laws, "New York City's tab for the Scrie program would rise astronomically."
The entire bill for the Scrie program -- $91 million last year -- comes from the city's coffers. Asked if the city could afford the jump in cost if Scrie apartments go to market rate, Commissioner Stupp said, "Not with the budget we have now."
"I presume they are going to keep regulations for people above 62," the Commissioner said, "but without a system to peg the subsidies, we wouldn't have a way to calculate the benefit for senior recipients."
The co-op and condominium conversion protections are part of the Martin Act, which regulates the sales of securities in the state. If those regulations expire, Mr. Saft said, "Tenants in rental buildings would be subject to landlords being able to convert with virtually no restrictions. Landlords would be able to evict tenants at the end of their lease. Tenants wouldn't even have to be offered the right to buy the apartment."
Other provisions facing expiration establish how many apartments must be sold for a building to be converted. A change in the law would not affect residents currently living in co-ops and condominiums, and few conversion plans have been proposed in recent years. Still, Mr. Saft said: "There may be sponsors waiting on the sidelines to see what happens June 15th."
Senator Bruno did not respond to three requests for an interview about these issues. Nor did Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco, whose office administers the Martin Act.
Vito J. Lopez, the Brooklyn Democrat who heads the Assembly Housing Committee, said, "I believe, and I'm an optimist, that in the next two or three weeks we will satisfactorily resolve all of the protections that are coming up for continuation."
A leading landlord advocate, Joseph Strasburg of the Rent Stabilization Association, said the Democrats were trying to use these other issues as bargaining chips in the negotiations. In the end, Mr. Strasburg said, he expects that both Scrie and the co-op laws will be continued "independent of rent regulation."

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The New York Times

May 27, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

BATTLE LINES FORM IN MEDICARE FIGHT

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1261 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 26

Having agreed on the general outlines of a plan to balance the budget, Congress will soon begin a major effort to redesign Medicare, and the process has already set off a fierce legislative struggle that pits elderly people, hospitals, doctors and other health care providers against one another.
Congress has agreed to cut projected Medicare spending by $115 billion, or 8.5 percent, in the next five years but has not made any final decisions about how. 
 Each group wants to protect its share of the $1.2 trillion to be spent by Medicare in that period, and, in most cases, the preferred strategy is to appeal to "equity" and "fairness" and argue that others should bear a larger share of the cuts.
Every additional dollar of premiums paid by the elderly is one fewer dollar that must be cut from payments to hospitals. Each dollar taken from surgeons frees up a dollar for family doctors and internists.
Republicans and a few Democrats in Congress say their objective this year is not just to save money but also to modernize Medicare by giving beneficiaries a wider choice of competing health plans, including health maintenance organizations and other forms of managed care.
When President Clinton vetoed the Republicans' budget-balancing bill in December 1995, he listed 82 reasons, starting with "extreme cuts" in Medicare. The cuts have been scaled back this year, but Republicans still want to make major changes in the structure of the system, using the 1995 bill as a model.
In the 1995 showdown, the political stakes were higher. Democrats said the Republicans were undermining the insurance plan, and some Republicans paid a price in the 1996 elections. But the results of this year's battle may have more lasting effects because they will probably be written into law.
Some of the Democrats' leading experts on Medicare share the Republicans' conviction that the program, created in 1965, must be updated to keep pace with changes revolutionizing the health care industry.
Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who began his career as a legal services lawyer for the elderly, said: "Medicare is a bureaucratic Tin Lizzie in many parts of the country. If we use the next few years to make significant reforms, we can get Medicare ready for the demographic tsunami when 75 million baby boomers reach retirement age.
"Democrats can win on this issue by guaranteeing well-defined, secure benefits for seniors. But we should acknowledge that the Republicans are absolutely right about the need to increase competition and choice in the program."
Representative Bill Thomas, the California Republican who heads the Ways and Means subcommittee on health, said the 1995 experience was practice for this year's effort.
"We're going to shove as much Medicare reform as possible" into this year's budget bill, Mr. Thomas said.
Most people on Medicare, 88 percent of the 38 million beneficiaries, are in the traditional program, which pays a separate fee for each doctor's service and each hospital admission. While H.M.O.'s are readily available to the elderly in places like Phoenix and Los Angeles, there are no Medicare H.M.O.'s in 12 states and in some cities.
Congressional leaders say that to solve the problem they will reduce huge regional disparities in the payment of H.M.O.'s. That means less money, or smaller increases, for New York City, Miami and Los Angeles but more money for rural areas and for Des Moines, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Seattle.
Bruce C. Vladeck, Administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration, which oversees Medicare, said the cutbacks would cause "a significant reduction in the profitability of many health care providers."
As both houses of Congress endorsed the budget deal last week, lobbyists prepared for the coming battle in these ways:
*Hospitals plotted strategy to stave off a freeze in Medicare payment rates. A freeze has been recommended by President Clinton and by a Federal advisory panel that found that hospital profit margins on Medicare patients had been rising at a brisk pace for the last five years.
*The National Association for Medical Equipment Services, meeting last week in Las Vegas, Nev., denounced Mr. Clinton's proposal to cut Medicare payments for home oxygen therapy by 40 percent. The suppliers said they would flood Congress with 100,000 letters from the industry and from patients who need such therapy for respiratory illness.
*The American Association of Retired Persons lobbied Congress last week and scheduled 100 events around the country to tell lawmakers that they must not impose any burdens on beneficiaries beyond the modest Medicare premium increase envisioned in the budget agreement.
*Nursing homes complained that they would absorb a disproportionate share of Medicare cuts under Mr. Clinton's budget. The American Medical Association ran newspaper advertisements protesting "deep, unfair cuts to physicians." The American College of Surgeons asserted that its members would bear almost all of the cuts among doctors.
*H.M.O.'s, fighting Mr. Clinton's proposal to slash their payments, negotiated with Congress on ways to achieve more modest savings, perhaps by setting annual limits on the growth of their payment rates.
The arguments over Medicare have several recurrent themes. Federal officials say costs are out of control. Health care providers say their services save lives and are cheaper than the alternatives. Cuts, they say, will harm the quality of care and lead to layoffs.
Suppliers of home oxygen therapy, for example, say the procedure saves money by reducing the need for hospitalization. William D. Coughlan, president of the National Association for Medical Equipment Services, said: "One day of hospitalization can easily cost $1,800. For that, you can get six months of home oxygen therapy."
Mr. Vladeck, the Medicare official, said the 40 percent cut in oxygen payments was "the largest percentage reduction" proposed for any group of health care providers. Nearly 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries receive oxygen therapy in their homes.
Beyond the question of how to allocate the budget cuts, Congress faces huge debates over Medicare policy.
Republicans are determined to create tax incentives for the elderly to establish "medical savings accounts," which are anathema to the Administration. Under this proposal, beneficiaries could use their share of Medicare money to set up tax-free savings accounts to pay routine medical costs, and they would buy high-deductible insurance policies to pay other medical expenses.
Republicans say the accounts would encourage the elderly to be more conscious of costs, because they could keep money left in their accounts. But Mr. Clinton has said the accounts would appeal mainly to healthy people and would leave sicker, high-cost patients in the standard Medicare program.
Another dispute swirls around whether Congress should encourage doctors and hospitals to form health plans to compete with H.M.O.'s in the Medicare market. Doctors and hospitals say such health plans should be regulated by the Federal Government, not by the states, which normally regulate insurance.
Consumer advocates say patients will suffer if the new "provider-sponsored organizations" go bankrupt or deliver substandard care. Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, commercial insurers, H.M.O.'s and state insurance commissioners all assert that consumers will be better protected if the new health plans have to meet state standards, as well as Federal Medicare requirements.

LOAD-DATE: May 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Graph: "THE DETAILS: Battling Over Medicare"
President Clinton and Congress have agreed to squeeze $115 billion, or 8.5 percent, from projected Medicare spending over the next five years. The big question now is how to allocate the cuts. In February, Mr. Clinton proposed $100 billion of Medicare savings over five years. Graph shows how spending for fiscal 1997 is expected to break down. It also tracks Medicare spending, assuming no change in current law, for fiscal years 1992 through 2002. In addition, it shows a breakdown of how President Clinton's proposal for 1998-2002 would reduce the budget deficit by $100 billion. (Sources: Congressional Budget Office, Department of Health and Human Services)(pg. A15)      

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The New York Times

May 27, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Earnest Homage to Veterans and Village Life;
Out to the Race

BYLINE: BY BENJAMIN WEISER 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 263 words

DATELINE: SOMERVILLE, N.J.

Anne Sutphen, 96, sat on a park bench several blocks from the grandstand of the annual Memorial Day bicycle races here that draw tens of thousands of spectators. "Three laps to go," she remarked, referring to the 20-mile women's race.
She was not the only spectator who was around from the days before World War I. There were Minna Orshan, 99, and Elsie Rinehart, 85. 
 For these women and others in this small town about 35 miles west of New York City, the Somerville bicycle races have given particular meaning to the Memorial Day holiday. The person who won the first two Somerville races, in 1940 and 1941, was Furman Frederick Kugler, and today his white racing bicycle is encased in a monument near the center of town. Indeed, many race participants remember the Kugler family and Furman Kugler's death during World War II.
"The Kugler boy was in my class at school," said another spectator, L. Gloria Honeyman, 75, as she waved to a Brownie troop marching earlier in the day in a parade on Main Street. The parade makes her remember the past, Ms. Honeyman said, while the bicycle races produce thoughts of the past and the future. Today's races were capped by the 54th running of the 50-mile Kugler-Anderson Memorial Tour for men.
It is not just the elderly who want to return to Somerville on Memorial Day. John Donnelly, of Virginia Beach, has raced 20 years in a row.
"As far back as I can remember we used to come out to the bike races, even when I was on a tricycle," he said. "It's pretty much what everybody in Somerville does."
   BENJAMIN WEISER

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The New York Times

May 28, 1997 Wednesday  
Late Edition - Final

Crime, Drugs, Brutality and Love

BYLINE: By STEPHEN HOLDEN

SECTION: Section C; Column 1; Cultural Desk; Pg. 14

LENGTH: 624 words

Whenever Niels Arden Oplev's blood-chilling film ''Portland'' wants to remind you that it is depicting a living hell, the cinematography turns a ghastly yellow-orange. These sequences, filmed on grainy black-and-white stock then tinted, make the unidentified Danish city where ''Portland'' was made appear to be going up in flames. And the industrial-rock music that grinds and groans in the background adds an extra layer of ominous portent. 
 ''Portland'' (the title refers to cement and is not a place name) follows the violent drug-fueled adventures of two brothers, Janus (Anders Wodskou Berthelsen) and Jakob (Michael Muller) at the bottom of Denmark's social ladder. Janus, the older, more brutal brother, has just finished serving a prison sentence, while Jakob has recently come out of reform school. Under the nose of the police, the pair steal a car and reunite with Janus's old gang, a sinister gaggle of sadistic skinhead drug dealers to whom Janus still owes money.  
  Janus wastes no time getting down to work. His unsavory job involves forcing a network of sick and elderly people in housing projects to order prescription drugs from the national health service, which he buys from them, then turns over to the gang to be sold on the street. The scenes of Janus roughing up his frail, terrified clients produce the same sickening sense of dread as pictures of concentration camp inmates being brutalized. 
 What gives ''Portland'' a tone all its own is the seam of grim, antic humor built into its story. Janus and Jakob are sent by the gang leader Lasse (Ulrich Thomsen) to share decrepit quarters with Lasse's depraved sister Eva (Iben Hjejle). When first seen, she lies handcuffed on a bed by a tattooed thug who drools into her mouth. She seems thoroughly enchanted with her situation. 
 The mutual passion that quickly sparks between Janus and Eva is acknowledged in an outrageously roundabout way. When Eva confesses her love, Janus promptly beats her up. She retaliates by sending Lasse and his gang to do the same to Janus, who takes his punishment like a stoic hero. The lovers' bond having been sealed, the bruised and battered couple are married in a traditional white wedding ceremony complete with shoes and rice. Meanwhile, in an equally surreal sequence, Jakob is picked up by two women dressed as cowgirls who catch him attempting to break into their car and is taken to a cheery country-and-western dance. 
 The core of the story is Janus's teaching the sensitive Jakob to be tough. Among other tortures, those lessons involve withstanding the pain of having your arm smashed by a tire iron. (In another scene, a member of Lasse's gang is ritualistically branded on the chest.) 
 ''Portland,'' which opens today at the Film Forum, has the feel of a nihilistic prank. But although flashy, it has fundamental weaknesses. Partly because the actor playing him has no dramatic range, the transformation of Jakob from softhearted reform-school punk into sadistic iron man isn't the slightest bit convincing. Mr. Berthelsen's lank-haired, pill-popping Janus, however, is all too real. As this connoisseur of pain punches and lurches his way through the film, you see exactly how antisocial impulses can be warped into a code of outlaw values.

PORTLAND

Written (in Danish, with English subtitles) and directed by Niels Arden Oplev; director of photography, Henrik Jongdahl; edited by Henrik Fleischer; music by Sons of Cain/ Morten Olsen; produced by Peter Aalbaek Jensen; released by Zentropa Entertainments. At the Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, South Village. Running time: 103 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Anders Wodskou Berthelsen (Janus), Michael Muller (Jakob), Ulrich Thomsen (Lasse) and Iben Hjejle (Eva).


URL: http://www.nytimes.com

LOAD-DATE: February 19, 2004

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Michael Muller, left, and Anders Wodskou Berthelsen in ''Portland.'' (Henrik Jongdahl/Morten Bak)                                                    

DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper


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The New York Times

May 29, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

SENIOR CLASS;
Technology Helps Find Wanderers

BYLINE: By ROBERT W. STOCK

SECTION: Section C; Page 4; Column 1; Home Desk

LENGTH: 1558 words

NIGHT was falling over the mountains around King, N.C., when Greg Pratt, chief of the Stokes County Mountain Rescue Team, learned that an elderly man suffering from dementia had wandered away from his home. The March temperature was headed toward freezing. "It used to be, it would take us hours to find a wanderer in these woods, bloodhounds and all," Mr. Pratt said. "This time it took 12 minutes."
He had simply held out a device that for all the world looks like a small television antenna and slowly turned in a circle until it chirped. The hand-held unit pointed the way toward a transmitter bracelet worn by the missing man. 
 Mr. Pratt's unit, called Care Trak, is one of dozens of devices that have been developed in the last few years aimed at finding wanderers, or preventing them from wandering. The next generation, harnessing satellite and Internet technologies, is in the works. A Japanese research center plans to use international global-positioning satellite systems that now make it possible to track wild animals and give drivers directions on computerized maps. And a company in Virginia is building a communicator-locator for the wrist that looks like a Dick Tracy knockoff and is based on a different satellite technology.
When the families of demented patients describe how they feel when their loved ones suddenly vanish, the word that seems to crop up most often is "terror." Dementia steals memory and intellect, leaving patients confused and disoriented, searching for reassurance and familiar landmarks. But once alone in the outside world, they are helpless -- potential victims of the weather, accidents and human predators. The four million patients with Alzheimer's disease account for the vast majority of the demented, and experts estimate that 70 percent of Alzheimer patients at one time or another wander away from their attendants.
It happened in Brooklyn on April 8 when a 62-year-old victim of early-onset Alzheimer's went shopping with his attendant. When the attendant turned away to make a purchase, the older man disappeared. "That's the way it happens," said the man's daughter, Sophia Rabkin. "In an instant."
The attendant searched for him, in vain. Several hours later, the man and his family were reunited because he had been registered with the most widely used system for retrieving wanderers, the Safe Return program of the Alzheimer's Association.
Patients registered with the program wear a bracelet or necklace imprinted with a toll-free number and their particular Safe Return identification number. The operator who answers the toll-free number can identify the wanderer by looking up the Safe Return number in a computer database.
In the case of the Brooklyn man, a shopkeeper saw him and alerted police officers, who took him to a hospital emergency room. A nurse called the Safe Return number.
Registration with the program also places key identifying information about the patient in a national database. In most areas of the country, if someone is reported missing, a fax describing the wanderer is sent to local hospitals, emergency medical services and homeless shelters. Families themselves contact the police.
Last fall, a new national registry was established on the Internet by Marianne Dickerman Caldwell, a nurse whose 83-year-old, Alzheimer's-afflicted mother wandered away from a children's softball game in New Hampshire one September day in 1991. The partial remains of her body were found three years later. "The absolute terror of those years," Ms. Caldwell recalled in an interview. "It didn't matter that she had Alzheimer's. I had known her in the richness of her earlier years, and the feelings were the same. I was desperate to find out her fate, desperate for closure."
Ms. Caldwell, who wrote about that experience in "Gone Without a Trace" (Elder Books, 1995), found a site on the Internet last year called Birthnet, where parents can register children in case they are ever missing. She sent an E-mail message to the founder, Thomas A. Gregory, and met a kindred soul. Mr. Gregory urged Ms. Caldwell to join his enterprise and set up a similar registry for wandering elders. The new Birthnet service went on line last October and has just 500 subscribers -- compared with Safe Return's 28,000. Identifying information about a missing person who is in the Birthnet registry can be downloaded by law-enforcement agencies, the news media and medical personnel.
Alzheimer patients are often physically strong despite their mental deterioration, and they have been known to wander far from home on foot, as well as long distances on public transport and sometimes driving family cars. They can also be impatient and unruly, which can easily get them in trouble with strangers. To keep wanderers indoors, attendants have developed a thousand ruses, camouflaging doors with large plants or blankets, placing doorknobs high or low where the patient will not look for them, painting the floor near the door black -- some Alzheimer's patients will perceive it as a hole and avoid the area.
Nursing homes traditionally used chemical restraints or tied wandering patients to chairs and kept the handrails raised on their beds. But Federal laws have cut such practices, helping the market for warning devices. Though nursing homes hold less than 30 percent of the nation's Alzheimer's patients, the companies encounter steep liability claims when wanderers get in trouble. And wandering is bad for business: an ad for a warning device in a recent trade magazine inquired, "Is your reputation walking out the door?"
The newer devices often include lightweight wireless transmitters attached to wrist or ankle by hard-to-remove bands. They can be adjusted to set off remote alarms, audible or silent, when patients cross invisible boundaries set by their attendants. The devices seek to keep patients to their beds, their homes or their yards; the usual maximum range is 100 to 150 feet.
Like Care Trak, the system favored by the North Carolina rescue team, most products intended to find patients after they escape are based on picking up signals from a small transmitter and have an effective range of one mile on the ground and somewhat more from the air. Thirty law-enforcement or search-and-rescue groups around the country have adopted Care Trak's receiving unit and search antenna. Their tracking services are available to residents, who rent matching wrist transmitters.
Transmitters for wrists or ankles must be both lightweight and rugged; many Alzheimer's patients object to wearing them, and are ingenious at getting them off. Care Electronics, of Boulder, Colo., offers a transmitter embedded in a fanny pack, because some patients who refuse the wrist or ankle versions find the pack acceptable.
The universal goal, though, is to create a smaller, less obtrusive transmitter, a goal limited by the size of the batteries needed to keep it transmitting. With that in mind, Signatron Technology of Concord, Mass., is testing a system based on a low-power device that transmits only when paged. The responding signal is picked up by a series of small receivers on rooftops, which can double as cellular phone antennas. The use of existing commercial paging services would further cut costs.
Now, a publicly financed research organization north of Tokyo, the Tochigi Technology Center, has proposed that the global-positioning satellites be put to work finding wanderers, according to The Associated Press. Signals would be sent out every few minutes to transmitters. Their responses, bounced off the satellites, would make it possible to pinpoint their location.
A very different satellite-based system is being developed by Eagle Eye Technologies of Herndon, Va. The system is built around a wristwatch-size device that only transmits when a special code is broadcast from home base. The transmitter's position is determined by measuring the length of time it takes for the signal to go from the wrist unit to a satellite and back.
The search for new ways to contain and track wanderers is sure to accelerate as the baby-boom generation ages. Dementias caused by Alzheimer's, stroke and other trauma afflict up to 50 percent of people 85 and over. Today there are about 3.7 million in that age group, according to the Census Bureau. By the year 2050, there will be more than 30 million. They and their attendants will need all the help they can get.
 
How to Reach Tracking Services
 
FOR information on the Safe Return program of the Alzheimer's Association, which charges a $25 registration fee, (800) 272-3900. The association also provides the telephone numbers of local branches and a list of products that keep track of wanderers. For the New York City chapter, (212) 983-0700.
The Internet address of the Birthnet registry is http://www.birthnet.com. There is no charge for an all-text registry page. But for $12.95, a color photograph can also be included.
Care Trak, (800) 842-4537, charges a $35 monthly rental fee for its wrist transmitter and tracking device. For the transmitter alone, when used in a network organized by a local police or search and rescue team, the fee is $25 a month.
Care Electronics, (303) 444-2273, charges $775 for its transmitter -- for wrist, ankle or fanny pack -- and tracking system.

LOAD-DATE: June 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo (Horacio Cardo)

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May 31, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

COMPANY NEWS;
GOLDMAN, SACHS FUND TO ACQUIRE INTEGRATED LIVING

BYLINE: Bloomberg News

SECTION: Section 1; Page 35; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 127 words

Integrated Living Communities Inc. agreed yesterday to be acquired by a Goldman, Sachs & Company fund for $11.50 a share, or $77 million, and to join forces with another operator of retirement homes. Shares of Integrated, based in Bonita Springs, Fla., rose $2.0625, to $11.125, in Nasdaq trading. After the deal is completed, Integrated Living's 24 retirement facilities will be operated by Whitehall Street Real Estate L.P. VII, a $1.35 billion fund run by firm Goldman, Sachs and the Senior Lifestyle Corporation. Senior Lifestyle is a closely held Chicago-based developer, which owns 16 facilities for the elderly. The agreement makes the combination of Whitehall and Senior Lifestyle one of the largest United States operators of housing for the elderly.

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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June 1, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/Long Island;
Dormant for a Decade, Attached Housing Revives

BYLINE: By DIANA SHAMAN 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1330 words

AT a time when most developers on Long Island still prefer to build detached houses, some nevertheless see a reviving market for attached housing, which had been in the doldrums for a decade.
The 170-unit Stonington condominium under construction in Port Jefferson Station on Old Town Road just north of Route 347 is a case in point. 
 When sales first began in September 1996, the 48 units in the first phase sold out in two months, said Nick Cassis, the owner of Cue Realty in Bellmore, which is handling sales at the 28-acre project. His wife, Tina, is one of the managing partners of B-O Realty of Bellmore, the development group.
Prices originally ranged from $104,990 for a 1,129-square-foot, 1-bedroom single-level apartment to $134,990 for a 1,379-square-foot, 2-bedroom town house with a basement. They have since risen to $114,990 and $139,990, respectively.
But the higher prices have not deterred buyers. Within 10 days after a second phase of 68 units went on the market in early May, 25 more of the homes had gone into contract or contracts on them had been sent out for signing, Mr. Cassis said.
Sales at another condominium nearby, at which Tina Cassis is also one of the developers, will be opening in the fall. Most of the 176 units at that project, to be called the Ranches at Long Lakes Estates, will be single-level attached ranch-style units. Two-story town houses will also be available.
The Ranches is to be built on a 33-acre site on Boyle Road, about a mile south of the Stonington development.
"There is a big market out there for attached housing because many older people who own a house want to downsize," Mr. Cassis said.
He noted that 60 percent of buyers at Stonington were retirees or close to retirement. "These are people who have worked all their lives, and who want to take it easy and enjoy themselves and travel," he said.
In and around Huntington, James L. Neisloss and Douglas S. Partrick, the two principals of Meadowood Properties in Islandia, have also found a ready market for several of their town-house projects.
For example, a 16-unit town-house development, Meadowood at Huntington Village, opened for sales last July and was completed and sold by December. The 3-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot units sold for $185,000.
Purchasers were about equally divided between first-time buyers and older couples whose children were grown and had moved, Mr. Neisloss said.
"The town-house market is alive and well and thriving," he said. "People selling an existing house want to become less encumbered by household chores. For young couples, attached houses are also of great interest because both are usually full-time workers and when people have limited time they find it important to spend that time together rather than on gardening and fixing leaks."
The Beechwood Organization of Williston Park is building a mix of detached and attached houses in a 193-unit development in Melville called Country Pointe. About an equal percentage of each type of housing has sold. Of the 82 town houses, 40 are in contract; and of the 111 detached houses, 53 are in contract, said Michael Dubb, who owns Beechwood with a partner, Leslie Lerner.
Mr. Dubb noted that he had had the option of building only detached houses on the 35-acre site. "But I believe in the town-house market and I felt, 'Why limit myself?' " he said. "If I were building only detached houses instead of offering buyers a choice, I'd only have 53 sales."
The town houses at Country Pointe, which range in size from 1,600 to 2,000 square feet, are priced from $215,000 to $260,000; the detached houses, which are 2,000 to 3,000 square feet in size, are priced from $250,000 to $315,000. All 193 homeowners will share a pool, a clubhouse and two tennis courts.
The main advantage of attached housing is that it costs less to build because of savings on land and construction costs, and therefore it costs less to buy.
AT a North Hills development called the Links, which is under construction by AVR Realty of Yonkers on Shelter Rock Road, a semi-attached house costs $50,000 less to buy than one that is identical in size and amenities but which is fully detached. The 4,300-square-foot semi-attached house is priced at $700,000; the detached house sells for $750,000.
"People buying the semi-attached house get the same specifications and the same community for $50,000 less," said Mark C. Eickelbeck, a vice president of AVR.
Attitudes toward attached housing vary by area, said Todd Zimmerman, co-managing director of Zimmerman/Volke in Clinton, N.J., which did a feasibility study for the Stonington project.
In areas like Washington, where there is a tradition of attached housing, there is wide acceptance; on Long Island attached housing is still considered "peculiar," he said. However, he added, as land supplies diminish, attached housing will gain in popularity since many people are being priced out of the detached-housing market.
Long Island is also starting to experience a shortage of supply of this type of housing because so little was built over the last decade, said Mr. Dubb of the Beechwood Organization.
Town-house development slowed to a trickle following the 1986 Tax Reform Act, which limited tax advantages for real estate investors who had been active purchasers of town houses, he noted.
But now young couples and older couples are replacing investors as the driving force behind sales.
Typical of the older age group are George and Grace Labriola, who are selling their four-bedroom detached house in Smithtown where they have lived 31 years to move to one of the 2-bedroom town houses at Stonington for which they are paying $139,000.  They expect to take occupancy in July.
"I'm looking forward to doing less work around the house, relaxing and doing some traveling," said Mr. Labriola, who recently retired as the vice president of an air pollution control company.
But, he added, the change will have some drawbacks. "The one major minus of living in an attached house is losing some privacy, and that is one of the adjustments we will have to make," he said.
DEVELOPMENTS like Stonington are redefining the town-house concept both in terms of design and the inclusion of basements to provide the storage space owners of detached houses are accustomed to having. The only units at Stonington lacking a basement are the 28 single-level apartments on the upper floor.
"By adding a lot of traditional detailing, we are giving people what they are familiar with," said Stonington's architect, Joe Garramone, senior associate at KDJ Architects of Cherry Hill, N.J.
The Cape Cod-style buildings have front porches, wraparound balconies, columns, railings, fish-scale siding, and even brass kickplates on entrance doors.
Natural light floods even interior units through a generous use of windows and skylights. Each unit on average has 14 windows.
All but three of the 14 buildings will be grouped around two ponds. Recreational facilities will include a pool, a clubhouse, two tennis courts and jogging and walking trails. Monthly common charges are $187.
Traditionally, most attached housing is built either as two-story town houses or as single-level apartments stacked one over the other and often referred to as flats.
Mr. Cassis said his next project, the Ranches at Long Lakes Estates, will break new ground by making 140 of its 170 units available as ranch-style units that will allow single-level living with no upstairs or downstairs neighbors. Two-story houses and flats will also be available. The houses will be built around a series of four ponds.
The 950-square-foot, 1-bedroom flats will be priced at $120,000, and 2-bedroom ranch-style units and town houses ranging in size from 1,150 to 1,500 square feet will be priced from $160,000 to $190,000.
Eighteen of the flats will sell for $100,000 to assist the Town of Brookhaven's efforts to provide housing for moderate-income buyers.

LOAD-DATE: June 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Stonington development in Port Jefferson Station offers traditional detailing like porches in attached housing. (Edward Keating/The New York Times)

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June 1, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

County Readies for Computer Glitch

BYLINE: By DONNA GREENE

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 1; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 987 words

LIKE computers worldwide, many of Westchester County's computers could have major problems after Dec. 31, 1999, because their clocks are not programmed for the turn of the century.
The worst-case scenario goes like this: It is 2000, and prisoners are being released before their time, the needy are not getting any assistance, taxpayer checks are going out to vendors who delivered no recent service, pension records have been destroyed, traffic lights are going crazy and the elderly are being notified they are in need of their preschool inoculations. 
 Whether all these things happen -- or worse things or none at all -- depends on whether the Westchester County government, as well as governments at all levels, can get their computers to understand that 2000 is not 1900. That is because, except for the latest computers, all have been programmed to put a 19 in front of the last two digits of a year.
"To some extent, we don't know what the potential impact could be," said Susan S. Egginton, who as administrator of the county's General Services Department oversees Westchester's 2 mainframe computers (8 and 10 years old, respectively), about 9 mid-size computers and about 4,000 personal computers.
"This is a very real problem and not a scare people are creating as a goof," said Camaron J. Thomas, director of Gov. George E. Pataki's Task Force on Information Resource Management, which is coordinating actions on the state level to upgrade the computers.
Nor, Ms. Egginton said, is there a magic solution -- a software program, for example, that can simply be inserted into a computer to make all the important date changes. "Everything we have is written in different languages," she explained. Therefore, computer programs have to be examined line by line to see where they have to be changed.
The cost of doing so is tremendous in both time and money. It is estimated that the Federal Government will spend about $6 billion to $8 billion to make their computers "2000-compatible," while New York State will spend $100 million. Ms. Egginton said the county government would spend millions. Concidentally, it was to save money that computers were developed with a system that used only two digits, instead of four, to describe a date -- for example "97" instead of "1997."
"Twenty to 25 years ago, it made sense to save magnetic storage space by using just two characters," said John Leonard, manager of information systems for the county government. "It saved a lot of money."
As a result, when the millennium comes, computers will not know the century has turned. The date: 2000 will be read as 00 and interpreted to mean 1900. Also, because of the way calculations are done, ages become confused. Peter de Jager, a Canadian considered one of the top experts in the field, explained: "I was born in 1955. If I ask the computer to calculate how old I am today, it subtracts 55 from 97 and announces that I'm 42. So far, so good. But what happens in the year 2000? The computer will subtract 55 from 00 and will state that I am minus 55 years old."
It is only in the last few years that owners of computers -- governments, businesses and individuals -- have learned of the potential of problems for computers, especially those that do calculations, in 2000.
The need for raising awareness and information has led to a number of Web pages, one of the most significant being "The Year 2000 Information Center" (www.year2000.com), where Mr. de Jager has a countdown to the year 2000 in years, days, hours, minutes and seconds.
When it needed to learn about the 2000 problem, the state government turned to Mr. de Jager, Ms. Thomas said. It also created its own Web page, so that local governments as well as state departments know what is going on (www.irm.state.ny.us).
The county has turned to the Gartner Group, an informational technology think tank in Stamford for its expertise, Mr. Leonard said.
At this point, the state is one giant step ahead of the county in making its computers 2000-compatible. It has already done its assessment of the state's computer systems and prioritized those 40 systems that must be updated first, Ms. Thomas said. Health and safety issues, including those affecting release of prisoners and payments of welfare and pension benefits, have been given priority, she said. "We're simply not going to get the whole thing done," she said.
On the county level, such an assessment is now under way, Ms. Egginton said, with the help of a subsidiary of International Business Machines, which was hired last year to run the county's Information Services.
When the assessment is completed, the county will issue a "request for proposals" from contractors who can correct the problem. It hopes to have a vendor hired by October and corrective steps begun, she said. She stressed that the county had already taken steps to insure that prison records are given priority so that there is no chance that prisoners are wrongly released.
Westchester County Legislator Katherine S. Carsky, a Republican from Yonkers, is afraid the county's response has been too slow. "We're a little late in approaching this," she said. She said she thought that the competition for experts to correct the computer software would not only drive costs up but also make it harder to find anyone available. It was mainly for that reason, she said, that she supported awarding privatization of the county's information services to I.B.M. She said it was her hope that this will in some way give the county government a greater chance of getting the 2000-compatible services it needs from I.B.M.
An I.B.M. spokesman, Ken Neale, referred all questions to the county government.
Ms. Thomas said the state is also aware of the need to get vendors hired quickly. "The people to do the work are not available." Many, she said, have gone to more lucrative private sector work.

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Felipe Galindo)

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June 1, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

PERSPECTIVES;
A Nursing Home's Forward Leap

BYLINE: By ALAN S. OSER 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 5; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1260 words

ONE day soon -- possibly as soon as a week from tomorrow -- Helen Phillips, who is 97, will be moving. But not very far.
Miss Phillips has been living for the last two years at the New York Congregational Home for the Aged in Brooklyn, an 80-year-old residence with the look of a colonial mansion at 123 Linden Boulevard, on the leafy block between Rogers and Bedford Avenues in the East Flatbush section. Before that she lived for 25 years in a co-op on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights. 
 Her next stop is the new 200-bed nursing home that the nonprofit home has put up in what had been its backyard garden. From the accounts of administrators the 68 residents of the home were disappointed to have lost their garden. Their new one will be half the size. But the attractions of the new nursing center should mollify them.
"I bet it will be the talk of Brooklyn," said Miss Phillips, who worked in a corporate tax department most of her adult life and needed nursing-home care after she had a fall two years ago. She will be going from a room of her own to one she shares with a roommate, yet unchosen. "I'll adjust to whoever they give me," she said. "I just hopes it's not somebody who snores."
Kendall Christiansen will have other concerns on his mind. As the president of the home, and also of its new sister institution, the New York Congregational Nursing Center, the 40-year-old Mr. Christiansen has been the driving force behind the project over the last five years. Now he is turning his attention from the development to the operational side.
"The first challenge is can we fill it -- and how quickly," said Mr. Christiansen, who is already busy trying to raise interim operating capital for use while the new home fills up.
The New York Congregational Nursing Center -- and a small handful of other new nursing homes in the city -- have been coming into operation at a time when the long-term direction in care for the elderly is taking new forms, with greater emphasis on home care and daytime facilities for the elderly, as well as assisted-living buildings that provide meals and a variety of personal services but not round-the-clock nursing care.
These alternatives are typically less costly to operate. "If the Federal Government gets into enrolling long-term patients in managed care, then the alternatives to nursing homes will take hold," said Charles Murphy, director of the division of health facilities planning in the Department of Health in Albany. Managed care would probably establish requirements that would lead many people who are in costlier nursing homes to find appropriate but less costly alternatives, he said.
BUT even if nursing homes are de-emphasized in future projects for the elderly, many of the city's outmoded homes will need to be updated eventually or go out of business. And a certain number of new homes are coming into being, in recognition of the fact there will always be some level of requirement for round-the-clock care of the frail elderly, short-term or long-term, outside the hospital environment.
"They are there to provide subacute care for short-term patients and therapy and intensive care for more complex conditions," said Peter Bergmann, a lawyer who represents providers of medical and nursing services. "For the segments of the population that need them, they will be cheaper than alternatives."
In New York City and on Long Island, many more new beds have been authorized by the Department of Health than have actually been built. Local opposition, zoning issues and financing problems have set in for many of the nonprofit and for-profit entities that manage to acquire the essential "certificate of need" to assure Medicaid reimbursement for the patients they take in.
As the East Flatbush project shows, however, developing a new nursing home in New York City can be a long and difficult process even without these standard problems. For 12 years the Congregational Home for the Aged had been planning to use a $2.2 million bequest from the late Harriet Righter, former president of Selchow & Righter, the games company that developed Trivial Pursuit, Parcheesi and Scrabble.
But once through the predevelopment phase with a "certificate of need" in hand, a succession of problems developed, said Mr. Christiansen. An independent consultant to companies in the recycling field, he took responsibility for pushing the project through to conclusion five years ago when he became board president.
"We knew we had to grow or close," said Mr. Christiansen. "But we made a series of missteps. We had to change architects twice, and the second time we had to go to arbitration over what we owed. Then we lost a good 12 to 18 months because we didn't realize we were going to need a special permit from the Department of City Planning." The approval process took 12 months once the application was filed.
One decision that worked out well was to put the project out to bid in 1993, a time when the construction market was at low ebb. The low bids came in well below what was expected based on what the state allowed as the total development cost -- $118,000 per bed in New York City at the time, or $23.2 million.
The final construction contract of $15.2 million, given to Crow/Jones Company of Manhattan, allowed William Selan of R.B.S. & D. Architects of Manhattan to add improvements to the project over the minimum specifications required by the state.
AMONG these improvements were higher-grade interior finishing -- wood rather than Formica on window sills, wallpaper rather than paint in the hallways, ceramic rather than vinyl in residents' bathrooms. Most of the characteristics of nursing homes are standardized, but in their new building, the residents of the Congregational Home will recognize an immediate improvement in their standard of living.
They will be going from congregate bathrooms to private baths, to a building with air-conditioning, and with doorways large enough to allow wheelchairs to get through easily. They will get lounges filled with light -- in the existing building one lounge has no windows at all -- and large elevators.
"The old building is structurally sound, but it has to be modernized," Mr. Christiansen said. The plan is to find a new use for it rather than demolish it. It will probably be returned to what it was originally, a rest home, with a low level of medical care -- "in current parlance, for independent or assisted living," he said.
Now the new home is seeking to fill its beds, concentrating its marketing campaign on hospitals that are discharging patients to nursing homes, as well as local churches and community groups.
The new arrivals are unlikely to be paying the annual $91,250 private-payer fee ($250 a day). Most are likely to be single individuals eligible for Medicaid -- their financial resources will be under about $3,450 (the figure sometimes excludes such major assets as a house), and their income is below the Medicaid rate that has been established for the Congregational center, which is about $5,000 a month.
"There is a great need for this kind of care in Brooklyn," said the Rev. Arthur Wells, 80, who initiated the nursing-home project when he served as president of the board, and now is the home's chaplain.
"We had a glorious garden that had to be sacrificed, but it was not practical to go on operating with 68 beds," Mr. Wells said. "We could have torn down the old building, but what would we have done with the 68 people still in it? We'll probably use it for assisted living."

LOAD-DATE: June 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: The Rev. Arthur Wells, chaplain, Mary Devlin, administrator, and Kendall Christiansen, president, at New York Congregational Nursing Center. The old home in 1955. (Steve Hart for The New York Times)
 
Map showing the location of the New York Congregational Nursing Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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June 1, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON THE TOWNS

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 18; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 3759 words

An opinionated guide to cultural and recreational goings-on around the state this week. To submit items for consideration, write to On the Towns, Sunday New Jersey Section, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, or send a fax to (212) 556-7219. 

MUSIC
 
BORDERS BOOKS AND MUSIC PRINCETON Apollo. Today at 3 P.M. Ken Lowy. Friday at 8 P.M. Leticia. Saturday at 3 P.M. Bill Parsons. Next Sunday at 3 P.M. All free. Route 1 at Province Line Road, Princeton.
(609) 514-0040.
 
CAPE MAY MUSIC FESTIVAL Through June 29. Leon Bates, pianist, with Cape May Festival Orchestra. Today at the Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue and Stockton Place. "Romances and Remembrances," music of Schumann and Brahms, with the New York Chamber Ensemble. Tuesday at the Cape Island Baptist Church, Columbia Avenue and Gurney Street. Cape May Festival Orchestra in music of Bizet, Mahler and Mendelssohn. Thursday at the Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue and Stockton Place. Cape May Festival Orchestra, with Alan Kay, guest conductor, and Carl Albach, trumpet soloist, in music of Milhaud, Ibert and Haydn. Next Sunday at the Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue and Stockton Place. All concerts begin at 8 P.M. Tickets: $15; $10 for the elderly; $5 for students. Subscriptions: $40 for 3 concerts, $60 for 5 concerts or $100 for 10 concerts. (800) 275-4278 or (609) 884-5404.
 
CLUB BENE Wayman Tisdale. Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $15. The Stylistics. Saturday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $22.50. Route 35, Sayreville. (908) 727-3000.
 
COMMUNITY THEATER OF MORRISTOWN Luther Allison, blues guitarist. Friday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $20 and $25. Puccini's "Tosca" in concert. Next Sunday at 3 P.M. Tickets: $25 and $35. 100 South Street, Morristown. (201) 539-8008.
 
CORNERSTONE Jim Locano, pianist. Tuesday, from 6:30 P.M. Jimmy Nuzzo and Tony Ellis. Thursday, 8:30 to 11:30 P.M. Free. 25 New Street, Metuchen. (908) 549-5306.
 
ENGLEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY "The Great American Songbook," with Jean McClelland, soprano, and Bill McClelland, pianist. Today at 6 P.M. Free. 31 Engle Street, Englewood. (201) 568-2215.
 
GREAT AUDITORIUM, OCEAN GROVE Sammy Kaye Orchestra, with Roger Thorpe. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12 and $15. Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove.
(908) 775-0035.
 
KASSCHU MEMORIAL SHELL "Tunes in June," with the Ridgewood High School Band. Wednesday at 8:30 P.M. Free. Take your own chairs. Veteran's Field, Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. (201) 670-3924.
McCARTER THEATER George Winston, jazz pianist. Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $22 to $32. 91 University Place, Princeton. (609) 683-8000.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble in works by Walter Winslow, Peter Westergaard, Evan Schwartzman, Eun Joo Lee and John Harbison, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer from South Orange. Next Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $5; $3 for students and the elderly. Auditorium, 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6310.
 
RARITAN RIVER CONCERTS The Newman and Oltman Guitar Duo, with Clare Hoffman, flutist, and Martha Elliott, soprano. Saturday at 7:30 P.M. Tickets: $15; $9 for students and the elderly. Clinton Presbyterian Church, 91 Center Street, Clinton. (908) 213-1100.
 
RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE "A Pops Extravaganza," with the Central Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12; $9.50 for students and the elderly. Edward Nash Theater, Route 28 and Lamington Road, North Branch.
(908) 526-7890.
 
SHANGHAI JAZZ Bucky Pizzarelli, guitarist. Wednesday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Greg Cohen Trio. Thursday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Frank Perowsky Trio. Friday, 7 to 11 P.M. Jim Pellegrino and Peter Adams. Saturday, 7 to 11 P.M. Free.
24 Main Street, Madison. (201) 822-2899.
 
SOCLAIR MUSIC FESTIVAL A concert series through Sept. 7. Ensemble Rebel, a Baroque chamber group, performs works by Rebel, Couperin, Corelli, Purcell and Telemann. Next Sunday at 4 P.M.; reception at 3 P.M. Tickets: $15; $12 for students and the elderly. Subscription: $55 for indoor seating at the four concerts. The Barn, Soclair Brooks Farm,
19 Haytown Road, Lebanon.
(908) 236-6476.
 
STATE THEATER The 100-member New Jersey Youth Symphony presents a benefit concert honoring the 18th and final season of its director, George Marriner Maull. The orchestra joins the New Jersey Chamber Music Society to introduce a string-and-woodwind piece commissioned from Robert Baksa. The program will also include works by Berlioz, Copland, Respighi and Sibelius. Today at 3 P.M. Tickets: $10; $5 for students and the elderly. 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. (908) 246-7469.
 
TURNING POINT Kenny Rankin. Today at 5 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $18. Slain Wainwright Band. Thursday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. Pat Kilbride Band. Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. Paul Rishell and Annie Raines. Next Sunday at 7 P.M. Tickets: $10. 468 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, N.Y. (914) 359-3219.
 
WATCHUNG ARTS CENTER Ruth Kahn Siderman and Stephani Bell, violinists, and Elizabeth Latorre-Blasenheim, pianist, in works of Max Bruch, Alan Shulman and Fritz Kreisler. Saturday at 4 P.M. Tickets: $10. Watchung Circle, Watchung. (908) 753-0190.
 
WATERLOO VILLAGE Crawfish Fest. Cajun music, food and crafts, featuring Dr. John, Buckwheat Zydeco, Beausoleil, Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, the Crescent City Maulers and the Canal Street Dixieland Jazz Band. Today, 11 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. Tickets: $20; $15 each for groups of 10 or more; free for children under age 14. Exit 25 North off Interstate Route 80, Stanhope. Tickets: (201) 507-8900 or
(212) 307-7171. Information: (212) 539-8830.
On the World Wide Web:
http://www.waterloovillage.org.
 
THEATER
 
CIRCLE PLAYHOUSE "Assassins," by Stephen Sondheim. Today at 2 P.M.; Friday and Saturday at 8:30 P.M. Tickets: $13; Sundays, $11 or two for $18; $1 discount for students and the elderly. 416 Victoria Avenue, Piscataway. (908) 968-7555.
 
ELIZABETH PLAYHOUSE "Backstage Tarts." Today and next Sunday at 2 P.M.; Friday and Saturday at 7:30 P.M.; Tickets: $6 and $8. 1100 East Jersey Street, Elizabeth.
(908) 355-0077.
 
ELMWOOD PLAYHOUSE "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," by Tennessee Williams. Through June 14. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 P.M.; today at 2:30 P.M.; next Sunday at 7:30 P.M. Tickets: $12; $10 for students under 22 and the elderly on Friday. 10 Park Street, Nyack, N.Y. (914) 353-1313.
McKINLEY COMMUNITY SCHOOL "Dance Power," by students from the Princeton Ballet School. Tuesday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 35 Dyke Street, New Brunswick. (908) 249-1254.
 
NEW JERSEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL "A Midsummer Night's Dream," June 13 to 29. "The Threepenny Opera," by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, July 11 to 27. "Blithe Spirit," by Noel Coward, Aug. 8 to 24. All at the Community Theater, 100 South Street, Morristown. "Much Ado About Nothing," June 25 to July 26 at the Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, 33 Green Village Road, Madison. "Henry V." July 15 to Aug. 10 at the football field of Bayley-Ellard High School, 205 Madison Avenue, Madison. Single tickets: $16 to $30. Subscription packages: $66 to $125. (201) 408-5600.
On the World Wide Web:
http://www.njshakespeare.org.
 
RITZ THEATER New Play Festival. Today at 2 P.M. Tickets: $10. 915 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY The Celtic Theater Company presents "The Field," by John E. Keane. Today at 2 P.M.; Friday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12; $8 for students and the elderly. Bishop Dougherty Student Center, South Orange. (201) 761-9388.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Dance Kumikokomoto," Korean dance performance in conjunction with the exhibition "Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions: Asian-American Artists and Abstraction, 1945-1970." Next Sunday at 3 P.M. Free. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
 
ABC GALLERY "A Dramatic Vision," watercolors by Barbara Watts. Tomorrow through July 18. Opening reception Thursday, 7 to 9 P.M. Hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 1 to 9 P.M.; Fridays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Lambertville Public Library, 6 Lilly Street, Lambertville. (609) 397-0275.
 
AMERICAN LABOR MUSEUM "Workers and Immigrants," a student art exhibition. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1 to 4 P.M. Suggested donation: $1.50. Botto House National Landmark, 83 Norwood Street, Haledon. (201) 595-7953.
 
ART ALLIANCE OF MONMOUTH COUNTY "Variations on an Image," by Susan Field. Through Wednesday. "Urban Scene, Rural Dream," paintings by Mary Phillips. Saturday through June 24. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 12 to 4 P.M. 33 Monmouth Street, Red Bank. (908) 842-9403.
 
ATLANTIC CITY HISTORICAL MUSEUM "Bettmann on the Boardwalk: A Celebration of Historic Atlantic City, 1890-1990," a selection of photographs from the Corbis-Bettmann Collection. Through 1997. Daily, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Free. Garden Pier, at New Jersey Avenue. (609) 347-5839.
 
BERGEN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE Recent sculpture by Sonia Chusit. Through June 22. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus. (201) 265-1248.
 
BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB GALLERY "The Visionary Field," paintings by Elise Asher, and "Rebirth," sculpture by Karl Mann. Both through next Sunday. Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursday to 7 P.M.; today and Saturday, 1 to 5 P.M. Route 206, Lawrenceville, three miles south of Princeton. (609) 252-6275.
 
CHAMOT GALLERY "Surroundings," landscapes by Keith Gunderson and Bryan Perrin. Through July 13. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 3 P.M. 111 First Street, Jersey City. (201) 610-1468.
 
COSTER GALLERY "Sentinels and Recents Works," sculpture by Ralph Greco. Through June 15. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. 233 Raritan Avenue, Highland. (908) 247-2345.
 
GALLERY AT SCHERING-PLOUGH "Reflections of Summer," featuring 30 watercolor landscapes and seascapes by 19 artists. Through Aug. 28. Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 1 Giralda Farms, Madison. (201) 882-7000.
 
GALLERY OF SOUTH ORANGE "Grounds for Art: Responses to the Environment," an exhibition by 25 artists. Today, 1 to 4 P.M. Baird Center, 5 Mead Street, South Orange. (201) 378-7754.
 
GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE Spring exhibition, featuring works by Robert Murray, Jay Wholley and Marisol. Through July 6. Fridays through Sundays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Tuesdays through Thursdays and by appointment, 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton. (609) 586-0616.
 
HIRAM BLAUVELT ART MUSEUM "Wild and Wonderful," paintings and sculptures by the Society of Animal Artists. Today, 2 to 5 P.M. 705 Kinderkamack Road, Oradell.
(201) 261-0012.
 
HOPPER HOUSE ART CENTER "Rocklandia," Rockland County landscapes by Monica Bradbury and Steve Burns, painters; Fred Burrell, photographer, and Ruth Geneslaw, sculptor. Through June 22. Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.; Fridays to 7:30 P.M. Admission: $1. 82 North Broadway, Nyack, N.Y. (914) 358-0774.
 
HUNTERDON ART CENTER "Reinterpreting the New Jersey Landscape," aerial photographs by Owen Kanzler. Today, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. 7 Lower Center Street, Clinton.
(908) 735-8415.
 
J. RICHARDS GALLERY "A Voyage of Discovery," works by Batia Magal, an Israeli artist. Through June 13. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.; Sundays, 12 to 5 P.M. 64 East Palisade Avenue, Englewood. (201) 871-1050.
 
KEARON-HEMPENSTALL GALLERY "Visions of Immortality," paintings by Stan Mullins. Through June 30. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 3 P.M.; Thursday evenings, 7 to 9 P.M. 536 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City. (201) 333-8488.
 
MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM Today's "Rose Day" celebration (1 to 4 P.M.) celebrates the opening of "The Immortal Genius: William Shakespeare, Thomas Nast and 19th-Century American Culture," satirical cartoons by Nast, who used text and imagery of Shakespeare. Through Feb. 4. Also opening: "Rococo and Reason in Georgian Glass," more than 100 examples of English and Irish cut glass from th 18th and 19th centuries. Through Sept. 7. "The Timeless Folk Art of Decorative Painting." Through Oct. 12. Admission: $3; $2 for students and the elderly. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown. (201) 538-2404.
 
MATHEY-ROCKEFELLER LIBRARY "Passion and Healing: The Art and Colors of George Yepes," the Los Angeles muralist. Today and tomorrow, 1 to 5 P.M. Moses Mesoamerican Archive and Research Project, Mathey College, Princeton University. (609) 258-5717.
 
MONMOUTH COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION "Politics as Usual: Campaigns and Elections, 1789 to 1996." Through Tuesday. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Admission: $2; $1.50 for the elderly. 70 Court Street, Freehold. (908) 462-1466. On the Internet: http:// www.monmouth.com/mcha/.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM "A Personal Synthesis," a retrospective of paintings and and prints by Hananiah Harari, and "American Impressionist," paintings by Guy Rose (1867-1925). Both through Aug. 10. "Reflecting America: Highlights From the Permanent Collection." Through July 27. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $4; $3 for students with ID and the elderly; free admission on Saturdays. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM Recent sculpture by Leah Jacobson. Next Sunday through May 24. "Portrait Paintings From the Morris Museum Collection," including works by Rembrandt and Gainsborough. Through June 30. Hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS Alice Hondru. Through June 26. Opening reception: today, 2 to 4 P.M. Mondays through Fridays, noon to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M. Palmer Gallery, 68 Elm Street, Summit. (908) 273-9121.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "Current Perspectives on the Urban and Industrial Landscapes," paintings by William Hogan, Robert Kogge, Valeri Larko, Mark Metcalf, Stuart Shils and Paul Weingarten. "Amber: The Legendary Resin." "The Great Russian Dinosaurs," a traveling exhibition featuring 24 full skeletons from Russia and Mongolia. Paintings by Ron Morosan. All closing today. Masks and sculpture by Bob Justin. Through June 29. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.; Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Museum admission by donation; special admission for "The Great Russian Dinosaurs": $5; $3 for children under 12 and the elderly. 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6464.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM "Portraits, 1975-1995," paintings by Dawoud Bey. Through Aug. 3. "Japanese Master Prints: Hiroshige's 19th-Century Landscapes." Through June 29. "The Glitter and the Gold: Fashioning America's Jewelry." Through Nov. 2. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. 49 Washington Street, Newark. (201) 596-6550.

NOYES MUSEUM "Treasures of Art History," works by Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec and ancient Egyptian, Greek and Ethiopian art from the New Jersey State Museum. Through June 15. "Easy Access: Highlights From the Noyes Museum's Collection of Contemporary Art." Through Aug. 17. Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for the elderly and students. Lily Lake Road, Oceanville. (609)
 
PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Paintings by Fred Duignan. Through June 25. Mondays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 9 P.M.; Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. L.R.C. Gallery, Broadway and Memorial Drive, Paterson. (201) 684-6800.
 
PALYMYRA ART GALLERY Paintings by Richard Nunziata. Through July 5. Opening reception Saturday, 7 to 10 P.M. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, 11:30 A.M. to 2 A.M. Palmyra Tea Room, 22 Hamilton Street, Bound Brook. (908) 302-0515.
 
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM "In Celebration: Works of Art From the Collections of Princeton Alumni and Friends of the Art Museum." Through next Sunday. Museum hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. Princeton University campus. (609) 258-3788.
 
SIMON GALLERY Pastels and paintings by Antonio Carreno, and paintings by Jim Fuess and Joyce Korotkin. Tuesday through June 28. Opening reception Friday, 6 to 8 P.M.
48 Bank Street, Morristown. (201) 538-5456.
 
SWAIN GALLERIES "Back in Havana," oil paintings by Enrique Flores-Gablis. Through Saturday. Gallery hours: Mondays through Fridays, 9:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 9:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. 703 Watchung Avenue, Plainfield. (908) 756-1707.
 
WYCOFF GALLERY "The Silverman Collection," bronze sculptures by Star York, Bruce LaFountain, Sandi Clark and Walter Horton. Through June 27. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. 648 Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff. (201) 891-7436.
 
WHEATON VILLAGE "Garden Party: An Exhibition of Crafts in Nature." Today, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Free. 1501 Glasstown Road, Millville. (609) 825-6800.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Asian Traditions/ Modern Expressions: Asian-American Artists and Abstraction, 1945-1970." Through July 31. "Emily Mason: Works on Paper." Through July 20. "As You Can See," selections from the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art From the Soviet Union. Through July 20. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
FOR CHILDREN
 
KELSEY THEATER "Swiss Family Robinson." Saturday at 2 and 4 P.M. Tickets: $7. Mercer County Community College, 1200 Trenton Road, Trenton. (609) 584-9444.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Changing Cultures: From the Lenape to the Urban Age, 1400-1900," exploring the history of America through changes in family life, from the Lenape through the Victorian era. Through June 1998. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (908) 747-2266.
 
NEW JERSEY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM An interactive center for ages 2 to 8. Daily programs: "Fairy Tale Play," 10:30 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. "Storytime," noon. Craft projects, 2:30 P.M. Museum hours: Mondays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $7. 599 Industrial Avenue, Paramus. (201) 262-2638.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "The Great Russian Dinosaurs." Today, noon to 5 P.M.  Special admission for dinosaur exhibition: $5; $3 for children and the elderly. 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6464.
 
PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Theaterworks/USA presents "Charlotte's Web." Tuesday at 9:15 and 10:45 P.M., and "Swiss Family Robinson," Thursday at 9:15 and 10:45 P.M. Tickets: $8. 1 College Boulevard, Paterson. (212) 420-8202.
 
RARITAN VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Tom Chapin. Next Sunday at 1 and 3:30 P.M. Tickets: $6. Edward Nash Theater, Route 28 and Lamington Road, North Branch. (908) 526-7890.
 
RITZ THEATER "Rumpelstiltskin." Thursday and Friday at 10 A.M.; Saturday at 10 A.M. and 1 P.M. Admission: $5. 915 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
SPOKEN WORD
 
ALLEN GINSBERG TRIBUTE Sponsored by the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College, featuring readings by Bob Rosenthal, Andy Clausen, Eliot Katz, Laura Boss, Herschel Silverman, Joe Weil, Jan Barry, Joel Gaidemak, Danny Shot and others. Begins at Great Falls, Spruce and McBride Streets, Paterson, followed by readings at the Paterson Museum, 2 Market Street, Paterson. Next Sunday at 2 P.M. Free. (201) 684-6555.
 
BARNES & NOBLE Kenneth Wollman and Nancy Swann, poets. Next Sunday at 3 P.M. Free. 518 State Highway 10, Livingston.
(201) 467-5013.
 
BORDERS BOOKS AND MUSIC PRINCETON James Prosek, author of "Joe and Me." Next Sunday at 3 P.M. Free. Route 1 at Province Line Road, Princeton. (609) 514-0040.
 
ENCORE BOOKS AND MUSIC Samuel Hynes, author of "The Soldier's Tale: Bearing Witness to Modern War," and Eli Gottlieb, author of "The Boy Who Went Away." Tomorrow at 7 P.M. Free. Jean Hollander, poet. Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton. (609) 252-0608.
 
HAMPTON INN Poetry readings from Sensations magazine. Today at 1 P.M. Free.
250 Harmon Meadow Boulevard, Secaucus. (201) 866-7189.
 
LONG BRANCH PUBLIC LIBRARY "Coney Island Verse at the Jersey Shore." Saturday at 1 P.M. Free. 328 Broadway, second floor, Long Branch. (908) 222-3900.
 
RECTOR VERSO BOOK STORE Cheryl Clark and Joe Weil, poets. Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 90 Albany Street, New Brunswick. (908) 247-9791.
 
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS CENTER Laura Boss, Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Joe Weil, poets. Tomorrow at 8 P.M. Admission by donation. 1 Williams Plaza, Rutherford.
(201) 939-2907.
 
ETC.
 
FLEA MARKET The Chester Lions Club Flea Market offers crafts, linens, books, children's clothing, housewares, plants and produce, makeup, jewelry, scarves, handbags and other accessories. Sundays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Free. West Blackwell Street, Morris and Sussex Streets, downtown Dover. (201) 442-1494.
 
GRECIAN HOLIDAY FESTIVAL Greek food and pastries, live music and dancers. Today, noon to 9 P.M. Suggested donation: $1. Free shuttle bus from the parking lot at Mt. Pleasant Avenue and Main Street. St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 510 Linden Place, Orange. (201) 674-6600.
 
NEW JERSEY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sponsored by the Rutgers Film Co-op and the New Jersey Media Arts Center. Through July 27. "Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival." Tonight at 8. Free. "Ernesto Che Guevara: The Bolivian Diary," Friday at 7 P.M. "Time Bandits," Saturday at 7 P.M. Films are shown on Sundays at the State Theater, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick; Fridays and Saturdays at 123 Scott Hall, College Avenue and Hamilton Street, Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Admission: $5; $4 for member on Fridays and Saturdays. Information: (908) 932-8482.
On the World Wide Web:
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/nigrin.
 
TASTE OF GREECE FESTIVAL Traditional Greek foods like moussaka, pastichio, shish kebab, spanakopita, tiropeta, gyro and souvlaki sandwiches, and Greek pastries like baklava, kataifi and loukoumades (honey puffs). Today, noon to 9 P.M. Free admission. Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Theologian, 353 East Clinton Avenue, Tenafly. (201) 567-5072.

LOAD-DATE: June 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Louisiana Comes to New Jersey Stanley (Buckwheat) Dural Jr. of Buckwheat Zydeco is to perform at the eighth annual Crawfish Fest, an all-day celebration of Louisiana's Cajun and Zydeco music, Dixieland Jazz and Delta blues, foods and crafts. Also scheduled to appear are Dr. John, Beausoleil Avec Michael Doucet, Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, the Crescent City Maulers and the Canal Street Dixieland Jazz Band. WATERLOO VILLAGE Exit 25 North off Interstate 80, Stanhope. Today, 11 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. Tickets: $20; $15 each for groups of 10 or more; free for children under 14. Tickets: (201) 507-8900 or (212) 307-7171. Information: (212) 539-8830. On the World Wide Web: http://www.waterloovillage.org. (pg. 18); Last Chance "In Celebration," the exhibition observing the 250th anniversary of Princeton University, closes next Sunday. The show, consisting of artworks collected by Princeton alumni and friends of the Art Museum, includes this hanging scroll, "Chinese Recluse Lin Pu Greeting a Crane," by Takada Keiho (1674-1755), a Japanese painter of the Edo period. PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM Through next Sunday. Museum hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. Free. (609) 258-3788. (pg. 19); Man of Many Styles Since the 1930's, Hananiah Harari's styles have swung from Cubism to Abstract Expressionism to trompe l'oeil realism, among other styles, and he has said his versatility serves as "an aid in preserving the artist's sense of humor." His prints and paintings, including this 1939 oil on canvas, are featured in "A Personal Synthesis," a retrospective. MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. Through Aug. 10. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $4; $3 for students with ID and the elderly; free on Saturdays. (201) 746-5555. (pg. 21); A Connecticut Summer The New England landscape was the inspiration for Deborah Cotrone's oil on canvas "Summer Roses," which appears in "Interpretations Through Realism and Impressionism"' with works by her fellow Connecticut artist Claire Conant. TOM JAMES GALLERY 10 Westwood Avenue, Westwood. Through July 5. Opening reception with the artists, today, 2 to 5 P.M. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.; Thursdays to 8 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. (201) 666-5048. (pg. 22); The What Not Shop "Tom and Willie," a photograph by Jeff Martin, is featured in "Two Styles/Two Photographers," with works by Sandra Johanson. MONMOUTH MUSEUM Brookdale Community College, 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. Through June 22. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. (908) 747-2266. (pg. 23)

TYPE: List

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



278 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

June 1, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

BEHIND THE WHEEL/Ferrari 550 Maranello;
50 Candles and a Car That Takes the Cake

BYLINE: By DAN NEIL

SECTION: Section 11; Page 1; Column 1; Automobiles

LENGTH: 1319 words

DATELINE: MODENA, Italy

LIKE many Italian cities, Enzo Ferrari's hometown centers on a cathedral, a gray Romanesque iceberg floating on a sea of orange-tiled roofs.
In front of the church, out of the midday crowd, an old woman appears, her back bent like an ignition wire. She sees the car, then pauses to stroke its incandescent red fender. "Cinque-cinquanta," she said. Five-fifty. Then, in English, with a sly smile, she added, "I remember Ferrari quite well." 
 Oh, really? One wonders what tales the old women of Modena could tell.
Fifty years after he began building race cars in a factory outside Modena, and nine years after his death at age 90, Enzo Ferrari -- a poor, self-taught race driver who became the legendary Il Commendatore -- remains very much at the heart of this city. His portrait hangs in pharmacies, laundries and garages. The city's park is named after him. Any cab driver can show you where the company's first, cramped office was, or Ferrari's last, palatial home.
The man who brought 25 world racing championships to Modena remains in the present tense. "Ferrari, he is a magnificent man," said Valdez Gozzi, director of the Hotel Real Fini, where many visitors to the factory in nearby Maranello stay. "Because of him, the whole world knows Modena."
This week Italy celebrates the 50th anniversary of Ferrari, now owned by Fiat. There will be parades of race cars through Rome, special exhibitions, factory tours and gatherings of faithful Ferrari piloti at tracks like Piacenza, where the first Ferrari raced, or Bobbio-Penice, where Enzo himself last took the checkered flag.
At the center of these celebrations is Ferrari's latest, fastest gran turismo, the 550 Maranello. It is an exemplar of its kind, recalling the great GT's and GTO's of bygone years: a short-wheelbase, 12-cylinder, front-engine berlinetta, or coupe, with the piercing profile and urgent proportions typical of the Pininfarina studio that designed it.
It is a shape that compels traffic to part in deference as it comes into view. Teen-agers on motor scooters trail behind like schools of giddy remoras.
The twist is that the Maranello -- the 50th-anniversary Ferrari, the car the company says best captures the current state of its soul -- is probably not a car Enzo Ferrari would have built. Enzo's Ferraris had to be demanding and twitchy, with a hard-edged, race car gestalt. No excuses, no compromises. Such a car was the 512M Testarossa, which the Maranello replaces. Shaped like an ax head sharpened on all sides, the Testarossa is remembered as the most emotive cast member of "Miami Vice." Like the sweaty detectives who drove it, the mid-engine Testarossa admirably overfunctioned in a few areas but was, on a daily basis, fairly obnoxious.
Its one redeeming virtue -- beyond its peculiar, erogenous beauty -- was that it was blazingly fast.
The Maranello is a very different car. For one thing, its engine is up front. This configuration sacrifices a measure of agility (mid-engine cars react more quickly to drivers' commands) for a comfortable cabin layout, more storage, better visibility and sound isolation -- all lovely qualities but not design imperatives of top-line Ferraris gone by.
Yet the 550's cabin is an amazingly civil place to be at 200 miles an hour. The door sills are low and the firm, deep bucket seats are mounted high for ease of entry. The interior consists of two gorgeous scoops of tan Connolly leather and wool carpet cut out of the business-first black bulkhead and instrument console. The deafening sound system, climate controls, telescoping steering column and intuitively placed switches are all swaddled in high-design leather.
Visibility, headroom, legroom, cabin noise, even cargo space, are all first-rate, precisely what you'd expect if you'd spent $55,000 on a Lexus SC 400 sport coupe, but a wildly pleasant surprise for those who would lay down $220,000 for a Ferrari.
Despite its Daddy Warbucks price, a front-engine Maranello also implies a certain cost-conscious practicality on the company's part, something in which Enzo Ferrari was famously uninterested. The Maranello shares vital components with the company's elegant front-engine, four-passenger 456GT coupe. The engine is the same 5.5-liter all-aluminum V12, tweaked to produce an extra 50 horsepower for a total output of 485 horses and 419 foot-pounds of torque.
Finally -- and this is the thing that might have galled Enzo the most -- the front-engine Maranello, because it is less reactive than the mid-engine Testarossa, is also far more forgiving of driver error, less willing to pirouette off the road.
It's more than just chassis dynamics. Ferrari has fitted the Maranello with advanced electronics like adaptive suspension and traction control. To purists, this may seem like sacrilege, but it makes the Maranello far easier to drive, and drive fast, than supercars of the past. From a business perspective it makes perfect sense to expand the Ferrari brand beyond the few zealots who could both afford and handle a high-strung 500-horsepower car.
And yet a lap around a race track near Perugia confirms that this is not a car that suffers fools gladly. The Maranello delivers all the physiological yah-yahs any purist could expect of a top-line Ferrari. Jump on the throttle and the cabin is swamped with the vexed, voluptuous sound of the 60-valve V12 painting the pavement with expensive 18-inch Pirelli tires.
The power plant heaves torque at every r.p.m. in every gear. At full, brassy roar, the Maranello jets to 60 m.p.h. in 4.3 seconds. Just 4 seconds later, you're rocketing at nearly 100 m.p.h. in third gear, pinned hard to the seat.
The adaptive suspension, switched to "sport" mode (there is a "normal" setting for a softer ride), hardens to a leatherlike compliance, giving the car a stiff, flat posture when cornering. On longer turns, after a fraction of a second as it electronically sorts its various dampings, the car assumes a stance and holds it far past your willingness to test its limits, crunching you mercilessly into the door panels.
The variable power rack-and-pinion steering is fluidly light and Wilkinson sharp, with 2.2 well-weighted turns from lock to lock. Will yourself into a corner and the car obeys. Should you need to correct, it answers with instant, athletic ease. Huge disk brakes, abetted by an anti-lock system, nonchalantly haul the car down from speed.
The 550 racks up impressive lap times, but doesn't quite have the visceral excitement of the Testarossa or even the V8-powered Ferrari F355. That is by design. All the effort to make the car easier to drive makes it less a test of will.
Millionaire boy racers will love this car. With the traction control off, it is child's play to place the 550 in any posture you want. To hit the perfect angle when exiting a corner, you simply roll on the power until the car's back end drifts into alignment, add a touch of countersteer, then nail it. The scenery explodes into streaks of diverging color.
Nor can purists complain about the Maranello's top end, which the company lists at 199 m.p.h. -- give them some credit for modesty and call it an even 200. The Ferrari 550 is a full three seconds faster around the company's test track at Fiorano than the Testarossa it replaces. But, in a way, it hardly matters that the Maranello is a better performer. Purists will grumble that to civilize Ferrari's supercars is, inescapably, to diminish them emotionally.
That may be. But it seems Ferrari has built something more than just another fast car. The Maranello is a cleverly negotiated settlement between the realities of modern car building and the emotional expectations of the Ferraristi. Having reached its 50th anniversary, Ferrari may simply outlive the old-school purists who would have it any other way.
 
INSIDE TRACK: Finally, a 200-m.p.h. supercar that anybody can drive.

LOAD-DATE: June 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The Ferrari 550 Maranello, which went on sale in North America last month, on a track near Perugia, Italy. (Dan Neil for The New York Times)

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June 2, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Mary Wolanin, 86; Studied Care for Elderly

SECTION: Section B; Page 13; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 217 words

Mary Opal Wolanin, a nurse who did research on long-term care for the elderly, died on May 22 at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. She was 86 and lived in San Antonio.
The cause was respiratory failure, said her brother, Calvin Borror of Wichita, Kan. 
 Ms. Wolanin, who was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame last year, began her career as a nurse in 1935 at Kansas City General Hospital in Missouri. From 1941 to 1943, she was a second lieutenant in the Army Nurses Corps.
Later, she joined the faculty of the University of Arizona School of Nursing. She eventually became an associate professor and worked to establish one of the first gerontological nursing programs in the country. She began to study nursing homes in 1972 after receiving an appointment with the Regional Medical Program in Arizona. Throughout her career, Ms. Wolanin focused on improving nursing care for patients suffering from dementia.
A native of Chrisney, Ind., Ms. Wolanin graduated from the University of Arizona and received a master's degree from the University of Arizona School of Nursing.
In addition to her brother, she is survived by her husband of 54 years, Maj. H. J. Wolanin; another brother, Martin Borror of Tucson, Ariz., and a sister, Florence Lewis of Quenemo, Kan.

LOAD-DATE: June 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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June 3, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Giuliani Says Pataki Must Do More to Resolve Rent Impasse

BYLINE: By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1193 words

DATELINE: ALBANY, June 2

With two weeks left until state rent controls expire, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani traveled here today and called on Gov. George E. Pataki to become more involved in resolving the impasse, while the Governor went to New York City to begin a public relations campaign in favor of his proposal to phase out rent regulations.
In his strongest language to date, Mr. Giuliani put the onus for resolving the dispute over the rent laws squarely on his fellow Republican, Mr. Pataki. "The Governor taking a role in this will help move it in the right direction, I believe, and I would urge him to take a stronger role," he said. 
 When asked what such a role might be, the Mayor, who favors continuing the rent regulations and has publicly disparaged Mr. Pataki's position, suggested that it would begin with the Governor's changing his mind. "I think that the Governor will recognize the damage that could be done here," he said.
Zenia Mucha, Mr. Pataki's communications director, said, "The Mayor's entitled to state anything he wishes, but the fact of the matter is that the Governor has said time and time again that both sides need to get together and negotiate a compromise."
The Governor has proposed ending rent regulations for apartments when they become vacant, a policy known as vacancy decontrol that would gradually end all controls as tenants move out or die. He has also proposed deregulating rents for tenants who earn $175,000 a year or more.
Mr. Giuliani, like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and other top Democrats, opposes vacancy decontrol, and he said today that the $175,000 limit was too low.
Mr. Pataki spoke with elderly residents in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, today in the first of a series of events designed to sell his plan to a nervous public. And he announced plans for a televised forum on rent issues to be held Tuesday, a proposal that ran into trouble even before it was made public.
At the Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults, Mr. Pataki told 100 people that his plan was "a fair and balanced approach that would protect you," repeating the two adjectives he has used to describe his position since announcing it last month.
As one woman expressed the fear that the fate of ordinary people would be lost in negotiations over the laws, he said, "That's exactly why I'm here, because I want to give it right from my heart as to what we're trying to do."
Several people said they saw the Governor's plan to institute vacancy decontrol as a covert way to end regulations while not angering current voters. "You're opening the door to full decontrol," one man, Alex Staber, said angrily. "You're not being honest with the people."
As he did repeatedly during the morning visit, the Governor avoided the specific charge and simply assured Mr. Staber that "99 percent of current tenants would be protected" under his plan.
This morning, the Governor's office issued a news release stating that he would host a panel discussion on the rent laws Tuesday night on New York One, the cable television news channel in New York City. The release said that Billy Easton, a prominent tenant organizer, and Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, a Brooklyn Democrat who supports the current system, had said they would be on the panel but that Mr. Easton was having second thoughts.
But officials at New York One said they had never made a firm commitment to broadcast the event. And even before reporters received the news release, Mr. Easton said he had never agreed to take part if the event was run by the Governor. "We'd love to do the panel if there was a nonbiased moderator," he said.
Mr. Lopez, chairman of the Housing Committee, said he initially agreed to participate but then withdrew because of the Governor's role and the composition of the panel, which he said was weighted toward Mr. Pataki's views.
This afternoon, Mr. Pataki's aides, who said the forum was his idea, said the plan had been changed to have a New York One reporter act as host, with the Governor giving introductory and closing remarks and acting as a member of the panel. Once again, they said Mr. Easton had agreed to appear, and once again, he said he would have no part of it. Mr. Lopez said that he was not sure but that he was unlikely to take part if Mr. Easton did not.
Steve Paulus, vice president for news at New York One, said, "I think they're getting closer to a format that's going to work." But he added that he was still not certain the station would do the broadcast.
The Assembly, controlled by Democrats, has passed a bill that would continue the current rent rules, and its top officials, like Mr. Giuliani, insist that the Governor's plan is unacceptable. The leader of the Senate's Republican majority, Joseph L. Bruno, who had called for ending rent rules within a few years, has indicated that he would accept something like Mr. Pataki's proposal.
Mr. Bruno has said that if there is no compromise in place when the laws expire at midnight on June 15, he will allow them to lapse, abruptly ending the regulations that limit rents and rent increases for 1.2 million apartments, most of them in New York City.
Mr. Pataki, Mr. Bruno and Mr. Silver have had little direct negotiations on rent, though the issue has held up progress on other pressing matters like the budget and welfare policy. While there have been many compromise measures proposed, one side or the other has rejected each of them as a capitulation. But Mr. Giuliani, who met with several Republican and Democratic lawmakers to lobby them on rent, insisted today that the Governor's plan "does offer possibilities of negotiating a solution," though he did not say how.
Aides to the Mayor said he was frustrated that Mr. Pataki had not held more talks with legislative leaders on the issue. But Mr. Giuliani, who generally treads lightly with a Governor whom he often petitions for favors, was careful not to criticize Mr. Pataki outright. And he dismissed the suggestion by some Assembly Democrats that the Governor had arranged not to be in Albany for the Mayor's lobbying trip.
"He has to make his own calculation, politically, where and how he wants to involve himself in it, and he's probably made the calculation that he'd rather have a little distance from it right now," Mr. Giuliani said. "The Governor has to decide, in his own way, how he wants to play a role in this. The stronger leadership role that he plays in it, the better off we're going to be."
Meanwhile today, the Manhattan District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, said he feared that vacancy decontrol would lead to widespread harassment of tenants by landlords who wanted them to move so rents on their apartments could be increased.
He said that in the 1980's, when the market was tight and vacancies meant higher rents, unscrupulous landlords seeking to drive renters out resorted to tactics ranging from "bringing prostitutes into the building to taking the hinges off the doors to flooding the apartments." He said the potential for abuse under vacancy decontrol would be even stronger.
As part of his plan, Mr. Pataki has proposed criminal penalties for landlords who harass tenants.

LOAD-DATE: June 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Gov. George E. Pataki, left, spoke to elderly Brooklyn residents about rent control. (Vic DeLucia/The New York Times); Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, above left, and Sheldon Silver, the Assembly Speaker, conferred in Albany. (David Jennings for The New York Times)
      

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June 4, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

The Medicine Woman Of the Mohegans;
Tribe's Past and Future Are the Legacy Of Its Anthropologist Matriarch at 98

BYLINE: By DOUGLAS MARTIN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1405 words

DATELINE: UNCASVILLE, Conn.

Gladys Tantaquidgeon knows how to make a tonic from 10 forest herbs. She knows that when the dogwood blooms it is time to fish for shad. She knows that spiders bring good luck, that a howling dog is a sign of death and that catnip heals colic in infants.
She knows these things because she is medicine woman for the Mohegan tribe and because three elderly women -- her grandmothers, she calls them -- took her under their wing and taught her the old lessons. She, in turn, became a published anthropologist, a social worker to Indians of many tribes and a revered elder of her own, a tribe that might have evaporated into history's ether if not for her efforts and example. 
 It is some example.
Gladys Tantaquidgeon turns 98 on June 15, and has never been sick enough to go to a doctor and has never needed glasses. When asked why, the medicine woman, barely five feet tall, smiles ever so slightly. She never ate hot dogs, she says.
Her importance to her people is immense. Federal researchers say that the things Ms. Tantaquidgeon knows and the things she saved were pivotal in restoring tribal status to her people. That status, granted in 1994, has allowed the tribe to build the Mohegan Sun casino, which opened here in southeastern Connecticut in October.
In its first six months, the casino earned a pre-tax profit of $55.3 million, of which the tribe gets 60 percent. Already, any Mohegan high school graduate is guaranteed a college scholarship of $20,000 a year. Other uses for the money include a new home for the elderly and an aggressive campaign to retrieve tribal artifacts now in museum collections.
Virginia DeMarre, a historian for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said that Ms. Tantaquidgeon provided the key to proving tribal identity. No one doubted the tribe's existence up to the beginning of this century. But what was missing, she said, was concrete evidence, particularly after World War II, that the Mohegans, immortalized in James Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans," persisted as a tribal group.
Under the medicine woman's antique bed -- in scores of Tupperware containers -- were hundreds of postcards from Mohegans, as well as birth, marriage and death records. "We needed those pieces of paper," Ms. DeMarre said. "They left no questions whatsoever."
The historian said that Ms. Tantaquidgeon provided personal testimony to what kept the Mohegans intact: a line of matriarchs who functioned behind the scenes, keeping secrets and passing them on. "To a great extent, it was the older women who throughout the 20th century kept the group together -- like glue," Ms. DeMarre said.
And, always, it has been the memory of the tiny woman that mattered most. In 1931, she and her father and brother founded a museum, the nation's oldest Indian museum run by Indians. The museum was also persuasive to Federal researchers. It houses the things that define a culture, from delicate baskets to a child's rattle made from a dog's skull to spoons of sugar maple to the little baskets in which to put meat and berries for "the little people of the woodlands," minuscule invisible beings in whom the medicine woman devoutly believes.
The objects are illustrations in the story the medicine woman has worked to keep alive.
"In my earlier years, I perhaps wasn't aware that time was going by so rapidly, and later I realized that many had gone," she said. "I seemed always to be working against time."
So was Martha Uncas, a medicine woman who lived for 98 years and died in 1859. During her life, many Mohegans were dying of the plague and she took it as a personal responsibility to produce as many more as possible. She had many mates, replacing each as he died or left to hunt, look for work or fight wars. The majority of today's Mohegans are her descendants.
She passed her secrets to several women, including Fidelia Fielding, who before her death in 1908 at 81 was the last of them to live in a traditional log house.
"She was very much a loner, very much to herself," Ms. Tantaquidgeon recalled. "Fidelia was not pleased with non-Indian neighbors."
Young Gladys also learned from two other "grandmothers," both taught by Martha Uncas and both octogenarians at death. They were Emma Baker, who knew Greek and Latin, and Merch Ann Nonesuch Mathews. Ms. Tantaquidgeon speaks of being taken into the forest with the three older women at age 5 as they searched for herbs.
"It was customary that the women would observe some of the girls," she said. "They would discuss their choice, saying, 'Perhaps it might be well to take this one to learn certain skills.' Then they would select someone."
Other Mohegans consider it likely that Ms. Tantaquidgeon long ago selected and trained her own successor, although such things are secret. The medicine woman will not even admit she is a medicine woman, much less describe what a medicine woman does. "It's not something you speak on," she said.
But then she will tell of not being surprised by much when she first visited New York as a teen-ager. "I had seen everything perfectly in my dreams," she said.
The medicine woman's life has been anything but predictable. What education she received was at home with parents and friends. She met the anthropologist Frank G. Speck when he was studying Mohegan culture and made such an impression that he invited her along on family vacations in New England. In 1919, she began studying anthropology under Dr. Speck at the University of Pennsylvania, meeting leading anthropologists during her eight years there. Franz Boas, considered the father of modern anthropology, gave her a necklace made of walrus tusk.
She returned home and applied her anthropological knowledge to writing about her tribe, as well as traveling to other Indian communities throughout New England. In 1931, she and her father, John, and brother, Harold, built the museum.
A series of jobs took her away from home. In 1935, she did social work with tribes in the Western United States, and in 1938 she was one of the first employees of the new Indian Arts and Crafts Board, supervising the production and sale of Indian art from Montana to California. She helped win Indians the right to perform ceremonies like the sun dance that had been banned on their reservations.
In 1947, she returned home. For a time, she worked as a social worker in a nearby women's prison, but then shifted her attention to tribal government and the running of the museum. Because so many were dying young and so many had left, she was considered an important elder.
In 1970, she published a book on native folk medicine, with descriptions of magic rituals. In 1994, Yale University granted her an honorary doctorate for her work in herbal medicine.
She is not sure why she never married, though a plaque on her kitchen wall provides a clue. It reads: "Women's faults are many. Men have but two. Everything they say and everything they do."
Around 9 A.M. each day, Ms. Tantaquidgeon walks up the hill from the home she shares with her sister, Ruth, 88, to her museum, where she delights in telling about the objects and "the memory trail" they represent.
Sometimes she tells people about Fidelia Fielding, who did not teach her the old tongue because those who spoke Indian were often discriminated against. Ms. Tantaquidgeon recalls Fidelia Fielding, the last speaker of her language, using the phrase "words strung like bright beads on the thread of the speaking past" to describe the treasure that would die with her.
"She instilled in us a sense of who we were," said Jayne Fawcett, tribal vice chairwoman and Ms. Tantaquidgeon's niece. "We wouldn't have survived this century without her."
It has hardly gone to her head. At noon, if she can get a break, she enjoys the simple pleasure of making herself a marmalade and Velveeta sandwich. In the later afternoon, she likes to sit in her living room and read.
She has been to the casino, much of it modeled on her descriptions of Mohegan traditional design, just once. Almost the whole tribe accompanied her, all itching to hear what she thought.
"Too much of the color green," she decreed. "Green is unlucky."
With the exception of the mounds of cash, much of the offending color was promptly painted over. Gladys Tantaquidgeon's larger accomplishment is that neither she nor any of her tribe will be the last of the Mohegans.
She has not even read the book.

NAME: Gladys Tantaquidgeon

LOAD-DATE: June 4, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Gladys Tantaquidgeon, Mohegan medicine woman, amid the tribal treasures of her museum in Uncasville, Conn., and, above, gathering herbs on Mohegan Hill in 1913. She will be 98 on June 15. (James Estrin/The New York Times)

TYPE: Biography

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June 4, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Seeking Bipartisan Support, Republicans Offer Medicare Plan

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 20; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1179 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 3

House Republicans today unveiled details of their plan to slow the growth of Medicare by cutting payments to hospitals, doctors and other health care providers, but they backed away from some of the more radical proposals that provoked a veto by President Clinton in 1995.
Mr. Clinton has already endorsed the total amount of projected savings, $115 billion, or 8.5 percent of what Medicare would otherwise spend in the next five years. But he has objected to some parts of the Republican plan, including a proposal to allow medical savings accounts for the elderly as an alternative to standard Medicare. 
 Mr. Clinton said the accounts would appeal mainly to younger, healthy people and would leave sicker, high-cost patients in the traditional Medicare program, undermining its finances. In an effort to accommodate the White House today, Republicans proposed setting a limit of 500,000 on the number of people who could establish such accounts.
Michael D. McCurry, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Clinton had "some very real concern" that medical savings accounts would drain revenue from the Medicare trust fund. But he said the President was open to the idea of a limited "pilot or demonstration project."
There was no limit on the number of people who could have signed up for medical savings accounts under the Republicans' 1995 bill.
Representative Bill Thomas, the California Republican who heads the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said that this year's plan would "save Medicare from bankruptcy" at least through 2007. With no action, the trust fund that pays hospital bills for the elderly is expected to run out of money in 2001.
When Speaker Newt Gingrich unveiled the Republicans' last set of Medicare proposals in September 1995, he delivered a blistering attack on President Clinton and denounced the Democratic Party as "totally morally bankrupt."
Chastened and reprimanded for violation of ethics rules this year, Mr. Gingrich was nowhere to be seen as Mr. Thomas offered his plan today, in a more conciliatory tone. This year, Mr. Thomas said, Republicans tried to avoid "a clear conflict line with the White House." Disagreements, he said, can be resolved through "continued dialogue" with Mr. Clinton and Democrats in Congress.
Mr. Thomas said that under his proposals, Medicare spending would grow an average of 6 percent a year, to $280 billion in 2002, from $209 billion this year. Under current law, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare would grow 8.5 percent a year, to $314 billion in 2002. The program has grown an average of 11 percent a year in the last five years.
The Medicare proposals are intended to carry out the budget-balancing agreement negotiated last month by Mr. Clinton and Republican leaders. In concept, the proposals are very similar to the Medicare provisions of the budget bill that Mr. Clinton vetoed in 1995. But the cuts in projected Medicare spending this year are more modest, and the proposed increases in premiums for beneficiaries are much smaller, so the package is likely to get more Democratic support.
Representative Pete Stark of California, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, said that, aside from the proposed medical savings accounts, the Republican package was "not bad." And he added: "You've got to raise $115 billion. There's no gentle way."
Mr. Stark thanked Mr. Thomas for his bipartisan efforts. "Much of this bill is good for the Medicare program, for the Americans who rely on it now and for the generations who count on its future solvency," Mr. Stark said. "A few changes would make this bill easier to vote for and easier on our senior citizens."
Doctors got much of what they wanted. In the bill, House Republicans would limit damages in malpractice lawsuits, allowing no more than $250,000 for "pain and suffering" in a particular case.
Mr. Thomas also proposed delaying changes in payments to doctors for their office employees, supplies, rent and other "practice expenses." Doctors say that these changes, scheduled to take effect next year, would cut total Medicare payments to some surgeons by more than 30 percent. The American Medical Association had lobbied for a delay, saying the Government did not have the data to justify such cuts.
The Republican bill would create special rules for doctors and hospitals that wanted to form their own health plans to compete with H.M.O.'s in the Medicare market. Such "provider-sponsored organizations" would have to seek state licenses, but the Secretary of Health and Human Services could, in some cases, override state licensing requirements.
The subcommittee is expected to approve the Medicare proposals this week, with similar action by the full committee planned for next week. The legislation would then go the House floor and presumably to the Senate, where Republicans are drafting similar legislation.
The House Republicans' plan would freeze Medicare payments to hospitals and slow the growth of payments to health maintenance organizations, doctors, nursing homes and home health care agencies. The higher premiums for beneficiaries would be more than offset by the value of new benefits they would receive, including covering the cost of diabetes treatment and screening for cancer of the breast, cervix, colon and prostate.
Mr. Thomas's bill would not solve Medicare's long-term financial problems, but would create a 15-member commission to recommend ways of preserving Medicare for baby boomers, who start retiring around 2010.
In addition, the bill would establish new consumer protections for elderly people who enroll in H.M.O.'s. For example, it stipulates that H.M.O.'s must pay for emergency medical services and establishes a uniform definition of emergency based on the judgment of "a prudent lay person." Moreover, if a health plan denied coverage, the beneficiary would be entitled to a formal hearing, with judicial review if the dispute involved more than $1,000.
The bill would toughen penalties for health care providers convicted of Medicare fraud. A third conviction would mean permanent exclusion from Federal health programs.
The Republicans' claim to political credit for preserving Medicare may be somewhat obscured by the fight over medical savings accounts.
Under the Republican proposal, beneficiaries could use their share of Medicare money to set up tax-free savings accounts to pay routine medical costs, and they would buy high-deductible insurance policies to pay other medical expenses. Republicans say this will encourage the elderly to pay more attention to medical costs, because they could keep money left in their accounts.
In 1995, the Congressional Budget Office said that medical savings accounts would increase Medicare costs by $2 billion in the first five years and by $1.5 billion in the next two years. The Government, it said, would spend an average of $4,300 a year for each person with a medical savings account, compared with $3,100 a year if the person remained in the traditional Medicare program.      

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June 5, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

G.O.P. BACKING OFF A DEAL TO RESTORE AID TO IMMIGRANTS

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1011 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 4

House Republicans today backed away from their commitment to restore Federal aid for certain legal immigrants, prompting the Clinton Administration to complain that the Republicans were violating the bipartisan budget agreement reached just five weeks ago.
In addition, a proposal announced today by House Republicans would override a recent White House ruling that state governments must pay the minimum wage to welfare recipients participating in workfare programs. 
 Administration officials denounced both proposals, which the Republicans have added to a comprehensive bill intended to balance the Federal budget.
Vice President Al Gore said the proposals on immigrants were "harsh, unfair and unnecessary." Moreover, he said, "they violate the terms of the bipartisan budget agreement by failing to restore a minimal safety net" for legal immigrants who have not become citizens. Mr. Gore said the proposals "would cut off 100,000 severely disabled immigrants who would receive benefits under the budget agreement."
The agreement, reached on May 2, was a framework for legislation to balance the budget. Republicans are now filling in the details, and they said today that they did not feel obliged to accept every item in the agreement.
Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means subcommittee that writes welfare legislation, said the proposals on immigrants "clearly violate the budget agreement." Accordingly, he said, "this bill is heading toward confrontation instead of bipartisan accord."
Representative E. Clay Shaw Jr. of Florida, the chief author of the 1996 welfare law, said the Republicans were improving the budget agreement, by guaranteeing benefits for certain elderly immigrants rather than for those who become disabled.
The Republicans are playing with political fire in restricting benefits for legal immigrants. Their proposals have proved unpopular in parts of Florida, Texas and other states with many immigrants. And the party itself is divided, with some Republicans like Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York urging Congress to restore aid to legal immigrants.
After learning of the new proposal by Congressional Republicans, Colleen A. Roche, a spokeswoman for Mayor Giuliani, said, "The proponents of this change should be ashamed of themselves for trying to play off the elderly against the disabled." Lobbyists for the elderly echoed that comment.
Supporters of legal immigration, including Hispanic groups, Jewish organizations and Roman Catholic bishops, criticized the Republican proposals as a retreat from the budget agreement.
The Republicans' welfare proposals are much more contentious than their Medicare proposals, which were unanimously approved tonight by the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.
The welfare law signed by Mr. Clinton on Aug. 22, 1996, cut off many Federal benefits for noncitizens. Restoring some of those benefits is a top priority for the President.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 500,000 legal immigrants will lose Supplemental Security Income benefits this summer because of the law. The program, for the indigent elderly and the disabled, pays a maximum of $484 a month for an individual and $726 a month for a couple.
The budget agreement, negotiated by Mr. Clinton and Congressional Republican leaders, explicitly promised to "restore Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid eligibility for all disabled legal immigrants who are or become disabled and who entered the United States prior to Aug. 23, 1996."
The new Republican bill would restore benefits only for those who were actually receiving benefits on Aug. 22, not for those who were in the United States then and later become disabled.
Many immigrants have relatives or other "sponsors" in the United States who agreed to support them. Under today's Republican proposal, an immigrant could not receive Supplemental Security Income payments if the sponsor's income was more than 50 percent above the official poverty level. A family of three would meet this test if it had income exceeding $18,775 a year.
Republicans said they assumed that such a family could take full financial responsibility for a disabled immigrant. Vice President Gore said that the assumption was unwarranted.
When Mr. Clinton signed the welfare bill, he said he would fight to restore benefits for legal immigrants. Republicans like Mr. Shaw contend that the budget agreement went too far. "Supplemental Security Income has become a pension plan for third-world countries," Mr. Shaw said today.
Mr. Shaw also said that Republicans never intended for the minimum wage to apply to workfare participants.
Workfare programs require welfare recipients to work in return for their benefits. Governors of both parties said that any requirement for them to pay the minimum wage would vastly increase the cost of their work programs.
The Republicans' new proposal says that welfare recipients working for a public agency or a nonprofit organization shall not be considered employees for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act or any other Federal law. The minimum wage -- now $4.75 an hour, rising to $5.15 on Sept. 1 -- is part of the labor standards law.
The Republican proposal says that states may count welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, child care and housing subsidies as income for people in workfare programs. States divide the amount of such income by the minimum wage to determine the number of hours that a person may be required to work for a public agency or a nonprofit organization.
It is easier for states to meet the law's work requirements if they can count government benefits as income. But Elena Kagan, the President's deputy assistant for domestic policy, said: "The Administration strongly opposes these provisions. They are clearly outside the scope of the budget agreement. They violate the principle that workfare participants, like other workers, should get the benefit of the minimum wage and other worker-protection laws."      

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June 5, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

M.T.A. Turns Deal Maker In Promoting Metrocards

BYLINE: By DAVID M. HALBFINGER 

SECTION: Section B; Page 9; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 740 words

When the Mets play the Yankees later this month in New York's first regular-season interleague baseball games, Yankee Stadium will be the scene of another first: advertisements on the back of Metrocards.
Modell's, the sporting goods company, is paying the Metropolitan Transportation Authority more than $100,000 to place its logo on more than 50,000 Metrocards that will be handed out free to those attending the first game between the teams, on June 16. An additional 200,000 of the logo-bearing cards will be sold, in $15 denominations, at the 2,000 convenience and retail stores that sell Metrocards across the city. 
 The promotion is the first in a series meant to generate ad revenue, encourage use of the cards and persuade consumers to buy the cards outside subway stations. In late summer, the M.T.A. is expected to unveil a combination Metrocard and prepaid telephone calling card under a deal being negotiated with M.C.I. Communications, the phone carrier. M.C.I. would distribute the cards. Other promotional ideas could involve the United States Open golf tournament, Madison Square Garden, and a major soft-drink bottling company, which would sell the cards at vending machines, M.T.A. officials said.
Modell's sponsorship of the "First Subway Series Metrocard" plays off nostalgia for the days of crosstown World Series match-ups between the Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. The Yankees edged the Dodgers in seven games in the subway series of 1956, the city's last.
The promotional deal was made in March, said Jack Perlman, a marketing consultant to both Modell's and the M.T.A. Since then, the Mets have put together a better record than the world champion Yankees -- generating considerable interest in the three-game series.
Anyone attending the June 16 game will receive a Metrocard worth $1.50, a single subway or bus fare. One person, chosen at random, will get a card worth $780 -- enough to ride to and from work, five days a week, for a year. And Modell's will offer a 15 percent discount on store merchandise to customers with the cards for a month.
The subway series-themed cards will not be available at token booths.
George Carrano, senior vice president of New York City Transit, a division of the M.T.A., who oversees distribution of Metrocards, said the deal with Modell's is the first of several "strategic alliances" being planned to "move more of our sales transactions from the station booth to stores, out of the system."
Doing so, he said, shortens lines at token booths and makes purchasing Metrocards easier for senior citizens and those who ride buses with routes far from the subway system.
It also saves the M.T.A. thousands of dollars in promotional expenses. Modell's is spending $500,000 for newspaper and radio advertisements, on top of $25,000 to print the cards and more than $75,000 for the fares to be given away.
Mr. Carrano and other people familiar with the Metrocard program said other similarly themed, commercially sponsored fare cards are being discussed, such as a United States Open card bearing a picture of the late tennis great Arthur Ashe, and a New York Knicks Metrocard that might be given to any fan purchasing a ticket to a basketball game.
First, however, the authority plans to introduce a combination Metrocard and prepaid calling card. M.C.I. is concluding a deal for a test printing of 400,000 cards to be sold, beginning in late summer, through M.C.I.'s normal distribution channels, including Kmart stores and places frequented by tourists visiting New York, who are heavy buyers of calling cards.
"We're leveraging their distribution to get the card out," Mr. Carrano said. M.C.I. also will pay a fee to the M.T.A., he said, although the relationship is not exclusive: "We're also negotiating with AT&T," he added.
The M.T.A. is also in talks with a major soft-drink bottler about adapting its vending machines in the metropolitan area to sell Metrocards in addition to cans of soda, Mr. Carrano said, adding that the bottling company would pay for the investment.
Officials at the M.T.A. also plan to hire an outside agency to find companies interested in turning Metrocards into mini-billboards, in pure advertising deals. Alicia Martinez, director of marketing at the M.T.A., said estimates of the annual revenue from ads on Metrocards have run from the hundreds of thousands of dollars to $2 million a year.

LOAD-DATE: June 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: June 9, 1997, Monday

 CORRECTION:
Because of an editing error, an article on Thursday about placing advertisements on New York transit Metrocards misidentified a sporting event that is under consideration for such a promotion. It is the United States Open tennis tournament, not a golf tournament.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Metrocards will be getting a new face this month, in a deal with Modell's based on Mets-Yankees games.
 

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June 6, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Role of Genes in Shaping Intelligence Is Lifelong, Study Says

BYLINE: By MALCOLM W. BROWNE 

SECTION: Section A; Page 20; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1073 words

Psychologists have long assumed that the relative importance of genes in shaping a person's intelligence declines over the years, because the other determinant of intelligence, experience, increases as a person ages.
But a new study of 240 pairs of twins, all older than 80, demonstrates that genes are just as important for cognitive function in old people as they are in middle-age adults. The investigation, which is being published today in the journal Science, found that the genetic contribution to an old person's intellect is about 50 percent, the balance being attributable to education, stress exposure, occupation, socioeconomic status, geography, nutrition, disease and all the other environmental factors that shape life. 
 A statement by the National Institutes of Health, which sponsored the study, predicted that further study of the role of genes in intelligence in older people "could lead to beneficial interventions that might slow or reverse cognitive decline," including the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.
The two-year study was carried out by a team of Swedish, British and American scientists under the leadership of Dr. Gerald E. McClearn, director of the Center for Developmental and Health Genetics at Pennsylvania State University, under a grant from the National Institute on Aging.
Dr. Irving I. Gottesman of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, who has investigated possible genetic causes of schizophrenia and other mental diseases, said in a comment published in Science that Dr. McClearn's study was a landmark demonstration that "the genetic contribution to cognitive ability is remarkably constant throughout life."
The statistical analysis that led to that conclusion was possible because several nations -- Australia, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden among them -- maintain national registries of nearly all their twins.
Dr. McClearn and his collaborators at the University College of Health Services in Jonkoping, Sweden, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, the Institute of Psychiatry in London and Penn State chose their subjects from the Swedish Twin Registry. Of the 240 pairs, 110 were of identical twins and 130 were fraternal same-sex pairs, whose genes were only as similar to each other as those of ordinary siblings. All the twins were born before World War I, and their average age was 83.
Each twin in every pair was individually tested by a different nurse and was subjected to a demanding 90-minute battery of examinations aimed at measuring not only general intelligence, but also specific cognitive abilities. Those included tests of how long it took to complete various cognitive tasks, synonym matching, manipulation of colored cubes to match patterns presented on cards, identifying like and unlike figures, memorizing strings of numbers and recognizing pictures that had been shown earlier.
The analysis of the results showed large differences between the degree of cognitive matching in the two types of twins, identical or fraternal. In general, as expected, the identical twins were much closer to each other intellectually than were the fraternal twins. Previous large-scale testing of twins, including a major investigation a decade ago by Dr. Thomas J. Bouchard Jr. and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota, yielded similar results.
"But what is so new and surprising about the latest study," said Dr. Jared B. Jobe, chief of the Adult Psychological Development Branch of the National Institute on Aging, "is that it shows the genetic influence on cognitive ability to remain very strong, even in old age."
Dr. McClearn said in an interview that another study by his group, the Swedish Adoption Twin Study on Aging, had established the importance of genes in old-age cognitive ability in another way. That investigation focuses on identical twins who were reared apart and therefore share relatively little common experience. Like similar studies on younger twins, the study has revealed the importance of genes in cognitive ability throughout life, he said.
Rather than declining with age, the role of heredity in cognitive ability seems to increase.
In 1993, a group of scientists led by Dr. Matthew McGue of the University of Minnesota published the result of a study of twins that suggested a steady rise in the lifetime role of heredity in cognitive function. They found that the genetic factor in general cognitive ability is about 20 percent in infancy, 40 percent in childhood, 50 percent in adolescence and 60 percent in adulthood. Dr. McClearn said his findings on the contribution of heredity in old age are consistent with the 1993 study.
The supposition that genes play an important role in the development of intelligence has aroused controversy since the 19th-century studies by Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin who discerned a genetic influence as responsible for the intellectual similarity between identical twins.
Dr. McClearn and his colleagues said they believed that it was important to identify specific sites in genes that contribute to cognitive ability, even though there might be up to 10,000 such sites, each playing only a tiny part. But he does not advocate "tinkering" with the genes themselves. By developing chemical means to activate genes that exert desirable effects or deactivate genes that hasten cognitive decay, scientists may significantly improve the lives of old people, he said.
One such gene, called ApoE, has already come under suspicion as a factor in Alzheimer's disease.
The widely held belief that genes play at least some role in intelligence has been hotly contested in recent years, particularly by some critics who contend that human intelligence is molded almost exclusively by environmental factors.
"This field in general is somewhat controversial," Dr. Jobe of the National Institute on Aging said. "But the new twin study focuses on gerontological issues and has nothing to do with longstanding debates over intelligence and heredity."
Acknowledging that some social scientists believe that heredity plays virtually no role in the development of intelligence, Dr. McClearn said: "They should look at the data. If you think about it, cognitive function depends on neurochemical processes in the brain, which are influenced by enzymes, which are made by genes. It would be dumbfounding for intellectual functioning to be without genetic influence."

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June 8, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

JERSEY;
'. . . and Don't Ever Call Me Again'

BYLINE: By JOE SHARKEY 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 1; Column 3; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 771 words

THE phone rings around 7 o'clock. "This is Bob with the Police Benevolent Association," the caller says. "How are you tonight?" It sounds as if a PBS telethon is going on in the background.
"Bob, if you ever call me again, I'm going to have a guy come and break your legs," I reply. Bob hangs up the phone as if it just caught fire in his hand. 
 This asinine tactic, I will concede, has little value beyond the fleeting immature boost that a grown man receives from imitating a movie gangster. However, it does at least end a sales call.
Not long ago, my mother-in-law was visiting. She is a church organist, a gentle woman, a scholar. She was aghast when she overheard me rebuff another dialing-for-dollars caller that way. A few weeks later, without comment, she sent in the mail an electronic device called Easy Hang-Up, which attaches to the phone. When you get a sales call, you simply push its button and hang up, while a deep stentorian recorded voice like the one they play on airport monorails delivers the following message:
"I'm sorry! This number does not accept this type of call. Please regard this message as your notification to remove this number from your list. Thank you."
I use it, but only when my wife is around.
Annoying as they are, most unsolicited telephone sales calls are not fraudulent. Most come from some poor stiff struggling at minimum wage in sweatshop boiler room, desperate to meet a quota, peddling services for a bank, phone company or stock brokerage. These merely irritating calls -- including the ones that tie up your answering machine and those that won't hang up, even after you do -- are a topic for another time. This week, the focus is on telephone fraud.
"We take the position that one has a right to be free of that kind of intrusion in one's home," said Peter Verniero, the state Attorney General, whose office has become increasingly aggressive in pursuing phone fraud. "I get these calls, too," he said. "I try to take my own advice, which is to hang up. But it's not easy to do. You risk being rude."
Mr. Verniero is referring here to the phone fraud artist's greatest advantage. As much as people might hate the endless rude invasions of their personal privacy, many simply don't feel right telling a caller to get lost. This is especially true of older people, who grew up in a world where civility toward strangers was still considered a component of public order.
"One of the things we're trying to do is educate folks, especially our elder citizens, about the dangers of telemarketing fraud," Mr. Verniero said. "We say to them, 'It's O.K. to hang up.' "
Telephone fraud is the No. 1 consumer problem affecting the elderly, said Mark S. Herr, the director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs. Nationally, telemarketing is a $500 billion-a-year business. Fraud is estimated at about $40 billion of that. "On my block, that's real money," he said.
As technology hops, skips and jumps over all boundaries, including state lines, state law-enforcement agencies have begun forming new alliances. The multi-state lawsuits currently terrifying tobacco companies are one example.
Another came in April, when New Jersey sued four Middlesex County telemarketing companies as part of a national crackdown on "badge fraud" phone scams. In all, 21 states, each allied with the Federal Trade Commission, filed more than 50 suits against phone solicitation companies allegedly using police and firefighting organizations as fronts to steal money.
Last month, meanwhile, New Jersey and the F.T.C. jointly charged a Bergen County magazine-subscription company with fraud, accusing it of using deceptive high-pressure telephone tactics to persuade people to provide credit card information that was used to run up unauthorized charges.
For decades, consumer groups have charged, the United States Justice Department has been timid in pursuing consumer-fraud and corporate antitrust cases. So when the states themselves begin joining forces to fill the void, attention must be paid.
"I think you are seeing part of a pattern of an ever-increasing level of cooperation, not only between New Jersey and Federal agencies, but also between and New Jersey Attorney General's office and the attorneys general of other states," Mr. Verniero said.
As whooping robbers ride the phone lines and thunder onto the Internet like some high-tech version of the Old West, the sheriffs are finally starting to saddle up and head them off at the pass. "If they are facing not just one state attorney general, but many, that does tend to drive the message home," he said.

LOAD-DATE: June 8, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Nancy Doniger)

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June 8, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Increasingly, Men in Midlife Answer Call for Priesthood

BYLINE: By GUSTAV NIEBUHR

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk

LENGTH: 1444 words

The Rev. Michael Manning's new business card identifies him as a priest in Hamilton Square, N.J. What he might add is that the parish he will serve as associate pastor, starting on Friday, lies an easy drive from where he once practiced medicine on Staten Island and people called him Dr. Manning.
A newly ordained priest, he is, in his words, "the doctor who's been through seminary," a man who traded a physician's coat for a Roman collar. 
 That transformation makes Father Manning, 46, a member of what the church calls its "Class of '97," the approximately 500 men being ordained as priests this spring around the country. Neither his age nor his former career makes him especially unusual these days, when a growing number of people are becoming clergy members at midlife, after years in the secular workplace.
Catholic officials say statistics show the average age of seminarians rose to 32 in 1993 from 25 in 1966. That change is echoed among Protestants.
Priests ordained this year include former lawyers, school teachers, accountants, two farmers and a college basketball coach -- in addition to younger men who entered graduate-level seminaries straight from college. Many who had previous careers are in their 30's. A few, like the Rev. Emmett W. (Skip) Sarsfield in Yakima, Wash., are considerably older.
Father Sarsfield, 65, served as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy, specializing in antisubmarine warfare. After he retired in 1976, he worked as a prison superintendent, a United States Energy Department researcher and a college teacher.
In 1989, he became a lay missionary in Haiti. Although he was a teacher, he said he felt drawn to volunteer work that fed children and cared for the elderly. "I figured if I were a priest, I could do so much more for these people," he said. After returning to the United States, he gained admission to a seminary that accepted older students.
Of men ordained at an older age, the Rev. Timothy T. Reker, executive director of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' secretariat for vocations and priestly formation, said, "I think the chief advantage is the wealth of experience and greater maturity, hopefully, and then an ability to relate to people in other fields."
"The drawback," he said, "depending on the age and personality, is less flexibility and less ability to benefit from" priestly training.
But ordinations of older men have fallen well short of helping the church reverse the continuing decline in the number of its clergymen, a trend that has been made worse by a steep drop in the total number of seminarians since the 1960's. Through deaths and resignations, the number of priests in dioceses and religious orders fell nearly 2 percent, to 49,009 last year from 49,947 in 1995, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, at Georgetown University.
American dioceses have tried various tacks to increase religious vocations; at least one took out a full-page newspaper advertisement declaring a need to "collar" new priests. But church officials say the best way to get young men to consider the priesthood and young women to think about becoming nuns is for priests and nuns to offer personal encouragement directly to those who express an interest.
Yet even that approach can take years to bear fruit.
The Rev. Steven A. Wertanen, 33, who was ordained in Detroit in May, said he began considering the priesthood as a 14-year-old altar boy. But he lacked certainty about it. "As I grew older," he said, "it seemed friends and teachers would say, 'You would be a good priest.' "
He forged ahead with his secular ambitions, majoring in fine art design in college, then landing a job with an advertising agency. By his mid-20's, he had a house, a car and an office in a Detroit skyscraper. From his window he could see a Catholic church across the street. "I would look at it," he said, "and say there was something missing from my life."
He joined a weekend retreat, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Detroit, for men interested in becoming priests. While praying one evening, he felt God was calling him to the priesthood. He entered a seminary not long after.
Despite their need for priests, dioceses must exercise care about whom they take. In the Diocese of Trenton, where Father Manning was ordained, the screening process includes a long questionnaire, along with numerous meetings between church officials and potential seminarians.
Asked what the diocese seeks in future priests, the Rev. Robert M. Tynski, its vocations director, turned the question around. "What we don't look for," he said, "is somebody who has gone from job to job and never found happiness, and now is looking for the church to take care of them." Another "red flag," he added, would be someone who balked when asked to help with the poor.
"The priesthood isn't plush," Father Tynski said. "You go from working in a prison, to burying an infant child who's been killed in an accident, to marrying a couple. If you're not a man of prayer, and not a man who's stable in himself, it can wear you down."
Father Tynski said he knew of no other doctor besides Father Manning who became a priest in the diocese. But among the seminarians studying for ordination, he added, are a lawyer, a psychologist and a social worker. "God calls who God wants to call, and when," he said.
Father Manning grew up in Brooklyn and thought about the priesthood as an adolescent, he said, but his parents suggested he was too young to make that commitment. He settled instead on medicine.
"It was academic, it dealt with helping people and it was a healing profession," Father Manning said in an interview.
He graduated from medical school at the State University of New York's Health Science Center in Brooklyn, he said, served as a part-time hospital emergency room director for a few years, and built a practice in gastroenterology. He said he liked his patients, owned a house, had a girlfriend and kept up a hobby raising show dogs.
But as his 40th birthday approached, Father Manning said he underwent something of a "midlife crisis," with deep spiritual overtones. He felt increasingly moved by patients' philosophical questions: What meaning did their suffering have? Was there a God who cared about them?
"Though my skills were valued and my opinions were valued," he said, he did not feel "involved in the most important things that were going on" in his patients' lives.
At one point, he visited a church, something he had not done often as an adult. "I was uncomfortable to be in the building," he said. "I wanted to pray, but I didn't want anyone to see me." Kneeling in a pew, he wept, he said, feeling like the prodigal son come home.
As time passed, he felt he wanted a closer connection with the church than being a parishioner. That worried him. "Everything logical told me, 'You're an idiot for thinking this, because you're moving into your peak career time -- you're teaching medical students,' " he said.
Anxious, he prayed more, he said, trusting what he called "another reality," beyond the skills in which he had been trained. He felt he embodied the tension between scientific and religious thinking.
One day, he saw a notice for a weekend retreat for men ages 30 to 50 who were interested in the priesthood. He was among the 8 to 10 men who went.
On the retreat, a priest asked each man to talk about why he had come. The younger men spoke first. Father Manning said that he thought them far calmer than he felt. When his turn came, he declared that the pull he felt toward the priesthood left him "a wreck" emotionally.
"I just let the barriers down," he said. But the priests, he added, seemed pleased with his honesty. Unable to sleep that night, he began a turbulent prayer. "Literally, it was like I was in a struggle -- of yes, no, yes, no," he said. When he acknowledged he wanted to become a priest, he said, he felt an overwhelming sense of God's love.
A few days ago, Father Manning heard his first confessions as a priest. As a doctor, he had counted himself empathetic, and said patients sometimes spilled out their lives to him.
But hearing confession was different, he said. People came to him burdened and he, speaking for God and the church, offered them forgiveness. It seemed as personal as the house calls he once made, except that this time, he said, what he had to tell people "was all good news" about God's mercy.
He felt he had stood at the place where repentance was met by divine grace. "That changed who I am," Father Manning said. "And I think priesthood is crammed with these sorts of experiences."

LOAD-DATE: June 10, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Men are increasingly entering the priesthood later in life. At 65, the Rev. Emmett W. Sarsfield is among the oldest of the second-career priests. (Gordon King for The New York Times)(pg. 32)

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June 8, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Pataki Sends Fliers Touting His Rent Plan

BYLINE: By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA

SECTION: Section 1; Page 41; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk; Second Front

LENGTH: 912 words

DATELINE: ALBANY, June 7

With barely a week left until the state's rent laws expire, Gov. George E. Pataki has sent a leaflet to millions of renters touting his plan to phase out the rules, a sign of the political high stakes involved in the stalemated fight over rent regulation.
The mailing, which many tenants received in the mail today, was paid for by the state, Zenia Mucha, the Governor's communications director, said. She would not say how much it cost. She described it as a needed response to a mass mailing sent out last month by several Democratic legislators, also at public expense, that she described as "political hate mail" attacking the Governor's plan. 
 The leaflet marks an escalation in a public relations campaign that Mr. Pataki, a Republican, began last week on behalf of his proposal. In an attempt to tip the scales of public opinion on an issue that has frightened millions of tenants, the Governor has visited a senior citizens' center in Brooklyn, appeared on television interview shows and made a failed bid to organize a televised panel discussion of the issue.
The flier went to "just about every regulated apartment dweller in the city," Ms. Mucha said. "It's important that people who live in regulated apartments know the truth." There are more than 1 million rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartments in New York City, housing about 2.7 million people.
Peter Ragone, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said the mailing "is obviously designed to salvage Governor Pataki's utter failure to protect New York's tenants, most of them middle class, in the battle to save rent protections."
There are no state laws barring state officials from sending mailings at public expense to promote one side of an issue, said Gene Russianoff, staff attorney at the New York Public Interest Research Group. "But it's the sort of thing that shouldn't be done," he said.
The cover of the Governor's mailing bears the headline, "Governor Pataki's Plan Will Protect New York Renters," over a photograph of a smiling Mr. Pataki.
Inside, it seeks to calm renters' fears, but it never mentions the core of the Governor's plan, and the element that has tenants and Democratic legislators up in arms: vacancy decontrol, which would lift rent rules from an apartment when the occupants move out, die or are evicted. Vacancy decontrol would eventually mean elimination of all rules, albeit over a period of decades.
Mr. Pataki has also proposed an expansion of luxury decontrol, the program that has removed rent protections for some wealthy tenants. His plan would eliminate such rules for anyone making more than $175,000 a year.
The mailing focuses on that element, saying that only "a few millionaires" would face deregulation, and on the fact that under the Governor's plan, tenants living under rent regulation would remain protected so as long as they did not move.
"My plan ensures that every tenant except the wealthiest few who earn more than $175,000 a year will have the right to remain in their apartments for the rest of their lives," it says, in a message underscored by the Governor's signature.
The mailing drew fierce criticism from groups in favor of maintaining the current rent rules.
The leaflet "is absolutely Orwellian," said Michael McKee, rent law campaign manager for the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, the state's largest renters' group.
"It never says what the plan actually does. This whole spin that they're trying to put on the Governor's plan as protecting tenants is false. They're going to decontrol 100 percent of apartments."
The state's rent laws that limit apartment rents and annual increases on about 1.2 million units, most of them in New York City, will expire at midnight next Sunday, June 15.
While there would be little immediate impact on most tenants, without some new set of rules to take the place of the old ones, the entire rental housing market would become deregulated over the next two years, allowing landlords to raise rents to whatever the market would bear, and to evict tenants at a whim.
As recently as a month ago, lawmakers predicted that either a compromise would be reached, or one side would capitulate before the laws expired. But it appears increasingly likely that the rules will be allowed to disappear before the issue is resolved.
The Assembly, controlled by Democrats, has passed a bill that would extend the current rules for four years, and the Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, has insisted that he will accept nothing less.
The Democrats express confidence that it is Mr. Pataki and Republican legislators who would be harmed by the chaos and fear brought on by expiration of the laws -- indeed, by the fear already inspired by the mere talk of ending the rules.
As evidence that it is the Governor who has the most to lose, they cite his aggressive efforts to sway public opinion, like the mailing.
The battle lines were drawn last December, when the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, a Republican from Rensselaer County, proposed phasing out rent rules for all but the elderly, disabled and poor by 1999.
In the last few weeks, Mr. Bruno has indicated that he would accept something similar to Mr. Pataki's plan, though he would lower the luxury decontrol limit to $125,000 in income, a proposal that would deregulate far more tenants.
Mr. Bruno insists that if a compromise is not reached by next Sunday, he will let the rules die.

LOAD-DATE: June 10, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The state paid for this flier to tenants with rent protections. (pg. 48)

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June 9, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

G.O.P. LAWMAKERS WANT $16 BILLION FOR HEALTH PLAN

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1058 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 8

House Republicans offered a $16 billion plan to provide health care for uninsured children today, but they said they could not completely fulfill their promise to set aside $1.5 billion to help low-income elderly people pay health insurance premiums.
The Republicans said they had been unable to find all the money needed to keep that promise, which is part of the bipartisan budget agreement reached last month by President Clinton and Congressional leaders. The agreement said that Congress would provide $1.5 billion in the next five years "to ease the impact of increasing Medicare premiums on low-income beneficiaries." But House Republicans said today that they had found only $400 million -- the amount the Commerce Committee expects to approve this week. 
 To provide any more, the Republicans said, they would have had to take the money from urban hospitals and children's hospitals, which they said could ill afford such cuts.
The decision on this issue will affect three million elderly people with incomes 20 percent to 50 percent above the official poverty level -- that is, with annual incomes from $9,468 to $11,835.
The expansion of health insurance coverage for children may prove to be one of the most significant efforts undertaken by Congress this year. Under the "child health assistance program" proposed by House Republicans, the Federal Government would make grants to the states totaling $2.6 billion a year. The money would be distributed according to each state's number of uninsured children and level of health costs.
States would have wide latitude in spending. They could use the money to pay doctors and children's hospitals, to buy private health insurance for low-income families or to expand Medicaid to cover more children.
House Republicans would also guarantee continued Medicaid eligibility for disabled children losing coverage under the 1996 welfare law. These low-income children will still lose the cash benefits they receive under the Supplemental Security Income program, but they could keep their Medicaid coverage.
White House officials and lobbyists for the elderly expressed varying degrees of annoyance and anger at the Republicans' failure to provide the $1.5 billion of assistance promised to low-income elderly people.
Howard J. Bedlin, vice president of the National Council on the Aging, said: "The Republicans appear to be backing away from the budget agreement. They could find the money if they were committed to protecting low-income beneficiaries. We will hold their feet to the fire."
Chris Jennings, a White House aide who coordinates health policy for President Clinton, said that two features of the Republican bill, as now drafted, would violate the budget agreement.
Mr. Jennings said it was essential that Congress provide the full $1.5 billion for low-income elderly people. In addition, he said he was distressed by a provision of the Republican bill that would bar Federal grants to the states for children's health insurance after 2002.
"That's absolutely inconsistent with the budget agreement," Mr. Jennings said. A table in the agreement calls for a 10-year investment of $38.9 billion, including $16 billion in the first five years, for children's health initiatives. (After hearing about the White House reaction, Republicans said they might revise their bill to allow grants after 2002.)
Republicans have deviated from the budget agreement on several other issues. Last week, they backed away from a commitment to restore Federal aid for certain legal immigrants losing benefits under the 1996 welfare law. Vice President Al Gore said the Republicans' proposals, as drafted, would violate the agreement by failing to restore "a minimal safety net" for these immigrants.
Three Congressional committees -- Commerce and Ways and Means in the House, and Finance in the Senate -- will be working this week on legislation to slow the growth of Medicaid and Medicare, the health programs for nearly 70 million people who are poor, elderly or disabled. The committees will also be working on initiatives to provide health insurance for at least half of the 10 million children who lack coverage.
Representative Michael Bilirakis of Florida, the chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Health, unveiled the House Republicans' proposals today as he sent copies of his legislation to members of his panel. The Republican bill would cut Federal spending on Medicaid by $15 billion, or 2.4 percent of the amount that would otherwise be spent in the next five years. The savings would be achieved mainly by decreasing payments to hospitals that serve large numbers of low-income patients.
Under the Republican proposals, states could require Medicaid recipients to get their care from health maintenance organizations, provided that each beneficiary had a choice of at least two H.M.O.'s. States could enroll children in H.M.O.'s for a year at a time, guaranteeing Medicaid coverage for 12 months, regardless of fluctuations in family income that would otherwise make the children ineligible.
The Commerce Committee is also responsible for providing financial assistance to low-income elderly people to help them with the cost of their health insurance premiums. Under the budget agreement, the monthly Medicare premium, now $43.80, is expected to rise to $66.30 in 2002 and $107.80 in 2007.
House Republicans want to repeal many Federal Medicaid standards and requirements that state officials dislike. States would no longer have to show that their Medicaid payments to nursing homes and hospitals were "reasonable and adequate." But they would have to invite public comment on new payment rates, and the average daily payment for a nursing home resident in 1998 could not be less than 95 percent of the average this year.
The Republicans' bill would also repeal a requirement that states justify the adequacy of their Medicaid payments to obstetricians and pediatricians. By law, states must submit data to the Federal Government to show that they are paying enough to guarantee that such doctors will serve Medicaid patients.
In addition, under the Republican bill, states could cut Medicaid payments to community health centers, which are now guaranteed payment for 100 percent of the cost of services they provide to Medicaid patients.      

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June 9, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

If Legislators Allow Rent Laws to Lapse, Then What's Next?

BYLINE: By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1284 words

DATELINE: ALBANY, June 8

For many tenants in rent-regulated apartments, it is the nightmare scenario: state leaders fail to agree on extending the rent laws when they expire next Sunday at midnight, and in the following months do not budge on the issue.
If rent rules are allowed to lapse, thousands of tenants -- no one is sure quite how many -- could be served right away with eviction notices or steep rent increases. Many renters in this group are elderly people living outside New York City. 
 But for the largest group of people affected, the occupants of 1 million rent-stabilized units in New York City and its suburbs, sudden, complete deregulation would have a delayed effect. In the city, the first batch of rent-stabilized apartments would not be deregulated until mid-October, and some would not be affected until October 1999.
For these newly deregulated apartments, landlords would be able to charge whatever the market would bear and would also not be required to offer leases to their renters. Without a lease, a landlord can evict a renter at a whim. For elderly, low-income tenants, deregulation would also make them ineligible for a government program that helps them pay their rents.
"If the system dies, we would be entering a very strange, confusing period," said Mitchell Posilkin, general counsel of the Rent Stabilization Association, the largest landlord group.
While it has been hard for many New Yorkers to imagine that the laws would be allowed to expire, with just a week left there is still a wide gap between the Democrats who want to preserve the laws and the Republicans who want to phase them out. Indeed, some Democratic legislators who want to continue the rules see abrupt deregulation and the panic it would cause as their best weapons against Republican lawmakers, including Gov. George E. Pataki, who plans to run for re-election next year.
Today, Republican leaders said their compromise plan had provided enough protections for most tenants. But top Democrats held a news conference to say that the Republican position of vacancy decontrol would jeopardize the housing of the middle class. But there was no sign of progress in resolving the fight.
Landlords' groups, aware that the fight is likely to go past June 15, are cautioning property owners not to do anything rash that would result in negative publicity. Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, recently sent a letter to the group's members saying, "Our actions will be in the spotlight, and anything we do can hurt our chance to achieve a phase-out of rent regulation." New York's rent regulations are the product of not one law but a complex web of city and state laws.
People governed by the state rent control law, one of the ones due to expire on June 15, would be the first to be affected if no agreement is reached by the deadline. The law, enacted in 1950, applies to an estimated 20,000 renters in Westchester County, Nassau County and the Albany and Buffalo areas who live in buildings built before 1947 and whose families have lived in the same units since 1971.
Because these rent-controlled tenants, like those in New York City, do not have leases, there would be nothing protecting their status if the laws expired, so landlords in areas outside New York City would be free to raise tenants' rents or give them eviction notices on June 16. In theory, court eviction orders could be issued as early as Aug. 1.
But landlords say the fear of such swift action is misplaced, if only because apartment owners understand the political sensitivity of the issue. It is particularly unlikely, they say, that property owners would evict elderly renters with the outcome of the dispute still in doubt.
Rent-stabilized tenants in New York City and the suburbs who do not have leases, either because of disagreements with landlords or by mutual agreement with landlords, could also be subject to immediate eviction notices or rent increases. But again, no one knows how large this group is. Michael McKee, rent law campaign manager of the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, the state's largest renters' group, said renters without leases make up 5 percent of the total market, or 50,000 apartments, while Mr. Posilkin said such situations are very rare.
The 70,000 rent-controlled apartments in New York City come under the city's own rent-control law and are not affected by what happens in Albany. Rent-controlled tenants generally pay lower rents than their rent-stabilized neighbors, but the gap has narrowed over the last two decades as landlords have been allowed larger annual increases for rent-controlled units.
The main law that is about to expire is a 1974 state law called the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, which governs about 1 million rent-stabilized units in New York City, and 60,000 in Nassau, Westchester and Rockland Counties.
In New York City, landlords are required to offer rent-stabilized tenants renewal leases at least 120 days before the expiration of their current leases. According to both tenant groups and the Rent Stabilization Association, landlords must continue to offer the option of one- or two-year lease renewals right up to June 15, even if the renewal would not take effect until well after the current law expired. "What we are telling our members," Mr. Posilkin said, "is that they have to abide by the law as it is right now and that means send the renewal notices right now."
In other words, any rent-stabilized tenant whose lease runs out on or before Oct. 13 has a legal right to a new lease, and can choose a two-year lease that would run through 1999. But if the current lease runs out on Oct. 14 or later, the landlord does not have to send a lease renewal if the laws expire, and the apartment would be deregulated at the end of the lease. After that, apartments would be deregulated at the rate of about 40,000 a month, until the final batch went to market rates in October 1999.
But tenant advocates say some landlords have been ignoring laws requiring them to offer lease renewals. "You've got landlords who have refused to offer renewal leases, banking on the possibility that the law is going to end," said Andrew Scherer, a housing lawyer with Legal Services. "A lot of people will not know their rights, so they will just end up moving."
A state program, the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption, or Scrie, helps 55,000 elderly people in rent-regulated housing pay their rent if they earn under $20,000 a year, and if one-third or more of their income goes toward paying rent. "The law says that rent-stabilized housing is subject to Scrie," Mr. Scherer said. "When that housing is no longer rent-stabilized, those renters are no longer eligible for Scrie."
New York City has its own rent-stabilization law, and the people it applies to would not be affected by expiration of the state law. But there is some disagreement as to how many renters that is. The city law, enacted in 1969, originally limited rent increases on more than 300,000 apartments built from 1947 to 1968.
Among housing experts, the conventional wisdom is that the city rent stabilization law applies only to those units that have not changed hands since 1971, about 40,000 units. Those that turned over, they say, come under the 1974 state law and are subject to deregulation.
But some housing lawyers say that if the state law expires, the city law would still apply to nearly all of the original 300,000 units. "There are going to be a lot of lawsuits over this as landlords try to deregulate apartments, and tenants try to establish that they're still under the city law," Mr. McKee of the tenants coalition said.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, left, discussed rent laws yesterday at a news conference at Tudor City Place in Manhattan. With him were Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, with her daughter, Virginia, and Representative Charles B. Rangel. Behind Ms. Maloney was State Comptroller H. Carl McCall. (Linda Rosier for The New York Times)(pg. B6)

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June 10, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

SCIENCE WATCH;
Alcohol and the Brain

BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY  

SECTION: Section C;  Page 4;  Column 5;  Science Desk  

LENGTH: 258 words

IT is a known scientific fact -- or so the public has been led to believe -- that alcohol kills brain cells. And presumably, those who would suffer this damage the most would be drinkers in their 70's and 80's who had been at it for decades.
But a new Australian study of 209 elderly men, 178 of whom used alcohol, revealed not a single sign of intellectual impairment or brain atrophy that could be related to the amount of alcohol they regularly consumed. 
 The findings are described in the current issue of The British Medical Journal by a sociologist at the Australian National University at Canberra and his collaborators in Sydney.
The men, all of whom had fought in World War II with the Australian army, represented a broad range of alcohol intake: from none to an amount that would warrant the label of alcoholism.
In fact, 40 percent of the men consumed alcohol in amounts deemed hazardous or downright harmful, a much higher percentage than has been found among the Australian population as a whole.
Nine years after their usual alcohol intake was recorded in 1982, the men submitted to 18 neuropsychological tests that measured a range of intellectual functions, including basic intelligence, memory and the ability to retain verbal and visual information.
The participants also underwent a computerized X-ray scan of their brains.
The researchers found no evidence to link heavy alcohol intake with any form of cognitive decline or with atrophy of the brain regions involved in cognitive functions.   JANE E. BRODY

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June 10, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

CONGRESS AND TAXES: MEDICARE;
House Panel Votes Changes to Try to Keep Medicare Solvent

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR  

SECTION: Section D;  Page 25;  Column 1;  National Desk  

LENGTH: 631 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 9

The House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation tonight to make sweeping changes in Medicare that would keep it solvent for a decade and offer new health insurance options to 33 million elderly Americans.
The measure, which would cut Medicare spending by $115 billion and open the program to more health maintenance organizations and other forms of managed care, was approved by a vote of 36 to 3. 
 The bipartisan, cordial spirit of today's session was radically different from the strident, angry tone that characterized debates on Medicare in 1995 and 1996, when Democrats accused Republicans of trying to destroy the program.
Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the committee, praised members of both parties for their "patience and civility" today.
Representative Jim Ramstad, Republican of Minnesota, said today's session was a "love-in" compared with the debates of 1995 and 1996.
The White House generally supports the bill approved by the committee today. It still requires a vote of the full House, and senators of both parties are working on similar legislation to modernize Medicare.
The legislation is designed to carry out the terms of a bipartisan budget agreement reached last month by President Clinton and Congressional leaders.
The bill approved tonight would make the biggest changes in Medicare since creation of the program in 1965.
The $115 billion cut in spending is 8.5 percent of the amount that would otherwise be spent in the next five years. Most of the savings would be extracted from hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and other health care providers. Beneficiaries would also pay somewhat higher premiums.
The biggest change would be to open Medicare to more health maintenance organizations and other forms of managed care, including health plans established and owned by doctors and hospitals.
Presumably, elderly people would then enroll in H.M.O.'s in greater numbers, much as millions of workers under age 65 have done.
The bill would keep Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund solvent to 2007.
The trust fund, which pays hospital bills for Medicare beneficiaries, will run out of money in four years if no change is made in current law.
But the bill does not directly address the financial problems that will arise when members of the Baby Boom generation become eligible for Medicare after 2010.
The liveliest debate today focused on two issues, medical savings accounts and medical malpractice.
The bill would create tax incentives for 500,000 elderly people to set up savings accounts to help pay their medical expenses.
Republicans zealously defended their proposal for a test of such tax-free savings accounts as an alternative to the standard Medicare program. The accounts, they said, would encourage elderly people to pay more attention to health costs because they could keep any money left in their accounts.
Democrats said that healthy, affluent people would be the main beneficiaries of such tax breaks, but they repeatedly failed in their efforts to eliminate or limit the tests of medical savings accounts.
The bill would also limit the amount of damages that could be recovered in lawsuits by patients injured as a result of medical malpractice. Damages for "pain and suffering" could not exceed $250,000 in any case.
The American Medical Association and other doctors' groups have lobbied Congress to limit damages, but consumer groups have vigorously opposed such limits, saying they would eliminate important protections for patients.
The Congressional Budget Office said that the proposed limits on damages would save Medicare -- which reimburses doctors and hospitals for part of their malpractice insurance costs -- $600 million over the next 10 years.

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June 10, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Deregulation in Boston: Disruption, but Also Construction

BYLINE: By RANDY KENNEDY  

SECTION: Section B;  Page 4;  Column 1;  Metropolitan Desk  

LENGTH: 1160 words

DATELINE: BOSTON, June 4

In the two years since Massachusetts voters ended most rent controls for the cities of Boston, Cambridge and Brookline, two distinct interpretations of the results are beginning to emerge: While tenant advocates and landlords agree that noticeable disruptions and turnover have occurred in some neighborhoods, landlords say there are also signs that eliminating the rules has encouraged new housing construction and repairs.
One scenario is on display at the Hemenway Hotel apartments, a rambling eight-story building in the Boston neighborhood known as the East Fens. Sitting in her apartment in the building recently, Susan Starr counted the stalwarts: the former Avon lady who had lived in her apartment for 40 years; the retired merchant marine who had been there almost as long; the man who ran the cluttered antique shop on the ground floor, a fixture for two decades. 
 They were among the few longtime tenants who had gone to court to fight rent increases and remain in their building, as other neighbors were replaced by college students and young professionals.
The other side of the complicated rent decontrol story unfolding in and around Boston comes from landlords, who say the return to a market system here has already been beneficial citywide, leading to an increase in property tax revenues and appearing to cause new housing construction, which could eventually bring prices back down.
Furthermore, while landlords concede that some neighborhoods have been inevitably and sometimes even painfully changed, they say that the most vulnerable tenants, the poor and the elderly, have been affected much less than expected.
It is difficult to draw significant economic comparisons between New York and the Boston area because Boston's huge student population skews the market and New York has higher demand and 20 times more rent-regulated apartments, but both sides in New York have plucked examples to use as lessons for lawmakers in Albany.
Citing the Hemenway and buildings in other neighborhoods where prices have risen sharply, tenant leaders say Boston has already proven that ending rent regulations, whether quickly or over several years, forces the working class and middle class out of desirable neighborhoods.
Tim Davis, a tenant advocate with the Fenway Community Development Association, a nonprofit housing group, said: "There are now only two kinds of people here who are able to afford to live in a lot of the buildings in this neighborhood: People who make $50,000-plus or students who are willing to double and triple up."
Blocks in the neighborhood once had an eclectic mix -- from municipal and college employees to hotel dishwashers to lawyers, artists and students -- but, Mr. Davis said, "There's really no mixture anymore."
Ms. Starr, a secretary at Northeastern University who makes $24,000 a year, has fought the owners of the Hemenway, as the building is still called, although the name was formally changed to the Parkside when it was bought and renovated in late 1994. She said the owners wanted to increase the $565 monthly rent for her one-bedroom apartment to $850. And while she has succeeded in keeping her old rent for two years, she does not think she or many other old tenants can stay much longer.
"In December of 1994, the Hemenway had about 160 tenants, most of whom were rent-controlled," she said. "As of today, there are fewer than 20 of those people left -- in a mere two years. It's not the same building."
The owners of her building, Forest Properties and Fenway Parkside Limited Partnership, did not respond to several requests to be interviewed for this article. But as a group, the city's landlords do not dispute that tenants have been pushed to other neighborhoods and sometimes to other cities by rising prices. They are not apologetic, however, saying that it was grossly unfair for landlords ever to have been saddled with the rent rules.
"The hypothetical secretary might have to come to the realization that she's not entitled to an apartment in a given block," said Edwin J. Shanahan, the managing director of the Rental Housing Association, Boston's largest landlord group.
He said the end of the rent controls appeared to be having a beneficial effect for the city as a whole and the housing industry, which could eventually increase the stock of affordable housing.
A study released this week by Henry O. Pollakowski, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reported that in Cambridge, which had the strictest controls, building permits increased in 1996 and assessors predicted that residential property tax revenues would rise 9 percent.
Since the Boston area was in the middle of a housing boom when the rent controls were lifted, Mr. Pollakowski's study said, it is difficult to know how much of the building can be attributed to rent deregulation. But the current high level of renovation and repair of Cambridge buildings once under rent control had not been matched during the previous market peak, in the late 1980's, the study concluded.
Those on all sides of the issue agree that Boston rents have increased on average, but the effects of decontrol are still developing.  and it is hard to pin down exactly how much they have risen and where.
In Cambridge, which adopted rent controls in 1971 and had about 15,000 regulated apartments two years ago, Stanley Lastoff, owner of Porter Square Realty, said that one-bedroom apartments then renting for $433 a month can now fetch about $900.
While landlords say that such increases were bound to happen in some neighborhoods, they contend that the effect on residents has been much less predictable. And they argue that there were far fewer elderly, disabled or poor people who had to look elsewhere than originally expected.
When rent controls were ended in January 1995, the State Legislature provided for two-year extensions for the elderly, the disabled and the poor, if they qualified under certain income guidelines. But in the three affected cities of Boston, Cambridge and Brookline, where about 45,500 units were subject to rent controls, only 3,090 units eventually qualified for the exemption, according to Mr. Shanahan and the M.I.T. study.
"Our experience indicated that a lot of people could afford the increase and they paid the increase," Mr. Shanahan said. "A lot of others just said, 'Well, the jig's up.' It wasn't a case of people undergoing mass relocation."
At the Hemenway, Ms. Starr and the remaining holdouts said they had begun to accept that they would not be able to stay much longer. The antique shop owner has already decided to move and close his store. "I probably won't be around here in a couple of years, either," Ms. Starr said.
But while she remains, she said, she will continue to argue that the landlords' purely economic viewpoint overlooks a lot: "Whatever happened to neighborhood stability and civic pride and human connections?"

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GRAPHIC: Photo: In the two years since rent regulations ended in Boston, Susan Starr says, higher rents have driven out most of her building's longtime tenants and changed the character of the neighborhood. (Kirsten Elstner for The New York Times)

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June 10, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Giuliani Uses Conference To Rally Immigrant Cause

BYLINE: By CELIA W. DUGGER  

SECTION: Section B;  Page 3;  Column 5;  Metropolitan Desk  

LENGTH: 834 words

Nearly a year after Congress voted to slash benefits to legal immigrants, a group of Republican and Democratic local elected officials from around the nation, organized by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, rallied yesterday in New York City to call on Congress to restore the aid.
They came together at a two-day conference on immigration sponsored by the city government. Backed by participants from states including California, Florida and Texas, Mr. Giuliani used the conference yesterday as a national platform to lobby against the cutoff of benefits to elderly and disabled legal immigrants at a time when a Congressional agreement to restore many benefits may be unraveling. 
 The conference, at the Sheraton New York Hotel, is also one more sign that the Mayor, in the midst of a re-election campaign, is ever more aggressively taking on a role as the nation's leading champion of immigrants. Last month, he announced a $12 million city initiative to help legal immigrants become citizens if they face the loss of benefits. And he often travels the country to speak on the virtues of immigration.
His fellow officials lavishly praised him yesterday for seizing the leadership on the immigration issue, which may enable the Republican Mayor to broaden his appeal to Democrats as well as to immigrants and their children, who together make up a majority of New York City's population.
Gloria Molina, a liberal Democrat who is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant laborer and the first Hispanic person elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said she had been "longing for leadership in this area," and counted herself grateful to the New York Mayor for taking the initiative.
Likewise, Randy Johnson, a Republican corporate lawyer who is chairman of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, in the Minneapolis area, thanked Mr. Giuliani. As a conservative, he said, he believes it is the Federal Government's responsibility to police the nation's borders, to set immigration policy -- and to pay for the consequences.
With a tableau of local officials standing behind him, including leaders of the National Association of Counties and the United States Conference of Mayors, Mr. Giuliani described the New York conference as a way to harness the influence of local government officials from different parts of the country at a strategic moment in the Congressional budget negotiations.
As part of a budget compromise, Congressional Republicans agreed with the White House earlier this year to restore benefits to disabled legal immigrants who were in the country before the welfare reform law passed last Aug. 22. But last week, House Republicans backed away from that plan, and proposed giving benefits to certain elderly immigrants rather than to the disabled.
In his opening remarks at the conference, Mr. Giuliani condemned the latest round of negotiating on benefits for immigrants.
"I can't think of anything more unseemly or unconscionable than trading off the elderly against the disabled," he said.
His face projected on larger-than-life screens on either side of the hotel ballroom, the Mayor appealed to the self-interest of local officials, who are worried that old and infirm immigrants who lose their Federal benefits will become a burden on state and local budgets. He also declaimed on the immigrant experience as the ultimate expression of the American dream.
Officials from Los Angeles County said their borders contain 100,000 of the 500,000 elderly and disabled immigrants who will lose benefits under the 1996 welfare reform law unless Congress alters it. And they said almost one-fifth of those facing a cutoff of their Supplemental Security Income in Los Angeles County are over age 85, while almost three-quarters are women.
In New York City, about 70,000 legal immigrants are expected to lose benefits in August and September unless Congress changes the law, Mr. Giuliani said.
"There is no free lunch," said Zev Yaroslavsky, chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, warning that the cost of supporting needy immigrants would fall on state and local governments.
Today, Mayors Richard J. Riordan of Los Angeles, Edward G. Rendell of Philadelphia and Alex Penelas of Metropolitan Dade County in South Florida, among others, are to join Mr. Giuliani at Ellis Island to back a "statement of principles" that lays out their own immigration agenda.
It calls on Congress to undo laws that severely limit Federal benefits to legal immigrants. "Since legal immigrants work and pay taxes like American citizens, they should be entitled to temporary assistance when they fall into personal difficulty," the statement says.
It criticizes the Federal cutoff of benefits to legal immigrants as "a massive cost shift from the Federal Government to many cities and states," hitting California, Texas, Florida and New York the hardest.
And it says more resources should be devoted to help process a backlog of citizenship applications.

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June 11, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

New Jersey Daily Briefing;
Doctor Indicted for Loans

BYLINE: By TERRY PRISTIN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 104 words

DATELINE: HACKENSACK

According to his lawyer, Dr. Manjit Singh is a good cardiologist but an unlucky gambler, who ended up borrowing more than $1 million from more than 80 of his elderly patients to repay debts he incurred in Atlantic City and elsewhere.
But prosecutors say that Dr. Singh is a criminal. Yesterday, a Bergen County grand jury indicted Dr. Singh, who practices in Ramsey, on 82 counts of fraud, said David Nathanson, an assistant county prosecutor. 
 His lawyer, Raymond Flood, of Hackensack, said: "He has received counseling and goes to Gamblers Anonymous. He intends to repay every penny."
   TERRY PRISTIN

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June 12, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Beijing Journal;
Chinese Old-Timers Keep the Opera Alive, Barely

BYLINE: By SETH MYDANS 

SECTION: Section A; Page 4; Column 3; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 824 words

DATELINE: BEIJING, June 11

Looking a little formal for the occasion in his gray suit and glasses, Liu Feng, a medical doctor, clasped his hands in front of him, bent slightly toward the microphone in the Huguang opera house, and let out a high-pitched squeal.
The audience burst into applause, shouting: "Great! Great!" 
 An amateur singer, the doctor continued in the tortured falsetto of traditional Beijing Opera, and the audience grew quieter as he spun the sad, familiar tale of a ghost nostalgic for his life on earth.
Sitting at tables with their flasks of tea and piles of dried watermelon seeds, the small audience on this Saturday morning could easily take his song to heart: almost all were elderly men, the ghosts of a dying culture, some of the last devotees of one of the world's great art forms.
A fast-modernizing China is rapidly leaving behind much of its traditional culture, and Beijing Opera, a centerpiece of the nation's artistic heritage, is mostly performed now in truncated form for foreign tourists.
Where once Beijing was home to dozens of theaters and teahouses that staged operas virtually every night, full-scale productions now are rare. The Huguang theater, which mostly performs excerpts from operas and acrobatics for tourists and official delegations, offers the elderly devotees just this one regular weekend morning to revel in the art they grew up with.
It is mostly a forum for amateurs like Dr. Liu, without the elaborate costumes and stylized drama of a full-dress performance. Opera lovers who learned the art from their parents or in local theater groups take their turns at the microphone.
"I come every week," said Rui Maochen, 70. "I'm retired now so I spend most of my time listening to Beijing Opera. I used to perform a bit, but now I just sing along."
Dr. Liu, 52, was one of the youngsters at the theater on this day. Like other amateur singers, he said his parents had passed on to him their love for opera when he was a child.  But now, few parents know the art and few children are exposed to it.
Beijing Opera is becoming a museum piece in this rapidly changing country, where movies, television, rock music and new discotheques offer more accessible forms of entertainment and where fewer and fewer people know the history and legends on which the operas are based.
"That screaming stuff? I can't believe you like that," the one truly young man in the Huguang theater said his friends tell him.
In the last few years, the Government has made efforts to revive the form, and the administrator of the weekend gatherings, Li Shiying, drew encouragement from a belief that the Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, is himself an opera buff.
The Huguang theater, which was being used as a warehouse, was renovated with both private and Government funds and reopened last year.
But the audiences for its nightly performances remain sparse and it continues to lose money. Although university students are offered free admission they rarely attend.
One difficulty, said the theater's general manager, Xu Liren, is that Beijing Opera has not evolved with changing times. Its forms, subject matter and stilted language have remained much the same throughout its 200-year history.
With its roots in some of the 300 traditional theater forms that thrived throughout China, Beijing Opera became a primary means of preserving the nation's history and culture.
"The role of Beijing Opera was not only to entertain but to educate people," Mr. Xu said. "Most of its stories come from the history and legends of China, but the young generation today does not know these stories and cannot appreciate the opera."
The art form was dealt a nearly mortal blow when most performances were banned during the Cultural Revolution, the period of upheaval under Mao that began in 1966.
With the fall of the radical Gang of Four in 1976, elderly teachers began to train a new generation of performers, but much of the audience was already lost.
One of those young performers is Wang Lichun, a 28-year-old singer who began her training at the age of 10 and spent six years learning to sing in a falsetto.
Almost every night, at the Huguang theater, she joins her fellow performers in a painstaking ritual backstage, transforming herself with thick, bright makeup into an ancient princess or goddess.
She knows that few people will appreciate her hard work. But whether the theater is half-empty or whether it is filled with foreign tourists who know little about her art, she said, she puts her heart into her performance. "The most important thing now is to keep traditional Beijing Opera alive, not only for the next generation but for the generation after that," she said.
She said there was no reason why the old and the new could not coexist.
When she is not performing, Ms. Wang likes to go with her husband to the basketball games where he is a professional player. She said they are both fans of Michael Jordan.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Much of the audience for Beijing Opera has been lost, but there are some young performers. They include 28-year-old Wang Lichun. (Seth Mydans/The New York Times)

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June 13, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

A Generational Rent Gap

SECTION: Section A; Page 24; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 589 words

Joseph Bruno, the majority leader of the New York State Senate, has removed one barrier to settling the dispute over rent control that has paralyzed state government this year. Mr. Bruno dropped his fight to eliminate a section of the rent regulations that protects domestic partners of leaseholding tenants in the same way as spouses.
It is doubtful that Mr. Bruno was being utterly candid when he claimed his mind had been changed when fellow Republicans "who represent a lot of these people" revealed the news that gay couples and other longstanding domestic partners "consider themselves families." The majority leader has helped block other legislation, such as a bias-crimes bill, over the gay rights issue. 
 The domestic partnership item is part of a much greater battle over tenant succession that highlights some of the most irrational aspects of the rent laws. Under the present combination of statutes, court decisions and regulations, leases can be passed down from father to daughter to cousin to friend in perpetuity, as if a rented apartment were a family heirloom. A tenant who has occupied a rent-regulated apartment for 40 years can invite a niece to live with her, then move to Florida a few years later, leaving the niece the "heir" to the lease. The new tenant would enjoy the same low rent as her aunt, as well as the right to invite her own son to move in at some future date and take up his own right of succession.
It makes perfect sense that spouses, domestic partners, siblings or anyone else who has co-inhabited an apartment for a long time should not be evicted because a loved one dies. It also seems reasonable that senior citizens and the disabled who lived with the primary tenant should get special protection, as is afforded under the present law.
But the idea that the leases of very-long-term tenants, which tend to be the cheapest in the rent-regulated system, can be passed on indefinitely through a family is ridiculous. Senator Bruno has a good idea when he suggests that the right of succession should be limited to one generation. The niece in the example above could keep the apartment, but her son, upon moving in, would be notified that his rights to the lease will expire when his mother leaves.
This page has supported Gov. George Pataki's call for a gradual end to the entire rent regulation system by allowing units to return to market rates when the present tenants leave. The problem with the present laws goes far beyond the basic issue of price controls. As rent regulation has evolved over decades, it has mutated into an entitlement for individual renters that is a bureaucratic nightmare for small landlords and does nothing to help create a supply of affordable housing.
As tenants' rights to maintain their protected leases expanded, the laws became more difficult to enforce. Paperwork proliferated. Arbitration of disputes grew slower and slower. Small landlords, who are often immigrants with little experience in New York housing law, have wound up in court over rent increases that occurred before they bought the building.
Now that Mr. Bruno has made his concession, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver should show his good will by agreeing to limit the rights of succession to a single generation. Having carved out that tiny bit of rationality, the two leaders and Governor Pataki should then work quickly toward a compromise that will get as many units as possible out from under the rent regulation bureaucracy when their present tenants move out.

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June 13, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Commercial Real Estate;
An Attempt to Redevelop A Manhattan Landmark

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 829 words

Manhattan's strong housing market has given rise to a new plan to redevelop the former Towers Nursing Home, which for the last 23 years has sat vacant on its perch overlooking Central Park West.
Under the plan, a Manhattan development team will restore the four-story landmark, built in 1884 in the style of a French Renaissance chateau, and join it to a residential tower. The new building, which at 27 stories will be among the tallest buildings in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood, will have up to 240 studio to two-bedroom apartments. 
 The current plan is different from two earlier unrealized development attempts for the property, covering the half block from 105th to 106th Streets. While, as in the two earlier efforts, 120 of the apartments at the new tower will be luxury rentals, there will also be an equal number of "assisted living" units. These apartments, with hotel-like living arrangements that will offer tenants meals as well as help with dressing and the monitoring of medication, will have a separate entrance.
The Towers at Central Park West, as the $70 million project is known, is being developed by Frydman & Company and Savanna Partners, both local real estate firms. They bought the site last week for $5.5 million from the Greater New York Savings Bank, which had taken it back as part of a bankruptcy settlement with the last developers. The sale is expected to close in August and construction is to start this fall.
Built as the country's first cancer hospital, the landmark building has been empty since 1974, when the Towers Nursing Home, which gained notoriety during the nursing home scandals of the 1970's, closed. Its owner, Bernard Bergman, was accused and later convicted of Medicaid fraud. In 1976 the turreted brick building was declared a landmark.
Explaining why the partners got involved with the project, Jacob A. Frydman, president of Frydman & Company, said, "It is an opportunity to build a tower tied to a landmark on a site with views of Central Park in an improving neighborhood."
Philippe Weissberg of Savanna Partners said the market also supports the Towers at Central Park West project. "There is an enormous need for housing for the elderly," he said.
The partners plan to make use of existing approvals from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission regarding the development and design of the site. The exterior plans for both the landmark towers section and the new building will follow those approved earlier by the commission, although the uses for parts of the interior spaces will be different. Zoning variances from the Board of Standards and Appeals for the earlier plans remain in force until August, and the partners are arranging to have them extended, Mr. Frydman said.
He said they also are in discussions with local and national licensed health-care providers to operate and manage the project's assisted-living residences -- the term given to housing for people age 75 and older who need help with daily chores, but do not need constant medical care.
By separating the housing from the medical care in assisted-living projects, developers and operators in New York avoid the necessity of state licenses or special permits to develop such projects. They generally offer apartment living with hotel-style services, including meals, housekeeping and social services.
Assisted-living arrangements are "a burgeoning portion" of the expanding elderly housing marketplace, and "it is expected to grow," said Carl S. Young, president of the nonprofit New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
There are many such projects under way or proposed throughout New York City as developers respond to the city's growing elderly population. Among the projects are a 146-unit project in Kew Gardens Queens, one with 206 units in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and one with 128 units in Brooklyn.
The 1990 Census found 953,317 people 65 or older in the city, of which 102,554 were 85 or older. That segment of the population, the fastest growing, is expected to rise to 212,000 by the year 2010.
The assisted-living apartments at the Towers at Central Park West are expected to range in size from 400 to 700 square feet. Mr. Frydman said rents are expected to be $3,000 to $5,000 a month, including meals, services and some basic personal care, like help with grooming and bathing.
Rents for the luxury units, which will be one and half times larger than the standard units, are expected to be $1,400 to $3,200.
The new tower, which is to rise in the rear courtyard of the landmark, will feature stone details on its facade and a steeply pitched roof to blend with its historic neighbor. The renovated landmark will house common areas for the assisted-living units, such as dining rooms and a library.
Mr. Frydman said financing is to come from the partners' own money and private lenders. He said the project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 1999.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: The former Towers Nursing Home building overlooking Central Park West is vacant, but developers are hoping to build apartments there. (Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times)

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House Bill Backs Safeguards on H.M.O.'s

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 648 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 12

A House committee today approved major changes in Medicare and Medicaid, including new protection for the elderly and the poor who enroll in health maintenance organizations.
The changes, in a bill by the House Commerce Committee, would slow the growth of the two health programs, as required under the budget agreement reached last month by President Clinton and Congressional leaders. Committee members added numerous amendments today to regulate managed care plans and to protect consumers. 
 A solid phalanx of Democrats joined the Republicans, led by two physicians and a dentist, in approving the new consumer protections. Lobbyists for the H.M.O. industry argued against the Federal legislation, saying that H.M.O.'s were voluntarily responding to concerns expressed by consumers.
The panel's vote was 39 to 7. The legislation would also provide $16 billion over the next five years to help states finance health care for uninsured children.
Today's action increases the likelihood that Congress will create protections for patients who have difficulty obtaining services in a health care industry that is undergoing rapid changes. But details of the legislation will be a subject of further debate in the House and the Senate.
The committee today approved these safeguards for Medicare beneficiaries:
*H.M.O.'s may not enforce any limits on doctors' ability to tell patients about treatments and services.
*Health plans must provide patients with access to medical specialists whenever such care is "medically necessary in the professional opinion of the treating health care provider." In other words, insurance clerks may not deny services deemed necessary by a doctor.
*H.M.O.'s must pay for emergency care in any situation that a "prudent lay person" would regard as an emergency. They sometimes refuse to pay for emergency care after concluding that there was no real emergency -- if, for example, chest pains resulted from indigestion rather than a heart attack.
*H.M.O.'s must allow doctors and patients to make the ultimate decisions on the length of hospital stays.
*Patients are entitled to appeal denials of coverage. If an H.M.O. rules that a service is medically unnecessary and if the patient appeals, the decision on coverage "shall be made only by a physician with appropriate expertise." The patient may obtain further review by "an independent outside entity."
For Medicaid recipients, the committee approved some of the same protections, including a ban on "gag rules" and the "prudent lay person" standard of emergency care.
Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has offered similar proposals, said the action by the House committee suggested that consumers were dissatisfied with the quality of care provided by H.M.O.'s in some parts of the country. But Mr. Wyden added: "This transcends managed care. It indicates that millions of people just feel powerless in the health care system."
Emma K. Ballard, a spokeswoman for a coalition of consumers and doctors who want the Government to guarantee access to medical specialists, welcomed today's action, saying, "We're beginning to win against the managed-care giants."
Her group, the Patient Access to Specialty Care Coalition, includes surgeons, ophthalmologists and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Julie L. Goon, vice president of the American Association of Health Plans, which represents H.M.O.'s and other managed care plans, said the proposed new regulations would increase the cost of health care for millions of people.
On another issue, the Commerce Committee voted today to repeal a Federal law that requires state Medicaid programs to pay "reasonable and adequate" rates to nursing homes and hospitals. President Clinton and the National Governors' Association have urged Congress to repeal the law, saying it drives up Federal and state Medicaid costs.      

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THE RENT BATTLE: THE AD CAMPAIGN;
Landlords' Association Tries to Turn the Spotlight on Silver

BYLINE: By RANDY KENNEDY 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 24; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 456 words


The Rent Stabilization Association, the city's largest landlords' group, has produced a 30-second commercial on rent regulation that began appearing Thursday night. It will appear through Monday on New York 1; Channel 2, WCBS; Channel 4, WNBC; Channel 5, WNYW; Channel 7, WABC; Channel 9, WWOR, and Channel 11, WPIX.
 
PRODUCER -- Jamestown Associates
 
ON THE SCREEN -- The advertisement begins with a black-and-white picture of Gov. George E. Pataki, who is smiling. As the announcer speaks, some of the words from the script flash on the screen, and the image of an elderly couple, also smiling, appears. The screen changes to a stern-faced picture of the State Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, as scraps from two newspaper editorials appear beneath him. 

THE SCRIPT -- "Governor Pataki's rent control plan protects all seniors, disabled and tenants making less than $175,000 a year. It's a good plan. Sadly, Assembly Democrat Speaker Sheldon Silver is playing politics with rent control. The Times says Silver is 'playing a dangerous game that could harm tenants.' The Daily News says when 'rent control laws expire on June 15, renters will have only Silver to blame.'
 
Tell Sheldon Silver: Don't let rent control expire."
 
ACCURACY -- Governor Pataki's rent-law proposal, known as vacancy decontrol, would maintain protections on all apartments, including those with elderly and disabled tenants -- but only until those tenants moved out or died, at which time rent limits would be lifted for the next tenant. Over time, that would phase out all rent controls in the region. His plan does advocate immediate deregulation of apartments whose tenants make more than $175,000 a year.
Senate Republicans, and editorials in The New York Times and The Daily News, have accused Mr. Silver of refusing to budge on rent laws because he wants them to expire. Under this scenario, voters would blame Republicans, who oppose rent controls, and Governor Pataki's chances for re-election next year would be damaged.
 
Mr. Silver has adamantly denied those motives, saying that he will not accept vacancy decontrol because it would mean an end to all rent protections.
 
SCORECARD -- By taking a page from Governor Pataki's strategy and not explaining that his plan would gradually end rent controls, the advertisement conveys a strong impression that only the wealthy would be affected. This could undermine the arguments of rent-control advocates that the system should be preserved intact.
 
The advertisement also effectively puts a spotlight on Mr. Silver, who has portrayed his position as one of principle, but who could end up sharing blame with the Governor if the laws expire.   RANDY KENNEDY

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Republicans Seek Rise in Medicare Eligibility Age

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 10; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 908 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 13

Senate Republicans said today that in their effort to balance the Federal budget they would try to increase the age of eligibility for Medicare and start charging elderly people $5 for each visit by a home health care agency.
The American Association of Retired Persons promptly criticized both proposals, saying they deviated from the "judicious and fair approach" to Medicare taken this week by House committees. 
 The proposals were advanced by Senator William V. Roth Jr., Republican of Delaware, as part of a comprehensive package of legislation to slow the growth of Medicare and modernize the program, which finances health care for 38 million people who are elderly or disabled.
Mr. Roth, the chairman of the Finance Committee, also set forth the Senate Republicans' proposals on welfare and Medicaid. The panel will vote on all the proposals next week.
The Senate proposals resemble legislation approved this week by several House committees, and the total amount of savings is the same. But there are some significant differences. Teaching hospitals and legal immigrants, for example, fare somewhat better under the Senate plans.
The measures being written in both houses of Congress appear likely to become law, in some form, because they fit within the bipartisan budget agreement negotiated by President Clinton and Congressional leaders. The legislation would make the biggest changes in Medicare since creation of the program in 1965, opening the door for many more elderly people to enroll in health maintenance organizations.
The House bill would not change the age of eligibility for Medicare, now 65. By contrast, Senate Republicans would gradually increase the age to 67. The increase would occur from 2003 to 2027. Senate Republicans defended the change as a way to make Medicare eligibility more similar to that for Social Security.
But Horace B. Deets, executive director of the American Association of Retired Persons, denounced the proposal. In a letter to Senator Roth, he said it would "create a larger group of uninsured Americans." Martin A. Corry, director of Federal affairs at the association, said insurance companies generally did not write comprehensive insurance for people 65 or 66. And if they did, he said, the price for such coverage would be very high.
Under the Senate Republican proposal, the Government would charge Medicare beneficiaries $5 for each home health care visit, except for the first 100 visits after a hospital stay.
Mr. Corry said: "This proposal could place a significant financial burden on the oldest and frailest Medicare beneficiaries. Who uses home health care beyond 100 visits? The older, sicker patients." Under the proposal, elderly people who receive home health care without a prior hospital stay would have to pay the $5 charge for each visit.
Senator Roth said he had sought a compromise in restoring disability benefits for legal immigrants who have not become citizens. Such immigrants are ineligible for Supplemental Security Income under the 1996 welfare law. The House bill would continue such benefits for immigrants who were receiving them on Aug. 22, 1996, when President Clinton signed the welfare bill. But immigrants who were in the United States on that date and later become disabled would be ineligible.
Mr. Roth would go further. He would continue disability benefits for people who were on the rolls on Aug. 22, 1996. But he would also provide $700 million for immigrants who were here then and later become disabled. Committee aides said the money would last for perhaps a year. In that time, Mr. Roth said, "it is my hope that we could come up with a permanent solution for this group of legal immigrants."
The Medicare provisions of the Senate bill are better for hospitals, especially teaching hospitals, of which there are many in the New York metropolitan area. The House bill would freeze Medicare payments to hospitals next year, whereas the Senate bill would allow a small increase. The House bill would make deeper cuts in Medicare payments to teaching hospitals.
The Senate bill would make a significant change in the way Medicare pays hospitals for the extra costs of training doctors and caring for large numbers of low-income patients. The Government now includes a special allowance for such costs in the payments it makes to health maintenance organizations caring for Medicare patients. But there is no guarantee that the money actually gets to teaching hospitals and those serving large numbers of poor people.
Senate Republicans would take the money from health maintenance organizations and give it directly to such hospitals, transferring $7.3 billion over five years.
Kenneth E. Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, welcomed those changes. He said they were "largely due to the intense advocacy of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan," Democrat of New York, whom he described as "a tireless champion" of teaching hospitals. Mr. Moynihan is the ranking Democrat on the finance panel.
The Senate bill would make it easier for doctors and hospitals to form their own health plans to compete in the Medicare market. Such health plans could operate without state licenses and could temporarily avoid some types of state regulation if they obtained waivers from the Federal Government. After Jan. 1, 2001, they would need to have state licenses if they wanted to enroll Medicare beneficiaries.

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June 15, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WESTCHESTER BRIEFS

BYLINE: By ELSA BRENNER

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 10; Column 3; Westchester Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 1211 words


Cyclospora Returns
The second outbreak of cyclospora in Westchester this spring has sickened at least nine people, causing health officials to advise residents against eating raspberries from Guatemala.
The imported berries have been implicated in more than 100 cases of the parasitic disease nationwide since April. 
 The most recent cases in Westchester occurred in May, the county's Health Department said, after partygoers at a private event ate raspberries and suffered severe diarrhea. Mary Landrigan, a spokeswoman for the Health Department, said that two cases were confirmed through laboratory testing.
In April, 150 people were exposed to cyclospora at a Scarsdale wedding, and 20 of them became sick, with laboratory tests confirming 4 cases of cyclospora.
None of the Westchester victims were hospitalized with the illness, which is treatable with antibiotics. Although cyclospora does not cause life-threatening illness for most people, it may be more severe in those with compromised immune systems, according to the Health Department.
Officials recommend that people ask where the raspberries have come from before eating them. Washing them will not eliminate the risk of cyclospora. They must be cooked instead.
 
An Aging Population
The county's Planning Department released figures this month showing that between 2010 and 2020, the number of residents 60 and older will increase by 25 percent. In each succeeding decade, that group will represent a larger proportion of the county's population.
Of those older than 60 in 1990, 67 percent were between 60 and 74; 15 percent were 75 to 79 and 18 percent were older than 80. By 2020, however, 63 percent of that group will be between 60 and 74; 13 percent will be between 75 and 79 and 24 percent will be older than 80. In other words, the Planning Department says, the percentage of very old people is expected to increase.
The implications are that housing for the elderly with graduated levels of service for different age groups will be in demand in future decades.
Furthermore, the Planning Department said that for all but the wealthiest households, Social Security will be the principal source of retirement income. Savings rates are very low, with at least one study showing that the median level of financial assets of those nearing retirement was $7,000 in 1991, the department said.
While the increase in value on houses has been substantial for those now benefiting from the inflation of the mid-1970's through the mid-80's, such gains will not be as high at retirement for those who have invested in the housing market after the mid-80's.
 
Guilty Plea in D.W.I.
An unemployed chauffeur with a history of alcohol-related driving offenses has pleaded guilty to driving while drunk in an accident in January that killed a college professor and seriously injured his wife, District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.
The defendant, Ildelfonso Prieto, 51, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Burton H. Greene, who was a professor at Purchase College.
Mr. Prieto admitted to drinking seven to eight beers starting in midafternoon of the day of the accident. He said he entered his 1988 Nissan Sentra while intoxicated and speeding about 20 miles over the limit. His blood alcohol content was measured at .18 percent, nearly twice the state's legal limit.
He was convicted in 1989 for driving while his ability was impaired in Queens, and in 1996 for leaving the scene of an accident in White Plains. He was charged by the Scarsdale police with driving while intoxicated and speeding in the fall of 1996 and was convicted of driving while his ability was impaired in that case.
He faces a maximum prison term of 5 to 15 years. Sentencing is scheduled on June 25. The case is being watched by advocates of tougher laws against drunken driving.
I-287 Victims
Jury selection is to begin tomorrow for 14 victims in the case of the July 1994 explosion of a propane truck on Interstate 287 in While Plains, said Henry Miller, the lawyer representing two families affected by the blast.
The explosion killed the driver of the truck and injured 23 people living within 400 feet. The defendants in the case are Ryder Truck Rental, which leased the truck, and Paraco Gas Corporation, which hired the driver.
Mr. Miller, the former head of the New York State Bar Association, is representing Edward and Michelle Brunner and their four children and German and Blanca Garcia, their two children, two visitors that night and two tenants.
The tank of the propane truck landed in Mr. and Mrs. Brunner's bedroom, and they suffered burns and smoke inhalation while escaping. They also have continued bad dreams, flashbacks and "a heightened sense of vulnerability," Mr. Miller said.
The Garcia family, their guests and tenants suffered burns while fleeing from the Garcia house.
According to a report of the National Transportation Safety Board, the driver of the truck had little sleep in the 48 hours before the accident and was suffering from fatigue. The report found that Paraco Gas had not met standards for drivers' rest times. The employer pleaded guilty to failing to monitor 93 false driver log entries from 1992 to 1994 and was fined $1 million. Mr. Miller said he is looking for a jury that could understand the victims' suffering. Several other cases, including one involving the family of Leonard Espinal, have been settled out of court.
 
Jail Care Criticized
The county is faced with at least 19 claims from inmates at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla that a private contractor has not provided them with adequate health care.
Although the contract with the firm, EMSA Limited Partnership, stipulates that the company is responsible for all costs associated with legal actions, the company has refused to pay the county for those costs. County Attorney Marilyn J. Slatten has asked the county's Board of Legislators for permission to sue the company to recover the money.
When Westchester hired EMSA in 1995, the goal was to save money by laying off county workers and turning over health care services at the jail to the private company. Some elected officials are now questioning whether the decision by County Executive Andrew P. O'Rourke, a Republican, to privatize those services should be reconsidered.
"This is another example of misguided outsourcing," said County Legislator Thomas J. Abinanti, Democrat from Greenburgh. "This is what happens when you care more about profit than people. We should seriously reconsider rehiring those workers."
In a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the estate of Nancy Blumenthal, a Bedford teen-ager who committed suicide in the County Jail in Valhalla on May 17, last year, EMSA will be paying $750,000, and Westchester will be paying $700,000, pending approval of the Board of Legislators.
The 17-year-old girl's parents, Wendy and Lawrence Blumenthal, charged in Federal District Court for the Southern District in White Plains that Dr. Harvey N. Lothringer, a psychiatrist working for EMSA, should not have discontinued their daughter's prescription for an antidepressant. They claimed that their daughter's civil rights were violated at the jail.   ELSA BRENNER

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June 15, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/Long Island;
In Babylon, a Home-Sharing Program for the Elderly

BYLINE: By DIANA SHAMAN

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk

LENGTH: 1338 words

AFTER living all her life in North Babylon, Virginia Goldsmith had no wish to leave the comfortable four-bedroom turn-of-the century Victorian with the wraparound porch that once belonged to her grandparents.
But when she turned 80, her two children, a daughter in Washington and a son in Islip, began to worry that her living alone might not be safe. 
 Last December, Mrs. Goldsmith, widowed 10 years, got a roommate and new friend, Dolly Palmer, 73, through Babylon Home Sharers, a house-sharing program sponsored by the Town of Babylon Senior Citizens Community Services, a nonprofit group. The eight-year-old program matches older homeowners with older people looking for a place to live.
Mrs. Palmer, also a widow and on a limited income, had been living with her son, but with two grandchildren in the home, it was a crowded arrangement.
Babylon's home-sharing program, which other towns are now investigating as a possible model for programs of their own, is free. Because the program is partly financed by Federal funds, at least one member of the matched couple must be 60 to meet the age guideline established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The other must be at least 50.
Homeowners are usually seeking companionship and a little income to meet housing expenses. Sharers are usually unable to afford a place of their own. A sharing arrangement allows them to find accommodations with a private room for $350 a month or less.
"House sharing can be companionship, it can be economic and it can offer security," said Beth Eggleton, the director of the Babylon program. "It offers a continuum of care so that people can stay and age in place in a community."
Requirements are simple. Applicants fill out questionnaires listing everything from work background to health problems to hobbies, so that a compatible match can be found. They are also screened.
Homeowners must show that they can offer safe and desirable accommodations and that they have the income to operate the home properly. Would-be tenants must demonstrate that they have the income to support themselves. A provision in the lease allows each to back out of the arrangement, usually with 30 to 60 days' notice.
Living areas and the kitchen are shared. Tenants pay for their own food and usually install their own telephones. Follow-up visits are provided by Babylon Home Sharers, as is counseling if problems develop.
Programs that match people seeking shared living are widespread in some parts of the country -- New Jersey has at least 50 such programs -- but Long Island, especially Suffolk, has been lagging.
A few nonprofit groups offer matching services as part of a wider array of counseling help, but the Babylon program, which is limited to homes in that town, is the only one that is town-sponsored. Its $27,000 annual budget is financed by Federal Community Development money and private grants from local banks. The town also provides free office space.
Last year, the program provided assistance and counseling to about 170 elderly people, and 42 are currently sharing homes, Mrs. Eggleton said.
Elder-Share, a Setauket nonprofit groupthat purchased a 10-room house in Mount Sinai for elderly people who wanted shared living, had to close the house in 1992, because without public financing it was too expensive to run.
Elder-Share is now trying to start a home- sharing program modeled on Babylon's, in partnership with the town of Brookhaven. The town of Southampton is also considering the idea. "We are looking for different types of housing solutions, and I feel that home sharing is very viable and cost-effective," said Toby Wiles, director of Suffolk's Department for the Aging.
ALTHOUGH the county would support any such programs, it is up to individual towns to start them, she added.
Nassau County finances a program called Project Share, now in its 19th year. Available only to Nassau homeowners, it is run for the county by the Family Service Association, a nonprofit social agency in Mineola.
"Home sharing provides people with an affordable option to live a better quality life," said Rena Iacono, the commissioner of Nassau's Department of Senior Citizens Affairs, whose budget pays for the program.
Over the years, Project Share has helped "hundreds of people combat isolation and get the financial help they need to keep their homes," she added.
The Nassau program, which has a $16,000 annual budget, is similar to Babylon's, but no lease is signed and follow-up visits are not provided. About 100 people a year receive assistance, said Margaret Hromada, the coordinator.
The nonprofit Emmaus House Foundation in Syosset offers a different approach to the home-sharing concept by operating two private houses, one in Syosset and one in Lake Grove, each shared by eight people.
The nonsectarian program, called Harvest House, is run by Sisters of St. Dominic, a Roman Catholic order based in Amityville. The $923 monthly cost includes all meals. A third house will open in Floral Park in September.
Home-sharing and shared living, such as the Harvest House program, "fill a gap that is enormous," said Marjorie Marlin of Somerville, N.J., co-president with Helen Head of Burlington, Vt., of the National Shared Housing Resource Center, based in Baltimore.
The center, which has 350 member organizations, promotes and provides information and referrals on shared housing.
"If you have the kind of limited income that we target, you have so few options in terms of housing," Ms. Marlin said. "And when it comes to getting such programs off the ground, you're only talking about a few thousand dollars, not millions."
Housing experts say the home-share idea deserves more attention and money than it is receiving because it is a useful and inexpensive option for older people who might otherwise be forced out of their homes into institutional settings.
"The economic payoff is that you end up with two people living in housing that is affordable to both of them and who both gain from the companionship and support," said Leon Harper, senior housing specialist for the American Association of Retired Persons in Washington.
"The issue is that in the absence of formal programs, how do people go about finding someone to share their home without exposing themselves to the vulnerabilities that are out there?" he asked.
The association has a free publication, A Consumer's Guide to Homesharing, which provides general information.
"What prompted us to put the guide together is that a lot of people were interested in the idea but didn't quite know where to start," said Deborah M. Chalfie, a senior program specialist for the association. "What it does is give you things to think about, such as, is home sharing for me and how can I make it work."
After living together for six months, Mrs. Goldsmith and Mrs. Palmer of North Babylon say home-sharing is working well.
They are still getting to know each other, but sitting in their cheery living room, they banter like old friends.
"We're the odd couple," said Mrs. Palmer, who once worked in the bookkeeping department of the Republic Aviation Corporation in Farmingdale. "I'm the cutup. She's prim and proper."
"She's Catholic and I'm Protestant," Mrs. Goldsmith, a retired teacher, said. "But we both believe in God."
"She's got a bum left knee, I've got a bum right knee," Mrs. Palmer said.
Mrs. Palmer loves cats. Mrs. Goldsmith has a dog.
The two widows watch television together, and they talk about their families and their husbands.
"You miss the buddy you were married to," Mrs. Palmer said, "but if you are two older people together, you have that connection."
For A Consumer's Guide to Homesharing, write the A.A.R.P., 601 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20049. The publication number is D12744.
For information on home-sharing programs, write National Shared Housing Resource Center, 321 East 25th Street, Baltimore, Md.21218, enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Virginia Goldsmith, left, a North Babylon homeowner, and Dolly Palmer, house-sharer as of last December. (Lois Raimondo for The New York Times)

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June 15, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

GOVERNMENT;
At Last, Hope for the Elderly On Property Tax Relief

BYLINE: By JENNIFER PRESTON 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 8; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1066 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

Five years ago, when Dorothy and William Fox first bought their home at Holiday Village East, a retirement community in Mount Laurel, their property tax bill was $1,900 a year. This year, they are paying $3,600.
"We haven't gotten our new tax bill yet, but it is going up again," said Mrs. Fox, 71, a retired hospital administrator who moved from Brooklyn. "Nothing is going up, except our expenses. For people living on a fixed income, we need some relief." 
 For years, New Jersey's elderly homeowners have loudly complained about covering the cost of rising property taxes while living on fixed incomes. State lawmakers have struggled over the years to come up with legislation that would provide them some relief. But the proposals failed to win support because they would have left municipalities with lower tax revenues or shifted the tax burden onto younger taxpayers, setting up a generational conflict that lawmakers found politically unpalatable.
Now, finally, there is a proposal for property tax relief for some elderly homeowners and disabled individuals that is expected to win legislative approval in the coming weeks. Although Governor Whitman does not comment on pending legislation, her aides say she is likely to sign the bill into law, making New Jersey the first state to freeze property tax rates for the elderly.
Under the plan, proposed by Assembly Speaker Jack Collins, elderly homeowners and disabled individuals who meet income eligibility requirements and who have lived in New Jersey for 15 years would be protected from property tax increases beginning next year. And the state, not the municipalities, would make up the difference.
"It's not right that retirees who live on fixed incomes and struggle just to make ends meet are being forced to sell their homes because they cannot afford to pay their property taxes," said Mr. Collins, a Republican from Salem County. "My goal is to make it possible for them to keep their homes instead of having to sell and settle for less. They have worked long and hard most of their lives. They are entitled to some security and peace of mind in retirement."
Mr. Collins said he objected to earlier proposals that would have shifted the burden onto younger property owners. And at first he was reluctant to propose offering assistance to only one group of taxpayers, since so many younger families were also struggling to make ends meet. "But at least, because of their age, they have the opportunity to increase their income," he said. "Elderly homeowners, living on fixed incomes, do not."
Not all elderly taxpayers would be eligible, and the Foxes, with their five years' residence, would be among the ineligible. As it is now proposed, only 260,000 of the state's million elderly residents 65 and older would qualify. Under the program, participants would have to offer proof of consecutive residency in the state for at least 15 years. To qualify, they would also have to meet the same income eligibility requirements now required by the Pharmaceutical Assistance for the Aged and Disabled, known as PAAD, the state program that covers much of the cost for prescriptions.
For single adults, the maximum income eligibility limit to qualify for the pharmaceutical assitance program is $17,550, and for married couples it is $21,519. The eligibility limits would rise with cost-of-living adjustments to the pharmaceutical programs. Participants whose income exceeded the program's limits would be able to stay in the program for one year and would be dropped only if their incomes exceeded the eligibility limits for a second consecutive year.
"You would have to qualify for PAAD to be eligible for benefits, but you would not have to receive PAAD benefits," said Assemblyman Thomas S. Smith Sr., a Republican from Asbury Park. "There are a number of seniors who do not take advantage of the PAAD program, even though they could, because they are already enrolled in a pharmaceutical assistance program."
Participants would continue to pay the full amount of their property tax bills to their municipalities. The state would then reimburse the local governments for the difference above the 1998 property tax rate. "No matter how high their local taxes go, they will never have to pay a dollar more than they pay now," Mr. Smith said.
For the program's first year, the estimated cost to the state budget is $18.4 million. In 10 years, legislative analysts predict, the cost to the state budget could rise to $100 million.
Mr. Collins dismisses criticism that the proposal is an election-year ploy to sway the elderly to vote for his fellow Republicans and Mrs. Whitman at the polls this November. Property taxes and auto insurance are the top issues on voters' minds, and elderly voters in New Jersey make up one third of the electorate, the second largest percentage of elderly voters in the nation, after Florida.
William G. Dressell Jr., executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, which has rejected past efforts at such tax relief, praised the legislation. "This is the first time there is a funding source," he said. "It assures that local governments would not be forced to absorb the loss in property tax revenues.
"But it is not a panacea," Mr. Dressell said. "It is not going to solve all of our property tax woes. It is a first step. It is addressing the most needy."
Mrs. Fox, a member of a recently formed group of homeowners called the Senior Citizens Education Commission, testified in favor of the bill last week. But she said later that she hoped some changes would be made in the legislation. Mrs. Fox objected to the 15-year residency limit, saying many of New Jersey's elderly residents, like herself, had recently moved here on retiring so that they could be close to their children.
"It is a beginning," she said of the legislation. "But I don't think it is the answer for the problems facing seniors, taxwise. The answer is in finding a new and equitable funding system for public education in New Jersey to keep property taxes down.
"We love it here," she said. "The area is lovely. The people are lovely. We could be very happy here if the taxes were not so high. I am not looking for luxury, but you do want to be able to do little things when you retire. And you can't start pulling money out of the bank because you have no way to put it back in."

LOAD-DATE: June 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Dorothy Fox supports a law to freeze property taxes for the elderly. (Laura Pedrick for The New York Times)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



305 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

June 15, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON THE TOWNS

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 12; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 3260 words

An opinionated guide to cultural and recreational goings-on around the state this week. To submit items for consideration, write to On the Towns, Sunday New Jersey Section, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, or send a fax to (212) 556-7219. 

MUSIC
 
CAPE MAY MUSIC FESTIVAL Through June 29. Cape May Festival Pops Orchestra plays American musical theater selections. Tonight at the Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue and Stockton Place. Jon Klibonoff, pianist. Wednesday at the Cape May Convention Hall. Prism Saxophone Quartet. Next Sunday at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Washington and Franklin Streets. All concerts begin at 8 P.M. Tickets: $15; $10 for the elderly; $5 for students. Subscriptions available.
(800) 275-4278 or (609) 884-5404.
 
CLUB BENE Jean-Luc Ponty, jazz violinist. Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $25. Corky Laing of Mountain. Saturday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $17.50. Route 35, Sayreville. (908) 727-3000.
 
CORNERSTONE Jim Locano, pianist. Tuesdays at 6:30 P.M. Naville Dickey Quartet. Wednesday, 7:30 to 11:30 P.M. Jimmy Nuzzo and Tony Ellis. Thursdays, 8:30 to 11:30 P.M. Kenny Davern Quartet Friday, 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. Mike LeDonne Quartet Saturday, 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. Free. 25 New Street, Metuchen. (908) 549-5306.
 
GREAT AUDITORIUM, OCEAN GROVE The Wooster Street Trolley Jazz Band. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12 and $15. Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove.
(908) 775-0035.
 
HARD ROCK CAFE Pat Benatar. Thursday at 10 P.M. Free. Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, 1000 Boardwalk, at Virginia Avenue, Atlantic City. (609) 441-0007.
 
J.C.C. ON THE PALISADES Shirah, a Jewish choir, will present a Father's Day concert featuring works in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and English. Tonight at 7. Tickets: $12.50; $7.50 for the elderly. 411 East Clinton Avenue, Tenafly. (201) 569-7900, extension 433.
 
RIDGEWOOD KASSCHAU MEMORIAL SHELL Bucky Pizzarelli, jazz guitarist. Tuesday. Roy Meyer Swingers, jazz vocal group. Thursday. All programs begin at 8:30 P.M. Free. Take chairs or blankets. Veteran's Field, Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. (201) 670-3924.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM David Holzman, pianist, performs works by Copland, Ralph Shapey, Jeffrey Hall, Arthur Kreiger, Hyunsook Jung and Sergei Berinski. Next Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $5; $3 for students and the elderly. Auditorium, 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6310.
 
RIDGEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY "Homage to Heitor Villa-Lobos," with Benjamin Bunch, guitarist, in works by Milhaud, Poulenc, Albert Roussel, Manuel Ponce, Joaquin Rodrigo, Abel Carlevaro and Bach. Friday at 8 P.M. Free. The Arts Cafe, 125 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. (201) 670-5601.
 
SHANGHAI JAZZ Rio Clemente. Wednesday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Neville Dickie, pianist. Thursday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Nancy Nelson and Jerry Vezza. Friday, 7 to 11 P.M. Barbara Lea. Saturday, 7 to 11 P.M. Free. 24 Main Street, Madison. (201) 822-2899.
 
SKYLANDS ASSOCIATION The West Point Dixie Players from the United States Military Academy Band. Friday at 7:30 P.M. Free. New Jersey State Botanical Garden, Morris Road, Ringwood. (201) 962-9534.
 
SUMMERFEST '97 Country Fest, with the Tim Gillis Band. Today, 1 to 5 P.M. Schooley's Mountain County Park, West Springtown Road, Washington Township. Bobby Syvarth Combo. Next Sunday, 1:30 to 5 P.M. Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, Jefferson Township. All programs are free. (973) 326-7600.
 
TURNING POINT Livingston Taylor. Today at 5 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $17.50. Greg Trooper. Thursday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. Robin and Linda Williams. Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. Christine Santelli Band. Saturday at 10 P.M. Tickets: $10. Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Next Sunday at 5 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $18.50. 468 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, N.Y.
(914) 359-3219.
 
THEATER
 
BICKFORD THEATER "Olympus on My Mind," a musical. Through July 13. Thursdays through Sundays at 8 P.M.; matinee, Sundays at 2 P.M. Tickets: $17.50; $15.75 for the elderly; $15 for students; $7.50 for students on Thursdays. Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-8069.
 
CARNIVAL PRODUCTIONS "The Fantasticks," by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. Through June 28. Thursdays at 8 P.M.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 P.M. Matinee next Sunday at 2:30 P.M. Tickets: $12; $10 for students and the elderly. Dinner-and-show packages: $27 on Fridays and Saturdays; $22 on Thursdays. El Bodegon Restaurant, 169 West Main Street, Rahway. (908) 388-0647.
 
DOVER LITTLE THEATER "Assassins," by Stephen Sondheim. Through June 28. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12. Elliott Street, Dover. (973) 328-9202.
 
HENDERSON THEATER The Premier Theater Company presents "The Sound of Music," by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Through June 28. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 P.M.; matinee, next Sunday at 3 P.M. Tickets: $22; $17 for the elderly; $12 for children under 13. Summer subscriptions, for "The Sound of Music," "Grease" in July and "Evita" in August, are $49; $42 for the elderly; $33 for children under 13. Route 52, off exit 109 of the Garden State Parkway, Lincroft. (908) 747-0008.
 
McCARTER THEATER McCarter Lab readings of new plays. "The Mad Dancers," by Yehuda Hyman, Thursday at 7 P.M. "The Stone Mason," by Cormac McCarthy. Friday at 7 P.M. "Spirit North," by Leslie Lee, June 23. Free; reservations required. Rehearsal Room, McCarter Theater, 91 University Place, Princeton. (609) 683-8000.
 
NEW JERSEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Through June 29. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 P.M.; matinees Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday at 2 P.M. "The Threepenny Opera," by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, July 11 to 27. "Blithe Spirit," by Noel Coward, Aug. 8 to 24. All at the Community Theater, 100 South Street, Morristown. "Much Ado About Nothing," June 25 to July 26 at the Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, 33 Green Village Road, Madison. "Henry V." July 15 to Aug. 10 at the football field of Bayley-Ellard High School, 205 Madison Avenue, Madison. Single tickets: $16 to $30. Subscription packages: $66 to $125. (201) 408-5600. On the World Wide Web: http:/ /www.njshakespeare.org.
 
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE "Man of La Mancha." Through July 20. Wednesdays through Sundays at 8 P.M.; matinees Thursdays at 2 P.M. and Saturdays and Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $31 to $46; $10 for students 15 minutes before each performance. Brookside Drive, Millburn. (201) 376-4343.
 
RITZ THEATER "Kiss of the Spider Woman." Fridays and Saturdays at 8 P.M. at the Club Room at Leonetti's. 901 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
MUESEUMS AND GALLERIES
 
ABC GALLERY "A Dramatic Vision," watercolors by Barbara Watts. Through July 18. Hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 1 to 9 P.M.; Fridays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Lambertville Public Library, 6 Lilly Street, Lambertville. (609) 397-0275.
 
AMERICAN LABOR MUSEUM "Workers and Immigrants," a student art exhibition. Through Dec. 31. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1 to 4 P.M. Suggested donation: $1.50. Botto House National Landmark, 83 Norwood Street, Haledon. (201) 595-7953.
 
ART ALLIANCE OF MONMOUTH COUNTY "Urban Scene, Rural Dream," paintings by Mary Phillips. Through June 24. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 12 to 4 P.M. 33 Monmouth Street, Red Bank. (908) 842-9403.
 
ATLANTIC CITY HISTORICAL MUSEUM "Bettmann on the Boardwalk: A Celebration of Historic Atlantic City, 1890-1990," a selection of photographs from the Corbis-Bettmann Collection. Through 1997. Daily, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Free. Garden Pier, at New Jersey Avenue. (609) 347-5839.
 
BERGEN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE Recent sculpture by Sonia Chusit. Through next Sunday. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus.
(201) 265-1248.
 
CHAMOT GALLERY "Surroundings," landscapes by Keith Gunderson and Bryan Perrin. Through July 13. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 3 P.M. 111 First Street, Jersey City. (201) 610-1468.
 
GALLERY AT SCHERING-PLOUGH "Reflections of Summer," featuring 30 watercolor landscapes and seascapes by 19 artists. Through Aug. 28. Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 1 Giralda Farms, Madison. (201) 882-7000.
 
GALLERY OF SOUTH ORANGE "Sky Dancers," drawings by Janice Metzger, and "Herstory Part II," mixed-media works on paper and wood by Sarah Teofanov. Through July 20. Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 4 to 6 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Baird Center, 5 Mead Street, South Orange. (201) 378-7754.
 
GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE Spring exhibition, featuring works by Marisol, Robert Murray and Jay Wholley. Through July 6. Fridays through Sundays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton. (609) 586-0616.
 
HOPPER HOUSE ART CENTER "Rocklandia," Rockland County landscapes by Monica Bradbury and Steve Burns, painters; Fred Burrell, photographer, and Ruth Geneslaw, sculptor. Through next Sunday. Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.; Fridays to 7:30 P.M. Admission: $1. 82 North Broadway, Nyack, N.Y. (914) 358-0774.
 
KEARON-HEMPENSTALL GALLERY "Visions of Immortality," paintings by Stan Mullins. Through June 30. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 3 P.M.; Thursday evenings, 7 to 9 P.M. 536 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City. (201) 333-8488.
 
MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM "The Immortal Genius: William Shakespeare, Thomas Nast and 19th-Century American Culture," satirical cartoons by Nast, who used text and imagery of Shakespeare. Through Feb. 4. "Rococo and Reason in Georgian Glass," more than 100 examples of English and Irish cut glass from the 18th and 19th centuries. Through Sept. 7. "The Timeless Folk Art of Decorative Painting." Through Oct. 12; demonstrations next Sunday, 1 to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for students and the elderly. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown. (201) 538-2404.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Two Styles/Two Photographers," works by Jeff Martin and Sandra Johanson. Through next Sunday.Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft.
(908) 747-2266.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM "A Personal Synthesis," a retrospective of paintings and and prints by Hananiah Harari, and "American Impressionist," paintings by Guy Rose (1867-1925). Both through Aug. 10. "Reflecting America: Highlights From the Permanent Collection." Through July 27. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $4; $3 for students with ID and the elderly; free admission on Saturdays. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM "Portrait Paintings From the Morris Museum Collection," including works by Rembrandt and Gainsborough. Through June 30. Recent sculpture by Leah Jacobson. Through May 24, 1998. Hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS "Color, Line and Form," watercolors and prints by Alice Hondru. Through June 26. Mondays through Fridays, noon to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M. Palmer Gallery, 68 Elm Street, Summit.
(908) 273-9121.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM "Portraits, 1975-1995," paintings by Dawoud Bey. Through Aug. 3. "Japanese Master Prints: Hiroshige's 19th-Century Landscapes." Through June 29.
"The Glitter and the Gold: Fashioning America's Jewelry." Through Nov. 2. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.
49 Washington Street, Newark.
(201) 596-6550.

NOYES MUSEUM "Treasures of Art History," including works by Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec and ancient Egyptian, Greek and Ethiopian art from the New Jersey State Museum. Closes today.. "Easy Access: Highlights From the Noyes Museum's Collection of Contemporary Art." Through Aug. 17. Wednesday through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for the elderly and students. Lily Lake Road, Oceanville.
(609) 652-8848.
 
PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Paintings by Fred Duignan. Through June 25. Mondays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 9 P.M.; Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. L.R.C. Gallery, Broadway and Memorial Drive, Paterson. (201) 684-6800.
 
PALYMYRA ART GALLERY Paintings by Richard Nunziata. Through July 5. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, 11:30 A.M. to 2 A.M. Palmyra Tea Room, 22 Hamilton Street, Bound Brook. (908) 302-0515.
 
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM The permanent collection, featuring Greek and Roman antiquities, Chinese painting and calligraphy and pre-Columbian art. Museum hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. Princeton University campus. (609) 258-3788.
PRINTMAKING COUNCIL OF NEW JERSEY A retrospective of prints by Krishna Reddy. Through Aug. 30. Hours: Wednesdays through Fridays, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Saturdays, 1 to 4 P.M. 440 River Road, North Branch.
(908) 725-2110.
 
SIMON GALLERY Pastels and paintings by Antonio Carreno, and paintings by Jim Fuess and Joyce Korotkin. Tuesday through June 28. 48 Bank Street, Morristown. (201) 538-5456.
 
WYCOFF GALLERY "The Silverman Collection," bronze sculptures by Star York, Bruce LaFountain, Sandi Clark and Walter Horton. Through June 27. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. 648 Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff. (201) 891-7436.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Asian Traditions/ Modern Expressions: Asian-American Artists and Abstraction, 1945-1970." Through July 31. "Emily Mason: Works on Paper." Through July 20. "Sequences: As You Can See," selections from the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art From the Soviet Union. Through July 20. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
FOR CHILDREN
 
BARNES & NOBLE "Animal Wonders," storytelling and crafts. Tomorrow at 7 P.M. Free. 2103 Highway 35, Holmdel. (908) 615-3933.
 
BICKFORD THEATER Saturn Summer Theater for Children, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. in July and August. Tickets: $6.25; $5 for museum members. Museum hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. Schedule and reservations:
(201) 538-0454.
 
FORUM THEATER GROUP "Starblast," a children's musical. Through June 28. Saturdays at 1 P.M. Tickets: $8. 314 Main Street, Metuchen. (908) 548-0582.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Changing Cultures: From the Lenape to the Urban Age, 1400 to 1900," exploring the history of America through changes in family life, from the Lenape through the Victorian era. Through June 1998. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (908) 747-2266.
 
NEW JERSEY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM An interactive center for ages 2 to 8. Daily programs: "Fairy Tale Play," 10:30 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. "Storytime," noon. Craft projects, 2:30 P.M. Museum hours: Mondays through Fridays,
9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $7. 599 Industrial Avenue, Paramus. (201) 262-2638.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "Kaleidoscope Kids," a one-week program on astronomy for children 6 to 12. Sessions begin July 7 and continue through Aug. 8. Each session meets Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. Tuition: $115; $110 for siblings. 205 West State Street, Trenton. Registration and information: (609) 292-6310 or (609) 292-6464.
 
SOMERSET COUNTY-BRIDGEWATER LIBRARY "June Bug Jamboree," a storytelling program for children aged 3 and older. Saturday at 10 A.M. Free. North Bridge Street and Vogt Drive, Bridgewater. (908) 526-4016, extension 4.
 
TRAILSIDE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER "Spring Celestial Sights," a planetarium program on spring constellations, including Leo, Ursa Major, Bootes and planets. For children 6 and older. Through June 29. Sundays at 2 P.M. Admission: $3; $2.55 for the elderly. 452 New Providence Road, Mountainside. (908) 789-3670.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Three Billy Goats Gruff," illustrations by Robert Bender. Through July 20. Museum hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
SPOKEN WORD
 
BARNES & NOBLE "Bloom Day," a discussion of "Ulysses," by James Joyce, led by Julian Moynahan. Tomorrow at 7:30 P.M. Free. Princeton Market Fair, Route 1, Princeton. (609) 392-0689.
 
BORDERS BOOKS AND MUSIC PRINCETON Jane Pepper discusses "Jane Pepper's Garden: Getting the Most Pleasure and Growing Results From Your Garden Every Month of the Year." Tomorrow at 7 P.M. Robert Richman, poet. Tuesday at 8 P.M. "Pranic Healing," a lecture by Navin Sharma. Thursday at 8 P.M.; registration required. All programs are free. Route 1 at Province Line Road, Princeton. (609) 514-0040.
 
ENCORE BOOKS AND MUSIC "Sharing the Bad," a reading with Lois Harrod, poet, and Mimi Schwartz, author of "Thoughts From a Queen-Sized Bed." Friday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton. (609) 252-0608.
 
FIREHOUSE GALLERY Poetry slam. Friday, 8:30 to 11 P.M. Admission: $5. Reservations recommended. 8 Walnut Street, Bordentown. (609) 298-3742.
 
NEWARK PUBLIC LIBRARY Blair Ewing, poet and editor of Sensations magazine. Saturday at 3 P.M. Free. 5 Broad Street, Newark. (201) 866-7189.
 
ETC
 
FESTIVAL '97 "A Taste of Greece," with Greek food and pastries, live music and dancers. Today, 1 to 8 P.M. St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Deal Road and Whalepone Road, Ocean Township. (908) 775-2777.
 
18TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sponsored by the Finkelstein Memorial Library. Tuesdays at 7:30 P.M., through June 24.This week: "The Young Poisoner's Handbook." Next week: "The White Balloon," in Farsi with English subtitles. Suggested donation: $1. 24 Chestnut Street and Route 9, Spring Valley, N.Y. (914) 352-5700.
 
FLEA MARKET The Chester Lions Club Flea Market offers crafts, linens, books, children's clothing, housewares, plants and produce, makeup, jewelry, scarves, handbags and other accessories. Sundays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Through Nov. 30. Free. West Blackwell Street, Morris and Sussex Streets, downtown Dover. (201) 442-1494.
 
NANTICOKE LENNI LENAPE POW-WOW AND FESTIVAL Dance and drum competitions, American Indian foods, crafts, displays and storytelling. Today, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Admission: $5 a car; $3 for motorcycles. Campers welcome. Salem County Fairgrounds, Route 40, Woodstown. (609) 451-4877 or
(609) 451-1918.
 
NEW JERSEY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sponsored by the Rutgers Film Co-op and the New Jersey Media Arts Center. Through July 27."Microcosmos," today at 2 P.M. at the Forrestal Hotel and Conference Center, 100 College Road East, off Route 1 South, Princeton. Free. "The Daytrippers" and "Suburbia," Friday. "When We Were Kings" and "Lost Highway," next Sunday. Films begin at 7 P.M. and are shown on Sundays at the State Theater, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick; Fridays and Saturdays at 123 Scott Hall, College Avenue and Hamilton Street, Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Admission: $8; $6 for members. Information: (908) 932-8482. On the World Wide Web: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/nigrin.

LOAD-DATE: June 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: 'At Play, Barnegat Bay' Works of Impressionist painters who lived and worked on the Jersey Shore from the turn of the century through the 1930's are featured in a retrospective that includes this 1910 oil on canvas by Carl Buergerniss. PEDERSEN GALLERY OF FINE ART 17 North Union Street, Lambertville. Saturday through Aug. 10. Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M., and by appointment. (609) 397-1332. (pg. 12); Jazz Violin Jean-Luc Ponty has performed with Frank Zappa, John McLaughlin and Elton John, among others, and made more than 14 solo recordings. CLUB BENE Route 35, Sayreville. Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $25. (908) 727-3000. (pg. 13); New Orleans Sound The Wooster Street Trolley Jazz Band, a Dixieland ensemble, has been performing together since 1972. GREAT AUDITORIUM, OCEAN GROVE Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12 and $15. (908) 775-0035. 'Altered States' Frank Gessner's chiasmage monoprints are showcased in a solo exhibition, which includes this new work, "Medusa." COOPER GALLERY 295 Grove Street, Jersey City. Through July 8. Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 7 P.M. (201) 451-1074. (pg. 15)

TYPE: List

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



306 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

June 15, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

THE RENT BATTLE: THE TENANTS;
City Workers Flooded With Phone Calls

BYLINE: By CLIFFORD J. LEVY 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 29; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 725 words

In a room usually reserved for coordinating responses to natural disasters, a phalanx of New York City workers assembled early yesterday to confront a man-made crisis, the pending expiration of state rent regulations, trying to ease worries that seemed as intense as any stirred by an approaching blizzard or northeaster.
By late morning, the workers were receiving as many as 100 calls an hour from tenants wondering what would happen to their homes if the rent laws lapsed after tonight. The anxious and bewildered voices of many callers provided telling evidence of the impact the prolonged dickering in Albany is having on the lives of city residents. 
 "The rent-controlled apartments are not going to be affected by this law," one worker, Elizabeth M. Marrero, told a caller who feared she would be evicted tomorrow morning if the laws expired. "You're O.K. for now. You're doing fine."
After she hung up, Ms. Marrero explained, "A lot of them are concerned about things that they don't need to be concerned about."
She and other workers said many callers did not understand their legal rights, and did not realize there was a difference between rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartments.
City officials say that even if the state rent regulations expire, tenants can stay in their apartments for the duration of their leases.
And they say the city has sole authority over rent control, and has already continued the regulations governing the 70,000 rent-controlled apartments, which are occupied mostly by elderly people. The debate in Albany, they say, is over the future of one million rent-stabilized apartments.
Still, no matter how many assurances were made, the callers often remained jittery. "People are very confused," said another worker, Hugh Stroud. "They are very upset and very disheartened. They are not sure whether they are going to be put out by their landlords."
He paused to pick up a ringing phone, spoke in soothing tones for several minutes and then transferred the caller to a lawyer from the Legal Aid Society for more help.
The scores of workers were from a range of city agencies and were supervised by the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management, the same agency that handles the city's response to natural disasters or terrorism. They operated from a room on the eighth floor of police headquarters that was adorned with video screens, computer terminals and many, many phones.
At a news conference, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said the vast majority of the callers were seeking information about their legal rights. He said there had been only a handful of calls from people accusing their landlords of harassment; the Police Department has set up a unit to investigate such complaints.
Mr. Giuliani, a Republican, has expressed strong support for continuing the current laws, siding with tenant groups and seeking to distinguish his stance from that of Gov. George E. Pataki and other Republicans in Albany who are fighting to weaken the laws.
As part of that effort, Mr. Giuliani ordered the Office of Emergency Management to open the command center. The workers were required to answer the phone with the greeting: "This is the Mayor's rent stabilization hot line."
Mr. Giuliani spent much of his news conference outlining the legal protections that are available to tenants. He also maintained his attack on state officials of both parties for allowing the fight to drag on, saying tenants were suffering.
"There are people being held hostage here," he said.
 
Where to Call for Information and Assistance
With the deadline looming for the expiration of state rent regulations, the city is operating emergency information lines for tenants, the Mayor's office announced. The following numbers will operate daily, from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M., until the rent-control issue is resolved:
For general information, legal assistance and for tenants facing eviction: (212) 487-5858. For complaints of landlord harassment, including illegal evictions, threats of physical harm, changing locks or cutting services like water, gas, electricity or heat: (212) 487-6633. For emergencies only: 911. The hearing-impaired TTY line is (212) 487-7010. The State Division of Housing and Community Renewal has also established a telephone line for tenants to report harassment: (888) 736-8457.

LOAD-DATE: June 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Al Buzzeo of the Department for the Aging talked to a caller yesterday about possible changes in rent laws. (Edward Keating/The New York Times)

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June 15, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
BLUM, ELEANORE GRACE LOURIA

SECTION: Section 1; Page 31; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 266 words

BLUM-Eleanore Grace Louria. Peacefully, at home, just a few days after her 104th birthday. Beloved wife of the late Richard Leon Blum, loving mother of Howard and the late Richard Jr., adoring grandmother of Howard Jr., Thomas, William, Eleanore, Richard III, Cornelius, and her six greatgrandchildren, Tripp, Ross, Mathew, Eric, Daniel, and Sarah. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Recreation Rooms and Settlement.
BLUM-Eleanore. For over half a century she led and inspired Recreation Rooms and Settlement, an agency chartered by the State of New York in 1905 for charitable and benevolent purposes, "to do general settlement work and any and all other works of any nature and description whatsoever". Under the RR&S banner thousands were served in First Street Settlement House, in the country camps Mikan, Recro and Wildwood and two community centers in NYCHA projects Lillian Wald and Breukelen in daycare, headstart, teen and after-school programs. Ella Blum was always there for the children, the poor, the elderly and the ill. We mourn the loss but celebrate her dedicated life. She will be remembered. Board and Staff of Recreation Rooms & Settlement
BLUM-Eleanore. The Board and Staff of Louise Wise Services mourns the passing of our longest serving and beloved Board Member. She was a kind, gentle and generous woman who cared greatly for children, and a dedicated leader on behalf of the best interests of children. We extend our deepest sympathy to her entire family. Glenna Michaels, President Nancy Cavaluzzi, Executive Dir.

LOAD-DATE: June 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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June 17, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Deal to Create A Big Chain In Elder Care

BYLINE: By MILT FREUDENHEIM

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 5; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 949 words

Genesis Health Ventures Inc. said yesterday that it had agreed to buy the Multicare Companies Inc. for $1.06 billion in cash, with backing from two investor groups. The deal would continue the rapid consolidation of the nursing home industry, creating one of the biggest chains of homes and outpatient services for the elderly in northern New Jersey, the Boston area, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Analysts said Genesis was paying a high price. But they said it was buying a solid business in markets with opportunities for cost savings and profit in taking over responsibility for sick elderly patients of health maintenance organizations. 
 The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, would create a new company, the Genesis Eldercare Acquisition Corporation. Genesis Health and the investor groups are offering $28 for each share of Multicare, which is based in Hackensack, N.J. On the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, Multicare stock rose $1.25, to $26.875. Genesis Health Ventures rose 25 cents, to $35.375.
Multicare was started in 1984 by two young lawyers, Daniel E. Straus, who is now 40, and his brother Moshael J. Straus, 44, with four nursing homes they inherited from their father, Joseph. They took the company public in 1993 at $10 a share and later split the stock, 3 for 2, making its adjusted original cost $6.67.
"We made a lot of money for a lot of people," Daniel Straus said yesterday. The Straus family will get about $455 million for their 43 percent stake in Multicare.
Genesis Health Ventures will pay $300 million and will get a 42 percent stake in the new company. The investors -- the Cypress Group of New York, which includes James A. Stern and three former colleagues in a buyout unit at Lehman Brothers, and the Texas Pacific Group -- will pay $420 million and will get the other 58 percent. There will also be $675 million in senior debt financing, and the new company will assume $342 million of Multicare's debt.
The Texas Pacific Group, based in San Francisco and Fort Worth, is a sponsor of TPG Partners II L.P., a $2.5 billion partnership specializing in corporate acquisitions.
Michael R. Walker, chairman and chief executive of Genesis, said the deal would enhance his "strategic mission" -- to provide a full range of health care services for the elderly on the East Coast. Genesis has 17,000 nursing home beds; Multicare has 15,000 plus 1,000 in assisted living residences for people who need less care.
The combined company would also provide day care centers, rehabilitation after strokes and accidents, home health care and prescription drugs for nursing home patients.
Mr. Walker said Multicare was the dominant provider in Boston and three New Jersey counties, Bergen, Morris and Essex, where it has 13 nursing homes. It has 20 percent of the market in West Virginia.
Mr. Walker is negotiating with Blue Cross plans and other managed care companies, offering discounts and case management for elderly patients with chronic conditions like depression or memory loss.
He said the object was to keep them "independent and outside a nursing home." In the fall, he said, Genesis will also start selling advice, supervision and referrals to appropriate services to people taking care of elderly parents or spouses.
Peter J. Sidoti, a health care analyst with NatWest Securities, said Multicare was "a jewel in the nursing home business, in quality of care and quality of management measured by earnings growth and stock price appreciation."
The selling price was "at the top end of the range," compared with similar recent big mergers, Mr. Walker said. The deal was valued at 13.4 times Multicare's 1996 cash flow of $104 million, defined as earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization. That compares with a factor of 8.7 in another recent nursing home deal, Living Centers of America's $1.8 billion merger with Grancare Inc. last month, and 9.8 in the acquisition of Theratx Inc. by Vencor Inc. for $354 million in February, Daniel Straus said.
Projected 1997 cash flow for Multicare, based on the first three months, was $115 million, bringing the purchase multiple to 12.1, he added.
Margo Vignola, an analyst with Merrill Lynch, said Genesis, which is based in Kennett Square, Pa., had been effective in catering to the desire of the elderly to stay out of nursing homes. It was "the first nursing home company to recognize that it could do better if it did not keep people in a bed," she said.
Mr. Walker said Medicaid patients accounted for 60 percent of the Genesis "population," low-income people for whom "we don't get paid an adequate amount," he said.
By contrast, Multicare gets about 32 percent of its payments from Medicaid and 42 percent from patients who pay out of pocket, Mr. Straus said. Most of the rest are financed by long-term-care insurance or Medicare, the Federal program for the elderly and disabled, which provides limited coverage. He said charges in the company's 155 homes averaged $160 a day.
Daniel Straus said Medicaid was "becoming less prominent" in the mix of nursing home patients because of pressure from managed care companies that push patients out of hospitals before they are well enough to go home. Nursing homes can then give such patients post-acute care, which is more lucrative than simply providing custodial care, much of it financed by Medicaid, for patients with limited needs.
Bank financing for the deal will be provided by the Mellon Bank, Nationsbank, First Union and Citibank. Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Discover and Montgomery Securities will provide a $200 million bridge loan commitment to be replaced by high-yield-bond financing.

LOAD-DATE: June 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Daniel E. Straus, seated, and his brother Moshael J., who started the Multicare nursing home chain in 1984 with four nursing homes. (Frank C. Dougherty for The New York Times)(pg. D6)      

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June 18, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Personal Health

BYLINE: By Jane E. Brody 

SECTION: Section C; Page 11; Column 4; National Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 1101 words

WHEN a terminally ill person expresses the wish to die, nearly two-thirds of Americans, including doctors, believe that this wish should be granted and that doctors should be allowed to assist in such a death without risking prosecution. (The Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether there is a constitutional right to assistance in dying by the end of June.)
But some researchers and medical personnel who specialize in the care of dying patients say that before accepting at face value the requests of patients for help in dying, the reasons behind their suicidal thoughts warrant a closer look. Recent studies have revealed that most terminally ill patients who contemplate suicide are seriously depressed. 
 Although it may sound at first like a bad joke, experts agree that dying does not have to be depressing. The end of life is always sad, but when pain and other problems are controlled, it does not have to be a period of grim despair. That is usually depression, and even as death nears it can be recognized and treated. When it is, thoughts of suicide can evaporate. In one study, for example, Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov, a psychiatrist at the University of Manitoba and the Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation in Winnipeg, Canada, found that among suicidal cancer patients who expressed a consistent, unequivocal desire for death, more than half were clinically depressed. In a New York study of 378 AIDS patients, the strongest predictor of a personal interest in doctor-assisted suicide was the presence of depression. In another study among elderly patients, treatment of depression prompted many to decide to accept life-sustaining therapy and to be more realistic and optimistic in assessing its risks and benefits.
Two other conditions, also reversible, can foster a desire for death in the terminally ill: severe, uncontrolled pain or the fear of it and inadequate support from family and friends, although in Dr. Chochinov's study, these were less influential than depression. But the three factors are often intertwined. In some cases, untreated pain is the main cause of depression; in others, the patient's depression is the main reason others fail to provide adequate support.
 
Is Depression Normal?
Based on their own studies and those of others, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York maintain that focusing on suicide "is inappropriate when so little has yet been done to ease suffering without having to kill patients or to assist in their killing of themselves."
Furthermore, Dr. Kathleen M. Foley, co-chief of the pain and palliative care service at the cancer center, cautions that wishes to die often fluctuate, and a patient requesting doctor-assisted suicide one week may reject this option two weeks later.
Many families and doctors may assume that being seriously depressed is a natural state for people with an incurable disease or terminal illness who are nearing death. It is not. Various studies have shown that even among patients with advanced cancer who know they are dying, only about 25 percent are clinically depressed. Of course, people who are terminally ill are likely to be sad. But sadness, which is perfectly normal, is not the same as depression, which is not. Sadness does not rule out hope, whether it is the hope of seeing a new grandchild or enjoying a movie. Depression does. Sadness does not render a person helpless. Depression does.
Millions of terminally ill Americans currently suffer from serious depression, a treatable yet usually untreated condition that turns the end of life into a time of desperation, blocking the dying person's ability to enjoy anything during the last weeks or months of life and inhibiting meaningful interactions with family and friends.
Not only are the patient's last days nightmarish. family and friends suffer too, because they are unable to offer comfort and love to a person who repeatedly pushes them away. And, as Dr. William Breitbart, chief of the psychiatric service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, points out, "If death occurs in a context of uncontrolled pain and depression, that unpleasant legacy lingers with the survivors for generations."
 
 Diagnosing Depression
Dr. Breitbart says doctors contribute to the problem by failing to diagnose depression or, even if they do recognize it, failing to prescribe effective treatments. Since treatment for depression will not change the patient's prognosis, doctors often think there is no point in making the investment, he said. Doctors are also often reluctant to prescribe antidepressant medication for fear it will interact badly with painkillers or other medication the patient is receiving.
Diagnosing depression in a very sick person can be tricky, Dr. Breitbart said, because many of the usual physical signs of depression, like fatigue, sleep disruption, loss of energy and poor appetite, may be caused by the patient's medical illness or its treatment. But Dr. Chochinov and colleagues in Manitoba found that it was not necessary to rely on such criteria to determine whether a sick person was seriously depressed. They showed that simply asking the patient whether he or she is depressed could produce a reliable diagnosis.
In a face-to-face interview, the patient is asked, "Tell me about your mood," and if the answer reflects serious depression, the next question is "Are you depressed most of the time?" Dr. Chochinov and colleagues showed that this brief interview, which can be initiated by family members as well as doctors, was as effective a means of diagnosing depression as more sophisticated tests.
Treating depression in the terminally ill need not be complicated either. In fact, it can sometimes counter symptoms of the disease or the side effects of treatment, Dr. Breitbart said. Many patients respond to brief cognitive therapy, which helps them to recognize and appreciate sources of hope and to experience pleasure. When antidepressive medication is the best treatment, the choice of drug depends in part on how long the patient is expected to live, since some drugs take weeks to show an effect, Dr. Breitbart said.
He said he had found that psycho stimulant drugs like Ritalin and the amphetamines were especially useful in treating the terminally ill "because they work within a day, the proper dose is easily determined, they counteract the sedative effects of opioids used for pain control. and they enhance the effectiveness of opioids." A favorite in his repertoire is pemoline (sold as Cylert), a mild stimulant that is not subject to abuse.

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June 18, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Senate Panel Rebuffs Clinton on Child Health Plan

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section D; Page 22; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1085 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 17

Conservative Republicans scored a big victory tonight as the Senate Finance Committee rejected a bipartisan proposal to expand Medicaid to cover millions of uninsured children.
The action, by a vote of 11 to 9, was a rebuff to President Clinton, who endorsed earlier today the bipartisan proposal offered by Senators John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, and John D. Rockefeller 4th, Democrat of West Virginia. 
 The committee decided instead to give states a choice between Medicaid and a new program that would offer each state a lump sum of Federal money, with broad discretion to devise individual health initiatives for children.
Many states say they will take the block grants, because they know best how to meet the needs of children in their states. And they say their programs can serve more children at a lower cost than Medicare.
Mr. Chafee and a handful of other Republicans rebelled against the leadership of their party, which has strenuously resisted any expansion of Federal entitlement programs like Medicaid.
Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, and governors of both parties put intense pressure on members of the Finance Committee to reject Mr. Chafee's proposal.
"An amazing number of governors -- governors who had never evidenced an interest in children -- have been calling in the last two days," Mr. Rockefeller said. "There's a reason for that. Under the block grant, they'll get money. They like that. Medicaid is a 30-year-old program that works, and it's a better deal for the children of America."
But Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the majority whip, said that states could be trusted and should be allowed to design their own health programs for children. Under Mr. Chafee's proposal, he said, the Federal Government would, in effect, have increased Medicaid spending for children already enrolled.
Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, defended the block grant option, saying it "provides a flexibility that our Governor seeks."
Three moderate Republican Senators -- Mr. Chafee, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and James M. Jeffords of Vermont -- voted for Mr. Chafee's proposal. And three Democratic Senators -- John B. Breaux of Louisiana, Bob Graham of Florida and Richard H. Bryan of Nevada -- voted against it.
In other action tonight, the Finance Committee approved a proposal to require affluent elderly people to pay more for their Medicare coverage. The details of the plan offered by Senator Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska, are to be worked out by the staff of the committee.
The bipartisan budget agreement reached last month by Mr. Clinton and Congressional leaders stipulates that the Federal Government will spend $16 billion over the next five years to expand health coverage and services for low-income children. The Senate and the House must now decide precisely how the money should be used. Mr. Chafee wanted to earmark $12 billion for Medicaid and $4 billion for block grants.
With tonight's vote, the Finance Committee upheld its chairman, Senator William V. Roth Jr. of Delaware, who wanted to give states a choice between Medicaid and block grants.
Under his proposal, states choosing the block grants would have to use the money to provide health insurance coverage for children with family incomes below twice the official poverty level (less than $26,660 for a family of three). The money could be used to subsidize workers' premiums under health insurance coverage provided by employers. Or it could be used to provide other coverage for children, with a package of health benefits roughly comparable to those provided under the Government health program for Federal employees.
Last week the House Commerce Committee approved a similar proposal, but it imposed fewer restrictions on the use of block grant money. Under the House proposal, states could use the money to pay doctors and hospitals, rather than to buy insurance. And it did not set any standards for the minimum benefits that must be provided to children.
The legislation, filling in details of the bipartisan budget agreement, is expected to go to the floor of the Senate and the House next week.
Mr. Hatch and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said they would keep fighting for an increase in the Federal tobacco tax, to finance health coverage for children beyond the $16 billion already approved. James P. Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Kennedy, said the two Senators would offer an amendment on the Senate floor.
Partisan divisions over Mr. Chafee's proposal seemed to harden today. President Clinton endorsed the proposal at a White House ceremony this morning. "This legislation will be the biggest investment in children's health care since Medicaid passed in 1965," he said. "It would be the most significant thing that we could do, by committing us to providing health insurance coverage for up to five million uninsured children."
In his own budget in February, Mr. Clinton proposed a modest expansion of Medicaid: to locate and enroll children who were already eligible for the program. He would also have required states to keep children on the Medicaid rolls for one year at a time, regardless of fluctuations in family income that might otherwise make the children ineligible.
The Congressional Budget Office said that "Medicaid costs would increase by almost $14 billion" over five years if all states guaranteed 12 months of continuous enrollment. Such year-round coverage is an option, but is not required under Mr. Roth's proposal.
Under current law, the budget office said, "children stay enrolled in the Medicaid program for an average of nine months in any year."
In theory, Mr. Roth's proposal gives states a choice between the block grants and Medicaid. But President Clinton said, "Given the incentives in the proposal, no rational state would choose Medicaid."
The White House also objected today to provisions in the Senate Republican bill that would gradually raise the age of eligibility for Medicare and start charging elderly people $5 for each home health care visit. Under current law, there is no charge for home health services -- a very popular benefit, whose costs have soared in recent years.
In addition, Franklin D. Raines, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, complained today that the Senate bill did not provide any of the $1.5 billion promised in the budget agreement to help low-income elderly people pay their Medicare premiums.

LOAD-DATE: June 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Members of the Senate Finance Committee began marking up their health and tax proposals yesterday. The chairman, William V. Roth Jr., Republican of Delaware, seated second from the top, conferred with Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, Democrat of New York, back to camera. (Paul Hosefros/The New York Times)

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June 19, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

MEDICARE REVAMP ADVANCES IN VOTE BY SENATE PANEL

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1349 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 18

The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved sweeping legislation today that would redesign Medicare and increase charges for affluent elderly people under the program, provide new money for health coverage of uninsured children and restore welfare benefits for more than a half-million legal immigrants.
The bill would alter health and welfare programs touching almost all Americans. The changes in Medicare would be the biggest since its creation in 1965. 
 Today's vote signaled bipartisan support for the spending bill, which would seem to bode well for the ultimate approval by Congress of at least some of its provisions. But lawmakers will have to work out many differences among themselves and with President Clinton before the proposals can be translated into law.
The White House reacted cooly to the notion of increasing medical care costs for wealthier Medicare recipients. Furthermore, a companion bill moving through the House contains neither that provision nor another controversial one: a proposal to raise the eligibility age for Medicare recipients from 65 to 67.
A major purpose of the legislation is to offer new health insurance options to elderly people in all parts of the country, but especially in rural areas. Under the bill, Medicare would sharply increase payments to health maintenance organizations in many rural areas, while health plans in high-cost areas like New York City, Miami and Los Angeles would receive very small increases.
To save money, the bill would replace Federal price regulation with competitive bidding for some medical equipment and services.
One politically explosive provision would require Medicare beneficiaries with incomes above $50,000 a year to pay more of their doctors' fees -- in some cases, much more.
"The idea is to establish a program that doesn't provide a subsidy for those who don't need to be subsidized," said Senator Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska, who proposed the income test. Aides to Mr.  Kerrey said that 2.4 million of the 38 million Medicare beneficiaries would pay the higher deductible.
Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, sounded upbeat when the committee completed its work today. "A unanimous bipartisan vote, that's a very positive sign," he said.
Mr. Lott praised Senator Kerrey and the Democrats who supported his amendment, which was approved by a vote of 18 to 2. The Senators who voted against it, John D. Rockefeller 4th of West Virginia and Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, both Democrats, opposed the amendment but later voted for the whole package.
Senator Lott said: "For wealthy individuals to pay more for their Medicare benefits, that's a responsible thing to do. The Finance Committee showed its courage. Will the rest of Congress follow our example?"
Patricia P. Smith, a lobbyist for the American Association of Retired Persons, predicted that the proposed income test for Medicare would prove unworkable. Forty percent of beneficiaries do not file tax returns, mainly because they have low incomes, she said, and the Government has no way of knowing what their income was or will be.
The Senate bill would gradually increase the age of eligibility for Medicare, to 67 from 65. The change would occur from 2003 to 2027. A comparable The House bill does not alter the eligibility age or impose an income test.
Administration officials appeared to be surprised at the whirlwind of activity in the Finance Committee.
Michael D. McCurry, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Kerrey's proposal was not part of the budget agreement reached last month by the President and Congressional leaders. But, Mr. McCurry added, "we have never ruled out the principle of means-testing" in Medicare, and the principle "may be useful in the future in another context as we deal with longer-term problems related to entitlements, and particularly the Medicare trust fund."
Today's 20-to-0 vote on the overall bill was radically different from the bitter conflicts on Medicare in 1995 and 1996. Members of both parties said the unanimous vote was a tribute to the even-handedness of the committee chairman, Senator William V. Roth Jr., Republican of Delaware.
Democrats scored some victories. The committee voted to cut back an experimental program allowing elderly people to establish tax-free "medical savings accounts," as an alternative to the standard Medicare program. The House would allow 500,000 people to set up such accounts; the Senate Finance Committee would allow only 100,000.
The President opposes such accounts on the ground that they will divert healthy and wealthy people from the regular Medicare program. But Republicans say it will encourage people to pay more attention to their health costs.
The committee also voted to let Texas move ahead with a plan under which private companies could determine eligibility for benefits like welfare, Medicaid, food stamps and job training. The Clinton Administration had blocked the plan, and labor unions vehemently opposed it, in part because thousands of state employees might lose their jobs.
On another issue, the Senate would go further than the House in restoring disability benefits to impoverished legal immigrants who are losing aid under the 1996 welfare law.
The House has already taken steps to lure H.M.O.'s to rural areas with higher Medicare payments, but the Finance Committee went further.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said his constituents wanted the extra benefits available from H.M.O.'s, including coverage of prescription drugs, eyeglasses and hearing aids.
Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, exploded in anger. He said that senators from rural states and small states were engaged in "a new kind of warfare" with big urban states.
After the committee approved a series of amendments to increase Medicare payments to H.M.O's in rural areas, Mr. D'Amato said: "This is ruinous. This is nonsense. This is greed. This is overreaching."
Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, said, "If you can find a mutual fund that specializes in H.M.O.'s that do business in rural areas, go buy it."
Under Senator Kerrey's proposal, elderly people with annual incomes of less than $50,000 for an individual and $75,000 for a couple would experience no change in the amount of the deductible they must pay on doctors' bills, now $100 a year. At those income levels, the deductible would increase to $540 a year. And it would rise on a sliding scale to a maximum of $2,160 a year for individuals with incomes exceeding $100,000 and couples over $125,000.
With millions of baby boomers scheduled to become eligible for Medicare after 2010, Senator Kerrey said, Americans must seriously consider such income tests.
Most Medicare beneficiaries have private insurance that pays costs not covered by Medicare. Such Medigap policies could pay the higher deductibles envisioned by Mr. Kerrey. But the premiums charged for such Medigap insurance would presumably rise as a result.
The committee approved a proposal by Senator John B. Breaux, Democrat of Louisiana, under which H.M.O.'s and other health plans would bid for the privilege of serving Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare H.M.O.'s now do not compete on price. For any elderly person in an H.M.O. in a given county, the Government pays the same basic amount.
Under Mr. Breaux's proposal, the Federal contribution would be roughly equal to the average of the bids, but the Government would negotiate with H.M.O.'s to make sure that Medicare did not pay more than the average cost for a person in the conventional fee-for-service program.
The Senate bill, like the House measure, would set aside $16 billion to provide health coverage for low-income children in the next five years. On Tuesday, the Senate rejected a bipartisan proposal to earmark $12 billion of this sum for Medicaid. Instead, the committee decided to give states a choice: they can get the money through Medicaid or they can take a lump sum, with freedom to design their own programs, as many states want to do.

LOAD-DATE: June 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Senator Bob Graham, in suit jacket, as he introduced an amendment to a sweeping health and welfare bill. (pg. A1); Senate Finance Committee members listened to Senator Carol Moseley-Braun yesterday. From left were Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan; Lindy L. Paull, committee staff director, and Senator William V. Roth Jr. (Paul Hosefros/The New York Times)(pg. B12)
 
Chart: "THE DETAILS: Senate Budget Bill: Major Provisions"
 
MEDICARE -- Saves $115 billion over five years
Increases health insurance options for elderly people.
Raises payments to health maintenance organizations in rural areas.
Adds new benefits for diabetes treatment, mammography and colon cancer screening.
Allows 100,000 recipients to establish "medical savings accounts."
Requires affluent people to pay more of their doctors' bills.
Gradually increases eligibility age to 67, from 65, over the years 2003 to 2027.
Lets doctors and hospitals set up their own health plans to compete in the Medicare market.
 
MEDICAID -- Saves $14 billion over five years
Cuts payments to hospitals serving large numbers of low-income patients.
Relaxes requirement for states to pay "reasonable and adequate" rates to nursing homes and hospitals.
 
CHILD HEALTH -- Costs $16 billion over five years
Provides $16 billion to cover uninsured children in the next five years.
Allows states to expand Medicaid or take the money as a block grant, with freedom to design their own insurance programs for children.
Guarantees benefits equivalent to those under the Federal employees' health benefits program.
 
WELFARE -- Costs $13 billion over five years
Restores Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid for may legal immigrants losing aid under the 1996 welfare law.
Provides $3 billion to help long-term welfare recipients get jobs. (pg. B12)       

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June 20, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

London Journal;
In Ontario, Some Bare Breasts, Some Beat Them

BYLINE: By ANTHONY DePALMA 

SECTION: Section A; Page 4; Column 3; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 926 words

DATELINE: LONDON, Ontario, June 16

Finally, the bony fingers of winter have left central Canada and with the first warm days of summer have come the first encounters with the province's new judicial ruling that allows women to go topless anywhere they please.
Well, not quite anywhere. As quickly as it took Ontario's notoriously brief spring to come and go, the question of where and when a woman has the right to bare her breasts has turned into a legal and moral tango about sexuality, equality and Canadian character. 
 For example: a woman who swims without the top of a two-piece bathing suit in Ottawa can be arrested at an indoor municipal pool, but not at an outdoor pool or at a beach.  Whether that new municipal ordinance violates the judge's ruling is not clear, but it has dismayed Norma Murray of Westport, south of Ottawa, so much that she wrote a letter of complaint to The Ottawa Citizen.
"Since we women are at last emancipated," wrote Mrs. Murray, 76, "a busload of older girls from the senior citizens home here in Westport had planned to visit a heated Ottawa pool to experience the exquisite pleasure of swimming topless. Now the rules have been changed, alas!"
While cities in the United States continue to debate whether to allow breast-feeding in public places, here in London, a working-class city about 120 miles southwest of Toronto, a topless car wash opened this spring. (It closed a few weeks later, because it violated water pollution standards, not because of the attire of the attendants.)
And when the Brass Cafe, a restaurant and bar not far from London City Hall, challenged customers to "dare to be bare," a woman who took off her top made it onto the local television news.
There are some in Canada who say all these incidents are just a case of spring fever. Others see them as the nervous adjustments of a society adapting to changing times.
"This puts women's equality back several steps," said Mayor Dianne Haskett of London, who thought the judicial ruling violated her community's standards of decency. "This is a very misplaced area for political activism by the feminist community."
It is not the law that creates problems, but the way it is interpreted, said Joan Grant Cummings, president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women in Toronto.
"The point of this is the desexualizing of women's bodies," Ms. Cummings said. "But what has been happening since the court ruled really demonstrates the way society tends to view women as objects."
It all started last December when an Ontario appeals court overturned the conviction of Gwen Jacob, who as a university student in 1991 tried to make a point about equality on a steamy July day by taking off her shirt and going for a walk in downtown Guelph, Ontario.
She was convicted of indecency and fined the equivalent of $58. She appealed and, last December, a provincial judge overturned the ruling, saying that the federal criminal code on indecency did not prevent any woman from taking off her top in public, so long as it was not done for commercial or sexual reasons.
The ruling set a precedent but nothing much happened for months because it was simply too cold to think about anything but putting on extra layers of clothing. Then two weeks ago, temperatures rose in central Canada.
Many Canadians seemed surprised by the number of Canadian women, often stereotyped as shy and conservative, who went topless. Neighbors gawked when Roxane Reid of Welland decided to mow her lawn without a shirt. She said she was hot, and that she had seen plenty of men do the same thing.
In Toronto, a topless young woman got on stage at a picnic for the elderly. And young women who make money washing windshields at busy intersections realized that by going topless they could increase their incomes.
That was too much for Mike Harris, Ontario's Premier. "I don't think that is acceptable," he told reporters, "and I don't think my view is far off society's views."
Pamela Robinson, 15, who washes windshields in Toronto, said a policeman came by and told her to put her shirt back on when she tried working topless. She kept her shirt off, and put down her squeegee instead.
"Women have this right," Miss Robinson said. "It shouldn't have been illegal, and if they make it illegal again, I'm going to do it anyway."
Ms. Jacob, the woman who started all this, declined requests for interviews about the current situation, but her lawyer, Margaret Buist of London, said the young woman was dismayed by the commercial exploitation as well as the ways in which municipalities have tried to restrict the application of the new ruling because of their own interpretation of what is indecent.
"What the municipalities are attempting to do through the back door is infringe on women's equality rights," said Ms. Buist, "but they're just wasting taxpayers' money."
There has been no shortage of wisecracks and comments about top lessness since lawn mowers replaced snow blowers. But Paul Cress, a semi-retired software developer from Ottawa, thinks the whole thing has got out of hand because officials have forgotten a basic tenet of Canadian political life.
"You know the old joke about Canadians crossing the road to get to the middle," Mr. Cress said. He thinks Ontario's city councils should have passed bylaws "stating that females must, in all public places, wear attire that covers at least one breast."
"If you take the middle road, as we usually do in Canada," he said, "nobody's really satisfied but nobody's completely unhappy either."

LOAD-DATE: June 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: In Ottawa, women are allowed to go topless at beaches and outdoor pools. At a beach, Lisa Regimbal walked by a topless Connie Morden. (Canadian Press)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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June 20, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

HOUSE IS CRITICAL OF MEDICARE PLAN BY SENATE PANEL

BYLINE: By ADAM CLYMER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 983 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 19

The bipartisan shine on Senate efforts to revolutionize Medicare and protect its finances started tarnishing today, as the plan met pained silence from House Republicans and withering attacks from Democrats.
On both sides of the Capitol, high-ranking Congressional aides said the central elements of the plan -- to raise the Medicare eligibility age to 67 from 65 and increase payments by the well-off elderly -- were unlikely to become law. 
 The obstacles amounted to the same barrier that has thwarted efforts for several years to protect Medicare against the surge of baby-boomer retirements foreseen in the next century: the fact that old people vote.
That urgent reality, especially in the House where other elements of the Medicare issue nearly cost the Republicans their majority last November, makes the idea of systemic change in Medicare seem hazardous to the political health of many members of Congress.
Two years ago, House Republicans held hearings and long negotiations to develop a plan to push Medicare sharply in the direction of managed care. After months of careful work, they still found their plan to be a political disaster.
Today they showed no appetite for signing on to a plan produced suddenly, without hearings or consultation, in a Senate committee. Aides said their bosses expected the Senate itself to kill the plan on the floor next week -- and spare them the need to kill it in conference.
They got an early taste of the sort of attack the Senate plan could draw from several Democrats who are not members of the Senate Finance Committee.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who has led most of his party's successful efforts on health care, told the Senate that the idea that the plan was needed to preserve Medicare for future generations was "hogwash."
"Our goal is to save Medicare, not destroy it," Mr. Kennedy said.
He contended that raising the eligibility age to 67 would break a compact made with millions of working Americans and "will throw millions of seniors into the ranks of the uninsured."
And he attacked the plan for increasing the annual deductible to $540, from $100, for individuals with incomes over $50,000, and to $2,160 for those with incomes over $100,000. He said that unlike previous proposals to charge the more affluent higher monthly premiums, now $43.80 for everyone for coverage of doctor's bills, this approach would amount to a "sickness tax" because it would fall hardest on the sickest old people.
Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the House minority leader, told a news conference that deductibles that varied by income would destroy "the social contract that we have in this country that everyone is part of the same program," adding, "Everybody pays their premiums, pays their taxes, and gets a similar kind of benefit."
The American Association of Retired Persons, the nation's largest organization of the elderly, denounced both provisions, and others. They called the income-based deductibles "unworkable and onerous."
The harsh reaction was the sort that the plan might have faced if Congress had held hearings on it. But as the Finance Committee worked late nights this week, neither proposal even attracted debate from members.
The plan to raise the eligibility age was in the original proposal of the chairman, Senator William V. Roth Jr., and was never challenged even though two years ago it was held out of order on the Senate floor. It is likely to face the same fate this year, under rules that limit budget bills to those that will affect the debt within five years. The gradual phase-in of the age increase would only begin in 2003.
The proposal to charge higher deductibles came from Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, a new Democratic member of the committee. He had originally proposed raising monthly premiums but explained today that he had changed the approach on the advice of Senator Phil Gramm, the Texas Republican who heads the subcommittee on health care.
He said Mr. Gramm told him that focusing on deductibles would "have a constructive impact" by reducing overutilization of the health care system, because if people had to pay more they would not go to the doctor so often. And Mr. Kerrey agreed. His plan was adopted by an 18-to-2 vote, with only Senators John D. Rockefeller 4th of West Virginia and Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, both Democrats, voting no.
Mr. Kerrey, a maverick Democrat who has been an insistent advocate of curbing spending on entitlements since he came to the Senate in 1989, said both changes were wise. To avoid such curbs, he said, was "to stick your head in the sand and ignore it because you are afraid of what's going to happen at the polls."
Speaking for the Clinton Administration, Chris Jennings, a White House aide, said he believed that neither proposal had been "carefully vetted" before being passed by the committee. He said raising the age requirement would create a class of very hard-to-insure elderly people and variable deductibility would be administratively unworkable because of the difficulty of determining just what people's incomes were.
As part of the budget reconciliation legislation, the Medicare proposals, along with tax issues and changes in Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, will come to the Senate floor next week under procedures that bar filibusters.
But before they do, the Budget Committee has to package them and may produce a "manager's amendment" that could seek to alter any part of the measure.
Those procedures, observed Robert Reischauer, a former director of the Congressional Budget office now at the Brookings Institution, "cut through all the restraints that keep policy from developing in Congress, good and bad."
"It's freshening to have a mechanism like this," he said, but "you sometimes get some very dubious policies."
      

LOAD-DATE: June 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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June 22, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In The Region/Westchester;
For Muted Bronxville, a Spurt of Construction

BYLINE: By MARY McALEER VIZARD

SECTION: Section 9; Page 6; Column 1; Real Estate Desk

LENGTH: 1143 words

DATELINE: BRONXVILLE

THIS one-square-mile village, known for its turn-of-the-century housing and quaint Tudor downtown, will soon be adding 188 new apartments in two separate projects, the most construction the village has seen in 25 years.
Both projects have been in the planning stage for years, and it is just happenstance that they are coming to fruition at the same time, said Bill Regan, the village administrator. 
 A 110-unit luxury rental and a 78-unit senior residence will be built at opposite ends of Bronxville's downtown, which is divided by Metro-North's railroad tracks.
The main section of the downtown, what most people think of as Bronxville, is concentrated along Pondfield Road, which is on the east side of the tracks.
Considered one of Westchester's liveliest downtowns, it is characterized by distinctive globe lighting, upscale restaurants and boutiques and a three-screen cinema.
On this side, right along the railroad tracks, a 78-unit Kensington Manor condominium for the elderly will rise at the corner of Kensington and Sagamore Roads.
The site, which is owned by the village, is a little under two acres. It is now occupied by a rundown building that was once the Gramatan Garage, which will be demolished to make way for a three-and-a-half story Tudor-style building.
"There will be a main level with two three-and-a-half-story wings," said Henry George Greene, the developer, who is based in Scarsdale. In addition, there will be a 290-car underground parking garage with about 90 spaces for building residents, the rest for municipal parking.
"With this project comes many benefits for the village," said Mayor Nancy Hand, "including getting rid of a derelict garage, putting a property back on the tax rolls and getting 200 parking spaces for our downtown."
Mr. Greene will lease the land from the village for 50 years, with provisions for two 50-year extensions. He will pay $1.5 million for the first five years, then $1 a year after that.
The project is expected to generate more than $4 million in taxes for the village by the year 2005, Mr. Regan said.
"For 20 years, we've been talking about providing for our seniors, allowing them to stay in the village once they sell their homes here," said the Mayor. "I think this project is ideal because it's what people look for in retirement living and it's within walking distance of everything."
Kensington Manor is designed for the independent elderly who want housekeeping, transportation and "some nursing services," Mr. Greene said.
"There will be a gourmet restaurant for residents that will serve one meal a day," Mr. Greene explained. There will also be a reception area for visitors, an exercise room and "probably some banking services," Mr. Greene added.
Residents will hold a life lease on their apartments, meaning that upon vacating the unit, they -- or their estate, should they die -- will receive a 90 percent refund of the purchase price.
Prices for the one- to two-bedroom units will range from $275,000 to $500,000; monthly charges will range from $2,000 to $3,500 a month.
Mr. Greene has just begun marketing the units. According to the terms of the lease, he must presell 70 percent of the units before he can begin building.
In the meantime he has agreed to begin demolition of the garage and will pave the property to provide 60 interim parking spaces for the village.
Bronxville's other project, a 110-unit luxury rental, promises to enliven a section of town now known as kind of a poor relation to Bronxville's more glamorous east side.
Two Tudor-style pitched roofed buildings will be built in an L-shape along the intersection of Parkway Road and Milburn Street.
The 1.65-acre property borders a shopping district, which consists of a collection of small stores and restaurants, many of which get most of their business from the employees of Lawrence Hospital directly across from the shopping district on Palmer Avenue.
In 1991, the site had been approved for condominiums, the Mayor said, but the real estate market collapsed and plans were put on hold.
"We think rentals are the hot market right now," said Arthur Collins 2d, executive vice president of Collins Enterprises of Greenwich, Conn., which is developing the project.
Rentals were also the housing option preferred by the village since it did not want housing that would add a substantial number of children to its school system.
To ameliorate this concern, Mr. Collins agreed to build 56 one-bedroom units, 44 two-bedrooms -- both simplexes and duplexes -- and 10 three-bedroom duplex penthouses. Rents are expected to range from $1,500 to $3,000 a month.
The Mayor said the project would have its own parking garage for about 165 cars.
The village enforces strong architectural guidelines and insists that all new projects blend in with existing structures. "Bronxville has a very strong architectural tradition," said Do Ho Chung, a Stamford, Conn., architect who is designing the project.
Mr. Chung based his design on a nearby co-op called Alger Court. "It is the most beautiful apartment building I've ever seen," Mr. Chung said. With its stone foundation, light beige stucco walls, pitched roofs, archways and wrought-iron gating, Alger Court is indicative of what could be called the "Bronxville look," Mr. Chung said.
For his project, Mr. Chung said, "we're going for a similar look, but with a pinkish-brick foundation and grayish stucco."
The five-story buildings will look like three, explained Mr. Chung, since the penthouse apartments will be in the gabled roof line. The steeply pitched roofs will be shingled in asphalt, "but they will look like weathered wood," Mr. Chung said.
Most of the one- to three-bedroom apartments will have terraces, and there will be a garden in the interior courtyard, Mr. Chung explained. Rents will range from $1,500 to $3,000 a month.
"We expect to attract singles, young professionals, empty-nesters, and divorced people," Mr. Collins explained. "And we'll probably get some internationals on temporary work assignment and a percentage of corporate rentals."
A two-story retail building and a garage will be razed to make way for the project. Most of the existing merchants have already been relocated, Mr. Collins said, adding that "we're still trying to find space for the others."
The developer has agreed to make improvements leading from his project, along Parkway Road to Palmer Avenue. "We're going to be putting in globe lighting on Palmer, taking the image of Pondfield and extending it across the tracks," Mr. Collins said.
To address village concerns about additional traffic, Mr. Collins agreed to redesign a traffic circle connecting Palmer and Pondfield Roads. "We'll make it more efficient and better able to handle whatever additional traffic is generated by the project," he said.

LOAD-DATE: June 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Renderings of Kensington Manor, a 78-unit senior residence, top, and 110-unit rental project, below.
 Henry George Greene (Do Ho Chung)

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June 22, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON THE TOWNS

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 12; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 2912 words

An opinionated guide to cultural and recreational goings-on around the state this week. To submit items for consideration, write to On the Towns, Sunday New Jersey Section, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, or send a fax to (212) 556-7219.
 
MUSIC
 
CAPE MAY MUSIC FESTIVAL Through June 29. Prism Saxophone Quartet. Tonight at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Washington and Franklin Streets. Paramount Brass, a quintet. Wednesday at the Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue and Stockton Place. The Jazz Maniacs Delight. Next Sunday at the Cape May Convention Hall. All concerts begin at 8 P.M. Tickets: $15; $10 for the elderly; $5 for students. (800) 275-4278 or (609) 884-5404.
 
CORNERSTONE Jim Locano, pianist. Tuesdays at 6:30 P.M. Jill McCarrin Trio. Wednesday, 7:30 to 11:30 P.M. Jimmy Nuzzo and Tony Ellis. Thursdays, 8:30 to 11:30 P.M. Larry Ham Quartet. Friday, 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. Don Friedman Quartet with Glenda Davenport. Saturday, 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. Free. 25 New Street, Metuchen. (908) 549-5306.
 
GREAT AUDITORIUM, OCEAN GROVE "Yesterday," a tribute to the Beatles. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12 and $15. Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove. (908) 775-0035.
 
RIDGEWOOD KASSCHAU MEMORIAL SHELL Opera in the Park. Tonight at 7. Ridgewood Concert Band. Tuesday at 8:30 P.M. Bob Conrad, magician. Thursday at 8:30 P.M. Free. Take chairs or blankets. Veteran's Field, Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. (201) 670-3924.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM David Holzman, pianist, in works by Copland, Ralph Shapey, Jeffrey Hall, Arthur Kreiger, Hyunsook Jung and Sergei Berinski. Today at 2 P.M. Tickets: $5; $3 for students and the elderly. Auditorium, 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6310.
 
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Take 6 and Stewart Goodyear, 18-year-old pianist, to perform with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leslie B. Dunner, in an AT&T Community Partners Concert to benefit Newark non-profit groups. Tonight at 7. Tickets: $10 to $35; post-concert Reception, $20.Symphony Hall, 1020 Broad Street, Newark.(800) 255-3476 or (201) 624-8203.
 
SHANGHAI JAZZ Harry Allen Trio with the Joe Cohn Trio. Wednesday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Bob DeVos, guitarist, and Steve Freeman, bassist. Thursday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Grover Kemble Trio. Friday, 7 to 11 P.M. Steve Minzer Trio. Saturday, 7 to 11 P.M. Free. 24 Main Street, Madison. (201) 822-2899.
 
 
SUMMERFEST '97 Bobby Syvarth Combo, with an appearance by Country Rich. Today, 1:30 to 5 P.M. Mahlon Dickerson Reservation. 995 Weldon Rd. Jefferson Township. Hanover Wind Symphony. Next Sunday, 3 to 5 P.M. Frelinghuysen Arboretum. All programs are free. 53 East Hanover Avenue in Morris Township. (973) 326-7600.
 
TURNING POINT Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Today at 5 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $18.50. The Jazzabels and Peter Nelson. Thursday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10. Rhett Tyler and Early Warning Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $10. George Kilby Jr. and the Coolerators. Saturday at 10 P.M. Tickets: $10. Martin and Jessica Simpson and the Angels. Next Sunday at 7 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. 468 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, N.Y.
(914) 359-3219.
 
THEATER
 
CARNIVAL PRODUCTIONS "The Fantasticks," by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. Through Saturday. Thursday at 8 P.M.; Friday and Saturday at 8:30 P.M. Tickets: $12; $10 for students and the elderly. Dinner-and-show packages: $27 on Friday and Saturday; $22 on Thursday. El Bodegon Restaurant, 169 West Main Street, Rahway. (908) 388-0647.
 
CIRCLE PLAYHOUSE "Alone in the Rain: The James Dean Story," by Michael Boyd. Through July 5. Thursdays through Sundays at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10. 416 Victoria Avenue, Piscataway. (908) 968-7555.
 
DOVER LITTLE THEATER "Assassins," by Stephen Sondheim. Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12. Elliott Street, Dover. (973) 328-9202.
 
HENDERSON THEATER The Premier Theater Company presents "The Sound of Music," by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Thursday through Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $22; $17 for the elderly; $12 for children under 13. Route 52, off exit 109 of the Garden State Parkway, Lincroft. (908) 747-0008.
 
McCARTER THEATER McCarter Lab readings of new plays. "Spirit North," by Leslie Lee, tomorrow at 7 P.M. Free; reservations required. Rehearsal Room, McCarter Theater, 91 University Place, Princeton. (609) 683-8000.
 
NEW JERSEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Through next Sunday. Today at 2 P.M.; Tuesday through Friday at 8 P.M.; Saturday at 2 and 8 P.M.; next Sunday at 2 and 7 P.M. "The Threepenny Opera," by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, July 11 to 27. "Blithe Spirit," by Noel Coward, Aug. 8 to 24. All at the Community Theater, 100 South Street, Morristown. "Much Ado About Nothing," Wednesday through July 26 at the Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, 33 Green Village Road, Madison. "Henry V." July 15 to Aug. 10 at the football field of Bayley-Ellard High School, 205 Madison Avenue, Madison. Single tickets: $16 to $30. Subscription packages: $66 to $125. (201) 408-5600. On the World Wide Web: http://www.njshakespeare.org.
 
RITZ THEATER "Kiss of the Spider Woman." Through July 26. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 P.M. at the Club Room at Leonetti's. 901 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
SUMMERFUN THEATER "Sylvia," by A. R. Gurney. Tuesday through Saturday at 8 P.M.; matinee Thursday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $18 and $22. Six-show season tickets: $72 and $88. Weiss Arts Center, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Lloyd Road and Bloomfield Avenue. (201) 256-0576.
 
MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
 
AMERICAN LABOR MUSEUM "Workers and Immigrants," a student art exhibition. Through Dec. 31. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1 to 4 P.M. Suggested donation: $1.50. Botto House National Landmark, 83 Norwood Street, Haledon. (201) 595-7953.
 
ART ALLIANCE OF MONMOUTH COUNTY "Urban Scene, Rural Dream," paintings by Mary Phillips. Tuesday, 12 to 4 P.M. 33 Monmouth Street, Red Bank. (908) 842-9403.
 
ATLANTIC CITY HISTORICAL MUSEUM "Bettmann on the Boardwalk: A Celebration of Historic Atlantic City, 1890-1990," a selection of photographs from the Corbis-Bettmann Collection. Through 1997. Daily, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Free. Garden Pier, at New Jersey Avenue. (609) 347-5839.
 
BERGEN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE Recent sculpture by Sonia Chusit. Today, 1 to 5 P.M. 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus. (201) 265-1248.
 
GALLERY AT SCHERING-PLOUGH "Reflections of Summer," featuring 30 watercolor landscapes and seascapes by 19 artists. Through Aug. 28. Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 1 Giralda Farms, Madison. (201) 882-7000.
 
GALLERY OF SOUTH ORANGE "Sky Dancers," drawings by Janice Metzger, and "Herstory Part II," mixed-media works on paper and wood by Sarah Teofanov. Through July 20. Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 4 to 6 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Baird Center, 5 Mead Street, South Orange. (201) 378-7754.
 
GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE Spring exhibition, featuring works by Marisol, Robert Murray and Jay Wholley. Through July 6. Fridays through Sundays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton. (609) 586-0616.
 
HOPPER HOUSE ART CENTER "Rocklandia," Rockland County landscapes by Monica Bradbury and Steve Burns, painters; Fred Burrell, photographer, and Ruth Geneslaw, sculptor. Through Today. Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.; Fridays to 7:30 P.M. Admission: $1. 82 North Broadway, Nyack, N.Y. (914) 358-0774.
 
KEARON-HEMPENSTALL GALLERY "Visions of Immortality," paintings by Stan Mullins. Through June 30. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 3 P.M.; Thursday evenings, 7 to 9 P.M. 536 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City. (201) 333-8488.
 
MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM "The Immortal Genius: William Shakespeare, Thomas Nast and 19th-Century American Culture," satirical cartoons by Nast, who used text and imagery of Shakespeare. Through Feb. 4. "Rococo and Reason in Georgian Glass," more than 100 examples of English and Irish cut glass from the 18th and 19th centuries. Through Sept. 7. "The Timeless Folk Art of Decorative Painting." Through Oct. 12; demonstrations today, 1 to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for students and the elderly. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown. (201) 538-2404.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Two Styles/Two Photographers," works by Jeff Martin and Sandra Johanson. Closes today. "Transcending the Surface: Contemporary Fiber Art." Works by 11 artists. July 6 through August 24. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft.
(908) 747-2266.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM "A Personal Synthesis," a retrospective of paintings and prints by Hananiah Harari, and "American Impressionist," paintings by Guy Rose (1867-1925). Both through Aug. 10. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $4; $3 for students with ID and the elderly; free admission on Saturdays. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM "Portrait Paintings From the Morris Museum Collection," including works by Rembrandt and Gainsborough. Through June 30. Recent sculpture by Leah Jacobson. Through May 24. Hours: Sundays,
1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS "Color, Line and Form," watercolors and prints by Alice Hondru. Through Thursday. Mondays through Fridays, noon to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M. Palmer Gallery, 68 Elm Street, Summit.
(908) 273-9121.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM Works by Bob Justin. Through next Sunday. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.; Sundays, 12 to 5 P.M. Free. 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6464.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM "Portraits, 1975-1995," paintings by Dawoud Bey. Through Aug. 3. "Japanese Master Prints: Hiroshige's 19th-Century Landscapes." Through next Sunday.
Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.49 Washington Street, Newark.
(201) 596-6550.

NOYES MUSEUM "For the Love of Art: Carvings and Paintings by South Jersey Folk Artist Albert Hoffman," works reflecting Old Testament narratives and American Indian life. "Photographs by Dwight Hiscano," landscape photography. Both next Sunday through Sept. 21. "Easy Access: Highlights From the Noyes Museum's Collection of Contemporary Art." Through Aug. 17. Wednesday through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for the elderly and students. Lily Lake Road, Oceanville. (609) 652-8848.
 
PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Paintings by Fred Duignan. Through Wednesday. Mondays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 9 P.M.; Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. L.R.C. Gallery, Broadway and Memorial Drive, Paterson. (201) 684-6800.
 
PALMYRA ART GALLERY Paintings by Richard Nunziata. Through July 5. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, 11:30 A.M. to 2 A.M. Palmyra Tea Room, 22 Hamilton Street, Bound Brook. (908) 302-0515.
 
SIMON GALLERY Pastels and paintings by Antonio Carreno. Paintings by Jim Fuess and Joyce Korotkin. Through Saturday. Tuesday through Friday, 12 to 6 P.M.; Wednesday, to 8 P.M.today and ; Saturday, 12 to 5 P.M. 48 Bank Street, Morristown. (201) 538-5456.
 
WYCOFF GALLERY "The Silverman Collection," bronze sculptures by Star York, Bruce LaFountain, Sandi Clark and Walter Horton. Through Friday. Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. 648 Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff. (201) 891-7436.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Sequences: As You Can See," selections from the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art From the Soviet Union. Through July 20. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
FOR CHILDREN
 
BARNES & NOBLE "Hey Diddle Diddle," storytelling. Tomorrow at 7 P.M. Free. "Animorphs Animalfest," Fan Club meeting. Friday at 4 P.M. For ags 7 to 14; registration required. 2103 Highway 35, Holmdel.
(908) 615-3933.
 
BICKFORD THEATER Saturn Summer Theater for Children. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. in July and August. Tickets: $6.25; $5 for museum members. Museum hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. Schedule and reservations:
(201) 538-0454.
 
FORUM THEATER GROUP "Starblast," a children's musical. Through Saturday. 1 P.M. Tickets: $8. 314 Main Street, Metuchen. (908) 548-0582.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Changing Cultures: From the Lenape to the Urban Age, 1400 to 1900," exploring the history of America through changes in family life, from the Lenape through the Victorian era. Through June 1998. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (908) 747-2266.
 
NEW JERSEY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM An interactive center for ages 2 to 8. Daily programs: "Fairy Tale Play," 10:30 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. "Storytime," noon. Craft projects, 2:30 P.M. Museum hours: Mondays through Fridays,
9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $7. 599 Industrial Avenue, Paramus. (201) 262-2638.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "Kaleidoscope Kids," a one-week program on astronomy for children 6 to 12. Sessions begin July 7 and continue through Aug. 8. Each session meets Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. Tuition: $115; $110 for siblings. 205 West State Street, Trenton. Registration and information: (609) 292-6310 or (609) 292-6464.
 
SOMERSET COUNTY-BRIDGEWATER LIBRARY "Twilight Toddler Time," special ways to end the day. For ages 2 and up. Wednesday, 7 to 7:30 P.M. Registration required. Preschool films: "One Kitten for Kim," "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "Scruffy." For all ages. Friday at 10:30 A.M. Free. North Bridge Street and Vogt Drive, Bridgewater. (908) 526-4016, extension 4.
 
TRAILSIDE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER "Spring Celestial Sights," a planetarium program on spring constellations, including Leo, Ursa Major, Bootes and planets. For children 6 and older. Today and next Sunday at 2 P.M. Admission: $3; $2.55 for the elderly. 452 New Providence Road, Mountainside.
(908) 789-3670.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Three Billy Goats Gruff," illustrations by Robert Bender. Through July 20. Museum hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
SPOKEN WORD
 
BARNES & NOBLE "Looking Into Your Past Lives," a discussion and workshop led by Sandra Stevens of the Holistic Health Association. Tuesday at 7 P.M. Free. "Spiritual Perspectives: A Night of Conversation and Connection," a discussion led by Frederika Ebel of Louise L. Hay's book "You Can Heal Your Life." Wednesday at 8 P.M. "The Past: Dinosaurs!," a reading of "The Horned Dinosaurs," by Peter Dodson, and a discussion led by Jack Repcheck of "T. Rex and the Crater of Doom," by Dr. Walter Alvarez. Thursday at 7 P.M. Princeton Market Fair, Route 1, Princeton. (609) 392-0689.
 
BORDERS BOOKS AND MUSIC PRINCETON Dr. Thomas J. Sugrue discusses "The Origins of Urban Crisis" and Dr. Clancy D. McKenzie discusses "Delayed Post-traumatic Stress Disorders From Infancy." Both tomorrow at 7 P.M. Discussion and demonstration of the roots of chiropractic health care. Thursday at 8 P.M. All free. Route 1 at Province Line Road, Princeton. (609) 514-0040.
 
ENCORE BOOKS AND MUSIC "New Jersey: The Dinosaur State," a reading and discussion led by Dr. William B. Gallagher of his new book, "When Dinosaurs Roamed New Jersey." Friday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton. (609) 252-0608.
 
OLD BRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY "People Poets of Old Bridge," an open reading. Today at 2 P.M. Highway 516 and Cottrell Road, Old Bridge. (908) 290-0595.
 
ETC
 
18TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sponsored by the Finkelstein Memorial Library. Tuesday at 7:30 P.M. This week: "The White Balloon," in Farsi with English subtitles. Suggested donation: $1. 24 Chestnut Street and Route 9, Spring Valley, N.Y. (914) 352-5700.
 
FLEA MARKET The Chester Lions Club Flea Market offers crafts, linens, books, children's clothing, housewares, plants and produce, makeup, jewelry, scarves, handbags and other accessories. Sundays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Through Nov. 30. Free. West Blackwell Street, Morris and Sussex Streets, downtown Dover. (201) 442-1494.
 
NEW JERSEY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sponsored by the Rutgers Film Co-op and the New Jersey Media Arts Center. Through July 27. "When We Were Kings" and "Lost Highway," today at 2 P.M. at the Forrestal Hotel and Conference Center, 100 College Road East, off Route 1 South, Princeton. Free. "Kenneth Anger Retrospective No. 1," Tuesday. "Crash," Friday. "Fire" and "Siddhartha," next Sunday. Films begin at 7 P.M. and are shown on Sundays at the State Theater, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick; Fridays and Saturdays at 123 Scott Hall, College Avenue and Hamilton Street, Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Admission: $8; $6 for members. Information: (908) 932-8482. On the World Wide Web: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/nigrin.

LOAD-DATE: June 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Jazz Jam "The Jazz Maniacs Delight" at the Cape May Music Festival offers a variety of styles, including cool, bop, scat and modern. Big Nick Nicholas leads an all-star jam. CAPE MAY CONVENTION HALL Beach Avenue and Stockton Place. Next Sunday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $15; $10 for the elderly; $5 for students. (800) 275-4278 or (609) 884-5404. (pg. 12); Maria and Company Theaterfest presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic "The Sound of Music." This family musical, directed by the Broadway veteran Dennis Edenfield, features familiar songs including "Do Re Mi" and "My Favorite Things." MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM Life Hall, Montclair State University. Through July 13. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 P.M.; matinees Fridays and Saturdays at 2 P.M. and Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $25; $15 for seniors and $10 for students. (201) 655-5112. (pg. 13); Character Sketch Strictly Art in Princeton holds its third annual showcase of 100 professional artists, photographers and sculptors, including this portrait by Barbara Pappendick. CARNEGIE CENTER Route 1 and Alexander Road, Princeton. Today, 10 to 5 P.M. Rain or Shine. Free. (908) 874-5247. (pg. 14)

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June 22, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

GOVERNMENT;
Dying With Dignity Is Fine, Just Not in My Backyard

BYLINE: By KIT R. ROANE

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 6; Column 2; New Jersey Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 827 words

When Mary Gotz Rother is asked why she and other hospice advocates have been fighting the city of Clifton for the past two years, her answer is simple: "I want to give other elderly people the gentle, respectful death that my father had -- one without pain, watching his garden grow in the backyard."
 On its face, it would seem a point of little contention. But when the issue is not how people are going to die, but where, Mrs. Rother has learned that a hospice can produce the kind of "not in my backyard debate" usually reserved for methadone clinics and halfway houses. Angry residents have packed zoning meetings to argue that a hospice would lower property values, bring strangers into the community and expose neighborhood children to issues adults want them shielded from. 
 The dispute reached the State Assembly this month, with lawmakers passing a bill that would waive local zoning laws for hospices treating fewer than 16 terminally ill patients at a time, giving them -- including the 12-bed hospice planned for Clifton -- the same protections from community disapproval now accorded to domestic violence shelters and homes for the disabled.
The measure has yet to reach the Senate and those who oppose the plan have vowed to continue fighting what they see as a threat to local autonomy and their ability to fashion a neighborhood that reflects their values.
"I have nothing against hospices, my wife died in my arms in my house," said Richard S. Herman, a 59-year-old electrical engineer who lives across the street from the proposed Clifton site. "But these people are trying to put a medical center in a residential neighborhood when other commercial sites are available. Ninety percent of the neighborhood is against it but we've been completely ignored. And the assemblymen who just voted to put it here are going to have a tough time come election next year."
Mr. Herman said that most residents were worried that the hospice would increase traffic on their street and lead to mounds of medical waste on the curb. Residents have also questioned the motives of some of those pushing the site, noting that the wife of the Rev. Earl Modean, the founder of Clifton Hospice House Inc., which is trying to build the hospice, is the real-estate broker handling the proposed site and that Mrs. Rother's husband is a lawyer representing the nonprofit organization.
In response to these charges, Mrs. Rother, who works for an assemblyman who sponsored the bill, said that the real-estate agent was charging lower-than-market rates and that her husband plans to donate his legal fees to the institute.
But another problem for opponents of the hospice, only hinted at during zoning board meetings and interviews with neighbors, is a general uneasiness about having death in their midst.
Edward M. Werger, a 74-year-old retired pharmaceutical distributor, said he was worried about the children who play on his street or go to school a few doors down.
"You'd have youngsters in a playground right next door to people dying," he said. "It would leave a bad impression with them, a sadness, and I don't think people should be exposed to that."
None of these are new issues, according to Jay Mahoney, president of the Virginia-based National Hospice Organization. His group acts as a clearinghouse for the hospice movement, which opposes aggressive medical treatments for people who are dying and instead tries to create as normal a living environment as possible.
Today there are about 3,000 hospices nationwide, which care for more than 450,000 people a year, a number that has been steadily growing for the last two decades.  Only about 100 of these are the kind of stand-alone community-based hospices that has been proposed for Clifton. And in New Jersey, there are only three residential facilities among the 45 groups offering hospice care -- the others are part of hospitals or are home-based.
When hospices do try to move into residential neighborhoods, Mr. Mahoney said, "you see some of the same resistance to these types of facilities that you do with group homes and the like.
"The question is how will this impact my quiet neighborhood. While most of these things can be worked out, sometimes people's positions harden and reasonableness starts to suffer. Hospice patients are the casualty."
What Clifton Hospice House Inc. would like to do is provide 12 beds for the dying in a residential setting next door to a Catholic church. While the organization has identified the private house it intends to buy, it has not actually done so.
Complaining that "everyone wants to help people into the world but no one wants to help them out of it," Mrs. Rother said that the hospice she envisions would give each patient a private room, with sunlight falling through paned windows and a garden of flowers in the backyard.
"It would be their house, a peaceful place to say goodbye," she said. "That's how death should be."

LOAD-DATE: June 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Mary Gotz Rother is leading the fight in Clifton to allow a nonprofit group to convert this house into a 12-bed hospice. (Angel Franco/The New York Times)

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June 22, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

BEHIND THE WHEEL/1998 Ford Escort ZX2;
A 2-Door for Buyers At the Entry Level

BYLINE: By MICHELLE KREBS

SECTION: Section 11; Page 1; Column 1; Automobiles

LENGTH: 943 words

DATELINE: DETROIT

ABOUT a year ago, the clerk at a service station was admiring the handsome European sedan I was driving, the brand of which I no longer recall.
"But, I like coupes," said the middle-aged woman, "I just can't bring myself to buy a four-door. They're for old people." 
 At least that's the way it used to be.
Coupes, which only a couple of decades ago dominated the car market, went hand in hand with the young. But as baby boomers aged and procreated, the practicality of four doors and the arrival of more attractive, better-mannered sedans emerged victorious. The car market did a flip-flop, and sedans came to rule.
Now, it appears, auto makers are trying that old formula of enticing the young buyer with two doors, snappy styling and spirited performance. The double-edged strategy is to resuscitate the coupe market while luring the all-important young buyers to a brand early on, so they can graduate later to larger, more expensive models.
The latest of the new coupes aimed at young buyers comes from Ford Motor. The Escort ZX2 arrived in showrooms in April as a 1998 model. Even part of its name -- according to the scuttlebutt in the automotive trade, though denied by Ford -- seems to be derived from its target market: "X," for Generation X. (The "Z" stands for its Zetec engine; the "2," for its two doors.)
 It competes with the Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 and the Dodge/Plymouth Neon Sport Coupe. All the small coupes are front-wheel drive with peppy, fuel-efficient engines and a relatively sporty ride and handling. All carry price tags in the low- to mid-teens.
While it shares most mechanical features with the Escort sedan and wagon redesigned for 1997, the ZX2 was developed as a coupe by an engineering and design team distinct from the one that produced the sedan and wagon. That's in contrast to the vehicle it replaces, the Escort GT, which, in essence, was a sedan minus two doors.
The ZX2 shares no body panels with its sedan and wagon siblings. Instead, it has a steeply sloped hood and highly raked windshield, which combined with its wedge-shaped profile give it a more aggressive, sporty stance. For an even livelier look, the ZX2 comes with a sport package that includes 15-inch aluminum wheels, a rear spoiler and fog lamps. With its slanted, elliptical head lamps -- a signature styling cue for new Fords -- and outfitted in slick black paint, the ZX2 I tested reminded me of a sleek black cat lurking on Halloween night.
Features inside the ZX2 are familiar, though the interior differs a bit from that of the Escort sedan. The two models share a central integrated control panel, which made its debut in the Taurus and later carried over to the Escort. I liked the elliptical panel for the audio and climate controls because of its large, straightforward buttons and organized appearance. The full center console with dual cup holders and storage for tape cassettes is also the same as the sedan's.
And the back seat of the ZX2, like that of the sedan, splits and folds so you can carry a long item, like a surfboard. Curiously, the ZX2, like its Chevrolet and Dodge competitors, offers an integrated child-safety seat as optional equipment. I can't imagine struggling to put a baby in the back seat given the smallness of the car and the folding seat back. It was tough enough to shoehorn in my 5- and 9-year-old children. But, I suppose, using a permanently installed child-safety seat is easier than battling to load a baby as well as a seat into the back.
Other options are what you might expect for a car aimed at the young, including a six-disk CD changer and a power moon roof.
As for other safety features, the ZX2 offers optional anti-lock brakes for $570, as does the Neon for $565; the Cavalier has them as standard equipment.
The ZX2 shares its 2.0-liter Zetec four-cylinder, dual overhead-cam engine with the larger, more expensive Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. The 130 horsepower in the coupe is about 20 more than in the Escort sedan, which is powered by a 2.0 liter four-cylinder, single overhead cam. The engine is peppy but noisier than my old ears could bear day to day. But I'm not in the target audience for this car, and it is still quieter than the raucous Neon.
While the ZX2 has the same chassis and suspension hardware as the sedan, it is tuned for more agile handling. Yet, it maintains a comfortable ride. Equipped with the standard five-speed manual transmission -- the only way I could imagine ordering this car -- the ZX2 darted handily through rush-hour traffic and zipped confidently through curves. My main complaint was with the steering. It seemed too light and imprecise, even though Ford engineers said they had focused on it. Ford also said quality was a primary concern, but before I took my first spin, the knob for adjusting the rear-view mirrors snapped off in my hand. That, however, was the only quality flaw I found in the regular production model I tested.
Feature by feature, the ZX2 is outdone by its competitors. With seating for four, it is significantly smaller than the Neon Sport and the Cavalier Z24. The Chevy takes the prize for most trunk space, with the Neon and ZX2 in a deadlock behind it. The Cavalier Z24 and the Neon, if outfitted with the optional 150-horsepower engine that will be standard on '98 models, have more power than the Ford. The ZX2, however, has the most comfortable ride and the best seats.
And the ZX2 wins when it comes to price. With anti-lock brakes included, the ZX2 starts at about $13,600; the fully equipped test model runs $15,755.
 
INSIDE TRACK: A lot of fun in a tiny space at an affordable price.

LOAD-DATE: June 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: A highlight of the new small coupe from Ford is an elliptical center control panel. (Ford Motor)
 
Table: "Coupes on the Comeback Trail" lists price and features of the Chevrolet Cavalier Z24, Dodge Neon Sport Coupe, and Ford Escort ZX2.

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June 22, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WEDDINGS;
Robin Sparkman, Howard Robbins

SECTION: Section 1; Page 32; Column 5; Society Desk

LENGTH: 184 words

Robin Hamilton Sparkman, a daughter of Beatrice S. Page of Rowayton, Conn., and Nicholas P. Sparkman of Larchmont, N.Y., was married yesterday to Howard Zachary Robbins, a son of Phyllis and Melvin Robbins of New York. Rabbi Susan Schnur officiated at Wave Hill in Riverdale, the Bronx.
The bride, 28, is a business editor in Fort Lee, N.J., for MSNBC on the Internet, an on-line venture of the Microsoft Corporation and NBC. She graduated from Wellesley College and received a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her father is a manager at Senior Personnel Placement Bureau in White Plains, an employment agency for the elderly. Her mother is the treasurer of the E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation for the Blind in Darien, Conn. 
 The bridegroom, 29, is an associate at Proskauer Rose, the New York law firm. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University and from the New York University School of Law. His parents, now retired, owned Robbins Men's and Boys' Wear, which was a New York-area store chain.
The couple met in 1988 at a debate tournament at Swarthmore College.

LOAD-DATE: June 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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June 22, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Bristol Journal;
When Progress Means Back to Horse and Wagon

BYLINE: By SALLY JOHNSON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 10; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 751 words

DATELINE: BRISTOL, Vt., June 21

The idea of hauling trash with a team of horses came from an old issue of the magazine Draft Horse Journal. Patrick Palmer was intrigued. He and his wife, Cathy, had a pair of Percherons and they had the wagon. All they needed was a customer.
So when this town of 4,000 people decided last winter to privatize trash pickup and advertised for proposals, the Palmers jumped. With a bid of $15,600 for the year -- a bit higher than some of the truckers -- they got the contract. 
 "Sure, there was a little grumbling that we didn't take the lowest bid," said the Town Administrator, Robert Hall, "but we thought it would be a great thing for the town because it's unique."
Mr. Hall figures that the town is actually saving money because its road crew -- freed from garbage collection -- is now available for repairing streets five days a week.
Every Monday morning, the Palmers load their team -- 17-year-old Luke and 10-year-old Zac -- onto a trailer at their farm in nearby New Haven for the short ride to Bristol. At 7 A.M., not sharp, the Palmers, assisted by Kristina Samuels, a family friend, set out along the side roads and cul-de-sacs of Bristol. They wend their way past manicured lawns and meticulous gardens, arguing good-naturedly as they go about whether to turn left or right at the next corner.
"We're still arguing about the route," Mrs. Palmer said recently from her perch high up on the driver's seat. She drives half the route while her husband walks or jogs beside the wagon, lobbing garbage bags over the side and hoisting bags of recycling material into bins strapped to the side. Then they switch jobs, while Ms. Samuels helps from the back of the wagon.
The trash wagon, in operation for only a month now, has the effect of a circus parade in miniature: drivers stop and wave, elderly people emerge from their houses, and mothers with toddlers follow along part of the route. On this sunny, windy day, a customer had left two carrots next to the garbage bags.
"The customers seem to love it," Mr. Palmer said, heaving yet another green bag into the wagon, which he built originally to haul paying guests on hayrides. "They come out with their cameras. I've never seen anybody take a picture of a garbage truck."
The contract calls for the Palmers to pick up about 200 bags of household garbage from 150 to 175 homes each Monday, which requires three or four trips to the dump on the edge of town. They also pick up recyclable material under the contract.
The number of homes with garbage varies because residents can decide weekly whether they want to avail themselves of the service, buying garbage stickers that must be affixed to the bags for pickup. Otherwise, they can haul their own garbage to the dump.
It takes the Palmers six or seven hours to complete the route, depending on the demand. Mr. Palmer said he would be able to finish the job in less time after he built a new wagon, one with a cover to protect the workers from rain, sleet and snow.
Under their contract, the Palmers are protected against prolific household dumpers. The garbage they collect is weighed at the dump, and if the quarterly average is more then two tons a week, they receive $1.50 for each additional 20 pounds.
The Palmers are longtime horse fanciers, and they got into the trash-hauling business, Mrs. Palmer said, "because these horses need to pay their way." A team for four years now, Luke and Zac are used for sleigh rides in the winter and hayrides in the summer, for birthday parties and for office outings. Those enterprises net the couple $2,000 to $5,000 a year, said Mr. Palmer, who also works as a real estate agent.
Mr. Hall said he hoped that the Palmers were satisfied with the deal.  "A lot of these guys who bid on the job heard $15,000 and their eyes lit up," he said, "but this is not as easy a job as some of them thought it would be. You have workers and equipment tied up for several hours."
Mr. Hall said his office had received one call of complaint, on the first day, when the Palmers were running late.
"One of our older residents called to say her recycling hadn't been picked up, so I told her that we'd just started making pickups with a horse and wagon," Mr. Hall recalled. "She said: 'A horse and wagon?' This is the 20th century. That's stupid.'
"But on the whole, I would say it's been very popular. The merchants along the main drag love it, and a lot of the older folks tell me they listen for the clop of the horses' feet."

LOAD-DATE: June 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: For Bristol, Vt., progress in garbage collection meant returning to an older method. Patrick and Cathy Palmer do the job every Monday with a family friend and their wagon, drawn by their horses, Luke and Zac. (Paul Boisvert for The New York Times)
 
Map showing the location of Bristol, Vermont: In Bristol, Vt., a town of 4,000, horses pull the garbage wagon

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June 22, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

THE DOCTOR'S WORLD;
Is the Longer Life The Healthier One?

BYLINE: By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D.

SECTION: Section 14; Page 18; Column 5; Women's Health

LENGTH: 890 words

TO EMPHASIZE the differences in the health of the sexes, Dr. Eugenia Eng tells students at the University of North Carolina, "Women are sicker; men die quicker." That women in the United States live about seven years longer than men is hardly disputed, though the reason for the gap is a mystery.
The perception that women are sicker, not only in their extra years but throughout life, is also widely shared and used to counteract the notion that women are healthier because they live longer. It is also used to justify the need for more health care for women and the way in which research money is allocated. 
 Yet there are little solid data to indicate that women are sicker, and even less about the quality of their health in those extra years. A better understanding could help identify the factors underlying longevity, like social networks, so that they could be used to improve public health.
"We need information about women over and beyond all the activists who demand it for its own sake," said Dr. Maureen M. Henderson, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The male-female mortality gap starts in the womb, holds into very old age and has widened in recent decades. It is now about seven years in the United States, compared with two to three years early in this century. As longevity improves for both men and women, it is uncertain whether the gap will grow.
Sir Richard Doll, an Oxford University professor and an international leader in epidemiology, cited a study of centenarians in England -- made possible by Queen Elizabeth's tradition of sending birthday telegrams to all citizens who reach 100 -- revealing that at 105, men and women begin to die at the same rate.
Dr. Doll said he believed that an important factor in the gap was that the male body was bigger and had more cells, providing a greater chance for something in a cell to go wrong. "Lung cancer mortality in nonsmokers, for example, is about 20 percent higher in males than females, and one can easily account for that by the greater number of cells" in the airways, Dr. Doll said.
Hormonal differences are an obvious factor. But fewer people are aware that women have lower rates of certain infections, suggesting that they have an immunological advantage over men. The biggest factor appears to be the difference in the smoking and drinking habits of the two sexes and the larger number of deaths among men from homicides, suicides and accidents.
And there is a growing awareness among scientists that some diseases may progress differently in men and women and that biological differences may account for variations in how each responds to treatment.
Over the course of their lives, women visit doctors and hospitals more often than men, and surveys show that both sexes consider women to be the sicker sex.
But a study by Dr. Eileen Crimmins, a demographer at the University of Southern California, found that women and men spent similar proportions of their lives without disability. Using data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics in 1990, Dr. Crimmins found that men were free of disability for 58.8 of their average 71.8 years (nearly 82 percent) and that women were disability-free for 63.9 of their average 78.8 years (just over 81 percent).
Dr. Henderson, the Seattle epidemiologist, said the nature of the American health-care system might explain why women are perceived to be sicker than men throughout life.
Women are accustomed to responding to checklists to report symptoms during their routine medical visits for birth control, Pap smears and mammograms, among other things. Men generally do not have the same requirements for regular visits, Dr. Henderson said, probably because they don't generally make regular visits.
"If someone asked me every year to fill in whether or not I have pain in my neck, then I am going to think about pain in my neck, whereas somebody who has never been asked about pain in the neck is not going to think about it unless it is really bothering him," Dr. Henderson said.
What do the extra seven years mean for women?
The data analyzed by Dr. Crimmins are not nearly as bleak as is commonly believed. "The difference in death rates makes women look less healthy in old age," Dr. Crimmins said. "The males have died off before they become disabled."
Her calculations based on the 1990 data showed that for women, on average, 5.1 years were free of disability, an additional year involved living in a community with a disability and another 0.7 year was lived in an institution.
"It is not that women have a greater tendency to get health problems," Dr. Crimmins said, "but that they live long enough" to fall into the most vulnerable period of life for disabling illness. And, she said, "they live longer once they have them."
Dr. Crimmins concluded: "If a man and a woman are both alive at a given age, the likelihood that they will lose their ability to walk or to lift is about the same."
Dr. Eng said that one reason there are few relevant data to explain this gender gap is that Government-supported studies focus on specific diseases, while the gap "is much more a community-societal issue."
Such studies might address the questions Dr. Eng also poses to her students: "Is it better to die quicker, or live longer but be sicker?"

LOAD-DATE: July 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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June 24, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Senate Finance Panel Adjusts A 'Means Test' for Medicare

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 13; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 516 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 23

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee said today that they had agreed to revise their proposal to make affluent elderly people pay more for Medicare.
The change would retain the idea of such a "means test," but would make it more workable and easier for the Government to administer than the original plan. 
 Lobbyists for the elderly said that the revised proposal was somewhat more acceptable, but that they still disliked it. Liberal Democratic senators said they would try to kill the proposal, just as they had intended to fight the original.
The new proposal would increase premiums for elderly people with incomes above a certain level, starting at $50,000 a year for an individual. For most beneficiaries, the monthly premium, now $43.80, is deducted from Social Security checks.
The original proposal, approved last week by the Finance Committee, would have required affluent elderly people to pay larger shares of their doctors' bills. The proposal would have affected only people with doctors' bills that exceeded $100 a year, the amount of the current deductible under Part B of Medicare, which covers doctors' services.
The Senate began debating Medicare today as part of a large bill intended to carry out the bipartisan budget agreement reached last month by President Clinton and Congressional leaders. Even if the full Senate approves an increase in Medicare premiums for affluent people, the House may balk.
Martin A. Corry, director of Federal affairs at the American Association of Retired Persons, said the proposal to increase premiums for higher-income beneficiaries was "less harmful to the integrity of the Medicare program" than the proposal to increase the deductible.
But Mr. Corry said: "It will still be controversial. If you apply this progressive principle to the elderly, why not apply it across the board? Why should high-income workers get generous Federal tax subsidies for their health insurance?"
The original income test for Medicare was proposed last week by Senator Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska, who said, "Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize those who do not need a subsidy." The proposal was approved in the Finance Committee, 18 to 2, with support from 11 Republicans and 7 Democrats.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, ranking Democrat on the committee, said today that members of the panel had agreed that the income test should be carried out by increasing Medicare premiums rather than the deductible.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said, "I'm strongly opposed to an increase in the deductible and the premium, as well."
Asked why the Finance Committee had endorsed the original proposal, Senator Paul Wellstone, Democrat of Minnesota, said: "It was late at night. People were tired."
Mr. Clinton has said he is not philosophically opposed to a "means test," but does not want to jeopardize the budget accord by pressing the idea this year. Rather, he said, it should be considered later, when Congress addresses the long-term financial problems of Medicare and Social Security.

LOAD-DATE: June 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Marion Brown, 82, visited the Capitol yesterday to urge the Senate to vote against a $5 co-payment for home health visits, a change in Medicare that is part of a spending bill before Congress. Behind her were, from left, Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, all Democrats. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
      

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June 25, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

In Florida, the Young Are Gaining on the Old

BYLINE: By MIREYA NAVARRO 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1478 words

DATELINE: FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.

When the bell rings to signal a change of class at Parkway Middle School here, the principal, Willie Dudley, turns traffic cop as a mob of boisterous teen-agers pours out onto the 16-acre campus. His task is to get hundreds of students into their next classrooms within five minutes.
Ten minutes later, he is still yelling: "Let's go! Daniel! Don't make the girls late now, you're holding them up. Come on, you all. Come on, young lady. Jacob! Let's go! Come on, ladies, hustle up!" 
 Delays during class changes are one result of severe overcrowding at Parkway, a school built for 1,200 students that now has 1,800. The situation underscores a demographic shift that is giving a face lift to the state: Long identified with old people, Florida is struggling with a surge of young people.
Children 5 to 17 years of age now account for 2.2 million, or 16 percent, of the state's population of 14 million, demographers at the University of Florida say. That figure is up from 2.01 million in 1990 and is expected to go to more than 2.5 million in 2000.  The growth rate among children in that age group is sprinting ahead of that for the elderly, with demographers projecting that from 1990 to 2000, the number of school-age children in the state will grow by 25 percent, while that of residents 65 and over will grow by 22 percent.
"Because Florida has this image of a retirement state, you tend to forget it has a bunch of kids," said Stan Smith, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. "Right now, these kids are growing faster than the elderly population, and both groups are growing faster than the population as a whole."
At Parkway, lunch, served in five shifts over three hours, comes smack in the middle of some classes, splitting them into two short sessions. Nearly half the students attend at least some of their classes in trailers set on concrete blocks, some in the softball outfield. There is no home field advantage for Parkway's softball or track teams -- home games and meets are held at schools with enough space.
The overcrowding at Parkway reflects a crisis of such magnitude that Gov. Lawton Chiles has formed a commission to study the problem and plans to summon the State Legislature to a special session in the fall to deal with it.
The state's public school system of 2.2 million students is growing by about 60,000 new students each year, part of a national trend caused by a baby boomlet of the baby boomers, increased immigration and high fertility rates in the Hispanic population, Federal education and Census Bureau officials say. But here in Florida, the growth is among the fastest in the country and twice that of New York City, where the system of 1.1 million students is growing by 20,000 a year.
In Florida, the nation's retirement mecca, the trend has rejuvenated many areas, putting single-family home developments next to retirement villages and forcing baby strollers and canes to vie for the right of way at the mall.
At Century Village, a retirement community here in Broward County, some residents complain that their quality of life has been invaded by loud music, reckless driving and the construction of new homes and town houses that start at $100,000.
"The ladies with the baby carriages, you got to get out of their way or else they'll run you over," said Vincent Gaudiello, an 83-year-old resident of Century Village with his wife, Madeline, 73.
This friction between the old and the young may be inevitable, given the need of state officials to shift spending priorities. The proportion of people 65 and older in Florida peaked in 1995 at 19 percent, and it is not expected to rise again significantly until after 2010. By 2020, that group will make up nearly one-fourth of the state's population as the baby boomers age, according to demographic studies by the University of Florida. The school-age population is expected to be 15 percent by 2020, demographers say.
Youth-related issues like school overcrowding now top the government's agenda, forcing public officials to juggle resources to accommodate new needs, in addition to old needs like nursing-home care and social services for immigrants. State officials say they need to find $3 billion more for school construction in the next five years to keep up, in addition to the $11 billion spent each year to run the schools.
School officials and teachers' groups advocate raising taxes to build schools, but the Republican majority in the Legislature this year refused to break their no-new-tax pledge to voters and rejected proposals to raise a utilities tax or to allow school boards to raise local property taxes.
Some advocates for children say politicians still do not regard investing in younger generations as a priority, particularly when taking into account the cost of caring for older generations that are living longer.
"If you're 66 in America, you're guaranteed health care; if you're 6, you have to beg and borrow it," said Jack Levine, executive director of the Florida Center for Children and Youth. "It's a question of how we balance the generations, and right now, it's not favoring investing in children."
But Florida legislators play down any intergenerational conflict over government spending, with some noting that they are equally mindful of the needs of children and the elderly because the voters they regard as most critical -- those in the middle -- care about both.
"Their concern is their kids -- they've got to get a good education -- and their second concern is who's going to take care of grandma, who's going to pay?" said State Senator Locke Burt, an Ormond Beach Republican who is the majority leader.
For now, school overcrowding is taking center stage with the help of Governor Chiles, a Democrat who has made children a major theme of his last term.
The extent of the problem is still being defined, but in areas like South Florida, "some counties can build schools and still not catch up," said Bob Bedford, the State Department of Education's deputy commissioner for educational programs.
At least 300,000 of the state's public school students, or 14 percent of the student body, attend classes in portable classrooms, the Governor's Commission on Education said. In Broward County, school board officials list 33 of the county's 200 schools as "critically overcrowded," that is, at 125 to 175 percent of capacity. The county has one of the nation's fastest-growing school populations, according to the Council of the Great City Schools, which represents the largest school districts in the United States. In the last six years, enrollment increased 35 percent, the council said, the second-highest rate in the nation, after Las Vegas, Nev.
As state officials look for sources of money, they are considering everything from belt-tightening and cheaper construction methods to reversing some tax exemptions and expanding the lottery.
One problem that some school boards need to surmount is a blemished record on managing school construction -- by misspending the money on operating expenses or by permitting programs to become riddled with corruption. Some polls have shown that working-age voters with children are helping to defeat school bond issues because they doubt that the money will be spent well. The Republican-led Legislature says school systems must be held accountable before it approves more money for school construction.
The Legislature has already taken one step: It passed a law this year declaring that 75 percent of the state's portable classrooms are permanent, rather than temporary -- in effect, lowering the estimate of the need for new schools.
"That's like calling ketchup a vegetable," said Mr. Levine of the Florida Center for Children and Youth.
Some state officials like Mr. Bedford, of the Florida Department of Education, say that failure to address school overcrowding effectively may have a ripple effect on the economy, from the poor academic performance of students entering the job market to reluctance by some businesses to relocate to Florida.
At Parkway Middle School, a magnet school for the performing arts, student concerns dealt more with not having enough time to eat lunch (a half-hour) and the pushing and shoving when school lets out and 46 buses line up to take the students home, giving the school the maddening pace of Grand Central Terminal.
Worse, some students said, individual attention from teachers is scant.
"You have to be one of those people who catch up quick because the teacher is not going to stop to help you," said Laura Denny, 12, a sixth grader.
A new $3.4 million building is being built to replace 24 portable classrooms by next year. But the principal, Mr. Dudley, was anything but hopeful. "We'll still need portables," he said. "We won't catch up."

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Overcrowding at Parkway Middle School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has led to the use of portable classrooms. (pg. A1); At the Parkway Middle School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a school built for 1,200 students that now has 1,800, students wait in long lines to eat lunch in 30-minute shifts. Some do not eat until 1:30 or 2 P.M. (Andrew Itkoff for The New York Times)(pg. B6)
 
Graph: "DEMOGRAPHICS: A Changing Florida"
By the year 2000, the number of school-age Floridians is projected to grow faster than the number of those over 65. Graph shows percentage of those 65 and over and of those 5 to 17, during 1970, 1980, 1990 and a projected 2000. (Sources: U.S. Census Bureau)(pg. B6)

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June 25, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

James S. Todd, 65, Surgeon Who Led Medical Association

BYLINE: By ERIC PACE 

SECTION: Section D; Page 20; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 644 words

Dr. James S. Todd, a New Jersey surgeon who was the executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Medical Association from 1990 until he retired last year, died yesterday in Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J. He was 65 and lived in Ridgewood.
The cause was metastatic cancer, said James Stacey, a spokesman for the association, which has about 300,000 members. 
 At the time of his death, Dr. Todd was retired from the practice of surgery.
Mr. Stacey said yesterday that Dr. Todd's years as the organization's executive secretary had been "a time of dramatic change and pressure for change."
One of his main accomplishments, Mr. Stacey said, was guiding the association through the implementation of a dramatic revision in the system of payments to doctors in the Medicare program for the elderly.
The payment method under Medicare changed from the old "reasonable and customary fee" basis to a system that takes into account the resources that doctors bring to their professional discipline: their education and training and also the complexity of the services provided.
That system was begun in 1991 by the agency that administers Medicare, the Health Care Financing Administration, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
"It certainly was an improvement over the old system, which was cumbersome and in some ways inequitable," Mr. Stacey said. The association provided advice for the Government about the change in systems. Its main means of doing that during Dr. Todd's tenure as its executive vice president was by contributing to a Harvard University study of the new system.
Dr. Todd also won praise within the association for the way he guided the organization through the national debate on universal health care reform in 1993 and 1994.
The association did not support or oppose any of the various proposals that had been made, but it did provide information about the implications of the proposals for the public as well as for the medical profession.
But the debate proved inconclusive. A universal health reform proposal put forward by the Clinton Administration in 1993 failed for lack of support in Congress. Since then, Congress has enacted some small-scale changes.
Dr. Todd also worked actively, with an organization of companies providing professional liability insurance for doctors, on ways to curb the escalating cost of malpractice insurance. Mr. Stacey said part of that work involved drafting guidelines for the practice of various medical specialties to reduce the number of errors committed by doctors.
Mr. Stacey said the first guidelines, for anesthesiologists, had been notably effective in reducing errors.
As executive vice president, Dr. Todd also oversaw preparations for the establishment of the National Patient Safety Foundation. Its chief mission is to identify and correct errors in medical systems, notably in the hospital system. Its formation was announced in the fall of 1996, after he had stepped down.
Dr. Todd was born in Hyannis, Mass., grew up in Massachusetts and received a bachelor's degree in 1953 and his medical degree in 1957, both from Harvard.
He interned at what is now Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, was a resident in surgery there and went on to a private surgical practice in Ridgewood from 1964 to 1985. He maintained professional affiliations with hospitals in Manhattan and New Jersey.
He went on to be senior deputy executive vice president of the American Medical Association from 1985 to 1990, when he was chosen by the association's board to become the executive vice president. In that post he replaced Dr. James H. Sammons and was followed by Dr. P. John Seward.
Dr. Todd is survived by his wife of 38 years, the former Marjorie Patricia Thorn, and a son, Kendall Scott Todd, who lives in New Jersey

NAME: James S. Todd

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Dr. James S. Todd.      

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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June 25, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

News Summary

SECTION: Section A; Page 2; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 1323 words


INTERNATIONAL   A3-9
 
U.N. Monitor Says Iraq Is Bluffing on Disarmament
The outgoing leader of the United Nations commission in charge of monitoring Iraq's disarmament, Rolf Ekeus, said Iraq had consistently refused to cooperate with inspectors, using alibis he compared to "Thousand and One Nights." He said scientists there were still under orders to be ready to make lethal chemical weapons at short notice, even if stocks are destroyed.   A1
 
China Trade Wins House Vote
Congress renewed China's normal trade privileges, known as "most favored nation" status, with the United States. The vote was 259 to 173 against punishing China for its human rights record, an annual proposal which received more votes this year than any time since 1992.   A6 

American Freed in Hong Kong
Hong Kong authorities released a senior United States immigration official from custody. The official was arrested a year ago for trying to sell blank passports to help people illegally enter the United States. He had argued in court that his life might be endangered after Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule, but officials said he was released because he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a pending case against another United States immigration official.   A8
 
Subpoena for Winnie Mandela
Officials of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established to investigate atrocities committed during apartheid, said Winnie Mandela, former wife of President Nelson Mandela, will be summoned to testify before a closed session of the panel.   A3
 
Netanyahu Survives Vote
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel scraped through a no-confidence vote following an angry debate in the Parliament. His plans to re-arrange the Cabinet were blocked, however, by the insistence of a Likud hawk, Ariel Sharon, that he not only take over the powerful Finance Ministry but that he also be included with the Defense and Foreign Ministers in shaping negotiating strategy with the Palestinians.   A5
 
Croatia Loan Delayed by U.S.
The Clinton Administration, frustrated by the failure of President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia to comply with the accords that ended the war in the former Yugoslavia, succeeded in postponing a vote on a $30 million World Bank loan. But the Administration stopped short of opposing the loan outright, and it appeared to be having difficulty winning support from other members of the World Bank's governing body to postpone the loan for long.   A9
 
Vatican Warns Against Cloning
Human cloning would not lead to identical souls because only God can create a soul, a panel set up by Pope John Paul II has concluded. The Pontifical Academy of Life said the spiritual soul, "the constitutive kernel" of every human created by God, cannot be produced through cloning.   (AP)
 
NATIONAL   A10-17, B7-9
 
Senate Approves Increase In Some Medicare Fees
The Senate voted to increase Medicare premiums for affluent elderly people and to raise the age of eligibility by two years, to 67. Together, the proposals would make profound changes in Medicare, forcing elderly people to take more responsibility for their health care and their health insurance.   A1

U.F.O. Report Released
The Air Force made public its latest report on the famous 1947 incident in the New Mexico desert near the town of Roswell that is at the heart of claims by flying-saucer fans that extraterrestrials have visited the Earth and which has become a celebrated part of American popular culture. The report, in voluminous detail, debunks the supposed evidence.   B7

Impasse in Ratings Talks
The television industry and a coalition of parent-advocacy groups were at an impasse in their negotiations over revising the six-month-old television ratings system. The networks insisted that the groups and politicians pledge not to bring up the issues of violence and sex on television for at least two years.   A10

Drug Report Tracks Trends
Many people who snort heroin have taken to injecting the drug for a more efficient high, according to a report on national trends in illicit drug use. Other drug users have begun substituting heroin for crack cocaine, dismissing crack as a ghetto drug and believing that heroin is easier to manage, the report found.   A14

Abortion Ban Endorsed
The American Medical Association endorsed a Federal ban on a type of late-term abortion, a ban that imposes criminal penalties on doctors who perform the procedure. The vote marks only the second time in the organization's 150-year history that it has supported making a medical procedure a crime.   A11
 
D'Amato Backs E.P.A.
Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato threw his support behind the embattled Environmental Protection Agency and its proposal to toughen air quality standards, promising that he would lead a fight in Congress against any lawmakers who oppose them. In a letter to President Clinton, the New York Republican joined other party leaders from northeastern states, including Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, who have spoken out strongly in defense of the E.P.A.'s proposal to tighten health standards for smog and soot.   A13

The United States Conference of Mayors voted to oppose the E.P.A. plan, saying the proposed standards could jeopardize local economies. The resolution, introduced by Mayor Dennis Archer of Detroit, faced little opposition.   A13
 
Debate on H.M.O. Rules
The budget bill coming up for debate in the Senate and the House would establish new protections for elderly people who join health maintenance organizations.   A16
 
NEW YORK/REGION   B1-5
 
Woman Charged in Death Of Baby Born at Prom
The New Jersey teen-ager who gave birth in a bathroom stall at her senior prom was charged with murder after the authorities said they determined that she had delivered a healthy boy, cut the umbilical cord, strangled him and put him in a plastic bag that she threw in the trash.   A1

2 Diplomats Leave New York
Two diplomats from Russia and Belarus who scuffled with New York City police last December, setting off a season of testy relations between Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and the United Nations diplomatic corps, have quietly left the country.Their departures were a clear signal that the two missions did not want to tangle with the city any longer.   B4

Judge Rules for Immigrants
The Government cannot use the 1996 antiterrorism law to automatically deport legal immigrants who were convicted of crimes before it was enacted, a Federal judge ruled.   B3

SPORTS   B10-15

Upsets at Wimbledon
The second day of play at Wimbledon brought a series of upsets including that of the 5th-seeded player, Michael Chang.   B11

HEALTH   C11
 
Friends Keep Colds Away
A new study has found that people with a broad array of social ties are significantly less likely to catch colds than those with sparse social networks. The lack of diverse social contacts was the strongest of the risk factors for colds that were examined in the study, including smoking, low vitamin C intake and stress.   C11

BUSINESS DAY   D1-19

Dow Jones Surges Back
Investors surged back into the stock market a day after it was shaken up in the biggest selloff of the year. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 153.80 points, or 2.02 percent, to close at 7,758.06.   D1

Business Digest   D1
 
EDUCATION   B6
 
LIVING   C1-10

ARTS   C13-19

OBITUARIES   D20
 
Brian Keith
The burly star of television's "Family Affair" and "Hardcastle & McCormick" was 75.   D20

EDITORIAL   A18-19
Editorials: The Supreme Court -- wrong on sex offenders, right on Whitewater; another broadcast giveaway; summertime for the unions.
 
Columns: Maureen Dowd, William Safire.

Chronicle   A16
 
Crossword   C18
 
Weather   B16

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos

TYPE: Summary

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June 25, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

SENATE BACKS RISE IN MEDICARE COSTS FOR WEALTHY AGED

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1397 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 24

The Senate voted today to increase Medicare premiums for affluent elderly people and to raise the age of eligibility by two years, to 67.
Together, the proposals would make profound changes in Medicare, forcing elderly people to take more responsibility for their health care and their health insurance. 
 Both proposals are politically explosive, so their fate is in doubt. President Clinton wants Congress to take them out of the bill. The House version of the legislation omits them. The Senate has not only voted to raise the eligibility age but also put itself on record in favor of a form of means test, requiring well-off elderly people to pay more for their health insurance.
Lobbyists for those elderly people promised a campaign to block the changes as the two chambers try to work out their differences this summer.
Today's votes surprised many lawmakers, who recalled the way Democrats attacked Republicans on Medicare in last year's elections.
The vote to charge higher premiums for higher-income elderly people was 70 to 30. Twenty-one Democrats and 49 Republicans voted "yes." Six Republicans and 24 Democrats voted "no."
The vote to increase the age of eligibility was 62 to 38. Twelve Democrats joined 50 Republicans in voting for the increase. Five Republicans and 33 Democrats opposed it.
The proposed increase in the eligibility age for Medicare would take effect gradually from 2003 to 2027, in lock step with increases in the age of eligibility for full Social Security benefits. It would not affect people now over the age of 59.
Earlier today, by a vote of 60 to 40, the Senate decided to establish a new charge of $5 a visit for home health care services under Medicare.
Senate Republican leaders said the changes would help solve Medicare's financial problems, preserving the program for current beneficiaries and for baby boomers. But liberal Democrats said the proposals would break a bargain between the generations, increase the number of uninsured people and cause financial hardship for hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries.
The Republicans' support for these changes was no surprise. But it was noteworthy to see the "yes" votes from Democrats like Senators John B. Breaux of Louisiana, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Bob Graham of Florida and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York.
"Medicare is going insolvent in 2001," Mr. Breaux said. "We have an obligation to try and fix it."
Mr. Moynihan said the votes disproved the thesis that "only crisis brings us forward to some sensible responses" to the fiscal problems facing the social insurance programs.
The vote on Medicare premiums put the Senate on record in favor a form of means test, which requires well-off elderly people to pay more for their health insurance. Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, said it was absurd for low-income workers to be subsidizing health care for wealthy retirees, through their payroll taxes.
But Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, said: "This bill breaks the bonds of faith between the people and their Government. It changes 30 years of Medicare in three days. This bill would end Medicare as we know it and turn it into a welfare program."
Under the Senate proposal, the monthly Medicare premium, now $43.80, would quadruple for beneficiaries with annual incomes over $100,000 for individuals ($125,000 for couples). People with incomes under $50,000 a year ($75,000 for couples) would not be affected. For people in between, premiums would rise with their incomes, as the Government reduced its subsidy.
Senator Breaux said 1.6 million of the 38 million Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay higher premiums because of the proposed means test. The proposal would raise $3.9 billion over the next five years, he said.
The Congressional Budget Office said the increase in the eligibility age would not save any money in the next five years, but would save $10 billion from 2003 to 2007. Supporters said the increase was fair because life expectancy had increased since the creation of Medicare in 1965.
For most Medicare beneficiaries, premiums are taken from their monthly Social Security checks. Senate leaders dropped an earlier proposal to enforce the means test by increasing the Medicare deductible for doctors' services, now $100 a year. Clinton Administration officials said the higher deductible would have been virtually impossible to administer and would have been inequitable, because it would have affected many sick people with high doctors' bills.
The changes in Medicare were adopted as part of a large bill intended to balance the Federal budget by 2002. On Wednesday, the House is expected to pass its version of the legislation.
The Senate today brushed aside the objections of President Clinton, who had said Congress should take no action at this time to establish a means test for Medicare, raise the eligibility age or establish co-payments for home health services.
Mr. Clinton said he was willing to consider those proposals at a later date as a way to address Medicare's long-term financial problems. But Senator Phil Gramm, Republican of Texas, said Congress should not wait. Mr. Gramm said it took "an extraordinary act of courage" for senators to support an increase in the eligibility age.
Senator John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, said: "We are facing an emergency here. Something has to be done if the Medicare trust fund is going to survive."
The trust fund that pays hospital bills for the elderly is expected to run out of money in 2001.
Likewise, Senator Conrad said an increase in the eligibility age would help Medicare "deal with a demographic time bomb" as millions of baby boomers start to retire after 2010.
But Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said the proposal would increase the ranks of the uninsured because many people 65 or 66 years old would be unable to obtain or afford private coverage. In Chicago, Mr. Durbin said, private health insurance for a healthy man over the age of 60 costs an average of $6,500 a year, and for those with medical problems, the cost often exceeds $10,000 a year.
"You are retired, you are going fishing, you are taking it easy, and all of a sudden -- no health insurance," he said. "You wait, counting the days until you are eligible for Medicare."
Mr. Durbin said the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and the National Association of Manufacturers opposed an increase in Medicare's eligibility age because it would impose new costs on many businesses. Thousands of companies, he said, have made commitments to provide employees and retirees with health insurance until they become eligible for Medicare.
Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, said it was reckless for Congress to deprive elderly people of Medicare for two years without offering any substitute.
William V. Roth Jr., the Delaware Republican who heads the Senate Finance Committee, said the $5 co-payment was justified because "home health care has exploded in cost."
Medicare spending for home health services increased 31 percent a year, to $16.7 billion in 1996 from $3.3 billion in 1990."
Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the assistant Republican leader, said the $5 charge was "not a lot to pay for visits that may cost $70 or $80."
But Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, attacked the proposal, saying it would impose a new tax on "the oldest, poorest and sickest Medicare beneficiaries."
Mr. Kennedy said the money raised by the co-payments -- $4.7 billion over five years -- would be used to finance tax cuts for wealthy people, an assertion that Mr. Nickles dismissed as "total hogwash."
Franklin D. Raines, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said two-thirds of the elderly people using home health services were women, one-third lived alone and nearly half had incomes less than $10,000 a year.
Mr. Roth said poor people -- those with annual incomes under the official poverty level of $7,890 for an individual -- would not have to pay the $5 charge. Medicaid, the Federal-state program for poor people, would pay their fees.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Federal share of these Medicaid payments would total $900 million over the next five years, while the states would incur new Medicaid costs of $700 million.

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: As the Senate debated whether to raise Medicare's eligibility age, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan left the floor to take a call on the issue. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)(pg. A16)      

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June 25, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

H.M.O.'s Fight Plan to Pay For Some Emergency Care

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1093 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 22

For six months, as Congress has considered far-reaching proposals to regulate managed health care, the industry has waged a public relations offensive under the slogan "putting patients first."
But last week, lobbyists for the industry mobilized an extremely different offensive, resisting any requirement to pay for patients who go to hospital emergency rooms reporting severe pain. 
 The budget bill coming up for debate in the Senate and the House this week would establish new protections for elderly people who join health maintenance organizations.  The measure says, for example, that health plans have to pay for emergency care in any situation that a "prudent lay person" would regard as an emergency.
The lobbyists are working overtime to put their imprint on the legislation as Congress, following the lead of many states, sets standards for the quality of care.
Patients, doctors and hospitals say H.M.O.'s have often refused to pay for emergency-room services, saying there was no real emergency, if, for example, chest pains resulted from indigestion rather than a heart attack.
Such denials can leave patients with thousands of dollars in medical bills and discourage them from seeking emergency care.
H.M.O.'s contend that Federal standards are unnecessary and set a bad precedent for Government intervention in the practice of medicine. In the last few weeks, as three Congressional committees endorsed the "prudent lay person" standard, more than a dozen H.M.O. lobbyists patrolled the halls, pressing their case.
Senators Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, and John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, proposed an amendment to make clear that severe pain might be a symptom of an emergency medical condition.
The Senate Finance Committee approved the proposal, 17 to 3. But the fight, which continues as the legislation moves to the floor, epitomizes the struggle over countless items in the budget bill.
The American Association of Health Plans, the national lobby for H.M.O.'s and other managed-care companies, developed "talking points" for its members to use in attacking the Graham-Chafee proposal. In strongly urging lawmakers to oppose the amendment, the association makes these arguments:
*"Pain is a highly subjective term and has vast differences in meaning among consumers, depending on their threshold or tolerance for pain."
*"Overuse of hospital emergency rooms drives up health care costs" and harms care.
*"Hospital emergency-room waiting times are often extensive, causing patients to leave without any medical intervention."
*"Incorrect medications are often prescribed, and medical conditions are often misdiagnosed" because emergency-room doctors have none of the patients' medical records.
The document in which the arguments were published carries no letterhead or other indication of its source. But in an interview, Kristin Bass, director of legislative affairs at the American Association of Health Plans, said: "It was prepared here at A.A.H.P. It was written by our policy analysts and people in our medical affairs department."
The president of the association, Karen M. Ignagni, said the talking points had been distributed to Washington representatives, lawyers and lobbyists for 70 H.M.O.'s who meet once a week to coordinate strategy.
Ms. Ignagni asked, "If you have a root canal and experience severe pain, does that justify a visit to the emergency room?" Another H.M.O. lobbyist said Mr. Graham's amendment would require health plans to pay for patients who stubbed their toes and went to emergency rooms for treatment.
Such arguments infuriate doctors who specialize in emergency medicine and the treatment of pain.
Dr. Joel R. Saper, director of the Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, said: "Severe pain can be a sign of serious life-threatening illness. Abdominal pain can be a sign of acute appendicitis. Severe head or neck ache can signal a hemorrhage in the brain. Severe back pain can be an early warning signal of an abdominal aneurysm or cancer of the pancreas."
Thus, Dr. Saper said: "Medicare H.M.O.'s should not be allowed to deny coverage for emergency-room visits by patients in severe pain based on the eventual diagnosis. Patients cannot make this distinction prior to a physician evaluation."
Dr. Andrew T. Nathanson, an emergency-care doctor at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, said: "I frequently evaluate patients having a major heart attack or pulmonary embolism or collapsed lung whose only symptom is chest pain. Other patients with similar symptoms have benign conditions. But the patients and, many times, the doctors don't know the cause until a thorough evaluation is performed.
"If it's one of the benign conditions, insurance companies may retrospectively deny payment, saying the person's condition was obviously not an emergency. But that wasn't obvious at all when the patient first showed up."
Under a 1986 Federal law, a hospital has to provide a diagnostic examination and treatment to stabilize the condition of any patient who requests care in its emergency room. The law explicitly mentions severe pain as a symptom of an emergency medical condition.
But Mr. Graham said, "Current law allows Medicare H.M.O.'s to deny payment for emergency services that the hospital must provide." His bill is intended to eliminate that disparity by establishing a uniform standard for treatment and payment.
Since December, the American Association of Health Plans has issued six policy statements to show its commitment to "putting patients first." H.M.O. officials have said the statements are intended to address consumers' concerns and to head off Federal and state legislation.
Dr. Joanne Wilkinson, coordinator of emergency services at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, an H.M.O. with more than one million members in New England, agreed that a person in severe pain should have access to immediate care.
But in a letter to Senator Chafee, Dr. Wilkinson wrote: "The unacceptable concept is that these services must be reimbursed in emergency rooms if a person chooses to be present there. Many of the symptoms covered in the language of the bill -- e.g., low back pain, migraine headaches, urinary tract infections and sprains -- represent conditions which can be adequately cared for outside of a hospital setting with far less cost."
In her letter, Dr. Wilkinson said the American College of Emergency Physicians was using "emotional anecdotes" to win support for Senator Graham's proposal.      

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June 25, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

On Beijing's Leash, the News In Hong Kong May Lose Bite

BYLINE: By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 4; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 2009 words

DATELINE: HONG KONG

For all his amiable veneer, Fong So spends his days in a small office here tormenting a group of old men.
As a book publisher and magazine editor, Mr. Fong regularly skewers China's Communist Party elders. But at midnight on June 30, when China regains control of Hong Kong, the party leaders will have the chance to strike back -- and they may relish the chance to torment Mr. Fong for a change. 
 Yet Mr. Fong is not fleeing, and neither are many other writers whom Beijing considers counterrevolutionaries or "reactionary elements."
Contrary to the expectations of just a few years ago, China's critics in the local press are mostly sitting tight, preparing for a wrestling match with Communist Party cadres to determine the territory's future.
"We're going to continue," the silver-haired Mr. Fong said grimly as he sat amid a clutter of back issues of his Chinese-language magazine, The Nineties, denouncing the Communist Party.
The willingness of China's critics to stay on is a tribute to the upbeat mood in Hong Kong, and it means that for the first time in Communist China's history, one part of the country will abound in books and magazines openly hostile to the rulers.
Yet the optimism in Hong Kong also sets the stage for a major confrontation in the next few years with Communist hard-liners who never met a publication that they did not like to censor. At stake is Hong Kong's role as an information hub for all of Asia.
Hong Kong is a special headache for international news organizations. Time, Newsweek, the news agencies, CNN and The Wall Street Journal all have regional editions or offices based in Hong Kong, and The International Herald Tribune, owned by The New York Times Company and The Washington Post Company, is printed here.
This is a regional center for news bureaus for publications all over the world, with more foreign correspondents than any other city in Asia. And for decades, Hong Kong has been a prime center for China watchers who publish books and magazines that poke through the Communist Party's dirty laundry.
Can this situation endure? No one really knows, but 86 percent of Hong Kong business executives polled recently by the Far Eastern Economic Review predicted that the territory's press would no longer be free under Chinese rule.
Indeed, the Hong Kong press is already losing some of its vigor, although the responsibility for that seems to lie more with Hong Kong capitalists than with Chinese Communists.
Without Beijing even taking control of the territory, many publications have already begun censoring themselves. Martin C. M. Lee, the leader of the democracy forces in Hong Kong, describes it as "bending even before the wind starts to blow."
This year, the most distinguished of Hong Kong's newspapers, Ming Pao, has reduced the space given to columnists critical of China and has toned down its previously aggressive reporting of China and of Hong Kong politics.
Even some foreign-edited English-language publications are making a pre-emptive retreat.
In a sprawling Roman Catholic mission on a hillside on the south side of Hong Kong Island, Sister Betty Ann Maheu edits Tripod, a newsletter about the Catholic Church in China. Her brow furrowed as she explained her new soft-hitting editorial policy.
"Initially, I think our themes will change, to avoid being political," she said. "You've got to stand by your principles, but you've got to be careful. Because if you're shut down, that won't do any good either."
 
Press Freedom: Luxury or Necessity?
If foreigners shielded by the Catholic Church feel intimidated, the anxiety is even greater among Hong Kong Chinese who have no such protections.
"The most insidious thing is that reporters and editors have stopped going after negative aspects of the transition," said one newspaper reporter, who is concerned enough to be considering a switch to a new field.
This is, to be sure, not a universal view. Many business executives argue that the distinguishing feature of the news coverage about Hong Kong these days -- particularly in the foreign press -- is a lurid emphasis on worst-case scenarios that ignores the self-confidence that is much the most obvious side of Hong Kong.
Another basic question is simply whether press freedom matters very much for Hong Kong as a whole. Journalists warn that Hong Kong's currency is information and that the territory will collapse as a business center if it loses the free flow of news. But others argue that a vigorous press is a luxury for Hong Kong rather than a necessity.
"The fact is that Singapore, with press censorship, is a business center, and the Philippines, without censorship, is not," said Robert Broadfoot, a business consultant in Hong Kong who has just produced a report on the news media in the region. "If you're looking at where investment is going, it's going to China, which has the heaviest censorship."
In the 1980's, there was widespread speculation that some of these news organizations might have to move to a new home after 1997. But in fact, Western publications are not only keeping their headquarters in Hong Kong but expanding them.
"For 50 years our Asia edition had been edited in New York," said Donald M. Morrison, the editor of Time magazine's Asia edition, with a circulation of 300,000. "Now this year we moved every vestige of it to Hong Kong."
"We think this is a great place to run a regional news operation," he added.
So far only a few publications -- principally China-watching publications edited by Christian groups -- have moved from Hong Kong for political reasons. Reuters is moving the headquarters of its news-gathering and financial services operations in Asia to Singapore this year, along with about 30 jobs, but it says the purpose is to save money.
"If the concern were freedom of the press," said Marion R. King, managing director for Reuters in East Asia, "we probably wouldn't have chosen Singapore."
The handover to China marks the first time that most Western news organizations have had major assets and operations under Communist rule, and it raises the delicate question of whether China will gain leverage over the editorial policies of Western news organizations.
One nightmare would be a quiet warning by a senior Chinese official that a media company's non-editorial business operations in China and Hong Kong would be jeopardized unless an aggressive reporter was reassigned.
 
The Pressure Of the Pocketbook
Companies like Dow Jones and Reuters are potentially among the most vulnerable, because they have major business ventures that sell financial data like stock quotes and exchange rates in both China and Hong Kong.
For Dow Jones, an article exposing a scandal about the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, in The Asian Wall Street Journal or The Far Eastern Economic Review, which it also owns, could potentially harm Dow Jones Markets, its data service. In business terms, Hong Kong is arguably more imporant to these companies as a financial market rather than as a base for news operations.
Commercial pressure from China may already have led a Western company to gut its news product.
In 1993, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation acquired control of Star TV, a Hong Kong-based satellite television service that upset the Chinese authorities because it beamed BBC television news into China. Mr. Murdoch wanted to discuss a range of business projects with China, and soon Star TV quietly dropped the BBC channel.
Still, many news organizations say they would strongly resist any pressure on editorial content.
"People know that Dow Jones has over the years paid a considerable price for maintaining its editorial independence," said L. Gordon Crovitz, the senior executive in Asia for Dow Jones. He noted that the Far Eastern Economic Review had been banned in almost every country in Asia at some point in the last 50 years.
The challenges of taking on China are strikingly apparent in the travails of Jimmy Lai, one of the territory's media magnates. Mr. Lai owns two of Hong Kong's hottest and hardest-hitting publications: Next magazine, a sprightly mix of politics, fashion and popular culture, and Apple Daily, a best-selling newspaper.
The difficulty for these publications is that Mr. Lai is hated by China, in part because he once referred to Prime Minister Li Peng as a "turtle's egg" -- a Chinese expression raising doubts about one's paternity.
As a result of this tension, many mainstream Hong Kong companies are steering clear of Next and Apple Daily by avoiding interviews and holding back advertising.
This spring, Next Corporation tried to go public, in part because it thought that the move would give it a bit of protection against harassment by the Chinese authorities. But when it approached a dozen investment banks, not one would handle the public offering, apparently in part for fear of associating with a company unfriendly to Beijing.
Newspaper and magazine editors in Hong Kong have several nightmares. One is that the Chinese authorities will learn from Singapore's example and rely on a cooperative legal system to sue publications for defamation, so that critics are not so much banned as bankrupted.
One of the latest examples of Singapore's approach came a few weeks ago when a court in that country ordered a critic of the Government to pay senior officials $5.7 million for defaming them. The critic, Tang Liang Hong, had called Singapore leaders liars after they attacked him as an ethnic Chinese chauvinist.
Mr. Tang has fled Singapore, and officials there have said they may force him into bankruptcy.
Another fear in Hong Kong is that criminal laws will be used to harass and punish aggressive journalists. In particular, some experts are concerned that the new Beijing-backed Government in Hong Kong has decided to import the Chinese legal concept of "state security."
 
Journalism's Crimes And Punishments
"We know what China means by state security," said Robin Munro, the director of the Hong Kong office of Human Rights Watch/Asia, the New York-based human rights organization. "It means suppressing perfectly innocent and innocuous dissidents by putting them in prison for 15 years."
Another fear is that journalists will be punished under Chinese rather than Hong Kong law. Several Hong Kong reporters have been detained over the years in China, and Chinese officials have occasionally kidnapped suspects abroad and hustled them into China to be tried by Chinese courts.
"Many people are worried that the State Security people will come to Hong Kong and spirit a reporter out to China, so that he would be tried in China and would have no recourse to the Hong Kong judicial process," said a reporter for a major Hong Kong newspaper.
Yet another concern is that Chinese officials might ask criminals to maim or kill journalists who write annoying articles. "That is not yet happening, but it may happen in the future," said Leung Tin Wai, publisher of the free-spirited Surprise Weekly.
Mr. Leung knows something about gangster violence. Last year, two men entered his offices, pulled out meat cleavers and chopped off his left hand. Mr. Leung and others say they do not know who ordered the attack, although few suspect that it was linked to politics.
In the days of dictatorship in Taiwan, Government officials sometimes asked gangsters to assault critical journalists, and a similar cooperative web has developed between some Chinese officials and criminal gangs. Still while many journalists acknowledge the possibility of being physically attacked, they tend to view it as unlikely.
Most probable, many say, is a growing pressure on critical publications and a moderate decline in the vigor of Hong Kong news organizations, a trend that they say is already visible.
"I'm not saying that the press in Hong Kong won't change," said Jin Zhong, the editor of Open Magazine, which publishes frequent exposes about China. "It's already changing. But it's a change that Hong Kong can live with."

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

SERIES: WAITING FOR CHINA: A Jittery Press

GRAPHIC: Photos: Newsstands in Hong Kong sell scores of newspapers and magazines produced there and around the world. Hong Kong's role as an information hub for all of Asia is at stake as the territory returns to Chinese control. Like other critics of Beijing, Fong So, a book publisher and magazine editor, is sitting tight, ready to wrestle with Hong Kong's new rulers. (Photographs by Nicholas D. Kristof/The New York Times)(pg. A8)

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June 25, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

How Senate Voted On Medicare Costs

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 311 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 24

Following is the 70-to-30 roll-call by which the Senate voted today to charge higher monthly Medicare premiums for higher-income elderly people. A "yes" vote was a vote to increase the premiums. Voting "yes" were 49 Republicans and 21 Democrats. Voting "no" were 24 Democrats and 6 Republicans.
 
REPUBLICANS YES 

Allard, Colo.; Ashcroft, Mo.; Bennett, Utah; Bond, Mo.; Brownback, Kan.; Burns, Mont.; Campbell, Colo.; Chafee, R.I.; Coats, Ind.; Cochran, Miss.; Collins, Me.; Craig, Idaho; DeWine, Ohio; Domenici, N.M.; Enzi, Wyo.; Faircloth, N.C.; Frist, Tenn.; Gorton, Wash.; Gramm, Tex.; Grams, Minn.; Grassley, Iowa; Gregg, N.H.; Hagel, Neb.; Hatch, Utah; Helms, N.C.; Hutchinson, Ark.; Hutchison, Tex.; Inhofe, Okla.; Jeffords, Vt.; Kempthorne, Idaho; Kyl, Ariz.; Lott, Miss.; Lugar, Ind.; Mack, Fla.; McConnell, Ky.; Murkowski, Alaska; Nickles, Okla.; Roberts, Kan.; Roth, Del.; Santorum, Pa.; Sessions, Ala.; Shelby, Ala.; Smith, N.H.; Smith, Ore.; Stevens, Alaska; Thomas, Wyo.; Thompson, Tenn.; Thurmond, S.C.; Warner, Va.
 
REPUBLICANS NO
 
Abraham, Mich.; Coverdell, Ga.; D'Amato, N.Y.; McCain, Ariz.; Snowe, Me.; Specter, Pa.
 
DEMOCRATS YES
 
Baucus, Mont.; Bingaman, N.M.; Breaux, La.; Bryan, Nev.; Bumpers, Ark.; Conrad, N.D.; Dodd, Conn.; Feingold, Wis.; Feinstein, Calif.; Glenn, Ohio; Graham, Fla.; Harkin, Iowa; Hollings, S.C.; Kerrey, Neb.; Kerry, Mass.; Kohl, Wis.; Landrieu, La.; Levin, Mich.; Lieberman, Conn.; Moynihan, N.Y.; Robb, Va.
 
DEMOCRATS NO
 
Akaka, Hawaii; Biden, Del.; Boxer, Calif.; Byrd, W.Va.; Cleland, Ga.; Daschle, S.D.; Dorgan, N.D.; Durbin, Ill.; Ford, Ky.; Inouye, Hawaii; Johnson, S.D.; Kennedy, Mass.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; Mikulski, Md.; Moseley-Braun, Ill.; Murray, Wash.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Sarbanes, Md.; Torricelli, N.J.; Wellstone, Minn.; Wyden, Ore.

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 1997

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June 26, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Transit Aid Is Offered To Workers On Welfare

BYLINE: By JENNIFER PRESTON 

SECTION: Section B; Page 2; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 779 words

DATELINE: TRENTON, June 25

Gov. Christine Todd Whitman announced today a new transportation program intended to help welfare recipients overcome one of their biggest barriers to moving off the welfare rolls -- getting to their jobs.
Experts say that transportation is the second biggest obstacle, after child care, facing welfare recipients, who must find jobs within two years or risk losing cash benefits under the new state and Federal welfare laws. 
 New Jersey is among a handful of states to come up with a program addressing increased demands by welfare recipients for transportation to jobs, training programs and child care sites. In New York State, the Legislature is still debating Gov. George E. Pataki's welfare proposal, which would give county governments block grants to pay for transportation programs and other welfare support services. Officials in Connecticut have agreed to spend $2.2 million in the coming year to help develop alternatives, like van pools and new bus routes, for welfare recipients in Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport.
The Whitman administration's new $3.7 million program would offer free New Jersey Transit bus and train passes to welfare recipients for two months after they have found work. It would also help counties pay for other transportation services and the expansion of programs that ferry Medicaid recipients, senior citizens and disabled people to doctors' appointments.
Governor Whitman said the state has a commitment to provide welfare recipients the support and services they need to find and keep a job.
"This new initiative will insure that they can get to that job," she said during a visit to United Parcel Service's plant in Secaucus. "Clearly the jobs are there. Now we will be augmenting existing transportation networks to help individuals who leave the welfare rolls get to those jobs."
Phil Harris, district manager for United Parcel Service, said the company would have 5,000 entry-level job openings this year, at plants around the state, for which welfare recipients in New Jersey's Work First program may be qualified.
The company's plant in Secaucus is not near a train station, and bus service is limited. But the state program could help pay for van pools to transport welfare recipients to the job, state officials said.
Even in states with extensive public transportation systems like New Jersey's, traditional mass transit corridors are intended to move commuters from suburbs into cities. They do not provide access for many city residents seeking to travel to entry-level jobs in the suburbs, where most new jobs have been created in recent years.
Until passage of the new Federal welfare law, most states did not have to address the problem of helping welfare recipients get to jobs. If welfare recipients could not find transportation, they were exempted from work requirements. But welfare recipients now face a five-year lifetime limit on cash benefits and the prospect of losing benefits if they do not find a job within two years.
Most New Jerseyans get to work by car, state officials said. But operating a car costs $6,000 a year in the state, forcing most welfare recipients to depend on public transit or family and friends. Under the new program, the state will create a Transportation Innovation Fund to help county governments develop alternative transportation routes and to cover much of the cost of two demonstration projects that are under way in two counties.
In Gloucester County, the state determined that 95 percent of the welfare recipients lived within a half-mile of a bus stop, but that most participants in work programs were not using their $6 daily transportation allowance on bus fares because bus routes took them only part of the way to their jobs.
Under the demonstration program, welfare recipients use public transportation for most of their commute and then shuttle buses pick them up and take them to their community work assignments or job sites. Now, 61 out of 70 welfare recipients in work programs use bus passes, state officials said.
At United Parcel Service in Secaucus, Lashawn Bevins, 22, of Jersey City, began working as a part-time loader five weeks ago, being paid $8 an hour. She is hoping, she said, that the job will help end her dependency on welfare benefits, which she has been receiving for the last three and a half years.
Ms. Bevins leaves her home at 9:45 A..M. to catch a bus to get her to work by 11 A.M. She previously worked at Newark International Airport, but could not endure the two-and-a-half-hour bus trip she had to make to arrive by 6 A.M., she said.
"I have a 4-year-old, and I was trekking out at 3:30 A.M.," she said.

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June 26, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

SENIOR CLASS;
When Gambling Threatens a Nest Egg

BYLINE: By ROBERT W. STOCK 

SECTION: Section C; Page 8; Column 3; Home Desk 

LENGTH: 1067 words

"ALL those years I worked, I wanted to make sure of one thing," said Al, a 75-year-old retired New Jersey businessman who declined to give his last name. "I wanted to have financial security in my old age. I almost lost it all at the craps table."
Wherever there are games of chance, there are older people, feeding the slot machines in the neon glow of casinos, lined up for lottery tickets or bingo boards, signed up for gambling cruises or logged on to Internet games. And as the ranks of the elderly increase, so does the number of problem gamblers. 
 Al (who, like all members of Gamblers Anonymous, uses a truncated surname) never gambled until he stopped working. "Then, my wife and I would go down to Atlantic City once in a while," he said. "She died a year ago and my friends moved to Florida." Like so many older people, Al, in his loneliness and depression, turned to gambling. Soon, he was spending three or four days a week at the casinos, winning sometimes, but mostly watching croupiers collect his life savings.
The term "problem gambler" encompasses both those who are compulsive gamblers, victims of a bona fide psychiatric disorder, and those who are on the verge. Compulsive gamblers like Al have lost control of their urge and constantly increase the size and frequency of their bets, obsessed with the need to find ever more money to wager.
No one knows exactly how many Americans are problem gamblers. Fifteen states have conducted surveys over the years, but there has been no national study since the psychiatric criteria for compulsive gambling were defined by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980. It is estimated that, nationally, 4 percent to 6 percent of adults are problem gamblers. But among the states studied, New York leads, with 7 percent of its adults having a problem with gambling.
Many problem gamblers quit as they age. The elderly in general tend to have fewer gambling problems than younger generations, but that may be changing. Various state councils on problem gambling report growing numbers of calls to their help lines from and about older addicts. In New Jersey, 13 percent of the calls last year concerned gamblers who were 55 and over -- up from 11 percent the year before. In Minnesota, calls about gamblers 63 and over rose to 8 percent of the total last year, from 3 percent in 1992. Spurred by such numbers, some state councils have developed programs to alert organizations for the elderly to the dangers of gambling.
Whatever their ages, compulsive gamblers are no less addicted than alcoholics, gambling experts say, but they often go undetected until the late stages of their illness. They don't stumble or slur their words. Yet, they have the same kind of uncontrollable urge, and the effects of their addiction can be devastating.
Most late-onset gamblers are seeking escape from the boredom of retirement or the loss of loved ones, said Marvin A. Steinberg, a clinical psychologist and the executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. "Sitting in front of a video poker machine, in this fantasy world, they forget their problems," Mr. Steinberg said. "Then they can't stop. And once they've lost their nest egg, unlike younger people, they can never get it back."
A woman who gave her name only as Joan, of Upstate New York, became addicted to gambling a decade ago at age 50. She did it all, from craps tables to poker machines to pull-tabs at bingo parlors. "I started out just for the high, and lost, and then I had to make back the losses," she said. "Of course, I never did. I maxed out six credit cards and spent my daughter's trust fund. I hid it all from my husband, beating him to the mailbox and the phone. In the end, I tried to kill myself."
Society is tough on problem gamblers, said Laura Letson, the executive director of the New York State Council on Problem Gambling, because people think gamblers should be able simply to stop.
At a recent 8 P.M. meeting of Gamblers Anonymous in a basement auditorium at St. Clare's Hospital in Manhattan, members greeted each other with great warmth, reflecting the many hours of confession and consolation they had shared. Like members of Alcoholics Anonymous, they believe they can maintain normal lives only through abstinence.
"My name is Morty L., and I am a compulsive gambler," said one 78-year-old speaker, using as they all do only the initial of his last name. "I had 36 years of hell, and on July 14, I will celebrate 30 years of abstinence." The room echoed with cheers and applause.
"I'm a responsible individual," he continued. "I have people who love me. I'm financially secure. In hell, none of that was true. My children went without food. Therapists gave me antidepressants and sent me to a hospital for shock treatment. It didn't work. G. A. worked."
Several state councils on problem gambling have recently introduced programs to identify and assist hidden older addicts. In Minnesota, the council distributed posters that show an older woman at a slot machine and ask: "Do you really want to spend your golden years hooked up to a machine?" New Jersey last year began dispatching speakers to senior centers and retirement communities to talk about the warning signs of addiction and where to get help.
Those signs include mood swings, a tendency to be constantly short of money for food and bills, and a growing impatience with everything and everyone unconnected with gambling. (Information on treatment options, including local mental health care services and local Gamblers Anonymous meetings, is available from the National Council on Problem Gambling, 800-522-4700.)
Experts say the increase in older problem gamblers is likely to continue, in part because the elderly population is on the rise. The elderly these days also tend to have more disposable income, while gambling opportunities are multiplying. New, ever more enticing varieties of video gambling games are making their appearance, and the Internet has brought casinos to the elderly homebound. The Internet has also brought them the stock market, which can be a problem for gambling addicts.
"These people obsess on the market," said Mr. Steinberg of the Connecticut council. "They're in action all the time, calling their broker. They're just like any compulsive gambler, except that they're older -- and they've got everything to lose."

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June 26, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Inevitable Surgery on Medicare

SECTION: Section A; Page 26; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 445 words

The Senate's votes to raise Medicare premiums for wealthy retirees and to raise the age of eligibility were a sensible start down a road that has to be taken. If Congress does not reduce soaring Medicare costs in ways that protect the needy, it will eventually be forced to cut wantonly. But the policy implications are less remarkable than the fact that 70 senators had the guts to take necessary action despite the opposition of the elderly, a powerful constituency. When Congress voted in 1988 to raise Medicare premiums on wealthier retirees, the elderly forced it to repeal the decision. Something has changed for the better on Capitol Hill, in ways that will color future debates on Medicare and other privileged sanctuaries of the Federal budget.
Senators have known, in part because Phil Gramm of Texas tells them so at every provocation, that Medicare is at the forefront of an imminent budget crunch. It will drain the treasury over the next 10 years of $1.6 trillion, because health expenditures are outstripping inflation and because tens of millions of baby boomers are lining up to retire. Everything else the Government does will have to survive on rapidly diminishing resources. 
 This week's Senate vote shows that Congress is moving from a sterile debate over whether to cut Medicare growth to a useful debate about means. The Senate Finance Committee, behind Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, took the lead, arguing that Congress should target the inevitable cuts on those who could afford a small hit. The chairman, William Roth, provided leeway for a bipartisan debate. The starkest proof that the political landscape has shifted, however, is the vote of Bob Graham of Florida -- a Democrat up for re-election from a state chock full of retirees. Compare his courage with the timid platitudes from the White House. President Clinton says the Senate reforms might make sense, but not yet.
Some senators had legitimate reasons to oppose the Medicare changes. For example, the Senate plan would raise the age of Medicare eligibility in parallel with already approved hikes in the age of Social Security eligibility. But the Senate plan does not allow for early retirees to sign up for Medicare, as they can for Social Security. Congress will need to correct this defect.
The Medicare changes are unlikely to survive a House-Senate conference. But now that 70 senators have voted to means-test premiums and 62 have approved raising the age of eligibility, no member need any longer run for cover when Congress, or, as expected, a Presidential commission next year, debates cutting entitlements for the elderly.

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June 28, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Doctor in Negligence Case Gets His Sentence Eased

BYLINE: By ESTHER B. FEIN 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 25; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 705 words

Gov. George E. Pataki announced yesterday that he was commuting the sentence of Dr. Gerald Einaugler, a New York physician who was convicted of criminal negligence for his treatment of an ailing nursing home patient who later died.
Six weeks ago, Dr. Einaugler began serving what was to have been a year of weekends at Rikers Island because a jury found four years ago that he had acted criminally when he failed to hospitalize a patient after making an error in his treatment of her that jeopardized her health. 
 Governor Pataki has ordered that instead of the 52 weekends in jail, Dr. Einaugler serve 52 days of community service as a physician. It was the 10th time since he was elected, and the first time this year, that the Governor has granted clemency.
"My decision to commute this sentence does not signal a lack of respect for the jury's decision," the Governor said in a statement. "Rather, it reflects my belief that the people are better served if Dr. Einaugler is required to perform community service."
Representatives of the Medical Society of the State of New York, the American Medical Association and colleagues and patients of Dr. Einaugler had written to the Governor, maintaining that Dr. Einaugler had been wrongly charged, tried and convicted for exercising his medical judgment in good faith.
Several supporters of Dr. Einaugler said yesterday that it was ironic that although the doctor was convicted of treating a patient improperly, the Governor had ordered that he perform his community service as a doctor. Surely, they reasoned, Mr. Pataki had concluded that Dr. Einaugler acted as a competent physician, or else he would never have entrusted him to practice medicine as his alternative sentence.
Dr. Einaugler's case generated tremendous controversy. Prosecutors argued that he acted recklessly and negligently in May 1990 when he held off transferring a nursing home patient to the hospital after discovering that he had ordered nutritional supplements pumped through a dialysis catheter that he had mistaken for a feeding tube.
The patient, an elderly woman near death from renal failure, later died, and while Dr. Einaugler was never charged in her death, prosecutors said the lapse in admitting her to the hospital was criminal.
Scores of doctors jumped to Dr. Einaugler's defense, saying that when he discovered his error, he had sought and followed the advice of the patient's kidney specialist.
Although Dr. Einaugler failed to have the conviction overturned, at least two judges who reviewed the case said they believed the judgment was wrong. The statement from the Governor's office yesterday referred to one of those judges, citing a statement by Federal Judge Edward R. Korman, who had said he regretted that it was not within his legal authority to change Dr. Einaugler's fate. "If I had the power to set aside the verdict in the interests of justice, I would," Judge Korman said when the case came before him.
The Governor's statement also noted that although Dr. Einaugler had been convicted by a jury, the State Office of Professional and Medical Conduct reviewed the case and decided that he did not deserve to be sanctioned. His medical license was never suspended or revoked, and he continued to treat his mostly elderly patients in his office in Brooklyn.
Yesterday, Dr. Einaugler said that he was grateful and relieved by the Governor's decision, and praised Mr. Pataki for "having the courage and integrity to commute my sentence."
In the six weekends he spent at Rikers Island, Dr. Einaugler said that he was treated well by the guards and inmates and that he relieved his boredom by watching television. As a weekend prisoner, he was not allowed to bring any reading material with him and the library was closed during the time he was there, from Saturday mornings to Sunday evenings.
"For seven years, it's been a terrible ordeal," said Dr. Einaugler, who was planning a quiet evening at home with his family, grateful that he would not have to wake early to make the drive from his house in Hewlett to the prison. "And while I wish to express my everlasting gratitude to the Governor, nobody is going to give me or my family those seven years back."

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June 28, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Liberties;
Starrk Raving Mad

BYLINE: By MAUREEN DOWD 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 21; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 706 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON


THE WASHINGTON POST
Saturday, June 28, 2027
STARR EXPANDS CLINTON PROBE
By Bob Woodward
Washington Post Staff Writer
F.B.I. agents and prosecutors working for Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr's Whitewater investigation have questioned gerontologists and pharmacists in recent months about any knowledge they might have of whether former President Bill Clinton has switched from Fibercon to Metamucil, according to sources close to the investigation. 
 Agents have also questioned a number of elderly women whose names have been mentioned in connection with Clinton since he moved to a condo on the 16th hole at the Tiger Woods Golf Retirement Villas and Racial Healing Center in Oxnard, Calif., the sources said, to see if the ex-President had confided in them about changing brands.
Sidney Blumenthal, a spokesman/ taster for Clinton, said last night he had no immediate comment on the 81-year-old former President's level of fiber intake.
Mr. Clinton's former wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham, chairman of the board of RJR Nabisco Disney and president emeritus of the Chicago Commodities Exchange, said she "no longer had to worry about what Bill Clinton put in his stomach. But I wish him well."
Susan McDougal, who has been manacled to Starr's desk for several years now, reiterated that she would "never rat out my honeybear Bill for getting me that illegal loan."
The nature of the questioning by Starr's office marks yet another sharp departure from previous labyrinthine avenues of inquiry in his 33-year-old investigation.
Starr started out with an incomprehensible land deal from 1978 and widened his scope to include everything incomprehensible Clinton had ever done. Then he widened his scope to include everything incomprehensible Clinton might have done, including whether he had used a $25,000 "sex slush fund" from James McDougal's S.&L. to buy little black teddies and big bottles of Soave Bolla for girlfriends.
He also looked into Clinton connections to Area 51 and Roswell, the Bay of Pigs, the Trilateral Commission and the Iran-contra affair.
After Clinton left the White House and accepted a job as dean of the Pepperdine Law School in Malibu, Starr's probe grew much wider. Starr adopted the maxim "Follow the honeys," looking into all contacts Dean Clinton had with his female students. Excited to be doing his sexual sleuthing in real time, Starr would sometimes escort the young ladies to their appointments with the dean. At night, the Independent Counsel would break into the dean's beachfront office with a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass to search for evidence.
Earlier this year, when Chelsea Clinton Cuomo became the youngest Supreme Court Justice in history, appointed by President Joseph Kennedy, Starr, who was mentioned as a Supreme Court contender back in the era when people did not think he was just a dirty old man, responded by widening the probe yet again. His office tracked down the grandchildren of eight Arkansas state troopers, now deceased, to see if they had heard anything their granddads might have said about anything any women who knew Clinton might have said about anything Clinton might have said about anything at all.
Starr now runs the second-largest division in government, after the Bureau of Government Reinvention, which grew like Topsy during President Gore's terms.
The reclusive Starr emerged for a few moments to speak to CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer Jr. His hair scraggly, his fingernails curling a la Howard Hughes, Starr shook his fist at critics who say his probe has become a creepy obsession.
He was unmoved, 28 years ago, when Paula Jones recanted and said she thought Clinton had "sexy hair."
He said that, given the ex-President's age, he would no longer investigate whether Clinton was cavorting with a lot of women. He will only look into whether Clinton still thinks about cavorting with a lot of women.
Starr said he would not be satisfied until he got the deathbed confessions of Bruce Lindsey and Webster Hubbell, but conceded that that might take awhile, since both remain in robust health and share a condo at the retirement home with Mr. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal.
See GEEZERGATE, A14, Col. 1

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WHAT'S DOING IN;
Cooperstown

BYLINE: By JAMES DAO;  JAMES DAO is chief of the Albany bureau of The New York Times.

SECTION: Section 5; Page 16; Column 1; Travel Desk 

LENGTH: 1847 words

More than two centuries after it was founded by a New Jersey transplant named William Cooper, Cooperstown still seems to rise out of an unspoiled wilderness to greet the traveler like a snug village stuck in time. Nestled on the south shore of placid Otsego Lake -- dubbed Glimmerglass by the novelist James Fenimore Cooper, William's son -- the village is rimmed by verdant hills, beyond which are rolling cornfields and a brown creek called the Susquehanna, just beginning its journey to the Chesapeake Bay.
The town, about four and a half hours by car from New York City, has preserved a frontier feel. With 2,400 residents, Cooperstown has barely grown since 1800, when it was a major stop for pioneers going west.  It is dotted with mint-condition 19th-century buildings made of clapboard or red brick, with many fine examples of Victorian or Federal architecture. And for all the commercial hoopla generated by the most famous local business, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the tidy village center is still only three blocks long, split by a single blinking light and a flagpole. 
 Summer brings the induction of new members to the Hall of Fame and the Glimmerglass Opera, at the Alice Busch Opera Theater, on the lake 10 miles north of the village. And the region has other offerings to savor, from antique shops and museums to fishing and hiking.
 
Events
 The 23d Glimmerglass Opera season begins on Thursday and extends until Aug. 25. This year's offerings are Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," "Iphigenie en Tauride" by Gluck, "L'Italiana in Algeri" by Rossini and "Of Mice and Men" by Carlisle Floyd. The performers, directors and crew have worked at such opera companies as the Metropolitan, the Lyric of Chicago and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.
Performances are in the 912-seat Alice Busch, a spare, elegant building designed by Hugh Hardy to blend into the surrounding farmland. Tickets are $19 to $65 for weekday performances and $29 to $70 Friday through Sunday. Discounts for groups, senior citizens and students are available. Reservations are recommended for matinees and weekends; call (607) 547-2255.
The opera's Gala Weekend, July 24-27, offers the first chance this summer to see all four operas on successive days. The weekend includes a symposium, "The High Classical Tone: Gluck and the Fine Arts," with the historian and philosopher Jacques Barzun and the art historian Rosamond Bernier. For information, call (607) 547-5704.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which is free, will be Aug. 3 at at Clark Sports Center, on Lower Susquehanna Avenue. Phil Niekro, Tom Lasorda, Nelson Fox and Willie Wells will be enshrined. The annual Hall of Fame exhibition game -- this year it is the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Diego Padres -- will be on Aug. 4 at Doubleday Field, a block from the Hall of Fame. The game is sold out, but tickets sometimes become available at the last minute. The weekend begins with a free game between minor league teams, the Oneonta Yankees and the Auburn Doubledays, on Aug. 2 at 2 P.M. Information: (607) 547-0215.
The region is ripe with antique shops, and a major antique show will be held on July 6 outside Wood Bull Antiques on Route 28 in Milford, about 10 miles south of Cooperstown. Under tents, 100 dealers will display country and Victorian furniture, fine china, jewelry, quilts, pottery and more. Hours are 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission is $2.50 or for early buyers at 7 A.M., $20; (607) 286-9021. The show will be repeated Aug. 31.
 
Sightseeing
 The Hall of Fame, a brick Federal-style building on Main Street, is open daily from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. It was built in Cooperstown based on the story -- disputed by many historians -- that Abner Doubleday organized the first modern baseball game there.
The memorabilia includes Joe DiMaggio's locker and Brooks Robinson's glove, and rooms are devoted to Babe Ruth and baseball in the movies. A new exhibit, "Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience," documenting black players as far back as the mid-19th century, opened June 12. Admission is $9.50, $8 for those 65 and older and $4 for those 7 to 12.
This week, "Matty," a one-man show by Eddie Frierson about the pitcher Christy Mathewson, which played off Broadway last year, will be presented in the museum's theater. Performances are at 7:30 P.M. Thursday and Friday, and 6 P.M. Saturday. Tickets are $12, $6 for children, but discounted with museum admission; (607) 547-7200.
As one might expect, there are any number of baseball souvenir shops in the village. But Toad Hall, at 63 Pioneer Street, can sate other shopping desires. In what was originally a church, the store offers a huge collection of handmade furniture, pottery and folk art; (607) 547-4044.
Fenimore House Museum, one mile north of Cooperstown, has a fine collection of folk art. A new wing devoted to the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art contains a wide sampling of clothing, pottery, jewelry and wood carvings. Other exhibits are devoted to paintings depicting Cooper's family and scenes from his novels, landscapes by Thomas Cole and others of the Hudson River School, and folk art. The museum is on Route 80 in a fieldstone mansion. Tickets: $9, $8 for 65 and older, and $4 for 7 to 12.  Hours: daily 9 A.M to 5 P.M.; (607) 547-1400.
Just across the road is the Farmers' Museum, a collection of 19th-century buildings moved from their original sites to recreate a working farm village. The main barn has exhibits of farm technology and tools, and the 12 other buildings include a one-room school, an apothecary and a Methodist church. Volunteers pound out horseshoes, roast coffee at the tavern and make and sell soap and candles at the general store. There is also a snack bar and shop.
The museum is open 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. daily. Admission is the same as for the Fenimore House, but a combined ticket for both museums is available for $14.50, $6.50 for children. At 7:30 P.M. on Friday in July and August, there is live bluegrass music at the barn; $8, free under age 14; (607) 547-1450.
Following the rolling eastern shoreline of Otsego Lake north on Route 31 leads to Hyde Hall, a 50-room limestone mansion built in 1817 eight miles from Cooperstown by a wealthy property owner, George Hyde Clarke. It was nearly demolished earlier this century because it was in bad shape when the state acquired it. About a quarter of the rooms have been restored with elegant 19th-century period furnishings. Admission is $5; (607) 547-5098.
Glimmerglass State Park is on 600 acres adjacent to Hyde Hall, and includes a sandy beach, 36 campsites, picnic areas, a beaver pond and hiking and biking trails. Reservations for campsites are recommended; (800) 456-2267. If you want to try to catch coho salmon or lake trout (or just want to tour the lake), Sam Smith's Boatyard, on Route 80 on the west shore, rents boats. Canoes cost $10 an hour and four-seater motor boats for $125 for four hours; (607) 547-2543.
To offer a few golf balls to the fish, head to Otsego Golf Course, a public links on Route 80 at the north end of the lake. The greens fee is $20 for 18 holes; (607) 547-9290.
 
Where to Stay
 Accommodations can be hard to find on most summer weekends. For help, call the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, (607) 547-9983.
At 16 Chestnut Street just off Main Street is a fine example of local architecture, the Inn at Cooperstown, built in 1874 under the direction of Henry Hardenbergh, who also designed the Dakota apartment house on Central Park West. This recently renovated Victorian hotel has 18 small but comfortable rooms with country-style furnishings and private baths. Guests are offered afternoon tea on the sweeping front porch.  Doubles begin at $98 a night, including Continental breakfast; (607) 547-5756; fax, (607) 547-8779.
In the middle of town is the Angelholm, a five-room 1805 Federal B & B at 14 Elm Street, overlooking Doubleday Field. Rooms, all with private bath, begin at $85; (607) 547-2483.
Edgefield is a formalized farmhouse with five rooms (with private baths) decorated in the English country manner. It is in Sharon Springs, a 20-minute drive east of the opera house. Rooms are $95 to $125; (518) 284-3339.
Budget: The lake shore is lined with motels. The Hickory Grove Motor Inn on Route 80 six miles north of Cooperstown has 12 rooms, all with cathedral ceilings and views of the lake, a beach and paddle boats. A double is $98; (607) 547-9874, fax (607) 547-8567.
Three miles from the opera house is the Glimmerglass Motor Inn on Route 20, a mile west of Route 80 in Springfield Center. Set back from the road on three wooded acres, the motel has 10 rooms, with doubles starting at $59; (315) 858-2777.
Luxury: The Otesaga, on the southern tip of Otsego Lake, is the signature hotel of Cooperstown. Built in 1909, this five-story brick hotel with mansard roof and towering white-columned portico has 136 rooms, a heated pool, 18-hole golf course and 2 tennis courts. Most rooms have high ceilings and Colonial-style furnishings. A wide patio in the rear provides a panoramic view of the lake, rocking chairs and cocktail service. Rates include breakfast and dinner in either the casual Hawkeye Bar and Grill or the main dining room, where jackets are required. Doubles start at $270. Call (800) 348-6222, fax (607) 547-9675.
The Cooper Inn, a hotel owned by the Otesaga, is at Main and Chestnut Streets in the heart of the village. This landmark Federal-style house has 20 rooms and suites, each with private bath, and offers the atmosphere of a B & B, with cozy reading and living rooms. Continental breakfast is included, and guests can use facilities at the Otesaga. Doubles are $145. Call (800) 348-6222 for reservations, or fax (607) 547-1271.
 
Where to Eat
 Under the green awnings at the corner of Main and Chestnut is Gabriella's on the Square, a charming trattoria that opened in April. Appetizers include grilled portobello mushrooms with roasted peppers ($6.95), entrees seared chicken and artichoke hearts in red pepper sauce over fettuccine ($15.95) and grilled swordfish with fresh fruit salsa ($18.95). A meal for two with wine is about $80; (607) 547-8000.
The Blue Mingo Grill, at Sam Smith's Boatyard, doesn't look like much, but this tiny patio restaurant (607) 547-7496, serves some of the area's most interesting dishes. Entrees include osso bucco with garlic mashed potatoes ($18.95), grilled salmon with red pepper marmalade ($17.95) and crispy chicken coated with buckwheat in garlic cider sauce ($14.95). With wine, dinner for two is about $65.
The Pit, (607) 547-9611, in the basement of the Tunnicliff Inn at Main and Pioneer Streets is a tap room that serves quiche for $6.95 and hamburgers for $5.85. Dinner or lunch with beer for two runs about $25.
For a picnic or takeout lunch, Danny's Market, 92 Main Street, (607) 547-4053, prepares sandwiches like Black Forest ham and munster cheese, or mozzarella, roasted peppers and chicken. Both cost $5.45.

LOAD-DATE: June 29, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: The Alice Busch Opera Theater is the home of the Glimmerglass Opera. Uniforms on exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The patio of the Otesaga Hotel overlooks Otsego Lake. (Photographs by Nancie Battaglia for The New York Times)
 
Chart: "Vital Statistics" lists travel information and statistics on Cooperstown. (Sources: Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Regional Climate Center, local businesses)
 
Map of Cooperstown.

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON THE TOWNS

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 12; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 2661 words

An opinionated guide to cultural and recreational goings-on around the state this week. To submit items for consideration, write to On the Towns, Sunday New Jersey Section, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, or send a fax to (212) 556-7219.
 
MUSIC
 
BERGEN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE "Spring Music," featuring Lenny Bord and Marsha Tyshkov, pianists, and Miriam Lachenouer, flutist, in music of Khachaturian, Mozart, Chopin, Gershwin and others. Today at 2 P.M. Tickets: $4. 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus. (201) 265-1248.
 
CAPE MAY MUSIC FESTIVAL "The Jazz Maniacs Delight." Tonight at 8. Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue and Stockton Place. Tickets: $15; $10 for the elderly; $5 for students. (800) 275-4278 or (609) 884-5404.
 
DEER PATH PARK The Pioneer Band of Allentown. Thursday at 7 P.M. Free. Take chairs and blankets. West Woods Church Road between Route 523 and Highway 31, Reddington Township.
 
RIDGEWOOD KASSCHAU MEMORIAL SHELL Wooster Street Trolley Jazz Band. Tuesday at 8:30. Ridgewood Concert Band. Free. Take chairs or blankets. Veteran's Field, Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. (201) 670-3924.
 
MEMORIAL PARK Fair Lawn Summer Music Festival. Symphonic Concert Band, conducted by Chris Wilhjelm. Tonight at 8:30. Free. Berdan Avenue, Fair Lawn. (201) 796-6746.
 
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA "Music for Dance,"A concert and picnic on the lawn of Giralda Farms. Today, picnic at 3 P.M., concert at 6 P.M. Tickets: $10; $4 for children under 12. Gate entrances at Woodland Avenue and Madison Avenue (Route 124), Madison. In case of rain, the concert moves to Morristown High School Gym, 50 Early Street, Morristown (concert only). No pets or barbecues. (800) 255-3476 or (201) 624-8203. Summer Pops Concerts, conducted by David Commanday, exploring great orchestral dance music. Wednesday at Echo Lake Park in Westfield; Thursday at East Side Park in Paterson; Friday at Bergen County Community College in Paramus; Sunday at Brookdale Park in Montclair. Free.
(201) 624-3713, extension 234.
 
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY ARTS CENTER Summerfest. The Rutgers Festival Orchestra, conducted by Richard Auldon Clark, in "An American in Paris," "Five of a Kind," "Candide" overture and "Irish Rhapsody." Saturday at 8 P.M. "Brave Old World,"klezmer music. Next Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $24; student discounts available. Nicholas Music Center, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (732) 932-7591, extension 514.
SHANGHAI JAZZ Terry Blaine, singer, Mark Shane, pianist, and Ed Polcer, cornetist. Wednesday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Chuck Slate, Thursday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Buffalo Rhythm Kings, Dixieland band. Friday, 7 to 11 P.M. John Bunch, pianist. Saturday, 7 to 11 P.M. Free.
24 Main Street, Madison. (201) 822-2899.
 
SUMMERFEST '97 Hanover Wind Symphony. Today at 3 P.M. Free. Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 53 East Hanover Avenue, Morris Township. (973) 326-7600.
 
TURNING POINT Martin and Jessica Simpson and the Angels. Tonight at 7. Tickets: $12.50. Blues Jumpers. Saturday at 10 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. Richie Havens, folk singer. Next Sunday at 5 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $22. 468 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, N.Y. (914) 359-3219.
 
VETERAN'S MEMORIAL PARK Bergenfield Community Band, outdoor patriotic program. Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Take chairs or blankets. Free. Pershing Avenue, Dumont. (201) 387-8847
 
THEATERS
 
BICKFORD THEATER "Olympus on my Mind," a musical farce about Greek mythology, with book and lyrics by Barry Harman and music by Grant Sturiale. Through July 13. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 P.M. and Sundays at 2 P.M. Tickets: $17.50; $15.75 for the elderly; $15 for students and members; $7.50 for students Thursdays only. Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-8069.
 
CIRCLE PLAYHOUSE "Alone in the Rain: The James Dean Story," by Michael Boyd. Through Saturday. Tonight and Thursday through Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10. 416 Victoria Avenue, Piscataway. (908) 968-7555.
 
DEGNAN PARK Theater Under the Stars. "The Fantasticks." Through July 19. Fridays at 5 and 8 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays at 8 P.M. Free; donations accepted. Take chairs and blankets. Next to West Orange High School on Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange.
(973) 325-0795.
 
ALAN P. KIRBY ARTS CENTER Opera Festival of New Jersey. "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella"), today at 2; Saturday at 8 P.M. "Faust," Thursday at 8 P.M.; next Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $20 to $48. Lawrenceville School, Route 206, Lawrenceville. (609) 683-8000.
 
MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM Theaterfest '97, "The Sound of Music." Through July 13. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 P.M.; matinees Fridays and Saturdays at 2 P.M. and Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $25; $25 for the elderly and $10 for students. Life Hall, Montclair State University. (201) 655-5112.
 
METROPOLITAN OPERA IN THE PARKS "Carmen," with Denyce Graves, Vinson Cole, Hei-Kyung Hong and Greer Grimsley, conducted by Christopher Schaldenbrand. Monday. "Cavalleria Rusticana," with Stefka Evstatieva, Fabio Armiliato, Frederick Burchinal and Marianne Cornetti, and "Pagliacci," with Daniela Dessi, Vladimir Boggachov, Bruno Pola and Mark Silvio, conducted by Christian Badea. Tuesday. Both at Brookdale Park in Montclair. "Carmen," with Wendy White, Neil Rosenshein, Jeffery Wells and Ainhoa Arteta, conducted by Yves Abel. Thursday at Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick. "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci." Saturday at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken. All performances at 8 P.M. Free; take chairs or blankets. (212) 362-6000.
 
WILLIAM MOUNT-BURKE THEATRE "Hand in Hand," a new musical play based on John Milton's "Paradise Lost." Today at 2 P.M. Tickets: $15. Peddie School, South Main Street and Ward Street, Hightstown. (609) 490-7550.
 
NEW JERSEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL "A Midsummer Night's Dream," today at 2 and 7 P.M. "The Threepenny Opera," by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, July 11 to 27. "Blithe Spirit," by Noel Coward, Aug. 8 to 24. All at the Community Theater, 100 South Street, Morristown. "Much Ado About Nothing," Wednesday through Aug. 2 at the Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, 33 Green Village Road, Madison. "Henry V." July 15 to Aug. 10 at the football field of Bayley-Ellard High School, 205 Madison Avenue, Madison. Single tickets: $16 to $30. Subscription packages: $66 to $125. (201) 408-5600. On the World Wide Web: http:/ /www.njshakespeare.org.
 
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE "Man of La Mancha." Through July 27. Wednesdays through Sundays at 8 P.M.; Thursdays at 2 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $31 to $46; $10 for students 15 minutes before curtain. Brookside Drive, Millburn. (201) 376-4343.
 
PLAYWRIGHTS THEATER OF NEW JERSEY New Jersey Theater Festival. "The Book of David," by Bob Clyman of Montclair. Tonight at 8. "One With God," by Rose Caruso "Who in the Hell Is Amber Bell?" and "Marvin and the Grizzlies," by Sid Frank of Springfield, and "Ithaca," by Paul Parente of Hoboken. Monday at 8 P.M. Free. 33 Green Village Road, Madison. (201) 514-1940.
 
RITZ THEATER "Damn Yankees." July 11 to Aug. 9. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 P.M.; Sundays at 2 P.M.; Aug. 6 at 7:30 P.M. 915 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
SUMMERFUN THEATER "Ravenscroft," by Don Nigro. Tuesday through Saturday at 8 P.M.; matinee Thursday at 2 P.M. "Shadowlands," by William Nicholson. July 8 to 12. Tickets: $18 and $22.Weiss Arts Center, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Lloyd Road and Bloomfield Avenue. (201) 256-0576.
 
MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
 
AMERICAN LABOR MUSEUM "Workers and Immigrants," a student art exhibition. Through Dec. 31. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1 to 4 P.M. Suggested donation: $1.50. Botto House National Landmark, 83 Norwood Street, Haledon. (201) 595-7953.
 
ATLANTIC CITY HISTORICAL MUSEUM "Bettmann on the Boardwalk: A Celebration of Historic Atlantic City, 1890-1990," a selection of photographs from the Corbis-Bettmann Collection. Through 1997. Daily, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Free. Garden Pier, at New Jersey Avenue. (609) 347-5839.
 
GALLERY AT SCHERING-PLOUGH "Reflections of Summer," featuring 30 watercolor landscapes and seascapes by 19 artists. Through Aug. 28. Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 1 Giralda Farms, Madison. (201) 882-7000.
 
GALLERY OF SOUTH ORANGE "Sky Dancers," drawings by Janice Metzger, and "Herstory Part II," mixed-media works on paper and wood by Sarah Teofanov. Through July 20. Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 4 to 6 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Baird Center, 5 Mead Street, South Orange. (201) 378-7754.
 
MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM "The Immortal Genius: William Shakespeare, Thomas Nast and 19th-Century American Culture." Through Feb. 4. "Rococo and Reason in Georgian Glass," more than 100 examples of English and Irish cut glass from the 18th and 19th centuries. Through Sept. 7. "The Timeless Folk Art of Decorative Painting." Through Oct. 12. Admission: $3; $2 for students and the elderly. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown. (201) 538-2404.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM "A Personal Synthesis," a retrospective of paintings and prints by Hananiah Harari, and "American Impressionist," paintings by Guy Rose (1867-1925). Both through Aug. 10. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $4; $3 for students with ID and the elderly; free admission on Saturdays. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM "Portrait Paintings From the Morris Museum Collection," including works by Rembrandt and Gainsborough. Closes tomorrow. Recent sculpture by Leah Jacobson. Through May 24. "Women's Fashion in Sports," exploring the cultural impact of sports on women's clothing from the late 19th and early 20th centurie. Thursday through Aug. 31. Hours: Sundays,
1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM Recent sculpture and drawings by Mary Ann Unger. Through July 20. "New Jersey Nightscapes," a specially lighted display of New Jersey and its nighttime skies. Through February. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.; Sundays, 12 to 5 P.M. Free. 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6464.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM "Portraits, 1975-1995," paintings by Dawoud Bey. Through Aug. 3. "The Glitter and the Gold: Fashioning America's Jewelry," jewelry celebrating the one hundrd years of Newark as the city of gold and precious stones. Through Nov. 2. "Destination Mars," an interactive exhibition exploring the possibility of life on Mars. Through 1999. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.49 Washington Street, Newark.
(201) 596-6550.

NOYES MUSEUM "For the Love of Art: Carvings and Paintings by South Jersey Folk Artist Albert Hoffman," works reflecting Old Testament narratives and American Indian life. "Photographs by Dwight Hiscano," landscape photography. Through Sept. 21. "Easy Access: Highlights From the Noyes Museum's Collection of Contemporary Art." Through Aug. 17. Wednesday through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for the elderly and students. Lily Lake Road, Oceanville.
(609) 652-8848.
 
PALMYRA ART GALLERY Paintings by Richard Nunziata. Through Saturday. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, 11:30 A.M. to 2 A.M. Palmyra Tea Room, 22 Hamilton Street, Bound Brook. (908) 302-0515.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Sequences: As You Can See," selections from the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art From the Soviet Union. Through July 20. "Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions: Asian American Artists and Abstraction, 1945-1970," demonstrating the blending of Eastern and Western art through the use of traditional techniques and philosophies. Through July 31. Hours: Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
FOR CHILDREN
 
BARNES & NOBLE Teddy Bear Picnic. Take your teddy bear and a snack for a bear hunt and stories. Wednesday at 11 A.M. Ages 2 to 4. Free. "Hercules Is Here!" Junior Olympics and storytelling. Saturday at 11 A.M. Ages 3 and up. Free. Princeton Market Fair in Princeton. (609) 897-9250.
 
BICKFORD THEATER Saturn Summer Theater for Children. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. in July and August. Tickets: $6.25; $5 for museum members. Museum hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. Schedule and reservations:
(201) 538-0454.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Changing Cultures: From the Lenape to the Urban Age, 1400 to 1900," exploring the history of America through changes in family life, from the Lenape through the Victorian era. Through June 1998. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (908) 747-2266.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM Museum Munchkins, an introduction to the museum for ages 3 to 5. Wednesdays through Aug. 20 from 10:30 to 11 A.M. This week: "Round and Round." Fee: $5.50 a week per student. Museum hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM An interactive center for ages 2 to 8. Daily programs: "Fairy Tale Play," 10:30 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. "Storytime," noon. Craft projects, 2:30 P.M. Museum hours: Mondays through Fridays,
9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $7. 599 Industrial Avenue, Paramus. (201) 262-2638.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "Kaleidoscope Kids," a one-week program on astronomy for children 6 to 12. Sessions begin July 7 and continue through Aug. 8. Each session meets Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. Tuition: $115; $110 for siblings. 205 West State Street, Trenton. Registration and information: (609) 292-6310 or (609) 292-6464.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Three Billy Goats Gruff," illustrations by Robert Bender. Through July 20. Museum hours: Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
SPOKEN WORD
 
BARNES & NOBLE Women's literary discussion group. Jamaica Kincaid's "Autobiography of My Mother." Tomorrow at 8 P.M. Dorothea Straus discusses her book "The Paper Trail: A Recollection of Writers." Tuesday at 7 P.M. Science fiction and fantasy group to discuss D. Steakley's "Armor" and D. Brin's "Heart of the Comet." Wednesday at 8 P.M. Princeton Market Fair, Route 1, Princeton. (609) 392-0689.
 
ENCORE BOOKS AND MUSIC Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wolmuth discuss the stories behind their book "Mothers and Daughters." Mark Di Ionno introduces "New Jersey's Coastal Heritage," a guide to the coastal areas of New Jersey. Tomorrow at 7 P.M. Free. 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton. (609) 252-0608.
 
ETC.
 
FLEA MARKET The Chester Lions Club Flea Market offers crafts, linens, books, children's clothing, housewares, plants and produce, makeup, jewelry, scarves, handbags and other accessories. Sundays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Through Nov. 30. Free. West Blackwell Street, Morris and Sussex Streets, downtown Dover. (201) 442-1494.
 
NEW JERSEY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sponsored by the Rutgers Film Co-op and the New Jersey Media Arts Center. Through July. "Fire" and "Siddhartha," tonight at 7 at the State Theater, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick.Admission: $8; $6 for members. Information: (908) 932-8482. On the World Wide Web: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/
nigrin.

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GRAPHIC: Photos: And Speaking of Brass . . . The Chestnut Brass Company plays music from the American Civil War era in the Fourth of July concert at Rutgers University, part of the Summerfest concert series. NICHOLAS MUSIC CENTER Douglass College, New Brunswick. Friday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $24. (908) 932-7511. (pg. 12); Remembering a Time Gone By Paintings like "Pohatcong Gas Station" are featured in an retrospective of work by Eric Fowler. ARTIFACTS GALLERY 1025 South Broad Street, Trenton. Through Saturday. Hours: Tuesday and Friday, 10 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.; Wednesday and Thursday, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M.; Saturday, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Free. (609) 599-9081. (pg. 14); Art With Dimension "Seated Figures and Others" is an exhibition of oil paintings in two and three dimensions by Jane E. Silverman. Pieces like "Seated Woman, Seated Cat, Seated Dog, Seated Bird," above, are constructed of canvas over carved wood to create the multi-dimensional relief. PIERMONT FINE ARTS GALLERY 218 Ash Street, Piermont, N.Y. Through next Sunday. Hours: Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 6 P.M.; Saturdays, 1 to 9 P.M. Admission by donation. (914) 368-1907. (pg. 15)

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WEDDINGS;
Sally A. Amick and Richard C. Russo

SECTION: Section 1; Page 38; Column 2; Society Desk

LENGTH: 145 words

Sarah Ann Amick, a senior copywriter at the Estee Lauder Companies in New York, was married yesterday to Richard Charles Russo, a television producer and director at Fox Sports in New York. The Rev. Hugh Smith, a Presbyterian minister, performed the ceremony with Rabbi Israel Wolmark at Spring Mill Manor in Ivyland, Pa.
Mrs. Russo, who is known as Sally, graduated from Susquehanna University. She is the daughter of Donna and George Amick of Trenton. Mr. Amick is the editorial page editor of The Times of Trenton, and Mrs. Amick is the executive director of Echo, a social services agency that provides programs for the elderly. 
 Mr. Russo graduated from Pennsylvania State University. He is a son of Muriel and Robert Russo of Manhasset, N.Y. His father, who is retired, was a founder of Roanna Togs, a children's clothing manufacturer in New York.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Sally A. Amick and Richard C. Russo. (Richard Charles)

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

GOVERNMENT;
Making Social Policy by Mixing the Old and the Young

BYLINE: By BARBARA STEWART 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 6; Column 2; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 894 words

DATELINE: MEDFORD

Because a residence for older people got involved in the child-care business, Fred Greenley, 86, a retired financial manager, is able to pursue the hobby he prefers to progressive bridge or birding.
On a recent afternoon, he silently opened the door of a darkened room where two toddlers lay sleeping on mats and a baby dozed in a crib. He gazed at them, his eyes softening, his face lighted with quiet delight. 
 "Kids are nice," he said, waiting patiently for them to awaken. "It's so nice to watch them develop. To watch them smile."
Mr. Greenley -- Pop-pop to the children -- regularly drops by the day-care center for children of employees of the Medford Leas Continuing Care Community here in Burlington County. Some 50 children, ranging in age from 6 weeks to 6 years, are cared for on weekdays at Medford Leas, which has 300 employees and 500 residents. The program has inspired some state legislators to try to promote similar efforts at senior residences around the state, as part of a package of bills to alleviate a chronic shortage of affordable day care.
The child-care center gives Medford Leas' workers reasonably priced day care and the chance to visit their youngsters during breaks. The children get extra attention and informal lessons from volunteer senior residents. And the older people have the pleasure of the proximity of children -- as much or as little as they want.
"It's got to be a good thing for so many adults to think you're special and wonderful," said Lois Forrest, executive director, explaining why, in her view, Medford Leas' children are especially well adjusted.
The bill designed to encourage other senior residences to start employee child-care centers was introduced earlier this month by two members of the state Assembly, Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat from Teaneck, and Carol Murphy, a Republican from Morris Plains. It would provide low-interest construction loans and give volunteers training by the Division of Youth and Family Services.
Other bills in the package would increase from 5 to 10 the number of children allowed at small home day-care centers; provide training and grants to schools and churches to open day-care centers, and provide low-interest loans and tax incentives so smaller businesses can help their workers find day care.
Currently, 12,000 parents are on a waiting list for one of the state's 7,400 day-care slots reserved for low-income families; some of the parents register at more than one center. There are no statistics on nonsubsidized day care, but experts say infant day care is especially scarce, no matter what the family income. Welfare recipients going back to work are guaranteed child care for two years after finding a job and currently account for a few thousand additional subsidized slots.
The real pressure is on parents with low-income jobs.
"It forces people who've gotten jobs and gotten off welfare to go back on," said Gail Rosewater, director of the Bergen County Office for Children. "It forces parents to choose unregulated care in places where health and safety standards may not be met, to maybe have to put their infants and toddlers in somebody's house with 30 kids, unregulated."
Senior-living complexes in New Jersey could, in theory, offer day care to tens of thousands of children. The cost of providing child care in an institutional setting isn't high, said Mrs. Forrest, a board member of the New Jersey Association of Nonprofit Homes and Services for the Aged. But most are for-profit institutions and would probably be unwilling to spend the money, said Mrs. Forrest.
Medford Leas, a nonprofit Quaker center with cottages and enclosed walkways set among its wooded grounds, opened its child-care center in the hope of attracting and keeping employees at a time when good ones were scarce. The cost to employee parents is about $13 a week. Neighboring parents, whose children are admitted when there is space, pay twice that.
But what is most striking is not the quantifiable cost of the care but the unquantifiable benefits of mixing children with elderly people.
On a recent morning, outside on the grass and pine needles, children and older residents in wheelchairs did hand and arm exercises together. They grabbed handles on the sides of a big red, blue and yellow parachute, bouncing it up and down. For the elderly people, this physical therapy is brightened by the children, who think it's a game. The children, meanwhile, get time with a few dozen grandparents.
The children become familiar with old age and wheelchairs and disabilities. No Medford Leas graduate would ever embarrass a parent by yelling "Why does that old lady have to walk with a stick?"
And the children add another dimension to residents' lives. Margot Young, 89, a Bronx schoolteacher of 43 years who is now blind, has been outlining in her mind a big project: a puppet theater for the children. She would like to make the hand puppets as she did when she was teaching. The men could make the theater in the wood shop. She has scripts for Pinocchio and many other shows. "It would give me great joy," she said.
Mr. Greenley doesn't say that, exactly. But as the toddlers awaken, the sensible voice he used when talking to adults softens. And he smiles broadly when a small girl, swinging on the doorknob, yells: "That's Pop-pop! Hi, Pop-pop!"

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GRAPHIC: Photos: Playing with a parachute is physical therapy for residents and fun for children. Inge Raven, a resident of Medford Leas, teaches music at the child-care center. (Photographs by Frank C. Dougherty for The New York Times)

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

June 22-28;
Signs That the Cost Of Medicare May Rise

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 2; Column 4; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 118 words

The Senate sent a message to baby boomers and the elderly last week: get used to the idea of paying more for Medicare. In a surprising action, Senators voted to increase Medicare premiums for affluent elderly people, to raise the age of eligibility by two years and to impose a charge of $5 a visit for home health care services. 
 No one is sure whether the proposals will survive this year. President Clinton says the proposals are outside the scope of the bipartisan budget agreement. House members, burned by the politics of Medicare last year, are wary. And lobbyists for the elderly have just begun to fight. But Senate leaders will push ahead with their plans this summer.   ROBERT PEAR

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Votes in Congress

SECTION: Section 1; Page 26; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 940 words


Tally Last Week in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.
 
Senate
 
1. Home Health Care: Vote to kill a Democratic proposal to delete a provision of the balanced budget bill that would establish a $5 co-payment for home health care services. The Democratic proposal was killed, 59 to 41, June 24. (The effect of a "Yes" vote was to favor retaining the co-payment provision.) 

2. Medicare Age: Procedural vote to support an increase in the age of eligibility for Medicare by two years, to 67. Approved 62 to 38, June 24.
 
3. Medicare Premium: Vote to kill an amendment to the balanced budget bill that would delete a provision to increase Medicare payments for affluent elderly people. Approved 70 to 30, June 24.
 
4. Balanced Budget: Vote on a bill intended to balance the budget by 2002, curb the growth of Medicare and Medicaid and spend $16 billion on health care for uninsured children. Approved 73 to 27, June 25.
 
5. Tax Cuts: Vote on a bill that would provide about $135 billion in tax cuts over the next five years, partly offset by $55 billion in new or extended taxes, including an increase in the Federal tax on cigarettes from 20 cents a pack to 44 cents. Approved 80 to 18, June 27.
 


 	 	 	 	 	 
Connecticut	 	 	 	 	 
	1	2	3	4	5
Dodd (D) . . .	nay	nay	yea	nay	yea
Lieberman (D) . . .	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
 	 	 	 	 	 
New Jersey	 	 	 	 	 
Lautenberg (D) . . .	nay	nay	nay	nay	
Torricelli (D) . . .	nay	nay	nay	nay	yea
 	 	 	 	 	 
New York	 	 	 	 	 
D'Amato (R) . . .	nay	nay	nay	yea	yea
Moynihan (D) . . .	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea

House
 
1. B-2 Bomber: Vote on an amendment to a $268 billion Defense Department budget bill for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 that would eliminate $331 million for components to begin expanding the B-2 bomber fleet beyond the 21 planes paid for already. Rejected 216 to 209, June 23.
 
2. China Trade: Vote on a measure that would have disapproved President Clinton's decision to extend most-favored-nation status to China. Rejected 259 to 173, June 24.
 
3. Bosnia: Vote on an amendment to a $268 billion Defense Department budget bill for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 that would cut off funds for American ground troops in Bosnia after June 30, 1998. Approved 278 to 148, June 24.
 
4. Defense: Vote on a $268 billion Defense Department budget bill for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Approved 304 to 120, June 25.
 
5. Balanced Budget: Vote on a bill intended to balance the budget by 2002, curb the growth of Medicare and Medicaid and spend $16 billion on health care for uninsured children. Approved 270 to 162, June 25.
 
6. Tax Cuts: Vote on a bill that would provide about $135 billion in tax cuts over the next five years, partly offset by $55 billion in new or extended taxes, including an increase in the Federal tax on cigarettes from 20 cents a pack to 44 cents. Approved 253 to 179, June 26.
 


	1	2	3	4	5	6
 	 	 	 	 	 	 
Connecticut	 	 	 	 	 	 
1. Kennelly (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	yea	yea	nay
2. Gejdenson (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	yea	nay	nay
3. DeLauro (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	yea	nay	nay
4. Shays (R) . . .	yea	nay	yea	nay	yea	yea
5. Maloney (D) . . .	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
6. Johnson (R) . . .	nay	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
 	 	 	 	 	 	 
New Jersey	 	 	 	 	 	 
1. Andrews (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	yea	nay	nay
2. LoBiondo (R) . . .	yea	yea	yea	nay	yea	yea
3. Saxton (R) . . .	nay	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
4. Smith (R) . . .	nay	yea	yea	A	yea	yea
5. Roukema (R) . . .	yea	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
6. Pallone (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	yea	nay	nay
7. Franks (R) . . .	yea	nay	yea	nay	yea	yea
8. Pascrell (D) . . .	yea	yea	yea	yea	nay	nay
9. Rothman (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	yea	nay	nay
10. Payne (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay
11. Frelinghuysen (R) . . .	nay	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
12. Pappas (R) . . .	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
13. Menendez (D) . . .	yea	yea	yea	nay	nay	nay
 	 	 	 	 	 	 
New York	 	 	 	 	 	 
1. Forbes (R) . . .	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
2. Lazio (R) . . .	yea	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
3. King (R) . . .	nay	yea	nay	yea	nay	yea
4. McCarthy (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	nay	nay	yea
5. Ackerman (D) . . .	nay	nay	nay	nay	nay	nay
6. Flake (D) . . .	yea	nay	yea	yea	nay	nay
7. Manton (D) . . .	nay	nay	yea	yea	nay	nay
8. Nadler (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	A	nay	nay
9. Schumer (D) . . .	A	nay	A	nay	nay	nay
10. Towns (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay	nay
11. Owens (D) . . .	yea	yea	yea	nay	nay	nay
12. Velazquez (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay
13. Molinari (R) . . .	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
14. Maloney (D) . . .	A	nay	nay	yea	nay	nay
15. Rangel (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay	nay
16. Serrano (D) . . .	yea	nay	yea	nay	nay	nay
17. Engel (D) . . .	yea	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay
18. Lowey (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	A	nay	nay
19. Kelly (R) . . .	nay	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
20. Gilman (R) . . .	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
21. McNulty (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay	nay
22. Solomon (R) . . .	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
23. Boehlert (R) . . .	yea	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
24. McHugh (R) . . .	nay	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
25. Walsh (R) . . .	nay	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
26. Hinchey (D) . . .	nay	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay
27. Paxon (R) . . .	A	yea	yea	yea	yea	yea
28. Slaughter (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	yea	nay	nay
29. LaFalce (D) . . .	yea	nay	nay	nay	nay	nay
30. Quinn (R) . . .	yea	nay	yea	yea	yea	yea
31. Houghton (R) . . .	yea	nay	nay	yea	yea	yea

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Phone Swindlers Dangle Prizes to Cheat Elderly Out of Millions

BYLINE: By The New York Times 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 17; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 561 words

DATELINE: CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., June 28

An 80-year-old Narrowsburg, N.Y., woman said she had sent thousands of dollars to telemarketers because she had become "addicted" to the attention her new telephone friends had offered.
"I've been a widow for 19 years," she said softly. "It's very lonely. They were nice on the phone. They became my friends." 
 A 77-year-old man from Canastota, N.Y., said he had fallen prey to the same slick-talking telemarketers from Chattanooga.
"I wasn't a victim -- I was a sucker," he said. "I lost $200,000."
Both New Yorkers were among thousands of elderly Americans across the country who believed the stories of 30 telemarketers operating schemes from Chattanooga. Federal prosecutors say at least 100,000 people, most of them elderly, sent $35 million to fraudulent telemarketers based here from 1992 to 1995.
The schemes were connected loosely, if at all. They ranged from single operators to 30-person phone banks. Typically, the lonely grandmothers and grandfathers were told that they had won one of four prizes: a new car, a Hawaiian vacation, $25,000 in cash or $100. They were asked to send a check, usually for hundreds or thousands of dollars, by overnight mail to cover taxes, postage and handling for the winnings. If the taxes were this high, the salesman would say, then the prize must be wonderful.
The victims often fell for more than one scheme.
Fraudulent telemarketers bilk Americans out of $40 billion a year, the Federal Trade Commission says.
The two New Yorkers say they finally wised up. They cooperated in what prosecutors say was a groundbreaking investigation. They talked about their experiences on the condition that their names not be used.
The widow said she was too embarrassed. "I haven't told anyone about this except my family," she said. "And I thought I would lose them. But I'm very lucky. They still love me." The Canastota man said he feared retribution for working with prosecutors.
With a task force led by Assistant United States Attorney John MacCoon, prosecutors won convictions of 50 people. The sentences in those cases totaled more than 141 years in prison and involved more than $35 million in restitution. Mr. MacCoon acknowledged that many victims, because of their ages, would not live to see the restitution.
Mr. MacCoon and a Federal Trade Commission lawyer, Chris Couillou, said that breaking up the telemarketing companies in Chattanooga did not solve the telemarketing fraud problem nationwide. But the investigation created a blueprint for future law-enforcement efforts, they said.
As the Chattanooga operation is wrapping up, investigators who worked here are fanning out over the nation for similar efforts.
Experts in consumer fraud offer these tips:
*Beware of a request for money to prepay taxes, make a refundable deposit or cover shipping and handling costs. In legitimate awards, promoters pay delivery charges. With a cash prize, the promoter will withhold taxes or report the winnings to the Internal Revenue Service.
*Beware of a request to send a check by overnight delivery services or Western Union.
*Beware of a request for a credit card number to show eligibility. Legitimate sweepstakes do not need a credit card number to award a prize.
*Beware of a rush for action, high-pressure tactics and calls in the evening or on weekends.
*To fight back, just hang up.

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

After Tax Bills, Congress Faces The Long Haul

BYLINE: By ADAM CLYMER 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1237 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 28

The Republican celebrations over tax bills were not finished before the Clinton Administration and Republican leaders began talking confidently about how to work out final legislation to balance the budget in 2002. But that route is easy compared with the effort required to keep the budget balanced and avoid abysmal deficits when baby boomers retire a decade later.
By the time the Senate finished passing its tax bill on Friday, work was under way on the formidable short-term issues of Medicare and capital gains. And officials at the White House and on Capitol Hill were already pondering how to deal with the long-range challenge. 
 The task of turning the two House bills, one on spending and the other on taxes, and the comparable Senate versions into compromises that the President would sign began on Thursday evening. Representative Bill Archer of Texas, who managed the House bill for the first important tax reductions since 1981, talked to Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and the White House chief of staff, Erskine B. Bowles, within minutes of Thursday's House vote.
The Administration likes Mr. Archer's version less than the Senate bill because it gives less to low-income taxpayers and is more generous on capital gains. But Mr. Archer said after the meeting: "We want tax relief for the American people, and this President wants to be able to sign tax relief for the American people. The pressure on both sides is to find a way to come together."
In some ways, the week's votes were easy. Cutting $135 billion in taxes for more than 50 million Americans is something politicians find agreeable. And unlike many past budget bills, this one has spending increases in the short run.
But the sort of discretionary spending caps that have worked since 1990 are here, too. Most important, just about all Republicans and most Democrats cast votes for Medicare savings that expose them -- fairly or demagogically -- to the risk of television spots accusing them of callousness toward the elderly. After the advertisements of 1996, that took political nerve.
But even though the process so far has a notable credibility among experienced budgeteers who have watched past plans fail, they are not convinced that Congress has the courage to face the long-term problems. Bob Greenstein, executive director of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, spoke of them as "the demographic tsunami of the baby boomers retiring and the mushrooming of the tax cuts at about the same time around 2011. Even if you have balanced the budget before then, deficits return and return with a vengeance," worse than in the mid-1980's.
At the White House, Gene Sperling, head of the National Economic Council, said that Washington's conventional wisdom held that only in a crisis can there be bipartisanship on long-term issues like Medicare and Social Security. But now, he said, "The political challenge for the President and others is how to get the country to address a long-term problem not because it is a crisis at the doorstep but because acting now is an opportunity to deal with something in a more sensible, more long-term and less disruptive way."
One central figure, Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, argued that the tough votes cast in the Senate to raise the Medicare age limit and charge higher premiums to the high-income elderly were a hopeful sign. Relaxing after what he called the "best week of my legislative career," Mr. Domenici, the Budget Committee chairman, said there was no doubt that Medicare would be harder to solve than Social Security. "We just have to face up to it or there will be an enormous problem."
The same sense of political imperative leads both Mr. Archer and Mr. Domenici to expect that the budget will not just be momentarily balanced in 2002 and then, exhausted, return to deficit status.
Mr. Archer acknowledged that "neither the Congress nor the President has repealed the business cycle." But he said he thought balanced budgets "will be the norm from now on," that no Congress would be willing to be the first to let deficits return. Mr. Domenici said: "I think we will grow accustomed in reasonably good times to being in balance. The tax base has grown enough so we can do that."
Several economists are more skeptical about the long run, although they share a striking willingness to consider three things possible in the near term. First and easiest, that Congress and the President will agree on the legislation. Second, that Congress will vote for the discretionary spending cuts it has promised to figure out. Third and hardest, that barring a serious recession, in 2002 the Federal Government will actually spend no more than it takes in.
Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, a research organization, said the plan could work "if the economy cooperates, but only if the economy cooperates."
Martha Phillips, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan lobby for balancing the budget, said that she doubted the goal would be achieved, but that the robust economy could make it happen. "If it keeps up," she said, "we might accidentally balance the budget."
Mr. Greenstein, a critic who says the legislation shortchanges the poor, even concedes, "It's certainly possible, if the economy stays strong, the budget would stay balanced for a while."
But he said, from "2008 to 2017 tax cuts rise to those terrific levels." Ms. Phillips shared his concern, saying she feared that whatever was accomplished in the first years might be "swamped by the tax pieces in the out years."
She was encouraged by the Senate moves on Medicare, but noted that the "graying of America" would be marked in 2008, when the first postwar children begin to take early Social Security benefits at 62. "We have to get on with dealing with the generational issues," she said.
Ms. Sawhill was skeptical about the political ease of increased spending in the first years, spending that goes to education and children's health. Whatever the merits of particular proposals, she said, this style of budget balancing is like "a diet that begins with dessert." And even if a buoyant economy gets the budget through its 5-year path to balance, "we should be worrying about the following 10 to 15."
She conceded that the Medicare cuts amounted to "a little progress on tackling some of the difficult political issues." But she found them inconsistent with "putting in place, particularly on the tax side, a set of commitments that are eventually going to come out of somebody's side."
At least some rank-and-file Republicans have an opposite set of concerns. They are arguing about what to do with the budget surplus they expect to see.
Representative Mark W. Neumann of Wisconsin is writing legislation to deal with a budget surplus. Under his bill, which assumes 6 percent annual growth in Federal revenues, the current $5.3 trillion national debt would be paid off by 2026, using two-thirds of the surplus he foresees while the other third would go to tax cuts -- an additional $112 billion by 2002. He said on Friday he already had 90 co-sponsors, including Representatives John R. Kasich of Ohio, chairman of the Budget Committee, and Robert L. Livingston of Louisiana, chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Ms. Phillips was scornful. "You can't divvy up the surplus," she said, "until you have it in hand."

LOAD-DATE: June 29, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Bill Archer, the House Ways and Means Committee chairman. (The New York Times); Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin is working on a budget deal. (Associated Press)(pg. 19)

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June 29, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

BASEBALL;
Pampered Pitchers: A Debate Is Stirring

BYLINE: By MURRAY CHASS 

SECTION: Section 8; Page 7; Column 1; Sports Desk 

LENGTH: 2011 words

Baseball's universal complaint is lack of pitching. So here is one way to alleviate the shortage: use fewer starting pitchers and return to the four-man rotation of yesteryear in place of the modern version of five.
"I think teams would love that," Lou Piniella, the Seattle Mariners' manager, said of the idea. "I think pitchers' agents would hate it. When you can win 20 games and make $6 million pitching every five days, why do you have to pitch every four and maybe cut a year or two off your career?" 
 Piniella, an old-timer at heart, was just getting started.
"It's gotten even more absurd," he said. "They've put these kids on pitch counts of 100 pitches pitching every five days. How do you develop good mechanics and good location and how do you learn to pitch yourself out of trouble and get your second wind throwing 100 pitches?"
Teams are playing with a double-edged sword, Piniella continued.
"They're so concerned about the lack of pitching," he said, "that they pamper these kids and they overprotect them and they don't learn how to pitch. It's the darndest thing. They're more protected than the manatees are in Florida."
Pampered and overprotected. First came the five-man rotation, then the pitch count. Pampered and overprotected. That says as much about the state of pitching today as ball one, ball two, ball three, ball four.
Since the 1960's, when baseball's first expansion prompted a change in pitching philosophy, starting pitchers working their way up from the minor leagues to the majors have been conditioned physically and mentally to believe they can't pitch more often than every fifth day. More recently, they have additionally been programmed to go only so far -- 100 pitches in many cases -- in the games they start every fifth day.
The product that has emerged from this dual practice is not one readily recognized by their predecessors.
"I've talked to some of the old-timers that threw hard and pitched for a long time," Piniella said. "My goodness, they threw 140, 150 pitches every fourth day."
Retired now for four years, Nolan Ryan probably qualifies as one of those old-timers, if not by age, then by state of mind. "I played so long people started looking at me and asking what is wrong with that grumpy old man," Ryan said recently, discussing his views on pitching and other parts of the game.
Ryan, who is 50, spanned a few pitching generations, beginning his major league career in 1966, the year that was Sandy Koufax's last, through 1993, the year in which Greg Maddux won the second of his four successive Cy Young awards.
Aside from his record seven no-hitters and 5,714 strikeouts, Ryan was noted for his durability. He pitched more than 200 innings in 14 different seasons and in two of those years exceeded 300. In still another season, he fell one inning short of 300. In pitching those innings, however, he was not unique, as he was with his no-hitters and strikeouts.
Among his contemporaries, for example, Gaylord Perry exceeded 200 innings 17 times in a 22-year career, working more than 300 innings six times in a seven-season span. The hardly svelte Mickey Lolich went 12 successive seasons pitching more than 200 innings, topping 300 in four straight seasons with a remarkable career high of 376 in 1971. Steve Carlton worked more than 200 innings for 13 consecutive seasons and 16 of 17, twice exceeded 300 and three other times went beyond 290.
But no pitcher has reached the 300-inning plateau since Carlton pitched 304 innings in 1980. In the 1990's, the most any pitcher has compiled in one season is Roger Clemens's 271 1/3 innings in 1991. Meanwhile, only 10 active pitchers have worked more than 200 innings in as many as five consecutive seasons during their career. And Maddux, who has registered nine consecutive 200-inning seasons, was the only one of the 10 who carried that kind of workload last year.
Barring a reversal of the trend that has rendered workhorse pitchers obsolete, baseball has less chance of seeing a 300-inning pitcher again than it does a .400 hitter. No one seems to be prepared to return to the days of the four-man rotation and the complete-game pitcher.
"When I came up, pitchers threw every fourth day," Ryan said. "Tom Seaver was the first guy I came in contact with that was adamant about pitching every fifth day."
That timetable was not for Ryan.
"I wanted the ball every fourth day," he said. "I can't ever remember going out, when I was accumulating all those innings, thinking I wish I had a couple more days. In those days you wanted the baseball."
 
'I Didn't Want Anybody Else in My Game'
 Ryan recalled another first. When he was a teammate of Don Sutton with the Houston Astros in 1981, he said, Sutton was the first pitcher who said: "My goal is to get them to the seventh inning and then let the bullpen take over. I've done my job."
"I never had that mindset," Ryan said. "It never crossed my mind. I didn't want anybody else in my game."
Today, starting pitchers generally are only the first of several, if not many, pitchers a manager uses in a game. With few exceptions, pitchers are not expected to last nine innings. Many are not even permitted to exceed a designated-pitch limit, 100 being the number that has become more magic than the one that clinches first place.
"How did someone come up with that?" Ryan asked. "There's no science behind that. I threw 242 pitches in a game, then came back four days later. I didn't do too well, but I didn't hurt myself."
Ryan and others believe pitchers have become spoiled.
"If they get to 100 pitches, they say, 'That's it for me,' " Ryan said. "They've done their job. It's out of their hands. It's a mindset."
By pitching less often and fewer innings, pitchers are being cheated of arm strength, control of the strike zone and pitching knowledge, critics of the current system believe.
A pitch limit, David Cone of the Yankees said, "doesn't allow young pitchers to work on getting through tough innings."
In his experience, Cone added, he has often found that he pitches with greater ease and rhythm later in the game than early.
"To me," he said, "pitch 100 to 120 is a lot less taxing than 1 to 20."
Tom Glavine, who was the first cog in the Atlanta Braves' intimidating rotation, said he has no doubt that pitch limits have had a direct effect on the development of pitchers.
"Whatever the reason, pitchers are getting pampered," he said. "When you keep cutting guys off, you don't give them an opportunity to learn how to pitch late in the game or how to pitch when they're a little tired. That makes a big difference."
Furthermore, Glavine said, "Every time you go out with a pitch count, I don't care what a pitcher tells you, you know in the back of your mind 'I'm only throwing X number of pitches' and you end up thinking more about that than you think about just going out and pitching."
 
Economic Crisis Arises on the Mound
 Why do managers and pitching coaches treat pitchers so delicately these days?
"Because of the investment involved now," said Leo Mazzone, the Braves' pitching coach, who does not pamper his pitchers. "A lot of people cover their rear ends by not allowing pitchers to throw."
Ray Miller, another noted pitching coach now working for Baltimore, agreed that the matter has become an economic concern.
"The Pirates just signed Kris Benson for $2 million, said Miller, whose previous job was with Pittsburgh. "You want to take him to A ball and start throwing him every four days. But he's a big power guy and everybody's going to say: 'My god, if he gets hurt, it's my job. We better stay with five. Count his pitches. Make sure he doesn't get hurt.' "
A team's medical staff is influenced by economics as well, Miller said.
"In my first 10 years in the big leagues," he said, "if a pitcher had something bothering him. the trainer said go to the doctor's office tomorrow morning. The guy said it's not that bad and he pitched through it. Now you have an orthopedist in the clubhouse every day. This pitcher is making $3 million a year. If he says he's a little tender, the doctor is going to say I think you should rest him. He's not going to say pitch through it and have the guy go out and get hurt."
Phil Garner, the Milwaukee Brewers' manager, offered his own recent experience with Cal Eldred as proof of the prevailing mindset. Eldred, the American League's top rookie pitcher in 1992, averaged slightly more than seven innings a start in his first two and a half years in the major leagues. Then, in 1995, he developed an elbow problem, had ligament surgery on his right elbow and missed more than a season.
"I think everyone is scared to death of pitching a kid too much," Garner said. "We lost Cal Eldred, and part of the consideration is I threw him too many pitches. I'm not going to let that happen again. Whether that's right or wrong, and I've done research with several different doctors to try to determine if it was too many pitches, I don't want that to happen to a Jeff D'Amico or to Cal again."
But in exercising such caution, some baseball people believe, teams are risking the very thing they're trying to avoid.
"You end up trying to do so much to avoid arm injury," Mazzone said, "that you raise the risk of arm injury because the less you throw -- and when you do throw, you throw hard -- raises the risk."
Glavine readily agreed with his coach. "Everybody errs on the side of caution and that means keep throwing to a minimum," Glavine said. "The only problem is I don't think that's doing them any good. It's probably hurting them more."
 
Cy Young Winners, Despite Little Rest
 Since the Braves developed the starting rotation that has produced five of the last six National League Cy Young awards, they have come the closest of any team to using a four-man rotation, at times using the starters with three days rest but at other times inserting a fifth starter when the schedule doesn't provide a day off.
Whether Glavine is pitching every fourth or fifth day, though, he keeps busy between starts, throwing a baseball in some manner virtually every day. When he is on a five-day schedule, he plays catch the day after he starts to get loose, throws from a mound on the side the next two days, and then plays catch in the outfield with Mazzone the day before he starts again, going through his sequence of pitches in the process.
"It keeps my arm stronger," Glavine said, explaining the reason for his routine, "and the more you can throw a ball, the more you're going to develop touch with your pitches, the more you're going to develop feel for your pitches. The only way you're really going to be able to totally understand your mechanics and totally understand what it feels like when you throw the ball right or don't throw the ball right is to practice it."
A runner, the left-hander added, trains by running, a weight lifter by lifting weights. "Why if you're a pitcher, can't you throw?" he said.
Glavine recalled that it was Mazzone's throwing program that enabled him to strengthen his arm and overcome a naggingly sore arm he endured throughout the 1992 season. In a similar manner, Earl Weaver's pitching policy in Baltimore benefited Jim Palmer.
George Bamberger, who as Weaver's pitching coach helped produce 18 20-game winners in 10 years, told about how they nursed Palmer and his sore arm in 1968.
"Here's a guy who is hurt and doesn't know if he's ever going to play again," Bamberger, now retired, said. "We start pitching him in a four-man rotation and he wins the Cy Young award three times and 20 games eight times. A four-man rotation certainly didn't hurt Jim Palmer."
Palmer and the other three pitchers in the four-man rotation all emerged as 20-game winners in 1971. Palmer and Pat Dobson each pitched 282 innings, Mike Cuellar 292 and Dave McNally 224. No team has had four 20-game winners since, and it has been 10 years, since 1987, that the four busiest pitchers in either league collectively have thrown as many or more innings.

LOAD-DATE: June 29, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Greg Maddux, talking with a coach, Leo Mazzone, is one of the more durable pitchers, registering nine consecutive 200-inning seasons. (Barton Silverman/The New York Times)

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July 2, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

FILM REVIEW;
On Board and on the Loose

BYLINE: By JANET MASLIN 

SECTION: Section C; Page 11; Column 1; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 623 words

On a 10-day cruise that feels longer, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau offer the comedic equivalent of shuffleboard. In the wake of their "Grumpy Old Men" success, not to mention their long history of lovable teamwork, these two stars provide a calculated vacation from summer movie syndrome.
Frankly geriatric, and made without a single gunfight or explosion, the weak but genial romp "Out to Sea" supplies touristy scenery, familiar players and enough rumba scenes for 10 weddings. Everything about the film is as intentionally dated as its gag about Normandy. 
 Senior humor worked fine for the funnier "Grumpy Old Men" films, perhaps because the stars played geezers with such sneaky flair. This time they're meant to be more debonair and are cast as brothers-in-law who sign on for jobs aboard the Westerdam, a ship that was actually in the midst of a cruise when many scenes were shot. "As dance hosts, it's our job to flirt with all the classy broads," explains Mr. Matthau's Charlie Gordon to Mr. Lemmon's Herb Sullivan, a widower who winds up finding new love. Be warned: "Out to Sea" includes kissing.
Herb is the sentimental one, as Martha Coolidge's film establishes instantly by introducing him as he drinks a toast to his late wife. Charlie, another of Mr. Matthau's great elbow-flapping rascals, is more of a pragmatic sort. Charlie gambles and is broke, but he hopes to strike it rich with one of the passengers. Dyan Cannon does a vampy turn as a latter-day Lady Eve, with Elaine Stritch as her wisecracking mother.
"Aw, what happened to the good-looking one?" Ms. Stritch wails, when the daughter announces that she's taken a shine to Charlie. "This is the good-looking one," Ms. Cannon answers, and it's true. Lined, rucked, saggy and baggy, the very funny Mr. Matthau has a natural look that's noticeably absent in the rest of the cosmetically enhanced cast. He also has most of the good quips in the screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs, though Mr. Lemmon gets his moments of humorous exasperation and a nice allusion to "Some Like It Hot."
The scene-stealer here is Brent Spiner, Data of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," as the amusingly tense cruise director who tries to run his team of dance instructors with military precision. "I'm your worst nightmare," he says memorably, "a song-and-dance man raised on an army base." The cruise director's own musical numbers are something to see.
The large cast, with marquee value for the older audiences who may find the mild "Out to Sea" a pleasant diversion, includes Hal Linden, the dashing Edward Mulhare and Gloria DeHaven as a demure new flame for Herb. Ms. DeHaven made her film debut at 9 in Chaplin's 1936 "Modern Times" and looks almost as lovely now as she did then.
Also here, and in a fine position to give dance instruction, is Donald O'Connor. Though Mr. O'Connor hasn't enough to do and mostly stands by cheerfully, sometimes the film just stops to let his fancy footwork draw a well-deserved round of applause.
"Out to Sea" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It includes mild profanity, hot-cha ogling and harmless sexual innuendos.

OUT TO SEA
 
Directed by Martha Coolidge; written by Robert Nelson Jacobs; director of photography, Lajos Koltai; edited by Anne V. Coates; music by David Newman; production designer, James Spencer; produced by John Davis and David T. Friendly; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 106 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.

WITH: Jack Lemmon (Herb), Walter Matthau (Charlie), Dyan Cannon (Liz), Gloria DeHaven (Vivian), Brent Spiner (Godwyn), Elaine Stritch (Mavis), Hal Linden (Mac), Donald O'Connor (Jonathan), Edward Mulhare (Carswell) and Rue McClanahan (Mrs. Carruthers).

LOAD-DATE: July 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Less grumpy: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in "Out to Sea," with Dyan Cannon. (Peter Sorel/20th Century Fox)

TYPE: Review

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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July 2, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

A New Leader Outlines His Vision for Hong Kong

BYLINE: By EDWARD A. GARGAN 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1699 words

DATELINE: HONG KONG, July 1

For the first time in Hong Kong's history a Hong Konger, Tung Chee-hwa, stepped before his people as their leader today, explaining in their own dialect of Cantonese how the onset of Chinese rule, and his stewardship of the territory, would change their lives.
In what may be the first test of China's pledge that Hong Kong would be allowed its own distinct form of government, the police allowed a demonstration by a group, the Hong Kong Alliance, that China has branded subversive. About 2,500 protesters marched, some carrying red signs saying "Build a Democratic China" and "Put an End to the Dictatorship in China." 
 The marchers, by applying for a permit, had complied with rules in force under colonial administration; new rules restricting demonstrations had been laid down by the new legislature appointed by Beijing within hours of Hong Kong's reversion to China, and technically the marchers were not in compliance with those.
For most Hong Kongers, though, the demonstration was a sideshow to the speech by Mr. Tung, China's choice as Hong Kong's new chief executive, who for the first time outlined in detail how he planned to lead what has become a special autonomous zone of China. In a detailed review of the issues that consume Hong Kongers, Mr. Tung promised to solve the territory's housing problem -- "the aim is to achieve a home ownership rate of 70 percent in 10 years," he said -- as well as to reinvigorate the school system by improving teachers' qualifications and insure full day schooling at the primary level, introduce a mandatory retirement fund, and establish a government Commission for the Elderly.
"Like most people in Hong Kong," he said, "I am not a passer-by. Our home, our career, and our hope are here in Hong Kong. We have deep feelings for Hong Kong and a sense of mission to build a better Hong Kong."
Then, Hong Kong's new leader laid out a vision of a Government far more involved in people's lives than the old colonial administration. Ranging from exhortations for grown children to live with their parents, to direct involvement in the housing market, to steps to build and encourage a high-tech industrial belt in the territory. Mr. Tung's governmental activism, bred from both a belief in a quasi-Confucian paternalism and the instincts acquired running a shipping conglomerate, suggests a new direction for Hong Kong, one more akin to Singapore, which he has said he admires.
Mr. Tung's address came on the first day of Chinese rule, a day marked by a blizzard of concerts, operas, martial arts displays, what was billed as the world's largest karaoke and a sky-scalding display of fireworks and laser lights, accompanied by the elegaic strains of Yo Yo Ma's cello.
Mr. Tung spoke just hours after the red flag of China was run up flagpoles across the territory, from the former British military compounds to the glittering five-star hotels on the waterfront. His address was a speech for everyone, ranging from grand themes of identity and values to daily life concerns. It was, Mr. Tung explained, a blueprint that begins charting a Hong Kong different in many ways from the one left behind by the British.
Mr. Tung made only a passing reference to the loss of democracy in Hong Kong, saying only that his government would "resolutely move forward to a more democratic form of government in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law," the mini-constitution devised by Beijing for Hong Kong.
China's President, Jiang Zemin, also addressed Hong Kong's elite gathered at the new convention center, in a speech intended both to reassure Hong Kongers and to confirm his own stature as the man who oversaw the end of colonial rule.
Speaking in the Mandarin dialect of northern China, Mr. Jiang repeatedly told Hong Kongers that they were to govern themselves, that their fate was in their own hands, that Hong Kong, a place so utterly different from the rest of China, would chart its own course.
"Hong Kong will continue to practice the capitalist system," declared Mr. Jiang, as the members of the new government, the territory's multitude of tycoons, its social elite and a bevy of foreign dignitaries listened, "with its previous socioecoomic system and way of life remaining unchanged and its laws remaining basically unchanged while the main part of the nation persists in the socialist system."
In an apparent test of the right to demonstrate, the group of protesters, organized by the Hong Kong Alliance, marched across through central Hong Kong this afternoon.  Like a rally of democratic protesters who climbed the Legislative Council building just after midnight this morning, they were given enough leeway by the authorities so that no confrontation occurred.
The police seemed to handle the march in the same way they had in the past, even though new civil order legislation gives the government a legal means to block a demonstration on the basis of a threat to China's national security.
The march was relatively small by Hong Kong standards.
"Today we are here to fight for democracy within China," said Lee Cheuk-yan, one of the organizers. "We are fighting for democracy now as a part of China, from within China for the first time. I think that's very significant."
Mr. Lee said he was "warned" by the police that the march had exceeded the 2,000 demonstrators specified in its application, reaching what the police estimated to be about 2,500 marchers. Mr. Lee said he responded that the group had actually only reached about 2,300, not too much above the original number expected.
However, senior superintendent Gregory Lam, said the police had not issued a warning but had simply pointed out that the march had exceeded the number in the application and asked the group to try not to let the demonstration grow any larger.
"There was no problem," Mr. Lam said. "We estimated the crowd at 2,500. They thought it was about 2,300. We don't want it getting too large and we told them that."
No effort was made to break up the march, which soon dissipated.
Mr. Tung, who has come under considerable criticism for imposing new constraints on civil liberties, has struggled in the last six months since Beijing named him chief executive to overcome skepticism here about his loyalties and motives.
Some of the questions surrounding Mr. Tung's autonomy from Beijing stem from China's bailout of his virtually bankrupt shipping company in the 1980's, a financial rescue he has never explained. Indeed, he has refused repeatedly to explain the details of that arrangement although he insists it was, in his words, a purely "commercial" transaction.
As one friend of Mr. Tung put it, however, "he knows very well that Beijing saved his company. They haven't forgotten and he hasn't either."
He isalso immersed in the West, having spent six years in England. He went on to the United States where he spent a decade, working mostly for his father's shipping company. While there, and during his tenure as chairman of his shipping company, Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., he developed and cultivated contacts with a broad network of American and European business and government leaders.
His choice by China was ordained 18 months ago during a visit to Beijing when Mr. Jiang singled him out from a group of Hong Kong luminaries for a warm handshake.
Because of his seeming eagerness to please Beijing -- Mr. Tung immediately embraced China's demand that Hong Kong's elected legislature be abolished and that a range of civil liberties be curtailed -- many Hong Kongers have come to regard him as a puppet. Indeed, in the last opinion poll taken before Mr. Tung's investiture early this morning, the outgoing British governor, Christopher Patten, won an approval rating of 79 percent, 22 percentage points above that of Mr. Tung.
Today, Mr. Tung sought to speak as his own man, committed to his Chinese heritage while engaging the virtues of the West that Hong Kong has so eagerly absorbed.
"Every society has to have its own values to provide a common purpose and a sense of unity," declared Mr. Tung. "We will continue to encourage diversity in our society, but we must also reaffirm and respect the fine traditional Chinese values, including filial piety, love for the family, modesty and integrity and the desire for continuous improvement. We value plurality, but discourage open confrontation; we strive for liberty, but not at the expense of the rule of law; we respect minority views but are mindful of wider interests; we protect individual rights, but also shoulder collective responsibilities."
"I hope," intoned Mr. Tung, "these values will provide the foundation for unity in our society."
Recognizing that an erosion of more traditional family values has occurred to some extent in Hong Kong, Mr. Tung insisted that government "will encourage families to live with their elderly members."
Hong Kong's principal English-language newspaper, The South China Morning Post, argued that Mr. Tung must pay more attention to the territory's political needs. "His first, and most critical, political challenge," the paper insisted in this morning's edition, "will be to restore the degree of democracy that existed before today's swearing-in of the Provisional Legislature," the Beijing-appointed body that will now pass Hong Kong's laws.
Reaction to Mr. Tung's speech across Hong Kong ran the spectrum from enthusiasm to doubt. Cheng Suk-hon, a 48-year-old property manager, was on his way home on the subway and said that he was impressed and reassured. "I did watch Mr. Tung on television this morning," he said. "I'm confident of him governing Hong Kong. He's the first chief executive of Hong Kong so he must set a good example. He calmed people's concerns. I think he'll keep his promises."
But Kitty Ho, a college junior who has been studying in the United States and who was scampering toward the harborfront to watch the evening's fireworks, was less charitable. "He can say anything he wants but he won't necessarily do it," she said. "He's been saying the same thing over and over again. I don't trust him because he's just saying what he's been told to do."

LOAD-DATE: July 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

SERIES: HONG KONG, CHINA: THE OVERVIEW

GRAPHIC: Photos: The newly inaugurated chief executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chee-hwa, left, and the Chinese foreign minister, Qian Qichen, raised their glasses in a toast at a reception yesterday celebrating Hong Kong's return to China. (Pool Photo by Vincent Yu); A pro-democracy group held a carefully controlled march on the streets of Hong Kong. (Reuters)(pg. A1); Chinese sailors waved early yesterday at an accompanying vessel carrying journalists as they sailed into Hong Kong harbor. A sweeper used a shopping cart yesterday morning to carry a bag of garbage in the streets of Hong Kong after a night of celebration, while two young workers from the Philippines paused under a portrait of Tung Chee-hwa, the new Chief Executive of the autonomous region. (Photographs by Associated Press)(pg. A10)      

TYPE: Series

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July 2, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

BOXING;
Tainted Hero: Neighborhood Split on Tyson

BYLINE: By IAN FISHER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Sports Desk 

LENGTH: 891 words

On one issue, at least, there was little disagreement along the block in Brownsville where Mike Tyson lived as a boy of 9 or 10: Boxing regulators in Nevada had every right to continue the temporary suspension against him yesterday for behavior that would not have earned him respect on the rough Brooklyn streets where he grew up. Even little children know: You do not bite.
"He ate a piece of his ear off," Kristie Rey, 6, said in disgust as she parked her bicycle just off Amboy Street. "It's bad. He doesn't have any business doing that." 
 But on the larger issues that have always surrounded Tyson here -- where he once watched over a pigeon coop with a friend named Tony and returned years later with gifts of cash and holiday turkeys -- his old neighborhood seems surprisingly divided. He is still a hero, a black man who made it out as a world heavyweight champion. Something, though, rang false in the weary ears of old neighbors when, on national television Monday, he begged for forgiveness by conjuring up Brownsville: "I grew up in the streets," he said. "I fought my way out."
Yesterday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission took another step in disciplining Tyson for biting Evander Holyfield during their heavyweight title fight Saturday night in Las Vegas. At a hearing next week, the commission will decide on a fine and how long it will be before he can return to the ring. [Page B9.]
"It doesn't explain it to me," said Rosemarie Washington, 43, sitting in a crowd of older women and girls off the stoop of the four-story brick building, at 178 Amboy Street, where Tyson once lived. "It doesn't matter where you grew up. As you grow older, you grow out of those things. You don't hold your childhood and carry it into your adulthood."
Bobby Rattley, 17, who lives with his grandmother in the apartment next door to the one where Tyson used to live, said he admired Tyson while growing up but soured with each new scandal. Biting Holyfield's ears was the last straw.
"I used to look up to him when I was younger because he did something positive by being a boxer, instead of just standing on the street," he said. Now, he said, "How can a rapist be a role model?"
People in Brownsville, indeed anywhere, could choose to believe whether Tyson had actually raped Desiree Washington six years ago, but no one could deny what they saw beamed, at a premium price, into their living rooms on Saturday night.  In Brownsville, even Tyson's most loyal admirers -- and there are many of them -- said that a temporary suspension seemed called for, even though many people blamed Holyfield for head-butting Tyson first, not only in this fight but also in their first match won by Holyfield last November.
"If a guy bumped me in the eye, I'm going to get mad too," said Myles Moses, who is 16 and a student at South Shore High School. "But he didn't have to bite him. He should have knocked him out."
But the support for Tyson has been compromised by a deep sense of disappointment in this latest incident, in a neighborhood that has stuck by him through thick and thin, watched him grow from a troubled youth who mugged women to a hero who found something near to redemption in boxing.
Marcel Simmons, 23, said the bites were stupid and dropped Tyson down a few notches in esteem. "Iron Mike is corny Mike," Simmons said. "That's corny, biting him."
But, underscoring the divided feelings in Brownsville, Tyson is still a hero to Simmons, who said he himself had been in prison for attempted murder, drug dealing and other crimes.
"Regardless of one fight," Simmons said, "Tyson is always going to be the man."
Standing a few feet away from Simmons, beside a Dumpster parked in front of Tyson's old apartment, Cory Armstrong, 14, said he agreed.
"He comes from the streets, and he made it to the pros," Armstrong said. "The average black man wouldn't have made it. The average black man would be in jail right about now."
Many others on the street, closed to traffic this afternoon for children who jumped rope, rode bicycles or skateboards, said there seemed little to excuse Tyson for his behavior.
"There are thousands of people who come from this neighborhood," said Andrae Stanley, 39, who was teaching one of his five children, Aja, 5, how to ride a bike. "And they don't go around biting people and using that as an excuse of how they came out in life.
"He's on the good side of things, as far I'm concerned."
 Down the block, at the Amboy Neighborhood Center, where Tyson was enrolled for three years, Julien Grant, 50, the executive director for 23 years, seemed slightly amused as he traced Tyson's development from young tough to local hero to this most recent chapter of a very public life. Like almost everyone else in the neighborhood, Grant had strong opinions about the fight: how Holyfield had played dirty in the first match, then head-butted Tyson early in the second.
Grant said he knows Tyson and the neighborhood well, and he tried to explain the twisted logic of what he saw on television Saturday night.
"I think the link between what happened in the ring and the environment he grew up in is at some point you don't let anyone push you anymore," Grant said. "And you retaliate without regard for consequences.
 "I'll do anything to let you know you can't do this to me."

LOAD-DATE: July 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Claudia Jordan, standing at center, was among the Brownsville residents critical of Mike Tyson's actions. (Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times); Andrae Stanley, who lives in Mike Tyson's former neighborhood, said "thousands of people" come from there without using it as an excuse. (pg. B12)

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The New York Times

July 3, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Assisted Suicide Decision Looms in Florida

BYLINE: By MIREYA NAVARRO

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 4; National Desk

LENGTH: 1215 words

DATELINE: MIAMI, July 2

After the Supreme Court left it up to individual states to deal with the legal and ethical morass of whether to allow doctor-assisted suicide, few find the stakes higher, the debate richer or the question more immediate than Florida.
The Florida Supreme Court could rule as early as Thursday on the case of Dr. Cecil McIver and Charles E. Hall, a doctor and an AIDS patient who sued the state last year seeking to collaborate on Mr. Hall's death without the risk of criminal prosecution. Earlier this year a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge sided with the plaintiffs and found that Florida's privacy rights laws outweighed the state's prohibition of "assisting self-murder," a second-degree felony. 
 The same ethical, religious and practical concerns that have made assisted suicide so divisive across the country have appeared in the legal briefs and arguments presented to Florida's highest court, the first such court to review an assisted suicide claim since the United States Supreme Court ruled last week that states may continue to ban the practice. But underlying the issue in Florida is also fear that in a retirement state where about 1 in 5 residents is 65 or older, the potential for abuse is tremendous, pitting countless terminally ill patients and others against the forces of ageism, economic coercion and depression.
"If you legalize assisted suicide in Florida, it'll spread like a wildfire to populations beyond the terminally ill," said H. James Towey, a former Florida health and rehabilitative services director who now heads the Commission on Aging with Dignity, a private group.
"You're talking about the depressed, the chronically ill, people with aches and pains who on any given month may have a bad month," Mr. Towey said. "In a state with a frail safety net for the elderly poor and with people thousands of miles away from family, it'd be a disaster."
Polls have shown strong support among the elderly and other age groups for the taking of life to end the suffering of the dying. But disagreement over physician-assisted suicide is sharp enough that the American Association of Retired Persons has refused to take a stance.
Drew Smith, a senior analyst for the Public Policy Institute at the retired people's association, said that beyond the moral questions, opinions among the elderly were split between empathy for those who want to be released from pain, and anxiety over the new mindset that assisted suicide would bring to the older patient's bedside if doctors, family members and the patients themselves accept a physician's role in hastening death rather than alleviating pain as one more option.
"There's fear of any kind of institutionalization of assisted suicide, that people might feel that somehow it becomes a duty to die," said Mr. Smith, who said that the retired persons' group had chosen to focus on improving the care of the dying.
People 65 and older have the highest rate of suicide among any age group in United States.
In Florida, Mr. Hall's legal arguments for assisted suicide hinge on a state constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1980 that asserts a stronger right of privacy than that offered in the United States Constitution. With few exceptions, the amendment says, "every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into his private life." The state Attorney General argues that the amendment never contemplated a privacy right for doctors who assist suicides.
Other states offer similarly broad privacy rights, and legal experts say state supreme courts are likely to become a popular target for constitution-based efforts to legalize assisted suicide.
While the Florida Supreme Court can limit its ruling to Mr. Hall's case, lawyers for the state say a finding for Mr. Hall would inevitably be seen as a precedent and would discourage prosecutions of doctors who aid in suicide. But even if the state court upholds Florida's ban on assisted suicide, both sides expect more litigation and debate.
"The question of the right to die with dignity is not going to die easily no matter what this court does," said Laurence H. Tribe, the Harvard professor of constitutional law who argued before the United States Supreme Court in favor of assisted suicide.
Mr. Hall, 35, a former restaurant owner who said he acquired H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, through a blood transfusion, is still mentally competent, his lawyers say, but he is deteriorating physically. Mr. Hall testified this year at his Palm Beach County trial that although he was not yet ready to die, he wanted Dr. McIver to give him a fatal dose of prescription drugs when he faced only extended suffering. He said that without a doctor's assistance, an attempt on his life could fail and might only worsen or prolong his suffering.
Dr. McIver, 74, a retired Jupiter doctor who is a member of the Hemlock Society, which paired him with Mr. Hall, is not willing to risk prosecution for manslaughter under the current law. But he defends assisted suicide for patients whose lives doctors cannot make tolerable.
"My responsibility to the patient is to do what's in his best interest," Dr. McIver said in an interview. "Usually his best interest is to live. But when it is to die, isn't it my responsibility to help him die?"
But the state Attorney General's office argues that it would be impossible to impose safeguards to limit assisted suicide to the patients for whom it was intended. The difficulties cited include determining mental competence and defining terminal illness, the role of depression in a patient's choice to die, coercion by relatives and fear that cost control factors could enter into the equation in the age of managed care.
The state considers elderly and disabled people the most vulnerable to abuse.
"Fifty percent of Medicare expenses is spent during the last six months of an elderly person's life," said Michael A. Gross, the Assistant Attorney General handling the appeal to the State Supreme Court.
Susan A. MacManus, a professor of political science at the University of South Florida, in Tampa, who is an expert on issues of the elderly, said older Americans might become less supportive of assisted suicide as they become increasingly concerned with cost controls in medical care.
"The growing disgruntlement among the elderly with H.M.O.'s is something that's going to enter into the Florida equation very fast," Ms. MacManus said.
But among about 40 friend-of-the-court briefs in Mr. Hall's case, the only senior citizen group to file one has sided with the patient. Members of the Florida Silver-Haired Legislature, a group that drafts mock bills dealing with concerns of the elderly and then promotes them among real legislators, call the purported danger for abuse "a red herring" for moral and religious arguments.
"It's like saying we shouldn't have money because somebody would steal it," said Monroe W. Treiman, 77, who is the head of the group.
"The elderly are abused for money and everything else," Mr. Treiman said. "But to say because that happens you're going to demand under law that they don't have a relief to get out of life when they want to is thwarting their rights. We say this is completely and absolutely wrong."

LOAD-DATE: July 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Charles E. Hall, who sued for the right to enlist a doctor's help in his suicide, talked to one of his lawyers, Florence Rivas, earlier this year. (The Palm Beach Post via The Associated Press)
      

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July 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Rome's Green Havens

BYLINE: By MAUREEN B. FANT;  MAUREEN B. FANT lives in Rome.

SECTION: Section 5; Page 10; Column 3; Travel Desk 

LENGTH: 1942 words

LOOK at a map of Rome and you will see an outer ring of enormous green parks. Some are private; others, such as the Villa Doria Pamphili and the Villa Borghese, are open to the public. Farther toward the center, inside the line of the partly preserved third-century Aurelian Wall, which still demarcates central Rome, are visible small and medium-sized patches of green. Though many of the most beautiful of these are the gardens of private villas (like the villas Medici and Aurelia, belonging to the French and American academies respectively), a number of them are public. During the day they are frequented by small children with mothers, grandmothers or nannies, joggers, couples, the elderly, solitary readers and, after school, the Italian World Cup soccer team of the year 2012. In other words, Romans.
Situated near many of the city's principal monuments and attractions, the parks also provide a refuge and a welcome shot of oxygen for tired tourists who want a place to eat a sandwich (excellent drinking water is supplied by the public fountains about the size of fire hydrants placed throughout the city) or recharge before the next round of sightseeing. 
 The three intramural parks described below reflect my own preferences and haunts. These parks are generally adequately maintained, though nobody would call them manicured. People use them from sunrise to sunset. (As might be expected, the cast of characters can change after dark.) During the summer months, the parks are used for outdoor concerts and other events that give pleasure to many and annoy their respective neighborhoods, as well as for alfresco snacks or quiet walks.
All three are reasonably close to sources of picnic supplies or good places to eat. All three are also on top of hills and have views of Rome.
 
Parco Savello
The Aventine Hill, the southernmost of the canonical seven hills of Rome, is an exclusive residential neighborhood known for high rents, tree-lined streets, historic churches, some with underlying ancient temples, and the Priory of the Knights of Malta. A park has to work hard to be a refuge from that, and in fact for me this tiny, one-acre park, known popularly as the Giardino, or Parco, degli Aranci (park of the orange trees), will always be Rome's secret garden, an island of orange trees, pines and oleander.
The park, which was opened to the public in 1932, lies between the fifth-century Church of Santa Sabina and the scant remains of the medieval fortress of the Savelli family, and is the adopted home of two orphan fountains transported there when their homes, a palazzo and a piazza, ceased to exist. The neighborhood is also adjacent to the popular Testaccio quarter (a place of trattorias, restaurants and a famous market) and such monuments as the Circus Maximus, the Pyramid of Cestius and the Protestant Cemetery.
It is a very small park -- not vest pocket but maybe overcoat pocket. A terrace at the end opposite the entrance overlooks the Tiber, straight across to the Janiculum and Vatican, one of the best views in Rome, the most conducive, for some reason, to identifying domes, from the flattish concrete mass of the Pantheon to the Baroque cupolas of St. Peter's basilica and the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle to the elaborate spiral of Sant'Ivo.
The Aventine is separated from Testaccio by a single street, the Via Marmorata, where the best picnic supplies in Rome can be picked up at the Volpetti shop, or around the corner at the Volpetti tavola calda (cafeteria). The selection includes both hard-to-find and classic cheeses and cold cuts, as well as freshly baked pizza, excellent breads (try the dark and chewy pane di Lariano) and prepared dishes. Fresh fruit and vegetables are found a couple of blocks away, at the Testaccio market.
Once in the park, most people gravitate down a broad path lined with tall pines and chunky potted oleanders (the medium-sized orange trees are scattered about) to the rather plain terrace on the edge of the hill. My friend Franco and I often come here on Sundays -- through the front gate, down the path, stopping briefly for a dome quiz, then out the little gate leading to the Clivo di Rocca Savelli.
 
Parco del Colle Oppio
The Oppian Hill, or Colle Oppio, is the one of the seven nobody ever remembers. But its role in the topographical history of Rome is as central as its location, just near the Colosseum. This is Nero's hill. The remains of his Golden House, built in the 60's A.D., lie beneath it. Though the site is closed to the public, some ruined bits of the house are visible in a sad, abandoned sort of way around the large park.
When Nero was assassinated, in 68, his residence was torn down and public baths erected opposite the Colosseum, also erected after Nero's death. The principal consequences for us moderns are two: during the Renaissance, young artists used to sneak into the "grottoes" of the demolished palace and copy the wall paintings, giving rise to a style that came to be called grotesque, from the word grotte, and, second, the few remains of the first baths, those of Titus, and the rather more majestic ruins of their successor, the baths of Trajan, dot the park, producing a sort of Piranesi effect. But the park's gates and fountains are geometric and ponderous reminders of the Fascist era in which a public park was made from part of the gardens of Palazzo Brancaccio (which houses the Museum of Oriental Art), which stands just outside the park.
Paved paths, benches, open spaces and an extensive rose garden provide plenty of variety to the park, which is about five acres. The view is monolithic: the Colosseum looms in closeup, a striking effect produced by the elevation of the park to the approximate level of the amphitheater's upper stories. The park is a major feature of the neighborhood in which Franco and I live and work, and we regularly cut through opposite ends of it to reach our favorite restaurants, Hostaria Nerone, a classic trattoria on its western edge, and, for special occasions, Agata e Romeo, an elegant restaurant a couple of blocks outside the opposite end, near Santa Maria Maggiore. Inside the park a little kiosk serves coffee and cold drinks; for solid fare to take in for a picnic, a good source of bread, pizzas, sweets and fried snacks, near Santa Maria Maggiore, is Panella, a fancy bakery in the Via Merulana.
 
Pincio Gardens
For a break from the galleries and shops of the Via del Corso and the Piazza di Spagna in downtown Rome, the park on the Pincian Hill (not one of the seven hills), which rises above the Piazza del Popolo, is the largest park within the Aurelian Wall -- about 10 acres -- and an attraction in itself. It also provides a pleasant refuge among the shades of a more elegant era, namely the 1830's, when postrevolutionary France was exercising its influence. The architect and urban planner Giuseppe Valadier designed the park (as well as the piazza) on terrain that once contained the gardens of rich families of the Roman Empire.
The park can be reached from the top of the Spanish Steps by the road that goes past the Villa Medici, but the most pleasant approach is from the Piazza del Popolo. Climb Valadier's "salita del Pincio," which zigzags up from the piazza, at first in competition with motor vehicles, but farther up picturesque and lined with trees. (As you face the hill, there is a staircase on the left, or you can take the road.) The reward for the climb is one of the most celebrated panoramas in Rome, the view from the Piazzale Napoleone I, straight across the river to the Vatican.
Bygone grandeur best characterizes the Pincio. It is a bit noisy and dusty around the edges, and the statues of dead notables are sometimes headless. Around part of the hill's perimeter runs the stretch of the Aurelian Wall known as the Muro Torto ("twisted wall"), paralleled by a heavily trafficked road separating the Pincio from the larger Villa Borghese, which lies on the other side of the Wall (though pedestrians may cross a bridge).
But the quieter heart of the park rewards exploration, not only with hedged walks and shaded benches; there are also two delightful and eccentric fountains. In one, Pharaoh's daughter discovers the infant Moses among, if not actual bulrushes, at least a fair setting of aquatic plants. The other fountain is a clepsydra, a water clock, made rather like a grandfather clock. In better days jets of water moved a mechanism to operate its pendulum. While we wait for the charming neo-classical structure within the park known as the Casina Valadier to reopen with a restaurant and cafe, the best bet would be to cruise the many food shops of Via di Ripetta for picnic materials.
Alternatively, a walk up the hill and around the park makes a good preliminary to (or penance after) lunch at Dal Bolognese, an excellent restaurant that faces the Pincio from the opposite side of the Piazza del Popolo.
 
Finding the way to the parks
 
 There is no admission charge to any of the three parks. The Parco Savello, or Parco degli Aranci, closes its gates at sunset. The two others are open all the time but, as with any big city park, it is wise to stick to daylight hours. Except where noted, eating places and shops are closed on Sunday.
 
Parco Savello
 Main entrances to the Parco degli Aranci are in Via Santa Sabina and Piazza Pietro d'Illiria (next to an extraordinary fountain in which the water flows from an ancient stone face). A secondary entrance can be reached from the highly picturesque (mostly pedestrian) street known as Clivo di Rocca Savella, which climbs the Aventine Hill from the Lungotevere. To reach the park by public transport, take the subway (Line B) to Piramide or the 30 or 13 tram to Piazza Albania and walk up the Via Sant'Anselmo.
The Volpetti shop is at 47 Via Marmorata, (39-6) 574-2352); Open 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 5 to 10:15 P.M.; closed Thursday afternoon in addition to Sunday, but will be open all summer. The Volpetti Piu, the tavola calda, is around the corner at 8/10 Via Alessandro Volta; (39-6) 574-4306. Open 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. and 6 to 10 P.M. Closed for vacation from Aug. 11 to 28.
 
Parco del Colle Oppio
 The park is bordered on the west by the Via delle Terme di Tito and on the east by the Via delle Terme di Traiano, both of which have entrances. Other entrances are on the Via Labicana and the Viale del Monte Oppio. Take the subway (Line B) to Colosseo (exit up the steps to Largo Agnesi, not toward the Colosseum) or the 85 or 87 bus to the Via Labicana, one stop past the Colosseum.
 Agata e Romeo, 45 Via Carlo Alberto; (39-6) 446-6115. On vacation from Aug. 10 to 30. Hostaria di Nerone, 96 Via delle Terme di Tito; (39-6) 474-5207. Reservations should be made; closed the entire month of August. Panella, (39-6) 487-2344, 2/10 Largo Leopardi (on the corner of Via Merulana). Open 8 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. and 5 to 7:30 P.M.; closed Thursday afternoon and, during August, Saturday afternoon.
 
Giardini del Pincio
 The Pincio is accessible on foot, bike or horse from the Villa Borghese. Taxis can reach the edge of the park, and pedestrians can enter from above the Piazza del Popolo or the Viale del Belvedere, an offshoot of Viale Trinita del Monte, which starts at the top of the Spanish Steps. Take the subway (Line A) to the Piazzale Flaminio or the electric 117 bus to the Piazza del Popolo.
 Dal Bolognese, 1/2 Piazza del Popolo; (39-6) 361-1426. Closed Monday, except in July and August, when it is closed on Saturday and Sunday instead. On vacation for 15 days in the middle of August.   M. B. F.

LOAD-DATE: July 6, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: A corner of the Parco del Colle Oppio. Pharaoh's daughter with Moses in the bulrushes, a fountain in Pincio Park. (pg. 10); Romans use the Parco Savello from sunrise to sunset. (Claudio Martinez for The New York Times)(pg. 16)

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The New York Times

July 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Nursing Homes With Bars;
America's Aging, Violent Prisoners

BYLINE: By FOX BUTTERFIELD 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 3; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 1179 words

DATELINE: SOMERSET, Pa.

STANLEY WILSON can no longer recall his age or why he was sent to prison. Alzheimer's has stolen his memory. His hazy mind wanders through space much more freely than his body these days, and he believes he will be released from his prison in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania "this weekend."
Mr. Wilson is 59 years old, though he looks at least 70. He is an exemplar of a major unintended byproduct of the imprisonment boom of the past two decades -- a sharp growth in the number of elderly and geriatric inmates. 
 Since 1980, the number of inmates in state and Federal prisons has more than tripled to nearly 1.2 million. The number of prisoners considered geriatric, those 55 years or older, has jumped to an estimated 30,000 from 9,500, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, with some in their 80's and even 90's.
This growth, which parallels the increase in the elderly population in the nation, presents special burdens to prison authorities. Medical costs for these inmates are two to three times those for younger prisoners, specialists say, and health care expenses are the fastest growing item in prison budgets, which are themselves the most rapidly growing part of state budgets.
While the stereotypical view of elderly inmates is that they are lifers who have committed their crimes in the distant past and therefore may be deserving of release, the reality is that most of them are new to the system.
A full 25 percent have been in prison for less than a year and 68 percent for less than five years, said Allen J. Beck, chief of corrections statistics for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an arm of the Justice Department. Only 1 percent of geriatric prisoners have been incarcerated for 30 years or more. Mr. Wilson himself was sentenced for burglary only last year.
 
Physiologically Older
 Older inmates also turn out to have committed more violent crimes than their younger counterparts. Of all prisoners 55 and older, Mr. Beck said, two-thirds are serving time for a violent crime: 25 percent for murder or manslaughter; 27 percent for rape or sexual assault.
Take the case of John Saxon, a 56-year-old paraplegic, who like Mr. Wilson is at Laurel Highlands, a new prison for geriatric and infirm inmates, 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. One night in 1990 he got so drunk that when he tried to shoot his wife, he ended up killing one bystander, wounding two others and shooting himself in the head.
Mr. Saxon is confined to a hospital bed, serving a 15- to 30-year sentence; he can't even feed himself or go the bathroom without help. Like many older inmates, who have either alienated or lost touch with their families, he has no visitors. "I doubt I'll live to make it out," he said, lying in a sunny day room that looks more like a nursing home than a penitentiary.
Martin F. Horn, the commissioner of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, said cases such as Mr. Saxon's show that "growing old by itself does not end criminal careers." But age and infirmity, he said, do make inmates less dangerous and less likely to escape or assault guards or fellow prisoners.
So to help geriatric inmates and lower their medical costs by putting all of them in one place, a half dozen states including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Alabama have recently opened special prisons for them. These new prisons, several of them converted from state mental hospitals, are just the beginning of a trend: the number of elderly prisoners will explode in the next 10 to 20 years with the increase in longer prison sentences, the abolition of parole in many states and the new "three strikes and you're out" laws. In Pennsylvania there are now 3,000 inmates serving life sentences without parole with an average age of 39, and they will only get older.
Another factor driving the increase in elderly prisoners is that as the number of convicts grows, more of them are released and tend to be rearrested, Mr. Beck said. It is the prison system metastasizing.
In 1980, 82 percent of all inmates admitted to state prisons were entering for the first time. By 1995, that had shrunk to 65 percent.
Adding to the difficulty, said Dr. Lester Lewis, medical director of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, is the tendency of inmates to age faster than other people. They may be 10 years older physiologically than they are chronologically, perhaps as a result of lifelong drinking or drug use and a lack of good medical care. "Often on admission an inmate will say it is the first time he has ever seen a doctor, except maybe in an emergency room," Dr. Lewis said.
Prison further speeds up the aging process because of the constant stress of worrying about being robbed or raped and trying to keep up with younger inmates in the daily rush to the chow line where meal time is strictly limited, said Dr. Herbert Rosefield, director of health services for the North Carolina Division of Prisons.
The plight of older inmates has sparked a movement to gain early release for some of them, both on humanitarian grounds and to cut costs and to create bed space for more violent inmates. The main argument for paroling older inmates is that "the most reliable factor predicting recidivism is age, as a person grows older, he becomes progressively less dangerous," said Jonathan Turley, a professor of law at George Washington University and founder of the Project for Older Prisoners.
POPS, as the program is called, has won the release of 168 inmates in a number of states. But even Mr. Turley acknowledges that age alone does not stop people from committing crimes, so all the prisoners he supports have been carefully selected after checking their disciplinary records, the severity of their crimes, whether they have drug or alcohol problems and whether their victims' families consent. None of the 168 has been rearrested.
It is impossible to calculate how much extra geriatric inmates' health care costs because most states buy their health care in bulk for all inmates. But the medical records of a 78-year-old inmate in New York, Dr. Charles Friedgood, are suggestive. According to information he supplied, his total bill for medical care in the past few years, including treatment for cancer and heart disease, has been $230,000. Dr. Friedgood was sentenced to 25 years to life in 1977 for murdering his wife.
The greatest fear of elderly inmates, Mr. Turley said, is that they will die in prison without at least one night outside. One older inmate he tried to get paroled, Floyd Grigsby, was in Louisiana's Angola State Prison for armed robbery. The man "was distraught," Mr. Turley said, "that he would die in prison and be buried at Point Lookout," a hill inside the vast prison compound.
A week before his parole hearing, Mr. Grigsby was unexpectedly moved to a new cell block, "a move we strongly opposed," Mr. Turley said, "because older prisoners like older people on the outside have a terror of the unknown." That night, Mr. Grigsby had a heart attack and died. He was buried at Point Lookout.

LOAD-DATE: July 6, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: John Saxon, a convicted murderer, is confined to a bed in a Pennsylvania prison for elderly and infirm inmates. (Scott Goldsmith for The New York Times)
 
Graph: "Aged, but Not Necessarily Infirm"
A 1991 study of state prisoners, who make up about 90 percent of the nation's prison population, found that: The number of older prisoners has risent sharply . . . and 68 percent of those over age 55 have been imprisoned less than five years. More than two-thirds of older inmates were imprisoned for violent crimes. Graph tracks the total number of state prisoners in custody, 55 and older, from 1979 through 1991. It also shows a breakdown of the number of years prisoners over 55 have been incarcerated. Finally, it shows percentages of crime types for which they were imprisoned. (Source: "Growth, Change and Stability in the U.S. Prison Population," by Allen J. Beck, chief of correction statistics at the Bureau of Justice Statistics)

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The New York Times

July 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Rome's Green Havens

BYLINE: By MAUREEN B. FANT; MAUREEN B. FANT lives in Rome.

SECTION: Section 5; Page 10; Column 3; Travel Desk

LENGTH: 1942 words

LOOK at a map of Rome and you will see an outer ring of enormous green parks. Some are private; others, such as the Villa Doria Pamphili and the Villa Borghese, are open to the public. Farther toward the center, inside the line of the partly preserved third-century Aurelian Wall, which still demarcates central Rome, are visible small and medium-sized patches of green. Though many of the most beautiful of these are the gardens of private villas (like the villas Medici and Aurelia, belonging to the French and American academies respectively), a number of them are public. During the day they are frequented by small children with mothers, grandmothers or nannies, joggers, couples, the elderly, solitary readers and, after school, the Italian World Cup soccer team of the year 2012. In other words, Romans.
Situated near many of the city's principal monuments and attractions, the parks also provide a refuge and a welcome shot of oxygen for tired tourists who want a place to eat a sandwich (excellent drinking water is supplied by the public fountains about the size of fire hydrants placed throughout the city) or recharge before the next round of sightseeing. 
 The three intramural parks described below reflect my own preferences and haunts. These parks are generally adequately maintained, though nobody would call them manicured. People use them from sunrise to sunset. (As might be expected, the cast of characters can change after dark.) During the summer months, the parks are used for outdoor concerts and other events that give pleasure to many and annoy their respective neighborhoods, as well as for alfresco snacks or quiet walks.
All three are reasonably close to sources of picnic supplies or good places to eat. All three are also on top of hills and have views of Rome.
 
Parco Savello
The Aventine Hill, the southernmost of the canonical seven hills of Rome, is an exclusive residential neighborhood known for high rents, tree-lined streets, historic churches, some with underlying ancient temples, and the Priory of the Knights of Malta. A park has to work hard to be a refuge from that, and in fact for me this tiny, one-acre park, known popularly as the Giardino, or Parco, degli Aranci (park of the orange trees), will always be Rome's secret garden, an island of orange trees, pines and oleander.
The park, which was opened to the public in 1932, lies between the fifth-century Church of Santa Sabina and the scant remains of the medieval fortress of the Savelli family, and is the adopted home of two orphan fountains transported there when their homes, a palazzo and a piazza, ceased to exist. The neighborhood is also adjacent to the popular Testaccio quarter (a place of trattorias, restaurants and a famous market) and such monuments as the Circus Maximus, the Pyramid of Cestius and the Protestant Cemetery.
It is a very small park -- not vest pocket but maybe overcoat pocket. A terrace at the end opposite the entrance overlooks the Tiber, straight across to the Janiculum and Vatican, one of the best views in Rome, the most conducive, for some reason, to identifying domes, from the flattish concrete mass of the Pantheon to the Baroque cupolas of St. Peter's basilica and the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle to the elaborate spiral of Sant'Ivo.
The Aventine is separated from Testaccio by a single street, the Via Marmorata, where the best picnic supplies in Rome can be picked up at the Volpetti shop, or around the corner at the Volpetti tavola calda (cafeteria). The selection includes both hard-to-find and classic cheeses and cold cuts, as well as freshly baked pizza, excellent breads (try the dark and chewy pane di Lariano) and prepared dishes. Fresh fruit and vegetables are found a couple of blocks away, at the Testaccio market.
Once in the park, most people gravitate down a broad path lined with tall pines and chunky potted oleanders (the medium-sized orange trees are scattered about) to the rather plain terrace on the edge of the hill. My friend Franco and I often come here on Sundays -- through the front gate, down the path, stopping briefly for a dome quiz, then out the little gate leading to the Clivo di Rocca Savelli.
 
Parco del Colle Oppio
The Oppian Hill, or Colle Oppio, is the one of the seven nobody ever remembers. But its role in the topographical history of Rome is as central as its location, just near the Colosseum. This is Nero's hill. The remains of his Golden House, built in the 60's A.D., lie beneath it. Though the site is closed to the public, some ruined bits of the house are visible in a sad, abandoned sort of way around the large park.
When Nero was assassinated, in 68, his residence was torn down and public baths erected opposite the Colosseum, also erected after Nero's death. The principal consequences for us moderns are two: during the Renaissance, young artists used to sneak into the "grottoes" of the demolished palace and copy the wall paintings, giving rise to a style that came to be called grotesque, from the word grotte, and, second, the few remains of the first baths, those of Titus, and the rather more majestic ruins of their successor, the baths of Trajan, dot the park, producing a sort of Piranesi effect. But the park's gates and fountains are geometric and ponderous reminders of the Fascist era in which a public park was made from part of the gardens of Palazzo Brancaccio (which houses the Museum of Oriental Art), which stands just outside the park.
Paved paths, benches, open spaces and an extensive rose garden provide plenty of variety to the park, which is about five acres. The view is monolithic: the Colosseum looms in closeup, a striking effect produced by the elevation of the park to the approximate level of the amphitheater's upper stories. The park is a major feature of the neighborhood in which Franco and I live and work, and we regularly cut through opposite ends of it to reach our favorite restaurants, Hostaria Nerone, a classic trattoria on its western edge, and, for special occasions, Agata e Romeo, an elegant restaurant a couple of blocks outside the opposite end, near Santa Maria Maggiore. Inside the park a little kiosk serves coffee and cold drinks; for solid fare to take in for a picnic, a good source of bread, pizzas, sweets and fried snacks, near Santa Maria Maggiore, is Panella, a fancy bakery in the Via Merulana.
 
Pincio Gardens
For a break from the galleries and shops of the Via del Corso and the Piazza di Spagna in downtown Rome, the park on the Pincian Hill (not one of the seven hills), which rises above the Piazza del Popolo, is the largest park within the Aurelian Wall -- about 10 acres -- and an attraction in itself. It also provides a pleasant refuge among the shades of a more elegant era, namely the 1830's, when postrevolutionary France was exercising its influence. The architect and urban planner Giuseppe Valadier designed the park (as well as the piazza) on terrain that once contained the gardens of rich families of the Roman Empire.
The park can be reached from the top of the Spanish Steps by the road that goes past the Villa Medici, but the most pleasant approach is from the Piazza del Popolo. Climb Valadier's "salita del Pincio," which zigzags up from the piazza, at first in competition with motor vehicles, but farther up picturesque and lined with trees. (As you face the hill, there is a staircase on the left, or you can take the road.) The reward for the climb is one of the most celebrated panoramas in Rome, the view from the Piazzale Napoleone I, straight across the river to the Vatican.
Bygone grandeur best characterizes the Pincio. It is a bit noisy and dusty around the edges, and the statues of dead notables are sometimes headless. Around part of the hill's perimeter runs the stretch of the Aurelian Wall known as the Muro Torto ("twisted wall"), paralleled by a heavily trafficked road separating the Pincio from the larger Villa Borghese, which lies on the other side of the Wall (though pedestrians may cross a bridge).
But the quieter heart of the park rewards exploration, not only with hedged walks and shaded benches; there are also two delightful and eccentric fountains. In one, Pharaoh's daughter discovers the infant Moses among, if not actual bulrushes, at least a fair setting of aquatic plants. The other fountain is a clepsydra, a water clock, made rather like a grandfather clock. In better days jets of water moved a mechanism to operate its pendulum. While we wait for the charming neo-classical structure within the park known as the Casina Valadier to reopen with a restaurant and cafe, the best bet would be to cruise the many food shops of Via di Ripetta for picnic materials.
Alternatively, a walk up the hill and around the park makes a good preliminary to (or penance after) lunch at Dal Bolognese, an excellent restaurant that faces the Pincio from the opposite side of the Piazza del Popolo.
 
Finding the way to the parks
 
 There is no admission charge to any of the three parks. The Parco Savello, or Parco degli Aranci, closes its gates at sunset. The two others are open all the time but, as with any big city park, it is wise to stick to daylight hours. Except where noted, eating places and shops are closed on Sunday.
 
Parco Savello
 Main entrances to the Parco degli Aranci are in Via Santa Sabina and Piazza Pietro d'Illiria (next to an extraordinary fountain in which the water flows from an ancient stone face). A secondary entrance can be reached from the highly picturesque (mostly pedestrian) street known as Clivo di Rocca Savella, which climbs the Aventine Hill from the Lungotevere. To reach the park by public transport, take the subway (Line B) to Piramide or the 30 or 13 tram to Piazza Albania and walk up the Via Sant'Anselmo.
The Volpetti shop is at 47 Via Marmorata, (39-6) 574-2352); Open 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 5 to 10:15 P.M.; closed Thursday afternoon in addition to Sunday, but will be open all summer. The Volpetti Piu, the tavola calda, is around the corner at 8/10 Via Alessandro Volta; (39-6) 574-4306. Open 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. and 6 to 10 P.M. Closed for vacation from Aug. 11 to 28.
 
Parco del Colle Oppio
 The park is bordered on the west by the Via delle Terme di Tito and on the east by the Via delle Terme di Traiano, both of which have entrances. Other entrances are on the Via Labicana and the Viale del Monte Oppio. Take the subway (Line B) to Colosseo (exit up the steps to Largo Agnesi, not toward the Colosseum) or the 85 or 87 bus to the Via Labicana, one stop past the Colosseum.
 Agata e Romeo, 45 Via Carlo Alberto; (39-6) 446-6115. On vacation from Aug. 10 to 30. Hostaria di Nerone, 96 Via delle Terme di Tito; (39-6) 474-5207. Reservations should be made; closed the entire month of August. Panella, (39-6) 487-2344, 2/10 Largo Leopardi (on the corner of Via Merulana). Open 8 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. and 5 to 7:30 P.M.; closed Thursday afternoon and, during August, Saturday afternoon.
 
Giardini del Pincio
 The Pincio is accessible on foot, bike or horse from the Villa Borghese. Taxis can reach the edge of the park, and pedestrians can enter from above the Piazza del Popolo or the Viale del Belvedere, an offshoot of Viale Trinita del Monte, which starts at the top of the Spanish Steps. Take the subway (Line A) to the Piazzale Flaminio or the electric 117 bus to the Piazza del Popolo.
 Dal Bolognese, 1/2 Piazza del Popolo; (39-6) 361-1426. Closed Monday, except in July and August, when it is closed on Saturday and Sunday instead. On vacation for 15 days in the middle of August.   M. B. F.

LOAD-DATE: July 6, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: A corner of the Parco del Colle Oppio. Pharaoh's daughter with Moses in the bulrushes, a fountain in Pincio Park. (pg. 10); Romans use the Parco Savello from sunrise to sunset. (Claudio Martinez for The New York Times)(pg. 16)

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July 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Nursing Homes With Bars;
America's Aging, Violent Prisoners

BYLINE: By FOX BUTTERFIELD

SECTION: Section 4; Page 3; Column 1; Week in Review Desk

LENGTH: 1179 words

DATELINE: SOMERSET, Pa.

STANLEY WILSON can no longer recall his age or why he was sent to prison. Alzheimer's has stolen his memory. His hazy mind wanders through space much more freely than his body these days, and he believes he will be released from his prison in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania "this weekend."
Mr. Wilson is 59 years old, though he looks at least 70. He is an exemplar of a major unintended byproduct of the imprisonment boom of the past two decades -- a sharp growth in the number of elderly and geriatric inmates. 
 Since 1980, the number of inmates in state and Federal prisons has more than tripled to nearly 1.2 million. The number of prisoners considered geriatric, those 55 years or older, has jumped to an estimated 30,000 from 9,500, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, with some in their 80's and even 90's.
This growth, which parallels the increase in the elderly population in the nation, presents special burdens to prison authorities. Medical costs for these inmates are two to three times those for younger prisoners, specialists say, and health care expenses are the fastest growing item in prison budgets, which are themselves the most rapidly growing part of state budgets.
While the stereotypical view of elderly inmates is that they are lifers who have committed their crimes in the distant past and therefore may be deserving of release, the reality is that most of them are new to the system.
A full 25 percent have been in prison for less than a year and 68 percent for less than five years, said Allen J. Beck, chief of corrections statistics for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an arm of the Justice Department. Only 1 percent of geriatric prisoners have been incarcerated for 30 years or more. Mr. Wilson himself was sentenced for burglary only last year.
 
Physiologically Older
 Older inmates also turn out to have committed more violent crimes than their younger counterparts. Of all prisoners 55 and older, Mr. Beck said, two-thirds are serving time for a violent crime: 25 percent for murder or manslaughter; 27 percent for rape or sexual assault.
Take the case of John Saxon, a 56-year-old paraplegic, who like Mr. Wilson is at Laurel Highlands, a new prison for geriatric and infirm inmates, 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. One night in 1990 he got so drunk that when he tried to shoot his wife, he ended up killing one bystander, wounding two others and shooting himself in the head.
Mr. Saxon is confined to a hospital bed, serving a 15- to 30-year sentence; he can't even feed himself or go the bathroom without help. Like many older inmates, who have either alienated or lost touch with their families, he has no visitors. "I doubt I'll live to make it out," he said, lying in a sunny day room that looks more like a nursing home than a penitentiary.
Martin F. Horn, the commissioner of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, said cases such as Mr. Saxon's show that "growing old by itself does not end criminal careers." But age and infirmity, he said, do make inmates less dangerous and less likely to escape or assault guards or fellow prisoners.
So to help geriatric inmates and lower their medical costs by putting all of them in one place, a half dozen states including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Alabama have recently opened special prisons for them. These new prisons, several of them converted from state mental hospitals, are just the beginning of a trend: the number of elderly prisoners will explode in the next 10 to 20 years with the increase in longer prison sentences, the abolition of parole in many states and the new "three strikes and you're out" laws. In Pennsylvania there are now 3,000 inmates serving life sentences without parole with an average age of 39, and they will only get older.
Another factor driving the increase in elderly prisoners is that as the number of convicts grows, more of them are released and tend to be rearrested, Mr. Beck said. It is the prison system metastasizing.
In 1980, 82 percent of all inmates admitted to state prisons were entering for the first time. By 1995, that had shrunk to 65 percent.
Adding to the difficulty, said Dr. Lester Lewis, medical director of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, is the tendency of inmates to age faster than other people. They may be 10 years older physiologically than they are chronologically, perhaps as a result of lifelong drinking or drug use and a lack of good medical care. "Often on admission an inmate will say it is the first time he has ever seen a doctor, except maybe in an emergency room," Dr. Lewis said.
Prison further speeds up the aging process because of the constant stress of worrying about being robbed or raped and trying to keep up with younger inmates in the daily rush to the chow line where meal time is strictly limited, said Dr. Herbert Rosefield, director of health services for the North Carolina Division of Prisons.
The plight of older inmates has sparked a movement to gain early release for some of them, both on humanitarian grounds and to cut costs and to create bed space for more violent inmates. The main argument for paroling older inmates is that "the most reliable factor predicting recidivism is age, as a person grows older, he becomes progressively less dangerous," said Jonathan Turley, a professor of law at George Washington University and founder of the Project for Older Prisoners.
POPS, as the program is called, has won the release of 168 inmates in a number of states. But even Mr. Turley acknowledges that age alone does not stop people from committing crimes, so all the prisoners he supports have been carefully selected after checking their disciplinary records, the severity of their crimes, whether they have drug or alcohol problems and whether their victims' families consent. None of the 168 has been rearrested.
It is impossible to calculate how much extra geriatric inmates' health care costs because most states buy their health care in bulk for all inmates. But the medical records of a 78-year-old inmate in New York, Dr. Charles Friedgood, are suggestive. According to information he supplied, his total bill for medical care in the past few years, including treatment for cancer and heart disease, has been $230,000. Dr. Friedgood was sentenced to 25 years to life in 1977 for murdering his wife.
The greatest fear of elderly inmates, Mr. Turley said, is that they will die in prison without at least one night outside. One older inmate he tried to get paroled, Floyd Grigsby, was in Louisiana's Angola State Prison for armed robbery. The man "was distraught," Mr. Turley said, "that he would die in prison and be buried at Point Lookout," a hill inside the vast prison compound.
A week before his parole hearing, Mr. Grigsby was unexpectedly moved to a new cell block, "a move we strongly opposed," Mr. Turley said, "because older prisoners like older people on the outside have a terror of the unknown." That night, Mr. Grigsby had a heart attack and died. He was buried at Point Lookout.

LOAD-DATE: July 6, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: John Saxon, a convicted murderer, is confined to a bed in a Pennsylvania prison for elderly and infirm inmates. (Scott Goldsmith for The New York Times)
 
Graph: "Aged, but Not Necessarily Infirm"
A 1991 study of state prisoners, who make up about 90 percent of the nation's prison population, found that: The number of older prisoners has risent sharply . . . and 68 percent of those over age 55 have been imprisoned less than five years. More than two-thirds of older inmates were imprisoned for violent crimes. Graph tracks the total number of state prisoners in custody, 55 and older, from 1979 through 1991. It also shows a breakdown of the number of years prisoners over 55 have been incarcerated. Finally, it shows percentages of crime types for which they were imprisoned. (Source: "Growth, Change and Stability in the U.S. Prison Population," by Allen J. Beck, chief of correction statistics at the Bureau of Justice Statistics)

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July 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SOAPBOX;
Tickets, Please

BYLINE: By CAREN LISSNER;  Caren Lissner is a freelance writer who lives in Hoboken.

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 11; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 645 words

AN amusement park is always a happy place until you've worked there a few months. Sometimes it still is after that. But more often, even the most cheerful workers eventually succumb to day after day of brain-frying heat, screaming children and parents shouting about who cut in front of whose kid in line.
Such was my experience when I spent a summer working at a big New Jersey theme park. To be honest, my job as an admissions gate attendant wasn't too bad. All the hundreds of summer employees received free guest passes and discounts in the employee store. Food in the staff cafeteria was cheap. These things were important: while some people didn't really need the money, others did. The latter group included elderly people on fixed incomes and people like me who were trying to scrape money together for the next semester of college. 
 Admissions was an easy job that required, basically, tearing an admission ticket along the perforation and handing back the receipt. Life was even easier if you were at the season-pass gate or the hand-stamp entrance: no tearing, just a cursory glance. It always seemed that certain favored people ended up in those spots, something that was the source of endless conspiracy-theory hatching by co-workers, along with the issue of who got the most hours and therefore the most money.
I was happy to have work, though, so I didn't complain much, even when we all became sweaty and bored and had to think up ways to entertain ourselves.
The biggest source of entertainment was provided by the security guards who stood behind us. It was their job to burrow through the guests' pockets and bags for contraband: guns, knives, drugs and so on. Once in a while, a visitor would step through the ticket turnstile, see the security and run back out. A chase would ensue -- someone taking his new authority a little too seriously -- and we would crane our necks to watch the show. Often the hidden item was marijuana, or occasionally cocaine. That's entertainment.
A quieter diversion was the employee suggestion box. One of my "suggestions" was actually a question about whether standing near metal detectors for long periods of time (like an entire summer) was dangerous. I dropped it in the box, as I had done with so many others, and forgot about it.
I went back to worrying about how I could get in good with my supervisors so they wouldn't send me home early and I could get my eight hours. I really needed the money. My situation was so dire that summer that I refused to allow myself one of the funnel cakes whose sweet powdered-sugar fumes I inhaled all day long.
One day, things changed. I was sitting at my gate when a supervisor came up to me, seemingly aghast, to tell me that the vice president of the whole park was on the phone for me. What did he want? I walked to the office, followed by many pairs of eyes.
"I just wanted to let you know that I got your question about the metal detectors," he said. "We're going to do some research and get back to you in a couple of weeks."
Later, when someone finally got the nerve to ask what we had talked about, I replied vaguely that it had to do with an employee suggestion.
I was treated much more nicely after that. For the last three weeks of the summer, I was never sent home early, and one week I even made overtime. Maybe this was just because the park was busier. I didn't know, and I didn't care. I was just happy to be earning more money.
I went back to school before I received an answer about the metal detectors, and I didn't set foot in the park again for four years.
Then, two summers ago, I decided to go back. I submitted a coupon to pay half price, passed through the admissions gate and plunked down some scrip for a funnel cake. Memories of my summer of boredom and poverty were swept away. I was a tourist again, and happy to be so.

LOAD-DATE: July 6, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Felipe Galindo)

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352 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

July 6, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SOAPBOX;
Tickets, Please

BYLINE: By CAREN LISSNER; Caren Lissner is a freelance writer who lives in Hoboken.

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 11; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 645 words

AN amusement park is always a happy place until you've worked there a few months. Sometimes it still is after that. But more often, even the most cheerful workers eventually succumb to day after day of brain-frying heat, screaming children and parents shouting about who cut in front of whose kid in line.
Such was my experience when I spent a summer working at a big New Jersey theme park. To be honest, my job as an admissions gate attendant wasn't too bad. All the hundreds of summer employees received free guest passes and discounts in the employee store. Food in the staff cafeteria was cheap. These things were important: while some people didn't really need the money, others did. The latter group included elderly people on fixed incomes and people like me who were trying to scrape money together for the next semester of college. 
 Admissions was an easy job that required, basically, tearing an admission ticket along the perforation and handing back the receipt. Life was even easier if you were at the season-pass gate or the hand-stamp entrance: no tearing, just a cursory glance. It always seemed that certain favored people ended up in those spots, something that was the source of endless conspiracy-theory hatching by co-workers, along with the issue of who got the most hours and therefore the most money.
I was happy to have work, though, so I didn't complain much, even when we all became sweaty and bored and had to think up ways to entertain ourselves.
The biggest source of entertainment was provided by the security guards who stood behind us. It was their job to burrow through the guests' pockets and bags for contraband: guns, knives, drugs and so on. Once in a while, a visitor would step through the ticket turnstile, see the security and run back out. A chase would ensue -- someone taking his new authority a little too seriously -- and we would crane our necks to watch the show. Often the hidden item was marijuana, or occasionally cocaine. That's entertainment.
A quieter diversion was the employee suggestion box. One of my "suggestions" was actually a question about whether standing near metal detectors for long periods of time (like an entire summer) was dangerous. I dropped it in the box, as I had done with so many others, and forgot about it.
I went back to worrying about how I could get in good with my supervisors so they wouldn't send me home early and I could get my eight hours. I really needed the money. My situation was so dire that summer that I refused to allow myself one of the funnel cakes whose sweet powdered-sugar fumes I inhaled all day long.
One day, things changed. I was sitting at my gate when a supervisor came up to me, seemingly aghast, to tell me that the vice president of the whole park was on the phone for me. What did he want? I walked to the office, followed by many pairs of eyes.
"I just wanted to let you know that I got your question about the metal detectors," he said. "We're going to do some research and get back to you in a couple of weeks."
Later, when someone finally got the nerve to ask what we had talked about, I replied vaguely that it had to do with an employee suggestion.
I was treated much more nicely after that. For the last three weeks of the summer, I was never sent home early, and one week I even made overtime. Maybe this was just because the park was busier. I didn't know, and I didn't care. I was just happy to be earning more money.
I went back to school before I received an answer about the metal detectors, and I didn't set foot in the park again for four years.
Then, two summers ago, I decided to go back. I submitted a coupon to pay half price, passed through the admissions gate and plunked down some scrip for a funnel cake. Memories of my summer of boredom and poverty were swept away. I was a tourist again, and happy to be so.

LOAD-DATE: July 6, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Felipe Galindo)

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The New York Times

July 8, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Brain Size Is Studied In Elderly

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section C; Page 2; Column 4; Science Desk 

LENGTH: 341 words

DATELINE: DALLAS, July 7

High blood pressure may speed the loss of memory and other cognitive abilities in the elderly and cause their brains to shrink, a study indicates.
The changes seem to occur in spite of drug therapy to control blood pressure, said Dr. Gene E. Alexander, the study's senior investigator. 
 The results suggest that more effective treatment may be needed for elderly patients with high blood pressure, Dr. Alexander said.
But a neurologist who was not involved with the study, Dr. Larry B. Goldstein, an associate professor of medicine and neurology at the Duke University Medical Center and the Durham Veterans Affairs Hospital, said further work was needed before the standard therapies were changed.
Dr. Goldstein said the differences in brain size and cognitive performance found in the study "were clearly significant but seemed over all to be relatively small." He added, "You have to factor in not only the potential benefits but all the other side effects and costs related to altering therapy in an elderly population."
Elderly people with blood pressure that is too low may faint, Dr. Goldstein said.
In the study, Dr. Alexander and other researchers at the National Institutes on Aging of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., compared people with normal blood pressure in two age groups -- 56 to 69, and 70 to 84 -- with people who had long histories of high blood pressure that was well controlled.
One of its possible limitations was the small number of patients evaluated: 27 with high blood pressure and 20 in the control group. Dr. Alexander said the numbers were small because of the labor involved in measuring the size of each person's brain. The study appears in the July edition of Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association.
The participants underwent brain-imaging scans to evaluate brain size and took neuropsychological tests.
Dr. Alexander said the patients with high blood pressure, who were otherwise healthy, showed more brain atrophy and memory loss than the other patients.

LOAD-DATE: July 8, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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July 8, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Conservative Advocate and His G.O.P. Ties Come Into Focus

BYLINE: By LESLIE WAYNE 

SECTION: Section A; Page 12; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1639 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 7

In the closing weeks of last fall's elections, with Congress up for grabs, polls showed that one issue causing voters to hesitate supporting Republican candidates was a fear that a Republican majority in Congress would cut Medicare benefits to the elderly.
Into the breach came Grover G. Norquist, an emerging leader in conservative circles. Armed with $4.6 million from the Republican National Committee, Mr. Norquist's nonprofit anti-tax group, Americans for Tax Reform, flooded 150 Congressional districts with a direct-mail campaign assuring voters that the Republicans had no intention of cutting Medicare and that voters were being subjected to "political scare tactics" to think otherwise. 
 Mr. Norquist's efforts apparently paid off. After this late-October blitz, Republican polls showed that a significant shift had taken place, with the party actually winning on the Medicare issue, and on Election Day a Republican majority in Congress was re-elected.
What was striking about Mr. Norquist's effort was that, although it was financed with Republican money, none of the mailings revealed this connection. The late October mailings were issued under the name of Americans for Tax Reform and were designed to look as though they came from an independent group.
Now, however, the relationship between Mr. Norquist and the Republicans has come under scrutiny.
The Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, which will begin hearings on campaign finance abuses on Tuesday, is questioning the arrangement between the Republican Party and Mr. Norquist, a lobbyist and columnist, among other things. While the bulk of the hearings will look at alleged wrongdoing by the Democratic Party, the committee will also examine the role that nonprofit conservative groups played in helping Republican candidates when it looks at possible Republican Party abuses.
Just last weekend, Senator Fred Thompson, the Tennessee Republican who is chairman of the investigative committee, said, "You have to address the relationships that there are with these independent groups."
"It's the use of these independent groups who can produce monies, funds, people and so forth that are just as important as the soft money," Mr. Thompson added.
Investigators are asking whether the Republicans' relationship with Mr. Norquist's group violated Federal laws banning coordination between political parties and other groups. They will also see whether the Republicans funneled money to nonprofit groups to circumvent laws prohibiting use of "soft money" -- unrestricted donations to political parties -- in individual Congressional races. Federal law allows soft money to be used only for party-building activities.
"The 1996 election saw an explosion in the perversion of nonprofit groups becoming tools of the parties," said Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit research group in Washington. "Millions of dollars were laundered through these groups with no disclosure. Americans for Tax Reform is a front for the Republican Party. Republicans are hiding money in this group, and that is fundamentally dishonest."
Both the Republican National Committee and Mr. Norquist insist they did nothing wrong.
"As far as the Americans for Tax Reform is concerned, the R.N.C. routinely makes contributions to like-minded organizations," said Scott Hogenson, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "In this case, the R.N.C. and the Americans for Tax Reform see eye to eye on the need for changing the way American working people are taxed.
"As for what an organization may choose to do with a contribution, well, that's up to them."
Mr. Norquist agrees, saying: "We had zero coordination with the R.N.C. If the Senate committee is hoping to argue for coordination, they will not get anywhere. We advertised which candidates would be for the taxpayers and which would vote against them. If that redounds to the detriment of the Democrats, well, then the Democrats have some explaining to do."
Mr. Norquist said it was by design that no mention was made of his group's Republican ties. The mailings stated only that the group was sincere about telling "The Truth . . . No One Is Cutting Medicare."
"All the Republicans needed was for accurate information to get into people's hands," Mr. Norquist said in an interview here. "That's why they could use a nonprofit group. We were just talking about the issues accurately."
"The paradox," he added, "is that if the Republicans gave the money, they'd have to put out a Republican message. All we had to do was put out a factual message. It doesn't say 'Vote Republican' and it doesn't name candidates. It doesn't say who to vote for, it just says 'Here are the facts.' It fits comfortably within the law."
The spotlight on Mr. Norquist has also been cast on his work as a lobbyist, his growing involvement in conservative circles and the financial ties between those roles.
A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, Mr. Norquist operates out of a Dupont Circle office decorated with a live boa constrictor (along with a chart marking its growth). On the walls are photographs of Mr. Norquist as a rifle-toting supporter of Angolan anti-Marxist rebels, a poster of Janis Joplin and grip-and-grin photographs of Republican politicians, including President George Bush and Representative Sonny Bono.
Mr. Norquist, a close friend of Speaker Newt Gingrich and a columnist for the conservative publication The American Spectator, is best known in conservative circles as the head of an ad hoc organization called the Leave Us Alone Coalition. The coalition brings together conservative groups, including the Christian Coalition and the National Rifle Association, to lobby Congress. Every Wednesday morning representatives of the groups meet in Mr. Norquist's office with members of Congress or their staff to discuss issues of the moment, like abolishing affirmative action or killing the National Endowment for the Arts.
Conservatives disagree on many issues, but the coalition unites them behind the goal of less government.
"There are a lot of people who want to be left alone by government," Mr. Norquist said. "They are small-business men, home schoolers, private-school operators, gun owners. The reason the center-right movement can hold together is because they are now focusing on how they can help each other rather than on their divisions."
Mark Bloomfield, president of the American Council for Capital Formation, a nonprofit group in Washington, said, "Grover is at the hub of the wheel of a lot of conservative activists. He's the nexus, the glue. And he's helped the conservative movement redefine the Republican Party."
Ralph Reed, who will soon step down as executive director of the Christian Coalition, added: "Grover is a synthesizer of disparate elements of conservatism. He brings together elements who wouldn't normally be in frequent communications and has made the conservative movement more effective."
Mr. Norquist's main organization, Americans for Tax Reform, presses state and Federal politicians to take the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" not to raise taxes. This group, which has 60,000 members, wants to cut the Government in half in 25 years by privatizing Social Security and education and by eliminating several Cabinet departments.
Some occasional allies question his effectiveness.
"There's lots of energy going on," said Edward H. Crane, president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization, "but it's almost like Grover is a creation of the media. People sit around these meetings and talk tactics and stuff, but I'm skeptical of the impact in the grand scheme of things.
Mr. Crane also said he wondered whether Mr. Norquist's ties to Republican leaders affected his ability to promote conservatives broadly.
"Any intellectual movement is ill-served by being partisan," he said, "and Americans for Tax Reform is clearly too closely identified with Gingrich and, after having taken all that money from the R.N.C., from being too identified with Republicans. How could Grover sell to Democrats when he is so tied to Gingrich?"
Mr. Norquist also heads a lobbying firm, the Merritt Group, whose clients include the Microsoft Corporation (at $10,000 a month); Joseph E. Seagram & Sons., the United States branch of the Canadian liquor and beverage company Seagram; the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and the island Republic of Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean. He was a registered foreign agent, at $10,000 a month, for the political organization of Jonas Savimbi, the Angolan rebel leader, until the group did some belt-tightening after paying Mr. Norquist $80,000 last year.
But the lines between advocate and lobbyist can conflict. For instance, Mr. Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform Foundation, the arm of his organization that can accept tax-deductible donations, has argued for lower taxes on liquor and beer -- the same issue that Mr. Norquist promotes as a paid lobbyist for Seagram and the liquor industry.
"You can wear too many hats and he does," said Mr. Lewis, of the Center for Public Integrity. "He's a whole hat store. And that's the conflict of interest: He's head of a nonprofit. He's a corporate lobbyist. He's a foreign lobbyist. This gives nonprofits, which are supposed to be doing research, a bad name."
Mr. Norquist sees no problem with his work.
"I'm not in conflict," he said. "My work is a seamless web. I advise my corporate clients on how to work with conservatives, and I work so Congress doesn't get in their way.
"Yes, my work is eclectic. And, yes, my work is a little bit weird. But however weird some of it may seem, it is consistent with my conservative beliefs. I'm a conservative, not an anarchist."

NAME: Grover G. Norquist

LOAD-DATE: July 8, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Grover G. Norquist, in his Washington office, says his varied work is "a little bit weird," but consistent with his conservative beliefs. (Amy Toensing for The New York Times)

TYPE: Biography

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July 8, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

Integrated Health Services to Buy Rotech

BYLINE: By Bloomberg News 

SECTION: Section D; Page 2; Column 4; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 458 words

DATELINE: OWINGS MILLS, Md., July 7

Integrated Health Services Inc. said today that it had agreed to buy the Rotech Medical Corporation for about $615 million in stock, the latest consolidation in the nursing-care business.
Care companies are seeking to offer as many services as they can to compete better for contracts from cost-conscious health maintenance organizations. "We have a lot of consolidation going on in outpatient rehabilitation in order to move it away from the hospitals, where it's more expensive," said Bernard Lirola, an analyst at Needham & Company. 
 Under the terms of the transaction, which is valued at about $915 million when debt assumption is included, Integrated Health will issue about 15.8 million shares. The deal values each Rotech share at about $22.61, based on Integrated Health's closing stock price of $38.9375 last Thursday. The stock market was closed Friday for the Fourth of July.
Rotech shares rose $1.125 in Nasdaq trading today, to $20. On the New York Stock Exchange, Integrated Health fell $3.25, to $35.6875.
The two companies said the combined operation would have 1997 revenue of about $2.3 billion and would operate in more than 2,475 locations in 43 states. Rotech is based in Orlando, Fla., and Integrated Health in Owings Mills.
Integrated Health is already the nation's fourth-largest provider of home health care services.
"This is a big move," Robert Wasserman, an analyst at Southeast Research Partners, said. "Rotech was the third-largest respiratory care provider, and I.H.S. certainly didn't have a significant amount of service in that area."
Until now, analysts said, Integrated Health had to refer patients needing respiratory therapy to companies like Rotech.
Mr. Wasserman also noted that the Federal Government was seeking to reduce spending on the kinds of services the companies offered. Recent bills approved by the House and the Senate seek to restrain spending in Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years.
The bills aim to trim spending on Medicare, which is the Federal health plan for the elderly, by $115 billion, and on Medicaid, the Federal plan for the poor and disabled, by $14 billion. Some of these savings would come from trimming payments for services like oxygen and respiratory therapy, as well as other home health care services.
Rotech's management team is expected to remain after the transaction is completed in the fourth quarter.
Integrated said in February that it had hired Robertson Stephens & Company, a San Francisco investment bank, to find possible acquisition or merger candidates.
Integrated said it expected the transaction to add to earnings immediately and reduce its debt-to-equity ratio to about 55 percent from 65 percent as of March 31.      

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CORRECTION-DATE: July 15, 1997, Tuesday

 CORRECTION:
An article by Bloomberg News in Business Day last Tuesday about a proposed acquisition of the Rotech Medical Corporation by Integrated Health Services Inc. referred incorrectly to an earlier action by Integrated Health. It did not hire Robertson Stephens & Company to identify companies that might be acquired.

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July 9, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton Is 'Open' to Making the Well-Off Pay More for Medicare

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 557 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 8

In a subtle but significant shift, the White House said tonight that President Clinton was open to the idea of requiring affluent elderly people to pay higher Medicare premiums, starting next year.
In the past, Mr. Clinton has said he does not oppose an increase in premiums for high-income elderly people. But until now, he has urged Congress to defer discussion of the idea until this year's budget bill is passed. 
 The version of the budget bill approved by the Senate on June 25 would establish a "means test," imposing higher Medicare premiums on individuals with annual incomes over $50,000 and couples with incomes over $75,000. The House version includes no such provision, but House Republicans have said they might support it if Mr. Clinton sent a clear signal that he would go along.
Gene Sperling, assistant to the President for economic policy, said tonight, "The President is open to a high-income premium increase, but has not made a final decision."
Mr. Sperling said the President wanted to be sure that any move to increase Medicare premiums would not endanger bipartisan support for the budget-balancing bill.
Chris Jennings, a White House aide who coordinates health policy, said the Administration had questions about how the higher premiums would be collected. The regular premium, now $43.80 a month, is deducted from monthly Social Security checks. But Mr. Jennings said that procedure would probably not work for the proposed new premiums. He suggested that the "income-related premiums" should be collected by the Internal Revenue Service through annual income tax returns.
In addition, Mr. Jennings said, Congress would have to provide additional money to the Internal Revenue Service so it could assess and collect Medicare premiums.
Finally, Mr. Jennings said, the increase in premiums must not be so steep that it spurs affluent beneficiaries to drop out of the part of the Medicare program that covers doctors' services. Such defections would leave poorer, less healthy people in the program and could cause a sharp increase in their premiums, he said.
Under the Senate bill, the monthly Medicare premium of $43.80 would quadruple for individuals with annual incomes over $100,000 and for couples with incomes over $125,000.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the higher premiums in the Senate bill would generate $3.9 billion in revenue in the next five years and $19.6 billion in revenue from 1998 through 2007. These figures would be much higher if the premiums were collected by the Internal Revenue Service rather than the Department of Health and Human Services, the budget office said.
Administration officials said that only the Internal Revenue Service had the experience and expertise needed to collect higher premiums.
Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, said that Mr. Clinton "would be willing to look at various ways of addressing progressivity in premiums," meaning higher premiums for higher-income beneficiaries.
But Mr. Daschle said the Administration still "strongly opposes" raising the eligibility age for Medicare. The Senate bill would gradually increase the eligibility age to 67, from 65, over the years 2003 to 2027.
House and the Senate negotiators plan to meet later this week to iron out differences between the two bills.

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July 10, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

U.S. Job Machine Absorbing Fresh Workers

BYLINE: By LOUIS UCHITELLE 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1966 words

DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, Ky.

The hailstorm that did so much damage to roofs here a little more than a year ago pulled Antonio Rodriguez into the labor force. Kneeling on the lawn in front of a white clapboard home recently, he cut strips of asphalt shingles while four other young men lugged the shingles up a ladder and nailed them in place. Soon after, the team moved on to the next damaged roof.
Mr. Rodriguez, traveling from Mexico, settled here five years ago, but making a living came hard. Stints as a day laborer alternated with longer periods of idleness in which he rarely even looked for a job. "My friends offered me work sometimes," he said. And then the hailstorm, and the prospering Kentucky economy, brought Mr. Rodriguez full blast into the labor force. 
 About 18 months ago, the American labor force, which is everyone working or actively seeking work, began to grow at a rapidly accelerating rate. By early this year, it was expanding at nearly twice the rate of other years in the 1990's, although in recent months the growth has eased a bit. What's more, the labor force is continuing to grow considerably faster than the working-age population.
The result is that about four million more workers have been fed into a growing economy since the start of 1996. Hispanic people are the biggest contingent, but younger women and men over 55 also figure prominently among the new entrants.
Many are being pulled into the labor force by employers who are offering better pay than the minimum wage and -- with the unemployment rate hovering at 5 percent or below -- are less choosy than they once were about whom they hire. Mostly the new people are entering at relatively low pay, like Mr. Rodriguez, who is earning $50 a day.
Indeed, companies are recruiting among those ignored in the past: mothers at home with their children, older men who had retired or had been laid off, students, immigrants, people with criminal records. State officials here who help former prisoners get jobs say companies now reject fewer convicted felons. And tens of thousands of welfare recipients are being pushed off the rolls and into work by changes in the Federal welfare system.
"There is a huge and chronic reserve of working-age people in this country," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Regional Financial Associates, "and when conditions are right, or they are pushed, they come into the labor force. That is happening now."
One of the big national economic issues is how long the American labor force, now numbering 129.4 million workers and 6.8 million people actively seeking work, can continue growing at this faster rate. During the 1980's, similarly strong labor-force growth started shortly after the recovery began and lasted for five years, helping to keep the economy expanding without the inflation that can result from labor shortages. This time, except for a brief spike in 1992 as the nation came out of recession, the above-normal labor-force growth only kicked in during the fifth year of recovery, and could continue to the end of the century.
"Millions of people are out there willing to enter the labor force without bidding up wages very much," said Alan Krueger, a Princeton labor economist. "This implies that the unemployment rate can remain low without the inflation that usually accompanies low unemployment."
Much of the labor force growth is in Eastern states, with their big concentrations of immigrants and people on welfare, and in prospering Southern states like Kentucky that are producing many new jobs. As workers shift from one sector to another in pursuit of better jobs, new workers move in to fill the empty slots. Often they are Hispanic people like Mr. Rodriguez, who have accounted for 28 percent of the labor force growth in the last 18 months, and are clearly among the nation's most mobile workers these days.
In Kentucky, for example, new auto plants -- particularly Toyota's sprawling factory in Georgetown 75 miles east of here -- have attracted networks of parts suppliers in recent years, offering thousands of new jobs at $10 an hour or more. They have hired many people who have shifted to the new factory work from lower-paying jobs in construction and tobacco fields. Hispanic people, drawn to the state in the last decade, have led the way in replacing them.
"It happened gradually, but one day you wake up and you notice," said James F. Thompson, a regional administrator for Kentucky's Department of Employment Services.
Mr. Rodriguez had come here to visit a friend from his hometown of Guanajuato. The friend stayed and Mr. Rodriguez did, too, in time marrying an American and applying for legal status. And as jobs have opened up in construction, steady work has made Louisville his home.
For the nation as a whole, the Labor Department counts 67 million working-age people -- 16 and older -- neither holding jobs nor seeking them. Most are out of the work force willingly: as students, retired people, mothers with young children and older women who rarely worked outside the home. Many are now being drawn in, while others find themselves forced to enter.
From this pool, Nadirah El-Amin made the transition in June. Ms. El-Amin, 43, and 16 other black women on welfare, graduated in late June from a 13-week course at the Y.W.C.A. in Manhattan where the women were taught the latest office computer software. The goal is to land office jobs that pay enough (at least $23,000 a year) to get by in New York without too much privation.
By graduation, only five had been offered such work, but the rest, including Ms. El-Amin, began an anxious search for jobs before they are forced off welfare in August and into whatever minimum-wage work they can grab. "I am putting on my happy face to look for a job," said Ms. El-Amin, who has a year of college and last worked as a salaried school aide in the early 1990's -- taking a $4,000 buyout in 1994 as an alternative to layoff. "If I don't find an office job soon," she said, "this training won't be worth beans."
Men over 55 are also entering, or more precisely re-entering, the labor force in unusual numbers. Jobs are now easier for older people to find, particularly in such physically less demanding work as security guards, clerks, stadium ushers and cashiers.
Sometimes they go head to head with the young, as Thomas Ball, a 70-year-old former appliance repairman, has done here in Louisville. Hoping to earn extra money to pay expenses on his car, which he uses for Red Cross volunteer work, Mr. Ball applied to United Parcel Service last fall for a Christmas season job at its huge distribution center here. He did not get the seasonal job, but in early January U.P.S., short-staffed, hired him as a permanent part-timer, earning $8 an hour on a 2:45 A.M. to 7 A.M. shift.
Mr. Ball was delighted by what he viewed as recognition of his youthful vigor. "The younger people might outlift me on a dead lift," he said, referring to U.P.S.'s loosely enforced requirement that each employee have the strength and agility to lift 70-pound boxes. "But at the end of four or five hours, I'm still working steadily and they aren't."
Edward Nelson, 47, also sees his situation as unusual. He is a regular at Labor Ready, a nationwide temporary help agency that opened a storefront recruiting office in Louisville last year near a public housing project. Across the country, temp agencies are playing big roles in drawing people into the labor force, and Labor Ready is in the thick of this process, its storefront sign here announcing, in colored block letters, that there is work "today" for anyone who walks through the door.
That is not quite true. From the two dozen men and women who gather at 6 A.M., Corry E. Branson, the office manager, makes his selections of people to go out as a plumber's helper, or to touch up rust spots on cars at an auction lot, or as a laborer at a mall construction site. Some he ignores, judging them too listless or unreliable. Others in whom he has confidence fare well, including Mr. Nelson. For a month now, he has gone each morning to Anita Spring Water, where he packs bottled water, earning $6 an hour.
He is surprised at Mr. Branson's trust. "They don't know at Anita that I have a criminal record, not unless they asked Corry, and they haven't," said Mr. Nelson, who finished a three-year prison term in March, for stealing $2,000 from an office safe to finance, he says, a new life after getting a divorce.
Corry Branson sees the felony as a nonissue. "You do a good job and your past won't haunt you," he said. "We don't ask about criminal records unless the customer asks, and they don't ask these days."
United Parcel Service, in its quest, operates several notches up the ladder of potential jobholders waiting in the wings. With 14,000 employees in Kentucky, it is the state's largest employer. Like most American companies, U.P.S. says its full-time jobs, those that pay upward of $25,000 a year, with health insurance, are relatively easy to fill, very often through promotions. Part-timers are the hard part. U.P.S. operates its largest distribution center at the airport here, sorting and shipping packages on 170 flights a day. That effort absorbs 7,500 part-time employes. How the company finds people to fill these jobs -- using standard corporate tactics -- helps to explain why the labor force is growing so fast today.
College students once held 70 percent of the U.P.S. jobs, which start at $8 an hour. Their youthful strength and flexible schedules made them favorites. "If you had 10 people lined up for 10 jobs, and 9 were students, you picked the 9 students first," said Patrick O'Leary, U.P.S.'s work force planning manager.
Now U.P.S. has fewer than 4 college students in any 10-person lineup. With an unemployment rate of only 4 percent in the Louisville area -- similar to the 5 percent or less nationally in recent months -- the students find work elsewhere, just when the company has added 500 part-time jobs.  So Mr. O'Leary's people are out recruiting full blast, even running job fairs in parking lots and hiring biplane pilots to drag help wanted signs across the sky.
The U.P.S. distribution center increasingly accommodates young mothers like Dawn Overall, 26, whose children are 6 and 3. To get such women back to work, U.P.S. offers them a choice of schedules. Ms. Overall, who re-entered the labor force at U.P.S. in late 1995, is about to move from days to a four-hour night shift, having decided to work while her children sleep.
"I came here to prove a point to my husband, who thought I couldn't do this work; I was too prissy," said Ms. Overall, who, as she spoke, heaved boxes from a conveyor belt into a plastic and aluminum shipping caisson that would later be loaded on a plane. "But now I don't want to work anymore and he is making me. He insists on the money. We are building a house."
But for all the hiring problems of a company like U.P.S., Kentucky still harbors tens of thousands of people outside the labor force who resist re-entry. Most live 100 miles away, in the rural counties of Eastern Kentucky, where coal fields once offered employment. Rather than travel far from home, they survive on support payments and by scrounging, neither working nor searching for work.
To lure these people, the state government has organized a recruiting effort, particularly on behalf of the new auto parts suppliers. Ted A. Beebe, a field office manager for Kentucky's Department of Employment Services, is part of this effort, often working with local ministers.
"We recruited seven people last month for one auto parts company," Mr. Beebe said. "They had to commute two hours each way, and after two weeks four stopped coming. Two, however, are still there, working."

LOAD-DATE: July 10, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Hispanic people, younger women and older men have been having success breaking into the labor force in recent months. A roofer, Antonio Rodriguez, found work in Louisville, Ky., as did Dawn Overall, who loaded shipping containers at United Parcel Service. (Michael Clevenger for The New York Times)(pg. D5)
 
Graphs: "New Workers: Who and Where"
Recent growth in the labor force has not come evenly across the spectrum of workers and regions. Young women, people near retirement age and Hispanic people have increased their rates of participation faster than most other groups. Participation rates have been rising on the coasts and falling in most other areas. (The participation rate is the number of people working or looking for work as a percentage of the total population.) Graph shows change in the labor force participation rate for various groups, from December 1995 to May 1997. It also shows the change in the labor force participation rate in nine U.S. regions, from May 1996 to May 1997. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)(pg. D5)
 
Another graph tracks growth of labor force and of working age population, since 1991. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Haver Analytics)(pg. A1)

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July 10, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

President Gives Nudge To Deal on Budget Bill

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1220 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 9

With a new push from President Clinton, House and Senate negotiators meet on Thursday in the first of many sessions intended to wrap up agreement this month on legislation to balance the Federal budget and help preserve Medicare for millions of baby boomers.
Then on Friday, lawmakers from the two chambers will start ironing out their differences on a tax bill, which was described today by Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, as "probably the single most important piece of legislation" in this Congress. 
 Congressional leaders said they hoped to send final versions of both bills to Mr. Clinton by early August.
The tax bill has provoked a fierce ideological struggle as Republicans and Democrats argue over the proper distribution of tax cuts to wealthy people, middle-income families and the working poor.
The two parties agree on a surprisingly large number of provisions in the budget bill, which would make the biggest changes in Medicare since the health insurance program for the elderly was created in 1965. But President Clinton and Congress disagree on many of the details, and lobbyists will swarm outside the rooms where lawmakers from the two chambers negotiate.
The budget and tax measures, though packaged as separate bills, are politically interrelated. Robert D. Reischauer, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said: "Republicans won't send the spending bill to the President unless they have an assurance that he will sign the tax bill. The tax-cut locomotive is pulling this train, as far as Congress is concerned."
One of the biggest issues in dispute is whether to charge higher Medicare premiums for elderly people with higher incomes, as the Government would do under the budget bill passed by the Senate last month.
At a news conference in Spain, where he was attending a NATO conference, Mr. Clinton confirmed today that he might support such a change -- not as part of some future effort to address Medicare's long-term financial problems but as part of this year's budget bill.
"I have never been opposed to means-testing Medicare," he said. His comment may embolden House Republicans to join senators of both parties in support of a means test.
But Mr. Clinton said he opposed another provision of the Senate bill, which would gradually increase the age of eligibility for Medicare to 67, from 65, over the years 2003 to 2027.
R. Bruce Josten, senior vice president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, denounced this proposal today, saying it would impose hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs on employers that provide health benefits to retirees.
The final push to balance the budget comes against the backdrop of a strong economy generating so much tax revenue that the Federal deficit will fall sharply, even without action by Congress.
President Clinton predicted in February that the deficit for the current fiscal year would be $126 billion. In May, when he and Congressional leaders agreed on a plan to balance the budget, they assumed that this year's deficit would be $67 billion. Now Administration officials say the robust economy may push the figure below $50 billion.
But economists said some of the strength of the economy and of the stock market was a response to the bipartisan commitment to reduce the Federal budget deficit. Interest rates are relatively low and markets are vibrant, in part, because investors believe that the Government's fiscal condition is good and is improving, the economists said.
Mr. Daschle said the forecasts of lower deficits would not reduce pressure on Congress to balance the budget.
"Now that the end is in sight," the Senator said, "it may even have enhanced the pressure to finish the job. We can't let up now."
Here is a summary of the many important issues on which the House and the Senate disagree:
CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE The House set aside $16 billion to provide health care or health insurance for half of the nation's 10 million uninsured children in the next five years. The Senate set aside $24 billion, stipulated that states must use the money for insurance and guaranteed comprehensive benefits, including hearing and vision services and mental health care in most cases.
Governors strongly prefer the House version, saying it would enable them to cover more children because the average cost for each child would be lower. But the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Defense Fund favor the Senate bill.
President Clinton supports a 20-cent increase in the cigarette tax, which is now 24 cents a pack. But unlike the Senate, he would devote all the new revenue to children's health insurance. His proposals would provide a total of $31 billion for coverage of children in the next five years.
MEDICAID FOR DISABLED CHILDREN The House would allow states to provide Medicaid for 30,000 disabled children who will soon lose Supplemental Security Income benefits under the 1996 welfare law. The Senate version of the budget bill includes no such provision.
Mr. Clinton says that House and Senate negotiators should require states to provide Medicaid to these children. He says that such coverage is required under the bipartisan budget agreement.
NEW MEDICARE OPTIONS The House and Senate versions of the budget bill would both increase the health insurance options available to elderly people in all parts of the country. In theory, they could enroll in the standard Medicare program, in health maintenance organizations or in health plans owned and operated by doctors and hospitals.
On both sides of the Capitol, lawmakers want to reduce huge geographical variations in Medicare payments to H.M.O.'s in different parts of the country. The Senate measure is more generous to health plans in rural areas, but over the next five years, it would freeze or even reduce Medicare payments to H.M.O.'s in some big cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
The Administration and the managed care industry say the Senate bill would force many H.M.O.'s to cut back coverage of prescription drugs and other benefits.
Under current law, Medicare beneficiaries dissatisfied with an H.M.O. may drop out of the health plan and enroll in the standard fee-for-service program with just one month's notice. Under the House bill, elderly people could eventually be locked into an H.M.O. for nine months at a time. The Administration prefers the Senate bill.
TAXES The Administration is pressing for changes that it says would shift some benefits of the tax cuts away from the wealthy. For example, the White House wants to make more low-income working families eligible for the $500-a-child tax credit. It also wants to limit the cut in capital gains taxes, imposed on profits from the sale of stocks, real estate and other assets.
Studies by the Treasury Department found that about two-thirds of the benefits of the House and Senate measures would go to the wealthiest 20 percent of taxpayers. But Republicans say that the tax cuts should be concentrated on those people who pay most of the taxes, and that their plan is not skewed to the wealthy in any case.
Because of Mr. Clinton's veiled threats to veto the tax legislation if it is not changed, Republican leaders have agreed to give the Administration a seat at the table.

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The New York Times

July 11, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Pataki Steps Up Pressure for His Lilco Plan

BYLINE: By BRUCE LAMBERT 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 557 words

DATELINE: EAST MEADOW, N.Y., July 10

Gov. George E. Pataki opened a new counteroffensive for his besieged plan for the state to take over the Long Island Lighting Company and lower its electric bills, now the highest in North America.
The Governor demanded a showdown on the issue next week with the Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, who holds a potential veto. For the first time, Mr. Silver indicated that he was ready to vote on the plan, although he declined to say which way. 
 "No more excuses, no more delays, it's time for your energy rates to come down," Mr. Pataki told a mostly receptive crowd of about 150 elderly people at the East Meadow Senior Center. Some were bused to the event, and a few wore yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Power for Prosperity," provided by the plan's advocates.
The Governor will follow up his campaign-style appearance here in Nassau County with a rally on Monday outside the Suffolk County Legislature, which released a report this week denouncing his plan as "a worst-case scenario."
Mr. Pataki's redoubled efforts reflect his determination to win the plan's approval in Albany, but they also reflect the growing resistance to it. The issue could be vital to his own future, since Long Island's heavily Republican vote was a major factor in his unexpected 1994 election.
The $7.3 billion Pataki plan calls for a partial state takeover of Lilco's electric system. It would be operated by Lilco and its planned merger partner, Brooklyn Union Gas, under a state contract. Years later, bids from other energy companies would be considered. By using tax-free bonds and other means, the plan would cut rates up to 20 percent, the proponents say.
The Governor is focusing on Wednesday as the next critical juncture, when the state's Public Authorities Control Board convenes. Approval of his plan requires unanimity of the three voting members, one of whom represents the Governor, another the Democratic Speaker and the third the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, a Republican who backs the plan. An attempt to force a vote last month was dropped at the last minute because Mr. Silver was holding back.
But this time Mr. Silver is ready, his spokeswoman, Pat Lynch, said. "We're very comfortable with a vote on Wednesday," she said.
The Assembly's analysis raised major reservations about the plan, and most of the Assembly Democrats from Long Island are opposed.
Some people on both sides of the issue have said they expect Mr. Silver, in classic Albany bargaining, to demand changes in the plan for his approval, or even to barter his vote for changes in the budget or other big issues now pending as the legislative session ends. He has denied that he would make such a trade.
Critics dispute the Pataki plan's projections of costs and savings. They say the plan would create a bigger monopoly and lock it in while the rest of the country is moving toward deregulation and competition. They also say the debt, including paying for the abandoned nuclear plant at Shoreham, would burden customers with high rates for 35 years.
Mr. Pataki, flanked by business and labor leaders and many top Nassau Republican officials, received a favorable reaction from the crowd.
"We want our electric bills lowered," Freda Tobin of East Meadow said as Mr. Pataki left. "I don't care how they have to do it."

 

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July 12, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Lott Rejects Any Role for I.R.S. In Collecting Medicare Premiums

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 8; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 521 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 11

Senators of both parties insisted today that Congress must impose a Medicare premium increase on the affluent elderly, but the Senate Republican leader said his party would not go along with a White House proposal to have the Internal Revenue Service collect those extra premiums.
Clinton Administration officials say the tax agency could collect the proposed new premiums much more efficiently than the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs Medicare, or the Social Security Administration, which deducts regular Medicare premiums from monthly Social Security checks. 
 Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican leader, said he strongly supported the idea of charging high-income beneficiaries higher premiums. But, he said, in the eyes of Republicans "it's a poison pill" to have the extra premiums collected by the I.R.S.
All the money raised by the new premiums -- $19.6 billion over the next 10 years -- would be devoted to Medicare rather than to general purposes. But Mr. Lott said that having the I.R.S. collect it, with individual beneficiaries doing a "means test" calculation on their annual tax return, "turns it into a tax."
The question of who would collect the new premiums could become a serious snag in negotiations on theMedicare means test, a proposal that has already survived much longer than many politicians and health care officials had expected.
Just a few months ago, lawmakers were saying it would be an act of political suicide to increase Medicare premiums. Now many senators, led by Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, a Democrat, are openly pleading with President Clinton and with Speaker Newt Gingrich to lend strong support to the proposed increase as a way to help preserve Medicare.
The Administration has so far expressed a willingness only to consider the means-testing, as long as the I.R.S. does the collecting of the new premiums, and Mr. Gingrich has not taken a public position on the issue this year.
Fourteen senators, including the two from Florida -- Bob Graham, a Democrat, and Connie Mack, a Republican -- vowed today to keep fighting for the higher premiums.
In a typical comment, Senator John H. Chafee, Republican of Rhode Island, said, "It makes no sense for people working at low-wage jobs to pay the doctors' bills of very affluent seniors."
Mr. Kerrey laid out the case for a Medicare means test in a meeting today with House and Senate negotiators trying to work out their differences on a comprehensive bill to balance the Federal budget by 2002. The fate of the Medicare means test, a provision of the Senate's version of this broader bill, will probably be decided by these lawmakers next week.
The Senate version of the bill, but not the House version, would charge higher premiums to individuals with incomes of more than $50,000 a year and couples with incomes of more than $75,000. The premium -- now $43.80 a month and assessed each beneficiary enrolled in Medicare Part B, which covers physician and outpatient services -- would more than quadruple for individuals with incomes over $100,000 and couples with incomes over $125,000.

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July 13, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WESTCHESTER BRIEFS

BYLINE: By ELSA BRENNER 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 4; Column 4; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1032 words


Indian Point 3 Cleared
The New York Power Authority has reported that after two years of sustained improvement, its much criticized Indian Point 3 Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan has been removed from the United State Nuclear Regulatory Commission's watch list of plants that require special oversight. 
 Four years ago, the plant was placed on the Government list after a series of problems that caused the plant to be shut down for 27 months.
C. D. Rappleyea, the authority's chairman and chief executive officer, said the Government's decision was a result of a "vigorous pursuit of excellence" at the plant.
A letter from L. Joseph Callan, executive director for operations for the Federal regulatory agency agreed that the power plant had "demonstrated sustained improvement." The letter also said personnel errors were on the decline.
In more good news for the plant, the Government gave it passing grades in a periodic review.
Road to Ruin?
A coalition of three Washington-based organizations said in a recent report that a proposed $365 million car-pool lane for Interstate 287 is one of "the 37 worst proposed highway projects that would waste $13 billion, harm our communities and damage the environment." The report, called "Road to Ruin," was drafted by Taxpayers for Common Sense, Friends of the Earth and the United States Public Interest Research Group.
Plans for the high-occupancy-vehicle lane on the Cross Westchester section of Interstate 287 should be canceled, the coalition said in the report, adding that the project is "an unwise use of Federal dollars" encouraging more traffic congestion and urban sprawl in environmentally sensitive land.
The road now carries about 110,000 cars a day, and the coalition is worried that open space, like Sterling Forest and the Croton watershed, would be negatively affected by increased traffic.
The report said the expressway's closely spaced on and off ramps often cause traffic backups during rush hours.
David Hirsch, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth, said his organization would prefer to see an existing lane converted to a high-occupancy-vehicle lane. As proposed by the state Transportation Department, the H.O.V. lane would be an additional one and run from Route 303 in Rockland County to Route 120 in Harrison.
 
Elderly Unit at Hospital
New York Hospital, a White Plains institution specializing in psychiatric and geriatric care, has announced plans to develop an extended care residence with 171 units for the elderly. The site will be built and managed in conjunction with Marriott Senior Living Services.
It is expected that the new center, to be situated on its Westchester campus, will provide 100 new jobs and work for the hospital's staff at a time when in-patient nursing units are being closed because of limitations set by managed care and the deregulation of mental health reimbursements. About 940 people are currently employed at the hospital.
The Marriott chain operates 21 extended care institutions in eight states, with 16 more under construction and another 15 scheduled to begin later this year.
Dr. Gary Tischler, medical director of the hospital's Westchester division, said it was part of the hospital's long-range plans to develop partnerships with third parties like Marriott Senior Living Services.
 
Only the Dog Knows
Only Maddie, a 70-pound Labrador mix, knows what happened that afternoon, and she is not talking, her owners say.
"She's a dog of few words," said David DeMilia, who lives in a Briarcliff Manor home apparently targeted by a deer on the prowl.
Mr. DeMilia, 21, the son of Joseph and Molly DeMilia, who own the house, said the driver of a car reported coming around a curve in the road on June 30 and frightening the deer, which jumped in the house through a screened entranceway.
It appeared that the deer ran around inside the house frantically, jumped on the kitchen counter, knocked dishes out of the kitchen sink, broke glassware and then left though a living room window -- but not before knocking over a dining room chair.
The liner of the family's above-ground pool was found ripped, indicating that the frightened animal cooled off before taking off.
Meanwhile, the 10-year-old black and white family dog was hovering in a corner, where she goes during thunderstorms, David DeMilia said.
"This was so hard to believe that it was almost funny," the son said. "Except it wasn't funny."
 
Not the Usual Case
A 73-year-old retired department store appliance salesman is facing Federal drug charges and 15 years in prison for reportedly smuggling almost 500 pounds of high-grade marijuana into Westchester County over the last two years.
Benjamin Kronenberg of Yonkers, was arrested earlier this spring by detectives from the Yonkers Police Department and the Westchester County Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force for illegal possession of 31.5 pounds of marijuana.
A search warrant was executed at Mr. Kronenberg's residence on April 3 as part of an investigation with the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, involving the illegal indoor cultivation, possession and sale of marijuana between Florida and New York.
The seized marijuana was hydroponically grown and genetically bred to produce potent plants -- eight times that of naturally grown marijuana -- the District Attorney's office said. The hydroponic version sells for up to $5,000 a pound in the New York area, compared with $1,200 a pound for more common marijuana, the office said.
Mr. Kronenberg's lawyer, Jeffrey A. Cohen of White Plains, said two of his client's three children died in separate highway accidents in 1972, his wife was killed in 1983 when a truck's hubcap struck her in the head, and Mr. Kronenberg had to have his cancerous left eye removed last year.
Mr. Cohen refused to discuss his defense of Mr. Kronenberg or the merits of the case, but he did say the case had its unusual aspects, given his client's age.
In addition to facing the Federal drug smuggling charges in Florida, Mr. Kronenberg is also scheduled to appear before a Westchester County grand jury, his lawyer said.   ELSA BRENNER

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July 13, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

TAKING THE CHILDREN

BYLINE: By ANITA GATES 

SECTION: Section 2; Page 26; Column 1; Arts and Leisure Desk 

LENGTH: 198 words


Out to Sea
Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Dyan Cannon, Gloria De Haven, Brent Spiner
Directed by Martha Coolidge
PG-13 106 minutes 
 A badly dressed compulsive gambler (Mr. Matthau) tricks his lonely-widower brother-in-law (Mr. Lemmon) into working with him as a dance host on a cruise ship. Their aim is to meet rich widows. In the process they bumble, they bicker, and they both fall in love with great women, all in "Odd Couple"-style.
 
VIOLENCE None.
SEX A couple of romantic kisses and a lot of double-entendre.
PROFANITY A good deal, although much of it is mild. (The outtakes shown during the closing credits include some very frank language.)
FOOTNOTE The cast, consisting mostly of actors over 60, are comic, but they never make older people look foolish.
 
For Which Children?
AGES 3-7 Only if they need a nap. For youngsters this age, boredom incarnate.
AGES 8-10 Ditto.
AGES 11 and up The film isn't meant for children, but at least three aspects could keep them amused: loads of slapstick, a general mood of silliness and, for "Star Trek" fans, their favorite android, Data (Mr. Spiner), as a wicked, egotistical cruise director.   ANITA GATES

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ON THE TOWNS

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 16; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1958 words

An opinionated guide to cultural and recreational goings-on around the state this week. To submit items for consideration, write to On the Towns, Sunday New Jersey Section, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, or send a fax to (212) 556-7219.
 
MUSIC
 
ARTS IN THE PARK Stirling Chamber Orchestra. Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. Free. Take chairs and blankets. Flood's Hill, Meadowland Park, 5 Mead Street, South Orange.
(201) 378-7754. 

CLUB BENE Tom Grant. Friday at 9 P.M. Dave Mason. Saturday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $20. Route 35, Sayreville. (908) 727-3000.
 
CORNERSTONE Ted Brancato Trio. Wednesday, 7:30 to 11:30 P.M. Glenda Davenport Quartet. Friday. 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. Rick Stone Quartet. Saturday. 9 P.M. to 1 A.M.
25 New Street, Metuchen. (908) 549-5306.
 
ETHICAL CULTURE SOCIETY "Community Folk Singing," led by Jeanine Rosh. Friday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 516 Prospect Street, Essex County. (973) 763-1905
 
GREAT AUDITORIUM, OCEAN GROVE The Queen's Chambermaid, featuring Elaine Camparone, harpsichordist. Thursday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10. Gordon Turk, organist. Saturday at 4 P.M. Free. The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra with Nancy Knorr. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $17 and $20. Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove. (908) 775-0035.
 
RIDGEWOOD KASSCHAU MEMORIAL SHELL The Amazing Incredible, country swing. Tuesday at 8:30 P.M. The Ridgewood Village Band plays American music, with director, Deborah Venezia. Thursday at 8:30 P.M. Free. Take chairs or blankets. Veteran's Field, Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. (201) 670-3924.
 
MEMORIAL PARK Bucky Pizzarelli Trio. Tonight at 8:30. Free. Take blankets and chairs. Berdan Avenue, in Fair Lawn. (201) 796-6746.
 
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY Alicia de Larrocha, pianist, performs Bach, Mompu and Granados. Friday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $28. The Rutgers Festival Orchestra. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $24. Nicholas Music Center, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7591, extension 514.
 
SOMERVILLE BOROUGH HALL Outdoor concerts. Fridays through Aug. 29 at 7 P.M. Borough Hall lawn, Main Street. (908) 704-1010.
 
SOCLAIR MUSIC FESTIVAL Shanghai Quartet. Today at 4 P.M. Tickets: $15; $12 for students and the elderly. The Barn, Soclair Brooks Farm, 19 Haytown Road, Lebanon.
(908) 236-6476.
 
SUMMERFEST '97 A. J. and the Hearts, 1950's music. Today, 3 to 5 P.M. Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 53 East Hanover Avenue, Morris Township. Free. (973) 326-7600.
 
THEATER
 
BICKFORD THEATER "Olympus on My Mind." . Today at 2 P.M. Tickets: $17.50; $15.75 for the elderly; $15 for students and members. Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-8069.
 
CIRCLE PLAYHOUSE "Is There Life After High School?" A musical. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10. 416 Victoria Avenue, Piscataway. (908) 968-7555.
 
COUNT BASIE STAGE Phoenix Productions presents "The Who's 'Tommy.' " Today and next Sunday at 3 P.M.; Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $15 and $19; $13 and $17 for the elderly. 99 Monmouth Street, off Maple Avenue, Red Bank. (908) 747-0014.
 
DEGNAN PARK Theater Under the Stars. "The Fantasticks." Tonight at 8; Friday at 5 and 8 P.M.; Saturday at 8 P.M. Free; donations accepted. Take chairs and blankets. Next to West Orange High School, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange. (973) 325-0795.
 
ALAN P. KIRBY ARTS CENTER Opera Festival of New Jersey. "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella"), today at 2. "Faust." Saturday at 8 P.M. "Vanessa." Friday at 8 P.M.; next Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $20 to $48. Lawrenceville School, Route 206, Lawrenceville.
(609) 683-8000.
 
McCARTER THEATER "Laundry and Bourbon" and "Lone Star," by James McLure. Today at 7:30 P.M. Tickets: $5; students $3. Rehearsal Room, McCarter Theater, 91 University Place, Princeton. (609) 683-8000.
 
NEW JERSEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL "The Threepenny Opera." Through July 27. Today at 2; Tuesday to Saturday at 8 P.M.; matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2 P.M.; next Sunday at 2 P.M. At the Community Theater, 100 South Street, Morristown. "Much Ado About Nothing." Through Aug. 2. Tonight at 7; Tuesday to Saturday at 8 P.M.; next Sunday at 2 P.M. At the Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, 33 Green Village Road, Madison. "Henry V." Tuesday through Aug. 10. Tuesday through Friday at 8 P.M.; Saturday at 2 and 8 P.M.; next sunday at 2 and 7 P.M. On the football field of Bayley-Ellard High School, 205 Madison Avenue, Madison. (201) 408-5600.
 
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE "Man of La Mancha." Through July 27. Wednesdays through Sundays at 8 P.M.; Thursdays at 2 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $31 to $46; $10 for students 15 minutes before curtain. Brookside Drive, Millburn.
(201) 376-4343.
 
RITZ THEATER "Damn Yankees." Friday through Aug. 9. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 P.M.; Sundays at 2 P.M.; Aug. 6 at 7:30 P.M. 915 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
RAMAPO COLLEGE Shakespeare in the Garden series presents "The Merry Wives of Windsor." Saturdays and Sundays through July 27 at 6 P.M. Free. West lawn of the Mansion, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah. (201) 529-7596.
 
SUMMERFUN THEATER "After-Play," by Anne Meara. Tuesday through Saturday at 8 P.M.; matinee Thursday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $18 and $22. Weiss Arts Center, Montclair Lloyd Road and Bloomfield Avenue.
(201) 256-0576.
 
MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
 
BERGEN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE "Al Stewart: In Performance," candid photos of musicians and performers. Through July 26. "Gloria Kisch: A Refinement of High Spirits," sculpture. Through next Sunday. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 327 East Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus. (201) 265-1248.
 
GALLERY AT SCHERING-PLOUGH "Reflections of Summer," landscapes and seascapes by 19 artists. Through Aug. 28. Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 1 Giralda Farms, Madison. (201) 882-7000.
 
GALLERY OF SOUTH ORANGE "Sky Dancers," drawings by Janice Metzger, and "Herstory Part II," mixed-media works on paper and wood by Sarah Teofanov. Through next Sunday. Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 4 to 6 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Baird Center, 5 Mead Street, South Orange. (201) 378-7754.
 
GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE Summer exhibition. Through Sept. 14. Fridays to Sundays 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton Township. (609) 586-0616.
 
MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM "The Immortal Genius: William Shakespeare, Thomas Nast and 19th-Century American Culture." Through Feb. 4. "Rococo and Reason in Georgian Glass." Through Sept. 7. "The Timeless Folk Art of Decorative Painting." Through Oct. 12. Admission: $3; $2 for students and the elderly. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown. (201) 538-2404.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Transcending the Surface: Contemporary Fiber Art." Works by 11 artists. Through Aug. 24. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (908) 747-2266.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM Paintings and prints by Hananiah Harari, and paintings by Guy Rose (1867-1925). Both through Aug. 10. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $5; $4 for students with ID and the elderly; free admission on Saturdays from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.; always for children under 12. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS "Union County Juried Show," Through Aug. 17. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, noon to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M. Palmer Gallery, 68 Elm Street, Summit.
(908) 273-9121.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM "Portraits, 1975-1995," paintings by Dawoud Bey. Through Aug. 3. "The Glitter and the Gold: Fashioning America's Jewelry." Through Nov. 2. "Destination Mars." Through 1999. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.49 Washington Street, Newark. (201) 596-6550.
 
NOYES MUSEUM "For the Love of Art: Carvings and Paintings by South Jersey Folk Artist Albert Hoffman." and landscape photographs by Dwight Hiscano. Through Sept. 21. Wednesday through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for the elderly and students. Lily Lake Road, Oceanville. (609) 652-8848.
 
ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM "Sequences: As You Can See." Through next Sunday. "Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions." Through July 31. "Three Billy Goats Gruff." Illustrations by Robert Bender. Through next Sunday. Hours: Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Rutgers University, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7237.
 
FOR CHILDREN
 
BARNES & NOBLE "Kindermusik." Linda M. Fields introduces children to the sounds of the small insects of summer. Tuesday at 11 A.M. Ages 2 to 4. Registration required. "Have a Beach Ball." Pretend you're at the beach with stories and sunglass craft. Wednesday at 11 A.M. Ages 2 to 4. Take beach blankets. "Three-Ring Fun." Singing, face painting, and reading. Saturday at 11 A.M. Ages 4 and up. Free. Princeton Market Fair in Princeton. (609) 897-9250.
 
CIRCLE PLAYERS "Pinocchio," adapted and directed by Nick Pelino, Jr. Today at 3 P.M. Tickets: $6. 416 Victoria Avenue, off Vail Avenue, Piscataway. (732) 968-7555.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM Saturn Summer Theater. "The Willow Girl," Catskill Puppet Theater. Tuesday. Ages 3 to 11. "Harlem Wizards," by Class Act Performing Artists. Thursday. Ages 3 to adult. All shows at 11 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. in the John H. Bickford Theatre. Tickets: $6.25; $5 for members. Museum hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "Kaleidoscope Kids," a one-week program on astronomy for children 6 to 12. Through Aug. 8. Each session meets Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. Tuition: $115; $110 for siblings. 205 West State Street, Trenton. Registration and information: (609) 292-6310 or (609) 292-6464.
 
SUMMERFUN THEATER Crabgrass Puppets present "The Princess and the Pea" and "The Frog Prince." Wednesday at 1 P.M. Tickets: $7. Weiss Arts Center, Lloyd Road and Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair. (973) 256-0576.
 
SPOKEN WORD
 
BARNES & NOBLE "The World of Publishing," a panel discussion. Tuesday at 7 P.M. Princeton Market Fair, Route 1, Princeton. (609) 392-0689.
 
BARNES & NOBLE "The Art of Shelling," new books for adults and children by Debbie and Chuck Robinson. Tomorrow at 7:30 P.M. Cooking discussion group led by Helen focuses on fresh herbs. Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. Free. 3981 Highway 9, Freehold. (732) 409-2929.
 
ENCORE BOOKS AND MUSIC Lawrence Block discusses his new mystery, "The Burglar in the Library," and Mimi LaFollette Summerskill discusses her memoir, "Daughter of the Vine: A Vinter's Tale." Both tomorrow at 7 P.M. Free. 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton. (609) 252-0608.
 
ETC.
 
CENTRAL JERSEY BICYCLE CLUB 20th anniversary of the Raritan Valley Roundup Bicycle Tour. Next Sunday. Registration, 7 A.M. to noon Fee: $20; family (one adult and one child under 18), $25. North Branch Park; exit 10 from New Jersey Turnpike to Rte. 202 South to Milltown Road. (732) 745-4368.
 
NEW JERSEY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Through July. "Les Voleurs" ("The Thieves") and "Angel Baby," tonight at 7 at State Theater, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. "Pink Flamingos," Friday and Saturday at 7 P.M. at 123 Scott Hall, Rutgers University, College Avenue and Hamilton Street, New Brunswick. Admission: $8; $6 for members. Information: (908) 932-8482.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Indian Celebration Kartik Seshadri, a disciple of the prominent sitar player Ravi Shankar, will perfom Indian classical music in celebration of the 50th anniversary of India's independence. RUTGERS UNIVERSITY Summerfest. Wednesday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $24. Nicholas Music Center, George and Hamilton Streets, New Brunswick. (908) 932-7591, extension 514. On the Internet: http://mgsa.rutgers.edu/ mgsa/

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July 13, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Two Years That Make a Big Difference

BYLINE: By Robert D. Reischauer;  Robert D. Reischauer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, was director of the Congressional Budget Office from 1989 to 1995.

SECTION: Section 4; Page 17; Column 2; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 962 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

One of the biggest issues that the House and Senate will have to resolve in the current budget negotiations is whether to raise the age at which Americans are eligible for Medicare. The House chose to keep the age of eligibility at 65, and seems determined to stick to that position. The Senate's plan, on the other hand, calls for raising the age to 67. This proposal creates more problems than it solves.
The Senate proposal parallels a scheduled increase in the eligibility age for Social Security benefits. Under this reform, enacted in 1983, the "normal retirement age" for Social Security will rise two months a year starting in 2003, until it reaches 66 in 2008. This schedule will be repeated in 2020. By 2025, the normal retirement age will be 67. 
 At first glance, the Senate's proposal appears logical and equitable, reflecting demographic reality and future fiscal constraints.
Since the Medicare program's inception in 1966, the average American life expectancy has increased by 2.8 years, and it is projected to increase an additional 1.1 years by 2025. Today, people in their 60's are in better health and have fewer disabilities. Presumably, they can work a few more years, especially since most jobs are not as physically demanding as they were in the mid-1960's.
Considering these advancements, and the fiscal pressure that the baby boom generation will soon place on Government retirement plans, it seems reasonable to make people wait a bit longer before they can qualify for Medicare.
But proposals that appear logical at first glance often turn out to be full of problems upon closer examination. Such is the case with the Senate's plan, which has four basic flaws.
* It would be unfair to lower-skilled, lower-paid workers. Many skilled, higher-paid and unionized workers have employer-subsidized retiree health insurance. Therefore, they can retire before they qualify for Medicare without the fear that they will either become uninsured or have to pay for expensive individual coverage. These workers -- who make up about 44 percent of those close to retirement age -- will be largely unaffected by the Senate's proposal, as long as their employers do not cut back their coverage. (More on that later.) But other workers, those who tend to be less-skilled, lower-paid and in more physically demanding jobs, will bear the brunt of the change.
* It would increase the number of uninsured senior citizens. Today many workers retire before age 65, with reduced Social Security benefits, and before they are eligible for Medicare. Some retire by choice; others retire because of health problems or because of corporate downsizing.
Many of these retirees do not have health insurance and do not qualify for Medicaid. Indeed, almost half a million Social Security beneficiaries who are between 62 and 64 years old are uninsured. If the age for Medicare eligibility is raised to 67, many 65- and 66-year-olds will retire without health coverage, and the ranks of the uninsured will grow significantly.
* It would lead employers to cut back their health coverage for retired workers. If the Senate proposal is accepted, employers will be faced with the prospect of having to foot the entire health-insurance bill for their 65- and 66-year-old retirees. Many employers might decide that this benefit is just too expensive -- and drop all insurance for their retired employees.
This would also affect those retires older than 66 who receive Medicare. They would lose supplemental insurance, which many employers provide to cover expenses that Medicare does not.
* It would pass costs to state governments. If the Senate proposal is enacted, Medicare, which is fully financed by the Federal Government, will simply funnel some of its responsibilities to Medicaid programs, which are partially financed by the states.
For instance, uninsured 65- and 66-year-olds with moderate incomes would be forced to rely on Medicaid when faced with catastrophic medical expenses. In addition, Medicaid would have to pick up the full medical costs -- doctor visits, hospital charges, medical tests -- incurred by 65- and 66-year-old recipients of Supplemental Security Income. Currently, Medicare pays part of this bill.
The Senate exhibited considerable courage by addressing Medicare's uncertain future. Its proposal, however, is fraught with problems. Fortunately, there is an alternative, one that follows the example of Social Security even more closely.
When Congress decided in 1983 to gradually increase Social Security's normal retirement age, it did not change the age at which workers could receive early or reduced benefits. Workers can still retire at 62, but the value of their Social Security benefit falls. For instance, people retiring today at 62 receive 80 percent of the benefit they would have received if they had retired at 65. When the normal retirement age is 67, 62-year-old retirees will receive only 70 percent of their full benefits.
This approach could be applied to Medicare. Those who choose to sign up for benefits at age 65 or 66 could be required to pay a supplemental, early-retiree premium for the rest of their lives. Today, a monthly charge of roughly $50 would be needed to fully compensate Medicare for the added costs of early coverage.
A more modest and practical proposal would call for partial compensation. Presumably, programs that now help low-income senior citizens pay their Medicare premiums, deductibles and co-insurance could also pick up the premiums for a poor senior citizen forced to retire early.
This simple plan could help avoid the negative consequences of the Senate's proposal. And it keeps with the spirit of its plan -- to make Medicare look more like Social Security.

LOAD-DATE: July 13, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Op-Ed

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July 14, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

PIONEERING STATE FOR MANAGED CARE CONSIDERS CHANGE

BYLINE: By MILT FREUDENHEIM

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 1564 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

Leading a national surge of second thoughts about managed health care, California, long a pacesetter in the field, has plunged into a wholesale review of its managed-care system, which now covers more than half the state's 32 million people.
An avalanche of proposals for tighter government regulation is advancing in the California Legislature. The Governor and legislators have appointed a joint commission to recommend improvements in managed care. And patients are expressing their qualms: State officials registered more than 2,000 consumer complaints about health maintenance organizations last year, an 18 percent increase over 1995. 
 The growing skepticism about managed care, which reduces health care costs by rejecting treatment that is deemed not medically necessary, is fueled by cases like those of Joyce Ramey, a 69-year-old retired nurse in Riverside, who was awarded $1.1 million last week in a binding arbitration with her Medicare H.M.O.
Mrs. Ramey, who has required kidney dialysis treatments twice a week since April 1995, said her health plan had for two years ignored or rejected her primary doctor's requests to send her to an H.M.O.-approved kidney specialist. The arbitrator, John K. Trotter, a retired California appeals judge, said in his ruling that the H.M.O.'s conduct was "unconscionable."
The health maintenance organization, Inter Valley Health Plan Inc. of Pomona, is considering an appeal on the ground that "the medical facts of the case don't support the decision," said Mark Covington, the company's president.
Defenders of managed care say that California -- and the nation, as well -- is legislating by anecdote, exaggerating the importance of cases like Mrs. Ramey's. They say that the benefits to the public of managed care -- lower health care costs foremost among them -- are being obscured in a haze of story telling. And insurers can point to surveys showing high levels of patient satisfaction with their health plans.
But consumer groups, doctors and spokesmen for the elderly say they are countering the excesses of the managed-care avalanche, which in the last decade has brought at least 150 million Americans under some sort of plan that reviews or restricts health care choices. Most of the legislation these groups are backing would make it more difficult for health maintenance organizations to deny care. Several bills would also weaken their sway over doctors.
Across the country, state legislators have introduced about 1,000 managed-care bills so far this year. At least 182 bills have become law, following the adoption of 100 such laws in 1996, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Recently adopted laws require H.M.O.'s in a number of states to authorize hospital stays after mastectomies and to pay for emergency room visits that turn out to have been avoidable. Health plans are being ordered to allow direct access to obstetricians and certain other specialists without permission in advance from a primary doctor.
So far this year, 16 states -- including Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas -- have adopted comprehensive consumer-rights bills covering a number of managed-care issues; New York and five more states enacted similar bills last year. In June, the New Jersey Legislature approved and sent to Gov. Christine Todd Whitman a bill that would establish an independent appeals process for H.M.O. members, forbid financial rewards to doctors for denying care and require managed-care companies to subsidize care by doctors outside their networks.
In May, Texas attracted national attention by enacting the first law allowing medical malpractice lawsuits against H.M.O.'s. Similar bills have been introduced in Congress.
Managed-care companies have always insisted that they do not make medical decisions, and insurers lobbied hard against the Texas measure. In June, Aetna Inc. filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in Houston seeking to invalidate it under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or Erisa. Erisa has often been invoked to thwart state regulation of health insurance, but recently there have been conflicting court decisions about its reach.
California, though, is the cockpit for some of the most hotly contested battles. The State Senate has scheduled hearings this week on 50 health care bills already passed by the Assembly. The Assembly health committee, meanwhile, will take up 30 measures approved by the Senate.
A coalition that includes labor unions, the American Association of Retired Persons, Consumers Union and Health Access California, an umbrella advocacy group, is promoting an 11-point legislative package it calls a "patient bill of rights." Recently, dozens of supporters of the package came to the Capitol in Sacramento to lobby and demonstrate.
One of the measures would make H.M.O.'s and the physicians who are their medical directors liable in malpractice lawsuits involving denials of care judged by the H.M.O.'s not to have been a "medical necessity."
Other bills backed by the California coalition would give protection against reprisals to patients, doctors and health care workers who complained about managed-care misconduct. Health maintenance organizations would also have to state reasons and give advance notice before dismissing doctors, nurses, therapists or medical technicians.
The H.M.O. industry and the California Chamber of Commerce are lobbying vigorously against five bills in the Health Access package, as well as a number of other proposals. Allan Zaremberg, executive vice president of the chamber, said the measures were "job-killer legislation" that would raise medical costs, especially for small employers, and add to California's 6.5 million uninsured.
Myra Snyder, president of the California Association of Health Plans, a trade group, agreed. "Everything they add to a benefit package, no matter how worthy, will increase the cost," she said. "No one is looking at the big picture, at what happens to the monthly premiums and to the numbers of uninsured."
However, the business representatives said that they would not oppose popular bills that would make it difficult for managed-care companies to send women home without a hospital stay after a mastectomy, or within 48 hours of giving birth.
Self-interest is evident on all sides of the debate. The California Medical Association is backing a measure to make it harder for H.M.O.'s to drop physicians from their networks. It also supports a bill that would require the companies to disclose the "actuarial criteria" on which they base capitation payments to doctors -- the set monthly amounts paid for each enrolled member.
Some doctors complain that H.M.O.'s cut these rates arbitrarily, forcing them to skimp on care or absorb financial losses.
Dr. Melvin Kirschner, a family practitioner in Van Nuys, a suburban area of Los Angeles, said that one managed-care group with which he is affiliated had reduced its monthly payment per patient by 30 percent in May. "I can't make a living," he said.
Ms. Snyder of the health plans association said capitation rates remained "appropriate," and remarked that H.M.O.'s perform actuarial studies "to negotiate with physicians, not to help them to negotiate with us."
Alain Enthoven, a Stanford University management professor who is a longstanding advocate of managed care, said the backlash in California against H.M.O.'s had been encouraged by a sharp rise in enrollment, to 14 million last year, with 3 million more Californians in related types of managed care.
"It has been worsened by the fact that a lot of the media are dealing with it quite irresponsibly," asserted Mr. Enthoven, chairman of the state's Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force, which is scheduled to report to Gov. Pete Wilson on Jan. 1. "They take one episode and blow that up into a huge story."
He mentioned widespread coverage of the refusal by Healthnet, a big California H.M.O., to pay for a cancer patient's bone-marrow transplant. The company said that the procedure was experimental.
"It was unfair to attack Healthnet," Mr. Enthoven said. "All health insurance has exclusions for experimental treatment."
In the wake of the publicity, a law was passed giving patients the right to an independent medical review when a health plan rejects a treatment as experimental.
He acknowledged that managed- care consumers need protection from corporate excesses. "This has to be the most complicated product or service in our economy," he said. "A health insurance contract is extremely complex. Anybody who says they understand their health insurance doesn't understand the problem."
Steven Thompson, vice president of the California Medical Association, said that changing managed care had lately become a bipartisan issue, because more and more people in "the middle and upper middle class" were experiencing H.M.O.'s firsthand.
Jeanne Finberg, a lawyer with Consumers Union in San Francisco, said she was worried that Governor Wilson, a Republican who is generally opposed to regulation, might reject most of the managed-care legislation.
"I worry that the task force will be used as an excuse for delay," she said. But Mr. Enthoven said that would not happen. The Governor's office, he said, had pledged that each bill would be considered "on its merits."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Joyce Ramey, 69, a retired nurse in Riverside, Calif., was awarded $1.1 million in arbitration. She said her health plan ignored or rejected her doctor's requests to send her to an H.M.O.-approved kidney specialist. (Ed Carreon for The New York Times)(pg. D8)
 
Protecting Patients
A few years ago, the main focus of state legislation to rein in health maintenance organizations was on protection for doctors and other providers. This year, many states have passed or are considering bills to protect patients.
 
Map shows states where comprehensive consumer rights bills have been enacted or are pending. Specific provisions vary from state to state, but most of the bills require grievance procedures for patient complaints; ban "gag clauses that limit what doctors tell patients; require payment for emergency-room visits even if, in hindsight, they might have been avoided; limit financial incentives for doctors to deny treatment; and require direct access to certain specialists, like obstetricians, without going through a primary care doctor.
 
Similar legislation was passed in New Mexico this year but was vetoed by the Governor. Some states primarily use regulations rather than laws to govern health care; some of these have written aspects of comprehensive consumer protection bills into their regulations.
 
(Source: National Conference of State Legislatures Health Policy Tracking Service)(pg. D8)      

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July 14, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

After a Church's Collapse, a Stoic Congregation Resolves to Rebuild

BYLINE: By NORIMITSU ONISHI

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 862 words

A day after the roof of their church collapsed, dooming the building to a quick demolition, some members of the Great Joy Baptist Church in Bushwick, Brooklyn, held to their Sunday morning routine yesterday. Dressed in their Sunday best, church hats barely shielding them from the noon sun, a half-dozen members sat in white lawn chairs and gazed across Greene Avenue at what used to be their church.
Such was Rebecca Middleton's faith that even though she lived around the corner and knew that the city had declared the 101-year-old church in imminent danger of collapse, she had hoped to pray inside one last time. She said she was "very, very disappointed" at the sight that greeted her: a tractor sitting atop a 10-foot-high heap of wooden planks. 
 "We're going to start all over again -- from the ground," Ms. Middleton, 62, said.
Maggie Johnson, 57, who sat next to her in the front yard of of a congregation member, agreed. "The church is going to be missed," she said. "It was a landmark."
"Yes, that's what it was," Ms. Middleton said, nodding. "A landmark. Thank you." She added some time later: "It was like someone knocked down where I was living -- spiritually."
Adding to their problems, congregants were unable to hold formal services at another location yesterday. Their pastor, the Rev. Jared Feggens, had complained of chest pains as he watched his church's demolition and fell unconscious. Mr. Feggens was in stable condition yesterday at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.
Given the church's history, its members said they never imagined that something as small as a falling roof would close the Great Joy Baptist Church.
The tiny wooden church had survived the looting and arson that devastated Bushwick during the power blackout of July 1977. Over the years, even as its congregation dwindled to about 40 members, mostly middle-aged and elderly women, the church stood unwaveringly between two graffiti-covered, abandoned row houses that were often the site of fires.
The congregation moved into the building at 1171 Greene Avenue in 1971 after its former tenant, the Greene Avenue Methodist Church, disbanded. Great Joy had been celebrating its 42d anniversary this month.
On Saturday morning, a few days after members noticed chips falling from the ceiling, the roof, just below the steeple, buckled and collapsed. A half-dozen members, who had been holding a meeting, scattered outside, unhurt.
That night, after Department of Buildings officials said that the church could crumble at any moment, the tractor arrived.
As church members looked on, the pastor suddenly asked one of the members, Richard Daniels, 42, to call for an ambulance. "He told me he was about to collapse," Mr. Daniels recalled yesterday.
"I don't think he could digest this," said Mr. Daniels's mother, Blanche Daniels, in whose front yard the half-dozen women sat looking at the remains of the church.
At Wyckoff Heights Medical Center yesterday, Mr. Feggens said he was returning home from his job as a ramp serviceman at La Guardia Airport when he heard of the roof's collapse. By the time he reached Great Joy, he said city workers had already begun demolition.
Mr. Feggens, who has been pastor for 11 years, said the congregation knew that the building needed repairs and that contractors had been called for estimates.
"The condition of the church was good," Mr. Feggens said, adding that he was angry that the city had not consulted with him before tearing down the building. "We laid new floors, a gate, a boiler, bathrooms and a water cooler. We renovated the kitchen. This is heartbreaking."
Even though Mr. Feggens described Great Joy as a poor church, he said it offered an outreach ministry program, vacation Bible school and a day camp for about 50 children. "They should have let us get our valuables," he said. "We had pipe organs, antique pews and a pulpit Bible."
On Saturday, officials in the Department of Buildings said the church's structure was so fragile that they had to prohibit congregants from going inside to retrieve their possessions.
City workers, however, managed to save one of the organs by lifting it out of the building with a crane. Yesterday, the organ sat in the foyer of Mrs. Daniels's house.
As news of the church's end spread, a former resident of Bushwick came to visit. The resident, William Munchmeyer, 76, who, like most of the former residents of Bushwick, is of German ancestry, rode the bus and subway from Flushing, Queens, to Bushwick, which he had not seen in more than 15 years.
Mr. Munchmeyer leaned over a fence in Mrs. Daniels's yard to reminisce. "I was confirmed in that church in 1933," he told Ms. Middleton. "I was born around the corner in 1920."
Everything had changed, he said.
"My, my, times have changed," Ms. Middleton said.
"Sometimes not for the better," he said.
"Usually not for the better," she said.
"Maybe you can start with a tent when things get cleaned up," he said. "Some of them are winterized. You start with a tent, and in five years you'll have a new building."
"May you pray for us," Ms. Middleton told Mr. Munchmeyer before he started back to Flushing.

LOAD-DATE: July 14, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Workers demolished a Brooklyn church on Saturday after its roof fell in. Yesterday, Blanche Daniels, a congregant who lives nearby, gave a home to the church organ. (Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times)(pg. B1); Marion Boatwright, left, Maggie Johnson and Georgia Triblet discussed the loss of their church yesterday in Bushwick, Brooklyn. (Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times)(pg. B6)
 
Map of Brooklyn showing location of the Great Joy Baptist Church. A 101-year-old church had to be demolished because its roof fell in. (pg. B6)
      

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July 14, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

A New Breed Of Scientists Studying Mars Takes Control

BYLINE: By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

SECTION: Section A; Page 10; Column 1; National Desk

LENGTH: 1061 words

DATELINE: PASADENA, Calif., July 12

Brian Muirhead, deputy project manager for the Mars Pathfinder mission, sat in the control room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here, waiting for sunrise on Mars and the next communications with the spacecraft. He looked a little out of place. At 45, he is one of the project's senior citizens, a balding, bearded man among bright-eyed, bushy-maned youth getting their initiation in space flight.
The last time a spacecraft landed on Mars, in 1976, many of the engineers in charge of Pathfinder were in grade school or just entering kindergarten. Some old-timers were in college. Mr. Muirhead figured that the average age of the people who designed, tested and guided the spacecraft and its rover -- as many as 500 people -- is in the low 30's. 
 So not only is the $266 million Pathfinder mission the first in a new era of ambitious Mars exploration, but it has brought to the fore a whole new generation of planetary explorers, young men and women meeting the challenge with refreshing esprit. They carry their seriousness lightly, bubbling with excitement each time "their" lander or "their" rover does well on "their" planet.
They are also learning by their mistakes, as others did in the past. A slight miscalculation sent the roving vehicle Sojourner bumping into a large rock. A timing mistake in transmitting instructions caused both the Pathfinder and Sojourner to lose a day of work on Friday.
"We had to do things differently on this mission, inventing new ways to land on Mars at low cost," Mr. Muirhead said. "Younger people were highly motivated by this challenge. They were not bound by traditions of earlier projects, and they were more willing to take chances."
Looking around the room, he called to a woman at a computer console in one corner, sitting under a "Mars or Bust" sign. "Cindy, how old are you?" Cindy Oda, an engineer who started out designing mission software and now sends the daily commands to Pathfinder, is 32.
At another console sat Rebecca Manning, 25, a flight controller who joined the project three years ago, right out of college. Her first work was testing the entry, descent and landing procedures for the spacecraft.
"I hadn't even thought about space until I got this job," she said. "Now I don't think I could give it up."
David Gruel, 27, is known as the project's "gremlin." His assignment has been to think of things that could go wrong with the lander or rover and then find ways to overcome the problems. In recent days, he has spent his nights in a 30- by 50-foot sand box, using models to test the next maneuvers for Sojourner.
One of the most prominent young members of the team is Jennifer Harris, 28. She was the flight director during the tense hours after the radio link between Sojourner and Pathfinder suddenly and mysteriously went on the blink. It was the day after the landing, and for a while, the mission's success seemed in doubt.
For hours Ms. Harris, wearing earphones, stood coolly in front of her console, asking questions of other controllers, weighing their answers, conferring with engineers and project managers. Eventually the crisis passed. Engineers are still not sure what caused or corrected the communications lapse.
Many of the young team members, like Ms. Harris, said they feel comfortable in their demanding jobs because they have worked closely together for more than three intense years, becoming, they often said, "like family." As Ms. Harris told reporters, "We have a camaraderie that's beyond belief."
The young Pathfinder engineers are already in demand by other projects. "They're being snatched away from us," said Dr. Donna Shirley, manager of the Mars exploration office at the laboratory.
There are several reasons for the emergence in this mission of a new generation, officials said.
In the late 1970's through most of the 1980's, new planetary missions were few and far between and the laboratory, which is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, had no money to hire new people. Existing projects like the two Voyagers to the outer planets and Galileo, which is now orbiting Jupiter, consumed years of preparation and flight, with their teams aging on the job. The typical mission team then was much grayer.
Once the first of the new missions to Mars were approved early in this decade, many of the engineers and scientists who pioneered planetary flight in the 1960's had retired and others were occupied with Galileo or Cassini, a large spacecraft to orbit Saturn that is to be launched this fall. The result was an infusion of youth to take on Mars, and a more exuberant way of doing things.
Much of the credit for turning the exuberance into creativity, team members say, should go to Tony Spear, the project manager, who has the white hair befitting his 61 years. Mr. Spear gave the young people wide latitude. If they did the work, they got the job, whatever their age.
"He gave us enough rope, and none of us swung," Mr. Muirhead said.
All week after the landing, Mr. Spear let the younger team leaders take the bows for the project at news conferences. "You are young," he told them, "you need the glory."
Now that they have cut their teeth professionally, the new generation should have many opportunities to apply their newly gained experience. Over the next eight years, American spacecraft are to be launched to Mars at every opportunity -- once every 26 months -- drawing on Pathfinder's technology. Current plans call for a mission in 2005 to return rocks from Mars for analysis on Earth, then at least two more sample-return flights.
Mr. Muirhead said that at the end of the year he expected to shift to planning a mission to land on a comet and bring back the first sample showing what comets are made of. The spacecraft has been named Champollion, after the Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion, who deciphered the Rosetta stone. If the mission is approved, the craft will be launched in 2005.
And Mr. Spear, who has been at the laboratory since 1962, will be leaving the Pathfinder team in a few days. He will begin research on new technology for miniaturized spacecraft to fly to the outer planets.
"As long as it's this good," Mr. Spear said, reflecting on Pathfinder's success and the prospect of developing more new ways to explore the planets, "I'm going to stick around and get older here."

LOAD-DATE: July 14, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Pathfinder team members are bringing youthful enthusiasm to the project. Brian Muirhead, 45, foreground, is a deputy project manager. (Associated Press)
      

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July 16, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Clinton and G.O.P. Leaders See Hope for Means Test for Medicare

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 15; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 568 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 15

President Clinton and Senate Republicans said today that they believed they could agree on legislation to charge higher Medicare premiums to affluent elderly people, even though House Democrats and some liberal Democratic senators dislike the idea.
Mr. Clinton met at the White House with Congressional leaders from both parties. They agreed that they would try to finish work this month on legislation to balance the budget and cut taxes. 
 "In principle," Mr. Clinton said, "I support means-testing" of Medicare. And he said more clearly than ever before that he hoped to devise some arrangement to charge higher premiums to higher-income beneficiaries. "I would hope we can agree to some sort of a premium that's enforceable and that's fair and that doesn't drive people out of the Medicare system," he said.
After the meeting, the Republican leader, Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, said, "We can probably find some agreement on means-testing for Medicare."
Mr. Lott said he and the White House still disagreed on who should collect the additional premiums: the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services or the Social Security Administration. But Mr. Lott said the President had told lawmakers, "We'll work through that, as we're doing with everything else."
Chris Jennings, a White House aide, said the President would support "income-related premiums" if they were collected by the I.R.S.
The proposed new premiums would raise $8.9 billion in the next five years if the tax agency collected the money with annual income tax returns, Mr. Jennings said. But under the cumbersome procedure envisioned in the Senate bill, he added, the Government would collect only $3.9 billion over five years.
Under the Senate bill, the Treasury would share income data with Medicare officials, who would calculate the extra premiums and send the information to Social Security. The extra premiums, like the basic monthly premium of $43.80, would then be taken out of monthly Social Security checks.
Negotiators from the House and the Senate met tonight to try to work out their differences. They resolved just one issue: they accepted a provision of the House bill that says health maintenance organizations and other health plans may not limit what doctors tell Medicare patients about treatment options. Doctors would thus be free to discuss costly treatments with patients, even if the H.M.O. would not pay for them.
Consumer groups and doctors supported this measure as a protection for patients. The Senate version of the bill had no such ban on "gag clauses."
The negotiators still must grapple with several big issues, including provisions of the Senate bill that would gradually increase the eligibility age for Medicare (to 67 from 65) and impose a new charge of $5 a visit for home health care services.
Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Republican of New York, joined Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, at a rally of Medicare beneficiaries fighting these proposals today.
Mr. D'Amato, who is up for re-election next year, denounced the proposal for a $5 co-payment on home health care services, saying, "It is reckless, going after the poorest of our seniors, without examining their ability to pay."
Mr. D'Amato also opposed the Medicare means test and the increase in the eligibility age when they were approved by the Senate last month.

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July 16, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

COMPANY NEWS;
LAZARD FRERES' STAKE IN NURSING HOME OWNER

BYLINE: Bloomberg News 

SECTION: Section D; Page 4; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 94 words

Lazard Freres & Company said yesterday that it had agreed to buy a 49.9 percent stake in ARV Assisted Living for $135 million, becoming the latest Wall Street investment bank to invest in a nursing home owner. Lazard Freres's real estate unit would buy 9.6 million newly issued shares of Assisted Living for $14 each. It would also get four board seats, increasing the number of directors to 11. The shares of ARV, which is based in Costa Mesa, Calif., rose 93.75 cents, to $12.3125. ARV Assisted Living operates 48 facilities for the elderly with 6,150 units.

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July 17, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

AUDIT OF MEDICARE FINDS $23 BILLION IN OVERPAYMENTS

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1157 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 16

In the first comprehensive audit of Medicare, Federal investigators said today that the Government overpaid hospitals, doctors and other health care providers last year by $23 billion, or 14 percent of the money spent in the standard Medicare program.
The books and records of the Medicare agency and its contractors were in such disarray that they could not be thoroughly audited, said June Gibbs Brown, inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Brown said there was no way to tell how much of the overpayment resulted from fraud. 
 The estimate of improper payments, based on an exhaustive review of a sample of actual claims, is substantially higher than previous estimates by health policy experts. It tends to confirm the suspicions of elderly people who say their Medicare bills are riddled with errors.
The amount of improper payments detected by the inspector general is, by coincidence, the same as the amount of savings to be extracted from Medicare under the budget bill now pending in Congress -- $115 billion over five years, or an average of $23 billion a year. Congress is considering major changes in Medicare, including an increase in the age of eligibility and higher fees for more affluent beneficiaries, to prevent the program from going bankrupt before baby boomers need it.
In her report, the inspector general said: "We estimate that during fiscal year 1996 net overpayments totaled about $23.2 billion nationwide, or about 14 percent of total Medicare fee-for-service benefit payments. These improper payments could range from inadvertent mistakes to outright fraud and abuse. We cannot quantify what portion of the error rate is attributable to fraud."
The report said the Government had no reliable way to prevent or detect improper Medicare payments, and no reliable estimate of what it might owe on unpaid claims for services already provided.
Auditors found a $4.5 billion "computation error" in the agency's estimate of unpaid claims. They found that contractors sometimes mixed up Medicare's two trust funds, for hospital care and doctors' services. Other contractors confused amounts owed to the Government with amounts owed by the Government. The contractors, typically private insurance companies, review claims and pay bills for Medicare.
Medicare officials acknowledged tonight that the Government made substantial erroneous payments, but they said they did not get credit for all the proper, accurate, timely payments they made.
Melissa T. Skolfield, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said: "This is the first comprehensive audit of Medicare's financial statements that we've ever had. It's a useful road map in our efforts to improve the integrity of the Medicare program." H. Christopher Peacock, a spokesman for the Medicare agency, said, "We are preparing an action plan to deal with the recommendations."
The report made these points:
*Controls over cash are loose. Checks were signed by people who had no authority to do so.
*Medicare's vast computer systems have so little security that records can be easily altered or destroyed, with few safeguards for the privacy of "sensitive medical history information, personal beneficiary data and claim information."
*Hospitals and clinics received the biggest share of improper payments, 35 percent of the $23 billion. Most of the remainder went to doctors (22 percent), home health agencies (16 percent), nursing homes (10 percent) and medical laboratories (6 percent).
*Payments were classified as improper because medical records did not show a need for the services provided, or the services were not covered by Medicare. Routine billing errors and improper diagnostic codes accounted for only 9 percent of the improper payments.
*Premiums paid by Medicare beneficiaries have not been audited. The amounts owed to the Government by hospitals, doctors and others who were overpaid cannot be audited because the Government and its contractors keep inadequate records.
In each of the last three years, the inspector general has found severe weaknesses in Medicare's bookkeeping and internal controls. Today, for the first time, Ms. Brown estimated the amounts of overpayments and for each type of service.
Bruce C. Vladeck, who runs Medicare as administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration, has concurred in most of the auditors' prior recommendations and has repeatedly promised improvements. But Ms. Brown said today that many of the problems "remain uncorrected."
In the 1994 audit, made available today by the Government, Ms. Brown said Medicare actuaries "were not available to provide sufficient information to audit the details" of Medicare spending because they were "involved in the President's health care reform initiative," the ill-fated effort to guarantee health insurance for all Americans.
In today's report, Ms. Brown said Medicare was "inherently vulnerable" because it had 38 million beneficiaries and paid 800 million claims a year through 59 contractors governed by a complex set of reimbursement rules. The Health Care Financing Administration "has not adequately monitored these contractors," she said.
The auditors examined 5,314 claims for 600 patients chosen to be representative of Medicare beneficiaries across the country. The report said that 1,577 of the claims, or 30 percent, "did not comply with Medicare laws and regulations."
Richard J. Davidson, president of the American Hospital Association, complained last week that health care providers were "under siege by Federal law-enforcement and investigative personnel." He said Federal agents did not distinguish between innocent billing errors and criminal activity. The association asked for a six-month moratorium on new investigations of hospitals suspected of filing false claims.
Under Federal law, health care providers are supposed to keep records to support all claims, and they must make the documents available when Federal investigators request them. Ms. Brown said many health care providers failed to supply the documents.
The inspector general gave several examples of erroneous payments. In one case, a nursing home was paid $15,362 for a 61-day stay by an elderly patient. Medical records did not show any condition that required skilled nursing care.
In another case, a nursing home billed Medicare separately for routine services already included in the fixed amount paid by the Government for each day of care. In other cases, auditors found that patients' medical problems were much less severe than indicated on claims, so doctors were entitled to less money than they received.
Representative Bill Thomas, Republican of California, said, "The inspector general's audit shows that billions of dollars are being wasted every year by Medicare because of fraud, abuse, shoddy accounting practices and improper payments."      

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July 18, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Some Fond Farewells for the Mainstay of Main Street

BYLINE: By NORIMITSU ONISHI 

SECTION: Section D; Page 4; Column 3; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 635 words

Florence Hillig, after retiring six years ago from her office job in Manhattan, took to coming to the Woolworth's store in Flushing, Queens. Tuesdays, she seldom missed a chance to shop because of the 10 percent discount for seniors.
But it was the store's S-shaped lunch counter that drew her just about every other day. 
 "The girls here I get along with," said Ms. Hillig, 71, as she worked on a serving of string beans. "You get to know them. That's why I was so shocked when I heard about it at 11 o'clock."
What Ms. Hillig heard was the talk of the lunch counter yesterday at the Woolworth's on Main Street in Flushing, as it was perhaps at other Woolworth's stores on hundreds of Main Streets in the country: the Woolworth Corporation announced yesterday morning that it was shutting its 400 remaining stores after years of decline.
The closings affect New York more than any other region in the country. About a quarter of the stores are in the New York region, company officials said, with 61 of them dotting the city. Manhattan alone has 21 stores.
At a store on the corner of Third Avenue and 86th Street in Manhattan, customers said they would miss Woolworth's not only for its bargains but also for the place the 117-year-old chain occupied in the country's history and people's lives.
"I grew up with a five-and-dime store," said Ken Isador, 42, a neighborhood resident who was wearing a $5 pair of shorts from the store. "My grandfather would take us there."
But, Mr. Isador quickly added, "I guess if there's a need for a place like this, someone will fill it."
The store in Flushing, like many of the other Woolworth's stores in the city, has appeared a little out of place and time in recent years. Squeezed in by a giant Caldor's, surrounded by Chinese- and Korean-owned shops that have transformed the neighborhood since the early 1980's, the store's exterior signs appeared to need some burnishing, its interior some renovations.
Yesterday, inside the store, which opened in October 1956, the reaction ranged from shock to anger, especially among the regulars at the lunch counter.
"It's terrible, it's so stupid," said Phyllis DiFrancesco. "Everyone is slow. What if they don't make that much money?"
A waitress, who said she had worked at the counter for eight years, said most of her customers were elderly, who came for lunches averaging $5 to $6. "Some of them can't talk," said the waitress, who asked not to be named, "but I know what they want."
About 20 people sat on stools at the lunch counter around 2 P.M. Patricia Lang, a 26-year patron, chatted with Ernestine Thomas, 85, to her right.
"It's like a family gathering here," Ms. Lang, 64, said.
Joan Wayne, who was Ms. Thomas's companion, asked her how long she had been coming to the Flushing store.
"Every time I get hungry," Ms. Thomas said. "I've been coming here for 30 years, nearly every day."
"I'm going to get three fans today -- them standing fans," she went on. "I want a cool house."
"Some places sell fans for $30; others, $26, " Ms. Lang chimed in. "It's $19 here."
For Ms. Thomas, who was a young black woman in pre-World War II Atlanta, years before four black students sat at a "whites only" Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, N.C., the closing of Woolworth's had a particular resonance.
"When I was a little girl, we used to walk miles to go to the five-and-dimes," Ms. Thomas said, turning to a plate of turkey and mashed potatoes. "We could buy food. But we had to go outside and eat it. We weren't allowed to sit."
"That's something to think about," said Ms. Wayne, her companion.  "We've come a long way, haven't we?"
"That's what I told you," Ms. Thomas said. "You don't know."
"I know. I know," Ms. Wayne said. But Ms. Thomas said nothing and turned to her turkey.

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July 18, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Medicare Cuts That Harm Cities

SECTION: Section A; Page 28; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 412 words

Congressional conferees may decide today whether the Medicare cuts they are determined to impose will be apportioned fairly or will victimize urban areas and transfer the funds to rural areas.
Congress has already decided to knock more than $100 billion out of Medicare over five years to help pay for spending increases and tax cuts in its balanced-budget plan. Two House bills and one in the Senate propose reductions in payments to hospitals, physicians and managed-care plans. But there are important differences. 
 Medicare currently pays premiums to managed-care plans that reflect the local cost of treating patients in traditional fee-for-service coverage. That way, managed-care plans in high-cost areas, like New York City and Los Angeles, are paid enough to provide quality care.
Under the Senate bill, but not the House proposals, these adjustments for prices and wages would be eliminated, reducing payments for health plans in New York City by up to 30 percent. The formula flows from the political weight of farm-state senators, not from a rational calculation of health needs. It should be dropped by the conferees.
Regional Medicare costs differ not only because of wages and prices but also because of differences in the number of tests and procedures performed. The Senate and House bills would base Medicare payments on an average of regional and national Medicare costs. The proposed formula would raise payments in low-cost (rural) regions and lower them in high-cost (urban) regions. There is some virtue in blending local and national rates so as to encourage fiscal discipline in the high-cost areas. But the Senate formula goes too far too fast and should be rejected in favor of the fairer of the two House bills.
In one respect, the Senate proposes to help urban hospitals. Currently Medicare helps subsidize teaching hospitals and hospitals that treat the poor by granting them high reimbursement rates. But these hospitals cannot always collect such extra money when the patients come through managed-care plans. So the Senate bill and one of the House bills would reduce payments to managed-care plans and turn more money over directly to teaching and indigent-care hospitals -- a smart way to direct money where it is needed.
It will be hard enough to absorb cuts of this magnitude without harming care of the elderly. It will be even harder if the conferees adopt the city-punishing parts of the House and Senate bills.

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July 18, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Power Broker Looks for Deals to Keep New York Cool

BYLINE: By DAVID M. HALBFINGER 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 827 words

At 2:30 yesterday afternoon, New York City's power broker of the moment took his seat at his desk and picked up the phone to do a deal. Before him stretched a panoramic view of the metropolitan area, from Dutchess County all the way to Fresh Kills on Staten Island.
He was not calling in markers from a politician or a corporate chief. He was not sitting in a corner office high in the World Trade Center. He was not even looking out a window. Thomas Leo was sitting in Con Edison's dimly lighted nerve center, looking at a movie screen-sized schematic map of the power company's entire system, and dialing up utilities from Canada to Ohio, trying to get a deal on a few hundred megawatts of spare electricity. 
 The fifth day of New York's first heat wave of the summer brought a welcome dip in humidity, easing not only the sweltering feeling on city streets and in the subways but also the pressure on Mr. Leo, the 2:30-to-10 P.M. power dispatcher, and the other engineers in the Consolidated Edison Company's Bulk Power Control Room.
Here, in an unmarked office building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (the utility requested that the exact location be withheld, for security reasons), a handful of people work in air-conditioned comfort to make sure that Con Edison, the nation's fifth-largest power company and the biggest in the Northeast, can deliver enough electricity to satisfy the demands of its 3 million customers.
On the map across the curved front wall, tiny gold and green bulbs light up at points representing the connections in the system -- between out-of-state power lines and Con Ed plants, between substations and the networks that deliver power to residences and businesses. There are five gold bulbs for each link in the system, each bulb representing 20 percent of the connection's capacity.
One by one, the bulbs blink on, as kids returning home from playgrounds and day camp turn on the TV, as elderly residents crank up the air-conditioning, as businesses keep their cooling systems on high and workers hunch over their computers late into the afternoon and early evening. By midafternoon, the peak hours in summer, the screen is ablaze.
In a closely watched corner of the board, never out of anyone's peripheral vision, a red readout shows the level of voltage coursing through the entire system. All day long, until about 5 P.M., it rises every few seconds. Four digits are safe. Five can make people nervous. Until this week, the record was 10,805 megawatts, set in August 1995. On Tuesday, between 3 and 4 P.M., the city's demand reached 11,013 megawatts.
Keeping up with that rising demand can be a difficult job, said Michael L. Miele, the general manager of the control room. Although Con Edison has enough of its own oil-, gas-, and nuclear-powered generating plants to produce about 11,000 megawatts of power at once, he said, its costs are far higher than those of some other utilities in western New York and other states, which can burn coal and other cheaper fuels, and where taxes on fuel purchases are lower or nonexistent.
All day long, Con Edison's power dispatchers look for opportunities to buy less expensive power from other utility companies, especially those in cooler areas with surplus power.
On the hottest days, however, Con Edison cannot rely on imported electricity. This week, as temperatures broke records across the East Coast, the pool of utilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland canceled its sales to Con Edison as its surplus of power shrank.
"They can't take care of their own native load, so they appropriately stopped their transmission to us," Mr. Miele said.
For times like this, Con Ed maintains a backup fleet of barges, tied up in the Gowanus Canal, in the Narrows and on other waterways throughout the region, each with a battery of gas turbine generators aboard. There are 74 turbines, which, together, can provide an extra 2,000 megawatts. Yesterday, about half were up and running, as the region's electricity demand peaked between 3 and 4 P.M. at 10,607 megawatts, seventh on the all-time list, a Con Ed spokesman said.
Despite the high temperatures and power usage, the control room was hushed yesterday, Mr. Miele noted proudly, saying his crew was well-prepared. But things do not always go smoothly.
On Tuesday, as a number of equipment failures increased the demands on Con Edison's system, 28,000 homes in Westchester lost power for several hours and the utility had to reduce voltage by 8 percent in some parts of Brooklyn. Mr. Miele said a flick of a switch in the control room would reduce voltage across Con Edison's entire system by the same amount. He said homeowners might perceive it as nothing more than a dimming of their lights. That is one of several emergency measures that should prevent a recurrence of a catastrophic blackout like the one in1977, he said. Another is simply turning off power in entire parts of the city.

LOAD-DATE: July 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: In the cool, dim control center of Consolidated Edison in Manhattan, a flick of a switch could reduce voltage throughout the metropolitan area. (Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times)
 
Graph: "A CLOSER LOOK: Beating the Heat"
High temperatures over the last few days have led to record electricity use in the city. Graph shows daily peak use and temperatures for July. (Source: Con Edison)

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July 19, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Republican Leaders Exempt 'Workfare' From Labor Laws

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 7; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 678 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 18

Stepping up the pace of work on legislation to balance the Federal budget, Republican leaders decided today that welfare recipients engaged in community service should not have the full protection of the minimum wage and other Federal labor standards.
The decision to exempt welfare recipients in state "workfare" programs from such worker protections sets up a conflict between the Republican Congress and the President. 
 President Clinton has said people on welfare are generally entitled to the minimum wage and other protections of Federal labor laws.
The decision on welfare was one of many made today by committee chairmen from the House and the Senate as they held a series of meetings with Congressional leaders in the office of Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Senator Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said the Republicans had resolved 85 percent of the issues in the deficit-reduction bill. Representative John R. Kasich, the Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House Budget Committee, said "we got a long way today" in devising a unified position for negotiations with President Clinton.
The lawmakers did not resolve the biggest disputes between the Senate and the House over Medicare: whether to impose higher premiums on higher-income beneficiaries, whether to increase the age of eligibility and whether to establish a new charge of $5 a visit for home health care services.
Republican Senators continued to push for the "means test," an increase in the eligibility age and the $5 copayment. House members continued to oppose all three, saying they would not accept any of the changes unless President Clinton unequivocally endorsed them.
Mr. Clinton has said he is, in principle, willing to accept the idea of a means test for Medicare, perhaps even as part of this year's budget bill.
The Republicans decided to let 500,000 elderly people drop out of the standard Medicare program and establish "medical savings accounts" with Federal money. Such accounts would pay routine medical expenses. The beneficiaries would buy private insurance to pay catastrophic medical expenses.
President Clinton opposes such medical savings accounts, saying they appeal mainly to people who are healthy or wealthy. The House version of the budget bill would authorize 500,000 accounts. The Senate would allow 100,000.
The House and the Senate passed different versions of the budget bill last month. Republicans, having made limited progress in their talks with Democrats, decided today to start making the major decisions themselves.
On welfare, the Republicans said they would move to override parts of a recent directive issued by Mr. Clinton with strong support from labor unions. The directive says that welfare recipients working in community service jobs are "employees" and are therefore covered by Federal labor laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets wage and hour standards.
Senate Republicans agreed to accept a provision of the House-passed bill that would exempt welfare recipients in state "workfare" programs from many requirements of those laws.
Welfare recipients who take jobs in private industry would, like regular workers, be entitled to the minimum wage and other workplace protections.
But many states have established community service and work experience programs, which require poor people to work at public-sector jobs or for private nonprofit organizations as a condition for welfare.
Governors say that if they have to pay the minimum wage for such workfare programs, they will not be able to create enough jobs to meet the work requirements of the 1996 welfare law. The governors say workfare participants are being trained for work and are not employees in the usual sense.
The House version of the budget bill sets a limit on the number of hours that a workfare participant may be required to work. The maximum number of hours is calculated by adding together the value of welfare benefits and food stamps, then dividing by the minimum wage.

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July 20, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

YOUR HOME;
Services That Help The Aged

BYLINE: By JAY ROMANO 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 3; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1113 words

EARLIER this year, as Helen Murray was backing her car out of her garage to run some errands, a gust of wind nudged the garage door just enough to snag it in Mrs. Murray's front bumper.
"It was something to see," she said. "I pulled that door clean off the hinges."
Having thus assessed the damage, Mrs. Murray decided to continue with her errands. 
 "I'm 84 years old," she said. "Couldn't take care of it myself if I wanted to."
Like many elderly residents in New York City, Mrs. Murray is most comfortable living in surroundings that are most familiar -- in her case, the Bronx home she and her husband bought 35 years ago. But being 84 years old and a widow -- her husband died about 20 years ago -- Mrs. Murray is hardly able to keep up with the unending supply of household chores, and the occasional repairs, that inevitably confront a homeowner.
Mrs. Murray, however, knew enough to call the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, a not-for-profit organization based in Manhattan that provides elderly homeowners on limited incomes with the tools they need to remain safe and secure in their own homes. And the tool most often needed, it seems, is a handyman and his tools.
"He did a beautiful job, believe me, it was beautiful," said Mrs. Murray, referring to how the staff handyman dispatched to her house reattached the garage door. "When my clothes pole fell down, they sent someone to fix that, too. And next week, I have an appointment to get my locks fixed."
The Foundation for Senior Citizens is one of several not-for-profit organizations in the New York City area that, in cooperation with state and city agencies, form a safety net of sorts for elderly residents -- particularly elderly homeowners.
"The whole point is to keep senior citizens independent and able to hang onto their homes for as long as they want to," said Herbert W. Stupp, Commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging.
The department, Mr. Stupp said, provides funds for several not-for-profit organizations that offer services to elderly homeowners. Among them are the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty in Manhattan, the Citizens Advice Bureau in the Bronx, the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council and the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens. In addition, Mr. Stupp said, the department itself administers several programs for elderly residents.
For example, he said, the department's Elderly Crime Victims Resource Center provides elderly residents living in apartments or private homes with window gates and security locks that are installed by independent contractors working for programs financed by the department.
In addition, Mr. Stupp said, the department's weatherization, referral and packaging program provides emergency boiler and furnace repair to residents 60 years of age and older in one- to four-family dwellings who meet certain income criteria.
At present, he said, to qualify for the program, a one-person household age 60 or older may have amonthly income of no more than $934; two-person households cannot exceed $1,254 a month and three-person households must have combined income of less than $1,574.
The New York Foundation for Senior Citizens has also established certain criteria for those who want to participate in the Minor Home Repair Program. Linda R. Hoffman, president of the organization, said that participants age 60 or older must own their own home or apartment and reside in it.
She said the maximum allowable income for a one-person household to qualify is $2,288 a month or $27,450 a year; for a two-person household it is $2,612 a month or $31,350 a year and for a three-person household it is $2,942 a month or $35,300 a year.
Once a homeowner qualifies, Ms. Hoffman said, the organization will provide "home handyman" services free of charge on an "as needed" basis. (Co-op shareholders and condominium owners must provide proof that the board of directors has given permission for the work that is needed.)
"All the homeowner has to do is supply the materials," Ms. Hoffman said, adding that, in some cases, even materials are free.
"We sometimes get contributions from manufacturers and retailers who send us electrical switches, door bells, door locks, smoke detectors and things like that," Ms. Hoffman said.
The vast majority of participants in the program -- nearly 80 percent -- are elderly women living alone.  The list of services offered through the Minor Home Repair Program reads like a table of contents from a home repair encyclopedia. From fixing broken windows to snaking stuffed-up drains to replacing bathroom tiles or crystal pieces on chandeliers, the foundation's five full-time professional handymen (there are no handywomen on staff just yet) travel to homes in all five boroughs, three homes a day, five days a week.
"I've been doing this for over 12 years," said Martin Grossman, 45, the foundation's senior repairman.
Mr. Grossman said that since he and the other repairmen used their own vehicles to travel to client's houses, they are limited in what they can bring to a job.
"We don't carry ladders and we only carry power tools when we know we'll need them," he said, adding that in many cases, the handymen were able to make use of tools on the premises. And while the workers do not get involved in any major repair work or painting projects, the program does go far beyond simply providing help with minor repairs.
"Sure, we fix toilets and leaky faucets," Mr. Grossman said. "But we also hang curtains, install extension phones, put up Christmas decorations and program VCR's. There are so many things that an older person living alone can't do for themselves -- like get up on a ladder and change a light bulb."
In addition, Mr. Grossman said, any time that a handyman is at a client's home he will conduct a safety audit to insure that there are no hazards present in the home. The repairman will insure, for example, that there are no dangerous electrical cords or extension wires being used; that all rugs and runners are slip-resistant; that handrails are securely fastened; that step-stools being used are stable and that smoke alarms are installed and functioning properly.
"When you own a house, there's always something that needs to be done," Mr. Grossman said. "After a while, you get to know the clients and their homes. After a while, you might even become their friend."
Residents who are interested in information about any of the above programs or organizations -- as well as retailers or manufacturers who wish to donate materials -- may call the New York City Department for the Aging at (212) 442-1000.

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July 20, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

MUSIC;
Altruistic Moves at Arts Center

BYLINE: By ROBERT SHERMAN 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 8; Column 4; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 991 words

THE Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill has embarked on several outreach programs. One with long-range implications is the center's invitation to nonprofit organizations to use the stage and services of the staff without charge so long as presentations are free and of benefit to the community.
"We're not here to get rich," the executive director, Numa Saisselin, said. "We're here to serve our community, and there are quite a number of grass-roots organizations in the area who are doing good things but simply don't have the funds at their disposal to rent the theater. We want to foster these groups, and by giving them a showcase platform, to help them on the road to bigger and better dreams." 
 One worthy program is the Paramount's own Senior Matinee Series. "We understand the special needs of our senior citizens," the marketing director, Nina Gabriele-Cuva, said. "So we've designed performances just for them at 1:30 in the afternoon in an air-conditioned environment so they can feel cool, comfortable and safe traveling to and from the event."
The first of three Wednesday shows takes place this week with the T. J. Tomlin Dixieland All Stars. On Aug. 13, T. J. returns on drums to provide old-time jazz with Chuck Trepede on keyboards, Carmen Leggio at tenor sax and the vocalist Michele LeBlanc. The Sept. 24 finale is an afternoon of comedy and songs with Glen Super. These are not free events, but tickets are only $5. For more information, call the box office at 739-2333.
For free Wednesday jazz, there is the Sculpture Garden at the Katonah Museum of Art, where a summer series is presenting the Zusaan Kali Fasteau World Jazz Trio this week at 6:30 P.M. The group offers "a world music potpourri with an explosive range of sounds on sax, strings, flutes, piano and drums." The music moves indoors if it rains. The information number is 232-9555.
Also free and designed as family entertainment for age 6 through grandparents are Tuesday programs at 7:30 P.M. at the New Rochelle Public Library. The cycle encompasses songs, stories and dances from around the world, and this week it offers a taste of the Orient from the Chinese Folk Dance Company. On July 29, Maryanna Cassells focuses on Jewish stories and songs. Haitian music is featured on Aug. 5, and the group Latino Fix appears on Aug. 12. Concluding the series on Aug. 19 will be Portuguese dances and songs by the Folkloric Group of Our Lady of Fatima. The library's phone number is 632-7878.
An outstanding free event is the yearly visit by the New York Philharmonic. Next Saturday at 8 P.M. at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops, makes his Philharmonic debut with works by Dvorak, Copland, Bernstein and Gershwin, concluding with a Grucci fireworks display. The Philharmonic's summer information number is (212) 875-5709.
Mendelssohn wrote a raft of wonderful "Songs Without Words," but today at 5:30 P.M. at the International Music Festival at Caramoor in Katonah, it will definitely be music with words, as Mendelssohn's incidental music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" accompanies readings by Claire Bloom. The program includes several other fascinating fusions of text and tone, similarly narrated by the actress, in partnership with the flutist Eugenia Zukerman and the pianist Brian Zeger.
On Thursday at 4:15 P.M. at Caramoor, Peter Oundjian, the festival's artistic director designate, gives a string quartet master class, then returns next Saturday at 8:30 P.M. to conduct an all-Beethoven concert, including Mahler's transcription of the Opus 95 String Quartet and the Fourth Piano Concerto with Garrick Ohlsson as soloist. Next Sunday at 5:30 P.M. Mr. Oundjian's former colleagues in the Tokyo String Quartet -- now with Mikhail Kopelman in the first violinist's chair -- play Barber, Brahms and Schubert.
On Friday at 8 P.M., the St. Petersburg Quartet makes its Caramoor debut with Haydn, Brahms and Shostakovich. For reservations to Caramoor concerts, call 232-1252.
The last of the Summer Sounds Dance Concerts at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers takes place Friday at 8 P.M. when the New York Tango Trio upholds the honor of the sensuous Argentinian dance form, "incorporating jazz improvisations into the traditionally rich, robust melodies and distinctive rhythms." The number to call for tickets is 963-4550.
The jaunty, typically American rhythms of bluegrass will be heard next Saturday at 8 P.M. when the Nashville Bluegrass Band comes to Whippoorwill Hall in Armonk for a program sponsored by Friends of the North Castle Library. The reservations number is 273-8638.
Also for folk fans is the Falcon Ridge Festival in Hillsdale, about an hour's drive from Albany near the corner of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Described by its planners as "a three-day community of folk music and dance," it offers a New Artist Showcase on Friday at noon and a Summer's Eve Song Swap Friday night with Greg Brown, Janis Ian, Cheryl Wheeler and David Wilcox. There will also be dancing on an 8,500-square-foot wooden dance floor. The festivities continue next Saturday and Sunday starting at 11 A.M. each day with concerts, songwriting workshops, craft demonstrations, children's events and, of course, more dancing. Among the performers are Dar Williams, David Roth, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason. For directions, call (860) 350-7472.
The 82d season of Maverick Concerts in Woodstock offers recitals on Sundays at 3 P.M. along with Saturday night musicales and matinee shows for younger listeners. Today the Audubon String Quartet plays works by Dvorak, Schumann and Peter Schickele. The Brentano Quartet is scheduled next Sunday, and in August there will be appearances by the Tokyo, Borromeo and Cassatt Quartets. There is no reserved seating at these concerts, so early arrival is a good idea. For travel directions or a schedule of concerts, call 679-8217.

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July 20, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SIGNOFF;
The British Detective as 'a Kind of Dinosaur'

BYLINE: By SARAH LYALL 

SECTION: Section 12; Page 55; Column 1; Television 

LENGTH: 600 words

DETECTIVE Superintendent Andy Dalziel is more caveman than new man -- a cigarette-puffing, beer-swigging detective with a large gut, a foul mouth and a scowl that seems carved into his face. With his thick Yorkshire accent and his abrasive demeanor, he serves as a fine foil to Peter Pascoe, the boyishly handsome and semi-yuppified Detective Inspector who works for him in "Dalziel and Pascoe," a British import coming back to New York this week. It will be shown on Tuesday at 9 P.M. on A&E.
Dalziel and Pascoe's police work is filled with bickering and sniping, as the two pursue their own idiosyncratic detection methods, but is also laced with a grudging mutual admiration. It's their combative, complicated relationship -- and the unconventional character of Dalziel -- that sets this series apart from many police shows featuring unlikely partnerships. It's also what drew Warren Clarke, who plays Dalziel (a Scottish word, pronounced dee-ELL), to the part in the first place. 
 "When I was first offered it, I didn't really want to do it -- I didn't want to do a cop series," said Mr. Clarke, 46, interviewed on the set of "A Respectable Trade," a BBC film in which he plays an 18th-century slave trader in Bristol. On a break from filming a bedroom scene, he was wearing a long white linen nightgown and a white nightcap and smoking a cigarette.
"But I found the character really very amusing and totally, utterly un-P.C., which I thought was very attractive," Mr. Clarke said. "He's a kind of dinosaur, a throwback to the 60's, and I found that the biggest attraction. I also love the interplay between Dalziel and Pascoe."
The detectives first appeared in 1970 in "A Clubbable Woman," by the British mystery writer Reginald Hill. The book,, which describes the murder of the unpopular wife of a rugby club member, was made into the first "Dalziel and Pascoe" episode.
Later episodes based on novels by Mr. Hill include "Deadheads," in which the life of a wealthy accountant seems unnaturally punctuated by the deaths of people who stand in his way, personally and professionally, and "Exit Lines," in which Dalziel is accused of drunken driving and Pascoe, investigating the death of an elderly man killed in the bath, begins to have serious concerns about his boss's ethics and integrity.
British television critics have been kind to "Dalziel and Pascoe," and episodes in the second series have drawn as many as 13 million viewers, or more than a fifth of the British population.
Since he took on the role of Dalziel, Mr. Clarke, a veteran actor whose three-decade career has included appearances in "A Clockwork Orange" and "Anthony and Cleopatra," has become increasingly visible to the English public. Tabloids delight in finding new, unflattering ways to describe his appearance ("things like 'his face is like a flat tire,' " Mr. Clarke said) and in reporting on every hint of life's reflecting art (The Daily Mirror gleefully reported that on a filming trip to Poland, Mr. Clarke spent a few hours in jail after trying to buy a drink for a barmaid).
But Mr. Clarke says that while there are things he admires about his character -- his underlying humanitarian principles, for instance, and his lack of pretense -- most similarities between him and Dalziel are purely unintentional.
"Hopefully, I'm not like him," he said with a sharp look. "I'm not saying I'm P.C. more than he is, but there are very few things I share with him. I don't drink the way he does. I smoke, but not has much as he does, and I don't scratch my parts or pick my nose in public."

LOAD-DATE: July 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Warren Clarke says his character, Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel, is "utterly un-P.C." (BBC Worldwide)

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July 21, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

ELDERLY PATIENTS MAY GET A BREAK ON MEDICAL COSTS

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1312 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 20

Relief is in sight for elderly people who, in recent years, have been forced to pay a large and rapidly growing share of the bills for hospital outpatient services like cataract surgery, hernia operations and all sorts of diagnostic tests.
The budget bill now moving through Congress would impose new limits on what Medicare beneficiaries pay for such services. Beneficiaries are ordinarily responsible for 20 percent of what the Government determines to be a reasonable amount for care provided under Part B of Medicare, which covers doctors' services. 
 But because of a quirk in the Federal Medicare law, there is no limit on what a patient may be required to pay for tests and services in the outpatient department of a hospital, which are also covered under Part B. The patient is responsible for 20 percent of whatever the hospital charges, not 20 percent of the amount approved by Medicare.
Medicare beneficiaries are now responsible, on the average, for 47 percent of the total payments to hospitals for outpatient services like surgery, radiology and diagnostic procedures because hospitals often charge more than Medicare approves. The patient's share is far more than Congress intended, and the burden is rising rapidly because such services account for a growing portion of all health care in the United States. For a patient, the additional costs can easily amount to several thousand dollars a year.
In many cases, hospital records show, the patients' share of outpatient bills exceeds 50 percent, and beneficiaries pay more than the Government. In a report to Congress last year, Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, predicted that beneficiaries would be paying 68 percent of the bills by 2000.
Since 1983, the Government has paid a flat amount for each Medicare patient admitted to a hospital, depending on the diagnosis. And since 1992, Medicare has used a fee schedule to pay doctors. But there is no such system of fixed payments for hospital outpatient services.
The provisions dealing with Medicare outpatient services are identical in the House and the Senate versions of the budget bill passed last month. So while negotiators from the two chambers are trying to work out the differences in the bills, those Medicare provisions are virtually certain to be included in any bill that becomes law. They would take effect in 1999, making the biggest changes in Medicare since the creation of the program in 1965.
One of those changes would establish a fee schedule for hospital outpatient services. A hospital would not be allowed to charge more than the fee.
The amount paid by beneficiaries for a particular type of outpatient service would be frozen roughly at current levels. But the total amount paid to hospitals -- by Medicare and patients combined -- would increase slightly faster than the costs of goods and services used by hospitals.
Kirsten A. Sloan, a lobbyist at the American Association of Retired Persons, said: "This change is a start toward fixing the problem. It would stop further growth in beneficiaries' co-insurance. Beneficiaries should notice the change right away because the problem won't get any worse."
In recent years, Medicare patients have often assumed that they were saving money by using hospitals' outpatient clinics and avoiding overnight stays. But that was not always true because there were no limits on what they could be charged for outpatient services.
Thus, for example, Jeanette L. Dority, 77, of Santa Teresa, N.M., had a mastectomy at a nearby hospital in El Paso. The hospital billed $6,275 for the outpatient procedure, and she paid 20 percent, or $1,255. But Medicare paid $816, or 80 percent of the amount deemed reasonable by the Government, $1,020.
In an interview, her husband, Guy E. Dority, said the couple's share of the bill was "unfair and totally ridiculous."
Likewise, Dorothy E. Wade, 80, of Land O' Lakes, Fla., had cataract surgery at a hospital in Tampa, Fla. The hospital billed $3,132, and she paid 20 percent, or $626. By contrast, after much effort, she learned from the Government that Medicare had paid $532.
Her son, Richard C. Wade, who lives with her, said: "Senior citizens are being financially raped because of this loophole in the law. It's not an equitable situation for Medicare recipients."
Several Congressional committees have described the current situation as an anomaly: higher payments by beneficiaries do not necessarily result in lower payments by the Government. The Government still pays 80 percent of the "reasonable amount" even if beneficiaries pay far more than 20 percent. There is no dollar-for-dollar reduction in what the Government pays.
In her report to Congress, Secretary Shalala said that a hospital could often increase its revenue "by simply increasing its charges" for outpatient services.
Hospitals say they are required to charge the same amounts to Medicare beneficiaries and others for outpatient services. The charges were originally close to the amounts considered reasonable by Medicare, but the gap has widened in recent years as the Government tried to limit its costs and hospitals sought additional revenues.
The Medicare handbook, sent to all beneficiaries, explains the situation this way: "When you use your Part B benefits, you are responsible for paying the first $100 each year of the charges approved by Medicare. This is called the Part B annual deductible. After the deductible is met, Medicare pays 80 percent of the Medicare-approved amount for most services. You are responsible for the remaining 20 percent."
But, it says, there is one big exception: "If you receive outpatient services at a hospital, you are responsible for paying 20 percent of whatever the hospital charges, not 20 percent of a Medicare-approved amount."
Medicare spending for outpatient services has been growing twice as fast as outlays for inpatient hospital care and now totals $20 billion, against more than $95 billion annually for Medicare patients admitted to hospitals. Since 1980, the total number of hospital admissions for all types of patients has declined, but the number of outpatient hospital visits has more than doubled.
Hospitals cite many reasons for the boom in outpatient care. New surgical technology and advances in anesthesia have reduced the need for overnight hospital stays. Complex procedures like hysterectomies and reconstructive knee surgery are now being done in hospital outpatient departments.
Managed care companies are prodding hospitals to release patients as soon as possible, and Medicare creates a financial incentive for hospitals to do so because it pays a fixed amount for each admission, regardless of how long the patient is hospitalized.
In theory, outpatient surgery and other procedures save money because patients avoid costly hospital stays. But some of the expected savings have been offset by explosive growth in the number of Medicare claims for outpatient services.
Many elderly people have supplementary insurance, known as Medigap policies, to help pay costs not covered by Medicare. But as they pay more for outpatient services, their Medigap premiums increase. These premiums have risen sharply in the last two years, and insurers cite the increased use of outpatient services as a major reason.
Congress's decision to change the way it pays for outpatient services results in part from evidence compiled by the American Association of Retired Persons. The organization was deluged with 1,500 letters last fall after it published an article in its Bulletin asking readers to send in hospital bills documenting their experiences.
In addition, a Federal advisory panel, the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, has repeatedly urged lawmakers to correct what it describes as "a flaw in Medicare's payment method."
      

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July 21, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

BUSINESS DIGEST

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 610 words


Philippines to Get Emergency I.M.F. Loan
In an important test of new methods to cope with instability in world financial markets, the International Monetary Fund has for the first time used emergency procedures set up after the Mexican financial crisis to arrange an urgent loan of $1 billion to the Philippines.
The move was an unusual response to the pressure placed on some other Southeast Asian economies since Thailand was forced on July 2 to devalue its currency. [Page A1.] 

New Cap Near for Outpatient Bills
Relief is in sight for elderly people who, in recent years, have been forced to pay a large and rapidly growing share of the bills for hospital outpatient services like cataract surgery, hernia operations and all sorts of diagnostic tests. The budget bill moving through Congress would impose new limits on what Medicare beneficiaries pay for such services. [A1.]
 
At the Silicon Ranch
Technology is transforming the cattle and dairy industries. Competitive pressures, high feed costs and the demand for prime, specialty beef have forced more farmers and ranchers to drive their herds into the electronic frontier. Perhaps it was inevitable when cows started appearing on those Gateway 2000 boxes. [D4.]
 
Are Papers Doing Their Jobs?
The business prospects of newspapers have improved sharply, with advertising up and newsprint costs down. But are papers fulfilling their mission to inform readers? At least four different efforts are under way to try to plumb some of the underlying problems. Iver Peterson: Publishing. [D9.]
 
Intel Settles Suit Over Chips
Intel has settled a class-action suit brought in the wake of the disclosure last year that an error in a testing process had led the company to overstate the speed of some microprocessor chips by about 10 percent. The chip maker will offer rebates on the purchase of new processors for some customers and add new language warning computer users to carefully assess comparisons of processor speed. [D6.]
 
A Loud Battle in Audio Systems
A war is under way for control of the music and the video soundtracks Americans play in their living rooms. Most people are completely unaware of the fight, or even that there's anything to fight over. But Digitial Theater Systems is mounting a nasty challenge to Dolby's primacy in the audio world. [D9.]
 
Investors Consider Coney Island
Inspired by the success of efforts to redevelop Times Square, private investors and state officials are now turning their attention to another long-neglected part of the New York City: Coney Island. The efforts have gained new momentum because Bruce C. Ratner, a developer with a track record in several large projects, has shown interest. [B1.]
 
Radio, Welcome to the Club
Even children who have yet to master their ABC's know that mouse ears mean Disney and Mickey Mouse. Now that icon of family entertainment, which has helped sell videos, magazines, television programs and films, is heading into radio, a medium that for decades has mostly tuned out listeners younger than 12. [D10.]
 
Problems Seen in Gas Tank Device
Several million cars to be sold this autumn will get a costly new pollution-control device that will make it harder to fill the gas tank at some service stations and may pose a safety risk. The new device is designed to capture the gasoline vapors that occupy a mostly empty gas tank and are usually pushed out into the air when the tank is refueled. [A15.]
 
Talking It Up, on Line
The bigger the Internet gets, the more new discussion forums seem to pop up on the World Wide Web. Taking In the Sites. [D6.]

LOAD-DATE: July 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Chart: "LAST WEEK"
Dow Industrials -- 7,890.46, down 31.36
30-yr. Treasury yield -- 6.52%, Unchanged
The Dollar -- 115.57 yen, up 1.55

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July 21, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

NEWS SUMMARY

SECTION: Section A; Page 2; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 1595 words


 
INTERNATIONAL   A3-11
 
Cautious Relief in Ulster As Cease-Fire Takes Effect
The Irish Republican Army's new cease-fire has officially begun, bringing a cautious sense of relief to Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. The current effort to halt violence followed indications by the new British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, that he would make the pursuit of peace in Northern Ireland a priority. The previous I.R.A. cease-fire had lasted 17 months, ending in February 1996, and people know that a return to mayhem is always possible.   A1 

Warlord Ahead in Liberian Vote
Preliminary results from Liberia's presidential election on Saturday placed Charles Taylor, the warlord who started the civil war in Liberia in 1989, as the leader in the race. His party had 62.4 percent of the vote, while his nearest opponent, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, garnered 18.1 percent, according to reports given by 250 of 1,890 polling places. There was no immediate claim of victory by Mr. Taylor, nor were there any concessions of defeat from the other 12 candidates.   A4
 
Vietnamese Cast Their Ballots
Vietnamese voted for national lawmakers in elections to choose all 450 members of the National Assembly. Although more than 80 percent of candidates represented the ruling Communist Party, voters could choose among workers, union representatives, educators and others who were nominated by state-backed organizations or ran as independents. No dramatic shifts were expected, but the vote was likely to start a swing toward a younger generation of Communist leaders . Ballots are being counted by hand, and results are expected to be announced in a week.   A4
 
Malawi's Ex-Dictator Retires
Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who led Malawi to independence from Britain in 1964 and went on to establish a dictatorship that lasted 30 years, announced his retirement from politics. Mr. Banda, the self-styled "President for Life," said he was stepping down because of age and failing health. Now in his 90's, he has rarely appeared in public since he was ousted in 1994 elections, but he remained the symbolic head of the opposition Malawi Congress Party. His regime was accused of killing, detaining without trial, torturing and hounding into exile thousands of opponents.   (AP)
 
Europe Battles Flooding
As river levels in Central Europe continued to rise from torrential rains, rescue workers paddled up a road flooded by the Oder River along the Poland-Germany border. The authorities fear that dikes protecting the eastern German plain might not hold. Flooding has already caused the deaths of 50 people in Poland and 48 in the Czech Republic.   A6
 
NATIONAL   A12-15, B6-7
 
Elderly May Pay Less For Outpatient Care
The budget bill moving through Congress would impose new limits on what Medicare beneficiaries must pay for hospital outpatient services like cataract surgery, giving elderly people some financial relief. The bill would establish a fee schedule for such outpatient services, and a hospital would not be allowed to charge more than the fee.   A1

Juvenile Courts Under Scrutiny
Judges and politicians are debating what was once unthinkable: abolishing the troubled juvenile justice system and trying most children as adults. The crisis began building a decade ago, when prosecutors responded to the growth in high-profile crime by youth by pushing for trials for more children. But the courts have become so choked that they are even less effective.   A1
 
New Pollution Control in Cars
Several million cars will go on sale in the next few years with a costly new pollution-control device, required by the 1990 Clean Air Act, that will make it harder to fill the gas tank at some service stations and may pose a safety risk. The device is designed to capture the gasoline vapors that occupy a mostly empty gas tank and are usually pushed out into the air when the tank is refueled.   A15

Many Tips but No Suspect
At least 1,500 calls about Andrew P. Cunanan, the suspect in the killing of the designer Gianni Versace, have poured into the tips line set up in Miami Beach. But Mr. Cunanan appears to be everywhere and nowhere. Callers have reported him in places as diverse as the bars of South Florida and an okra field in Arkansas.   A12

Tax Cuts Still in Question
Negotiators from Congress and the Clinton Administration met to try to narrow their differences over how to allocate tax cuts, but both sides said they were making only slight progress. Administration officials said they had no intention of giving any ground, asserting that President Clinton had already moved substantially toward the Republicans.   A14

Hurricane Winding Down
Hurricane Danny was finally downgraded to a tropical depression, after a weekend in which the storm seemed to single out Mobile Bay and nearby towns in Alabama. One death was attributed to the hurricane, but most people on the Alabama coastline say they got off easy.   A12
 
NEW YORK/REGION   B1-5
 
Seven Arrested in Case Of Smuggled Mexicans
Seven Mexican immigrants were arrested on charges of running a smuggling ring that sneaked scores of deaf Mexicans across the border, stashed them in safe houses in California, flew them to New York City and forced them, under threat of beatings, to work as trinket vendors in the subways. An eighth suspect, Reinaldo Paoletti, who is considered to be the ringleader, is still at large and the authorities are searching for him in the United States and Mexico.   A1

A Roman Catholic priest who ministers to deaf people summoned his flock to an emergency meeting after Mass in Mexico City to warn of agents who seduce deaf Mexicans into traveling to the United States to labor as street vendors. "Be careful with those offering a better life elsewhere, and don't be misled by deceitful promises," said the Rev. Martin Montoya, holding local papers reporting on the rescue of 62 deaf Mexican immigrants from abusive employers. Passing the word through hand signs and lip-reading, thousands of deaf Mexicans shared the stunning story, which confirmed rumors of ill treatment.   A1

The neighbors knew that a lot of deaf Mexicans lived in the fourth house from the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 93d Street. They knew they worked long hours, selling trinkets in the subways. The immediate neighbors even heard the guttural screams, felt doors slamming and fists pounding the walls and saw shoeless women in night gowns running away from men. But they chose not to get involved, for reasons that were deeply rooted in cultural mores and a profound mistrust of the authorities.   B5
 
Remaking Coney Island
A new proposal by the developer Bruce C. Ratner has added momentum to efforts to improve a long-neglected part of New York City: Coney Island, where the amusement area has shrunk to 3 three blocks in length from 20 and much of the land lies vacant. Mr. Ratner's proposal is to link a new multiplex theater and virtual-reality amusement park with an amateur sports facility that would be built with money from state bonds. Mr. Ratner would have to acquire the land from the city, which now owns it, and the plan must also pass environmental and zoning reviews.   B1

ARTS   C11-15
 
SPORTSMONDAY   C1-10

Texan Wins British Open
Justin Leonard of Dallas overtook the leaders with a final round of 65 to become the third American in a row to win the British Open, at the Royal Troon course in Troon, Scotland. The 12-under-par total for Mr. Leonard, 25, was three shots better than the total for Jesper Parnevik of Sweden and Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, who tied for second place.   C1

BUSINESS DAY   D1-11

I.M.F. to Lend to Philippines
The International Monetary Fund for the first time has used emergency procedures set up after the Mexican economic crisis two years ago to arrange a loan of $1 billion to the Philippines. It is an important test of new ways to cope with instability in world markets.   A1

Pay for Failure on the Rise
When John R. Walter resigned under pressure last week after less than a year as president of AT&T, he walked away with nearly $26 million after the company's board said it was reneging on its promise to name him chief executive in January because he was not up to the job. As job security in the business world diminished in the 1980's, executives began demanding a guaranteed payoff if things did not work out. These days, getting ousted delivers a lump sum of cash and other benefits equivalent to several years of work.   D1

Business Digest   D1
 
OBITUARIES   B9

Marvin J. Sonosky
The Washington lawyer who championed the cause of the American Indian throughout his long career was 88. Mr. Sonosky served as general counsel to Assiniboine, Sioux and Shoshone tribes in Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas, successfully litigating many of their land claims against the Federal Government.   B9

Stuart Jewell
The cinematographer who pursued natural wonders from sunrise to sunset for half a century was 84. Mr. Jewell was a pioneer in the use of time-lapse photography, and he was best known for such work in Walt Disney's landmark nature movie, "The Living Desert."   B9

EDITORIAL   A16-17
 
Editorials: The I.R.A. cease-fire; keep cameras in the courtroom; Brent Staples on slavery.
 
Columns: Thomas L. Friedman, Bob Herbert.

Chronicle   B4
 
Bridge   C14
 
Crossword   C12
 
Weather   B10

LOAD-DATE: July 21, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photos.

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July 23, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

President Offers to Back Congress in Effort to Reduce Costs of Medicare Program

BYLINE: By ALISON MITCHELL 

SECTION: Section A; Page 18; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1180 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 22

In a push to achieve long-range savings in the Medicare program, President Clinton today vowed to "defend the vote of any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican," who supported raising premiums for the affluent elderly.
Mr. Clinton spoke a day after Congressional budget negotiators reached an impasse in talks to rein in the cost of the Federal health insurance program for the elderly. House Republicans said they feared that adopting the proposed savings would make them vulnerable to Democratic attacks in next year's Congressional campaigns. 
 With frustrated Senate Republicans also complaining that the President had not done enough to reassure their House counterparts, Mr. Clinton today firmly supported the politically sensitive move to charge the affluent more for Medicare.
The Senate has proposed that premiums rise on a sliding scale for single beneficiaries with incomes of more than $50,000 a year and for couples with incomes of more than $75,000 a year. The proposal would affect about 8 percent of those now receiving Medicare benefits.
"My best judgment is that a big majority of the American people will support this," the President said. "They understand how big the baby boom retirement generation is. They understand how large the subsidy is on Medicare. And I would be happy to defend the vote of any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, who votes for this."
But it was unclear whether Mr. Clinton's stance would provide new momentum for the proposal to tie premiums to income.
Mr. Clinton, responding to Republican complaints that premium increases would look like tax increases, also proposed that the Treasury Department, rather than the Internal Revenue Service, collect the payments for higher premiums from the affluent, who would make the checks out to the Medicare Trust Fund instead of the I.R.S. "We think that would ease a lot of the Republican -- and frankly, some of the Democratic -- concerns that it wouldn't look like a tax increase," he said.
Some Republicans guardedly welcomed the President's suggestion, while others were less receptive.
"I don't think he's got it yet, but I view that as a positive move," Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, said after a meeting on budget and taxes with House Republicans.
Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, initially said Mr. Clinton's suggestion "may be a movement in the right direction," but he also said skeptically that "the only collection arm I know at Treasury is the I.R.S."
Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia said Mr. Clinton was "trying to be very positive."
Democrats remain divided over the issue, with moderate senators strongly endorsing it while more liberal Democrats, particularly in the House, oppose it.
The talks on Medicare are only one aspect of wide-ranging negotiations on tax and spending legislation as Congress and the President struggle to put in place a plan to balance the Federal budget by 2002.
An impasse over the question of charging the affluent elderly more for their health insurance would not imperil the budget talks as a whole. Most of the proposed $115 billion savings in the Medicare program are to be accomplished with reductions in payments to doctors, hospitals and health maintenance organizations.
But a coalition of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate has been fighting to charge high-income beneficiaries more for Medicare as a way to begin tackling long-term questions about the health program's solvency raised by the impending retirement of the baby boom generation.
The Senate went along with the coalition's plan last month. It voted to raise Medicare Part B premiums, which pay for doctor and outpatient services and are now $43.80 a month, on a sliding scale for single Medicare recipients with annual incomes of more than $50,000. Under the proposal, individuals with an income of more than $100,000 and couples with an income of more than $125,000 annually would have seen their monthly premiums quadruple.
But the House shied away from such a proposal in its own bill. House Republicans believe that they nearly lost their majority last November as a result of Democratic campaign charges that they had tried to make vast savings in Medicare to give tax cuts to the wealthy.
And Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the House minority leader, has been dead set against any effort to tie premium payments to income. His spokeswoman, Laura Nichols, said today that he had not altered his views.
But Michael D. McCurry, the White House spokesman, said Republicans should be comforted by Mr. Clinton's pledge to work to defuse the issue. "If the President says publicly that you made your vote, it was a good vote, it makes it a lot harder for a Democratic candidate, or a Republican candidate for that matter, to attack," he said.
And Senator Bob Kerrey, the Nebraska Democrat who proposed the premium income test approved by the Senate, said: "The President's comments were very constructive. The President has played a very important role. I see it as a basis for an agreement."
But many Republicans complained that House Democratic leaders and groups like labor unions and the elderly would continue to use the issue against them in 1998. "They did this on Medicare last time," said Representative John Linder, the Georgia Republican who is chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee. "They'll do it again."
Indeed, the continued sensitivity on the issue was clear today in the technical dispute over how the Government would collect the extra premium money from affluent Medicare recipients.
The premium is now automatically deducted from Social Security checks, which is an easy task because everyone is charged the same monthly Part B premium regardless of income.
The Senate had assumed that the extra premium payments would be subtracted from Social Security checks, using data from the Internal Revenue Service sent to the Department of Health and Human Services, which would then calculate the extra premiums and inform Social Security of the amounts. But the White House said that would require a new and costly bureaucracy, and it proposed instead that the I.R.S. collect the extra money retroactively at the end of each tax year.
Republicans complained that this would resemble a tax increase. So Mr. Clinton today proposed that instead of filling out an I.R.S. form, Medicare recipients with higher incomes would calculate how much they owed the Government in additional premium payments each year on a "Medicare premium adjustment form." They would then mail checks to the Treasury Department instead of the I.R.S. and make them out to the Medicare program.
Some Republicans were quick to note that the Treasury Department is the parent body of the I.R.S. and said this would still resemble a tax increase because upper-income elderly people would be required to mail a separate form -- and payment -- with their tax returns to the Treasury by April 15.
      

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July 25, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Last Chance

SECTION: Section C; Page 28; Column 5; Weekend Desk

LENGTH: 466 words


Here is a sampling of shows and exhibitions in Manhattan that are to close soon:
 
Closing This Weekend
 
 "CANDIDE," Gershwin Theater, 222 West 51st Street. A revival of Leonard Bernstein's musical satire; book by Hugh Wheeler; lyrics by Richard Wilbur, Stephen Sondheim and John La Touche; directed by Harold Prince. With Jim Dale, Andrea Martin, Harolyn Blackwell and Jason Danieley. Through Sunday. Performances: Today at 8 P.M.; tomorrow at 2 and 8 P.M.; Sunday at 3 P.M. Tickets: $20 to $70. Information: (212) 307-4100. 

 "COLLECTED STORIES," Manhattan Theater Club, Stage I, at City Center, 131 West 55th Street. A drama by Donald Margulies about an aging writer and her protegee; directed by Lisa Peterson; Debra Messing and Maria Tucci co-star. Through Sunday. Performances: Today at 8 P.M.; tomorrow at 2:30 and 8 P.M.; Sunday at 2:30 P.M. Tickets: $45.Information: (212) 581-1212.
 
 "VICTOR/VICTORIA," Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street. A musical based on the 1982 film by Blake Edwards; music by Henry Mancini; lyrics by Leslie Bricusse; with Raquel Welch. Through Sunday. Performances: Today at 8 P.M.; tomorrow at 2 and 8 P.M.; Sunday at 3 P.M. Tickets: $65 and $75. Information: (212) 307-4100.
 
 "MY NIGHT WITH REG," New Group, at Intar, 420 West 42d Street, Clinton. A comedy by Kevin Elyot, set in London, about six gay men who juggle their romantic, sexual and personal lives in the era of AIDS; directed by Jack Hofsiss; with Maxwell Caulfield. Through tomorrow. Performances: Today at 8 P.M.; tomorrow at 4 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $25 and $30. Information: (212) 279-4200.
 
 MIDSUMMER NIGHT SWING, Lincoln Center, Fountain Plaza. Outdoor dancing to live and recorded music. Through tomorrow. Tonight and tomorrow at 8:15 P.M.; lessons begin at 6:30 P.M. Tickets: $9. Information: (212) 875-5766.
 
 "GODS, KINGS AND TIGERS," Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street. Paintings and decorative artworks, primarily from the royal house of Kotah. Through Sunday. Today and tomorrow, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M.; Sunday, noon to 5 P.M. Tickets: $3; $1 for students and the elderly. Information: (212) 517-6397
 
Closing Next Weekend
 
 "CARTIER: 1900-1939," Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue at 82d Street. A survey with more than 200 examples of jewelry, timepieces and design drawings. Through Aug. 3. Tuesday through Thursdays and Sundays, 9:30 to 5:15 P.M.; Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30 A.M. to 9 P.M.; closed Monday. Admission: $8, contribution; $4 for children and the elderly. Information: (212) 879-5500.
 
 "ODC/SAN FRANCISCO," Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street, Chelsea. Through Aug. 2. Tuesday through Fridays, at 8 P.M.; Saturdays at 2 and 8 P.M. Tickets: $28. Information: (212) 242-0800.

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July 25, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Critic's Choice/Film;
Old but Ageless, by Truffaut

BYLINE: By JANET MASLIN 

SECTION: Section C; Page 10; Column 5; Weekend Desk 

LENGTH: 294 words

To beat the heat of this summer's blockbusters, nothing looks cooler than the French New Wave. Now, in the wake of the hit reissue of Jean-Luc Godard's "Contempt," Francois Truffaut's marvelous 1973 "Day for Night" will also make a welcome return engagement. "Day for Night" inaugurates a new regime at the Paris Theater, at 58th Street and Fifth Avenue, under the management of Jeffrey Jacobs, the longtime film buyer and programmer at the Angelika Film Center. The Paris is once again the most civilized moviegoing oasis in midtown.
Truffaut's droll and generous celebration of filmmaking remains an enchanting experience, transporting its audience into the artful deceptions of the movie world. In a film that still seems as startlingly current as the more brooding "Contempt" and that has lost none of its mature, rueful wisdom, Truffaut wittily celebrates his love of filmmaking with the help of a splendid cast. 
 With Jean-Pierre Leaud at his wiliest as a hilariously lovelorn actor and cineaste, Jacqueline Bisset as a coolly mysterious beauty, Valentina Cortese as that unforgettably mixed-up diva with a drinking problem and Jean-Pierre Aumont as her debonair ex-lover, "Day for Night" has a wistful acuity to match its comic fizz. Time has turned the muted performance of Truffaut (who died in 1984) into this story's most memorable, and a reminder of how much his elegant touch is missed. Playing a beleaguered director, Truffaut is seen gratefully receiving a care package of books on filmmaking giants. "Day for Night" affirms his own place in that pantheon.
The Paris Theater, 4 West 58th Street, Manhattan, reopens today with "Day for Night." Admission: $8.50; $5 for the elderly and children under 12. Box office: (212) 688-3800.

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Jacqueline Bisset and Francois Truffaut in "Day for Night." (Warner Brothers)

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July 25, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

The Mayor Is Rebuffed On Welfare

BYLINE: By JAMES BARRON 

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 777 words

In a setback for the Giuliani administration, a judge in Manhattan yesterday upheld the constitutionality of the Federal welfare law that cuts off benefits for legal immigrants who are not citizens.
While acknowledging that the measure, which ends food stamps and disability payments for resident aliens, would pose hardships, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York said it was up to Congress to make such decisions. 
 The Giuliani administration had argued that the measure was unconstitutional because it would deprive legal immigrants -- who had paid taxes and, in some cases, even served in the military -- of benefits available to citizens. City officials have also expressed concern that the cutoff of Federal benefits will increase costs to the city.
Judge Kaplan did rule in the city's favor on a small but related issue, saying the Government could not withhold accrued benefits for about 10,000 elderly and disabled aliens residing legally in New York, Connecticut and Vermont. Those noncitizens applied for aid before President Clinton signed the welfare law in August but have not received any checks.
Under the welfare law, Federal benefits to millions of recipients were to end this August. But the cutoff has been delayed until October, and the budget bill now moving through Congress is likely to restore the benefits. Nonetheless, Paul A. Crotty, the city's Corporation Counsel, said the city would appeal Judge Kaplan's decision.
"The bottom line is, they will be left penniless by this decision," said Scott A. Rosenberg, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society. "We hope that Congress sees that making elderly and/or disabled people penniless is not only foolish public policy, but also life threatening. I would hope Congress would look at this and say, 'That is not what we intended.' "
Judge Kaplan's 53-page ruling focused on Section 402 of the welfare law, which disqualifies legal aliens from receiving Federal Supplemental Security benefits and food stamps. Judge Kaplan called those persons "guests in our nation" who had "succumbed to poverty, age and disability."
The city and a coalition of nonprofit legal groups had sought to preserve benefits for about 100,000 elderly and disabled legal immigrants in the city and the two states. They stand to lose their Supplemental Security Income benefits, the city argued, and could become "destitute and homeless" unless the city pays for their care.
"The impact of this legislation" on resident aliens, Judge Kaplan acknowledged, "will be severe." He noted that the 1997 Federal welfare benefit was $484 a month, with supplements from New York State bringing the total to $570 -- "still a figure far below the current poverty level of $657.50 per month," he wrote.
Because noncitizens might be eligible for some benefits under city-run home relief or Aid to Dependent Children programs, Judge Kaplan said, "the financial burden that will be shifted to the city is substantial."
But the judge said that the Social Security Administration was wrong to deny benefits that accrued to legal resident aliens who applied for them before the President signed the welfare bill.
Mr. Crotty estimated that that element of the judge's ruling covered about 10,000 noncitizen aliens in New York City and the two states. And the director of the nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group, one of the organizations that was joined by the Giuliani administration in the series of lawsuits that led to Judge Kaplan's ruling, said that they could look forward to retroactive checks, though if the benefits are indeed stopped nationwide, they will receive no further payments.
"From the poor people's standpoint, this is an important first step in overturning the mistake that Congress made in August of '96," when it passed the welfare bill, said the director, Yisroel Schulman. "The court is clearly sending a message that there are parts of this where Congress needs to rethink its logic."
One of the issues in the fight over the budget bill is whether immigrants who are in the United States legally and become disabled in the future could qualify for Supplemental Security Income benefits. President Clinton wants such a safety net; the Senate bill would provide it, but House Republicans rejected that idea earlier in the week.
In the case before Judge Kaplan, the city had argued that cutting off benefits to legal resident aliens was not what Congress intended, unless doing so encouraged self-sufficiency among immigrants and discouraged foreigners from entering the country in search of cash benefits.
      

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July 26, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Flake May Leave the Congress For an Expanded Church Role

BYLINE: By JONATHAN P. HICKS 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 25; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 825 words

Representative Floyd H. Flake, an 11-year incumbent who also leads a sprawling congregation in Queens, said yesterday that he was considering retiring from Congress at the end of his current term to devote more attention to the church he has been pastor of for 21 years.
While Mr. Flake, a 52-year-old Democrat, said in an interview that he planned to make a decision within the next two weeks, several people who are close to him said that he had decided not to seek a seventh term in Congress, and that he would announce his decicion to his congregation next week. 
 Rumors of Mr. Flake's deliberations have traveled in political circles in Queens for several months as some thought that the Congressman might seek the position of bishop in the Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica, Queens. And although he declined to seek that post, that has not stopped several Democratic politicians from discussing a possible run for his seat in the 1998 Congressional elections.
The name mentioned most prominently by Queens Democrats is Gregory W. Meeks, 43, a state assemblyman with close ties to Mr. Flake who is also the chairman of the state Council of Black Elected Democrats. Another is State Assemblywoman Barbara M. Clark, 58, who has been in office since 1987 and has already begun discussing fund-raising strategies, several political officials said. Also, State Senator Alton R. Waldon Jr., 60, is said to be interested in the seat.
Archie Spigner, one of the City Council's most senior members, is also mentioned as a possible contender. Mr. Spigner yesterday described the idea of a Congressional race as "a rather stimulating concept," but declined to discuss the matter further. Mr. Meeks and Mr. Waldon were traveling yesterday and could not be reached, their staff members said. Ms. Clark did not respond to telephone messages.
Mr. Flake said he was considering leaving Congress because his duties to the Allen A.M.E. Church will expand with the opening of a $23 million, 2,500-seat cathedral. "I have a certain standard in terms of attending to my Congressional and church responsibilities," Mr. Flake said. "And I'm not certain I could really keep pace."
A Democrat who has leveraged his political power with Republicans to gain economic clout for his church in southeast Queens, Mr. Flake has developed a formidable social-service and economic empire at Allen A.M.E. that many suggest far outpaces the one established a generation earlier by Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in Harlem.
Under the pastorship of Mr. Flake, who was once a Xerox Corporation market analyst, Allen A.M.E. has established an elementary school for about 500 students, a 300-unit senior citizens complex, a bus chartering corporation and a community center that operates a health clinic and a Head Start program. The church's development corporation has also purchased commercial storefronts.
Mr. Flake said that he did not wish to discuss any potential successor. "The seat is not vacant and, God knows, it may not be," he said. The Sixth Congressional District includes most of southeastern Queens, and includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, St. Albans, Cambria Heights, Laurelton and South Ozone Park. It also includes the western portion of the Rockaway peninsula.
The new Allen Cathedral, which will have its first worship services on Sunday, will be the second-largest predominantly African-American church in New York City, after the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn.
Mr. Flake is known as an independent Democrat. He has decided not to join with the Queens Democratic organization, which has endorsed the mayoral candidacy of Ruth W. Messinger, the Manhattan Borough President. Mr. Flake said yesterday that he would not make a mayoral endorsement this year. "I feel favorably disposed to the positive things that have happened to New York in the last three years," he said, adding that his words should not be construed as an endorsement of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. "But if the economy is up and crime is down, it's difficult to fight against the things you have fought for all of your life."
Mr. Flake has sometimes run into difficulties during his stewardship. In 1990, after a former church secretary's testimony to a grand jury in Brooklyn accused Mr. Flake of financial improprieties, Federal prosecutors charged the Congressman and his wife, Margarett Elaine, with not reporting $177,578 in income from the church and dodging Federal income taxes. The following year, three weeks into the trial, prosecutors, their approach derailed by an early ruling by the judge, dropped the charges against the Flakes.
But later in 1991, the Justice Department brought a civil suit against Mr. Flake, accusing him of improperly using Federal housing funds to build a portion of the church school. In a settlement in 1994, Mr. Flake and his church agreed to repay the $500,000 with interest but admitted no wrongdoing.

LOAD-DATE: July 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Representative Floyd H. Flake, at pulpit of Allen A.M.E. Church. (William Lopez/The New York Times)

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July 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

If You're Thinking of Living In/East Meadow, L.I.;
Where Rarely Is Heard the 'Nimby' Word

BYLINE: By VIVIEN KELLERMAN 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 3; Column 2; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1532 words

RESIDENTS of East Meadow work hard for their community. Among their accomplishments have been the forming of a volunteer civilian patrol to keep crime at bay, the turning of an ordinary sump into a bird sanctuary and aid for two families whose children were killed in a bus crash.
Some years ago, when it became apparent that there was not enough housing for elderly people with limited incomes, local groups help create almost 1,000 units. 
 "We never say, 'Not in our backyard,' " said Norma Gonsalves, president of the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations, a coalition of 34 local groups.
Indeed, with a Nassau County park, jail, medical facility and children's shelter, plus Federal military housing all on East Meadow soil and all draining much needed tax money from the local school district, residents could justifiably throw up their hands and say, "No more."
Instead, Ms. Gonsalves said, East Meadow residents take pride in their community's low crime rate, abundant shopping as well as accessibility to major parkways and a school district that keeps its tax rate down while providing excellent education.
"We don't look at what we don't have," Ms. Gonsalves said. "We focus instead on what we do have. And what we have is a community that cares."
Raymond McCloat, Superintendent of the East Meadow School District, said it had controlled spending by keeping administrative costs to a minimum. "We have to keep the per-pupil expenditure down in order to allow us to continue our programs," he said.
Among those programs are courses in advanced science research, pre-engineering, advanced computer language and law, the latter beginning in grade nine and ending with an internship in a legal office or government-related community service in the high school. A program for the gifted and talented begins in grade three and continues with honors programs in middle and high school.
And to address the needs of the students at risk of falling behind, next year the district will introduce an intensive reading program for them.
With an enrollment of 7,800, East Meadow is the largest public school district in Nassua County. It serves all of East Meadow and small parts of both Westbury and Levittown.
It has five elementary schools for kindergarten through fifth grade, two middle schools and one high school, which in 1996 sent 86 percent of its graduates on to higher education.
At its peak in 1968, the district had 18,000 students. In the next two decades, enrollment declined, but it is rising once again.  Since 1992, 500 students have been added to the district, with 700 more anticipated in the next five years.
Although over the years the district has closed three of its buildings and now leases one to the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Dr. McCloat said he did not anticipate a problem. "There'll be a few bumps along the way," he said. "But we won't need to do major work."
A WIDE variety of housing is available for newcomers with children as well as others. Richard Krug, manager of Coldwell Banker Sammis Realty in East Meadow, said that prices for single-family homes ranged from $130,000 to more than $300,000 for newer custom homes or those extensively renovated.
With little land left to develop, there are not too many newer homes. Most were built in the 50's and 60's. Barnum Woods is one of the most desirable areas. Prices there begin around $160,000 and go up to about $300,000.
Rental apartments in East Meadow are scarce, with only 90 units in two buildings.  Two-bedroom apartments rent for $750 a month, and three-bedroom units rent for $1,200.
Meadowlanes Estates is an 87-unit, two- and three-bedroom town-house co-op. Prices for a two-bedroom go for about $140,000 while three-bedroom units sell for $180,000.  There are also two condominiums with a total of 93 units. Prices range from $70,000 for a studio to $160,000 for a three-bedroom duplex with a basement and a garage.
Most of the rental and co-op apartments, nearly 1,000 units, have been reserved for those at least 62 years old. There are two co-op complexes for this age group, with a total of 678 units, with 102 more to be added at the Knolls on Salisbury Drive later this year.
Maximum income guidelines for these units is $40,000 for a couple and $25,000 for a single. There are also 100 rental units subsidized by the Town of Hempstead. Maximum income levels for these apartments are $26,600 for a couple and $23,300 for a single.
An indication of the strength of the real estate market in East Meadow, Mr. Krug said, is that the average length of time a house stays on the market has declined to 90 days this year from 103 days in 1996.
"Interest rates are good and there seems to be a good feeling about the economy," Mr. Krug said. "While there are a lot of houses on the market, they are also selling."
After deciding to move out of their Queens Village home, Dr. Harold Claude and his wife, Rose, spent nine months looking for a house on Long Island. A friend recommended East Meadow and the couple, with their three children, -- Harold Jr., 10, Larissa, 5, and Caroline, 3 -- searched the area. Last September the family moved into three-bedroom modified ranch across the street from a park.
Dr. Claude, a pulmonary specialist, works in Manhattan, about a one-hour drive away.  Mrs. Claude, 42, is a student in respiratory therapy at Malloy College in Rockville Centre, about a 15-minute drive away.
In addition to good schools, Mrs. Claude said the family liked East Meadow because it offered good shopping and neighborhoods safe for children.
For recreation for both children and adults, the community offers Senator Speno Memorial Park and Veterans Memorial Park, with ballfields, playgrounds and a giant pool, available to families for $140 a season. It is also the site of Nassau County's 930-acre Eisenhower Park, which is open year-round.
Among that park's offerings are three 18-hole golf courses and several athletic fields for team sports like baseball, softball, football, soccer, rugby, lacrosse, field hockey and cricket. Some fields are illuminated for night play. There are also 16 tennis courts, three playgrounds, a lake and a special activities center for the elderly. A 50-meter pool is under construction and is expected to be opened in 1998.
The Harry Chapin Lakeside Theater offers free outdoor summer entertainment.  Among the performances scheduled for this summer are ethnic music programs celebrating the music of Italy, Africa, Poland and Hispanic countries, and of American Indians.
Anyone over 13 years of age is required to have a Nassau County Leisure Pass for entry into many recreational facilities. The pass costs $7 a year and can be obtained at many county parks.
SHOPPING in East Meadow is spread out essentially along a seven-mile stretch of Hempstead Turnpike and one mile along East Meadow Avenue. The stores are varied and offer a full array of services. There are at least a dozen restaurants, several supermarkets and larger chain stores.
In 1655, Thomas Langdon reported to the Hempstead Town Meeting that he had surveyed the East Meadow and found it suitable for grazing and watering cattle. He advised that efforts be made to exterminate the wild beasts that preyed on domestic animals and that cowherds be hired to care for the cattle. This was accomplished by 1658, and for the next 200 years, East Meadow, part of the Hempstead Plains, was essentially used as grazing land for cattle and sheep.
Around 1850, a number of large estates and farms began to spring up in East Meadow, continuing until about 1915. The largest of these was the 2,500-acre farm of Sarah Ann and Peter Crosby Barnum.
The early 1920's saw the first real building boom in East Meadow, with real estate organizations bringing in busloads of city dwellers for all-day picnics to promote their properties.
Once development began, there was no holding it back. On April 18, 1955, a record was set when three new 20-room elementary schools were opened simultaneously to 1,450 children -- while painters and electricians continued to work around them.
The Hempstead Town Supervisor, Gregory Peterson, moved into East Meadow in 1950, when he was 5. He remembers new developments springing up among forests and farms. "We used to ride our bikes to the woods," he said.
Except for a one-month stint in an apartment in Hempstead Village, Mr. Peterson has never left East Meadow. In 1971, after marrying Linda Karanfilian, a schoolteacher, the 31-year old assistant district attorney decided to try his hand at politics, and after taking "every nickel we had from the wedding and all our savings," they bought a house "in the same neighborhood where I used to deliver newspapers when I was a kid," Mr. Peterson said.
The couple have lived there ever since, raising three daughters, who all went through the same school system as their father. Mr. Peterson's parents live a block away, while his brother and sister-in-law also live nearby.
"I have really grown to appreciate East Meadow in my adult years," Mr. Peterson said. "It's like a fine wine. It gets a little better all the time."

LOAD-DATE: July 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Homes in Barnum Woods, above, one of East Meadow's most desirable areas. Giant pool in Veterans Park. Family seasonal fee is $140. (Photographs by Eddie Hausner for The New York Times); On the Market: 3-bedroom, 1-bath ranch, fireplace, updated kitchen at 2630 Cypress Avenue, $139,000. 4-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath split-level ranch, 2-car garage, c/a at 126 Bellmore Road, $242,500. 4-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath split-level ranch, fish pond, c/a at 105 Melanie Drive, $325,000.
 
Chart: "GAZETTEER"
 
POPULATION: 35,090 (1996 Lilco estimate).
 
AREA: 6.3 square miles.
 
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $69,659 (1996 census update).
 
MEDIAN PRICE OF A ONE-FAMILY HOUSE: $170,000.
 
TAXES ON MEDIAN HOUSE: $5,303.
 
MEDIAN PRICE A YEAR AGO: $167,500.
 
MEDIAN PRICE 5 YEARS AGO: $150,000.
 
MEDIAN RENT OF A 2-BEDROOM APARTMENT: $750.
 
MEDIAN PRICE OF A 2-BEDROOM CONDOMINIUM: $130,000.
 
MEDIAN PRICE OF A 3-BEDROOM CO-OP: $160,000.
 
PUBLIC-SCHOOL SPENDING PER PUPIL: $10,334.
 
DISTANCE FROM MIDTOWN MANHATTAN: 25 miles.
 
RUSH-HOUR COMMUTATION TO MIDTOWN: Ten minutes to Westbury or Merrick, then 43 minutes by Long Island Rail Road, $7 one-way, $154 monthly.
 
GOVERNMENT: Hempstead Town Supervisor (Gregory R. Peterson, Republican) elected to 2-year term and 6 at-large Council member elected to 4-year terms.
 
CODES: Area, 516: ZIP, 11554.
 
PRIDE DAY: On June 15, about 3,000 East Meadow residents showed up in Speno Memorial Park for the seventh annual Pride Day for three hours of free games, pony rides, food and soft drinks provided and donated by local merchants, residents and business people. There were demonstrations by Boy Scouts, and children planted flowers at the edge of the park spelling out "Pride Day." The event began in 1991, at the height of the recession, when people were losing their jobs, the housing market was declining and when, said Norma Gonsalves, the president of the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations, residents of the community needed something to lift their spirits.
 
Map showing the location of East Meadow, L.I.

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July 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Retirement and the Adjustments in a Couple's Life

BYLINE: By JULIE MILLER 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 1; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1131 words

LOVE one another and seize the day -- that was the advice offered by the writer John Updike in an article in New Choices, a magazine directed toward older people.
Couples who take Mr. Updike's words to heart seem to savor retirement, having weathered the initial adjustment to being constantly together. For some, in fact, the transition from work to retirement seems to take place almost effortlessly. 
 Helen and Roland Johnson of Preston, for example, who have been married for 67 years, breezed into retirement. Mrs. Johnson, now 88, had several different careers and was a grandmother when she graduated from Connecticut College with a major in Far Eastern history. Mr. Johnson, 95, traveled frequently as sales engineer for a manufacturing company. "He was used to my being independent," Mrs. Johnson said. "I always had a mind of my own. He appreciated that."
Mr. Johnson smiles at his wife as though he were discovering her for the first time. "I love her," he said to a visitor at the couple's home. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself without her. She's a darling."
The two were involved in so many interests during their early retirement that they never had a chance to get on each other's nerves, Mrs. Johnson said. They traveled to South America, Asia, India and the Soviet Union. Now, she is busy writing her memoirs while her husband tends his garden.  One of the reasons their marriage has lasted so long is that they don't tell each other everything, Mrs. Johnson explained. "We try not to hurt each other."
Shortly before their 50th anniversary, they attended a wedding, Mrs. Johnson recalled. The minister told the bride and groom that they should never keep things from each other. Later, she said, her husband asked her, "Can you imagine being married 50 years if we told each other everything?"
But according to the experts, it generally takes time and thought to fashion a post-retirement life style that fits the needs of both spouses.
After being distracted for years by work and child rearing, many couples suddenly find themselves adrift in a sea of free time. How successful they are at handling their new situation depends on how skillful they are at taking inventory of their lives and talking through their expectations, said Anne Sharpe, the owner of Geriatric Consulting Service in Norwich.
The relationship has to be renegotiated, added Emily Williams, clinical director of Family Service in New London. "You're pushed to deal with your relationship more than you did when one person was at work full-time," she explained. "You're in each other's presence much more, like it or not. All the good stuff and not so good stuff is going to surface."
Personal space and freedom become important. A woman who has been a homemaker may resent having to share her territory. A man may wonder where his wife is when she is gone during the day. Both people need to adjust.
After they retired nine years ago from Electric Boat Corporation in Groton, Otto and Alice Welper of Norwich, who are in their early 70's, created a schedule that allows periods away from each other as well as plenty of time for doing things together. On the same days each week, Mr. Welper works at a part-time job, and Mrs. Welper serves as a volunteer for various organizations.
"The first three or four years, I was pretty busy doing things around the house," Mr. Welper said, "and we did a lot of traveling. Then I decided I needed something to keep me busy. I got a job delivering flowers three days a week."
The Welpers seldom travel or socialize separately. But when a discussion between them becomes heated, they get away from each other for a while. "Otto and I sail over times like that," Mrs. Welper said. "Keep love alive. That's the best thing."
Men and women handle retirement differently. An especially bitter blow for men is the loss of human connections that often accompanies retirement from a job, according to Allen J. Sheinman, a senior editor for New Choices. For women in the current retirement generation, who rarely took the same fast-track career paths as men, a whole range of social contacts that are not dependent on work exists, Mr. Sheinman noted. They have more invested in family, friends and outside interests, all of which serve them well in retirement.
Louise and David Thompson of Norwich, who are in their 60's, both missed the companionship of their co-workers when they retired at the same time five years ago. They learned new things about each other as they filled the void in different ways. Mrs. Thompson worked in a store for a while and now does volunteer work. Her husband gardens, spends time in his workshop and is active in several sportsmen's clubs.
"Whatever you do, make sure you have days to yourself," Mrs. Thompson said. "One thing we found is that we're individuals."
When Mr. Thompson first retired, he said, he felt he should be getting up in the morning and looking for a job. "It took six months to get over that feeling," he said. "One of the things I missed most was the companionship of the fellows I worked with. We were like a family."
Mr. Thompson said men should be prepared with ways to fill the days when the house is quiet and the phone doesn't ring. "You'd better have a hobby," he advised. "Plan ahead and have a place to occupy yourself."
Couples should be flexible, Ms. Williams said, especially since one spouse may have to take over some duties when the other becomes ill.  Her husband, who retired recently, helps with household chores and errands while she continues working.  "It makes a huge difference," she said. "He is a support to me, so that when we have free time, we have it together. People with rigid roles have more difficulty."
Florence and Eugene Frank of Norwich are among a small number of couples involved in volunteer work together; many more women than men volunteer. The Franks, who enjoy the theater, attend local productions free of charge by volunteering to be ushers. They have also taken courses, in everything from religion to astronomy, at the University of Connecticut and Three Rivers Community-Technical College in Norwich.
The Franks, who retired within six months of each other, said they don't miss work. Mrs. Frank was eager to leave a stressful job with the state Department of Labor. Her husband worked at Electric Boat, where jobs were being cut. "I had seniority," Mr. Frank said. "It wasn't any fun knowing the people I worked with for 30 years would have to be let go. I thought if I left I might save somebody else's job."
Since she left her job, Mrs. Frank said, minor upsets don't bother her the way they used to. She and her husband enjoy each other's sense of humor. "It's important if you can laugh together," she said.

LOAD-DATE: July 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Helen and Roland Johnson of Preston, about to celebrate their 68th anniversary, make it a rule not to tell each other everything. (Susan Harris for The New York Times)

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July 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

INVESTIGATORS SAY A MEDICARE OPTION IS RIFE WITH FRAUD

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1092 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 26

Federal investigators say they have found widespread fraud, overcharges and substandard care in the medical services provided to frail homebound elderly people under Medicare.
The General Accounting Office, an auditing arm of Congress, said that almost any business could be certified as a home health agency, with little or no experience, and that hardly any were expelled from the booming, highly profitable field. The amount of Federal money available for inspections and enforcements has lagged far behind the demand for home health care services, which are immensely popular with Medicare beneficiaries. 
 More than 3.8 million of the 38 million Medicare beneficiaries receive services from 10,000 home health care agencies at a cost to the Federal Government of $19 billion a year. The total number of home health visits financed by Medicare doubled from 1992 to 1996, reaching 280 million last year.
Home health agencies can be initially certified for payment under Medicare even if they are not complying with Federal health and safety standards, the auditors said.
Moreover, "home health agencies repeatedly cited for serious deficiencies are rarely terminated or otherwise penalized," said Leslie G. Aronovitz, an associate director of the General Accounting Office.
In testimony prepared for a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging on Monday, Ms. Aronovitz said that home care agencies cited for violations of Federal standards could avoid expulsion from Medicare merely by submitting "corrective action plans" to Federal or state authorities. In many cases, she said, Medicare inspectors do not revisit the agencies to verify that they actually correct the violations.
Thus, she said, the Government "certifies nearly all home health agencies seeking certification," and "the threat of termination has little, if any, deterrent value." Such terminations, she said, have been "exceptionally rare -- about 0.3 percent of all certified home health agencies in 1996."
Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Committee on Aging, said, "The fraudulent providers are giving the whole home care industry a black eye." Mr. Grassley has led efforts to curtail such abuse.
Val J. Halamandaris, president of the National Association for Home Care, which represents 6,000 home health agencies, agreed with the criticism of how agencies are inspected.
"Everybody and nobody is responsible," Mr. Halamandaris said. "The Federal Government says, 'We're trusting the states.' The states are supposed to do it. But they say they don't have the money to do it."
The General Accounting Office said Medicare officials reviewed few claims to check whether patients were eligible, needed home care or even received the services billed to Medicare. The Government reviewed 60 percent of claims filed 10 years ago, but only 2 percent of those filed last year. The money for such reviews has lagged far behind the increase in the number of claims.
In a separate report, June Gibbs Brown, Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs Medicare, estimated that more than one-third of Medicare payments to home health care agencies in some states were improper or unjustified. Payments were classified as improper if medical records did not show a need for the services provided, if the services were never provided, if they were not covered by Medicare, if the provider's staff members were not licensed or if doctors' signatures were forged.
Details of the reports to be issued on Monday were provided by officials eager to focus attention on the investigation of abuses.
Certification represents Medicare's seal of approval on the services provided by a home health agency. As a condition of receiving Federal money, the agencies are supposed to comply with Federal standards for patients' rights, the training and supervision of home aides, medical records, physical therapy and other services.
In 1987, Congress authorized Medicare officials to impose fines and other penalties short of terminating all payments to an agency. But Ms. Aronovitz said Medicare officials had not developed or imposed such penalties.
In an intensive review of 44 agencies in California, Ms. Aronovitz said, Federal auditors found that nearly three-fourths failed to comply with at least one Federal standard. Most violations were not detected in the "standard survey," which assesses compliance with only half the Federal standards, she said.
"It is simply too easy" for agencies to be certified for Medicare, Ms. Aronovitz said. Federal law does not require the owners to have experience providing health care.
In one case, Ms. Aronovitz said, "an individual with no experience in health care started a Texas home health agency in the pantry of her husband's restaurant." Inspectors found that the company had hired home health aides on the condition that they first recruit patients. The agency was suspected of providing unnecessary services and was cited for violating Federal standards.
The General Accounting Office also made these points:
*The Government certifies about 100 new agencies a month. "Initial certifications frequently occur when agencies have been serving as few as one patient for less than one month." Inspectors "may never see any patients" served by the agencies they certify.
*"Branch offices of home health agencies frequently escape any evaluation." The number of branches has grown fourfold in four years, to 5,500, and some are extremely large. But Medicare inspectors rarely review their operations or visit their patients to assess the care.
*"While many home health agencies are drawn to the Medicare program with the intent of providing quality care, some are drawn because of the relative ease with which they can become certified and participate in this lucrative, growing industry."
A major reason for the increased use of Medicare's home health benefits is that the Government liberalized the rules in 1989 to cover more frequent visits.
Mr. Halamandaris of the home care association said there had been "a collision of values" between older companies and new ones drawn to the business by "the notion of making huge profits."
Ms. Brown, the Inspector General, said proprietary for-profit agencies were quite likely to bill Medicare for more visits and more services than nonprofit agencies did. But, she said, the data did not suggest that the patients who received more frequent visits were sicker than those who received fewer visits.

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GRAPHIC: Graph: "Snapshot: Home Health Care Takes Off"
Home health care under Medicare has grown rapidly in the past several years. It now serves 10 percent of all beneficiaries with an average of nearly 80 visits each. Graph tracks the increases in home care visits, people served, and Medicare payments, from 1984 through 1996. (Sources: Prospective Payment Assesment Commission; Department of Health and Human Services)(pg. 14)

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July 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Both Sides Say Accord Is Near On the Budget

BYLINE: By JERRY GRAY 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1015 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 26

With each side speaking encouragingly of progress, White House and Republican negotiators today made a significant push toward an agreement on tax cuts and a balanced budget.
"It's coming together," said an official involved in the budget discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 
 He said the talks had progressed far beyond the rhetoric of the last few days, to the point that Congressional aides had started writing draft legislation on certain issues.
The discussions ended about 6:30 this evening after a full day, and officials said Republican and Democratic staff members would meet on Sunday to work on what they said were small issues. There were no plans for the principals to meet on Sunday.
The Clinton Administration views the negotiations on the tax cut side as a no-lose proposition. [Page 14.]
On Medicare, which is the biggest issue in the budget bill, Administration officials and Congressional leaders said the three most contentious proposals appeared to be off the table, at least temporarily.
Those proposals, approved last month by the Senate, would increase Medicare premiums for the affluent elderly, raise the eligibility age (to 67 from 65) and charge $5 a visit for home health care services.
Senators of both parties have said all three proposals are needed to help keep Medicare solvent for the baby boom generation. And President Clinton said this week that he would support a means test requiring higher premiums for beneficiaries with higher incomes.
But House members of both parties and lobbyists for the elderly have resisted the three proposals, saying they should be referred to an advisory panel that will study Medicare's long-term financial problems.
Gene Sperling, President Clinton's economic policy adviser, said late this afternoon, "A lot of issues have been narrowed on the spending side. But things will not get done tonight."
Senior leaders spent the day shuttling between a series of large meetings and smaller ones -- some on spending, others on tax cuts and still others involving just Republicans and Democrats huddling among themselves to discuss the most recent offers or counteroffers.
Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and Erskine B. Bowles, the White House chief of staff, led the Administration's negotiating team, while the Republican side was anchored by Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Trent Lott, the majority leader, backed by the chairmen of their budget and tax-writing committees.
"There really are very few items that have to be resolved," Representative Bill Archer, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters about midday. "If a couple of major items get resolved on the tax bill, the rest of it will all fall in place rapidly."
The tax question has become the linchpin in the talks and the problem in resolving it is as much philosophical as it is fiscal. A central sticking point is whether working families with incomes of $25,000 a year or less will get any benefits from the proposed tax credits for children.
The Republicans argue that many such families pay little or no income tax, so giving them the child tax credits would be a form of welfare. But Democrats counter that those same people have payroll tax deductions and need relief much more than higher income families.
A shrinking circle of negotiators was among the subtle signs today that the sides were moving toward agreement.
For example, it appeared that Mr. Archer, who has been among the most adamant Republicans in insisting on cuts in capital gains taxes and corporate taxes, might have to fight to protect his role in the final negotiating rounds. Mr. Archer's committee is responsible for all tax legislation in the House and for considerable parts of the spending deal because of its authority over Medicare.
Although he was involved when the talks resumed this morning, Mr. Archer said he did not think he would continue to be involved in the portion of the talks dealing with spending.
Asked by reporters whether he would continue to participate in the tax portion of the talks, Mr. Archer said, "We'll see."
In recent days, each side has spoken optimistically of progress in the negotiations, which are focused on cutting taxes, limiting the growth of Government and balancing the Federal budget by 2002.
"We're close to an agreement with the White House that would accomplish all those goals," Mr. Lott said today in the Republican radio address. "But you know the old saying: 'Close, but no cigar.' Any celebration at this point would definitely be premature."
At an appearance on Friday before the National Association of Elementary School Principals in Arlington, Va., President Clinton said: "I think we're going to get this agreement."
The pace of the negotiations is being driven by an effort to have both the budget and tax legislation completed before Congress leaves on Friday for its summer break.
But Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate have argued against making that a deadline.
"There is no artificial deadline," "If it takes until September to do it right, let it be September," Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, said on Friday.
The two sides also resumed negotiations today on other vexing issues: welfare, estate taxes, education tax incentives, tobacco taxes and medical savings accounts.
They settled a major issue, disability benefits for legal immigrants, on Friday.
The Republicans agreed to restore disability benefits to legal immigrants who were in the country last August, when the new welfare bill was signed into law.
The Republicans also agreed to continue Medicaid coverage for tens of thousands of children who face losing it, along with disability benefits, under the new welfare law.
Entwined in the rosy talk about progress were some political barbs.
Mr. Lott complained in his radio address: "I have worked with six Administrations, both Democrats and Republicans. This one, let me tell you, is unique. Its public assertions are often fanciful; its private data are often contrived."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Senator Pete V. Domenici, chairman of the Budget Committee, center, spoke with Dick Armey, the House majority leader, in the Speaker's office. Significant progress was reported in yesterday's budget talks. (Erik Freeland/Matrix, for The New York Times)(pg. 1)

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July 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

July 20-26;
Hey! Speaking of Charging For Health Care . . .

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR

SECTION: Section 4; Page 2; Column 4; Week in Review Desk

LENGTH: 150 words

Old people had good reason to follow last week's budget negotiations on Capitol Hill.
First negotiators agreed to changes in Medicare that would offer relief to elderly people who, in recent years, have had to pay a growing share of their bills for hospital outpatient services like cataract surgery and diagnostic tests. 
 Then President Clinton said forcefully that he would support an increase in Medicare premiums for Medicare beneficiaries with incomes above $50,000 a year. The Senate had approved the higher premiums as part of the budget bill, and senators of both parties were pressing House leaders to accept them despite objections by lobbyists for the elderly.
Changes to Medicare, the health insurance program for 38 million people who are elderly or disabled, accounts for most of the savings in the budget bill -- and many of the biggest issues in dispute.   ROBERT PEAR

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July 27, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

FROM THE DESK OF;
A Senior Discount? I Don't Deserve It

BYLINE: By TED M. LEVINE;  Ted M. Levine, age 60-plus, is the founder and chairman of Development Counsellors International in Manhattan. The firm helps cities, states and countries attract business and tourism.

SECTION: Section 3; Page 12; Column 4; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 756 words

A FEW years ago I began getting expensive gifts from people I didn't know.
A generous benefactor paid half the price of my movie theater tickets; I received discounts at hotels and motels around the country, and prestigious universities offered to teach me fascinating courses for free, or almost so. Earlier this year I purchased a round-trip ticket to Charleston, S.C., from New York City at a price 50 percent lower than the going rate. 
 In recent years, the trickle of gifts has grown to a flood of largess that I figure may be worth tens of thousands of dollars to me.
What did I do to deserve all this? Basically, I didn't die.
To be more precise, I lived long enough to qualify for a cornucopia of senior subsidies. Actually, I only had to make it to age 50. So baby boomers, now that you're starting to reach that milestone, take note: There is a 294-page directory especially for you and me titled "Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can't Get Unless You're Over 50" (Contemporary Books). The book details senior discounts offered by hotels, motels, airlines and even universities. You'll also find resorts where you can ski for half price.
"Deals" also explains why I am entitled to these things: "You deserve them, having successfully negotiated your way through life's white waters."
Well, call me a grizzled grinch but I don't buy it. I have to say that the trend toward giving goodies to golden-agers is insulting, and terrible public policy.
Some decades ago, it was different. The over-60 crowd was among America's poorest citizens. But now Social Security, pensions, financial planning and parsimony are changing that. Consider these statistics:
* In 1970, almost one-fourth of all Americans aged 65 and over were living below the poverty line, the Census showed. By 1995, that figure had plunged to 10.5 percent.
* The net worth of older Americans is pulling farther ahead of the net worth of younger people in some of their prime years of earning power. The latest figures from a survey issued every three years by the Federal Reserve showed that in 1995, the average net worth of Americans aged 65 to 74 was $331,600, compared with $308,300 in 1992. The net worth of those aged 35 to 44, meanwhile, remained virtually unchanged, at just over $144,000.
No, seniors don't need cheap movie seats or even free vacations. But I'd go a step further: Many of us don't even want them.
We not only know we own more, spend more, travel more and vote more than any other age group, but we're also proud of it.  And being crudely seduced into the market with half-price off-peak train tickets or nominally discounted rental cars tends to stick in some of our collective craws.
Having grown up reading "Self-Reliance," by Ralph Waldo Emerson, I wonder what we have done to deserve all this commercial generosity. Somehow, not dying doesn't seem a sufficient justification.
Ah, but I hear a voice explaining that while carloads of senior loot may not be good public policy, it is good commercial policy. Companies are, it is argued, making billions of extra dollars by luring the over-the-hill gang to buy, buy, buy what they might not without the discount incentive.
That argument may have been true at one time, but it isn't now and it certainly won't be in the future.
The 65-plus contingent is the fastest-growing age category. Lester Thurow, the economist, has called this group the "revolutionary class" and has cited numbers to show its increasing weight: The group represented only 4 percent of the American population in 1900. Today, it's 13 percent, and by 2025, it is expected to be a stunning 20 percent. In that year, there will be an estimated 75 million people aged 65 and over. And we can expect that, having been a group of relatively high-income earners, they will remain among the richest in retirement.
IT is brainless to offer so many discounts to so many relatively wealthy people.  Like other subsidies, these gifts will turn around and bite the first commercial subsidizers. Subsidies may be O.K. when offered to a few people, but anyone who starts subsidizing a large group will ultimately have to charge everyone else more. In the end, the under-65 consumer -- that is, a lot of you -- will be penalized.
Now let's get back to me. Don't I enjoy a little thrill in paying half the price of the folks on line at my local movie theater?
The answer is yes. But I'd get an even bigger thrill from letting everyone know I was paying my own way.

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July 28, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING;
Pharmacy System Restored

BYLINE: By NOAM COHEN

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 187 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

A computer system that reimburses New Jersey pharmacists for prescription sales was back on line late Saturday after it was shut down for the third time this month, The Associated Press reported.
Technicians from the Unisys Corporation, in Bluebell, Pa., which maintains the system, have not yet identified the cause of the 12-hour shutdown, said Laurie Facciarossa, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Human Services. 
 Officials said they believe the breakdown over the weekend could be related to earlier difficulties, including problems with an electrical transformer that knocked out service for six days earlier this month.
About 2,000 pharmacists use the system, which provides information about Medicaid and Pharmacy Assistance programs for the elderly and disabled. It verifies medical prescriptions, checks for potentially harmful drug interactions and handles billing.
With the breakdown in the computer system, pharmacists had to check eligibility through the beneficiary's identification card or by calling a toll-free phone number that provides the latest information, Ms. Facciarossa said.

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July 29, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

A Money Trap Leaves 'Irish Houdini' No Escape

BYLINE: By JAMES F. CLARITY 

SECTION: Section A; Page 4; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 900 words

DATELINE: DUBLIN, July 28

To the millions of Irish men and women who made him Prime Minister three times, Charles J. Haughey was The Boss, an intelligent and benevolent ruler with a tight smile for his friends, a steely blue-eyed glance for his enemies.
He gave old people free passes on the trains, exempted creative writers from taxes and straightened out the country's muddled finances. It did not matter if he seemed to live well above the income he earned in 30 years in public office. 
 To his enemies, he was cunning, conniving, imperious, a closet supporter of the Irish Republican Army. Privately, they said, his way of life -- a large mansion north of Dublin, a private island off the west coast, race horses, a seagoing yacht -- was evidence that he had become a multimillionaire by using his office for personal gain.
Mr. Haughey (pronounced HAW-hee) denied charges that he had accepted about $2 million from a department store chief executive. It came as a national shock, therefore, when he admitted recently that he had indeed taken the money. Now the political fallout from that admission could cause problems for his party.
His detractors, with chagrin, called him the Irish Houdini. But Mr. Haughey, 71 and retired since 1992, found himself in a trap with no way out when he agreed with the accuracy of evidence produced by a special tribunal looking into his financial ties to Ben Dunne, head of Dunnes, the country's largest department store chain.
Among Mr. Haughey's enemies were many of the country's most prominent journalists, but the evidence was not dug up by reporters. It surfaced in court papers involving the Dunne family's successful attempt to oust Ben Dunne.
Although his old friends have been virtually silent about Mr. Haughey's admission, it produced unrestrained gloating among his enemies, since the scandal is expected to affect national politics and the future of Fianna Fail, the party that took control of the Government in a national election last month.
The new Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, a former protege and ally of Mr. Haughey, said the admission was "tragic and deplorable." He is under pressure to set up a new investigation of his former boss once the current tribunal issues its final report on accusations that Dunnes gave $5 million to members of Parliament.
The tribunal ended its hearings last week, and its head, Justice Brian McCracken, is expected to issue a report in September. He has the option of referring information to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution.
A new investigation, focusing on other money Mr. Haughey may have accepted from private businessmen, would probably embarrass his party in the presidential election in November. Voters, analysts say, could express their anger at Fianna Fail by choosing a candidate of the second-largest party, Fine Gael.
In the days after Mr. Haughey's admission, during which he said that he did not consider his way of living lavish and that he did no favors for the money, Ireland re-examined his career and tried to determine what his fall meant.
In a sense, the scandal was a coming of age in a country that has had to satisfy its appetite for skulduggery by devouring reports of political malfeasance from Britain and the United States.
Many Irish people, none of them elected officials, still supported The Boss, especially in highly popular call-in radio programs. Frankie, a caller to the national radio show "Liveline," said: "They've been trying to get him for years, and now they're enjoying every minute of it. He's done more for the country than any of them in there now."
The begrudgers, as the Irish often call each other, got what they wanted when Mr. Haughey testified for two hours before the tribunal in Dublin Castle, the ancient seat of British colonial power where, as Prime Minister, he had regularly entertained world leaders at state receptions in the 1980's and early 1990's.
By then he had made a remarkable political comeback after his career was halted in 1970 when he was tried on charges of conspiracy to send arms illegally to Roman Catholics involved in the sectarian violence in the North. He was acquitted after his lawyers argued that while arms trafficking was illegal, it was at the time the policy of Ireland to help Catholics in the North. Within 10 years he was back in Government as a minister.
Referring to his earlier denial that he had taken Dunnes money, Mr. Haughey, an accountant by profession, said that a friend handled all of his financial affairs and that he did not pay attention to the details.
He also said, "I apologize to you, Mr. Chairman, the tribunal team and to all concerned, but wish to emphasize that this serious lapse in the management of my personal affairs did not in any way affect the discharge of my public duty when in office."
Under questioning by a tribunal counsel, he said: "I didn't have a lavish life style. My work was my life style, and when I was in office I worked every day. There was no room for any sort of an extravagant life style. I'd just like to make that point."
But he offered no explanation of how he accumulated wealth, nor was he questioned on this. Opposition politicians are pressing for a new inquiry to dig into how the Dunnes money paid to Mr. Haughey wound up in an account that transferred some $50 million from a bank in the Cayman Islands to one in Dublin.

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Charles Haughey, the former Prime Minister of Ireland, is in hot water over a $2 million gift. He had been accused of living beyond his official means in a mansion near Dublin. In 1995, he held a tea party at the house. (Eamonn Farrell/Photocall)

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July 29, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Closest to Their Hearts

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 939 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 28

President Clinton got his way on many of the big disputes over Federal spending, while Congressional Republicans prevailed on the tax issues about which they care most deeply.
That appears to be the secret of the success announced tonight by budget and tax negotiators from the White House and Capitol Hill. 
 Mr. Clinton got large amounts of money for children's health insurance, welfare and other domestic programs.
Republicans got a $500-a-child tax credit, the heart of their 1994 Contract With America, while making concessions to the White House to guarantee that families with lower incomes would share the benefits of such credits.
Republicans got a deeper cut in capital gains taxes than they expected. They got a bigger cut in estate taxes than Mr. Clinton wanted to give them. And they won new authority for elderly people to establish "medical savings accounts" instead of the standard Medicare program.
Many elements of the deal, most notably the commitment to a balanced budget by 2002, were conceived and initially pushed by the Republicans. But the ultimate articulation of those ideas owes much to the pressure applied by White House negotiators, who pushed Republicans to the left.
Since the framework for a budget agreement was announced on May 2, Franklin D. Raines, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin inundated Congress with letters commenting critically on every detail of the Republicans' budget and tax bills.
White House officials said they were surprised at some of their victories in the negotiations. And they had good reason to be surprised.
In his February budget, Mr. Clinton requested $15 billion over the next five years to provide health insurance for children and jobless workers. Congressional leaders agreed today to provide $24 billion, as the Senate wanted, rather than $16 billion, as the House proposed.
The new money represents the biggest new Federal investment in children's health care since the creation of Medicaid in 1965.
On two tax issues, Mr. Clinton prevailed. He persuaded the Republicans to provide more than $35 billion in tax credits and other tax breaks for college students over the next five years.
The Republicans also were persuaded to accept a big increase in cigarette taxes to help finance children's health insurance. The increase is less than Mr. Clinton wanted, but far more than political insiders had predicted in March, when Senators Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, and Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, began their crusade for a new children's health program.
When Mr. Clinton announced on July 31, 1996, that he would sign the Republicans' welfare bill, reversing six decades of social welfare policy, few expected him to succeed in restoring disability benefits to legal immigrants. From that day until April of this year, the President's efforts seemed to have little chance of success; Republicans said they would not do anything to reopen or undermine the 1996 law.
But in the last few days, Republicans bowed to the White House and agreed to restore benefits to a larger group of legal immigrants than the President or Congress had proposed. The compromise restores benefits to noncitizens who were receiving Supplemental Security Income last August, and to those who were here then and become disabled later.
The cost of restoring these benefits, estimated at $11.4 billion over five years, is nearly half of all the savings that was to have been achieved by restricting benefits for immigrants under the 1996 law.
Mr. Clinton also persuaded the Republicans to continue Medicaid coverage for children who lose disability benefits under the 1996 welfare law. Without such dispensation, many children would have lost Medicaid along with their disability benefits.
The measure of Mr. Clinton's success can be gauged from comments by two observers at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Senator Kennedy, a liberal Democrat, said the budget deal was "a landmark achievement for children's health." Robert Rector, a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the bill's provisions on welfare represented "a decisive liberal victory."
Mr. Rector said "the Republicans appear to have capitulated on almost every welfare issue," including Mr. Clinton's demand that local governments pay the minimum wage to welfare recipients in community service and workfare programs.
Republicans and Democrats forged a consensus on Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for 38 million people who are elderly or disabled. They agreed to cut payments to hospitals and other health care providers, and they approved some financial legerdemain to keep Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund solvent for six years beyond its projected bankruptcy in 2001.
The budget deal incorporates many of the changes in Medicare proposed by Republicans in the Balanced Budget Act of 1995, which Mr. Clinton vetoed. For example, it will create new health insurance options for the elderly, opening the Medicare market to numerous managed care plans. But under pressure from Mr. Clinton, the Republicans dropped several proposals that would have imposed substantial new costs on Medicare beneficiaries.
Over strenuous objections by Mr. Clinton, House and Senate negotiators decided to let 390,000 Medicare recipients establish medical savings accounts. The President says such accounts will appeal mainly to elderly people who are healthy and wealthy. But Republicans say the accounts will make elderly people cost-conscious buyers of health care.

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TYPE: News Analysis

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July 30, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

THE BUDGET DEAL: Details of Some Provisions Covering Children, Health, and Welfare -- MEDICARE;
New Options Include Shift Into Preventive Benefits, and Slightly Higher Costs

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 17; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 687 words

The budget agreement would make vast changes in Medicare, offering new health insurance options to the elderly, broadening coverage of preventive services and creating strong new financial incentives for managed care companies to serve people in rural areas.
Beneficiaries would pay slightly higher costs, but not nearly as much as they would have been required to pay under the budget bill that President Clinton vetoed in December 1995. 
 The new budget bill would establish seven new Medicare benefits to cover the costs of preventive health care services, including mammography, Pap smears and screening for colon cancer, prostate cancer and osteoporosis.
The budget bill would also pay for training and education to help people with diabetes care for themselves, as Speaker Newt Gingrich proposed.
These preventive benefits represent a major new emphasis for Medicare.
The budget agreement would increase payments to health maintenance organizations caring for Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas, where the payments have been too low to attract many H.M.O.'s.
Elderly people have been clamoring for such health plans because health maintenance organizations often cover prescription drugs, eyeglasses, hearing aids, basic dental care and other items not covered by the standard Medicare program.
The budget agreement would slow the growth of Medicare payments to H.M.O.'s in high-cost areas like New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. But the basic payment to health plans in these high-cost areas would still grow at least 2 percent a year, lawmakers said.
Other new options for Medicare beneficiaries would include "medical savings accounts" and private health plans owned and operated by doctors and hospitals, rather than by insurance companies.
This year's bill differs from the one vetoed in 1995 in several respects. It would not establish an overall limit on Medicare spending, for example.
Nor would it provide the beneficiary with a fixed amount of Federal money in the form of a voucher. And it would not automatically cut payments to doctors and hospitals if the cost of Medicare's conventional fee-for-service program exceeded goals set by Congress.
Robert D. Reischauer, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said: "Much of what was in the 1995 bill is also in this new bill, in a moderate form. The cuts in Medicare have been scaled back."
But he added, "You don't need such Draconian cuts" to keep Medicare solvent now because inflation and the growth of Medicare have slowed.
This year's Medicare package was developed with bipartisan cooperation; the 1995 proposals were written entirely by Republicans.
Still, Representative Pete Stark of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said yesterday that he could not support the final version of the Medicare changes.
"Much of this Medicare bill seeks to promote managed care and to encourage the great mass of beneficiaries to join managed care plans, while letting the richest doctors and patients in our society avoid the inconveniences of managed care," Mr. Stark said.
In their final agreement, the budget negotiators killed proposals made by the Senate to increase Medicare premiums for higher-income beneficiaries, to raise the eligibility age for Medicare and to impose a new charge of $5 a visit for home health care services.
But the bill would create a 17-member Federal advisory commission to suggest how Medicare can avoid a financial crisis when baby boomers become eligible for the program after 2010.
Horace B. Deets, executive director of the American Association of Retired Persons, said the Medicare package unveiled this week was "a victory for all Americans and takes Medicare into the 21st century."
But Senator Phil Gramm, Republican of Texas, said: "I am profoundly disappointed that we have failed to reform Medicare. What passes for reform in this budget deal is taking the fastest-growing part of Medicare -- home health care -- out of the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and financing it with general tax revenues."   ROBERT PEAR

LOAD-DATE: July 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Illustration
 
Chart: "MEDICARE"
The proposal would provide $4 billion over five years for preventive health care services, a new emphasis for Medicare, including:
 
Mammograms
Pap smears
Screening for colon cancer, prostate cancer and osteoporosis
Education for diabetics on self-testing and preventive treatment

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July 30, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

THE BUDGET DEAL: THE OVERVIEW;
Clinton and G.O.P. Cheer Plan to Balance Budget

BYLINE: By ALISON MITCHELL 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1294 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, July 29

President Clinton and the Republican leaders of Congress jubilantly -- but separately -- celebrated today their long-sought agreement on a plan to balance the Federal budget after decades of deficit spending and to provide the first Federal tax cut in 16 years.
"We have put America's fiscal house in order again," an ebullient President Clinton proclaimed on the south lawn of the White House where he was surrounded by about 100 Democrats from the House and Senate. Grinning and giving the Democrats a thumbs-up sign, he called the deal "an historic agreement that will benefit generations of Americans." 
 In their own news conference on the steps of the Capitol, Republicans called the agreement the culmination of their quest to reduce the size and power of the Federal Government. They posed with children as red, white and blue balloons floated from the banisters.
"Today we celebrate the beginning of a new era of freedom," said Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader. He said the five-year plan would "lead us to less Washington spending, to tax relief for working Americans, to security for our senior citizens and less dependency on the Government."
In fact, the compromise legislation negotiated after two and a half years of often bitter partisan fighting, had signature elements dear to each political party and the separate appearances today allowed each party to put its own political cast on the agreement.
The $94 billion in net tax cuts in the agreement would benefit students and families with children, but would also provide large cuts in the capital gains and inheritance taxes.
The deal also would establish a new $24 billion health care coverage program for as many as five million uninsured children, financed partly through a tobacco tax increase. And the legislation would restore disability benefits for legal immigrants and some money to help welfare recipients find jobs -- two elements that were eliminated last year in a welfare law.
Republican leaders planned to bring the agreement, broken into two separate bills, to the floor immediately in order to pass it by Friday, when Congress is scheduled to leave for a summer recess.
While Representative Richard A. Gephardt, the minority leader was noticeably absent from Mr. Clinton's side and had openly expressed some dissatisfaction with the outcome, the agreement was expected to win majority votes from each party with some liberal Democrats as the most prominent dissenters.
If the booming economy continues to perform as expected, the agreement would insure that the Federal budget deficit would be erased by 2002. It would be the first time since 1969 that the Federal Government would have a balanced budget, leading Mr. Clinton to call the agreement "historic" several times.
Spending over that five-year period would be reduced by about $140 billion under the agreement, with most of the savings coming from the Medicare program of Federal health insurance for the elderly.
While the agreement grants the first Federal tax reduction since 1981, the tax cut package amounts to about three-tenths of 1 percent of the economy. In economic terms, that is far less significant than the tax reduction that Ronald Reagan pushed through Congress at the beginning of his first term.
Though it is a fiscal milestone, the deal is also a political watershed, muddying the sharp distinctions that had existed between the two parties for decades on the issues of taxes and spending.
For Mr. Clinton, the deal was the finale of an ideological journey he began when the Republicans took control of Congress in 1994.
In 1995, he made the Republican call for a balanced budget his own. Now he has made good on the middle-class tax cut he proposed in 1992, but not until after he pushed through a tax increase in 1993, to tackle the deficit.
Along the way, he eventually wrenched most of his party along with him.
No less a liberal than Representative Charles B. Rangel of Manhattan, stood by the President's side today, saying, "So we have now shattered the myth that we, as Democrats, are spending Democrats and taxing Democrats, because we have come forward in support of the President's package."
For the Republicans, the agreement could be said to make good on the fiscal principles of their 1994 campaign manifesto the "Contract with America." They propelled the drive for a balanced budget and originated the call for a $500-per-child tax credit.
"Balancing the budget and cutting taxes are Republican ideas -- make no mistake about that," said Senator William V. Roth, the Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
The agreement also bolsters the position of embattled House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was the first to take the microphone at the Republican news conference to call the pact "a great victory for all Americans."
The tone today was striking in contrast with the acrimony between the parties in 1995, which led to partisan veto fights, a television ad campaign and two Government shutdowns that came back to haunt the Republicans.
But the parties were forced to work together when voters in 1996 sent a mixed message, re-electing a Democratic President and a Republican Congress.
The task of balancing the budget was also made easier than expected by the prosperous economy and the resulting decline in the deficit. Even without the budget agreement, the deficit was expected to fall to $50 billion this year, from the peak of $290 billion in 1992.
Despite widespread talk of bipartisanship today, it was clear from the fact that Democrats and Republicans held separate news conferences that each side was already preparing to try to use the bipartisan agreement to advantage in the 1998 midterm elections.
The Democrats chose to showcase education programs today, ranging from the $35 billion in tax relief for college tuition costs to increases in spending for scholarship grants and literacy programs. "At the heart of this balanced budget," said Mr. Clinton, "is the historic investment in education -- the most significant education funding in more than 30 years."
The President, who tried and failed in 1994 to push through comprehensive health care coverage for all Americans, also highlighted the plan to extend health insurance coverage to as many as five million children.
"We want every child in America to grow up healthy and strong and this investment takes a major step toward that goal," Mr. Clinton said.
The Republicans by contrast put much of the emphasis on the tax cuts.
"We believe that those who work hard and follow the laws," said Senator Pete Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, "ought to pay less taxes and ought to keep more of their money because they can make better decisions than we can."
Mr. Gingrich said the tax reductions would help families "because we believe that parents are more important than bureaucrats in raising children."
Democratic Presidential politics were in the air as well. Mr. Clinton turned the microphone over to Vice President Al Gore, who sounded like he was trying out a campaign theme for 2000. "We are eliminating the deficit, while investing more in our future, and cutting taxes for the middle class," Mr. Gore said. "Promises made, promises kept."
Mr. Gephardt, who is expected to challenge Mr. Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination from the left, opposed the agreement because of its program cuts and tax cuts.
"I had hoped that we could have provided the tax relief to the middle-class working families that Democrats and Republicans alike had promised them," he said.
"Instead, only a quarter of the tax relief goes to people making less than $100,000 a year," Mr. Gephardt said.

LOAD-DATE: July 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Celebrating the budget compromise, from left: Speaker Newt Gingrich, Representative John R. Kasich and Senator Pete V. Domenici, chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees, and Senator Trent Lott. (Associated Press)(pg. 1); House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia helped lead Republican representatives and senators on the steps of the Capitol yesterday in a celebration of the proposed balanced-budget agreement with the White House. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)(pg. A15); Democratic members of Congress, on the South Lawn of the White House, responded yesterday to the President's comments on the budget. (Paul Hosefros/The New York Times)(pg. 15)
      

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July 30, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

BUSINESS DIGEST

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 574 words


Stocks Set Records, With the Dow Up 53
Stocks reached new highs, buoyed by economic reports that pointed toward low inflation and moderate growth. The Dow industrials surged 53.42 points, to 8,174.53.
Financial companies, American Express in particular, and companies that tend to prosper when the economy is doing well, like Caterpillar, were the catalysts. [Page D8.] 

The signs of tame inflation, reported in the Government's Employment Cost Index, helped the bond market continue its rally, with the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond falling to 6.38 percent from 6.40. [D6.]
 
Confidence in the economy fell unexpectedly this month but remained close enough to a 28-year high to suggest that spending might accelerate, a survey showed. [D2.]
 
Clinton and G.O.P. Hail Plan
"We have put America's fiscal house in order again," President Clinton proclaimed of the agreement to balance the Federal budget and to provide the first Federal tax cut in 16 years. Republicans called the agreement the culmination of their quest to reduce the Government. [A1.]
 
Child care credits are the most expensive part of the package. Other items include cuts in capital gains taxes; relief for college students; new rules for I.R.A.'s to make millions more Americans eligible; new Medicare benefits and health insurance options for the elderly; higher airline ticket taxes; lower estate taxes, and an increase in the cigarette tax. [A16.]
 
Change Looms in Airtouch Deal
Airtouch Communications' $5 billion purchase of U S West Media Group's United States wireless business will have to be restructured because Congress would not change the date that an adverse provision of the new tax bill takes effect. [D4.]
 
Pension Fund to Be Taxed
T.I.A.A.-C.R.E.F., the retirement system that serves many of the nation's college professors and administrators, has lost its battle to retain its tax-exempt status. [D4.]
 
Mercury Cougar Gets Another Life
Ford Motor announced plans today to rejuvenate its tired Mercury division by reviving Mercury's oldest nameplate, the Mercury Cougar. [D6.]
 
McDonald's Picks DDB Needham
McDonald's, which has been troubled by sluggish sales, selected the Chicago office of DDB Needham Worldwide as its lead domestic advertising agency, relegating Leo Burnett, which has held that role for 16 years, to secondary status. The blow is yet another in a series of big account losses for Burnett. Advertising. [D7.]
 
Japanese Brokerage Firm Raided
Prosecutors raided the offices of the Yamaichi Securities Company, the latest large Japanese brokerage firm to be suspected of making illegal payoffs to a racketeer. [D2.]
 
Disk Maker in Microsoft Deal
Shares in the disk maker Nimbus CD International rose 14 percent after the company announced that it had signed a contract to become an authorized maker of digital disks for Microsoft. [D2.]
 
Bear Stearns Profit Is Flat
Bear Stearns said its quarterly earnings were almost unchanged, though they were well above analysts' expectations. [D4.]
 
Opposition for Tobacco Deal
David A. Kessler, the former F.D.A. Commissioner, and C. Everett Koop, the former Surgeon General, urged Congress to reject the $368.5 billion legal settlement with the tobacco industry. [B7.]
 
The use of ammonia in cigarettes can dramatically increase the level of nicotine available to smokers, a study found. [B7.]

LOAD-DATE: July 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Chart: "YESTERDAY"
Dow Industrials -- 8,174.53, up 53.42
30-yr. Treasury yield -- 6.38%, down 0.02
The Dollar -- 118.43 yen, up 0.83
 
Graph: "TODAY"
 
New Home Sales
 June figures due at 10 A.M. Eastern.
 Expected: -0.6%

TYPE: Summary

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July 31, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

SENIOR CLASS;
When Older Women Get H.I.V.

BYLINE: By ROBERT W. STOCK 

SECTION: Section C; Page 1; Column 1; Home Desk 

LENGTH: 1704 words

"WHEN I was tested at the health center, the young doctor went into shock," the tiny stylish Manhattan woman said. "I heard him tell someone, 'Oh, no! Not her!' That's how I found out I was H.I.V.' "
She was 67 at the time; she is 73 now, and she has kept her secret from friends and family all that time. She will not allow the use of her name, first or last, and she agreed to an interview only because it could alert other older women to a danger they might never have imagined. 
 Because the efficiency of the immune system declines with age, older people, men as well as women, may be more susceptible to the AIDS virus. And older women may be especially vulnerable because of the thinning of the vaginal wall that accompanies aging and their frequent failure to use condoms.
About 2,500 cases of AIDS among women 60 and over have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control, and the number of new cases has been growing year by year, from 102 in 1986 to 305 last year. Blood transfusions accounted for most AIDS cases among women in that age group a decade ago; now, heterosexual contact leads to 69 percent of them.
"The C.D.C. statistics don't begin to reflect the real numbers among older women," said Marcia G. Ory, a research director with the National Institute on Aging. "Doctors don't expect to see the disease in this group, so they often don't. The women seldom think of having a test for H.I.V. So many of them are not diagnosed or misdiagnosed and are never properly treated. They die and no one ever knows the real reason why."
Nine years ago, distressed by her husband's drinking and verbal abuse, the patient from Manhattan attended a church event and caught the eye of a man in his late 40's. "I had a brief sexual interlude," she said, "three or four times." When she heard that her former lover had died after several hospital stays, she said, "I just knew he was too strong and healthy for that." Her suspicions led her to take the AIDS test.
Over the last decade, there have been several reports of older women who had contracted AIDS from husbands infected by prostitutes, but scientists now believe that female-to-male transmission is relatively rare. Generally, the men have been intravenous drug users or have had male lovers. The Manhattan woman said she had no idea how her former lover had contracted the disease.
So far, her medications have kept her feeling strong -- she walks several miles a day -- and that has helped in hiding her condition from friends and family (her husband died a year before her diagnosis).
"Nobody knows or needs to know as long as I can keep going," she said. "I don't want to put it on people who love me. I don't want the type of comfort they'd give. I'm looking to God."
When she first became infected, she had little or no understanding of the disease. "I was afraid to go on a vacation trip with friends because I thought I might infect them, washing at the same sink," she said. Many older people who shy away from seeking medical advice have all but totally isolated themselves from any human contact for that reason. The Manhattan woman, however, had joined a therapy group for older women who are AIDS patients at Mount Sinai Medical Center -- and the other members convinced her to take the trip.
When the women first come into the therapy group, they talk about their shame and their guilt said Mary Ann Malone, a social worker who leads the sessions. "For example, they worry about the reactions of their grown-up children, who looked up to them as role models. They talk about their symptoms, because you know every new thing makes them wonder if the AIDS is gaining on them. If they forget where they left their keys, they become afraid it's the start of dementia."
"What you have to remember," she said, "is that these are people who were already experiencing the physical and emotional losses of aging. The AIDS losses come on top of that."
At meetings, when the subject of death comes up, however, the members do not talk much about it. "For them, it's a given," Ms. Malone said.
At the North Shore Community Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., dozens of women 60 and over have been treated at the AIDS clinic in the last few years. Twenty of the 170 women now under treatment are elderly.
"We draw on Long Island and Queens, particularly," said Carol Garrett, a psychiatric social worker who has led a therapy group for older AIDS patients there. "The husbands commute, and it's easier for them to have a secret, bisexual life style in Manhattan."
In the case of one 66-year-old patient, who also refused to reveal her first or last name, her husband of 40 years told her he was going to the gym when he arrived home late once a week. That had been going on for 10 years when he became ill; pneumonia was diagnosed and he was hospitalized. He was soon found to have full-blown AIDS. She had it, too.
"I was brought up in a strict home," she said. "I'd only known one mate, and he was a loving, caring person and a good father. This upsetting news was more than I could cope with. It was an immediate death sentence. The group therapy restored my sanity."
In the beginning, she said, she was terrified of dying. "Then I realized there were the medications, and I became more hopeful," she continued. Still, she misses having a partner in her life. "There's that void now," she added, "but I plan to stay away from having another relationship. I'm distrustful, and also, I don't want to do any more damage to my body."
She has told her immediate family but no friends. She finds it difficult enough to mention it to those she must, including doctors and dentists she has known for years. "One of them was very rude about it," she said, and she got the impression she was no longer welcome as a patient.
The members of the therapy group range in age from the 20's to the 60's. "The younger women have outside peer groups they can talk to about sex and divorce and dying," Ms. Garrett said. "They're used to doing that. They're used to talking about sexual encounters. The older ones have nothing like that. They are desperately ashamed that this has happened to them, and they have a hard time even asking questions about it. They don't know the words to use."
"Most of these older women live alone," she said, "and this disease is something they feel they have to keep to themselves and deal with pretty much all on their own."
Another member of the group, a 69-year-old woman who was told she had H.I.V. nine years ago, explained why she does not tell her friends of 40 years about her infection: "I hear the remarks they make about other people, and I don't want to take a chance."
She was tested for AIDS after her husband was told he had the disease.
She said she had "no idea" how he became infected. Her children have been very supportive, she added, but still her life has changed in many ways.
"If I kiss my grandchildren anywhere," she said, "it is on the top of the head."
Older people, men as well as women, may be more vulnerable to the AIDS virus said Dr. William H. Adler, a professor of geriatrics at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and the former chief of clinical immunology at the National Institute on Aging. "We know that the immune-system change diminishes their ability to handle bacteria and viruses," he said, "though we have no specific data as to AIDS."
Moreover, once older people become infected with H.I.V., they tend to deteriorate more rapidly because of the combined effects of other ailments that often come with age. Even the medicines they take to treat those other ailments take their toll, making it more difficult for physicians to find the right AIDS treatment because of potentially dangerous drug interactions.
"We expected the older people to die faster, and they do," said Dr. Amy C. Justice, an AIDS researcher at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Older women have extra strikes against them, Dr. Justice said. The thinning of the vaginal walls and lessened lubrication after menopause increase the likelihood of abrasions, which can open the way to infection.
Because physicians do not expect older women to have AIDS, they are less likely to make an early diagnosis. Symptoms of AIDS, like dementia and pneumonia, mimic those of age-related diseases. Alzheimer's is a common misdiagnosis.
"Early intervention allows time for medical, social and psychological preparation before the real onset of the disease," Dr. Justice said. "Those things are especially important for older women who are widowed or divorced and live alone. They often don't get the chance."
Dr. Marcia Epstein, an infectious-disease specialist who cares for many of the women at the AIDS clinic at North Shore Community Hospital, also emphasized the importance of early diagnosis. "We've had considerable success with older women and advanced medications, including protease inhibitors," she said, "but it's harder to arrest the disease in someone with a more advanced case, partly because they have trouble tolerating these more potent cocktails."
Dr. Epstein says she thinks that more physicians are beginning to test women in their 60's for AIDS -- women who are running fevers or have what seems to be chronic fatigue and might not have been tested a few years ago.
"Older women really have a hard time," Dr. Epstein said. One patient told her that she would sometimes get into her car, roll up the windows, turn on the radio as loud as she could -- and scream. "She was just so overwhelmed, and she couldn't share it with anybody."
Researchers like Ms. Ory of the National Institute on Aging have called for a campaign to bring the risk of AIDS home to older women through programs at senior centers and advertisements that recognize that AIDS is no respecter of age.
The 66-year-old woman in group therapy at North Shore University Hospital would include some other categories besides age. "AIDS doesn't just happen to male homosexuals as some people think," she said. "It doesn't just happen to uneducated people. It doesn't just happen to people who use drugs or people who are single. I used to think, when I first went to the group, I don't belong here. But I did."

LOAD-DATE: July 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Yvonne Buchanan)(pg. C9)      

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August 1, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
ULLMAN, GUIDO

SECTION: Section A; Page 25; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 229 words

ULLMAN-Guido. We mourn the passing of our longtime good friend and associate, Guido Ullman. Guido was always loved and respected by all who knew him. He conducted his business affairs in a highly professional manner and was a good and charming friend who was also a lover and connoisseur of the arts. After retiring from his professional life, Guido devoted much of his time to charitable activities. He was personally and directly involved in helping the elderly and the infirm living in New York. We extend our heartfeld condolences to his wife Annette, his children and his family. Lieber & Solow Ltd.
ULLMAN-Guido David, on July 31 at his home. Beloved father of Anthony and Claudia, husband of Annette, brother of Billie, Monica, Anne, Robert and the late Jacqueline and grandfather of Nicholas. He will be deeply missed by all who loved him. Services today at 9AM at "The Riverside", 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
ULLMAN-Guido. We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and colleague of many years, Guido Ullman, and extend heartfelt sympathy to his widow, Annette, son, Anthony, daughter, Claudia and entire family. The Friends at Solow & Company
ULLMAN-Guido. We deeply mourn the loss of our very good friend, Guido. We will miss him. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Annette, his children and the entire family. Ruth and Joe Dresdner

LOAD-DATE: August 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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August 1, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Fraud and Waste in Medicare

SECTION: Section A; Page 30; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 462 words

The Federal agency that oversees Medicare points to the program's tiny overhead as proof it is well administered. But recent reports suggest that Medicare's administrative costs are shockingly low, below 2 percent of costs, because Medicare is shockingly unsupervised. The amount of fraud and waste is huge, and supervision of the quality of medical care provided recipients is largely nonexistent.
In recent weeks, Federal auditors have estimated that $23 billion in Medicare payments last year -- about one dollar in every seven -- was due to fraud or mistakes. In Medicare's home-health program, which spends about $20 billion a year treating about four million elderly people, fraud and waste account for perhaps 40 percent of expenditures. At 125 teaching hospitals, a yearlong investigation is uncovering Medicare overpayments of hundreds of millions of dollars. Two Philadelphia hospitals have coughed up $40 million in reimbursements and fines, and officials of the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain have been indicted. 
 Some of these gargantuan overpayments reflect outright fraud. Others reflect billing errors and other inadvertent mistakes. The truth is that the Health Care Financing Administration, the Federal oversight agency for Medicare, has neither the financial means nor the ability to tightly supervise the numbingly complex system.
The agency can do very little to oversee the quality of care that Medicare recipients receive. An agency that cannot even check whether the services it paid for were actually provided can hardly be expected to tackle the much harder problem of guaranteeing that the services are medically appropriate. Federal oversight of a $200-billion-a-year program catering to 40 million enrollees will succeed only if the task is radically pruned.
The best solution may be like the one that currently serves members of Congress and other Federal employees. Medicare would provide the elderly with a voucher worth a fixed dollar amount to cover the cost of quality health plans, and the elderly would then choose from among local health plans, including traditional fee-for-service coverage. Federal overseers would collect and publicize information about the quality of rival plans so that Medicare enrollees could make informed choices about their health insurer. The overseers would also provide legal help for Medicare enrollees who believe their health plans failed to live up to their contracts.
Congress intends to start a timid demonstration project along these lines, but the approach should be tried more broadly. Health plans that collect a fixed dollar amount for treating Medicare enrollees will have no reason to overbill Washington for treatments that are inappropriate or dangerous.

LOAD-DATE: August 1, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Editorial

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August 2, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Golden Years for H.M.O.'s;
Budget Deal May Push More Elderly Into Managed Care

BYLINE: By MILT FREUDENHEIM 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 31; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1435 words

Older Americans escaped the costly overhaul of their Medicare benefits that some lawmakers in Congress were seeking in Washington's budget negotiations this week. But like younger people with employer-paid or individual health insurance, the elderly are finding it harder to dodge the pressures to sign up for managed care.
Attracted by coverage for prescription drugs and other expensive features that the Government does not pay for in traditional fee-for-service Medicare, five million elderly and disabled people, almost one in seven, have joined a health maintenance organization, almost all in the last 12 years. 
 Each month, 100,000 more sign up, trading the freedom to choose their doctors and hospitals for the simplicity and lower costs of managed care. And though the proportion of elderly in managed care is far less than the majority of working Americans in such plans, the budget agreement will very likely speed the narrowing of that gap.
It provides for higher payments to H.M.O.'s in rural areas, which will most likely draw more elderly patients into managed health plans, without cutting the generous payments that have allowed urban H.M.O.'s to offer broad coverage.
Patients have the legal right to return to traditional Medicare if they later become unhappy with their health maintenance organizations. But going back is not easy because fee-for-service coverage for the elderly is becoming more costly.
Under the budget agreement, the $43.80 monthly Medicare premium for doctors' care and other nonhospital charges will gradually rise to $105.40 by 2007, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Meanwhile, after four years of shadowing the general inflation rate, premiums for the so-called Medigap policies that supplement traditional Medicare are rising sharply as well.
No one has analyzed the latest rates set by the hundreds of insurance companies that sell Medigap coverage. But last year, the average cost of a basic Medigap policy rose 31.4 percent in Arizona, 32.4 percent in Ohio and 27.2 percent in Virginia, said Lisa Alecxih, who headed a recent study of Medigap plans conducted by the Lewin Group, a research firm in Alexandria, Va., for the Commonwealth Fund.
Not least of the reasons why Medigap rates are skyrocketing is that it is the healthier elderly who are joining health maintenance organizations, leaving a smaller pool of sicker people in the market for Medigap coverage. Moreover, most private carriers and Blue Cross plans now base their Medigap charges on age, so older people pay higher premiums. And even the American Association of Retired Persons, which does not have age-based premiums, raised its prices by 45 percent in the last two years, opening the floodgates to increases by commercial carriers, health finance experts said.
The bottom line is that out-of-pocket spending on health care by the elderly averages more than $2,600 a year, or 21 percent of their income, according to another Commonwealth Fund study.
So while the Clinton Administration says it favors choice for the 38 million people served by Medicare, remaining in -- or returning to -- traditional Medicare is becoming a luxury beyond the reach of many people of modest means, just as working people are being priced out of traditional fee-for-service health care.
"An H.M.O. is the only way I can afford medical care," said Steven Brown, a taxi driver in Venice, Calif., who recently became eligible for Medicare.
Indeed, about five million elderly people enrolled in traditional Medicare are unable to afford any kind of Medigap plan, said Patricia Newman, director of a project on Medicare policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. That leaves them without coverage for the first $736 of annual hospital charges, the first $100 each year of doctors' fees and then 20 percent of all remaining medical charges.
About 12 million people pay out of pocket for Medigap coverage; 9.6 million more retirees have employer-financed Medigap benefits, although many employers have been pushing their retirees, like their active employees, into health maintenance organizations.
Elderly H.M.O. members have told researchers that they prefer managed care because of the lower costs and extra benefits, made possible by lavish Government payments to health plans in cities where Medicare payments are already high.
A survey of 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries by the Sachs Group, a health care information firm, found, for example, that H.M.O. enrollees were more likely to be satisfied than those with traditional Medicare. Moreover, fewer than 100,000 each year have returned to traditional Medicare. The budget agreement would make the move back more difficult starting in 2000 by narrowing the time frame in which the switch could be made without the patient being denied coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.
The H.M.O. recruits are attracted by reduced or no monthly premiums, nominal out-of-pocket fees -- typically $5 or $10 for a visit to a doctor -- and free or low-priced extras such as prescription drugs or eyeglasses. Coverage is especially generous in California, Florida and cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia, where Medicare rates are high, the elderly are numerous and the competition among H.M.O.'s is fierce.
Mimi Schreiber, 67, of Lakewood, Calif., said she had "loved every minute" of her care at Kaiser Permanente, a unit of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals and the biggest health maintenance organization in California. "If I was rich, I could afford a private doctor," she said. "You have to be realistic."
In part, such expressions of satisfaction reflect the ways that health maintenance organizations focus on the elderly population. "The beneficiaries who enroll in H.M.O.'s are systematically younger and healthier than those who don't," said Bruce C. Vladeck, head of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare. The American Association of Health Plans, an H.M.O. trade group, argues that this is not true.
Experts note that health maintenance organizations do not advertise to attract the chronically ill, who only add to their costs. "No health plan says, 'We are really good at arthritis,' " said Stan Jones, a health insurance policy analyst at George Washington University.
In fact, H.M.O. members in several surveys have expressed less satisfaction than other elderly patients when asked about delays in getting care and referrals to specialists.
Stories like that of George Thomas, a 72-year-old retired Navy pilot who lived near San Diego until recently moving to a Los Angeles suburb, fuel their fury.
As a member of a Medicare H.M.O., Mr. Thomas said, he was shuttled among hospitals and nursing homes last year and ultimately was sent home when he complained of fainting spells and intense neck pains. His weight dropped 47 pounds to a skeletal 118 in nine months, and he was too weak to walk.
"He was dying," his daughter, Sharon Cain, said. "His doctor in San Diego threw up his hands and said, 'I don't know what else I can do.' "
Luckily, Superman came to Mr. Thomas's rescue. His grandson, Dean Cain, the actor who played the superhero in ABC's "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," arranged to have Mr. Thomas transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center.
Because FHP International, Mr. Thomas's health plan, refused to approve the move, Mr. Cain said he had to provide a $30,000 cashier's check before U.C.L.A. would admit his grandfather. The Los Angeles doctors diagnosed a dangerous spinal infection that had also damaged Mr. Thomas's heart.
Now, Mr. Thomas is suing FHP, contending that the health plan and its doctors failed "to provide reasonably necessary care" without regard to cost, as required by state and Federal H.M.O. regulations. The suit contends that FHP and the doctors knew that "financial considerations" would "override reasonable patient care needs."
Cheryl Brady, a spokeswoman for Pacificare Health System, which bought FHP in February, said the H.M.O. was "not aware that they had any problems, or an issue over the quality of care or the treatment being provided by the medical group." After the suit was filed, Pacificare recently paid part of the U.C.L.A. hospital bill.
Mr. Thomas, who is back on his feet and feeling stronger, said he would like to return to traditional Medicare. But like many older patients, he said he was unable to find a Medigap insurer that would cover his "existing conditions" -- not to mention the $500 he spends each month for medicine.

LOAD-DATE: August 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: George Thomas, 72, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., is suing his health care provider, contending that it failed to "to provide reasonably necessary care" without regard to cost. H.M.O. doctors failed to diagnose a life-threatening infection, he says; Mimi Schreiber, 67, shown during lunchtime at the Jewish Community Center in Long Beach Calif., said she had "loved every minute" of care at Kaiser Permanente, California's largest health maintenance organization. (Photographs by Edward Carreon for The New York Times)
 
Charts show Medicare managed care enrollment, cost considerations for enrolling, and managed care companies with the largest enrollments. (Sources: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; Interstudy)

TYPE: News Analysis

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August 3, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/Long Island;
Transforming Parish Schools to House the Elderly

BYLINE: By DIANA SHAMAN 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1437 words

UNTIL it closed three years ago because of a falling enrollment, the Roman Catholic kindergarten-through-grade 8 St. Hedwig's School on Depan Avenue in Floral Park had served parish children for almost 70 years.
Now workmen are transforming the three-story brick structure built in 1926 into housing for the elderly. The interior has been gutted, an elevator is being installed and 26 one-bedroom apartments and a studio unit will replace the former school's 12 classrooms, auditorium and gym. 
 Rents, with heat included, will be $650 a month for the one-bedroom units and $525 for the studio. More than 200 names already are on a waiting list, with successful applicants to be chosen by lottery in September.
The sponsor of the $3.88-million project, called St. Hedwig's Gardens, is the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre. Through Catholic Charities, its social services arm, it has become a leading developer in Nassau and Suffolk Counties of rental housing for low- and moderate-income elderly people age 62 or older regardless of religious affiliation.
Since 1979, the diocese has built 892 housing units in nine projects, with the most recent, the 85-unit St. Paul's Gardens in Brentwood, completed last December. Residents also are assisted with a variety of support services.
"We anticipate doing two projects a year at a minimum," said Msgr. John D. Gilmartin, the Catholic Charities diocesan director.
A 10th complex, scheduled to open this December, is Bishop McGann Village, which is under construction in Central Islip.  The $10-million project, which is named after the current bishop of the diocese, the Most Rev. John R. McGann, will have 125 one-bedroom apartments.
St. Hedwig's will be ready for occupancy next February, and several other projects, including the 100-unit St. Anne's Gardens to replace the former St. Anne's parish elementary school in Brentwood, are in the planning stages.
Occupancy in all the residences is limited to people whose annual income is at or below 50 percent of the Long Island median, which means an individual's income cannot exceed $23,300 and a couple's income cannot exceed $26,600.
But in many cases incomes are even lower, said Robert A. Murphy, director of housing at the diocesan office of Catholic Charities.
"Over 16,000 elderly people in Nassau and Suffolk, some spending as much as 70 percent of their income on rent, are in need of this housing," he said.
Some 5,000 names are on waiting lists for diocesan apartments and 852 names are already on an inquiry list for the Central Islip units even though application forms have not yet been sent out. A lottery for the Central Islip apartments is to be held Aug. 18.
With the exception of St. Hedwig's, where a mix of tax credits, state and Federal grants and private mortgage financing is paying the cost of construction, financing for the diocesan projects has until now been provided by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program covering them is Section 202 of the Federal Housing Act of 1959, designed to provide low-cost rental housing for the elderly. A total of 300,000 units have been built nationwide.
Under the Federal program, private nonprofit housing corporations receive funds to cover the full cost of a project. A 40-year mortgage is placed on the property by HUD, but neither interest nor amortization payments are due as long as apartments remain rented to the low-income elderly. At the end of 40 years, the loan is forgiven. The program is combined with subsidies that keep rents at 30 percent of income.
So far, 1,331 units have been completed in Nassau and Suffolk Counties under the 202 program. Almost 70 percent of them were built by the diocese.
HUD'S New York State office received a $39.2 million allocation this year, down from $47.4 million last year. But the Federal low-income housing tax credit program created by the 1986 Tax Reform Act has become another source of funds that the diocese is now utilizing.
Under that program, investors in rental housing built or rehabilitated for low- and moderate-income families purchase tax credits that can be used to reduce their corporate Federal income tax. Developers must compete for the credits, which in New York State are allocated by the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal.
One of last year's beneficiaries was St. Hedwig's Gardens, which received a $1.99 million tax-credit allocation. A $750,000 New York State Housing Trust Fund grant, a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant from Nassau County and a $750,000 mortgage from the Allied Irish Bank in Manhattan were the major sources of funds for the remainder of the $3.88 million cost.
The diocese purchased the Floral Park school from St. Hedwig's Parish, which will use the $500,000 it received to pay off some debts and for the future upkeep of its 94-year-old church and rectory.
"The school will now serve the community in another way," said the Rev. Francis Filmanski, who has been the pastor of St. Hedwig's parish for 23 years. "It will become a safety net for senior citizens who were born and raised in this community and who can't afford to live here any more because of the high taxes."
Indeed, some former students, like 82-year-old Anne Lechmanski, hope to live in their one-time school. Mrs. Lechmanski, a widow whose children and grandchildren all attended the school, said she was finding it hard to stay in her house in Garden City Park. Besides, she said, "I want to take it a little bit easier" and live closer to St. Hedwig's Church, now a daily two-mile walk.
The architect of the renovation is David L. Mammina of Forest Hills, Queens. Architectural details on the front of the school building, including the archways over what used to be two doorways, will be preserved. A landscaped courtyard and parking will replace a small convent building, which has been demolished.
Bishop McGann Village in Central Islip is being built under the 202 program on 7.7 acres that the diocese purchased from the New York Institute of Technology. In 1984, the school, based in Old Westbury, bought most of the land once occupied by the Central Islip State Hospital for use as a college campus. But it has sold off some surplus parcels.
The 125 one-bedroom apartments will be in five buildings, two of them three stories tall with elevators and three of two stories with stairs. A 5,000-square-foot community building will contain common areas for recreation programs, dining space and a medical office. Rents will vary because of the differing income of residents, who will pay no more than 30 percent of their income for the monthly outlay. The project architect, Michael C. Lagnese of the Martin Goodman firm in Plainview, described the buildings as brick colonial style..
CATHOLIC CHARITIES is re-applying this year for $9.7 million in tax credits for the 100-unit project in Brentwood. An earlier tax credit application was turned down, but now the plan is closer to receiving a rezoning from the Town of Islip.
St. Anne's elementary school had space for 1,200 pupils but an enrollment of only 350 when it closed five years ago. It then merged with a nearby parish school in Central Islip.
The former school building is currently rented out for offices, but housing for the elderly is the great need in the community, said the Rev. Gerald Twomey, the co-pastor with the Rev. Thomas St. Pierre of St. Anne's Parish.
"The Township of Islip has the largest percentage of seniors in the United States," Father Twomey said. "Many of the older people would like to stay here, but they can't afford the taxes so they are forced to move away."
The original plan was to use the existing H-shaped building, but that was deemed too costly. Under the present plan, one of the three foundations would be kept and modular components would be used for new construction as cost-saving measures. The proposed Neo-Georgian style buildings are also the design of Mr. Mammina of Forest Hills.
The project would cost a total of $14.7 million, Mr. Murphy of Catholic Charities said. It has already received seed money in the form of a $200,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Town of Islip and a $350,000 Affordable Housing Program Grant awarded by the Federal Home Loan Bank through a member, the Roosevelt Savings Bank.
In addition to the $9.7 million in tax credits, Catholic Charities is applying for a $1.3 million state Housing Trust Fund grant. A $2.8 million mortgage from the Allied Irish Bank will provide the remaining funds needed for the project.

LOAD-DATE: August 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Rendering of St. Anne's Gardens (Richard Osborne). The Rev. Francis Filmanski, pastor of St. Hedwig's Church, at the former school with Robert A. Murphy of Catholic Charities. (Vic Delucia/The New York Times)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



403 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

August 3, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON THE TOWNS

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 12; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 3377 words

An opinionated guide to cultural and recreational goings-on around the state this week. To submit items for consideration, write to On the Towns, Sunday New Jersey Section, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, or send a fax to (212) 556-7219.
 
MUSIC
 
BERGENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL Bergenfield Community Band outdoor summer concert, Thursday at 8 P.M. Free. Front lawn, Bergenfield High School, South Prospect and West Clinton Avenues. Free. Rain site: school auditorium. (201) 387-8847. 

CLUB BENE Fishbone. Wednesday at 7 P.M. Tickets: $14. Fates Warning. Thursday at 7 P.M. Tickets: $10. George Howard, contemporary saxophonist. Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $10. Route 35, Sayreville. (908) 727-3000.
 
CORNERSTONE Randy Johnson Trio. Wednesday, 7:30 to 11:30 P.M. Harry Skoler Quartet. Friday, 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. Mike Hashim Quartet. Saturday, 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. 25 New Street, Metuchen. (908) 549-5306.
 
COUNT BASIE THEATER The Glenn Miller Orchestra. Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. Tickets: $22.50; $3 discount for the elderly. 9 Monmouth Street, Red Bank. (908) 842-9000.
 
FELICIAN THEATER The Oak Ridge Boys. Friday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $20 to $40. Felician College, Lodi. (201) 939-2323.
 
GREAT AUDITORIUM, OCEAN GROVE Fred Swann, organist. Wednesday at 8 P.M. Free. "Big Splash," a youth program of Christian music and fellowship with Helen Baylor and Her All-Star Band, Gary Oliver, and Phillips, Craig and Dean. Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $20 and $24. Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, Ocean Grove. (908) 775-0035.
 
RIDGEWOOD KASSCHAU MEMORIAL SHELL Ramapo Valley Spotlight Chorus. Tuesday at 8:30 P.M. Justa Buncha Banjos. Thursday at 8:30 P.M. Free. Take chairs or blankets. Veteran's Field, Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. (201) 670-3924.
 
THE MANOR "Cabaret Soiree," with Jeff Harnar. Thursday. Dinner seatings at 6:30 and 7 P.M.; showtime, 9 P.M. Tickets: show only, $25; dinner and show package, $65. 111 Prospect Avenue, West Orange. (201) 731-0141.
 
MEMORIAL PARK "An Evening of Operatic Vocal and Instrumental Favorites." David Shapiro, conductor; Melody Alesi, soprano; Kurt Willett, baritone. Tonight at 8:30. Bill Turner and Blue Smoke, country music with Joe Inacio, in a tribute to Elvis Presley. Next Sunday at 8:30 P.M. Free. Take blankets or chairs. Berdan Avenue, Fair Lawn.
(201) 796-6746.
 
NORTH BRANCH PARK Nelson Riddle Orchestra. Tonight at 7. Free. Milltown Road, Bridgewater. (908) 722-1200, extension 232.
 
PNC BANK ARTS CENTER Barry Manilow. Tuesday and Wednesday. Jethro Tull. Thursday. Hall and Oates. Friday. "Reggae Explosion," with Maxi Priest and Shaggy. Saturday. All at 8 P.M. Exit 116 off the Garden State Parkway, Holmdel. Information and ticket prices: (908) 335-0400.
 
SHANGHAI JAZZ Nancy Nelson, singer, and Keith Ingham, guitarist. Wednesday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Patti Dunham, singer, and Gary Haberman, pianist. Thursday, 7 to 9:30 P.M. Vic Juris Trio. Friday 7 to 11 P.M. Steve Minzer Trio. Saturday, 6:30 and 8:30 P.M. Free.
24 Main Street, Madison. (201) 822-2899.
 
SOMERVILLE BOROUGH HALL Outdoor concerts. Fridays through Aug. 29 at 7 P.M. Free. Borough Hall lawn, Main Street.
(908) 704-1010.
 
SUMMERFEST '97 Black Cat Crossing, blues band. Today, 3 to 5:30 P.M. Free. Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 53 East Hanover Avenue, Morris Township. (973) 326-7600.
 
TURNING POINT Jim Dawson with David Walter. Tonight at 7. Tickets: $12.50. Marshall Crenshaw and So-Called Friends. Tuesday at 7:30 and 10 P.M. Tickets: $15. Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas. Wednesday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $15. Ellis Paul. Thursday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10. Big Jim Wheeler and Wheels of Fire. Friday at 9 P.M. Tickets: $12.50. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Saturday at 8 and 11 P.M. Tickets: 17.50. 468 Piermont Avenue, Piermont, N.Y. (914) 359-3219.
 
WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE Westminster Summer Music Theater Workshop presents a showcase concert of musical selections. Today at 3 P.M. at the Playhouse. Hymn sing led by Richard Frey. Tomorrow at 7:30 P.M. Sing-in of Haydn's "Lord Nelson" Mass, led by Melanie Jacobson. Tuesday at 7:30 P.M. Geoffrey Dorfman, pianist. Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. Anthony Strong, pianist, and Joanne Hansen, harpist. Thursday at 7 :30 P.M. All free. Bristol Chapel, Westminster Campus, Princeton. (609) 921-7100.
 
THEATER
 
CAPE MAY STAGE "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," a comic compilation of 37 plays in two hours. Through Aug. 31. Wednesdays through Sundays at 9 P.M. Tickets: $18; $15 for the elderly; $8 for children. Chalfonte Hotel, 301 Howard Street, Cape May. (609) 884-1341.
 
CIRCLE PLAYHOUSE "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," a musical based on "Peanuts" cartoons. Through Aug. 17. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 P.M.; matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $10. 416 Victoria Avenue, Piscataway. (908) 968-7555.
 
DEGNAN PARK Theater Under the Stars. "Oliver!" A musical based on Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist." Through Aug. 23. Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. Free. Take chairs or blankets. Next to West Orange High School, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange. (973) 325-0795.
 
IRON MOUNTAIN STAGE COMPANY "Lend Me a Tenor," by Ken Ludwig. Through Aug. 16. Friday at 8 P.M.; Saturday with dinner at 7 P.M.; next Sunday at 1 P.M. Tickets: $12 to $30. Cupsaw Lake Clubhouse, Cupsaw Drive, Ringwood. (9730 962-9007.
 
WILLIAM MOUNT-BURKE THEATER "The Nerd," a comedy by Larry Shue. Saturday at 8 P.M.; next Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets: $10. Peddie School, South Main Street and Ward Street, in Hightstown. (609) 490-7550.
 
NEW JERSEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL "Blithe Spirit," by Noel Coward. Through Aug. 24. Friday at 8 P.M.; Saturday at 2 and 8 P.M.; Sunday at 2 P.M. At the Community Theater, 100 South Street, Morristown. "Henry V." Today at 2 and 7. On the football field of Bayley-Ellard High School, 205 Madison Avenue, Madison. Single tickets: $16 to $30.Subscription packages: $66 to $125. (201) 408-5600. On the World Wide Web: http://www.
njshakespeare.org.
 
NEXT STAGE Theaterfest '97 presents "Do Not Disturb," directed by Olympia Dukakis. Today at 3 P.M. Tickets: $25; $15 for the elderly; $10 for students. Valley Road, Upper Montclair. (201) 655-5112.
 
PARAMOUNT THEATRE Metro Lyric Opera of New Jersey presents "Aida," conducted by Anton Coppola. Saturday at 8:15 P.M. Tickets: $15 to $40. 40 Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park. (908) 531-2378.
 
PENGUIN REP "The Vows of Penelope Corelli," a new comedy by Richard Vetere. Through Aug. 17. Thursdays and Fridays at 8:30 P.M.; Saturdays at 6 and 9 P.M.; Sundays at 2:30 P.M. Tickets: $20; $18 for the elderly and students. Exit 15 off Palisades Parkway, Stony Point, N.Y. (914) 786-2873.
 
PLAYS-IN-THE-PARK "The Music Man." Tomorrow through Saturday at 8:30 P.M. Tickets: $3; under 12 free. Roosevelt Park Amphitheater, one block south of Menlo Park Mall, Edison. (908) 548-2884.
 
RITZ THEATER "Damn Yankees." Today at 2 P.M.; Wednesday at 7:30 P.M.; Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $12 to $15. 915 White Horse Pike, Oaklyn. (609) 858-5230.
 
SHADOW LAWN SUMMER STAGE Monmouth University presents "Grannia," a Celtic musical drama. Today and next Sunday at 7:30 P.M.; Thursday through Saturday at 8:30 P.M. Tickets: $18 and $15. Lauren K. Woods Theatrer, 400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch. (732) 571-3483.
 
THOMPSON PARK "Fiddler on the Roof." Today and next Sunday at 7 P.M.; Thursday through Saturday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $10 and $12. The Barn, 805 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (732) 842-4000.
 
VILLAGERS THEATER "The Who's 'Tommy.' " Through Aug. 24. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 P.M.; Sundays at 3 P.M. Tickets: $15 and $17. 475 DeMott Lane, Somerset.
(908) 873-2710.
 
MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
 
AMERICAN LABOR MUSEUM "Workers and Immigrants," a student art exhibition. Through Dec. 31. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1 to 4 P.M. Suggested donation: $1.50. Botto House National Landmark, 83 Norwood Street, Haledon. (201) 595-7953.
 
ATLANTIC CITY HISTORICAL MUSEUM "Bettmann on the Boardwalk: A Celebration of Historic Atlantic City, 1890-1990," a selection of photographs from the Corbis-Bettmann Collection. Through Dec. 31. Daily, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Free. Garden Pier, at New Jersey Avenue. (609) 347-5839.
 
BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB GALLERY The 24th annual employee photography exhibition. Through Aug. 12. "Art by Architects." Through Sept. 2. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 9 A.M. to 7 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. Free. Route 206, Lawrenceville, three miles south of Princeton. (609) 252-6275.
 
EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE Watercolors by Robert Sakson. Through Sept. 10. Hours: Monday to Friday 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. Free. Conant Hall, Lounge B, Rosedale Road, Princeton. (609) 921-9000.
 
GALLERY OF AMERICAN CRAFT "Ceramic Vessels," works by 26 clay artists. Through Sept. 1. Daily, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Free. 1501 Glasstown Road, Millville. (609) 825-6800.
 
GALLERY AT SCHERING-PLOUGH "Reflections of Summer," featuring 30 watercolor landscapes and seascapes by 19 artists. Through Aug. 28. Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 1 Giralda Farms, Madison. (201) 882-7000.
 
GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE Summer exhibition of works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Raffael Benazzi, Anthony Caro, Charles Ginnever, Brower Hatcher, Alexander Liberman, Clement Meadmore and George Sugarman. Through Sept. 14. Fridays to Sundays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton Township. (609) 586-0616.
 
HUNTERDON ART CENTER "The Artist Looks at Hunterdon," paintings and drawings of local interest. "Sally Shearer Swenson (1940-1977): A Memorial Exhibition." Both through Sept. 14. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. 7 Lower Center Street, Clinton. (908) 735-8415.
 
JOHNSON AND JOHNSON GALLERY "Ties That Bind," woodworking by Phyllis Rosser. Through Aug. 22. By appointment only. 1 Johnson and Johnson Plaza, New Brunswick. (908) 524-3698.
 
LONG BEACH ISLAND FOUNDATION OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES "Native Perspective: Graphic Art from the Pacific Northwest," ajuried show of crafts and art.Through Aug. 13. Hours: Saturday to Sunday 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Monday to Friday 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Free. 120 Long Beach Drive, Loveladies.
(609) 494-1241.
 
MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM "The Immortal Genius: William Shakespeare, Thomas Nast and 19th-Century American Culture," satirical cartoons by Nast, who used text and imagery of Shakespeare. Through Feb. 4. "Rococo and Reason in Georgian Glass," more than 100 examples of English and Irish cut glass from the 18th and 19th centuries. Through Sept. 7. "The Timeless Folk Art of Decorative Painting." Through Oct. 12. Admission: $3; $2 for students and the elderly. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. 45 Macculloch Avenue, Morristown. (201) 538-2404.
 
HOWARD MANN ART CENTER Works by Alexandra Nechita, an 11-year-old artist. Through next Sundays. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. (609) 397-2300.
 
MIDLAND GALLERY "Out on a Limb." 10 artists submit their interpretations of birdhouses to Habitat for Humanity. Through Aug. 31. 13 Midland Avenue, Montclair. (201) 744-6305.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Transcending the Surface: Contemporary Fiber Art." Works by 11 artists. Through Aug. 24. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (908) 747-2266.
 
MONTCLAIR ART MUSEUM "A Personal Synthesis," a retrospective of paintings and prints by Hananiah Harari, and "American Impressionist," a retrospective of paintings by Guy Rose (1867-1925). Both through next Sunday. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 P.M. Admission: $5; $4 for students with ID and the elderly; free admission on Saturdays from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.; always for children under 12. 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair. (201) 746-5555.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM "Focus on Rodin: Selections From the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection," including 21 bronzes. Through Aug. 17. "Bicycles: History, Beauty, Fantasy," tracing the evolution of the bicycle from 1817 to 1920. Through Sept. 7. "Women's Fashion in Sports," exploring the cultural impact of sports on women's clothing from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through Aug. 31. Recent sculptures by Leah Jacobson. Through May 24. Hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $5; $3 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS "Union County Juried Show." Through Aug. 17. Five sculptures by Peter Reginato in the outdoor art park. Through Sept. 30. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, noon to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M. Palmer Gallery, 68 Elm Street, Summit.
(908) 273-9121.
 
NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY "By Industry We Thrive: Educating Children in Early 19th Century New Jersey." Through January. "Teen-Age New Jersey: From Frank Sinatra to Bruce Springsteen." Through July 1998. "History's Mysteries," artifacts of New Jersey linked by a common theme. Through January 1999. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. 52 Park Place, Newark. (973) 483-3939.
 
NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM Recent paintings and drawings by Bradley Wester. Through Sept. 7. "New Jersey Nightscapes." a specially lighted display on New Jersey and its nighttime skies. Through February. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.; Sundays, 12 to 5 P.M. Free. 205 West State Street, Trenton. (609) 292-6464.
 
NEWARK MUSEUM "Portraits, 1975-1995," paintings by Dawoud Bey. Closes today. "The Glitter and the Gold: Fashioning America's Jewelry," celebrating the 100 years of Newark as the city of gold and precious stones. Through Nov. 2. "Destination Mars," an interactive exhibition exploring the possibility of life on Mars. Through 1999. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. 49 Washington Street, Newark. (201) 596-6550.

NEWARK PUBLIC LIBRARY "In Harmony for 75 Years: The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, 1922 to 1997." Through Sept. 6. Mondays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.; Wednesdays to 8:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. Free. 5 Washington Street, Newark.
(973) 624-3713.
 
NOYES MUSEUM "For the Love of Art: Carvings and Paintings by South Jersey Folk Artist Albert Hoffman," reflecting Old Testament narratives and American Indian life, and landscape photographs by Dwight Hiscano. Through Sept. 21. "Easy Access: Highlights From the Noyes Museum's Collection of Contemporary Art." Through Aug. 17. "Immortal Beauty: Artists Capture Miss America." Through Dec. 14. Shore bird, swan and goose decoys from the museum's collection. Continuing. Wednesday through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission: $3; $2 for the elderly and students. Lily Lake Road, Oceanville. (609) 652-8848.
 
PALMYRA ART GALLERY "Forward," paintings and works on paper by Ellen Sherman-Zinn. Through Sept. 5. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, 11:30 A.M. to 2:30 A.M. Free. Palmyra Tea Room, 22 Hamilton Street, Bound Brook. (908) 302-0515.
PIERMONT FINE ARTS GALLERY Solo exhibition of Mel Stabin's watercolors of his travels in the United States and abroad. Through Aug. 17. Hours: Thursdays and Sundays 1 to 6 P.M.; Fridays and Saturdays 1 to 9 P.M. 218 Ash Street, Piermont, N.Y. (914) 679-6179.
 
TRENTON CITY MUSEUM Group show by eight artists. Through next Sunday. "Graham Holmes: Bridging Trenton and New Hope," oil paintings, watercolors and plate designs for Lenox china. Aug. 16 through Nov. 2. Hours: Tuesday through Saturdays, 11 A.M. to 3 P.M.; Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M. Free. (609) 989-3632.
 
WBGO FM 88.3 STUDIOS Artworks about jazz by Andre de Krayewski, artist, and Michael Skaggs, photographer. Through Aug. 31. Mondays to Fridays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Free. 54 Park Place, Newark. (201) 624-8880.
 
FOR CHILDREN
 
BARNES & NOBLE Reading of Spot books, with craft. Wednesday at 11 A.M. For ages 2 to 4. Free. A visit from Spot the Dog. Saturday at 11 A.M. For ages 2 to 4. Free. Princeton Market Fair in Princeton. (609) 897-9250.
 
ELIZABETH PUBLIC LIBRARY "Go Buggy With Books," summer reading with craft activity. Tuesday at 2:30 P.M. 11 South Broad Street. "Films on Friday," through Aug. 22. Fridays at 2:30 P.M. Elmora Branch, 740 West Grand Street. Fridays at 3:30 P.M. LaCorte Branch, 408 Palmer Street. Elizabeth. (908) 354-6060.
 
MONMOUTH MUSEUM "Changing Cultures: From the Lenape to the Urban Age, 1400 to 1900," exploring the history of America through changes in family life, from the Lenape through the Victorian era. Through June. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 to 4:30 P.M.; Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M. 761 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft. (908) 747-2266.
 
MORRIS MUSEUM Saturn Summer Theater. "Cinderella's Storyland," by Kit's Kaboodle, featuring Kitty Jones. Tuesday. Ages 3 to 8. "Myths, Music and Make-Believe," an exploration of world cultures using stories, masks and music. Thursday. Ages 3 to 8. All shows at 11 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. in the John H. Bickford Theater. Tickets: $6.25; $5 for members. "Museum Munchkins," an introduction to the museum for ages 3 to 5. Wednesdays through Aug. 20, 10:30 to 11 A.M. This week: "Wonderful Whales." Fee: $5.50 a week per student. Museum hours: Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; Mondays through Saturdays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M. Admission: $4; $2 for the elderly. 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown. (201) 538-0454.
 
NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY "A Closer Look at a Book." Explore historic books used by children in the 19th century for learning to read and write; then create your own book. Saturday, 1 to 2 P.M. Free. 52 Park Place, Newark. (973) 483-3939.
 
NEW JERSEY CHILDREN'S MUSEUM An interactive center for ages 2 to 8. Daily programs: "Fairy Tale Play," 10:30 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. "Storytime," noon. Craft projects, 2:30 P.M. Museum hours: Mondays through Fridays,
9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $7. 599 Industrial Avenue, Paramus. (201) 262-2638.

NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM "Kaleidoscope Kids," a one-week program on astronomy for children 6 to 12. Through Friday. Each session meets Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. Tuition: $115; $110 for siblings. 205 West State Street, Trenton. Registration and information: (609) 292-6310 or (609) 292-6464.
 
SPOKEN WORD
 
BARNES & NOBLE Dr. Marty Tashman discusses "Stress: The Causes and the Cures," on regaining control of your life through relaxation and massage. Tuesday, 7 to 10 P.M. Frank A. Melfa discusses his new book, "Body Building: A Realistic Approach." Thursday at 7 P.M. Free. Princeton Market Fair, Route 1, Princeton. (609) 392-0689.
 
ENCORE BOOKS AND MUSIC Jennifer Preston, Trenton bureau chief of The New York Times, discusses her experiences as editor and columnist. Diana Wells discusses "100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names." Tomorrow at 7 P.M. Free. 301 North Harrison Street, Princeton. (609) 252-0608.
 
LAWRENCEVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY Delaware Valley Poets Workshop. Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Darrah Road, Lawrenceville. (609) 392-0689.
 
ETC.
 
ELIZABETH PUBLIC LIBRARY Film program: "The New Jersey Shoreline," "Mysteries of the Deep" and "The Voyage of the Brigantine Yankee." Wednesday at 10 A.M. 11 South Broad Street, Elizabeth. (908) 354-6060.
FLEA MARKET The Chester Lions Club Flea Market offers crafts, linens, books, children's clothing, housewares, plants and produce, makeup, jewelry and other accessories. Sundays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Through Nov. 30. Free. West Blackwell Street, Morris and Sussex Streets, downtown Dover. (201) 442-1494.
 
SHOW HOUSE AT THE SHORE Interior design rooms, decorative painting and outdoor living spaces. Through next Sunday. Daily, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Wednesdays and Thursdays to 8:30 P.M. Admission: $15. Evergreen, South Derby and Ventnor Avenues, Ventnor. "Seashore Conversations," a lecture series. Through Wednesday. Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 11 A.M. Gary's Little Rock Cafe, 5214 Atlantic Avenue, Ventnor. (609) 345-8181.

LOAD-DATE: August 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Fruits of Labor Lisa Mahan's "Lemons and Bowls" is part of "Light and Dark," a joint exhibition with Roy Freedle that contrasts the artists' distinct styles of painting. ARTISTS' GALLERY 32 Coryell Street, Lambertville. Through Aug. Friday. Today, Thursday, and Friday, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Free. (609) 397-4588. (pg. 12); A Slant on the Self This self-portrait sculpture by Peter Reginato is part of his outdoor solo exhibition of five pieces constructed of colored steel, representing human artifacts like toys and tools. NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS The Art Park, 68 Elm Street, Summit. Through Sept. 30. Mondays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. and 7 to 9 P.M.; Saturdays, 12 to 4 P.M.; Sundays, 2 to 4 P.M. (908) 273-1457.; Alternative Rockers Fishbone is on tour, with a sound that fuses funk, punk, ska, blues, rock and jazz. The group is regarded as having helped to put the Los Angeles alternative-music scene on the map. CLUB BENE Route 35, Sayrevile. Wednesday at 8 P.M. Tickets: $14. (908) 727-3000. (pg. 13); Festive Family Frolic Myrna Packer and Art Bridgman will teach a dance workshop as well as perform their special brand of dance as a part of Summerfare, a family arts festival. Their dance duet will immediately follow their workshop. BLAUVELT ART MUSEUM 705 Kinderkamack Road, Oradell. Today. Workshop at 2 P.M.; performance at 4 P.M. Call for registration: (201) 967-1751. (pg. 14)

TYPE: List

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The New York Times

August 3, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Medicare Crisis Is Nearly On Hold

BYLINE: By Warren Rudman and Sam Nunn;  Warren Rudman, a former Republican Senator from New Hampshire, and Sam Nunn, a former Democratic Senator from Georgia, are co-chairmen of the Concord Coalition.

SECTION: Section 4; Page 13; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 654 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

For the last few days Washington has been indulging in a well-deserved round of self-congratulation over passage of the first balanced budget in three decades. After 10 years of failed deficit reduction efforts, the bill passed last week stands out as a significant bipartisan accomplishment. So why are we applauding with only one hand?
While the new balanced budget is a short-run fiscal encouragement, it fails to address the much tougher challenge waiting for us in only a decade, when the oldest members of the baby-boom generation begin signing up for Social Security, in 2008, and Medicare, in 2011. Unless we tackle this huge problem, all of the hard work to balance the budget in 2002 will be washed away in a sea of red ink. 
 The numbers are relentless. Today, the United States has about 24 million retirees. When the boomer generation is fully retired, the figure will be 48 million. But the number of working age citizens, whose payroll taxes finance most of the seniors' Social Security and Medicare benefits, will increase only 20 percent in that period. And Medicare spending per beneficiary will have continued to rise.
Well, if the balanced budget neglects the country's long-term generational challenge, how does it do in the short term?
The economy and the private sector are performing so well that revenue is pouring into the Treasury faster than politicians can claim credit for reducing the deficit. But the assumptions in the balanced budget plan mean the economy must continue performing at a strong pace. Congress, of course, can't repeal the business cycle, and the plan leaves no reserve for error.
To reach balance also requires that future Congresses and the next President live up to tough limits on discretionary spending. These ceilings have provided spending discipline for a decade. The new plan conveniently allows a $7 billion boost in the current round of appropriations bills, but the limits tighten dramatically after that. By 2002, discretionary spending will have to be reduced by 10 percent, something that sounds easier in the abstract than it will be politically, since these cuts remain unidentified.
Finally, the budget agreement will reduce Medicare reimbursements to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers by $115 billion over the next five years, which will help patch up the program's balance sheet temporarily. So will program changes that encourage beneficiaries to choose from various plans that will be offered in addition to the traditional, and expensive, fee-for-service system. But these steps, while helpful in the short term, are nowhere near enough.
The failure to respond to the long-term challenge does not mean that elected leaders are unaware of it. The Senate voted 70 to 30 in June to phase out the subsidies received by the upper-income elderly enrolled in the Part B Medicare program, which covers doctors' bills. The same day, 62 Senators voted to phase in over 30 years an increase in the Medicare eligibility age to 67 from 65, in tandem with the increase scheduled for Social Security. Both of these structural changes would help meet the long-term challenge, but, sadly, both were dropped in the final negotiations.
A bipartisan commission will be charged with reporting recommendations by March 1, 1999, on how to meet Medicare's long-term crisis. It is critical that this commission not serve as yet another excuse for delay, diversion and denial but instead call for fundamental restructuring, including means-testing, higher eligibility ages and adjustments of cost-of-living allowances. It is also important that policy makers not focus on Medicare without also considering Social Security's financing and benefit problems. The generational challenge extends well beyond Medicare and requires all of us to consider what benefits we are prepared to provide and pay for when the baby boom becomes the senior boom.

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TYPE: Op-Ed

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The New York Times

August 3, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

DIARY

BYLINE: By JAN M. ROSEN

SECTION: Section 3; Page 2; Column 3; Money and Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 1103 words


SHAREHOLDER REVOLUTION
Sallie Mae's Management Ousted in Favor of Dissidents
In what one analyst called "the stock market equivalent of the Boston Tea Party," shareholders of the Student Loan Marketing Association ousted the management by electing a dissident slate of directors to run the company. "It's a revolution," said the analyst, Jonathan E. Gray, of Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. Shareholders also overwhelmingly approved a plan to turn Sallie Mae, a Government-sponsored enterprise, into a fully private, state-chartered corporation. On the New York Stock Exchange, Sallie Mae's shares immediately surged almost $5.
 
BALANCING THE BUDGET
Is Everyone Happy?
In Washington, euphoria reigned as politicians of both parties congratulated themselves on agreeing to balance the Federal budget and to provide the first Federal tax cut in 16 years. "We have put America's fiscal house in order again," President Clinton proclaimed. Republicans, like Representative Bill Archer of Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, hailed the agreement as the culmination of their quest to slim down Government. But economists, ever the dismal scientists, were skeptical that all would go as planned. Taxes on long-term capital gains are to be cut to a top rate of 20 percent, and eventually to 18 percent. And new rules increased the tax advantages of individual retirement accounts for millions of Americans. The package also provides child care credits, tax benefits for college students, health insurance options for the elderly, higher airline ticket taxes, lower estate taxes and higher cigarette taxes. 

THE ECONOMY
Looking Up, Looking Down
Adding to Washington's cheer was news that the economy slowed during the spring as consumers cut back on spending. The gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the April-June period, less than half that of the preceding quarter, showing no danger of inflation, even though employee compensation costs rose slightly in the spring. Sales of new single-family homes rose 6.1 percent in June, showing the housing sector entered the third quarter on a solid footing. "It's about as good as it can get for a fully employed economy," said Robert G. Dederick, economic consultant to Chicago's Northern Trust Company. But on Friday two reports revived fears of inflation. The unemployment rate dropped to a 24-year low of 4.8 percent in July, and the National Association of Purchasing Management index rose to its highest level in two and a half years, 58.6, showing expansion in manufacturing.
 
THE MARKETS
A Whiff of Inflation
After a record-setting first part of the week, inspired by the favorable economic data and the budget agreement, markets stumbled on Friday as the unemployment and purchasing managers' numbers reignited fears of inflation and higher interest rates. The bellwether 30-year Treasury bond, whose lower yields have recently propelled stocks higher, sank 1 26/32, pushing its yield to 6.45 percent from Thursday's close of 6.29 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average was still up 80.60 points for the week, at 8,194.04. The Nasdaq composite rose 24.75 points, to 1,594.33.
 
CAREER MOVES
New Chief for Donna Karan; Jobs Tries Recruiting for Apple
Deciding to concentrate on her role as chief designer, Donna Karan stepped down as chief executive of her namesake company and named John Idol, right, an executive from Polo Ralph Lauren and an expert in licensing, to the post. Wall Street analysts hailed the move. Stephen L. Ruzow resigned as president of the company but will remain a consultant for six months. Attempting to restore Apple Computer to health, Steven P. Jobs, its co-founder and now an adviser to the company, has been trying to persuade Eastman Kodak's chief executive, George M. C. Fisher, to come to Apple, according to an executive who knows both men. So far, Mr. Fisher is not biting.
 
THE MERGER FRONT
Chips on the Table
Consolidation in the chip industry accelerated, as National Semiconductor agreed to acquire Cyrix in a stock swap the companies valued at $550 million, and Intel said it would acquire Chips and Technologies, a producer of graphics processing chips for personal computers, for $384 million. Fujitsu of Japan said it would pay $850 million for the 58 percent of Amdahl that it did not already own. Also, Sun Microsystems agreed to acquire Diba Inc., a start-up company that is developing technology for small communications and computing devices called information appliances. Terms were not disclosed.
 
THE DEAL FLIES
KLM to Sell Northwest Stake
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines agreed to sell its 19 percent stake in Northwest Airlines back to Northwest for more than $1 billion -- a tidy profit on an initial investment of $400 million. The two have maintained a successful operating alliance, but a two-year legal squabble over KLM's investment threatened to undermine it. Now the lawsuits are to be withdrawn, and the carriers are to expand their relationship into potentially lucrative new areas like cargo transportation and linking their computer systems.
 
SCANDAL IN JAPAN
Penalties for Nomura And a Leading Bank
Japan's Finance Ministry, in the strongest punitive action it has ever taken against major financial institutions, ordered Nomura Securities and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank to suspend part of their operations for the rest of this year as punishment for making payments and loans to a racketeer. Still, analysts said, the penalties were more lenient than expected and should not result in red ink. Illegal dealings that could undermine the market's credibility are believed to be widespread in Japan. Tokyo prosecutors raided the headquarters of Yamaichi Securities on suspicion that it, too, had made payments to the same racketeer.
 
THE SPORTS BUSINESS
G.M. Goes for Gold
Is the business of America still business, or is it sport? General Motors committed some $900 million to sponsor the Olympics through 2008 -- a wager that the next six Winter and Summer Games will continue to galvanize public interest. The deal with NBC and the United States Olympics Committee is expected to be the first of many. AT&T, Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch, all longtime Olympic sponsors, may well follow suit. Nor is America's obsession unique. Alan Shearer, captain of Britain's national soccer team and center forward for Newcastle United, badly tore his ankle ligament in a preseason tournament last weekend. When the London stock exchange opened for trading on Monday, $20 million disappeared from Newcastle's share valuation.

LOAD-DATE: August 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos (Associated Press; Marylin K. Yee/The New York Times)
 
Graphs show unemployment rate and annual rate of change in the value of the gross domestic product. (Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Commerce Department)
 
Drawing (Tom Bloom)

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The New York Times

August 3, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Nation: Clinton Sees History in the Budget-Making . . .;
. . . as Congress Touches the Third Rail and Lives

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 5; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 723 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

FOR years, officials have described Medicare and Social Security as the third rail of American politics, untouchable by any politician who wanted to survive. But this year's budget debate suggests that less voltage is flowing through that rail.
Congress made sweeping changes in Medicare, encouraging elderly people to enroll in health maintenance organizations and other health plans like those offered by employers. Those changes, plus more being discussed for the future, make clear that America has begun a fundamental re-examination of this immensely popular but hugely expensive program -- just as 75 million baby boomers begin to wonder what will remain of Medicare when they turn 65 in the years after 2010. 
 In the last few months, Congress seriously considered proposals to strengthen Medicare's financial condition by charging extra premiums to the affluent, raising the eligibility age and imposing a co-payment of $5 a visit for home health care services.
None of those proposals survive in the final bill, which sailed through Congress last week. But lawmakers and lobbyists said it would be a mistake to consider them dead. Baby boomers planning for retirement would be prudent to assume that they will have to pay more for their medical care.
 
Get Out Your Wallets
 The budget bill creates a Federal advisory panel to study Medicare's future and strongly hints that future beneficiaries may pay a bigger share of the program's costs. The panel, the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, is to recommend ways of establishing an "appropriate balance of benefits covered and beneficiary contributions to the Medicare program." It is also to make recommendations on modifying Medicare's eligibility age to match changes in that for Social Security, which will gradually rise to 67 from 65 between 2003 and 2027.
President Clinton hesitantly endorsed an increase in premiums for higher-income beneficiaries, saying "a big majority of the American people will support this" if they understand the size of the baby-boom generation and the extent of the Federal subsidy.
Only five years ago, Senator Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska, looked liked a quixotic dilettante when he issued gloomy fiscal forecasts suggesting that Medicare, Social Security and other entitlement programs would bankrupt the Government if their costs were not reined in. This year Mr. Kerrey won plaudits as a leader of the bipartisan effort to put Medicare on a sound financial footing.
Contrary to third-rail imagery, Mr. Kerrey said, such efforts do not require great political courage because Americans understand the need for change when they are given the facts. "It's not hard to sell to people," he said.
 
The Old-People's Lobby
 Senators were not defensive about trying to set a Medicare means test or to raise the eligibility age. Such proposals, they said, would help save Medicare from bankruptcy.
House members of both parties, scorched by the battles over Medicare in 1995 and 1996, were far more reluctant to impose new costs on the elderly. But Senator Phil Gramm, Republican of Texas, said, "Senator Kerrey and I are going to reintroduce our reforms as a freestanding bill, and we are not going to let this issue die."
Throughout the debate over Medicare in the last 30 months, Speaker Newt Gingrich and his aides talked continually, behind the scenes, to lobbyists for the American Association of Retired Persons. This year the association supported the House version of the Medicare legislation, even as it criticized Mr. Kerrey's proposals as reckless.
One lesson is that in a program like Medicare, with 38 million beneficiaries, the mechanical details are every bit as important as the underlying policy. The proposal to link premiums to beneficiaries' income died in part because officials could not decide who should collect the premiums.
Similarly, critics suggested that Mr. Kerrey had not analyzed the effects of raising Medicare's eligibility age. Such a change, they said, would increase the number of people without insurance. Mr. Kerrey countered with a proposal to let older Americans "buy into" Medicare before they are entitled to coverage. But no one seemed to know just how such an arrangement would work.
That issue is sure to be part of future debates and battles.

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August 3, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

Westchester Q&A: Lila R. Ogman;
A Retiree Who Leads Others to Learning

BYLINE: By DONNA GREENE 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 3; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1218 words

THERE are no tests, no term papers and no forced attendance in the school that Lila R. Ogman, a longtime New Rochelle resident, helps run. The school is the Learning in Retirement Institute at Iona College and is for people of retirement age who want a creative or intellectual outlet.
An affiliate of the Elderhostel Institute Network, the institute is in its fifth year of offering daytime educational programs, study groups and social activities. Among its offerings for the fall, the institute will have classes titled Civil Liberties, Radio Goes to the Movies, Play Reading, Character and Values of American Presidents (1933-1997), the Intimate World of the String Quartet and American Architecture. 
 Mrs. Ogman, a founder and the president of the institute, was a preschool teacher in New Rochelle for 23 years before retiring in 1981. The institute will hold an open house on Sept. 7 at 3 P.M. at the Joyce Auditorium at Iona College to introduce its fall program to potential students. The number to call for more information is 633-267.
Here are excepts of a recent conversation with Mrs. Ogman:
Q. Why did you not just retire and go off into the sunset or travel, or the like?
A. It seemed important to me to do something more. I loved working with children, and when I first retired I worked as a volunteer in the early childhood intervention program, and that was wonderful for me because I was able to use my expertise and stay in touch with things. Then I started to work with WISH, Women in Self Help. But it wasn't enough.
I and some other retirees had this vision of a retirement institute. I thought it was a wonderful, wonderful idea. And we made it happen. It's important for me to spend my time in ways other than pure self-indulgence. It has always been important for me to think that I make a contribution in some way.
Q. Can you describe the institute?
A. It's a membership institute. We're in the academic community of Iona College. We offer study groups and other cultural activities for men and women of retirement age. We are a completely volunteer group, and we differ from other academic institutions in that we offer only daytime activities. We are a community. We become very important to each other.
Q. Is it important, therefore, that this is only for retirees? Sometimes older people who go back to school like being among a lot of young people and sometimes they do not.
A. Yes, the idea for us here is that we are only people of retirement age. I think there are probably as many people that find it very important to have that stimulation of the younger generation as there are people who don't want it. I think it's wonderful to have that stimulation but also to have the other option as well.
Q.  Here you are working with older people when you spent most of your professional life working with children. What is the common ingredient? Are the older people who come to your programs like 3 and 4-yearolds in that they are curious?
A. That's for sure, that is a very important aspect to the kind of people we have here. They are very curious about so many things. And the wonderful thing about our groups is that it is proof positive that just because one retires one need not, as you said earlier, go off into the sunset. It's a time in life when we can do things that you never did before and learn about new things you never learned about before.
Q. How many people do you have as members of your organization?
A. We have grown, and we have close to 200 members from lower Westchester, for the most part.
Q. How do you decide which courses to offer?
A. By committee; we have a curriculum committee. And within the committee there are three subcommittees: humanities, science and social studies. Sometimes there is someone who offers to be the instructor.
Q. Is there a charge to take these courses?
A. Oh, yes, we charge a membership fee of $150 annually, but it's a bargain because for that one membership fee you may take all of the classes. It runs from Sept. 1 to Aug. 30, and we offer two eight-session semesters and two mini-sessions. For your $150, you can sign up for them all.
Q. Clearly, this is fun for you. What makes it so much fun?
A. Doing something you want to do, learning something new, being with people with whom you can exchange ideas in a very civilized fashion, being together and getting to know people and sort of meeting them over and over again at classes, taking a hiatus from them at times and them coming back to remake their acquaintance in another class.
Q. Do many friendships come out of this?
A. Yes, the community aspect of it is of vital importance. We have special events, such as, perhaps, a field trip to a wildlife preserve, or it may be one to a museum that very few people have heard of. We may organize a theater party. We have had luncheons. There are a variety of things that we plan, and those are fun. It's the exchanging of ideas that is just so wonderful.
Q. What is your role at this point? Can you let it run on its own?
A. Would that it were so. I was the first president. I'm now serving my second term.
Q. Are you stuck with it for life?
A. No, I'm not stuck with it for life. I think it's very important that we constantly look for new people, new blood, to run the organization. We are at the age where none of us will be around forever, nor is anyone, but more so at our age.
Q. How many people are typically in a class?
A. Oh, it varies. Some of our groups are small with 10 or 15; some are with as many as 40 or more.
Q. What are the most popular kinds of classes?
A. That also is hard to say. There is a Natural World summer semester class that draws a lot of people. Anything we do in music is always popular. We have 20th-century music or opera, taught by one of us. We have had philosophy classes that have been attended by 60 people. We have had film festivals that are attended by 30 to 55. One of the great things about our program is you need not commit yourself, and many of us travel, live elsewhere part of the year and may miss two or three sessions or maybe half a semester -- no problem, you can always come back and pick up. We're very relaxed.
Q. No term papers, no tests?
A. Absolutely not.
Q. Where would you like to see this program go from here, or is it there already?
A. This is our fifth year, and we would love to have a fifth year gala of some sort. We haven't quite finalized those plans. I'd like to see it with a firm membership of 200, so that we can expand and provide more courses.
Q. Where are courses held?
A. Friday afternoon courses are at Iona. Others are at the Elks Club in New Rochelle.
Q. What is your relationship with Iona?
A. Iona is our host. We are completely self-sufficient. We have even in the past offered a scholarship to attend our courses to someone at Iona's Columba school, which is its college for adults. Columba is different than L.I.R.I.C. because it's a college for the returning adult, for continuing education. It gives academic credits. The students are working at the same time, so their classes are late in the afternoon or evening. I want to mention the generosity of the Iona faculty. We often invite them to do lectures or sessions for us, and they're enormously responsive.

LOAD-DATE: August 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: August 10, 1997, Sunday

 CORRECTION:
The Q&A column last Sunday about the Learning in Retirement Institute at Iona College in New Rochelle gave the telephone number incompletely. It is 633-2675. Because of a schedule change, the article also misstated the time of the institute's open house for potential students. It is at 2 P.M. on Sept. 7, not 3 P.M.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Lila R. Ogman, head of Learning in Retirement Institute at Iona College in New Rochelle. (Norman Y. Lono for The New York Times)

TYPE: Interview

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The New York Times

August 3, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

'Teddy Bear Lady' Gave Her Heart, Plus $18 Million

BYLINE: By DIRK JOHNSON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 12; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 856 words

DATELINE: CHICAGO, Aug. 2

Few people at Children's Memorial Hospital knew her name. She was simply "The Teddy Bear Lady," the sweet old woman who brought stuffed animals to sick children and vowed to leave a "special gift" to the hospital someday. 
 The woman, Gladys Holm, who died last year at age 86, was a retired secretary who never earned more than $15,000 a year, never married and lived alone in a tiny apartment in suburban Evanston.
 But she was more than just sweet. A tall woman with a wickedly delicious sense of style, she favored vivid red suits and wore big rings, drank scotch at the dinner table, weaved outrageous tales and skewered corrupt politicians.
 And in her will, she left $18 million to Children's Memorial Hospital, the largest single donation in the institution's 115-year history, surpassing the $10 million gift from Ray Kroc, who built the McDonald's chain.
 Miss Holm had been buying stocks for a long, long time.
 "When her attorney called to tell me the amount," said Jan Jennings, the president of the hospital, "I asked him to repeat it, since I was certain I had misheard."
 Nearly a half-century ago, Children's Hospital had saved the life of a little girl in a family very dear to Miss Holm. She had watched the little girl's parents go through the agony of a sick child, Mr. Jennings said, and had witnessed the triumph of new medical technologies.
 Her donation will go for research for diseases of the heart. It was a heart problem that threatened the life of her friend's daughter, who was saved by a new technology. Indeed, it was the first "blue baby" surgical procedure in the United States.
 The baby, Lynn Adrian, is now a professor of American studies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. And she said she was as shocked as everybody else that her Aunt Gladys - "I was 10 years old before I knew she wasn't technically my aunt" - had a boatload of money.
 "You know, you hear about these shy old women who lead isolated lives, keep to themselves, don't speak up much?" Ms. Adrian said.
 "Well," she added, with a delighted chuckle, "my Aunt Gladys wasn't like that at all."
 She recalled Miss Holm's parlor talk as being so adventurous that other adults often whisked the little ones out of the room.
 "Aunt Gladys did not keep much to herself," Ms. Adrian said.
 But she kept quiet about her riches, and her generosity.
 "We now know that the teddy bears were a pretext," said Mr. Jennings, the hospital president. "It was a way for her to discreetly learn about a family's money situation. If she learned they didn't have much money, she quietly took care of their finances."
 Born and reared on a farm in Wisconsin, Miss Holm, the daughter of Norwegian, Miss Holm, the daughter of Norwegian immigrants, moved to Chicago at 18 and took a secretarial job for a fledgling company, American Hospital Supply Corporation.
 Miss Holm worked for the company's founder, Foster G. McGaw, in small offices in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. When the company went public in 1951, she was given stock options and put on the executive committee.
 American Hospital eventually became a giant in the industry, and Miss Holm's stock soared like a helium balloon. Baxter International bought the company in 1985.
 Friends said Miss Holm had also bought other stocks, especially those in companies that specialized in health research.
 Her lawyer, Dale Park, sometimes accompanied her on her teddy bear trips to the hospital, and they saw some almost unbearably said situations. Miss Holm was always profoundly shaken.
 "We would leave the hospital," he said, "and neither one of us could talk."
 Seven years ago, friends got a hint that Miss Holm might have a little money socked away when she decided to throw herself a lavish party for her 80th birthday and had distant relatives flown in from Norway.
 She had been weakened by osteoarthritis for many years. And at the end of her party, she fell and broke her leg. She was bedridden for the rest of her life.
 While Miss Holm lived in a modest apartment on Central Avenue in Evanston, she woned a king-size bed red Cadillac.
 In her will, she left the car to a woman who had cared for her in recent years, on three conditions. First, the car must be perfectly restored, at Miss Holm's expense. Second, the Cadillac must follow the hearse during her funeral. Third, the big red car must make one final trip around the block where she lived in Evanston, as a farewell.
 Because Miss Holm had no immediate family and had outlived most of her friends, her funeral was sparsely attended. Only 25 to 30 people came to pay respects. There were not enough men to carry the casket, so a graveyard worker was asked to help.
 After the burial, the church pastor told those in attendance that Miss Holm had made arrangements with a restaurant across from the cemetery. She had picked out a menu and left money to pay for lunch for everybody.
 The pastor delivered her final request: "She asks that you talk about the good times."
 The hospital held a memorial service on Wednesday to honor Miss Holm. A teddy bear was place on every seat.

LOAD-DATE: August 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Gladys Holm, shown in an undated photograph with her boss, Foster G. McGaw, turned small opportunities into a giant legacy to a hospital. (Associated Press)

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The New York Times

August 4, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Harold Sheppard, 75, Teacher And Researcher on the Elderly

BYLINE: By WOLFGANG SAXON 

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 320 words

Harold Lloyd Sheppard, who studied and wrote about the aging of America, particularly in the workplace, died on July 10 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla. He was 75 and lived in Clearwater, Fla.
The cause of death was heart failure, his family said. 
 Dr. Sheppard was the White House counselor on aging in the Carter Administration. At his death, he was a professor of gerontology at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
In the late 1950's, he took part in an innovative study of older workers who faced the loss of their jobs at a Packard automobile plant in Detroit. His research was published in a 1959 book he co-wrote, "Too Old to Work, Too Young to Retire: A Case Study of a Permanent Plant Shutdown."
Dr. Sheppard combined a teaching career with work with government agencies, labor unions and private groups concerned about the problems of an aging population. He directed the International Exchange Center on Gerontology at the University of South Florida from 1983 to 1991.
He was born in Baltimore and received a master's degree in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1945 and a doctorate in sociology and anthropology from the University of Wisconsin in 1949.
Dr. Sheppard taught at Wayne State University in Detroit, lectured in France and Germany and held various research and staff positions in government agencies and private organizations that focused on age discrimination and retirement.
He was the author, co-author or editor of several books, including "Where Have All the Robots Gone?" (Free Press, 1972), "The Graying of Working America" (Free Press, 1979) and "The Future of Older Workers" (University of South Florida, 1990).
Dr. Sheppard is survived by a son, Mark, of Detroit; a daughter, Jenny-Ann Graf Sheppard of Chicago; his companion, Lisl Schick of Clearwater, and a brother, Norman Silverman, and sister, Tresa Hughes, both of Manhattan.      

NAME: Harold Lloyd Sheppard

LOAD-DATE: August 4, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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August 4, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Once Prized, Japan's Elderly Feel Abandoned and Fearful

BYLINE: By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1959 words

DATELINE: OMIYA, Japan

As Kuni Kanbe fusses over the frail figure of her 84-year-old husband, gaunt and bedridden with cancer, she thinks of her four children, all sympathetic and loving -- and a long way away.
When she married 56 years ago, Mrs. Kanbe recalled softly, she lived with her husband's parents and cared for them as they aged and sickened and died. But now, as she and her husband struggle with age and sickness in this little town in central Japan, her house is full of emptiness and resounds with the deafening absence of her grandchildren. 
 "I took care of my parents-in-law, but nobody will take care of me," she said resignedly.
"I suppose," she mused, and for the first time a hint of bitterness crept into her tone, "it's better for young people this way."
The sense of unfairness endured so stoically by Mrs. Kanbe is common among the elderly in Japan even though, by everyone's standards but their own, the Japanese are models of filial piety. Some 55 percent of Japanese over the age of 65 live with their children, compared with fewer than 20 percent in the United States and virtually every other industrial country.
Indeed, as the baby-boom generation approaches retirement, threatening the bankruptcy of social security systems across the globe, Japan in one sense seems to be the best-positioned of all major countries. It has a flexible and caring system that might be able to cope with retirement of the baby boomers: the family. If retirees can depend on their children for care, the nation is likely to survive the demographic upheaval relatively smoothly.
Yet in the winding alleys of little towns like Omiya, a farming community in the mist-shrouded hills of the Kii Peninsula nearly 200 miles southwest of Tokyo, the mood is one of disquiet.
A revolutionary shift in attitudes toward the elderly appears to be under way in Japan, and to some extent in Korea and China as well. One result is that now for the first time a considerable share of the elderly in East Asia are growing old apart from their children, and the resulting loneliness and guilt and resentments cast a long shadow on family life across the region.
Even if a bit more than half of people over 65 live with their children in Japan, the proportion has plummeted from 80 percent as recently as 1970. Surveys suggest that Japanese attitudes are changing very rapidly and that many young Japanese feel even less of a debt to their parents than do young Americans.
"Young people are scary," Mrs. Kanbe reflected soberly, as she kneeled on the tatami-mat floor a few feet from her sick husband. "The reason young people can kill humans as if they were insects, or fail to understand the feelings of their own parents, is mostly because they haven't had proper moral education.
"I'm scared of young people now."
Such comments are particularly surprising because Mrs. Kanbe is, by Western standards, well cared for by her children. They visit regularly, and her sons have asked her to come and live with them after her husband dies.
Yet she and many elderly women like her are reluctant to move in with their children because they know they would not occupy the traditional throne of the mother-in-law, that of matriarch of the household. Instead they would be guests, staying by the grace of their daughters-in-law.
Japanese families are sometimes built more on proximity than closeness, and tensions revolve in particular around the traditional axis of home life in East Asia: relations between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Deng Xiaoping, during his leadership of China, once gave a major national speech on mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relations; in East Asia, this tie is a central one in society.
Mainly this is because men are out working most of the time and pay little attention to child rearing, so it is the two women who spend the days together and who do battle over the children's future.
In a growing number of cases, this divide between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has led elderly people to move in, not with their eldest son -- the age-old custom -- but instead with a daughter.
"Life is upside down now," complained Akemi Hayashi, an 83-year-old widow who lives alone and who has not even received an invitation to live with any of her three children. "The daughter-in-law is on top, and Granny is a nuisance."
Mrs. Hayashi, who was tending her vegetable garden beside a highway, sat down on the grass and grumbled delightedly about the times. The term for widow in Japanese, mibojin, means "a person who has not yet died," and Mrs. Hayashi's plight, as such a person awaiting death and living alone, sends a shudder down the spine of any traditional Japanese. Yet it is becoming steadily more common. The proportion of elderly living alone has almost doubled since the early 1970's, to 13 percent.
"There are tough-talking daughters-in-law around here," Mrs. Hayashi said, "so the grannies just sit around in the shadows and complain."
What if she becomes ill and cannot care for herself?
"I just hope that I die a quick death," she answered promptly.
 
The Tradition
Loyalty to Parents: The Core of Society
The elderly grumble in part because they grew up steeped in concepts of filial piety that once pervaded not only Japan but also China and Korea and other countries influenced by Confucianism. In Japan, in fact, filial devotion traditionally ran a close second to loyalty to one's feudal lord, but in the mid-19th century a new Government tried to subvert feudalistic loyalties by re-emphasizing the primacy of filial piety.
Schools taught famous stories about filial piety, like the tale of the couple who decided, after running out of food, to kill their child so they would have more to feed their parents. They were rewarded for this when they dug the child's grave and found a treasure.
Those were legends, but in the 19th century in the town of Matsue in Japan a real 15-year-old girl named Omasu won acclaim for her piety. She was summoned by a judge to give testimony against her father in a theft case, and she grew fearful of saying something that might get him in trouble. So she paused, and suddenly blood came gushing from her mouth.
Omasu had bitten off her tongue. She survived, unable ever to speak again, and her father was acquitted. A wealthy merchant so admired her devotion that he married her and looked after her father in his old age.
By that exalted standard, it is easier to see that weekend visits from a son fall a bit short.
After World War II, Japan reorganized itself socially and cast off many traditions, like the classes in shushin, or moral education, which had drummed the idea of filial piety into schoolchildren. The notion of special reverence for parents faded, and two years ago Japan even abandoned its traditional law decreeing a harsher punishment for the slaying of a parent or parent-in-law than for other murders.
"In the old days we had shushin to teach us filial piety," said Masae Minami, 86, the matriarch of a family that runs a clothing store in Omiya. "But now that's all gone. I think the old system was better, because society has become very chaotic. Now it's as if you can do anything you like to parents."
That seemed a trifle like hyperbole, because as Mrs. Minami grumbled, she was surrounded by relatives from four generations of her family, all deferring with great respect to her and her 91-year-old husband, Suezo.
So what is there to complain about?
Three patterns of unfilial behavior came to light in her household: the teen-agers show no interest in watching the samurai television dramas that their great-grandparents adore; the younger generations like to eat meat instead of the austere rice dishes favored by the elders, and no one observes the old custom of letting Grandpa take a bath first.
"In the old days," Mrs. Minami lamented, "the master of the house would bathe first, and no one could eat until he came home and was ready to eat. That's all gone now."
 
The New Generation
Caring for Elderly: Shame Is a Motive
Evidence of a far-reaching change of attitudes toward the elderly emerges from opinion polls in which younger Japanese now come across as less devoted to parents than Americans are.
When a broad range of people in both countries were asked what a child's responsibility is to parents who have become disabled, Americans were twice as likely as Japanese to choose the most devoted answer: "Children should look after their parents, even if they have to make sacrifices."
Conversely, Japanese were twice as likely to choose the answer at the other end of the spectrum: "Because children have their own responsibilities, there is no need for them to look after their parents."
Why do Japanese invite their parents to live with them so regularly, even if they do not feel any strong moral debt to them? Why do they act more devoted than they feel?
One explanation may be strong social pressure and a culture of shame, as fundamental a force in Japan as gravity. Even if middle-aged Japanese feel no moral obligation to look after their parents, they would be humiliated by the gossip if they packed them off to a nursing home.
This pressure may explain why only 2 percent of the country's elderly live in nursing homes or similar institutions, compared with 5 percent in America.
"Only recently are people letting their parents enter these facilities," said Dr. Yoshihisa Yamazaki, director of the Firefly Nursing Home, nestled on the edge of a valley against a forested hillside. "Most Japanese basically feel that they should take care of their parents by themselves."
One indication that a good chunk of Japan's filial piety may be a result of community pressure is that once children overcome their reluctance and put their parents in a nursing home, they do not often visit.
"For some families," Dr. Yamazaki said, "visits become very rare, so that the only contact we have with them is a discussion every three months about whether to renew the contract." He added that some people arranged "temporary" stays for bedridden parents, and then hoped the parents would not recover enough to go home.
"We try to help those bedridden old people so that they can walk again," Dr. Yamazaki said. "But family members tell us they don't want their parents walking again."
 
The Social Setting
A Role for Grandma: Helping at Home
Ironically, the decline in multigenerational living is coming just as it is beginning to offer more practical advantages than before. As in most of the industrialized world, the proportion of mothers in the work force has risen steadily, and it is far easier for a mother to get a job if grandparents are around to help look after the children.
Partly for this reason, the latest boom in Japanese home styles is in the "multigeneration" house. It typically includes a separate wing for the grandparents, with their own entrance, bathroom and kitchen. The idea is to share a home while avoiding a situation in which the elderly wake everyone up when they rise at dawn each day.
A few years ago Kazufumi and Taka Sakai tried a similar compromise, living next to their children instead of with them. Mr. and Mrs. Sakai moved out of their son's home but built a new house right next door.
"My main thought when building this was that by living separately we could avoid troubles," said Mr. Sakai, 66, and he says it is a near-perfect arrangement. There are no longer strains about what to make for dinner, and the grandchildren still drop in all the time to propose a game of catch.
"Grandpa's O.K. at softball," allowed Mr. Sakai's 8-year-old grandson, Fumiya, during one pop-in visit. "But he's not quite good enough to make the third-grade team."

LOAD-DATE: August 4, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

SERIES: MAIN STREET, JAPAN: Generations Apart

GRAPHIC: Photo: In Japan, many elderly parents feel a loss of honor as they cope without the traditional support of their children. In the town of Omiya, Kuni Kanbe, 76, cares for her husband, 84, who is bedridden with cancer. (Nicholas D. Kristof/The New York Times)(pg. A4)
 
Map showing the location of Omiya, Japan: In Omiya, far from their family's care, one aging couple struggles. (pg. A4)

TYPE: Series

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The New York Times

August 5, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Jeanne Calment, World's Elder, Dies at 122

BYLINE: By CRAIG R. WHITNEY 

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 4; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 764 words

DATELINE: PARIS, Aug. 4

Jeanne Calment, born a year before Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone and 14 years before Alexandre Gustave Eiffel built his tower, died today in a nursing home in Arles. At 122, she was the oldest person whose age had been verified by official documents.
Jean-Marie Robine, a public health researcher who is one of the authors of a book about Mrs. Calment, said she had been in good health, though almost blind and deaf, as recently as a month ago. 
 The French, who celebrated her as the doyenne of humanity, had their own theories about why she lived so long, noting that she used to eat more than two pounds of chocolate a week and treat her skin with olive oil, rode a bicycle until she was 100, and only quit smoking five years ago.
Longevity ran in the family; Mrs. Calment's mother lived until she was 86 and her father until he was 93. But Mr. Robine said her great strength was her unflappability.
"I think she was someone who, constitutionally and biologically speaking, was immune to stress," he said in a telephone interview. "She once said, 'If you can't do anything about it, don't worry about it.' "
Jeanne Louise Calment's claim to fame is the Feb. 21, 1875, listing in the birth register in Arles, the southern French city where she began her days and ended them.
She was 12 or 13 when she saw Vincent Van Gogh in Arles, and she said later that he was "very ugly, ungracious, impolite, sick -- I forgive him, they called him loco."
She married a cousin, Fernand Nicolas Calment, in 1896. As the prosperous owner of a store in Arles, he was able to support her in style, and she never had to work. She played tennis, took up roller skating, bicycling and swimming and took great pleasure in joining the hunting parties he organized. She also studied the piano and enjoyed the opera.
Her husband, 46 when World War I broke out, was too old for military service. His business survived the Depression, but a dessert of spoiled preserved cherries killed him, but not his wife, in 1942.
They had one child, a daughter, Yvonne, whose marriage to Joseph Billot produced a single child, Frederic Billot, in 1926. Eight years later, Yvonne died of pneumonia, and Mrs. Calment raised her grandson in the family home. He became a medical doctor and died before her, in an automobile accident in 1960.
Mrs. Calment rode a bicycle until she was 100 and walked all over Arles to thank those who congratulated her on her birthday that year.
At age 110 her increasing frailty forced her to move into a nursing home. "She complained about the food in the nursing home, which was sort of like baby food," Mr. Robine said today. "She said it always tasted the same."
At the age of 115, she fell and fractured two bones, and her memory began to fail. But she retained a tart wit. "When you're 117, you see if you remember everything!" she rebuked an interviewer five years ago. When somebody took leave by telling her, "Until next year, perhaps," she retorted: "I don't see why not! You don't look so bad to me."
By the time she turned 122, she was so hard of hearing that it was difficult to communicate with her.
The name of the person who has taken Mrs. Calment's place as oldest living human was a topic of considerable international confusion today. Philip Littlemore of the Guinness Book of World Records in London said the oldest known person whose date of birth was as well documented as Mrs. Calment's was Lucy Askew, a British woman who turned 104 last Sept. 8. But several others may also have claim to the title, including at least one in the United States.
Mrs. Calment left no heirs. She also outlived Andre-Francois Raffray, a lawyer who 32 years ago, when she was merely 90, bought the apartment she used to live in on a contingency contract. He would pay her 2,500 francs (now about $400) a month until she died, and then the apartment would become his.
Mr. Raffray died a year ago at 77, after paying Mrs. Calment more than $180,000, better than double the apartment's market value. His family was still paying when she died.
"In life, one sometimes makes bad deals," Mrs. Calment said.
Mr. Raffray's widow, Huguette, told French radio tonight: "She was a personality. My husband had very good relations with Mrs. Calment."
Michel Vauzelle, the Mayor of Arles, said: "She was Jeanne the Arlesienne, one whose picture went around the world. But above all, she was the living memory of our city."
She may be most famous in France for her many bons mots. One of them was: "I've never had but one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it."

NAME: Jeanne Calment

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Jeanne Calment, believed to be the world's oldest person, died yesterday. (Associated Press, 1995)
      

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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412 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

August 5, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

New Flexibility For Medicare, But at a Price

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1147 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug. 4

The budget bill awaiting President Clinton's signature includes two new health insurance options that give Medicare beneficiaries greater freedom to choose their doctors and hospitals, but also exposes elderly patients to much higher costs.
The options, which represent a radical departure from current Medicare policy, are likely to appeal to rugged individualists who resent Government interference with their medical care and can afford to pay more for it. 
 The new alternatives would allow elderly people to drop out of the standard Medicare program, spend their own money and avoid the limits imposed by managed care and Medicare fee schedules.
Under current law, doctors can be prosecuted if they charge Medicare beneficiaries more than the amounts allowed by the Government, even if patients are willing to pay the extra fees.
Doctors are generally required to submit claims for all services covered by Medicare, and Federal officials have said it is illegal for doctors to sign private contracts with Medicare patients for services covered by the program.
John C. Rother, chief lobbyist at the American Association of Retired Persons, said, "Beneficiaries who choose these options will probably see higher costs and fewer protections, compared with the regular Medicare program."
Mr. Clinton plans to sign the budget and tax bills on Tuesday.
One option, championed by Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, allows Medicare beneficiaries to sign private contracts with doctors for any medical service at any price. The doctors could charge patients far more than the amounts allowed under Medicare's fee schedule. Neither doctor nor patient would submit a claim to Medicare, and the Government would not make any payment for any of the services covered by private contracts. Patients would have to pay all of the costs with their own money, or private insurance.
Thus, while patients would continue paying Medicare premiums and could rely on Medicare for basic services, they might pay extra to obtain the services of a well-known cancer specialist or brain surgeon, for example.
Under the second option, Medicare beneficiaries would enroll in private health plans that gave patients freedom to choose their doctors and hospitals. Medicare would make fixed monthly payments to such health plans, and there would be no limit on the premiums that the health plans could charge patients. The health plans would have to pay doctors a separate fee for each service and could not impose financial penalties on doctors who ordered large numbers of tests and procedures.
These "private fee-for-service plans" are intended to avoid the restrictions of health maintenance organizations, which typically require patients to use specified doctors and hospitals and often reduce the compensation of doctors who exceed their budgets.
Supporters of these options say they are trying to return Medicare to the way it was at its creation in 1965, when the Government assured patients of "free choice" and promised doctors they would be reimbursed for their "reasonable charges."
The Clinton Administration and the American Association of Retired Persons opposed the new alternatives, saying they would increase costs for beneficiaries and siphon off healthy, wealthy patients, leaving sicker, more expensive patients in the standard Medicare program. Premiums for people remaining in the program would probably rise.
Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, said, "We could have some extraordinary human tragedies" if older people chose these options without fully understanding that they might have to pay much higher costs.
The American Medical Association supported the new options, as did the National Right to Life Committee, which said patients should be free to spend their own money to get life-saving medical treatments.
Burke J. Balch, director of medical ethics at the National Right to Life Committee, hailed the new fee-for-service option as a way to protect older Americans against the dangers of rationing health care. Such rationing, Mr. Balch said, will become inevitable as Medicare payments fall further behind rising medical costs.
Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, said, "These provisions, for rich doctors and rich patients, start to unravel Medicare's social safety net." Mr. Stark said the budget bill encouraged doctors to establish "boutique health care centers for the privileged few who can afford the extra charges."
In general, the bill encourages Medicare beneficiaries to join H.M.O.'s, Mr. Stark said. But, he said, the new options allow the richest doctors and patients to "avoid the inconveniences of managed care."
Mr. Balch said "the National Right to Life Committee originally developed the idea" of a private free-for-service Medicare option in 1995. "Since its inception," he said, "the pro-life movement has fought against euthanasia as well as abortion. When people are denied life-saving treatment against their will, that's a form of involuntary euthanasia."
This year, Mr. Balch said, "we were involved in writing the language" of the new fee-for-service option with Republican leaders of Congress. Under this option, he said, "older Americans can voluntarily add their own money to Government Medicare payments in order to get unrationed, unmanaged private health insurance."
Clinton Administration officials summoned lobbyists for the American Association of Retired Persons to the Capitol on July 26 to discuss the proposal. The bill was modified to guarantee that Medicare beneficiaries would be told of the possibility of extra costs before they enrolled in a private fee-for-service health plan.
The National Right to Life Committee contends older Americans may have a problem finding doctors who will treat them unless they supplement what Medicare pays.
A Federal advisory panel, the Physician Payment Review Commission, has estimated that Medicare pays doctors 70 percent of what private insurers pay.
Mr. Kyl's amendment makes clear that a doctor may enter into "a private contract with a Medicare beneficiary for any item or service," at any price. The contract must clearly indicate to the beneficiary that Medicare will not pay for such services. In addition, the doctor must sign an affidavit promising not to file Medicare claims for any service provided to any beneficiary for two years.
Psychiatrists led the way in supporting Mr. Kyl's proposal. Jay B. Cutler, director of government relations at the American Psychiatric Association, said: "For many years, psychiatrists have wanted the right to sign private contracts with Medicare patients, with no reimbursement from the Federal Government, because the doctors were concerned about the confidentiality of medical records and did not want the Government looking over their shoulders."
      

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The New York Times

August 5, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

A California Man Earns Distinction for the Ages

BYLINE: By TIM GOLDEN 

SECTION: Section A; Page 12; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 731 words

DATELINE: SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Aug. 4

With the passing today of a 122-year-old woman in France, Christian Mortensen, 114, expects to be recognized soon by the appropriate authorities as the oldest person in the world.
It was clear today that he was prepared to rest on his laurels. 
 Not that there is any shortage of activity available to Chris, as he is fondly called by the much-younger women who attend to him at Aldersly Garden Retirement Community in this leafy suburb of San Francisco.
This afternoon, for instance, Mr. Mortensen sang a bit, soaked up the Marin County sun and smoked a rather fat cigar. Although he is blind and nearly deaf, he valiantly held court for a small mob of photographers and reporters.
As a journalistic challenge, the news conference was perhaps not unlike Bob Woodward's last interview with the Reagan Administration's Director of Central Intelligence, William J. Casey. Like Mr. Casey, Mr. Mortensen seemed determined to leave certain subjects clouded in mystery. Over and over, he said, "I don't get it." Only later did it become obvious that the retirement home's activity director, Linda Stucky, had done an amateurish job of trimming Mr. Mortensen's cigar; he was not getting the smoke.
Yet there was an obvious difference between Mr. Mortensen and Mr. Casey: Mr. Mortensen had the help of an eager press agent.
"All the homes have them now," the agent, Sharon Cooke, explained as she hurried after Mr. Mortensen's wheelchair with a packet of fresh Aldersly information kits. "The competition is fierce, especially in Marin."
In a world of wealthy professionals looking for the best care they might find for elderly relatives, Mr. Mortensen's longevity speaks for itself. He has been happily retired since 1950.
"It feels good to know," Mr. Mortensen said today, apparently referring to his new status as the oldest of the old. He paused for some time. "Have a good life." He paused again. "But I am the oldest. She died, and I am the oldest."
Even before Mr. Mortensen laid claim to the title, however, a dispute appeared to have broken out.
A spokesman for Guinness Publications, Clive Carpenter, told The Associated Press today in London that the firm had unconfirmed news of a 118-year-old woman living in California. Another woman, in Brazil, Maria do Carmo Geronimo, claims that she is 126, but she has thus far been kept out of the Guinness Book of World Records because of some questions surrounding her baptismal papers, which were issued by Roman Catholic missionaries.
Mr. Mortensen had already taken firm hold of the unofficial title of World's Oldest Man on the strength of documents recording the birth in Skaarup, Denmark, of Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand Mortensen on Aug. 16, 1882 -- the same year that James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and Franklin D. Roosevelt were born.
In an article last year in The Gerontologist, John R. Wilmoth, a professor of demography at the University of California at Berkeley, followed Mr. Mortensen's paper trail from the parish of Fruering in Denmark and the 1901 Danish census, on to Ellis Island and the floor of the Continental Can Company in Chicago, where Mr. Mortensen made cans from 1929 until his retirement.
In a letter written more than two years ago, Dr. Wilmoth said that even before his 113th birthday, Mr. Mortensen might have been close to the record as the oldest, reliably documented person who ever lived.
But today Dr. Wilmoth sounded more equivocal. He has become a friend of Mr. Mortensen's, but he is also a don't-call-'em-before-you-see-'em social scientist.
"I don't know if it's really true that he's the oldest," the demographer said. "It could be that there's some woman somewhere."
Mr. Mortensen himself evinced no such doubt.
"Yipee-ay-oooh!" he sang. "Yipee-ay-yay!"
Questioned further about his passions, Mr. Mortensen told a story about one of his brothers, who was about 90 years old and would play poker as long as anybody wanted to play.
For his part, Mr. Mortensen said he had especially liked the time he spent as a cowboy in Denmark.
"I wouldn't mind being a cowboy again," he said. "A cowboy is a healthy life -- to live with the cows."
Mr. Mortensen seemed less romantic about women, one of whom he briefly married.
"The cows -- that's a happy life," he said.
But did he have many girlfriends?
"No, no. I didn't live with girlfriends. I lived with cows."

NAME: Christian Mortensen

LOAD-DATE: August 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: August 8, 1997, Friday

 CORRECTION:
Because of an editing error, an article on Monday about Christian Mortensen, who, with the death of a 122-year-old woman in France, may now be the oldest person in the world, misstated a demographer's comment about him. John R. Wilmoth, a professor of demography at the University of California at Berkeley, wrote two years ago that even before his 113th birthday, Mr. Mortensen might have been close to the record as the oldest reliably documented man who ever lived, not the oldest person.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Christian Mortensen of San Rafael, Calif., is now believed to be the oldest person in the world. He was born in Denmark on Aug. 16, 1882. (Audrey Shehyn for The New York Times)

TYPE: Biography

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The New York Times

August 8, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Frank F. Furstenberg, Doctor, 92

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 6; National Desk

LENGTH: 144 words

Dr. Frank Folke Furstenberg, a Baltimore physician and an advocate of national health care legislation in the 1940's, died on Tuesday at his home. He was 92 and lived in Baltimore.
Dr. Furstenberg was the director of the Sinai Hospital Medical Care Clinic in Baltimore and served on the Executive Committee for the Nation's Health, which lobbied for the Wagner-Murray-Dinger national health care bill, introduced in 1943. In the 1970's, he became an advocate for the elderly and served as vice-chairman of the Baltimore City Commission on the Aging. 
 He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Edith Hollander Furstenberg; three daughters, Carla Cohen of Washington and Ellen and Anne Furstenberg, both of Philadelphia; three sons Frank Jr., of Philadelphia, Mark, of Washington, and Michael, of Newton, Mass.; 12 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

LOAD-DATE: August 8, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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415 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

August 9, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Minister Is Found Stabbed to Death

SECTION: Section 1; Page 27; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 204 words

An elderly woman who only two years ago became an ordained Baptist minister was found stabbed to death yesterday in the living room of her Brooklyn home.
The body of the woman, Bette B. Buffa, 74, was found on a couch in her Flatlands home around 9 A.M. by a health care worker who came daily to tend Mrs. Buffa's 81-year-old husband, Elliot, who suffered a stroke several years ago. 
 Mrs. Buffa had been stabbed several times in the neck and chest by an assailant who appeared to have entered the couple's row house through a back door, said Chief William Taylor of the Brooklyn police.
"The place was tossed and the dresser drawers were empty," he said. "We believe property was taken, and we believe it was by somebody she knew." Mrs. Buffa's car was missing from the driveway.
Mr. Buffa, a retired transit worker, was sitting up in bed near his dead wife and seemed to be in shock when the police arrived. He appeared to have witnessed the crime, they said, but since he was unable to speak, they could not question him. He was taken to Beth Israel Hospital.
Chief Taylor said that the police are looking into assertions by neighbors who said that they heard Mrs. Buffa arguing with someone Thursday night.

LOAD-DATE: August 9, 1997

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The New York Times

August 9, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Despite Indictment, Hikind Is Supported by a Party Chief

BYLINE: By JOSEPH P. FRIED 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 27; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 517 words

Although he has broken with his party to support Republicans in major races in the past, State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, the Brooklyn Democrat indicted on Thursday on charges of stealing Government funds, can still count on the support of his party's local leadership, the Brooklyn Democratic chief said yesterday.
"No one has given a hint of opposing him" in next year's Assembly election, "and if they did they would not have our support," Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr., the chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party, said. 
 Mr. Hikind, a conservative Democrat and one of the most outspoken political figures among the city's Orthodox Jews, has supported such prominent Republicans as Alfonse M. D'Amato in his race for the Senate, George E. Pataki in his successful effort to unseat Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, and Rudolph W. Giuliani in his mayoral race. But in more local races, Mr. Norman said, "Dov has been with us."
Mr. Norman cited last year's Democratic primary for Brooklyn surrogate judge in which Mr. Hikind supported Mr. Norman's candidate, Michael H. Feinberg, against Lila Gold, the candidate supported by Mr. Norman's rival for party leadership, Anthony J. Genovesi. Mr. Hikind's support of Mr. Feinberg was an important factor in securing Mr. Feinberg's victory, Mr. Norman said. "Dov has been very supportive of myself and our political endeavors in Brooklyn," he said.
"I think he'll ultimately be vindicated," Mr. Norman said, referring to the criminal charges against Mr. Hikind, who represents Borough Park and nearby areas of Brooklyn. "I've known him a long time; his integrity is above reproach, and an indictment is nothing more than a charge."
Mr. Hikind, who is 47 and a 15-year veteran of the Assembly, is accused in the Federal indictment of receiving at least $40,000 in payoffs from officials of a social-services group in return for obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funds for the group and its affiliates. The group, the Council of Jewish Organizations of Boro Park, known as COJO, also received millions of dollars a year in Federal and city funds for its programs of job training and aid to businesses, immigrants, the elderly and others.
Mr. Hikind is accused of receiving the payoffs in the form of payments for school and day-camp tuition for his children and other relatives, payments for family trips to Israel and France and payments for various politically related activities. On Thursday he denounced the charges as "baseless and politically motivated" and vowed to fight them while remaining in office "to serve my constituents and community."
He is to be arraigned on the indictment on Monday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. If convicted on the most serious charge, misappropriation of Federal funds, Mr. Hikind could receive up to 10 years in prison. A conviction would also bring immediate expulsion from the Assembly.
While Mr. Norman expressed strong support of Mr. Hikind, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the state's top Democrats, said Mr. Silver had no comment on the indictment.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 1997: LAW ENFORCEMENT;
Welcome, Incorrigibles

SECTION: Section 6; Page 17; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 288 words

Tomorrow marks the 63d anniversary of the opening of Alcatraz as a Federal prison. (It closed after 29 years in 1963.) This weekend, a dozen or so former inmates and correctional officers are gathered on the site of the most infamous jail in America to talk to the public, sign autobiographies and reminisce about the bad old days. Other activities include a (voluntary) sleepover in the cramped, chilly cells that a handful of these senior citizens once called home. 
 The annual event was conceived a few years back to reunite the dwindling population of Alcatraz veterans, and memories are obviously still a bit painful. Nathan Glenn Williams, an 84-year-old former bank robber, says that during his first sleepover in 1994, I didn't sleep much -- it was too much. Jim Quillen, 77, a retired robber/kidnapper/burglar/prison escapee, reports the same. Very traumatic, he says. Alcatraz, after all, was where the most hardened, difficult career criminals were sent and forgotten, including Al Capone, George (Machine Gun) Kelly and Robert (the Birdman of Alcatraz) Stroud. Quillen, who served time in the 1940's, doesn't have fond memories of his 10-year stretch. Alcatraz was designed, operated and worked to break you, he says, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
So why come back? Mainly for the company. To their mutual surprise, the ex-cons and ex-guards have found that, by and large, they like one another. We get along great," says George DeVincenzi, a former guard. Quillen agrees, mentioning an old captain of the guards, Phil Bergen, who was instrumental in trying to kill 26 of us in D-block during a 1946 riot. But the guy's 92 years old, he says. What's the point of being angry at him now?

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August 10, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Q. & A.

SECTION: Section 9; Page 8; Column 6; Real Estate Desk

LENGTH: 638 words


Realty Tax Exemption For Elderly
 
Q. Is it true that the New York City Finance Department offers a special property tax exemption for the elderly? What is the amount of the exemption and what are the eligibility requirements? . . . Gilbert Munkooly, East Elmhurst, Queens.
A. The Department of Finance offers exemptions of 5 percent to 50 percent on New York City real estate taxes for qualified property owners. Generally, to qualify for the Senior Citizens Property Tax Exemption, a property owner must be 65 or older on or before Dec. 31 of the year in which benefits will begin. 
 In the case of a married couple or siblings who are co-owners, only one of the pair needs to meet that requirement. In the case of unrelated co-owners, both must be 65 or older. In all cases, the applicant or applicants must live in the property and must have held title for at least 12 consecutive months before March 15 of the year the exemption goes into effect. Eligible properties include one-, two- or three-family houses, condominium units and co-op apartments.
The combined total income for all owners from all sources must be less than $26,900, including Social Security. (Applicants are authorized to deduct unreimbursed medical and prescription expenses when calculating total household income.)
The amount of the exemption is based on a sliding scale geared to the total combined income. So, for example, a household with total income of $26,899 would qualify for a 5 percent exemption while a household with a total income of $18,500 or less would result in a 50 percent exemption.
The annual filing period for the exemption runs from July 15 through March 15. Applications and additional information may be obtained from the New York City Department of Finance by calling (718) 935-9500.
 
Impound Accounts For Mortgages
 
Q. What are impound accounts and why do some mortgage lenders require them? . . . J.W. Dearborn, Forest Hills, Queens.
A. Robert B. Withers, president of Withers & Company, a mortgage lender in New Rochelle, N.Y., said the letter writer's use of the term impound account appears to be a reference to the escrow accounts most residential lenders require when providing a mortgage loan for the purchase of a home.
In most cases, Mr. Withers said, a lender will require a borrower to deposit with the lender a sum sufficient to enable the lender to pay the borrower's property taxes and fire insurance premiums when they are due. Typically, he said, amounts due from the borrower are spread out over the year and are included in the monthly mortgage payment.
In addition, Mr. Withers said, to insure that the lender will always be somewhat ahead of the borrower, most lenders require that a cushion of two or three months' escrow payments be made at the time of closing in case taxes or insurance premiums increase from one year to the next. Monthly escrow payments are adjusted each year to account for such changes, he said.
The reason lenders insist on escrow accounts, Mr. Withers said, is to protect their investment. If a fire insurance policy lapses for nonpayment, for example, a significant portion of the lender's collateral will be lost if a fire destroys the structure.
Lenders also insist that property taxes be paid when due, Mr. Withers said, because if a borrower fails to pay them, and the municipality places a lien on the property, the municipality's lien supersedes the lender's lien and must ultimately be repaid -- with interest and penalties -- thereby potentially reducing the lender's collateral.
Mr. Withers pointed out that there are times when a lender may elect to forgo the payment of escrows. Such situations occur, however, only when there is sufficient equity in the property to enable the lender to feel comfortable in face of the risks.

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THE NEW TAX LAW: Amid Complexity, Opportunities Abound;
Beyond Medicare: New Choices in Health Insurance

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 4; Column 2; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 722 words

For all Washington's celebratory mood over the nation's first major tax cut in 16 years, Congress and the Clinton Administration hardly issued an open invitation to the party. Rather than an across-the-board tax cut, the $96 billion package is a series of narrowly focused measures intended to achieve specific goals. How much you benefit depends on your personal circumstances. Here is a guide to achieving key financial objectives under the new rules.
IN theory, the new budget law will create a supermarket of health insurance options for older Americans.
Today, most people 65 and older are in the standard Medicare program, which pays a separate fee for each service. The new law creates a parallel "Medicare+Choice" program, with several alternatives. 
 * Elderly people can enroll in health maintenance organizations. About 4.4 million of the 38 million Medicare beneficiaries are already in H.M.O.'s, and enrollment is sure to increase, as these health plans will find it more profitable to sign up Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas and some medium-size cities.
* Older people can also get care through "preferred provider organizations," which send patients to a select group of doctors but let them go outside the network for an extra charge. And doctors and hospitals will be able to form their own health plans -- to be known as provider-sponsored organizations -- to compete for Medicare business.
* Elderly people can establish "medical savings accounts" to pay their routine medical bills, while buying private insurance to cover catastrophic expenses, all subsidized by several thousand dollars a year of Federal money.
* Medicare beneficiaries can enroll in private fee-for-service health plans, which would offer unlimited choice of doctors and hospitals. Patients would use their own money to supplement Federal Medicare money, and there would be no limit on the premiums that patients might be charged.
* Beneficiaries may sign private contracts with doctors for particular services. This option may appeal to some affluent people who want to avoid all the constraints of managed care, but there is a price: Medicare will not pay any of the bill, and the doctors may charge substantially more than fees deemed reasonable by Medicare.
Patients should be cautious in choosing any of these new options, as costs may be higher, and protections fewer, than under the standard Medicare program or in H.M.O.'s.
For several years, Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get out of H.M.O.'s with just a month's notice. But after 2002 beneficiaries can be locked into an H.M.O. for nine months before being allowed to switch.
Elderly patients who try out managed care need to think about whether they will be able to get supplementary Medigap insurance if they return to the fee-for-service Medicare program. Many people leaving H.M.O.'s have medical problems; Medigap insurers might not cover their pre-existing conditions, or the premiums might be very high. But, under the new law, beneficiaries will be able to obtain Medigap policies if they return to the traditional program within 12 months of their first enrollment in a Medicare+Choice plan -- or if they move out of the health plan's service area.
The basic Medicare premium paid by beneficiaries, now $43.80 a month, will rise faster under the new law than previously. The monthly premium is scheduled to reach $67 in 2002, compared with $51.50 projected for that year under the old law. Beneficiaries with low incomes will be eligible for Federal help in paying their premiums.
The budget law offers new or expanded Medicare coverage for preventive health services, including mammograms, Pap smears and screening for cancer of the prostate and colon. Medicare will now pay for tests to detect osteoporosis in some women and for training, education and blood-testing strips for diabetics.
The new law will impose new limits on elderly patients' share of their bills for hospital outpatient services.
Elderly people escaped two onerous new burdens considered this year, an increase in the eligibility age for Medicare and imposing still higher premiums on higher-income beneficiaries. Baby boomers, beware: those proposals are sure to be reconsidered some day, as lawmakers seek solutions to Medicare's long-term financial problems.

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University Forced to Pay $1.6 Million To Researcher

BYLINE: By PHILIP J. HILTS 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 13; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 700 words

Ending seven years of court action and appeals, the University of Michigan has paid $1.67 million in damages to a scientist who said her work had been stolen by her supervisor.
The money went to Dr. Carolyn Phinney, 46, a researcher in psychology who specialized in issues of aging and adult development, in a civil case that began in 1988. 
 The award is believed to be the largest ever won by a scientist against a university in a misconduct case, said Dr. Robert Sprague of the University of Illinois, who maintains a data base of misconduct cases in science research.
The case was also unusual because a jury awarded damages for retaliation by university officials as well as for fraud. The university turned over the $1.67 million to Dr. Phinney on July 30, along with a box of research data that had been taken from her. About $500,000 went to her lawyer, Philip Green.
Dr. Phinney said in a telephone interview last week that she would use part of the money to finance a fledgling nonprofit organization, called WISE, (for Whistle-Blowers for Integrity in Science and Education), which she hopes will be able to help other whistle-blowers with counseling and legal help.
Dr. Phinney said she was relieved that the case was over, but that it was not a joyous time. "I have lost my data on 10 years of work," she said. "I've lost my career. I got very sick. I believe what happened to me was intellectual rape."
She said she had not worked steadily for several years because of the clinical depression and post-traumatic-stress disorder.
Lisa Baker, a University of Michigan associate vice president for university relations, said that the university "remains convinced that the decision of the jury in the lawsuit brought by Dr. Phinney against the university was in error." She added, "The U.M. continues to stand behind our personnel in this matter and believe they acted appropriately."
The university dropped its appeal when it became clear that there was very little chance that the jury verdict would be reversed, a university official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The two senior scientists cited in the civil lawsuit, Drs. Marion Perlmutter and Richard Adelman, did not return calls seeking comment.
The case began in 1988 when Dr. Phinney was doing part-time research at the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan while she finished a post-doctoral fellowship at the Institute for Social Research. Dr. Phinney was working on what is recognized as a difficult topic: how can wisdom, or understanding gained through living, be defined and measured? Her aim was to try to determine if the elderly had more wisdom than young people. She had just solved the core of the problem, and her supervisor, Dr. Perlmutter, a recognized researcher in aging, suggested she write up that and other research in applications for research grants.
Dr. Perlmutter promised Dr. Phinney that she would be listed as the first author on papers resulting from the work as well as a job at the Institute of Gerontology, Dr. Phinney said. But after Dr. Perlmutter had Dr. Phinney's research and grant applications in hand, Dr. Phinney asserted, Dr. Perlmutter said the work was her own.
When Dr. Phinney complained to university officials, the lawsuit contended, Dr. Adelman, who was director of the Institute of Gerontology, threatened Dr. Phinney. He said in court testimony that he had told Dr. Phinney that if she did not drop the matter against her senior colleague, she would be dismissed. Dr. Perlmutter then dismissed Dr. Phinney from her laboratory. Dr. Phinney found work elsewhere at the university until 1992.
After a year of negotiation failed, Dr. Phinney took the matter to the Washtenaw Circuit Court in Michigan. In 1993, a jury found unanimously that Dr. Perlmutter had committed fraud and Dr. Adelman had retaliated against Dr. Phinney.
In April, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the jury's award against Drs. Perlmutter and Adelman, but said that the university's Board of Regents should not be held accountable for the retaliation. In July, the court denied a motion for reconsideration, prompting the university to pay the damages.

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Helping Victims Of Schemes

BYLINE: By FELICE BUCKVAR  

SECTION: Section 13WC;  Page 15;  Column 1;  Westchester Weekly Desk  

LENGTH: 742 words

DATELINE: WHITE PLAINS

AT first, Castrenze J. DiCarlo, director of the county's Department of Consumer Protection, was surprised to see the same faces again and again when he spoke to the elderly about schemes. One woman told him: "I came again because I wanted to be reminded of your warnings. I couldn't remember everything you said before."
After speaking to almost 2,000 elderly residents countywide, Mr. DiCarlo became used to people coming up after a speech to tell him how they had lost money to a swindler. Some also had questions about investments they were planning, recommended by telemarketers. Some of the telemarketers were legitimate, but others were obviously con artists. "I personally stopped five scams that seniors were seriously considering," Mr. DiCarlo said. 
 His experiences inspired him to start a program, Adopt a Senior Citizen, which uses volunteers to make weekly calls to those who have been the victims of schemes in the past to discuss how to avoid being swindled again. Because of Adopt a Senior Citizen, Mr. DiCarlo was one of six consumer advocates in the country hailed by the National Association of Consumer Agency Advocates. But so far, Mr. DiCarlo has found it easier to get volunteers than elderly residents willing to sign up for the program. He has about 30 participants receiving calls from volunteers and 21 additional volunteers waiting for assignments. He said he was asked by others who work with the elderly not to call them because that could make them more vulnerable to telemarketing frauds. He limits his recruitment efforts to the elderly who sign up in person at his lectures.
Catherine Helgeson of Cortlandt Manor, a secretary at the Frank G. Lindsey School in Montrose and a volunteer in the program, said she joined because she liked to help people and she knew people who had been cheated. Her late father had overpaid bills by at least $3,000, which Mrs. Helgeson got back. And friends of hers had parents living in Florida who squandered thousands of dollars on questionable sweepstakes and lotteries.
Although many recent schemes are often not limited to the elderly, Annette Buchanan, a consumer representative for the American Association of Retired Persons, said that more than 80 percent of the telemarketing schemes are directed at older people. Recently, callers have congratulated so-called winners of contests or lotteries and offered to put the money directly into the winner's credit card account. All the caller needs to use the account for his own purposes is the card's number. In another instance, a so-called winner must call a 900 number, a call that can cost $75.
Bank schemes often require a victim to show good faith by giving the swindler what the victim thinks is a small percentage of the money he is going to get. Overbilling for home improvements never done or completed for a fraction of the cost are also a problem, experts say.
Besides the Department of Consumer Protection, other agencies are trying to prevent fraud involving the elderly, recover money and stop others from being swindled. New York State's Attorney General, Dennis Vacco, said his office would "take any case that comes our way."
"We have no prosecution threshold," he added, observing that recent schemes have increasingly involved penny-stock frauds aimed at residents of affluent neighborhoods.
Many victims call the Attorney General's office in the hope of getting their money recovered, and in 1995-96, more than $800,000 was returned to 3,400 complainants.
Although an 84-year-old Bronx woman lost her home and her money in investments with her daughter's boyfriend in a series of meetings that took place in Tarrytown, the man was convicted of grand larceny and is serving a prison sentence.
District Attorney Jeanine Pirro of Westchester County said of such victims, "We need to be proactive in prevention. We publicize our prosecution of these crimes so the criminal defendant knows we are going to be aggressive in educating the public." She said she keeps in touch with about 400 groups for the elderly and issues warnings about fraudulent schemes at speaking engagements and through a newsletter.
For information or to report a scheme, the number to call for Mr. DiCarlo is 285-2155. The consumer hot line at the Attorney General's office and the special Elderlaw Unit there is (800) 771-7755. The District Attorney's office can be reached at (800) 898-8477 or 288-8477.

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Personal Health

BYLINE: By Jane E. Brody 

SECTION: Section C; Page 8; Column 1; National Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 1089 words

A 73-YEAR-OLD Memphis woman was discharged from the hospital with a prescription for medication that was not covered by her Medicare managed-care health plan. Because she could not afford to pay for it herself, she did without it, suffered a relapse and had to be readmitted to the hospital, where she was able to get the drug she needed.
A Maryland woman in her early 50's seemed to break a bone every time she bumped into something. After the third fracture, she asked the primary care doctor in her managed-care plan what might be causing her bones to break. The doctor said she was clumsy and did nothing further. Not until the sixth fracture, a broken toe that resulted from kicking a foam-rubber ball, was she given a bone density test, which revealed advanced osteoporosis. 
 A New York woman was having trouble getting in to see a dermatologist in her managed-care plan. Exacerbated, she shouted into the phone: "It's on my face and it's growing. I can't wait six weeks for an appointment."
Such incidents are not unusual, said Deborah Briceland-Betts, executive director of the Older Women's League, a Washington-based organization that sponsored an analysis of how women fare under managed care, which is fast becoming the nation's leading means of financing and delivering health care. The findings suggest that while managed care offers important advantages over fee-for-service medicine in the areas of prevention and early detection, it often limits access to specialists and reduces the treatment options for many women, especially older women, who live longer and suffer more chronic ills than men.

The Pluses and Minuses
Managed care is prepaid health care that makes a profit by holding down the costs of patient care. It comes in several forms, but it typically puts more emphasis on prevention and early detection of disease than fee-for-service medicine does. By inexpensively providing procedures like Pap smears, mammograms and blood pressure screenings, managed care makes them affordable for many women.
But many experts question whether doctors working within a system designed to save money can always act in their patients' best interests. Under managed care, patients must first see a primary care doctor, the gatekeeper who controls referrals to specialists and access to procedures. Managed-care plans usually maintain lists of drugs that they cover, and many refuse to pay for certain costly but potentially lifesaving treatments, particularly those they consider experimental.
Middle-aged and older women may be especially at risk under managed-care plans because of their greater medical needs and more limited finances. Women live, on average, seven years longer than men, and they have a higher incidence of chronic diseases, like osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, depression, multiple sclerosis, lupus, urinary incontinence, thyroid disease and breast and gynecological cancers. Many older women have several chronic ailments that require treatment by different specialists. Limited finances often make it impossible for older women to find the money to see doctors or buy medicines not covered by their managed-care plan.
In theory, primary care doctors coordinate their patients' care, keeping track of their problems and treatments, making sure that the right specialists are seen and protecting patients against inappropriate procedures. Too often, however, as in the case of the Memphis woman who needed to be hospitalized for lack of a drug, the system is penny-wise but pound-foolish. It can put patients through many hoops, wasting much of their time, money and effort before getting to the bottom of their health problems.
For example, my sister-in-law, Cindy Brody, who is in managed care, noticed a hearing problem and sense of fullness in her ears. Her primary care doctor saw her three days later and put her on an antihistamine for five days, which did no good, then referred her to an ear, nose and throat specialist.
After waiting two weeks for that appointment, the specialist said he could do nothing until Mrs. Brody had a hearing test. Four weeks later, test results in hand, she saw the specialist again. He diagnosed oto-sclerosis, a bone problem in the middle ear, and referred her to yet another specialist.
That doctor said he was not taking patients under her plan and told her to see a colleague, who said he could give her an appointment six weeks later. Furious, she went back to her primary care doctor for a referral to another specialist, who saw her in a week and a half and evaluated her for a hearing aid. Had she not been in the plan, Mrs. Brody said, she would have gone directly to an ear specialist in the first place and avoided four or five of her six appointments.

What You Can Do
The report commissioned by the Older Women's League suggests steps consumers should take, preferably before enrolling in a managed-care plan.
*Learn about the plan's rules, including its pre-approval process. What will the plan pay for if you need or want services outside the network of providers?
*Ask about limitations on coverage, like the number of visits to a chiropractor, physical therapist or mental health specialist that are covered. Ask whether there are lifetime caps on such coverage.
*Find out how the plan handles emergencies. What if you need medical attention when out of your coverage area or in another country?
*Ask for a list of the names and locations of the doctors, including all specialists you are likely to need, in the plan's network. Are they accessible to you? If you have a chronic health problem requiring the care of a specialist, ask whether you can use a specialist as your primary care doctor. Otherwise you will always have to see another doctor first before you can get to the specialist.
*Find out what can be done to get medications that are not on the list of covered drugs. Is there a grievance procedure? Will your primary care doctor go to bat for you?
*Explore the plan's appeal mechanism. What can you do if the plan refuses to pay for a treatment or the doctor delays a service you think you need? Find out how long it takes for appeals to be settled. What would happen if you were denied care that was urgently needed?
If you lose an appeal within a managed-care plan, do not hesitate to take your complaints to the state insurance commission or other regulatory body, to state or Federal lawmakers or to the press. An active stance may be needed to save your health and even your life.

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August 15, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

World News Briefs;
Canadian Is Ruled World's Oldest Person

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section A; Page 7; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 209 words

DATELINE: LONDON, Aug. 14

A Canadian woman who has documents to prove she will be 117 years old this month is the world's oldest person, a spokesman for the Guinness Book of Records said today.
Marie-Louise Febronie Meilleur of the northern Ontario town of Corbeil succeeds to the title last held by Jeanne Calment, who died this month in her native France at the age of 122. 
 Mrs. Meilleur, who was born on Aug. 29, 1880, has been married twice and has about 300 descendants.
Her family said the secret of her long life was hard work and keeping active.
Jean Bosse, one of Mrs. Meilleur's 75 living grandchildren, said recently that his grandmother had the reputation of being "a woman with a lot of character." He added, "She wasn't someone you could push around, not a submissive woman at all."
She was born in the town of Kamouraska, Quebec, 95 miles east of Quebec City.
Guinness verified her age through her certificates of birth and baptism, census records, two marriage certificates and other documents.
Not far behind is Sarah Knauss of Philadelphia, who has documents to prove she will be 117 on Sept. 24.
"Since Jeanne's death, we've been inundated with potential record claims from around the world," said Clive Carpenter, a Guinness records-keeper.

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Late-Summer Lark

BYLINE: By SARAH FERRELL;    SARAH FERRELL is the associate editor of The Sophisticated Traveler, a part 2 of The New York Times Magazine.

SECTION: Section 5;   Page 12;   Column 1;   Travel Desk   

LENGTH: 1695 words

"NO tattoos," my husband says firmly, "and no bungee-jumping." But even with these restrictions, the Great Allentown Fair in Pennsylvania offers plenty of diversions, from livestock judging to hay-bale-throwing and cake-baking contests, to say nothing of rides, freak shows and several acres of food.
The fair, which traditionally runs from the Tuesday before Labor Day through the holiday itself, is one of the classic American end-of-summer rituals. Older citizens remember when the factories that once flourished throughout the Lehigh Valley would close on Big Thursday, the Thursday of the fair, so that everyone could attend. The same older citizens -- or at least the sprightly geezer with red socks with whom I'm chatting as we wait for the gates to open at noon -- also remember when there were predictable fistfights in the beer tent. 
 My husband, Tom, and I have been issued a map to the 46-acre grounds with our $4 admission ticket, but it's hard to pay it much mind among the distractions that beckon from every direction. The tattoo stand is just inside the entrance, and two young matrons, each with an infant in a stroller, are checking out the designs. "Way too expensive," says one, clearly speaking from experience. On the near horizon, the bungee-jump platform joins four Ferris wheels or Ferris wheel variations to form a fanciful skyline.
A long gallery of arresting posters announces the sideshows. See! See! See! The World's Smallest Woman; Big Willie, the Giant Alligator; the Headless Woman, formerly "a voluptuous model," now a Medical Marvel.
Bobo the Clown jeers at us from his perch above a tank of water. We do not take it personally -- he jeers at everyone. The idea is to get the jeerees sufficiently exercised to buy five baseballs ($2) to throw at one of a pair of targets. Hit a bull's-eye, and Bobo goes into the drink. A little boy dunks him. "Good shot, you little varmint," Bobo screeches. "Don't do it again -- I know where you live and I'll send my brother to get even!" The varmint dunks him three times running.
A showmanship competition is going on in the judging tent, with 4-H youngsters putting well-brushed beef cattle through their paces. Nearby, children are getting nose-to-nose with farm animals in a 4-H exhibit designed for that purpose. The star is a very pink sow, blissfully nursing a dozen piglets. ("Babe!" exclaims a somewhat confused child.) In other tents, sheep, wearing what look like slipcovers, are waiting for their moment on stage, while other pigs loll about en deshabille.
The dairy cattle have already been judged, and stand around looking proud of their ribbons. A much-decorated cow named Kortney tries to eat my skirt. As we move among the goats, a Nubian gets a good grip on my dress; as I turn to defend myself, another sneaks up to eat my notebook.
The poultry hall is safer, if noisy with cock crows. The guinea pigs and rabbits and fancy hamsters and pigeons and chickens are caged, and will bite only if you stick your fingers in their eyes. If you can find their eyes -- with some of the fancier chickens it's a matter of guesswork. With some of the really fancy chickens, it's hard to tell head from tail.
It's now time for a chic late lunch, and we skip the food stands in favor of Rich's, a permanent installation under the permanent grandstand. We settle under the ceiling fans -- the afternoon has become hot -- for pork barbecue sandwiches and iced tea. And then big ice cream things, a specialty of the house, which has been making its own ice cream for some 60 years. Tom orders a hot fudge sundae, and I study the menu and ask what a C.M.P. might be. What it is is a giant sundae topped with chocolate and marshmallow sauces and, oh my, chopped peanuts. I lapse into a state of piggish bliss.
Outdoors the crowd has begun to thicken -- up to 100,000 attend the fair each day if the weather is good -- and prizes are now in evidence. Big inflatable plastic hammers seem to be favored, along with more conventional stuffed animals and goldfish in little bowls of brightly colored water. I try a ring-toss game, and do not win anything at all.
We pass through the agriculture building, with its displays of quilts, pickles and preserves, crafts and house plants, on our way to the Pennsylvania (Tennessee) pleasure walking horse exhibit. There are four horses, each labeled by name, nickname, age, color, height, favorite snack, favorite colors, favorite song and favorite pastime. It's all a little too anthropomorphic for me, but the animals are handsome, and I rather enjoy knowing that Kid likes going to parties, while Hiway prefers watching sunsets. The horses are going to give a show, but a conflict of interest will not allow us to see them.
What we have decided that we cannot possibly give up, for walking horses or anything else, is the wrestling in mashed potatoes. A direct descendant of the women wrestling in mud that was once an attraction in raunchy bars, this has become fun for the whole family, as witnessed by the first contestants, a married couple named Bill and Dawn, who enter the ring and begin thrashing about. Dawn wins. Things get really messy with the professionals: the three-woman team of Allentown Slammers; Baby Boom-Boom; Wild Thing; and the Florida Swamp Woman. All wear modest bathing suits, there are not many rules, and everyone (including the referee, Big Ugly Paul) falls down a lot. Goo spatters in all directions, but we are laughing too hard to move out of range.
After the matches I talk to Bruce Rosenbaum, of Catawissa, Pa., the impresario of this and many other novelty wrestling events. (They are popular fund-raisers, especially in schools.) I implore him to tell me that Bill and Dawn are ringers, but he insists that they are real volunteers. He invites me to come back for the evening show, which features amateur sumo wrestling.
At this point, a visit to the beer garden is an absolute necessity. We are restored after a couple of drafts of Yeungling's lager, an excellent local brew. No fistfights occur.
The afternoon is drawing in, and the crowd has swelled considerably. Some fairgoers now appear in tooled boots and sequined denims; others sport T-shirts with the pictures of the country singers Brooks and Dunn, who are performing in this Saturday evening's grandstand show. Everyone is eating something: pizza, cheese steaks, apple dumplings, funnel cakes, sausages, deep-fried mushrooms, corn dogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn pie, sno-cones -- the list goes on.
We review the sideshows and spend 50 cents each to see the Giant Brazilian Swamp Rat, which looks like a capybara to us. Although, come to think of it, a capybara is a giant Brazilian swamp rat.
ON a platform in front of the World's Weirdest Women tent (Tortellina the Turtle Girl, Grace Walker the Four-Legged Enigma and Sadistica, Empress of Pain are only a few of the promised W.W.W.), a very small elderly man is eating fire. The barker identifies him as one of the original "Wizard of Oz" Munchkins, which does not seem unlikely. Beside him sits a demure young woman, draped in a well-behaved python. As the barker warms to his task of describing the wonders to be seen inside, I would swear that I hear the word "illusions." Well, rats. If Spidora doesn't really have the body of a tarantula, I'm not interested.
While Tom watches fitness show offs climb an artificial cliff, I decide to have my fortune told. I am willing to settle for having one palm read ($5), but can't resist the offer of both palms, and a $3 handwriting analysis for a total of $8, with a little aura reading thrown in. The fortune teller is, surprisingly, a man. He tells me that his name is Rocky, and that he inherited his gifts from his mother and grandmother. He has a beard and nice brown eyes, and predicts all kinds of swell things for me: I'll live to be about 90, come into money soon, travel and get a nice present, "something gold with small diamonds," from my lover. My handwriting reveals me to be a person of singular grace and charm. I leave feeling like a million bucks -- this is more fun than therapy, and much cheaper.
By now the midway lights have come on and the rides are going full blast. The Ferris wheels are shooting neon rainbows into the darkened sky, and the bungee-jumpers plunge into pools of colored light. The throngs, the ambient music and the motion are euphoric. We pause to gaze in wonder at Pharaoh's Fury, a huge swinging boat with lighted King Tut heads at each end. It sweeps through the sky in a great arc, at the ends of which the braver passengers, shrieking, thrust their arms into the air.
It looks like the most exciting ride in the history of rides, but, alas, the lines are long, and we really must go home to wash the mashed potatoes out of our hair.
 
Rates, route and rooms
 
This year's Great Allentown Fair runs from Aug. 26 through Sept. 1. The hours are noon to midnight daily except on preview night, Tuesday, Aug. 26, when the fair is open from 5 P.M. to midnight. Admission is $4, with children under 12 free. For prices and information about grandstand shows and other special events, among them the J. & J. Demolition Derby with the Jurassic Car-Eating Dinosaur, call (610) 435-7469.
Allentown, Pa., is about an hour and a half from New York by car; look for exit signs off I-78. The entrance to the fairgrounds is at 17th and Chew Streets. There is some on-street parking, and several lots whose fees of about $5 go to worthy causes.
There are motels on U.S. 22 and around route I-78, among them a Holiday Inn (610) 391-1000 at 7736 Adrienne Drive in Breinigsville, just outside Allentown, which has 180 rooms, a restaurant and an outdoor pool. Double rooms are $105 during the week of the fair.
The Allentown Hilton (610) 433-2221, downtown at 904 Hamilton Mall, has 224 rooms, a restaurant and a fitness center with an indoor pool. Double rooms range from $105 to $126.
Lunch at the Ritz Barbecue is about $15 for two; fair food is inexpensive, with, for example, Pennsylvania Dutch corn pie with cheese for $2.50. Yuengling's lager, on draft, is about $1.   S.F.

LOAD-DATE: August 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Bobo the Clown jeers from his perch. Rocky the fortune teller, prize-winning grape preserves, meeting the livestock. (Photographs by Sal Di Marco Jr. for The New York Times)(pg. 12); Fairgoers must be willing to suspend disbelief. (Sal Di Marco Jr. for The New York Times)(pg. 18)
 
Map of Pennsylvania showing the location of Allentown. (pg. 12)

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August 17, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ARTS/ARTIFACTS;
Portraits of a Distant People By a Pioneer With a Camera

BYLINE: By MITCHELL OWENS 

SECTION: Section 2; Page 34; Column 1; Arts and Leisure Desk 

LENGTH: 874 words

DATELINE: LONDON

EARLY PHOTOGRAPHIC portraits, no matter how expert the man or woman behind the camera, always seem a little stiff to modern eyes. Not only do the subjects' Victorian costumes lend a faraway, fancy-dress air but the people themselves seem artificial -- pokerfaced, stiffly arranged, life-size dolls rather than human beings. And distance of time often renders that earliest era's most celebratedly beautiful visages strangely unappealing. But John Thomson was that rare being, less a photographer than a fine artist, capturing his subjects, quirks and all, in ways that transform them from historical figures into lively companions.
An exhibition of Thomson's work -- 40 photographs of the people and places of the Far East taken between 1866 and 1871 -- opened here on Aug. 6, at the Atlas Books/Gallery. Each of the images has also been reproduced in a limited edition of 350 hand-finished silver gelatin prints made from original glass-plate negatives. Prices for the new prints, which measure roughly 12 inches by 16 inches, range from about $215 to about $370. 
 An intrepid Scotsman who ended up being appointed an official royal photographer, Thomson, who died in 1921, is known largely today for his poignant photographs of life in the slums of Victorian London. After the royal nod, he branched out into Sargent-like at home portraits of England's dandies and duchesses. But behind the establishment glamour of his mature years lurked a man of adventure.
In 1862, for reasons no one knows, Thomson, then 25, left the tweedy comforts of his native Edinburgh for the malarial promise of the Malay Peninsula. A year later, he moved his studio to cosmopolitan Singapore. From there, he and his Chinese assistants, Akun and Ahong, would lug their unwieldy equipment -- tents for sleeping and on-site processing, several cameras including a large wooden boxlike model, fragile glass negatives measuring about one foot square and gallons of developing chemicals -- from bustling wharves to the remotest parts of China. Eventually, the three traveled more than 4,000 miles over the next nine years, bringing back images of an Orient innocent of Western products, ideas and settlers.
Though the fruit of Thomson's Asian expeditions was "Illustrations of China and Its People," a series of majestic folios published in 1873 and 1874, he was no coolly appraising anthropologist.
What is particularly moving about his work is its sensitivity, Thomson's intimate, considerately detailed approach to men and women who probably had never seen a camera. Whether it was children wading in a stream, proud housemaids, a pipe-smoking diplomat, skinny street gamblers or an elderly Cantonese lady in pensive thought, Thomson approached his subjects on an even footing, one equal regarding another, honestly, respectfully, even reverently.
"That's what I find so appealing, his empathy," said Ben Burdett, the director of the Atlas Books/Gallery, which specializes in topographical photography and related literature. "You can see that in the people's expressions. They look as if they understand that Thomson, unlike many other white explorers of the day, regarded them as people, not curiosities."
A FEW OF THE SUBJECTS, LIKE a trio of stolid Chinese gentleman, have all the ease of wanted posters, but much of the time, Thomson character studies are imbued with uncommon vivacity -- a not inconsequential feat considering that the typical exposure time in Thomson's day was nearly two minutes.
A smile flickers on the lips of a Chinese merchant holding a fan, while Prince Kung of China, sunlight glinting off his tanned forehead and nails like daggers, sits in a stony Peking garden. A beautiful young woman in a checked kerchief gazes at the camera with the suave flirtatiousness of a Vogue supermodel, while another photograph records the grave but nervous beauty of a Manchu bride, probably no more than 14, sheathed in gleaming embroidered silk, her pearly face emerging from an inky background.
The exhibition offers a welcome bit of revisionism too: thanks to Thomson, who visited Bangkok for six months in 1865, King Mongkut of Siam looks every inch the modernizing monarch he was in real life, instead of the tantrum-tossing, grammar-garbling skinhead of "The King and I." But lest any Westerner think the king backward in terms of taste, the monarch brought along a change in wardrobe. In one photograph, he sits on an elaborately carved Siamese throne, bejeweled and barelegged. Then he changed into a Western-style suit, with a dapper cane in one hand, a carved Victorian table by his side.
Thomson's humanistic sincerity, however, did not impress everyone. On more than one occasion, Mr. Burdett said, he was physically attacked for pointing his camera into someone's private life, episodes that lend a certain modern paparazzi tang to the exhibition's Victorian subject.
Rebuffed in a previous attempt to photograph a group of humble wooden cottages in Canton, Thomson returned at dawn, certain that the residents would be sleeping. Instead, no sooner had Thomson snapped the picture, Mr. Burdett said, than "the people rushed out and jumped on him, knocking his tripod over and breaking the glass-plate negative."

LOAD-DATE: August 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: The Scottish photographer John Thomson turned an artist's eye on the subjects of such pictures as "Chinese Merchant," above, from about 1872; "Manchu Bride," left, taken in Beijing, also about 1872, and "Chinese Female Coiffure" from 1869. (Atlas Books/Atlas Gallery)

TYPE: Review

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August 17, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Center to Treat Those With Early Alzheimer's

BYLINE: By LYNNE AMES 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 4; Column 5; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 597 words

WHEN people think of Alzheimer's disease, they often envision the latest stages, the total devastation of personality and body functions lost to the illness. But the early symptoms of Alzheimer's may be equally destructive in their own insidious way: an individual who first experiences forgetfullness and disorientation and is aware of his diminished capabilities can be embarrassed, bewildered and terrified.
This fall, the Alzheimer's Association of Westchester-Putnam is opening a center for people in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The nonprofit association, which has its main branch in White Plains, currently offers counseling, referral and education to Alzheimer's patients and their families. 
 The new center, which will be in Mount Kisco, will focus on those whose symptoms are just emerging. There will be social workers, nurses and volunteers available, but most important, there will be daily activities for the patients: group discussions, lectures on health issues and current events, journal-writing classes, little parties and outings. Individuals who are in the early stages of Alzheimer's -- and who in many cases are all too aware of what they are going through -- will have a chance to get together with others in the same situation.
"We recognize the need for a program exclusively for people with early-stage Alzheimer's," said Lenise Dolen, a gerontologist, psychologist and a consultant in the care of the elderly who is the president of the Alzheimer's Association of Westchester-Putnam. "Other programs around the county mix early- and late-stage patients. But we are going to offer more of a club-like atmosphere for those exclusively with early stage.
"These people are often very aware of their own changes. Some are still working. They are confused and somewhat forgetful and somewhat disoriented. But they can definitely carry on conversations, and they definitely need help so they don't become depressed and isolated. We want to enhance the abilities they still have."
Dr. Carl Rosenkilde, a neurologist in Mount Kisco who will be one of the consultants at the center, said Alzheimer's disease is not a normal consequence of aging. The memory loss and mental impairment caused by the disease differs "qualitatively as well as quantitatively" from the changes associated with normal aging of the brain. With normal age-related memory loss, "you can continue to function," he said.
"You may have some short-term memory loss but can compensate for it easily," he said, and eventually remember. A person experiencing normal minor memory loss, for example, may momentarily forget where he put his car keys, while an Alzheimer's victim may look at the keys and wonder what they are.
No one has yet come up with a definitive cause of the illness, although researchers know it is a result of pathological changes and the structure in biochemistry of the brain. Many scientists believe that the culprit is the abnormal production of certain proteins and/or a deficiency of certain neurotransmitters. There is no cure, although some drugs have shown promise in slowing memory impairment.
People with Alzheimer's, their families and friends should seek as much help as they can get, said Barbara Olivier, executive director of the Alzheimer's Association of Westchester-Putnam. "Through our early Alzheimer's center, we hope to keep people stimulated and ward off depression and give help to family members. We may not have a cure yet for this terrible disease, but we can try to offer as much support as possible."   LYNNE AMES

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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August 18, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Dark-Horse Albanese Seeks His Stride

BYLINE: By ADAM NAGOURNEY 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1498 words

Sal F. Albanese spent just three minutes the other day discussing his mayoral candidacy in the basement of a Greenwich Village church, finally giving up after trying to compete for attention in a clamorous room filled with elderly New Yorkers more interested in the 75-cent plates of chicken, corn and watermelon than in a serving of mayoral politics.
"Does anyone have a question for our mayoral candidate here?" asked Caryn Resnick, the moderator of the "Ninth Annual Political Picnic" at Our Lady of Pompei Church on Carmine Street. She scanned the steamy basement, filled with delegates from three local senior-citizen groups, most of them Democrats and more than a few wearing Giuliani buttons. 
 "We have no questions for our mayoral candidate?" Ms. Resnick continued. She paused again. "Are there any questions?" There were not, so Mr. Albanese smiled cordially, thanked his audience, and gamely proceeded to work the room before heading for the stairs.
Six months ago, Mr. Albanese, a personable Councilman from Bay Ridge with an iconoclastic voting record and some definite ideas about ways to defeat Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, loomed as potentially the most unpredictable force in the mayoral contest.
He appeared, on paper at least, the perfect challenger to Mr. Giuliani: an Italian Catholic from a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood, a former public-school teacher, a liberally inclined Council member who had represented one of the most conservative districts in the city for 15 years. So it was that Mr. Albanese seemed to be in the best tradition of the dark-horse candidate: the unconventional scrapper, poised to topple first the Democratic front-runner, Ruth W. Messinger, and then the Mayor himself.
Raymond B. Harding, the Liberal Party leader and one of Mr. Giuliani's main political advisers, said that he had long feared that Democrats, tepid at the prospect of a Messinger candidacy, would surprise Mr. Giuliani and select Mr. Albanese in the Sept. 9 primary. "Albanese would be the stronger candidate," Mr. Harding said.
But in politics, what looks good in the script often does not look quite as good on the stage -- and particularly, it seems, when it comes to the understated and underfinanced Mr. Albanese.
With just three weeks to go until the primary, Mr. Albanese's candle remains unlighted. He is still the little-known Councilman from Brooklyn, trailing in polls and, to his constant irritation, struggling to break into the pages of the city's newspapers or onto the television news shows with his singular message: a dramatic curb in campaign contributions and a warning that New York is in danger of becoming a city of two economic classes, the rich and the poor.
 Mr. Albanese's best hope may be a burst of late television advertising. But he cannot afford it: fund-raising efforts have been so lackluster that he will be forced this week to head to Buffalo to produce advertisements -- it is cheaper to film there than in the city where he wants to be mayor.
New York primaries are always unpredictable, and Mr. Albanese said that a combination of factors could thrust him into the lead after Labor Day. Those factors could include the lack of enthusiasm for Ms. Messinger, a strong showing by the Rev. Al Sharpton -- particularly after the attention he received in the days following the allegations of police brutality in Flatbush -- and what Mr. Albanese described as the compelling rationale of his own candidacy.
"We're beginning to climb and she's beginning to decline," Mr. Albanese said, referring to Ms. Messinger. "I happen to believe that even though we're working hard -- we're working seven days a week -- the bottom line is people still aren't paying attention. I believe the last three weeks will be critical.
"I'm very happy with the way our campaign is being conducted," he said. "We're raising some very important issues that the other candidates aren't raising."
But as the primary approaches, Mr. Albanese may be almost alone with that perception. "Potentially, it is there: but it would take a massive, massive Messinger mistake at this point," said Hank Morris, a Democratic consultant. Indeed, talk about Mr. Albanese has shifted -- if unfairly -- from what might have been to what went wrong.
"He was fresh," said Henry A. Sheinkopf, a consultant who worked for the now-ended mayoral campaign of Fernando Ferrer, the Bronx Borough President. "He was entirely candid. He was certainly the least disingenuous quantity I've seen in politics for along time, and he was an outspoken ethnic who appeared to relate to people in the outer boroughs. But it never jelled."
Mr. Albanese has heard these tidings, yet pushes ahead optimistically, alternating between bursts of frustration and wry humor. So when the sound system failed in Brownsville after he had waited 30 minutes for the chance to speak for 30 seconds (someone had stepped on the plug), Mr. Albanese just grinned, if tightly. "A bad omen," he said. And when State Assemblyman William F. Boyland of Brooklyn introduced him as someone with the "dubious distinction of running for mayor," Mr. Albanese hiked an eyebrow and muttered to himself: "Did you hear that? Dubious distinction?"
The other morning at Times Square, Mr. Albanese even seemed unfazed as many people rushed past him, ignoring his pleas for them to stop so he could register them to vote. He did not even seem to mind that a young aide in aviator sunglasses kept bellowing at his back, "This is your last chance! This is your last chance!" -- a reference not to Mr. Albanese's electoral prospects but to the voter registration deadline.
"Here's my analysis, and I know the city pretty well," Mr. Albanese said as his campaign van bounced along the Belt Parkway. "If you got problems in your own base -- which Ruth has -- and then she doesn't have a real appeal in the outer boroughs, and to top that off, she was banking on a heavy African-American vote, which isn't going to be there . . . " Mr. Albanese ended the sentence with a "Well-what-do-you-think-is-going-to-happen?" shrug of the shoulders.
Still, a few hours later, Mr. Albanese let his poise slip for a moment, turning in his seat to inquire, "Will you be shocked if I pull it out?"
A number of things are working against him. He is not a particularly accomplished campaigner; on the stump, his words come out in a quick and mumbled monotone. Mr. Albanese's lack of campaign funds reinforces his indistinct image. While Ms. Messinger drives in a van filled with six aides, Mr. Albanese travels with a single assistant, who drives the car, guides the candidate from apartment complex recreation rooms to street fairs, and hands out literature.
To succeed, observers say, Mr. Albanese has to find a way to emerge from two shadows at once: Ms. Messinger's and Mr. Giuliani's. And he has to do that as a City Councilman who is barely known outside his own neighborhood.
In truth, Mr. Albanese has distinguished himself with the kind of explicit and contrary campaign themes that are rarely heard from Ms. Messinger (though such ideas are often floated by Mr. Sharpton).
His central argument is that campaign contributions should be sharply reduced. "It's one of the big issues in the campaign," he said. "The system is polluted. The system is being driven by big money so that what happens is when you get there, you simply can't run the city properly."
Mr. Albanese has said he would support some tax increases -- like a change in the city's tax structure that would increase the tax rate on the wealthy. "People are willing to pay a little more if they can get something in return," he said.
And Mr. Albanese's style, if low-key, can be endearing to voters more accustomed to the higher-voltage breed of politician. "I wish he were running for another office so I could vote for him," said Anita Schmidt, a Democrat from Manhattan, who plans to vote for Mr. Giuliani. "He seems like a fine, decent man."
Not surprisingly, Mr. Albanese has his dark moments. He refers to Ms. Messinger as the "alleged front-runner," and complains that Ms. Messinger's excitable and quotable press secretary, Leland T. Jones, gets more public attention then he does.
He is most displeased with the media, which he describes as biased in favor of the Mayor. "I happen to believe that Messinger is the weakest candidate against Giuliani and I think there are some in the media who are trying to prop up Messinger so she can be Giuliani's opponent," Mr. Albanese said. "I just don't think we're getting a fair shake."
But Mr. Albanese endures, and people seem to notice that -- though it remains to be seen if that will count for much on Election Day.
"Giuliani is a shoo-in," said Sylvia Seidman, a Democrat and a retired school teacher who lives in Chelsea, after shaking Mr. Albanese's hand at the Greenwich Village church. "But this guy is trying so hard, I have to give him credit. He may not win, but maybe next time."

NAME: Sal F. Albanese

LOAD-DATE: August 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Sal F. Albanese, a mayoral candidate, marching during the recent Puerto Rican Day parade. With the Democratic primary approaching, Mr. Albanese, who trails Ruth W. Messinger in the polls, is having trouble rousing enthusiasm among voters. (Frances Roberts)

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August 21, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

U.S. Hopeful on Food Safety Efforts, but Critics Are Skeptical

BYLINE: By MICHAEL JANOFSKY 

SECTION: Section A; Page 29; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 987 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug. 20

The Federal investigation into the possible contamination of 1.2 million pounds of ground beef at a Nebraska processing plant has underscored a longstanding debate over the Government's efforts to safeguard food production.
Consumer groups, and Federal veterinarians who supervise plant inspections, say the recall of the beef last week might have been less extensive if a monitoring system proposed almost five years ago had been in place, even though officials from the plant, owned by Hudson Foods of Rogers, Ark., said they had already adopted voluntary measures. 
 The critics also question whether the Government is properly training inspectors to use the new procedures, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point systems. The procedures are a crucial part of the Clinton Administration's effort to improve food safety, a $43.2 million program in the 1998 fiscal budget.
Agriculture Department officials say it is too soon to know whether problems at the Nebraska plant could have been avoided. But they describe the new procedures as a major improvement in food safety that should help restore public confidence, severely strained since 1993, when four children died and hundreds of people became ill from E. coli bacteria in undercooked hamburgers sold by Jack in the Box fast-food restaurants in the Northwest.
"This is such an important change for us," said Thomas J. Billy, the Administrator of the Food Safety Inspection Service, referring to the system set to go into effect next January. "It should have a huge impact on the whole industry."
Every year in the United States, bacteria in meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, fruit and vegetables kill as many as 9,000 people, mostly children and elderly people, and sicken millions of others. Contaminants can be introduced anywhere from the slaughterhouse to the dining table.
Mr. Billy said some food-processing plants had been voluntarily using the new controls since 1995, two years after they were recommended by a Vice-Presidential commission because of the contamination found in the Northwest.
Congressional wrangling kept the initiative out of the Federal budget until this year. Now, large plants with 500 or more workers are required to have the system in place by Jan. 26 and smaller plants are to phase it in over the next two years. Any plant that fails to follow the new procedures, correct problems or keep proper records will face the risk of giving up the right to operate.
The Government also plans to open an Omaha office to provide new technical assistance to inspectors and the veterinarians who supervise them, "the nerve center for the new system," Mr. Billy said.
But critics say such steps are not being taken soon enough and may still be inadequate to meet the challenge of keeping harmful bacteria out of the food supply.
Federal agencies acknowledge as much. In their recent report to the White House outlining the broad program to improve food safety, including the new monitoring system, the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conceded that "our understanding of some disease-causing organisms is so limited that our ability to protect the public health is seriously constrained."
"The system has been out of date for the last 20 years," said Carole Tucker Foreman, coordinator of the Safe Food Coalition, a consulting group. "The Government has finally bitten the bullet and tried to bring it up to current science."
Until now, inspections have been largely visual: viewing carcasses at the slaughterhouse for signs of disease or making sure temperatures are kept at proper levels.
The new monitoring system will add a series of checkpoints during production when food could be vulnerable to bacteria. Inspectors will be required to have a wider knowledge of microbiology, chemistry and food-processing technology as well as the ability to recognize when a piece of machinery should be shut down for cleaning.
That worries some critics, who say the Agriculture Department's 8,000 inspectors, many of whom have only a high school education, are ill equipped to perform the new duties. The Government plans to offer them the equivalent of two weeks of training. But Dr. Edward Menning, a past president of the National Association of Federal Veterinarians who has retired from the Agriculture Department, said that would still leave the inspectors incapable of fulfilling basic requirements of the job.
"With everything they're doing, the process is supposed to be more scientific, and that requires more scientific people," Dr. Menning said. "But increasingly, we're seeing people less trained than before, people who do not know what to look for."
Dr. Menning and others said they also had a serious concern about another major element of the Administration's initiative, which would shift major responsibilities for monitoring to the plant management. When the new procedures go into effect, each plant will be required to designate its own control measures to prevent bacterial hazards. The safety controls would be based on plant characteristics like its equipment, hours of operation and output.
The plant would be responsible for following its own protocols. Inspectors will still check plant operations, said Dr. Theodore Bek, a retired Federal veterinarian, but giving management a free hand to choose set up its protocols is a case of the fox guarding the henhouse.
"I think it's a disaster waiting to happen," said Dr. Bek, who was an area supervisor in Illinois, Indiana and southwest Michigan.
He added: "The main thrust of the industry is profits. You can't add to profits by taking the time to run tests on a product. If the company had an in-plant quality control agent reporting to the local plant manager, I would be suspicious about how that would be carried out."      

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August 22, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

The Spoken Word

SECTION: Section C; Page 29; Column 1; Weekend Desk

LENGTH: 430 words


FRANCOISE GILOT, John Drew Theater of Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton, N.Y. The 10th Annual Pollock-Krasner Lecture, "An Artist's Journey, Paris-New York." Sunday at 5 P.M. Admission: $12; $10 for Pollock-Krasner House supporters and Guild Hall members; lecture and reception, $50. Information: (516) 324-4929.
 
"CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS," Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, N.Y. Elaine Stritch appears as the guest narrator, reading comic poems by Peter Schickele in Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals." Today, as part of a children's concert, at 5 P.M. Admission: $10 for adults; $5 for children. Sunday at 6:30 P.M. Admission: $20 for adults; $15 for the elderly. Reservations: (516) 537-3507. 

FICTION AND LITERATURE READING GROUP, Barnes & Noble Union Square, 33 East 17th Street, Manhattan. Kevin Coogan leads a discussion of William Styron's "Confessions of Nat Turner." Today at 6 P.M. Free. Information: (212) 727-4810.
 
BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park. For families, "Stories and Art: Allison Day" offers tales about the trickster and the god Maui; tomorrow at 4 P.M. In "The Spoken Word: Hanging Loose Press," Bob Hershon, a Brooklyn resident, poet and publisher of Hanging Loose Press, is the host for a reading with Donna Brook, Larry Zirlin, Carole Bernstein and Dennis Nurske; tomorrow at 5 P.M. Admission to each is free with suggested museum admission: $4 for adults; $2 for students; $1.50 for the elderly; free to members and children under 12. Information: (718) 638-5000.
 
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, Fifth Avenue at 82d Street. TODAY: "Courbet and Manet: Women with Parrots," by Howard Matthews, 11 A.M.; "A Closer Look: Pieter Breugel the Elder's 'Harvesters,' " by Tomlyn Barns, 12:30 P.M.; "The Pursuit of Pleasure in French Rococo Painting," by Kathryn Calley, 3 P.M.; "Precious Materials, Precious Objects: 18th-Century Decorative Arts," by Ronald Freyberger, 6 P.M.; "Art of the Assyrian Palace," by Erica Ehrenberg, 7 P.M. TOMORROW: "Treasures of Chinese Painting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," by Laura Greenwald Einstein, 11 A.M.; "Manet's Spanish Heritage: Goya and Velazquez," by Howard Matthews, 3 P.M.; "African Women: Two Traditions of Masquerade," by Gayle Rodda Kurtz, 7 P.M. SUNDAY: "Two Great Masters of the 17th Century: Caravaggio and Rembrandt," by Ines Powell, 11 A.M. Admission: Free with suggested museum admission: $8 for adults; $4 for students and the elderly. Information: (212) 535-7710.

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August 22, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

U.S. Looks at Columbia/HCA Elderly Programs

BYLINE: By KURT EICHENWALD 

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1142 words

Federal prosecutors have obtained evidence that some hospitals owned by the Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation may have improperly billed the Government for costs related to a series of programs operated by the health care giant to attract the elderly as patients.
Such programs have long been a critical component of the company's competitive strategy, and have been used at Columbia hospitals to expand their outreach to the elderly. Senior citizens are among the most lucrative population segment in the health care market, since they combine both a great need for medical services and significant levels of insurance through Medicare and private health programs. 
 A significant portion of the evidence obtained by the prosecutors is contained in secret sets of reports on expenses that were maintained by Columbia hospitals, as well as related work papers. Federal cost report filings are used to obtain partial reimbursement for particular types of expenses that are directly related to patient care. Billions of dollars each year -- with hundreds of millions going to Columbia hospitals alone -- are paid by the Government under the Federal cost reporting system.
Even as the Federal inquiry into Columbia's practices is expanding, the company is stepping up its efforts to cooperate with investigators. Yesterday, lawyers for the company drafted legal papers to withdraw motions that Columbia had filed previously in El Paso opposing certain Government investigative efforts.
In the earlier motions, Columbia sought to compel the Government to provide details of what information was contained in documents seized by Federal agents in a March raid of company offices and hospitals in El Paso. The motions also sought to restrict Government access to certain documents that had been sealed after Columbia asserted that they were protected from disclosure to investigators by a lawyer-client privilege.
The papers being drafted yesterday, which are expected to be filed today, would withdraw both motions, a strong sign that Columbia is working to create a less antagonistic relationship with Federal investigators.
The legal papers were being prepared "with the intent of being more cooperative," said Victor Campbell, a Columbia senior vice president and spokesman. "We think it does reflect the company's desire to work in the spirit of cooperation rather than confrontation in order to bring a swift and satisfactory resolution to these matters."
Mr. Campbell declined to comment on the issues relating to the programs for the elderly, saying that the Government's investigation and Columbia's own internal inquiry were still in progress. "It will be some time before we know any of the details regarding potential cost report issues," he said. "But we are committed to doing the right thing."
Michael Gordon, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said that he could not comment on any aspect of a continuing criminal investigation.
The programs for the elderly that Government officials are said to believe were improperly accounted for in Columbia's cost reports include free screening tests for such illnesses as high blood pressure, as well as educational activities and the provision of certain health information such as pamphlets. Such efforts are considered patient solicitations under Federal Medicare rules, and are not reimbursable.
Counting the costs for those programs as reimbursable expenses under the Medicare program would increase total reimbursement in two ways. First, the hospital would be able to obtain some direct reimbursement for the program itself.
More important, the hospital would be able to obtain partial reimbursement for the portion of general administrative expenses that should have been assigned to the elderly programs.
Under Federal cost reporting rules, certain expenses that are not compensated by Medicare are supposed to be assigned to what is known as a "nonreimbursable cost center." Once such a cost center is established in the hospital's accounting, a portion of administrative expenses are supposed to be assigned to it. That way, the Government does not reimburse a hospital for administrative costs related to activities with expenses that are not compensated under the Federal rules.
As a result, a hospital could illegally use the Medicare program to finance more of its administrative activities than is allowed under the law by failing to account properly on its expense filings for nonreimbursable expenses through such a cost center.
Indeed, prosecutors have found multiple indications in the work papers of improper accounting at some Columbia hospitals for nonreimbursable services. For example, prosecutors have obtained evidence that certain hospitals improperly accounted for such nonreimbursable items as gift shops and cafeterias, seeking reimbursement for related expenses. By failing to include those expenses in nonreimbursable cost centers, the hospitals would be able to have higher overall administrative expenses without significantly effecting total profits.
Columbia has long focused on the elderly as a critical market in its competitive efforts. It has heavily advertised its National Association of Senior Friends, a membership organization for the elderly that now boasts more than 250,000 participants throughout the country. While many of the programs for the elderly that are being examined by investigators are also offered by Senior Friends, it is not clear whether it is the organization's efforts through the Columbia hospitals or separate hospital programs that have attracted Government scrutiny.
But there is no question that Senior Friends has been an important piece of Columbia's strategy to build business. The company in the past has set up displays in the lobby of its Nashville headquarters promoting the program to visiting hospital administrators as "a turnkey business strategy" that "builds market share by directing business to sponsoring hospitals," and that also "generates physician and product referrals."
One hospital administrator was quoted in a display in the lobby last year as crediting the program with doubling his hospital's Medicare market share in eight years.
For $15 a year, members of Senior Friends receive numerous benefits from more than 100 chapter locations at Columbia hospitals nationwide.
The Senior Friends program has also offered Columbia an important weapon in its effort to deal with Washington: a large and vocal lobbying force. When changes have been proposed in Medicare compensation, Columbia has outlined the issues to members of Senior Friends, and invited them to write their members of Congress. In years past, the company's former management has boasted that those efforts have been highly successful in getting the company's message heard in Washington.      

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August 22, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

25 Million Pounds of Beef Is Recalled

BYLINE: By MICHAEL JANOFSKY 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1237 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug. 21

A meat-processing company is closing its Nebraska plant indefinitely and is expanding its recall of ground beef to 25 million pounds after Federal investigators found evidence that far more meat might be contaminated by a hazardous bacteria than originally suspected. Last week, the plant recalled 1.2 million pounds of meat.
Today's actions were voluntary, but they were undertaken by the company, Hudson Foods of Rogers, Ark., under an implicit threat from the Agriculture Department that unless the processing and administrative problems at the plant were corrected, the department would force the plant to close by withdrawing food safety inspectors. 
 Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said at a news conference today that the latest recall was the largest in United States history. Mr. Glickman said Federal investigators found evidence this week that hamburger patties left over from production on June 5 -- which showed evidence of the potentially deadly bacteria, E. coli 0157:H7 -- were added to production the next day. As a result, the company could not guarantee that any meat produced subsequently would be free of the bacteria, leading the Agriculture Department to press for the latest recall.
Every year in the United States, bacteria in meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, fruit and vegetables kill as many as 9,000 people, mostly children and elderly people, and sicken millions. So far, Colorado accounts for all 17 cases of E. coli poisoning traced to the Nebraska plant, and all of those people have recovered.
Mr. Glickman said: "I believe that the action we are taking today, while tough, is the only option based on the new information our investigators have uncovered. This is a big step, but the evidence indicates we have contained the outbreak."
Because a recall is only voluntary, Mr. Glickman said he would ask Congress in the fall to give the Agriculture Department the authority to impose a recall and civil penalties against plants that do not comply with Federal regulations.
In any case, supermarkets and restaurants that use or sell ground beef that might have been contaminated with E. coli bacteria were removing it today and were seeking to reassure customers about the safety of their products. [Page A18.]
The tainted meat from the Hudson plant, in the eastern Nebraska town of Columbus, is the most prominent case of the E. coli bacteria since four children died and hundreds of other people became ill in 1993 after eating undercooked hamburgers from Jack in the Box outlets in the Northwest.
That outbreak led to the creation of a Vice-Presidential commission, which proposed more stringent methods of monitoring hazardous bacteria in food-processing plants. A system of protocols recommended by the commission was a major part of the Clinton Administration's effort to improve food safety, a $43.2 million program in the 1998 budget.
The Agriculture Department began investigating problems at the Hudson plant after company officials expanded their recall of ground beef to 1.2 million pounds on Aug. 15, the largest such recall at that time, from an initial recall of 20,000 pounds three days earlier. Hudson made the first recall after public health officials in Colorado identified the E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria in Hudson beef patties in late July and on Aug. 12.
But Thomas J. Billy, the administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, an arm of the Agriculture Department, said that as Federal investigators looked deeper into plant operations they found that they plant had weak quality control standards, an inadequate system of record keeping and a routine practice of returning unused raw material into the next day's production.
It was on the basis of those conditions, Mr. Billy said, that the company agreed to recall the additional meat, which Mr. Glickman said had been distributed across the country in the form of four-ounce frozen patties to chains including Burger King, Boston Market, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Safeway supermarkets.
Department officials conceded they did not know how much of the 25 million pounds remained uneaten. Whatever is returned, they said, will be destroyed by a Hudson plant in Van Buren, Ark.
The company's chairman, James T. Hudson, said in a statement the decisions to expand the recall and close the plant until problems were corrected had been made "out of an abundance of caution to restore the public confidence." Mr. Hudson also said the company believed that the source of any contamination had come from the slaughterhouses that supplied the raw, deboned meat and not the plant, where the meat is processed into frozen patties -- an assessment with which Agriculture Department officials concurred.
Department officials said they had identified seven slaughterhouses that brought raw product to the plant. The officials declined to identify them until they were certain whether any one had supplied contaminated meat, but they said they had found no other indication of illness from meat processed by other customers of the slaughterhouses.
Long concerned with problems of contamination, the Agriculture Department and other Federal agencies approved the new system of hazard controls for processing plants to replace the current means of inspection, which Mr. Glickman described as "poke and sniff."
The new system is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 26 in plants with 500 workers and more. But plants with 10 to 499 workers, including the Hudson plant in Nebraska, are not required to have the new controls in place until January 1999. The smallest plants, those with fewer than 10 workers, are required to phase in changes by January 2000.
The new monitoring system includes more detailed and frequent inspections of the processing equipment during operation. Many plants around the country have begun using the controls voluntarily. In an interview on Wednesday, a senior official at Hudson's Nebraska plant, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the plant had already put the controls in place. "We're way ahead of the curve," the official said.
Mr. Billy, the food inspection official, said investigators had found that the plant had "some sort of hazard plan." But he dismissed the assertion that Hudson was using the protocols from the new system.
"I am unaware that their plan conforms to the regulations," Mr. Billy said. "I am unaware their science has been validated and I am unaware that Hudson is following the plan on a day-to-day basis."
Mr. Billy said investigators had been alarmed by inadequacies in the plant's record-keeping, which obscured daily levels of production. He also questioned the plant management's sincerity in dealing with the contaminated product because Federal investigators prompted the wider recall last week, not the company.
Mr. Hudson said he hoped that the closing of the Nebraska plant, which employs about 230 people, would not last long. But Mr. Billy said it would remain closed until Federal officials were convinced that there were no more indications of contamination in the plant, that the latest monitoring system was in place and the plant's record-keeping was improved.
Consumers are advised to return all Hudson Foods frozen beef patties with Establishment No. 13569 printed inside the U.S.D.A. inspection seal. Consumers may also call the U.S.D.A. hot line at (800) 535-4555, or Hudson's hot line at (800) 447-2670.

LOAD-DATE: August 22, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photos: With operations halted, the employee parking lot at the Hudson Foods meat processing factory in Columbus, Neb., was all but deserted yesterday. (Associated Press)(pg. A18); Federal investigators found weak safety standards and risky practices at this Hudson Foods Company hamburger plant in Columbus, Neb. (Associated Press)(pg. A1)
      

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August 22, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

2 Deaths Prompt Warning on Bat Encounters

BYLINE: By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG 

SECTION: Section A; Page 20; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 732 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug. 21

Two elderly men, one in Montana and the other in Washington State, died from rabies earlier this year after encounters with bats. The deaths have prompted Federal health officials to recommend that people seek medical attention if they have touched bats, whether or not they have been bitten.
In both cases, said officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no evidence that the men were bitten by bats. The deaths were at first incorrectly attributed to a degenerative brain disease. And it was only in autopsies that the authorities discovered evidence of a strain of rabies common to bats. 
 "People will handle bats and not think anything about it," said Dr. Lisa Rotz, a centers epidemiologist who reported on the deaths in Friday's issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. "But contact with a bat should be taken seriously. Bats should not be handled or kept as pets."
People who have even limited, seemingly insignificant, exposure to bats should consult their doctors, Dr. Rotz said. Such exposure could include shooing a bat out of the house with a broom, as did the 66-year-old Montana man who died, or discovering one swooping over the bed in the middle of the night.
Rabies, a viral infection that travels through the nervous system and inflames the brain, is always fatal if not treated. It is very rare in humans in the United States; only 34 cases have been reported since 1980, 19 of them attributed to bats.
But this year's deaths, both in January, come at a time when centers officials have noticed a slight but significant rise in the annual incidence of the disease. From 1981 to 1993, the number of rabies cases ranged from zero to three, said Dr. Charles Rupprecht, chief of the rabies section at the centers. There were six cases in 1994 and four each in 1995 and 1996. But experts said it was also possible that additional rabies deaths might have been wrongly ascribed to other diseases.
Despite an epidemic of rabies among raccoons on the East Coast, Dr. Rupprecht said, there have been no reports of humans' becoming infected by raccoons. Most of the new cases involve bats.
"It's a very mysterious trend," he said. "We are concerned; the majority of the cases of late have been bat-related, and we are struggling with why that is."
One possible explanation, Dr. Rupprecht said, is a rise in reporting. Another is that victims of bat bites do not seek medical help; most bats are not rabid and many people do not realize that the bites can be dangerous. A third is that people do not realize that they have been bitten, as was the case with a child in Washington who died several years ago.
Treatment for people exposed to rabies is not nearly as painful as it was years ago, when patients received a series of excruciating shots in the stomach, said Dr. Claire Panosian, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California at Los Angeles. The new therapy, called post-exposure prophylaxis because it is meant to prevent the disease after exposure, is two pronged.
First, patients receive shots of a rabies immune globulin, a horse serum with antibodies to the rabies virus, in both the arm and the area of the bite. Then they receive five separate shots of the vaccine.
Bite victims should be treated as soon as possible, and no later than 24 to 48 hours after the injury occurs, Dr. Panosian said. By the time the first, flu-like symptoms of rabies appear, she said, it is too late. And because rabies is so rare in this country, many doctors do not even recognize it when they see it.
That was the case for the Montana man, who was 66, and the Washington man, who was 64. Both times, doctors suspected Creutzfelt-Jakob disease, a neurological disorder. When pathologists found that the men's tissues contained evidence of the rabies virus common to bats, health officials interviewed the families.
The family of the Montana man recalled that a bat entered their home through the window in the summer of 1996 and was roosting during the daytime and flying around the house. The man later forced it out of the house with a broom, but his family did not recall that he had had any direct contact with the animal.
The Washington man lived in a heavily wooded area near a lake. Although bats were common to the area, his family did not recall his ever having been exposed to one.
      

LOAD-DATE: August 22, 1997

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CORRECTION-DATE: August 25, 1997, Monday

 CORRECTION:
A article on Friday about a recommendation for medical attention after casual contact with a bat misstated the source of rabies immune globulin, a therapy for exposure. It is derived from human antibodies, not from horse serum; a separate treatment, the rabies vaccine, at one time contained horse serum.

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August 24, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SUNDAY: AUGUST 24, 1997: LABOR;
Send in the Seniors

SECTION: Section 6; Page 21; Column 1; Magazine Desk 

LENGTH: 291 words

Monnie Callan (left) and Thelma Nesbitt (right) may look like kindly grandmothers, but they're actually union diehards who spent their summer raising a ruckus from Wall Street to the Bronx. Glowing from its success last year in recruiting young liberals as temporary organizers, the AFL-CIO decided to tap into a virtual gold mine in six cities across the country: retired union members with plenty of time on their hands.
As a result, Callan and Nesbitt, along with 40-odd seniors and a dozen college students and recent grads, had a very busy July and August. They picketed Merrill Lynch's midtown offices and inhaled exhaust fumes while handing out union material to limousine drivers gliding in and out of the Holland Tunnel. Lending moral support to U.P.S. strikers, the retirees donned sunshine-yellow caps on Aug. 7 and marched to the main depot at Eleventh Avenue to sing union songs on the picket line. 
 Both women obviously have the necessary pep. Nesbitt, a 67-year old with generous cheeks and a closely cropped gray Afro, earned the nickname "Mayor of the Floor" while awaiting a 1996 liver transplant because she paced through the hospital incessantly, giving motivational talks to other patients. Armed with a cane, Callan, 71, just returned from a two-week tour of Sweden with the New York City Labor Chorus. Callan is convinced her generation can revive the thinking here that still pervades Europe's trade union movement.
Marching around in the blistering heat can take a toll, but Nesbitt says that having survived arrests in her youth and surgery in her old age, she relishes this latest stage in the labor-management tussle. "In fact," she says, "I think this is just what I'm going to do until the day I die."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: (Evan Kafka for The New York Times)

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August 24, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

For the Elderly, the Benefits of Belly Dance

BYLINE: By CYNTHIA MAGRIEL WETZLER 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 13; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 914 words

DATELINE: YORKTOWN HEIGHTS

HER gold coin belt jingled around her hips as she walked to face a group of more than 35 elderly residents at the Country House in Westchester, a retirement home here. As strains of Middle Eastern music and the fragrance of frankincense filled the room, Zohar, a belly dancing instructor, performance artist and Katonah resident, began to spin and shimmy, cutting graceful circles and moving in rippling undulations.
The many layers of her shimmering coral costume flowed softly around her and her finger cymbals, known as zills, sounded a heartbeat. Zohar and seven of her dance students, the Casbah dancers, entertained the residents in a presentation filled with silky veils and sacred blessings. And when she invited the residents to dance with her and her troupe, they let their bodies sway to the exotic music. Some tied fringed scarves around their hips, "to wiggle better," one resident, Bea Sabel, 82, said. 
 Others set canes aside and shook tambourines. As the music intensified, smiles grew wider. "When I see the dancers moving, I feel like moving my stomach that way," said Marie Mastriano, 88. "If we just sit here in chairs we get stiff."
William Freese, 79, said: "It does a lot for your body. And, of course, the attractive girls are so expressive -- my goodness."
Zohar, who chose her adopted name, which means light, from the Kabbalah, an ancient Jewish religious text, said, "I wanted to create a playful and joyous mood." Her aim, she said, is to bring to light the true significance of belly dancing and to present it as the sacred prayer and meditation it was originally meant to be.
Zohar said she works to erase the tawdry notions associated with belly dancing, to take it out of the nightclub and back into the temple. Thousands of years ago, she said, it was the dance of the temple priestesses of the ancient goddess religions. "In the old paradigm, belly dancing is viewed as a seductive dance for the pleasure of men," she said. "Women are sexual objects. In the new paradigm the dance is a graceful prayer filled with passion: a dance of renewal."
For Zohar, the dance connects women with their archetypal feminine energy. "When I dance I feel the power of the feminine as the energy rises through my spine, my arms, up toward the heavens, a fluid, mystical surge framed by a veil, which floats about me like an ethereal cloud," she said. "When I perform this dance, it is with sensitivity and good taste. In this manner, the dance can once again be appreciated as the art form it truly is."
At the residence, Zohar placed her palms together over her head and said to her audience, "These are prayer arms and signify the body as the temple of the soul." She raised one arm and at the same time lowered the other in a sensuous flow. "These are snake arms and can signify giving and receiving love," she said. "Now wiggle and vibrate your hands." Many hands went up, stiff fingers unbending. "This is fire energy and will break up stuckness," she said. "Now imagine you are kneading bread and undulate your hands and wrists. This is water energy."
Rose Greenfield, 77, who is partly blind, said, "It's so exciting, so exciting." A Casbah dancer, Cai McPhee, a nurse specializing in head trauma who has been studying with Zohar for a few months, said: "The energy in the room was very low before we began. They were waiting quietly. But as the performance progressed I saw them light up and come alive."
Zohar has been performing dance for more than 16 years and has been teaching belly dancing for 10 years. "Women of all ages from maidens to crones, in almost any condition, can benefit physically, emotionally and spiritually from belly dancing," she said. She pointed out the flexible backs and spines of her dancers, strengthened from the graceful serpentine movements.
"You don't have to be 20 and thin," said Louis McConnochie, a nanny who studied with Zohar for a year. "It works with the shape of a woman's body." Another dancer, Bina Bora, said, "It makes me feel like a woman."
Besides the belly dancing classes she teaches in the Katonah area, Zohar gives workshops for women interested in the history and relevance of dance in the goddess religions.
In a recent workshop at the Unitarian Church in Mount Kisco, Zohar introduced women to belly dancing, which were the movements of the ancient priestesses who danced circles, spirals and figure eights. There were gasps when Zohar took the cover off a small basket and lifted her two pythons, Yin and Yang, onto her wrist and shoulders and began to dance.
"Since Paleolithic times," she said, "the serpent has been considered the benevolent power animal of the goddess." She gently placed one of the snakes around a participant's neck like a necklace. After a moment of alarm crossed her face, the woman danced with the snake and said that she felt "a new sense of empowerment."
Zohar is artistic director of a professional dance troupe, the Aladdin Dancers, and coordinates Arabian Night theme parties for galas and fund-raising events and other occasions.
"When women learn this dance, they get back in touch with a part of themselves which our culture hasn't fostered," Zohar said. "You can be powerful and feminine, strong and soft, enticing and modest, chaste and voluptuous. This dance embraces all these aspects of being a woman that we don't have a chance to explore through regular means." For information on classes, the number to call is 232-3451.

LOAD-DATE: August 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Zohar teaches belly dancing to Rose Greenfield at the Country House in Westchester, top, a retirement home in Yorktown Heights, where other residents also tried undulating. (Chris Maynard for The New York Times)

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August 24, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Elderly Are Turning To Assisted Living

BYLINE: By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER 

SECTION: Section 13LI; Page 1; Column 1; Long Island Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 2522 words

TWENTY years ago, Ted Peck left New York to retire to a condominium in Florida. Now his daughters, Randee and Merri, both with college-age children of their own, are looking to bring the 83-year-old Mr. Peck back to Long Island to live in an assisted care facility.
Typical of aging baby boomers, the Peck daughters have worried about their father since their mother died last year. One daughter, Randee Bernstein of Briarcliff Manor, has flown to Florida three times in the past five weeks and the other, Merri Sickle of West Babylon, will do the next round of caretaking visits. 
 "He's let himself go and we'd like to get him back to what he was; it would be much easier for our lives to have him here at this point," Ms/ Bernstein said in an interview recently as she surveyed potential accommodations at the Regency at Glen Cove, an assisted living residence for the elderly. "It was a wonderful life," she continued. "Everyone went down to Florida when they were 65. He was very active. Unfortunately, they're all 85 now."
Because of Mr. Peck's age, his daughters would like to have him nearby, in a place close to both of them where they know his meals and housekeeping are taken care of and that someone will supervision his medication. They would also prefer him to have plenty of companionship, activities and a good quality of life in a setting where the other residents are not too sick.
Enter the booming assisted living marketplace. Fueled by adult children worried about taking care of their increasingly frail parents, developers of housing for the elderly are racing to construct new, upscale facilities to accommodate the gap between active retirement and full scale nursing care.
In Great Neck Plaza, two such facilities, literally around the corner from each other, were approved simultaneously by the Village Board in July and ground is expected to be broken by the end of the summer. In one, publicly traded Kapson Senior Quarters Corporation and Armstrong Management Company of Garden City, will build a licensed assisted living residence, Senior Quarters at Great Neck, on the site of a former car dealership on Great Neck Road. In the other, Hassett Belfer Senior Housing LLC and the publicly traded Carematrix of Massachusetts, are developing the Mayfair at Great Neck on the site of a former marble yard on Cutter Mill Road. Both hope to finish first and have waiting lists before construction is completed at the end of 1998.
"We're competitors," said Glenn Kaplan, chief executive officer and chairman of the Woodbury- based Kapson Senior Quarters Corporation. "We know each other pretty well. It's not the first market we are competing in. The village basically made it clear that because there are two of us they were going to run a parallel path and not let one get in front of the other. The market is strong so that we think the demand is tremendous."
While one-third of Great Neck Plaza's population of 6,000 is elderly, developers and caregivers involved in the project expect 50 percent of the residents will be returning retirees from Sunbelt states whose children live in Great Neck and the surrounding North Shore area.
"The parents went to Florida in their 60's, one spouse died, typically the husband, maybe mom is living there having a little difficulty getting around, not being able to get on a plane that easily," said Andy Belfer, a principal of Hassett Belfer Senior Housing, LLC. "The children live here, they have a two-income family and the grandchildren. It's a lot easier to bring mom back home to stay close to you than it would be to get on a plane and visit. That's why youre seeing stuff come to Long Island in a bigger way than its been in the past." The reason for going down and retiring is not the same anymore, said Mr. Kaplan. "At 85 years old, you're probably not playing too much golf or too much tennis and your physical activities are limited so therefore you might as well be home closer to the kids and closer to the family," he said.
Mayor Robert Rosegarten of Greak Neck Plaza said those residents who do come from the Plaza, a mostly fixed income group, will do so with the assistance of children and family in the area. Both facilities, the Mayfair and Senior Quarters at Great Neck on Great Neck Road, will be private pay residences and rents will run from $3,000 to $5,000 monthly.
While the price tag for assisted living rentals is hefty, the formula used to determine how much a resident is able to afford is different than when purchasing a home or renting an apartment. Mr. Belfer said the rule of thumb was 70 percent of income goes to assisted living since virtually all expenses are included. "Someone with a $25,000 income with a pension, Social Security and interest from investments plus assets from the sale of a home should be able to afford it," he said. "If they start spending $10,000 to $15,000 a year of that principal to supplement it, they still should be able to live very comfortably. What will also happen is the children will pitch in if there is a shortfall. If the parents are spending $2,000 a month, the child is spending $1,000 a month. The person getting home care services in their home will often spend $100 a day just for that," he said, adding that as long-term care insurance becomes more popular and policies cover it, more and more of the elderly will be able to afford assisted living.
In fact, the developers of both the Mayfair, and Kapson Senior Quarters, the largest owner operators of assisted living facilities in New York State with 2,000 beds, aim their marketing at the middle-aged children of their potential residents who want their parents close enough to lend a hand but in a facility with meals, housekeeping services, social activities, transportation and built-in home health care. The Mayfair provides supportive independent living with a separate health care option, while Senior Quarters is a state-licensed adult home with built in personal and health care.
Part of a trend in the Northeast, these full-service hotels for the elderly will also cater to the local elderly who no longer want to maintain their own home but are not in need of the extensive medical care a nursing home provides. The Mayfair complex will have 148 units, consisting of 134 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom apartments. There will be 42 studios, 75 one bedroom and 27 two-bedroom residences in the Senior Quarters at Great Neck, the seventh such facility on Long Island for Kapson. They also have 17 assisted living projects in various stages of development in several states.
Both Great Neck complexes will be built on former commercial sites.  The Village Board, receptive to a low impact type of development in a busy downtown area, rezoned the properties to accommodate the assisted living facilities. It also fills a void in Great Neck Plaza, which has Grace Nursing Home but no other housing for the elderly.
"This is the wave of the future, certainly as my generation ages," said Mr. Rosegarten. "There's got to be a place for these people to go. I am convinced by the time they open, they will be completely rented."
There are other projects aimed at the elderly as well. The Mayfair in Glen Cove, also a project of Hasset Belfer Senior Housing and Carematrix, and a similar facility are scheduled to open Oct. 1. Situated at Town Path and Glen Street, it's about a mile from Kapson's Regency Senior Quarters at Glen Cove on School Street.
Herbert Friedman, executive vice president of the Gurwin Jewish Geriatric Center and assisted living project, said land had been purchased and designs were being drawn for a new assisted living facility on the center's Commack campus. Phase one of the project includes 150 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Residents will have priority admission to the nursing units.  Designed in response to numerous inquiries from the commmunity, groundbreaking is expected within the next year.
The center, the only not-for-profit Jewish assisted living facility on Long Island, will complete the full continuum of care on the Gurwin campus. The center includes medical adult day care, home care, skilled nursing units, subacute care, short-term inpatient rehabilitation and a new diagnostic and treatment center and outpatient rehabilitation facility scheduled for construction in August. Residents of the assisted living complex, who will be entitled to up to 45 minutes daily of personal care, will have full access to the Olympic-size pool and theater and other facilities of the neighboring Suffolk Y/J.C.C. as well as a full inhouse recreational program of actitivites.
In conjunction with North Shore University Hospital, Carematrix is developing sites in Bayport, Islandia and Dix Hills, each with more than 100 units. Michael Zaccaro, Carematrix executive vice president of operations, said those projects were all in the zoning, prezoning, approval and preapproval phases. Glenn Kaplan, chief executive officer of Kapson Senior Quarters Corporation, is in the process of converting a hotel in Plainview to a licensed assisted living facility and will open another facility on the South Shore in the next 12 to 24 months. He is also working on projects in the New York City neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Riverdale and the Upper West Side. Hassett/Belfer plans to build five to eight additional facilities on the Island in the future.
Citing demographic studies showing that the population approaching retirement is growing three times faster than any other age group on Long Island, the town of North Hempstead is negotiating a contract for $26,900,000 with North Shore Partners to develop a 42-acre parcel of the Morewood property in Port Washington as a life-care community run by the Marriott Corporation. An assisted living facility will be part of that residential community of 675 units offering a continuum of care that includes skilled nursing care suites, 150 stand-alone retirement units and a midrise condominium.
Unlike individual assisted living facilities, which are rental units, continuing care retirement communities like the Morewood project require an initial entrance payment and monthly maintenance fees, but guarantee long term health care and admittance to a nursing facility on the premises as the need arises.
There are seven new applications for enriched housing to serve the frail elderly who need personal care and supervision, all for more than 100 beds in apartment type buildings on Long Island currently on file with New York State, said to Bob Kelliher, acting director of certification and financing of the New York State Office of Housing and Adult Services.
"It's been very active over the whole state," he said. "The numbers are up considerably. What is unusual is that we have as many applications as we do from Nassau County."
Assisted living is a 15 billion-dollar industry that is expected to grow to $30 billion by the end of the decade, saidWhitney Redding, spokeswoman for the Assisted Living Facilities Association of America. One of the contributing factors to the growth of the industry is just how long people are living. It is tremendously popular because it fills that historic gap between independent living and full-time nursing care, she said. There are about 1.25 million elderly people in an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 facilities nationwide.
On Long Island, 10,000 assisted living beds are expected to be built in the next three years, said Susan Peerless, executive director of the Empire State Association of Adult Homes and Assisted Living Facilities. In New York State, 10,000 to 20,000 beds are under development, with a 60,000 increase expected in the next three years.
"This is a big state for back migration," she said. "Consumers are now driving the expansion of assisted living. They are able to age in place and age in dignity. For the first time in the history of mankind, what is good for business is good for people.  Whereas three years ago, there were three publicly traded corporations in the industry, now there are 20."
Assisted living may become more affordable in the future as managed care associations are showing more interest in it as a viable option. The irony is that overall, it is a sensible option, said Ms. Redding, less expensive than nursing care or subacute care. It is a market-driven, consumer-driven industry. Providers are looking at ways to make it more affordable.
Efforts to bring health care through Medicaid to assisted living facilities are under way, said Ms. Peerless. "Assisted living is here to stay. Government is starting to pay attention and managed care is starting to pay attention. Four or five years from now, we're going to see assisted living as the place of preference for managed care."
The number of elderly aged 85 and over is the fastest growing group in Suffolk County, said Roy Fedelen, a planner with the Long Island Regional Planning Board. In many cases, he said, the children of elderly people from Nassau County have moved to Suffolk, so it makes sense to look for retirement housing in Suffolk.
While the two Great Neck projects appear to be identical, the Senior Quarters is a residential adult home licensed by the New York State Department of Social Services. Senior Quarters bundles personal care assistance and health care monitoring into the monthly rental while the Mayfair project is a full service hotel with optional home health services provided on site by North Shore University Hospital that can be purchased upon necessity. The Mayfair units will have kitchens with convection microwaves while the Kapson model only provides a sink and refrigerator. The average age at both facilities will be 80.
The residences have design features geared to make everyday tasks easier for the elderly like grab bars in bathrooms, electrical plugs situated higher on walls to minimize the necessity for bending and emergency response telephone systems.
"The market is big enough for both of us," Mr. Belfer said. "I think we have a different operating style. Theyre both good but I think one is focused on a little more independent senior and one is focused on a more frail senior. It's a different kind of style. It's the difference between going to the Four Seasons as a hotel and going to the Holiday Inn. They're both giving you beds, they're both giving you rooms. You'll sleep well and they'll give you a wake-up call, but it's a different experience. Be that as it may, I think there's a need for both projects."
Plans for both Great Neck facilities call for billiard rooms, coffee bars, lounges, private dining rooms, libraries and outdoor terraces. Senior Quarters will have a theater/ chapel and movie studio. The Mayfair will have an atrium courtyard and a spa with a pool. Both Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Belfer expect their tenants will shop and occasionally dine in Great Neck Plaza.
"Our residents are ambulatory and have the majority of their faculties," Mr. Kaplan said. "They're not bedridden, they're dressed, they come down for meals, it's a nice level of living."

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August 24, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

JERSEY;
Visit Palm Beach. No, Not That Palm Beach.

BYLINE: By Joe Sharkey 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 1; Column 3; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 763 words

ON the northern end of the Jersey seashore, Charlie Rooney, semi-retired bon vivant and longtime Mayor of Sea Bright, has become a firm believer in palm trees. Real ones.
As parrots and other tropical fashion statements became popular in recent years, clusters of swaying palm trees have been sprouting here and there on the New Jersey shore. 
 Each spring, they are trucked in from nurseries in Florida, where a stately 30-foot queen palm goes for about $275 (delivery extra). In Sea Bright, where private beach clubs like to set themselves apart from the hoi polloi crammed onto the public beaches, palm accessorization has been especially popular, Mayor Rooney said.
"It looks surreal," remarked one veteran Sea Bright habitue, Cindy Zipf, who runs Clean Ocean Action, the seashore environmental group.
"As far as I know, we were the first beach in New Jersey to have palm trees," Mayor Rooney noted proudly. "But they're all at the private clubs. Next summer, though, I'm going to have the borough buy 10 or 15 of them for the public beach."
Mayor Rooney, one of those rare public officials along New Jersey's largely exclusive northern seashore who actually believe the public should be able to use the beaches that taxpayers expensively restore and maintain, thinks the palm trees will be a nice touch. Beyond that, there is the matter of competition for weddings.
"I marry a lot of people," the Mayor said, referring to his official, rather than personal, activities. (The $100 fee he charges goes to help support a local senior citizens group.) Some couples ask the Mayor to marry them on the beach, and ever since the private clubs put in palm trees, he has watched their wedding business increase. "Palm trees look very nice in wedding pictures," he said.
They're also practical, he suggested. Not long ago, Mayor Rooney helped perform a Jewish wedding ceremony on the beach. "Thirty-five people, very romantic," he said. "We're in the sand, and I realize I got to break this glass as part of the tradition. We start stomping on it, but the glass won't break. It would have been no problem with a palm tree nearby."
Of course, there are those who believe that it is horticultural vandalism to truck an exotic palm tree out of Florida just to tart up a New Jersey beach -- especially since palms go into an operatic swoon and croak after the first frost. Each year, they have to be knocked down and replaced.
Mayor Rooney has a way of mollifying tree-huggers who ask him about the fate of the palms over a miserable Jersey winter. He lies.
"I tell them, we got so much beach out here that for some reason these palms live all year. It's like a paradise," he said.
Mayor Rooney wants Sea Bright's live palms to set a certain tone for the northern seashore. But at the far southern end of the coast, in the three boardwalk towns known collectively as the Wildwoods, an entirely different style is on the rise.
"Plastic palms are coming back big time," said Jack Morey, a vice president of the Morey Organization, which runs Wildwood amusement piers.
Mr. Morey is the leading force behind the Wildwood Doo-Wop Preservation League, a redevelopment movement that has drawn serious academic interest to the town's funky architecture, especially its 200 vintage motels from the 1950's and 1960's. This school year, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts and the Yale University School of Architecture are conducting a joint study on the Wildwoods' quirky 1950's seashore architecture, which evoked then-exotic locales like Miami Beach and Hawaii. A preliminary report by the schools describes the Wildwoods' "vivid 50's imagery, rich palette of color, decoration, lights, plastic and glitz" and concludes that in Wildwood, "to paraphrase 'The Graduate,' the future is in plastics -- palm trees."
In keeping with the retro motif, Mr. Morey has blueprints for a renovation of one of the two 1950's motels his family still owns. The plans for the porte-cochere, for example, include mounds of painted concrete fruit piled high on either side. "I call it the Carmen Miranda Veranda," Mr. Morey said.
The preliminary design report by Penn and Yale on the future of Wildwood suggests that the town "turn the visual volume up" and promote its Doo-Wop architecture as intensely as nearby Cape May endlessly promotes its Victoriana.
So the trucks hauling live palms to places like Sea Bright won't be making any stops in Wildwood next spring. "We want the big plastic ones," Mr. Morey said. "They have to look fake or it isn't real."

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August 24, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBOORHOOD REPORT: GLENDALE;
Facing Up to Elder Abuse

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 10; Column 5; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 449 words

Anne DeBraw lives in fear. On a dark night not long ago, she heard the footsteps of a prowler on her roof. There was a tormented moment of silence before the intruder came crashing through the skylight.
"I felt so scared, so alone at that moment," said Mrs. DeBraw, 71, the memories tumbling out in tears. The man had been there before, but there was little she was willing to do. "He is my son and I didn't want to hurt him." 
 Mrs. DeBraw's is a common story, but one not often told. Many elderly parents like Mrs. DeBraw live in silent fear of their children. Quieted by shame, Mrs. DeBraw was battered and browbeaten for a decade.
People like Mrs. DeBraw, who have been abused by their children, may soon have a refuge of their own. By next spring, a Long Island City-based organization hopes to open a 20-bed emergency facility that will offer shelter, counseling and medical assistance to victims of elder abuse and their families.
"Elder abuse is New York's dirty little secret," said the Rev. Coleman Costello, founder and director of Walk the Walk, the group that plans to build the shelter. "Many of our old people are isolated and dependent on those who hurt them. Nobody wants to report that they're suffering at the hands of their children."
With $350,000 in grant money, Father Costello and his organization expect to close this week on a piece of property in Glendale, Queens, where the shelter is to be built. Father Costello, a Catholic priest, assisted Mrs. Debraw after the court system was unable to stop her son's uninvited visits to her home.
Father Costello believes that the shelter in Glendale may be the first in the country just for victims of elder abuse. According to statistics provided by the National Center on Elder Abuse, more than 5 percent of New York City's 1.3 million people over the age of 60 are the victims of domestic mistreatment. Usually that abuse comes at the hands of an adult child and it can include physical or emotional duress, financial exploitation or abandonment. As the baby boomers age, those numbers will skyrocket, particularly in Queens and Brooklyn, where the majority of New York's elderly live.
"This is a disgrace that is not perceived of as a problem because nobody wants to talk about it," said Herbert W. Stupp, Commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging. Although abused elderly people can take refuge in shelters for battered people, they often leave after only a few days, Mr. Stupp said.
"They have different physical and emotional needs," he said. "As difficult as it is, a young woman can start another life while a senior citizen is coming to the end of hers."   CHARLIE LeDUFF

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August 24, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Nation;
So Let's Just Have Veggies

BYLINE: By TOM KUNTZ 

SECTION: Section 4; Page 3; Column 1; Week in Review Desk 

LENGTH: 457 words

DOES the picture at right evoke Norman Rockwell -- or Alfred Hitchcock? The question seems a fair one in light of the scary news lately about food. Last week the meat processor Hudson Foods recalled 25 million pounds of possibly tainted ground beef and shut down the Nebraska plant that it came from, causing shortages at Burger King and Boston Market restaurants.
Only a handful of people have gotten sick from potentially deadly E. coli bacteria in the meat, but every year in the United States, bacteria in food kills thousands of people, mostly children and elderly people, and sickens millions. 
 So a practical question for the coming weekend is, what's a Labor Day chef to do?
Here's help from the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service:
*You may think your wacky "Hot Stuff" apron is essential, but what about a meat thermometer? Yes, a meat thermometer. The U.S.D.A. says you should use one to make sure meat has been cooked enough to kill E. coli and other bacteria. Hamburgers should be cooked to 160 degrees; whole poultry and thighs to 180 degrees, breasts to 170 degrees. Steaks need only be cooked to 145 degrees and can be reddish inside since bacteria collects only on the outside of such cuts.
*Completely thaw meat and poultry before grilling so that it cooks evenly.
*Keep cold foods cold (40 degrees or lower), and hot food hot (at least 140 degrees).
*Clean all work surfaces and utensils and your hands before and after preparing food.
*To prevent cross-contamination, make sure raw meat and poultry are separate from other foods. Never put cooked food on a platter that held raw meat.
*Shop with summer heat in mind: put meat in the shopping cart last, just before checkout. Meat should go in the car's air-conditioned interior -- not the trunk -- or in a cooler for trips of more than 30 minutes.
*Thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables to be eaten raw. No nibbling grapes from the grocery bag.
*Hold the carcinogens: Some studies suggest there is a cancer risk from grilling food at high heat. To avoid the hazardous chemicals formed by charring meat, grill at medium temperatures. Trim as much fat as possible to avoid grill flame-ups. Microwave precooking helps drain off fat.
*As for dangers from the grill itself, the Barbecue Industry Association says pollution from charcoal units has been minimized with a reformulation of lighter fluid. Among its common-sense tips: set up the grill in an open area away from buildings. When lighting a liquid-propane grill, always keep the lid open to prevent an explosion from built-up gas. And as for that wacky apron, make sure its strings aren't hanging loose near the fire, or you really will be hot stuff.

LOAD-DATE: August 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Cold war fears overlooked the enemy in our backyards: undercooked burgers. A 50's barbecue. (Elliott Erwitt/Magnum)

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August 27, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Whitman Order Allows Some Legal Immigrants to Retain Food Stamps

BYLINE: By JENNIFER PRESTON 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 539 words

DATELINE: TRENTON, Aug. 26

New Jersey will continue to provide food stamp benefits to legal immigrants who are children, elderly or disabled even after the Federal Government stops paying for them next week, Whitman administration officials announced today.
New Jersey will join New York and nine other states in the nation that are replacing food stamp benefits or providing emergency food assistance to legal immigrants. Except for those in a few categories, including refugees and people on active military service, legal immigrants will no longer be eligible to participate in the Federal food stamp program after Sept. 1. 
 Under the executive order signed today by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, legal immigrants who are age 17 and younger, 65 and older or disabled but not yet eligible for citizenship will receive food stamp benefits until they reach the five years of residency in this country that is required for citizenship.
To keep receiving food stamps after that point, they will be required to apply for citizenship within 60 days. The food stamp benefits would continue until their application for citizenship is processed, state officials said.
In New Jersey, 16,000 households with legal immigrants will become ineligible for the Federal food stamp program on Sept. 1 under the Federal welfare law that took effect last year. Governor Whitman's executive order restores benefits to an estimated 10,000 of those households. Able-bodied legal immigrants between 18 and 64 will lose their benefits next week, even if they are able to meet the new law's strict work requirements.
"The extension of benefits for legal immigrants who are children, disabled, or elderly," Governor Whitman said, "will insure the health and welfare of these New Jerseyans with special needs while they work toward becoming U.S. citizens."
But Tanya Broder, a staff attorney with the National Immigrant Law Center in Los Angeles, said that she remained concerned that the parents of immigrant children will lose their own food stamp benefits.
"It is wonderful that the state is trying to fill in the gap that was left by the Federal Government," Ms. Broder said of Governor Whitman's executive order. "But providing food stamps only to some members of the family will not adequately provide for the nutritional needs of everyone in the family."
The State Commissioner of Human Services, William Waldman, estimated that the state's policy would cost $15 million, money that is already included in the budget for the state's welfare program. The executive order would not apply to immigrants who arrived in this country after the Federal welfare law took effect on Aug. 22, 1996.
Eleven states, including New Jersey, have decided in recent months to pick up the cost of food stamp benefits to some legal immigrants. The state programs range from an emergency food assistance program in Colorado to a plan in Washington State that fully replaces Federal food stamp benefits to all immigrant households.
In New York, the Pataki administration agreed with the State Legislature last month to continue providing food stamp benefits to legal immigrants who are children, elderly or disabled. Officials said that the measure would cost the state $31.2 million.

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August 28, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

An Eden, Yes. But Whose?;
Jockeying for Position in a Battle Over 8 Hidden Cottages on Third Avenue

BYLINE: By TRACIE ROZHON 

SECTION: Section C; Page 1; Column 2; Home Desk 

LENGTH: 2019 words

RIGHT along Third Avenue, behind a facade of tired 1930's storefronts, lies an eccentric, lush and ivy-strewn Eden known as the Cottages, a row of eight miniature Regency-style residences occupied now by only five tenants -- and seen by mere handfuls of New Yorkers in its 60-year history.
Designed from the start, it seems, to be torn down, the blocklong two-story development nevertheless has sailed along for decades through New York City's tempestuous real estate markets, protected only by an aging owner who came to love this unusual brick and glass-block oasis between 77th and 78th Streets. 
 Here, overlooking the courtyard garden, hidden from the avenue, a retired Navy commander mows his handkerchief-size lawn, puts away his old-fashioned red mower and strolls down the path to have tea on the terrace with his 76-year-old neighbor. Three mornings a week, another neighbor, 81, sets off at 7:30, walking to her job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On Thursdays, her 86-year-old neighbor leaves to board a bus to Queens, where she nurses a friend recovering from a stroke.
The elderly renters of the Cottages, each of whom has lived here for more than 25 years, say the landlord always assured them they would never have to worry about anything as unpleasant as eviction.
But in this particularly New York drama, a play with a yet-to-be-determined number of acts, the renters -- who pay $225 to $1,650 a month -- have at last been roused from their idyll. The owner, Arthur W. Diamond, died in 1996. This March the residents were served intent-to-evict notices from developers planning to build a 32-story condominium tower with three-, four-, five- and six-bedroom apartments. The developers plan to rip out the existing garden, demolish half the Cottages and reface the other half in limestone and granite, to match their tower.
As the summer wanes, each side is feverishly staking out its positions and lining up its spokesmen and supporters in anticipation of a September ruling in State Supreme Court.
The tenants, whose homes are rent-controlled or rent-stabilized, joined by the residents of an 11-story rental apartment house that overlooks the garden, are using every means they can think of to fight the new building.  They have filed lawsuits and hired a publicity agent associated with preservation struggles. They have enlisted celebrities to lend their names to their cause. They reel them off: Woody Allen, Tony Randall, Celeste Holm, Tammy Grimes and others.
They have recruited preservationists, including Robert A. M. Stern, the architect, who has called the Cottages and the garden "high-quality examples of 'everyday architecture' of a type that seems to have disappeared from our more cynical and expedient post-World War II city." And the Friends of the Upper East Side calls the Cottages one of the neighborhood's 11 most endangered sites.
"The developers' big mistake," said Ruth Berns, 81, a statistician who lives in Cottage G, "is that they looked at us on paper and saw how old we were -- and thought we were just some senior citizens they could push around."
F OR their part, the developers argue that the Cottages only benefit a handful of elderly tenants in a city that desperately needs family-size housing. They dismiss the garden as "ragtag and scruffy,""an eyesore" and a "hostile environment." They say the storefronts need work.
Aby Rosen, a partner in the proposed development, pointed out that the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission had declined to consider landmark status for the Cottages four times, most recently this past spring. A commission spokeswoman said the Cottages were judged not significant enough "architecturally, historically or culturally."
The developers say they could round up their own celebrities -- "we could get some ex-mayors," one said -- but they are so confident they will prevail and won't need them. Yet, despite their confidence, the developers are very angry with their opponents.
His face red and his voice irritated, Trevor Davis, one of the three partners in the $75 million joint venture of Davis & Partners and RFR Holding, said the tenants seemed unwilling "to approach us directly and sit down in a civil manner and interact."
Mr. Rosen and Mr. Davis say they have changed the project's original design to satisfy preservationists: they will now keep four of the eight Cottages, without their current tenants, to sell as condominiums.
In the space now occupied by the courtyard garden, they propose a new landscaped open space. Current drawings show a fountain surrounded by shrubs, similar to the existing fountain, and plantings covering the flat rooftops of the remaining Cottages. Altogether, they argue, they will actually increase the square footage of open space.
Their opponents scoff at their attempts, categorizing the design concessions as waffling. "How can you trust what they're telling people now when they've changed their position so many times?" said Deborah Valcourt, a leader of the tenants' group, whose apartment at 177 East 77th Street overlooks the garden.
Since they first heard about the developers' demolition plans, the tenants of the Cottages have opened their doors to outsiders: since April, there have been six open houses, giving the public a rare glimpse of the interiors and of the inhabitants of this cloistered setting.
 LESLIE L. YOUNGBLOOD of Cottage H is a former Navy commander and Rhodes scholar, a hearty 76-year-old with a buxom mustache as white as an avalanche, who still keeps the pronounced drawl of his native Augusta, Ga. On Jan. 10, 1966, Commander Youngblood moved into what is arguably the finest of the Cottages: on the north end of the row, it is filled with light and has an extra room, an elegant, slate-floored sun room.
He proudly gives a tour, starting first with his little lawn, then into the sun room and on into the long living room with its wood-burning fireplace and step-up dining room, its refinished table and chairs silhouetted against the big square window stoppered with hefty 12-by-12-inch glass blocks. The blocks serve to mask noise from Third Avenue and endow the apartments with a shimmering light: yellow taxicabs, for instance, appear as fleeting spots of color in a shifting video-art landscape.
In the large bedroom, which faces the garden, the back wall is covered with wallpaper ornamented by sailing ships, and there are ships' models and photographs of sailboats everywhere. Commander Youngblood picked up a framed photograph of himself as a young man in a Navy uniform. "I was pretty full of myself just then," he said with a chuckle. "That was before I saw the action off the beaches in Korea."
Down the row, in Cottage E, Rue Faris Drew is a young-looking 76-year-old blonde who, in what she laughingly calls her "photography phase," shot two covers for Life magazine in the 1950's.
"I don't even know how to use all that equipment they use now," she said nonchalantly. "I just went out with my Nikon and took pictures."
Ms. Drew was visiting friends in California in March when she got a telephone call from one of her neighbors, warning her of the threatened demolition. She flew back and, several days later, she received her intent-to-evict notice.
Then there was the visit from a developers' representative, who, she said, offered to pay moving expenses if she would relocate.  "He was snide and sneaky," Ms. Drew said. "He didn't even buzz through the doorman at 177, like everyone else does. He just came and knocked on the door, and caught me in my bathrobe."
From then on, she said, the tenants have sought to avoid the developers or their representatives. She expressed dismay that the developers tried to offer another of the tenants, an 86-year-old woman, one of the apartments at 177 East 77th Street, a Diamond family building that the developers also plan to buy.
"It's really important that we stick together now," she added. "If they try to approach any of us, we tell them to talk to our lawyer."
Ms. Drew is adamant: "I never want to leave here," she says.
Commander Youngblood takes a slightly different tack.
"We want very much to stay here," he said, measuring out each of his words, "but nobody can say we would never consider any offer ever." He paused. "If they want to settle with us on a money basis, it will take a lot more money than they think it will."
T HE original advertisement for what are now called the Cottages appeared in early 1937. It featured a sketch of the terraces overlooking the tennis and badminton courts that stood where the garden is now.
In the shadow of the Third Avenue El, the apartments were "insulated against noise" and had a "private entrance guarded day and night." Those interested were advised to apply to the Estate of Ogden Goelet, a member of the real estate family that built the Goelet Building, the 1932 white-and-green-marble Art Deco wonder at 49th Street and Fifth Avenue. Both were designed by E. H. Faile.
What the advertisement did not mention is that the two-story block-front development was built as a "taxpayer," a more or less temporary structure whose tenants pay enough in rent to cover the taxes on the property while the owners wait for a bigger, more lucrative opportunity.
Even the second owner, Mr. Diamond, intended to develop the property eventually, said his his lawyer, Jack Adelman, who is also co-executor of his will. But that assertion is challenged by some of the tenants.  "Mr. Diamond told people we would never have to worry -- we'd be able to stay," Ms. Drew said. "He should have written it into his will."
But Mr. Adelman, who said he was "Mr. Diamond's closest friend" for the last 15 years of his life, is vehement. "Pretty clearly, he did not intend that," he said. "As proof, he never made a lease for any of the stores longer than two years."
"Every month or so, he'd ask me what the property was worth," Mr. Adelman continued. "He wanted to know, because he was leaving it to a charitable trust, and he wanted to leave them as much as he could."
But if the property is not sold and the tenants are allowed to stay, "this would be a gift to these tenants of millions of dollars," the lawyer said.
Developers have signed a contract to buy the property from Mr. Diamond's heirs for close to $15 million.
If the deal goes through -- a State Supreme Court justice is set to rule on one of the lawsuits next month, and the developers say they are ready to close on the property when they can proceed with construction -- the money will go to the Diamond Foundation, the trust Mr. Diamond established in his will. The foundation's trustees have pledged a gift of $7 million to Columbia University's law school. "These lawsuits may prejudice our ability to give this gift," Mr. Adelman said.
In the end, proponents of the development plan say they assume that the tenants of the Cottages, like most holdout tenants in New York City's development history, will be bought off. But at this point, no one is speculating for how much; serious money has not been discussed.
Meanwhile, the public-relations campaign is gearing up. Last week, word came down that Woody Allen had been recruited by the preservationists who want to save the Cottages. When asked for an interview, Mr. Allen declined. "He was glad to lend his name to the benefit committee," said Lauren Chapin, his assistant, "but he's working on a new project now and can't take the time to be interviewed on this subject."
Tony Randall was more accessible, explaining that several friends had lived in the Cottages, including Richard N. Barkle, 76, the retired public-relations director of Pan American World Airways, the current tenant in Cottage F.
Mr. Randall, sounding depressed, said he kept losing his preservation battles, most recently, the fight to save the Hayden Planetarium. "All the beautiful things are gone . . . ," he said, his voice trailing off.
Asked what the chances of saving the Cottages were, he paused to think.
"About 50-50," he said briskly, before saying goodbye.

LOAD-DATE: August 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Ruth Berns, 81, is one of the few residents of the Cottages who has left her 1937 glass-block window bare. It quiets the traffic and makes Third Avenue a kaleidoscope of shimmering images. Brick storefronts on Third Avenue at East 77th Street, left, mask one of New York's largest private courtyards. Plans for a 32-story condominium tower, below, would demolish half of the Regency-style Cottages. (Photographs by FRED R. CONRAD/The New York Times)(pg. C1); Two development partners, Trevor Davis, left, and Aby Rosen, with a model of the Gothic-inspired condominium tower. Proudly tending his patch of lawn, Leslie Youngblood says it will take "more money than they think" to move him out. Rue Drew, a resident since 1971, takes her 15-minute stair exercises every morning in the Cottages' courtyard garden, above. Under the current development plan, the garden would be torn out and a new open space built there. Photos from 1937 show curvy canopies in front, far left, and Regency roofs in back. (Photographs by FRED R. CONRAD/The New York Times)(pg. C6)

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August 28, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

2 Brothers, Town Leaders, Die in a Fire in Secaucus

BYLINE: By RONALD SMOTHERS 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 610 words

DATELINE: NEWARK, Aug. 27

A fire early today in Secaucus took the lives of two brothers, John and Daniel Flanagan, who played prominent roles in the life of the town of 13,000.
John Flanagan, 50, a 19-year veteran of the Secaucus Police Department and president of its Policemen's Benevolent Association, was found in his second-floor bedroom in the home the brothers shared with their mother, Florence, and another brother, Bill. 
 Daniel Flanagan, 36, who was the township's Democratic chairman as well as chairman of the Housing Authority and the Library Board, was found on the first floor, his body pressed closed to the front door.
The 12:42 A.M. fire, which investigators have ruled accidental, moved quickly through the two-story frame house. Mrs. Flanagan escaped through a rear door, and Bill Flanagan was not home at the time of the fire.
Detective Sgt. David Kieffer said that the fire appeared to be electrical in origin but that the investigation was continuing. Autopsies have not been completed, he said, but the police found no reason to suspect foul play.
There were early reports that neighbors heard gunshots in the midst of the fire. Neither man had bullet wounds, and the police speculated that Officer Flanagan unsuccessfully tried to shoot out the thick, double-glazed windows of the bedroom. Investigators said they found bullets in the window frame, and Officer Flanagan was found slumped over the bed with the gun in his hand.
Flags flew at half staff today and both Town Hall and the library were draped with the black and purple of funereal bunting.
The deaths cast a pall over what was to be the swearing-in of Kathleen A. Walrod today as the first female municipal judge in town, said Mayor Anthony Just. He said that almost everyone in town had known the Flanagan family, which had nine siblings between the ages of 30 and 60. Two family members owned the gas station across the street from Town Hall.
"They were a big family in a very small town," Mayor Just said.  "There is a void here now."
Anthony Impreveduto, the district's State Assemblyman, was a close friend of Daniel Flanagan, whom everyone called Dan and whom he taught at Secaucus High School. He said there was "a deep sadness enveloping the town" because of the deaths.
Daniel Flanagan had become Democratic chairman after Mr. Impreveduto's father, Rocco, the former chairman, died a year ago and had, as well, assumed the unpaid, part-time posts with the Housing Authority and Library Board.
"Senior citizens have been coming into my office all day crying and asking what they are going to do without Danny," Mr. Impreveduto said.
Both the Hudson County Executive, Robert C. Janiszewski, and the county Democratic chairman, Hank Gallo, issued statements praising Mr. Flanagan's political activism and his skill in unifying a fractious local party.
John Flanagan played a less partisan but no less visible role in town as a policeman for two decades. A Vietnam War veteran and winner of the Bronze Star, he had been active with the local American Legion Post 118, serving as commander and as its representative to the county executive committee.
"He was a real presence who stood for what everyone else stood for and wasn't controversial at all," said Ed Bienkowski, a friend for 25 years.
John Flanagan had worked his way up the ranks of the local police officers' union before being elected president two years ago. At his death, he was involved in negotiations for a new contract to replace one that expired two years ago. But even there, he had not engendered bad feeling.
"John bargained respectfully," Mayor Just said. "He was a big man but not a big mouth."

LOAD-DATE: August 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Daniel Flanagan, 36, above, Secaucus Democratic chairman, and Officer John Flanagan, 50, its police union head, died yesterday. (Photographs by Associated Press)

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August 30, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

3 Versions of Ex-Lax Are Recalled After F.D.A. Proposes Ban on Ingredient

BYLINE: By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 8; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 708 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Aug. 29

The maker of Ex-Lax, the nation's top-selling overnight laxative, pulled three versions of the product off store shelves today after the Food and Drug Administration proposed a ban on the main ingredient, which has been linked to cancer in rats and mice.
The ingredient, phenolphthalein, has been used in Ex-Lax for 91 years, since the laxative was introduced in 1906. The manufacturer, Novartis Consumer Health of Summit, N.J., said it believed that the chemical was safe but decided to withdraw the products and reformulate them. 
 "F.D.A.'s decision is based on animal studies involving very high doses," a Novartis spokeswoman, Mary-Fran Faraji, said. "We still feel that, based on over 90 years of human experience, the product is safe when taken as labeled and does not present any human risk. However, we have decided to take action because we realize that F.D.A.'s announcement will cause some consumer confusion."
The three products being withdrawn are the regular, maximum relief and chocolate formulas. The reformulated versions, which the company said would be available within 60 days, will contain senna, a natural laxative derived from the senna plant.
Officials at the drug agency acknowledged that there was no evidence that phenolphthalein, which is in other over-the-counter laxatives, caused cancer in humans. But Dr. Robert Temple, associate director for medical policy at the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the evidence was "fairly convincing that this is an animal carcinogen."
"There is always going to be debate about how to apply that information to humans," Dr. Temple added. "But the reason you do these studies is so you can potentially apply them to humans."
The studies that prompted today's action by the drug agency were conducted at the National Toxicology Program in Research Triangle Park, N.C., where researchers spent two years looking at the effects of phenolphthalein on rodents. They found that rats and mice developed a variety of tumors when fed the chemical in doses 50 to 100 times those recommended for humans.
One particularly convincing study, Dr. Temple said, involved mice that were fed high doses of the chemical for six months at 30 times the human dose. The mice developed damage to a vital gene, called p53, that suppresses tumors. Mice of both sexes had an increased incidence of cancer of the thymus, apparently as a result of the genetic damage, Dr. Temple said.
The findings were especially disturbing given that some people use laxatives regularly for years, even though the labels on the products warn that they are for occasional constipation only. No one knows how many people ignore the warnings, but experts suspect the elderly are among the most likely to do so.
In announcing the proposed ban, the F.D.A. said it was opening a 30-day comment period on a proposal to reclassify phenolphthalein as a Category II ingredient, one that is not generally considered "safe and effective," the standard that products must meet to gain the drug agency's approval. A final ruling will be issued after the comments are reviewed.
Dr. Temple urged consumers to read laxative labels carefully and avoid those that contained phenolphthalein.
"Our advice is to find another laxative," Dr. Temple said.
The agency said there were more than two dozen laxatives that did not contain phenolphthalein.
As concerns about the chemical emerged, some manufacturers shied from its use. In 1995, when preliminary findings of the phenolphthalein studies were released, Schering-Plough Health Care Products reformulated two of its laxatives, Correctol and Feen-A-Mint.
But until now, Novartis has resisted reformulating its Ex-Lax products. With annual sales of $41 million, the five versions of Ex-Lax, three with phenolphthalein, two without, account for about one-ninth of the annual $360 million market for stimulant, or overnight, laxatives.
The company would not say how much the reformulation will cost, but said it is offering coupons worth $1.50 to people who stop using Ex-Lax in the wake of today's announcement. In addition, the company has established a toll-free telephone number, (800) 706-6600, for consumers with questions about the product.

LOAD-DATE: August 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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August 31, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

A School for Dance in Rye That Says Fun Breeds Talent

BYLINE: By CLAUDIA ROWE 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 1; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 866 words

DATELINE: RYE

THERE are no formidable old women tapping out ballet combinations with pointer sticks at New Dance, and despite worn-out toe shoes hanging in clusters over the studio mirror, no painfully deformed dancer's feet among the students. Not if Heidi Blair can help it.
The school Ms. Blair opened here five years ago with 92 students has grown to more than 650, largely on the strength of its director's philosophy: that dance should always be fun, that discipline does not mean drudgery and that there is no call for hurt feelings or embarrassed children in her program. 
 "I want to make sure that each kid walks out of here with a smile on their face, no matter what," Ms. Blair, 31, said. "They should feel confident and creative and liked, not picked on and teased and harassed."
The 3- and 4-year-old girls wearing tiny ballet skirts and waving scarlet scarves in Ms. Blair's Tuesday morning class appeared to get the message. They giggled and twirled to classical music, dancing through beams of sunlight on the floor and trying to imitate their graceful teacher as she circled the room. Afterward, they ran proudly to waiting parents, asking: "Did you see me?" "Were you watching?"
Older students like Rebecca Jacobs, 14, often take ballet, jazz and modern dance. Several said New Dance combined unusually attentive technical training with a relaxed attitude that they missed in other programs. "I really wanted to do serious dancing," Rebecca said. "And at New Dance, there are rules and everything -- it's real ballet. It's just more laid back."
In a converted 1914 school building in the heart of Rye, New Dance students jete and releve in what were once the offices of an architecture concern and public relations company. Ms. Blair, a former dance and biology student at Purchase College, borrowed $40,000 from her family to gut the space. Her father, a retired postmaster, flew east from the family home in Arizona to build the school's anti-injury sprung floors himself. In September 1992, after hiring a half-dozen teachers who shared her ideas about dance, Ms. Blair opened the doors.
Anyone who has ever taken a traditional ballet class will recognize what Ms. Blair was trying to avoid: shrill instructors and biting competition, which she said discourages children. New Dance's primary ballet teacher, Colleen Blair (who is not related to her employer) knew it all too well. After years spent pirouetting through the rigorous School of American Ballet in Manhattan, Colleen developed knee injuries and a battered sense of self-esteem by the time she was 17.
"I cut off all my hair, gained a lot of weight and just sat in my apartment eating peanut butter out of the jar," she said. "It was terrible."
Modern dance at Bennington College in Vermont brought her back to the fold with some valuable insights. "I try to teach ballet with a 'safe body' technique you get from modern dance," she said. "A lot of very traditional ballet schools don't look at you as an individual. They look at you as a shape they're fitting you into. But I'm not doing this to make ballerinas. I'm doing it to give people a love of dance."
Not that she is not a stickler for technique. Colleen Blair gives pointe classes only to pupils she deems strong enough for toe shoes and watches over their first store fittings herself. She invites professional choreographers from the Alvin Ailey and Paul Taylor dance companies to prepare pieces specifically for New Dance children. At the end of each year she includes all ballet students into a three-act production at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. Last spring's show was "Coppelia." The year before, Mario M. Cuomo was there to watch his granddaughters perform in "Sleeping Beauty."
"What ballet is really teaching them is self-discipline and confidence," said Sallie Putz, the mother of two New Dance students who have been in the program for two years. "In 'Coppelia,' they couldn't wait to get on stage. They showed no fear. I thought, 'Wow, that's something.' "
Ms. Putz became so impressed with the school that she enrolled in it herself, though she had no dance experience. "I never thought I would do this. I'm 42 years old -- not exactly the optimal time to start ballet," she said with a laugh. "But I was spending a lot of time at the school with my kids who both take classes, and I thought, 'Why not?' I love it."
The Putz family approach is common at New Dance. Heidi Blair tries to design schedules -- which also include jazz, modern, yoga, adult ballet and aerobics classes -- to mesh with school dismissals and car-pool convenience. While a 4-year-old is taking creative movement in one studio, for example, her mother might be doing aerobics across the hall. New Dance students range in age from 18 months to the elderly.
"We get all kinds and all ages," Heidi Blair said. "I've had retired Rockettes who are 80 take classes here."
When someone like that walks in, the teachers recognize them instantly. "People always know if you've had dance in the past," Colleen Blair said. "It's the way you hold yourself, your ability to listen, to focus. It's a great foundation for everything -- for life."

LOAD-DATE: August 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Various New Dance summer programs in a former 1914 school building in Rye provide instruction for dancers 8 to 18, left, and for those 3 to 7. (Photographs by Susan Harris for The New York Times)(pg. 1); Heidi Blair, left, director of New Dance in Rye, with young students, who practice, and dance in the studio in a summer dance program. Heidi Blair leads a group of students in a ballet class. She says she wants each child to "feel confident and creative." (Photographs by Susan Harris for The New York Times)(pg. 14); Fifties Recalled -- Children at Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla recently learned hand motions and steps of dances popular in the 1950's from Shenan Reed, the first Miss Westchester in 11 years. Taking part in the event, sponsored by the Starlight Foundation, were Ana Lopez, left, Freddie Ramos, Jatiana Cooper and Verenique Ludvig. (Roberta Hershenson for The New York Times)(pg. 15)

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August 31, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: ASTORIA;
. . . and Not Only for Young

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 7; Column 1; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 267 words

Louie Williams, 74, stood over his photo album and began to weep. Pictures can be horrible with their cackling faces, dulled and made strange by time.
"We mustn't talk about Marty anymore," Mr. Williams said to a rare visitor. 
 Marty was Mr. Williams's companion for 37 years. They lived in Astoria for a decade before moving to San Diego. Mr. Williams returned when Marty died two years ago.
"Imagine my suprise when I got here," he said. "There is a style and a rare bit of elegance that there never was in the 80's."
The gentrification of Astoria south of Broadway is one of the finest things that has happened to the area since the Steinway family began making pianos, Mr. Williams says.  And though most older people who have lived in the neighborhood for years may not share Mr. Williams's blithe outlook, a tour through the area appears to show that many of them do agree that the "kids" have been a good influence on the community.
"You know, there used to be a lot of empty spaces around here," said Charlie Pyrcholas, 67, who has lived in his rent-controlled apartment for 33 years and spends his retirement in a lawn chair. "I don't mind them if they don't bother me."
Mr. Williams spends his days drinking tea and drawing portraits at the Cafi Bar. He speaks in what he describes as a stream of unconciousness.
"People don't want you when you're old," he said, "but this place is very warm."
Deborah Keenan, 58, agreed. Very warm and nicely decorated, she said, but, oh!, the prices.
"Two dollars for coffee?" Not to worry. Today it was on the house.   CHARLIE LeDUFF

LOAD-DATE: August 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Louie Williams is an older Astoria resident who likes the changes. (Rebecca Cooney for The New York Times)

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August 31, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: SHEEPSHEAD BAY;
Elevator Repairs Leave Elderly Tenants Marooned on High

BYLINE: By AMY WALDMAN 

SECTION: Section 13; Page 8; Column 1; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 597 words

At 81, Mildred Fogel is spry, and she is wily. Last week found her walking across the roof of the building in the public housing complex where she lives to the top of an adjoining building. From there, she climbed down a flight of stairs and found a working elevator.
"I shouldn't do it," she said of her cat burglar routine, "but I have to get my food." 
 After 47 years in a six-story building with an elevator, in June Ms. Fogel suddenly found that she was living in a walk-up. The City Housing Authority had decided to upgrade the elevator in her building and the 67 others in the Sheepshead-Nostrand complex. But fixing the elevators means taking eight elevators at a time out of service for three months or more.
Each building has only one elevator, which means residents, many of whom are elderly or disabled, have had to take to the stairs, or use the roofs. The woman who cares for Ms. Fogel's bedridden neighbor put her in a wheelchair, lugged her onto the roof and then down into the neighboring elevator, all so she could get to a doctor's appointment.
Once a day, Anna Sussman, 96, spends 20 agonizing minutes gingerly descending five flights so she can volunteer at the local Y.W.H.A. Then she treks back up, her swollen ankles recording every step.
"If I have to go up twice, I'm pooped," she said, so most of the rest of the time she sits in her apartment "like a prisoner," her home for 33 years now her jail.
An 82-year-old woman who would identify herself only as Estelle said she too could drag herself down and up only once a day.
"It's been murder," she said. "I don't know how I survived. It's torture, real torture."
Young mothers have also had a hard time. Ula McQueen has four young children. She said she has to make several trips to get them and their assorted bicycles, strollers and baby carriages down from the fourth floor and back each day.
The 5,100 residents would probably agree that the 50-year-old elevators need a total overhaul, which was started in May; what baffles them is why it takes 12 weeks. Several tenants in Ms. Fogel's building, 3019 Avenue W, say they are particularly galled because the elevator has been inoperable since the beginning of June but they have not seen anyone working on it in nearly a month. But an authority spokesman, Hilly Gross, said that workers have been on the job every day. "They do a lot of work in the motor room and the shaft," he said.
Mr. Gross also said that the contractor, Millar Elevator, was barred by its agreement with the authority from commenting on the work.
Councilman Anthony Weiner said he has sent a letter to the authority's chairman, Ruben Franco, to amend its contract with Millar to require faster work on fewer elevators at a time. But, he said, the authority has been intractable. "They seem reluctant to change their game plan," Mr. Weiner said.
Asked if the work could have been completed faster, Mr. Gross replied with "an emphatic no" and insisted that the work is too complicated. "We think we did and have done everything possible to minimize the impact on residents," Mr. Gross said, including offering to move them to ground-floor apartments for the three months, providing aides to help with shopping, and offering to install temporary lifts on buiilding stairways to enable wheelchair-bound tenants to leave their apartments.
But tenants said they had never seen the lifts and rarely seen the aides. They scoffed at the offer to relocate. "They're crazy," said Ms. Fogel. "I'm living here 47 years and I'm going to move?"   AMY WALDMAN

LOAD-DATE: August 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Mildred Fogel, 81, resents having to use the roof "to get my food." (Richard Lee for The New York Times)

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September 2, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Ernest Schwarcz, 76, Dean at Queens College

BYLINE: By WOLFGANG SAXON 

SECTION: Section D; Page 15; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 437 words

Dr. Ernest Schwarcz, a dean emeritus at Queens College of City University who raised its continuing-education enrollment from dozens to thousands of older adults seeking degrees or just recharging their minds, died last Tuesday after being struck by a car near his home in Fresh Meadows, Queens. He was 76.
He was struck at an intersection and died later that day at Mary Immaculate Hospital, the college said. 
 Dr. Schwarcz retired as dean of the School of General Studies and professor of philosophy at the end of 1992. But he remained active on the campus as senior fellow of Jewish studies and recently traveled to Israel with Allen Lee Sessoms, president of Queens College, to discuss exchanges with several Israeli universities.
Dr. Schwarcz was a founder of the college's Center for Jewish Studies and conducted a symposium in June on the chasm dividing Orthodox Jews from the Conservative and Reform branches. He planned to teach a Jewish Studies class on ethics this semester.
Dr. Schwarcz fostered many innovative programs as dean, adding courses taught abroad, including some taught in China and Israel. The Continuing Education Division had an enrollment of 12 when he began to direct it, but the numbers have grown to about 10,000 students yearly, a result of the addition of course offerings in time to take advantage of the growth in interest in such programs nationally.
At the Center for Jewish Studies, he was chairman of the Ethnic Studies Council and the Black-Jewish People to People Project. The project brought Jewish and black participants together at Queens College to discuss relations between their communities.
A native of Hungary, Ernest Schwarcz graduated from the University of Budapest, from which he also received his Ph.D. and began to teach philosophy in 1948. He taught at the University of Vienna and the University of Melbourne, Australia, before joining Queens College in 1959 as a part-time lecturer.
In the three decades that followed, he became an influential figure in the educational ground swell that attracted more and more people in their mid-20's and older to the nation's colleges.
At Queens, he directed the Adult Collegiate Education program, one of the oldest adult degree programs in the country, which now enrolls 1,500 students every year.
The college promoted him to professor of philosophy in 1970. He was the co-author of books on American education and the learning process and contributed frequently to professional journals on those subjects, as well as Jewish education, educational leadership and Plato.
He is survived by his wife, Marta.

NAME: Ernest Schwarcz

LOAD-DATE: September 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Ernest Schwarcz. (Karen Leon)      

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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September 2, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: The Face of The Future In Japan;
Economic Threat Of Aging Populace

BYLINE: By SHERYL WuDUNN 

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1865 words

DATELINE: TOKYO, Sept. 1

The year is 2025. The nation has twice as many old people as it has children; its economy is groaning under the weight of heavy taxes; its population is shrinking, and the Government's reserve of social security funds has run dry. 
 America in the next generation? Not exactly. For unless things change, this is the not-too-distant future of Japan, once the fastest-growing economy on the globe and now the world's most rapidly aging industrial society. With one person in six already older than 65, the challenge of how Japan will support its aging society grows more bedeviling with each passing year.
Not that the United States will be exempt from some of the same hardships. But Japan will be the world's guinea pig: No nation has ever had experience with such an elderly society and Japan is graying faster than the rest of the industrial world in North America and Europe. So how it faces the quandaries presented by a rapidly aging society is likely to serve as a model -- or a warning -- to other nations that will eventually undergo the same transformation.
The lessons from Japan so far are not encouraging, for it seems that the only way that Tokyo will be able to finance the nation's wrinkled future will be with significantly higher taxes and considerably smaller benefits.
"There is no golden egg," Atsushi Seike, an economics professor at Keio University, said. "So we have to get money from somewhere and that is only from the people or an increase in their productivity."
A declining birth rate and a graying society -- rather than exchange rates and trade surpluses -- are likely to be the key factors during the next several decades in shaping the economies of Japan and other rapidly aging industrial countries.
Unless policies change substantially, high payments will exhaust Japan's pension reserve fund sometime before the year 2025. By that time, the total social welfare burden -- much of it retirement and health care costs for the elderly -- could reach as high as 73 percent of national income, according to an official forecast. Taxpayers, of course, will have to pick up much of the swollen tab, and higher tax rates could lead to a flight of talent -- even among the famously loyal Japanese.
"Who's going to work?" asked Robert Alan Feldman, chief economist at Salomon Brothers Inc. in Tokyo. "The most productive guys will go somewhere else."
A simulation analysis by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's advisory council forecast that unless the Government's finances are overhauled, the burden from social welfare and fiscal debt will balloon. For 2025, it projects an overall national debt of 153 percent of gross domestic product, compared with just 11.5 percent of the overall economic output in 1995.
As a result, the analysis concluded with perhaps a touch of typical Japanese alarmism, if the current system is not changed, the "economy will collapse."
"We don't have any concrete direction," Junichi Sakamoto, an official at the Health and Welfare Ministry, said. "But I think that many people think a cut in the benefits is inevitable."
The future strains on society are evident in the reaction of those unlucky workers, like Atsuto Hayahara, who have already suffered pension cuts for other reasons. A 55-year-old employee at Seishoku Kohyo, Mr. Hayahara saw his benefits cut when the pension fund at the troubled textile firm was bankrupted by the ailing economy and a stifling regulatory climate. Mr. Hayahara had been anticipating a lump-sum pension payment of 2.21 million yen -- or roughly $18,300 -- but that has been cut by more than half, to 880,000 yen, or $7,285.
"I'm just infuriated," Mr. Hayahara said. "I believed in the system, and look how it turned out. I've been betrayed.
"I wanted to do something good for my wife, who has had a harsh life, but now that the pension will be reduced, my dream has evaporated," he added. "We were putting in our own money. What we thought would be for our retired life has disappeared."
Japan's experience is relevant precisely because it is not unique, just ahead of its time. Many experts say that the United States and other countries face similarly difficult outlooks, as the populations born after World War II all begin to age at about the same time.
Still, America is aging more slowly than Japan, and -- at least for now -- its Social Security program is running decent surpluses. Elderly Americans will make up only 20 percent of the population in the year 2030; in Japan, they will account for 25 percent of the population by 2015.
By the year 2029, though, America's Social Security program could be technically bankrupt, too. Unless the Government restructures the system, argues Martin Feldstein, a Harvard economist who served for a while as President Ronald Reagan's chief economic adviser, it will become a "bad deal" for participants in the program who stand to receive less and less in benefits.
In some respects, Japan is better off than America. For starters, 55 percent of Japanese older than 65 still live with their children, compared with less than 20 percent in other industrialized countries. That means that even if pension checks do not come on time, someone will look after most of the elderly here.
The Japanese are also legendary savers, and worries about their future have already driven them to accumulate an average of 9.6 million yen, about $79,500, in savings for each man, woman and child.
But even this tendency to save may be in jeopardy. In general, most people save money in middle age and then spend it after retirement, so that an elderly population is expected to have a much lower savings rate.
For the rest of the world, that means that Japan may no longer be the source of excess savings that are channeled into investments abroad, helping to prop up foreign bond markets.
"The savings rate could be zero or negative by 2010," said Charles Horioka, an economist at Osaka University who has analyzed the savings habits of the elderly. "Japan will have less savings, less money to finance investment and the economy won't grow as fast."
In any case, since the United States and other countries are not far behind in their own aging process, Japan will be forging a plan from which others may learn.
That is, if it develops a plan. Many economists say that the Government has been slow to revamp the nation's archaic pension system, a pay-as-you-go arrangement like the United States' Social Security system and most others in the industrial world.
The Government pension system has generally tried to provide enough money to cover all of a retiree's daily expenses. Every Japanese worker is now required to join the national pension system, and some also join supplementary corporate plans. Most workers pay at least the basic fixed monthly amount, around 12,700 yen, or $105, into the national system regardless of how much they earn.
But many individuals, mainly the self-employed, are not making their contributions to the national pension system because they no longer trust it. Failure to contribute is technically illegal but quietly tolerated.
Japan's complex social security system embraces a network of public, corporate and individual pension plan with numerous quirks and peculiarities that have developed over the years.
As in Mr. Hayahara's case, many employees join company pension plans to supplement the national program, and the troubles of the economy since the stock market collapsed in the early 1990's have plunged numerous pension funds into bankruptcy. Interest rates are at rock bottom in Japan, with the benchmark overnight lending rate at half a percent. The conservatively managed pension funds have been able to get returns of only 2 percent to 3 percent, which could cut deeply into future payments.
In the meantime, pensioners are making out well, for many of them joined pension plans later in their working lives but collect full benefits now. The result is that young and middle-aged workers are effectively subsidizing the elderly.
"If we keep the structure of the present system unchanged, then there will be intergenerational inequities," Mr. Horioka said. "The younger are getting less than they paid, losing out to the older people who are making out like bandits."
Many company pensions do not have enough money in reserve to cover their future payouts comfortably, and collectively, publicly listed companies could be underfinanced by as much as 40 trillion yen, roughly $331 billion, according to estimates by Watson Wyatt, a pension consulting firm in Tokyo. Official statistics show that 53 percent of the nation's 1,873 pension funds are running deficits or just breaking even.
This year, even the Honda Motor Company, which is flush with profits, said that for the third consecutive year, it had set aside extra money, about 25 billion yen, or $207 million, to bolster its skimpy pension reserve. Honda may be well able to afford it, but for most companies, such moves come at the cost of missing important business opportunities.
"It's a big deal for corporations," Mr. Feldman of Salomon said. "You can't build capacity for expansion. If you normally make a hundred bucks and buy a machine to build your business, now you've got to put that into a pension fund."
So far, the Government's remedies, like the actions taken in Washington, amount to little more than tinkering. Starting in 2001, Tokyo plans to gradually push the age at which pensions begin to 65 from the current 60. The Government has also suggested that pension benefits will have to be cut by one-fifth.
Government projections show that by 2025 workers' monthly contributions at corporations will have to be raised to about 35 percent of the average salary from an average of 17 percent now. But many experts say that the Government's fiscal system must be overhauled along with the social security system.
"Japan's scheme will not bring success," Kiyoshi Murakami, a prominent pension specialist in Tokyo, said. "There must be fundamental change."
Any solution is likely to include proposals to extend the employment of the aged, cut benefits to the wealthy and rebalance the system's benefits and burdens among the different generations. For the first time, the Government is also considering shifting part of the pension system to the private sector, an idea that is also under discussion in the United States.
But these considerations have increased mistrust of the public system among the Japanese. In a recent survey, more than 70 percent of those polled said that their biggest worry about retirement was whether their Government pensions would continue. Like aging baby boomers in the United States, many individuals here are setting up their own retirement funds in what has become one of the fastest-growing areas in pension management.
"One housewife in her 20's or 30's said she couldn't count on the public pension in the future," said Junichi Nezu, who monitors a hotline on old-age financial matters at the Japan Institute of Life Insurance. "So she said, 'I would like to stop paying the premium for the public pension and solely invest in an individual pension.' "

LOAD-DATE: September 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: As Japan ages faster than the rest of the industrial world, most older Japanese receive Government-sponsored health care and a pension . . . but the system is in danger of becoming so expensive that it would send taxes soaring and weaken the economy. (pg. D1); In front of the Togenuki Jizo temple in Tokyo, which draws elderly Japanese who pray for continued good health, the street is filled with vendors catering to an aged clientele. Japan will be facing the difficulties of financing its elderly population sooner than other major industrialized nations. (Kaku Kurita for The New York Times)(pg. D14)
 
Graph: "Aging Societies"
Projections show that the elderly are becoming an increasingly large share of the populations of many industrialized countries, straining the government resources of those countries. Graph tracks the percentage of population 65 and older in five industrialized nations, from 1995 through 2020. It also shows health spending in 1993 for people 65 and older as a share of total heath care spending in these nations. (Source: Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development)(pg. D1)      

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September 3, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
KATZ, MO

SECTION: Section D; Page 20; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 299 words

KATZ-Mo. On August 31, 1997. A man of many parts. Enormously gifted in intellect, artistic in temperament, & forthright in manner, Mo Katz was a loving husband of Mary Jane Koren, a fiercely proud father of Zev and Ivon Katz and devoted grandfather of Nicholas Katz. He was a tenacious friend and mentor to many outside his family. A senior New York City hospital administrator for most of his professional career, Mo earned a national reputation as an industry leader. He was an unmitigated idealist, endowed with a keen sense of what was doable, and the intuitive ability to engage others in achieving it. Mo was most of all a humanist who loved to tell stories as a way of expressing the ironies & triumphs of daily living. He always made his point. His was a fearless spirit-one that animated us all. Memorial services will be held on Tuesday September 23 at 6PM at Riverside Memorial Chapel, Amsterdam Avenue & 76 St. In lieu of flowers contributions in his name may be made to Amnesty International, 322 8th Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10001.
KATZ-Mo. A Senior Member of The Commonwealth Fund Staff for a decade, Mo was tireless in developing and supporting programs to help the most vulnerable in our society, from the frail elderly to the young. Experienced in policy planning and development, Mo Katz never lost sight of the true audience, the individuals who would be served. His contribution to The Fund went well beyond professional expertise. For The Fund's Staff and Grantees, Mo was a mentor to many, and a friend to all. He delighted in people, and they responded in kind. On behalf of The Board of Directors and Fund Staff, our most sincere condolences to his wife and family. Charles A. Sanders, M.D., Chairman The Commonwealth Fund Karen Davis, President The Commonwealth Fund

LOAD-DATE: September 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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September 3, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

Rudolf Bing, Titan of the Met, Dies at 95

BYLINE: By JAMES R. OESTREICH

SECTION: Section A;Page 1;Column 2;Cultural Desk

LENGTH: 1429 words

Sir Rudolf Bing, who as the dapper and acerbic general manager of the Metropolitan Opera from 1950 to 1972 ushered the company into the modern era and into Lincoln Center, died yesterday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Yonkers. He was 95 and lived at the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale in the Bronx.
Sir Rudolf firmly established the Met as not only the biggest but also in many ways the most prominent company on the world stage today. He used his well-developed European contacts to draw some of most prominent international stars to the Met, and he offered significant new opportunities for Americans. In particular, he broke the company's racial barrier by hiring Leontyne Price in 1953 and Marian Anderson in 1955. 
 He cut an autocratic figure at the Met, where he seemed to relish controversy when he did not actively court it. He had run-ins with some of the top international stars of the time, including Maria Callas and Lauritz Melchior. In 1968, he was called the man who "fired" Callas, although the incident, as he later took pains to explain, was not so simple, and he made attempts, which were unsuccessful, to lure her back to the Met.
His tenure included devastating strikes by members of the company in 1961 and 1969. He offered the Met board his resignation after the first one and resigned not long after the second.
"He revolutionized the way the company's productions looked by bringing to the Met the world's greatest directors and designers," said Joseph Volpe, the Met's current general manager, who started with the company as a carpenter. "On a personal note, I shall always remember that it was Mr. Bing who gave me my first opportunity when he put me in charge of getting the opening production of 'Antony and Cleopatra' on the stage."
Sir Rudolf's later years took a farcical turn with a romance that was played out in the tabloids. In 1987, at 85, he married Carroll Douglass, who was 47 and had a history of three hospitalizations for psychiatric causes and three marriages to significantly older men. Sir Rudolf was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, those close to him said, and they were able to have the marriage annulled in 1989.
Sir Rudolf was born in Vienna in 1902, the youngest of three children. He studied voice. "I still believe that if I had stayed with it I might have become a lieder singer of real distinction," he wrote many years later.
Menial jobs with bookstores opened a new avenue when the Hugo Heller bookstore entered the field of concert management. Sir Rudolf took an active hand in the agency in 1921, establishing contacts that led to appointments as assistant manager of the Darmstadt Opera in 1928 and the Municipal Opera in Berlin in 1931.
 
The Benefits Of Steady Nerves
"With all this pressure, amid all these crises, with artists losing their nerves and their heads several times a day," he wrote of the experiences in opera houses, "a young man who kept his nerve and his head could make a real contribution."
He married Nina Schelemskaya-Schlesnaya, a Russian ballet dancer, in 1928, and they lived together until she died of a stroke in 1983. Both eventually became British citizens.
In 1934, Sir Rudolf helped found the first Glyndebourne Festival in England. He was named general manager of the festival in 1935 and maintained the relationship until he left for the Met in 1949, although Glyndebourne ceased its standard seasons of opera productions during World War II and did not resume them until 1951.
During the war years, Sir Rudolf eked out a living working for the John Lewis department stores in London. For a time, he was a divisional manager at the Peter Jonesdepartment store, but he leapt at the opportunity to re-enter the arts, reopening the Glyndebourne office in 1944 and running a children's theater.
On Glyndebourne's behalf, he played an crucial role in the founding of the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland in 1946 and was its artistic director until 1949. "Until Edinburgh, I had worked all my life as someone's assistant," he later wrote. There he discovered the "fine sense of freedom which accompanies the assumption of ultimate responsibility."
Sir Rudolf moved to New York in 1949, taking up residence with his wife in a suite at the Essex House on Central Park South. He lived there until after his wife's death, leading a closely regulated existence.
After a season spent observing the Met's operation under his predecessor, Edward Johnson, Sir Rudolf took control in June 1950. "All my life up to 1949 could be seen as the proper preparation for being manager of the Metropolitan," he wrote later.
In 1966, the company moved into its new home at Lincoln Center, with the premiere of Samuel Barber's "Antony and Cleopatra." The occasion was dampened by poor reviews.
In addition to assigning that production to Mr. Volpe, the current general manager, Sir Rudolf also hired James Levine, now the company's artistic director, for his Met debut as a conductor in 1971.
"You don't need wit to run an opera house," Sir Rudolf wrote in his memoir "A Knight at the Opera." "You need style." Style he surely had, yet few would have denied that he also had wit, and a quick one.
His targets included himself. "Don't be misled," he once said. "Behind that cold, austere, severe exterior, there beats a heart of stone."
Sir Rudolf has often been been criticized for a perceived neglect of contemporary music and innovative stage direction. Operas given their premieres during his tenure, in addition to 'Antony and Cleopatra," were Barber's "Vanessa," in 1958, and Marvin David Levy's "Mourning Becomes Elektra," in 1967.
Perhaps the most hotly debated staging was an aborted Wagner "Ring" cycle, darkly directed as well as conducted in its first installments by Herbert von Karajan.
His favorite directors included Franco Zeffirelli, who mounted a late production Verdi's "Falstaff" at the old Met, in 1964 and Verdi's "Otello" as the last new production of Sir Rudolf's tenure.
 
A Favorite Opera And Chagall Murals
But perhaps his favorite production of all was the Mozart's "Zauberflote," designed in 1967 by his friend the painter Marc Chagall. Sir Rudolf also arranged for Chagall to paint the large murals at the new Met, which are visible from Lincoln Center Plaza.
Sir Rudolf was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1971. He left the Met in April 1972 with a gala concert and a performance of Verdi's "Don Carlo, with which he had also opened his tenure.
"As the steadily expanding Met season collided with the jet age's increased mobility for star performers, Bing at first succeeded in maintaining some semblance of a resident company, and, when this became impossible, kept up a steady flow of talent that assured, if not cohesive casts, at least many memorable performances," the Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia cautiously summed up his achievement in 1987.
He was to have been succeeded by the Swedish producer Goeran Gentele, who was killed in a car crash in the summer of 1972. Schuyler Chapin took the position from 1972 to 1975.
After leaving the Met, Sir Rudolf taught at Brooklyn College just long enough to decide that he was not cut out for the job. At the same time, he took up employment at Columbia Artists Management, a position he found more congenial.
He wrote two books of memoirs, "5,000 Nights at the Opera," in 1972, and "A Knight at the Opera." In 1973, he also took his first role in an opera, a nonspeaking part in Hans Werner Henze's "Junge Lord" at the New York City Opera.
In January 1987, on his 85th birthday, Sir Rudolf married Miss Douglass. The couple's trips to Florida, Anguilla, England and Scotland provided frequent fodder for the tabloid press.
In September 1989, Justice Carmen Ciparick of the New York State Supreme Court annulled the marriage. "Sir Rudolf Bing, as a result of the degenerative nature of his disease, lacked the mental capacity to enter into a marriage," Justice Ciparick wrote, citing the opinion of a medical expert.
In 1989, Sir Rudolf was admitted to the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale with what was diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. He remained there until a week before his death, when, suffering from respiratory distress, he was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital. There are no survivors in his immediate family.
Sir Rudolf's passing finally removes the sting from one of his most famous barbs. When told that the conductor George Szell, with whom he had crossed swords several times, was his own worst enemy, Sir Rudolf responded, "Not while I'm alive."

NAME: Sir Rudolf Bing

LOAD-DATE: September 3, 1997

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CORRECTION-DATE: September 11, 1997, ThursdaySeptember 19, 1997, Friday

 CORRECTION:
The obituary of Sir Rudolf Bing on Sept. 3 misstated the year when Leontyne Price made her official debut at the Metropolitan Opera during his regime as general manager. It was 1961, not 1953. Her earlier appearance was in a fund-raising concert, the Metropolitan Opera Jamboree, at the Ritz Theater. The obituary also misstated the year of Sir Rudolf's dismissal of Maria Callas. It was 1958, not 1968.
An obituary of Sir Rudolf Bing on Sept. 3 referred incorrectly to the departure of Maria Callas from the Metropolitan Opera after her dismissal by Sir Rudolf in 1958. It was not permanent; she returned to the Met in "Tosca" in 1965, seven years before his retirement.

GRAPHIC: Photos: Sir Rudolf Bing with Maria Callas on Feb. 6, 1958, when she began her second season at the Metropolitan in the title role of Verdi's "Traviata." (European, from "Callas: Portrait of a Prima Donna," by George Jellinek, Ziff-Davis)(pg. D20); Sir Rudolf Bing outside the Metropolitan Opera House in 1972. "You don't need wit to run an opera house," he wrote. "You need style." (Jack Mitchell)(p. D20); Sir Rudolf Bing, the former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera. (Jack Mitchell, 1972)(pg. A1)      

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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September 4, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Tentative Columbia Accord in Alabama

BYLINE: By Bloomberg News 

SECTION: Section D; Page 4; Column 3; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 171 words

The Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation has reached a preliminary settlement with the State of Alabama over a Medicaid billing investigation at one of its hospitals, a state official said yesterday.
Columbia and the state reached a tentative agreement concerning "billing irregularities" at the Northwest Alabama Medical Center in Russellville, an Alabama Medicaid agency spokeswoman, J. D. Schremser, said. The investigation, begun in May 1996, predated a wide Federal Government investigation into Columbia. 
 A final settlement meeting with state officials is expected in the next few days, a Columbia spokesman, Jeff Prescott, said. The original investigation stemmed from concern over billing for tubal ligation operations, he said.
Federal authorities are investigating whether Columbia overbilled the Federal Medicare health insurance program for the elderly. The investigation has already resulted in the resignation of former top management, and Medicare fraud indictments of three midlevel executives.

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September 4, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Calcium and Vitamin D Halve Bone Fracture Risk, Study Says

BYLINE: By The Associated Press 

SECTION: Section A; Page 21; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 529 words

Calcium and vitamin D supplements can cut in half the risk of broken bones for older people, according to a study by Tufts University researchers.
Older people taking the supplements slowed the rate at which bone tissue breaks down and rebuilds, called bone turnover, and maintained or slightly increased their bone density, according to the study. 
 Aging is often accompanied by osteoporosis, in which bones become extremely fragile. Osteoporosis and fractures resulting from it lead to an estimated $10 billion or more a year in medical bills.
Other studies have shown that calcium supplements -- with or without vitamin D, which is known to help the gut absorb calcium -- can slow bone loss. But the study by Dr. Beth Dawson-Hughes and other Tufts researchers found that when people taking the supplements fell, they were only half as likely to break a bone as people taking placebos.
The study, being published today in The New England Journal of Medicine, looked at 389 men and women 65 years old or older who were fairly healthy and living at home. The average subject was getting about 700 milligrams a day of calcium and about 200 international units of vitamin D through diet.
For three years, half of them took daily supplements containing 500 milligrams of calcium citrate and 700 international units of vitamin D. The rest were given dummy supplements, or placebos.
In that period, 37 of them suffered fractures: 11 of 187 in the group taking supplements, or 6 percent, compared with 26 of 202 in the group taking placebos, or 13 percent. Members of each group reported about an equal number of falls.
Because the difference in bone density between the two groups was modest, the researchers said the protective effect of the supplements might have been the result of the slower rate of bone turnover.
Dr. Richard L. Prince of the University of Western Australia said in an accompanying editorial that the study added to evidence that calcium supplements could help prevent broken bones in elderly people at little cost and with few side effects.
Panels from the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Medicine have recommended increasing the daily allowance of calcium to help slow osteoporosis among older Americans.
Foods rich in calcium include milk, cheese, yogurt and dark leafy greens. The body manufactures vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D and is commonly added to milk because it is so hard to get enough of the nutrient through diet alone.
As people age, it is more difficult for them to absorb calcium from food, so they may need to consume even more. Elderly people who spend little time in the sun may also need vitamin D supplements. Women are more likely than men to have osteoporosis.
A panel at the National Institutes of Health recommended three years ago that men and women 25 and older should consume at least 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily, while postmenopausal and elderly women should consume as much as 1,500 milligrams, the amount in five 8-ounce glasses of milk. The Institute of Medicine recommended last month that all adults consume 1,000 to 1,300 milligrams daily.      

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September 5, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

In Their Words

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 331 words


SAL F. ALBANESE
At noon yesterday, at a rally attended by dozens of union and small-business supporters in front of City Hall, he said:
 
"The way to run this city in the 21st century is to run it fairly and make sure our small business and commercial strips thrive, that workers in this city will get paid a fair wage. We shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of workers while we're giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to big corporations. There's no money for workers, no salary increases for two years, and yet Bear Stearns, which made a billion dollars in profits last year, got $75 million in tax breaks just last week."
 
RUTH W. MESSINGER
In a fund-raising letter that was sent out to 55,000 people and made public yesterday, she made these comments: 

"Rudy Giuliani wasted no time in taking a page from Alfonse D'Amato's playbook -- spitting out insults, innuendos and labels that play into people's negative stereotypes of strong women. Rudy may be no gentleman, but he's no fool either. D'Amato did it against Hillary Clinton. The radical right did it against Anita Hill. Now, Rudy Giuliani is trying to do it to me."
 
AL SHARPTON
At the A. Phillip Randolph Senior Citizens' Center on West 146th Street in Manhattan, he told a group of more than 50 people:
 
"The present commuter tax is 0.45 percent of 1 percent. If we raise that just a fraction of a percent, it would generate another $500 million a year. It would still be 3 percent lower than most commuter taxes in most major cities around the country. People from Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island would have to pay more of their share. They work here, yet they go pay their taxes out in the suburbs. They make their money downtown and spend their money in the suburbs. They say, 'I wouldn't live in the city.' Good, then don't work here either. If you think it's not fit to sleep in, then let those of us who sleep here have the jobs and spend the taxes here."

LOAD-DATE: September 5, 1997

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TYPE: Text

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September 7, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Books in Brief: Nonfiction;
Covered With Fur in the Naked City

BYLINE: By Anita Gates 

SECTION: Section 7; Page 24; Column 2; Book Review Desk 

LENGTH: 223 words

Canine New Yorkers are a lot like their human counterparts, as can be seen in NEW YORK DOGS (Chronicle, $14.95), a collection of photographs by Andrea Mohin, a staff photographer at The New York Times. For some, city life is all about career: the airport luggage inspectors, professional models, police detectives, arson investigators, guides, guards and trackers. For some, there is time for charity work: making an appearance at the A.S.P.C.A. walkathon in Central Park, for instance, or visiting the elderly at a Bronx nursing home. And of course there are layabouts, like Kiko, the soulful-eyed American Staffordshire terrier who spends his days on a stool at a Greenwich Village bar. The 55 black-and-white photographs reveal a preference for relatively large dogs (Rottweilers, German shepherds, Labrador mixes). This may leave cuteness addicts hungry for just one more Pomeranian in a backpack or the equivalent. They will like Dancer, a Chinese crested powder puff, relaxing on a chaise longue on a penthouse terrace. If Mohin's view has a flaw, it is that she sometimes makes a New York dog's life look a little better than it really is. Never mind what taste treat the English bulldog is desperately trying to reach in that silver chafing dish. How did he get into the buffet line at Tavern on the Green?   Anita Gates

LOAD-DATE: September 7, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: (from "New York Dogs")

TYPE: Review

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September 7, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Those Too Friendly Telemarketers: Lessons to Heed

BYLINE: By DARICE BAILER 

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 4; Column 3; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1431 words

AT first, Anna Hartley didn't realize that the telemarketers who called her were leading her astray. The 83-year-old widow, who lives in housing for elderly people in Wethersfield, said she believed that the men and women who called her cared about her, and were sincere when they told her that she would win a new car and increase her chances of winning big prize money if she sent in more money or bought magazines or books.
"I did it for the money, to win," Mrs. Hartley said. "I did it because I never went anywhere, to a show, to a movie, or to a play." 
 Mrs. Hartley did win a new 1997 car, but it cannot take her anywhere.  It is a very small red model, worth perhaps half its $21.99 shipping and handling fee. It was on display for the 400 men and women who attended a consumer university held at late last month at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
Consumer university is a free, 2.5-hour course offered by the Attorney General's office, the American Association of Retired Persons, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and American Express Financial Services. Its aim is to help prevent elderly men and women from being taken advantage of dishonest marketeers.
In less than a year, Mrs. Hartley says, she lost $50,000 to telemarketing people, clearing out her bank account. Now, she has only her Social Security check to live on. "I went right down to the bone," Mrs. Hartley said. "I did it to myself. It breaks my heart."
At the grocery store, Mrs. Hartley says, she now wheels her cart past watermelon, ice cream and other items she once loved. She sticks to "just the butter, the milk and the cold cuts and that's it," she said.
Telemarketers themselves argue that the number of unscrupulous practioners among them is tiny and that some people are just plain vulnerable.
John Awerdick, for example, is a partner at Stryker, Tams & Dill in Newark, N.J., which represents several direct marketing companies, including Michigan Bulb, which the Connecticut Attorney General's office is suing for a deceptive sweepstakes. He said he is sympathetic to elderly people like Mrs. Hartley. But, he continued, "there are some people who are just desperate to be winners. How do you protect people from themselves?"
It is the targeting of elderly people that infuriates Arnold P. Schwartz of New Britain. Mr. Schwartz is a senior advocate in the Attorney General's senior volunteer assistance program started two years ago by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in cooperation with state and local chapters of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and the American Association of Retired Persons.
In the program, elderly people educate each other about telemarketing and sweepstakes abuses. Mr. Schwartz, who had retired as a service manager for the Xerox Corporation, was the first volunteer. He speaks to groups around the state, displaying Mrs. Hartley's car with other disappointing prizes in what he calls "Arnie's Scam Show."
Each year, Connecticut consumers, a third of them elderly, lose an estimated $400 million to telemarketers, according to Mr. Schwartz, who spends many hours at the Attorney General's office, seeking refunds for people. He and the 29 other volunteers have helped recover more than $500,000, he said. "If we recover 1 percent each year, we're doing a great job," he added.
Linda A. Goldstein is a partner at Hall, Dickler, Kent, Friedman & Wood, a Manhattan law firm and chairwoman of the Promotion Marketing Association of America, which represents more than 700 companies.
"It's unfortunate that the practices of a small group of unscrupulous telemarketers has tainted the image of all telemarketers in the public's mind," she said. "At a recent workshop held by the Federal Trade Commission with representatives of the magazine publishing industry, the F.T.C. acknowledged that, given the volume of telemarketing activity, the incidence of abuse is small."
But, according to Neil G. Fishman, assistant Attorney General, "It's not just some fly-by-night operator who lurks in the shadow. "It's Publisher's Clearinghouse, Reader's Digest, American Family Publishers, Fingerhut, and United States Postal Exchange that consumers are losing money to."
Some companies, he said, keep lists of people who have responded to telemarketers; the lists, salable for as much as $200 a name, purchasers may even call the men and women on the list and say that they're going to help victims recover lost money, or that they have the money in hand and will return it if the victim pays a processing fee.
"It is true that some unscrupulous telemarketers have engaged in improper targeting of the elderly through the use of so-called 'sucker' lists," Ms. Goldstein said, "but again that is not typical of industry practice. Legitimate telemarketers look to target only those consumers who are most likely to be interested in their products."
Prosecuting telemarketing or direct mail firms is difficult because they often operate from temporary out-of-state addresses or from outside the United States. "There's just so much money involved, and the penalties are minuscule compared to what they make," Mr. Schwartz said.
The law is trying to react, though. The Telemarketing and Sweepstakes Act of 1996 took effect Oct. 1, 1996 and makes it illegal for companies to require an individual to make a purchase before entering a sweepstakes. The law also makes it illegal for a company to charge a fee to participate in a sweepstakes or claim a prize.
In addition, sweepstakes advertisements must clearly state a prize's value, the odds of winning it, and any restrictions on using it. If a person agrees to buy something over the phone, the law requires telemarketers to mail out a written contract disclosing the full terms of the transaction.
This contract must be signed and returned before an individual's credit card can be charged.
If sweepstakes companies send out a simulated check, "THIS IS NOT A CHECK" must be written diagonally across the check. Finally, consumers have three days to cancel their membership in a buying club if the membership fee is more than $200.
Mr. Blumenthal said that his office would probably have legislative proposals in the next session to further curb the efforts of sweepstakes and telemarketing companies. The industry is becoming highly regulated. "As a result, there is a lot of built-in protection for the consumer," Ms. Goldstein said. Ms. Goldstein said the industry as a whole supports educational efforts like the consumer university. "The more educated a consumer is," she said, "the more able that consumer is to distinguish a call coming in from an honest telemarketer with one coming in from an unscrupulous telemarketer."
Martha Wolverton, 77, of Farmington thanked Mr. Schwartz at the end of last month's consumer university. She said she is a widow who could easily have become a victim.
She is lonely at times, she admits. "I've gotten girls on the phone and they talk and I listen," Mrs. Wolverton explained. "I have nothing else to do."
 
Some Tips
Consumer advocates and state officials concerned about telemarketing abuses offer several pieces of advice for avoiding victimization, among them the following.
* If a stranger calls you, hang up the telephone. Don't verify your address or provide any information.
* Don't give out your credit card or bank account numbers unless you made the call or know the organization with which you're dealing.
* Be wary of prize notification letters. Don't call 900 numbers to claim a prize; such a call can cost you quite a bit. (You can ask your local phone company to block access to 900 numbers from your phone. There should be no charge.)
* If a telemarketer calls you after 9 P.M. or before 8 A.M., it's illegal. Notify the Attorney General's Senior Hotline at (800) 660-7787.
* Don't donate money over the phone, and don't send money to anyone you don't know. Ask for written information, then, if you wish to donate, do it by check.
* To reduce the number of unsolicited calls you receive, write: Telephone Preference Service, c/o Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9014, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735-9014. Request that your name be placed on a list of people who do not want to receive unsolicited telephone calls.
* To reduce the amount of unsolicited mail you receive, write: Mail Preference Service, c/o Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735-9008. Ask that your name be placed on a list of those who do not wish to receive unsolicited mail.

LOAD-DATE: September 7, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Arnold P. Schwartz of New Britain advises older people on how to avoid telemarketing scams. State officials say older people are often targets of consumer fraud. An audience in New Britain learns some defenses. (Photographs by George Ruhe for The New York Times)(pg. 4)

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September 7, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Produce To Be Given To Elderly

BYLINE: By LYNNE AMES 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 11; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 444 words

DATELINE: RYE

IT is harvest time again and people 60 and over who meet income criteria will be able to get coupons for free fresh produce at local farmers' markets.
In a Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, sponsored by the New York State Department of Health, the state's Department of Agriculture and Markets, the state's Office of the Aging and the Cornell Cooperative Extension, a low-income, elderly person can receive one book of four coupons worth $2 each. Income requirements are $986 or less a month if single and $1,326 a month or less for a couple, said Ann Darcy, nutritionist with the County Office for the Aging, which administers the program. 
 Distribution sites are Yonkers General Hospital, 2 Park Avenue in Yonkers (377-6824); Ossining Community Center, 95 Broadway, Ossining (762-8953); Hugh A. Doyle Senior Center, 94 Davis Avenue (235-2363) and Martin Luther King Center, 95 Lincoln Avenue (235-5507) both in New Rochelle, and the Mount Vernon Armory, 144 North Fifth Avenue (665-2434) in Mount Vernon, and the Doles Center, 250 South Sixth Avenue (665-2439), also in Mount Vernon. (Coupons were being distributed in White Plains, Greenburgh and Cortlandt as well, but there are none left there, Ms. Darcy said.)
Farmers' markets, which accept the coupons, are situated near the distribution sites. Among them are Green Seasons Farmers' Market on North Avenue in New Rochelle, open Fridays 8 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Ossining Farmers' Market on Main and Spring Streets in Ossining, open Saturdays 8:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M., and the Yonkers Farmers' Market in Getty Square, open Thursdays 8 A.M. to 4 P.M.
"This is a very nice way for seniors to get a chance to meet some of their nutritional needs," Ms. Darcy said. "Often, the elderly scrimp on nutrition. They tend to eat very little, and then they may eat only what's convenient. They might not want to bother cooking for themselves, or they might not be able to get fresh produce in small quantities."
Ideally, she added, an individual should eat something daily from each of the food groups of dairy, meat, poultry, fish, of fruit and vegetables, of grains and of fats. She said:"We should be consuming five fruits and vegetables daily -- three vegetables and two fruits. That's a shocker, right? It's hard, but that's the name of the game."
People should also eat lots of grain, a moderate-to-small amount of dairy and meat and a minuscule amount of fat. "Fruits and vegetables are very important and very nutritious," she said. "Fall is a great time to get them. Hopefully, this program will help people who might not otherwise get some of these delicious and important foods."   LYNNE AMES

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In Russia, Dreams on Wheels

BYLINE: By MARINA LAKHMAN 

SECTION: Section 11; Page 1; Column 1; Automobiles 

LENGTH: 1330 words

DATELINE: MOSCOW

ALTHOUGH the third annual Moscow auto show lasted only a week, Kostya Bagaturov can forever treasure the images of the Mercedes-Benzes, Audis and BMW's on display: While many Russian car lovers spent hours making themselves comfortable behind the wheels of Volgas, Volvos and Volkswagens, Mr. Bagaturov was caressing the streamlined bodies with the lens of his camcorder, insuring that he could view over and over the finest offerings of the world's automobile industry.
"If I could, I would buy this one," said Mr. Bagaturov, a 19-year-old student, focusing on a BMW Z3 M roadster as it gently took its turns on a rotating platform with crowds watching its every move. "But in the meantime I will just look." 
 Like Mr. Bagaturov, many Russians love cars -- perhaps more than Americans do -- and their affection was on full display at the show, called Autosalon '97, that ended here last Sunday.
The fascination is generally seen as a product of long-repressed desires set free in a capitalist economy. And though many imported luxury cars have appeared in Russia since the fall of Communism, owning one remains a dream for most Russians. Still, the ability to chase such a goal has become as essential as life and liberty, and is often equated with the pursuit of happiness.
At a time when senior citizens receive a monthly pension of less than 300,000 rubles (about $52) some 420,000 adults from across Russia lined up to pay $7 each to enter the Autosalon. Like those who attend auto shows in the West, only a fraction were buying a car; most were just basking in the excitement reflected off gleaming fenders.
Near the displays of German cars, the gold standard in Russia as in most of the world, the cellular phones were abuzz. Well-dressed men adorned with gold chains and flashy rings ogled the Mercedes-Benzes, BMW's and Audis. Teen-agers stood in line to sit in cars they hope to afford someday.
"First and foremost, a car is for pleasure," said Igor Kolesnikov, 34, getting out of the driver's seat of a shiny Audi. "And secondly, it is useful for getting around."
Mr. Kolesnikov is an admirer of Audis who drives a 1991 model. "When I see a car like this I find it hard not to get in," he said.
Cars offer more than just pleasure for Russians who can afford the best. Particularly in the sometimes shady world of what is broadly called "business," a fine car serves as a symbol of acceptance into an elite club -- like being a Communist Party member in Soviet days. Some go so far as to sell their apartments and live in rented rooms so that they can buy a BMW.
The tally of officially sold imported cars does not begin to match the actual number on the streets. While Moscow is commonly said to be home to more Mercedes-Benzes than any other city in the world, there were only 724 official sales of Mercedes cars in Russia in 1996. Many of the cars cruising the increasingly crowded streets are bought used in Europe and brought here illegally, circumventing import duties that can approach 100 percent of the price.
But a foreign car -- particularly a new one -- has a special allure. Sergei Smirnov, an investment banker from Omsk who traveled 1,500 miles to the auto show, was checking out the Langanza, the latest luxury model from Daewoo, the South Korean car maker. He took a seat at the wheel at the invitation of the long-legged model standing guard over the glistening chrome.
"I like it because it looks like a Lexus," said Mr. Smirnov, 30, examining every curve of both the car and its protector. He said he had been driving a Daewoo Espero for two years and was ready for a change. He said the Langanza, at $25,000 to $28,000, would serve well until he could move up to something better.
Glancing at the splashy Avtovaz display, where blinking lights washed over new Ladas, and at the Gaz display, where a Volga 3110 was perched slanting downward over passers-by, he said he would not even look at Russian autos. "I can allow myself a better-quality car," he said. "I want air-conditioning and a good suspension."
Though the 3110 is said to be new, the angular front-wheel-drive Volga has not changed much since it served Communist functionaries. It is somewhat more aerodynamic, and while comfortable, it continues to be plagued with mechanical problems.
Indeed, Russians are turning to foreign cars for reliability as well as status. Last year, when Avtovaz came out with a new compact, the Vaz 2110, it had an average of 92 defects per vehicle. The Moscow Times has reported that of the 700 Volgas bought each year for the President's staff, 200 break down immediately and 300 need repairs within weeks.
To compete better with foreign companies in a market where sales may reach 3.5 to 4 million annually by the end of the century, Russian auto makers are beefing up their cars with many extras. But the souped-up versions often cost just as much as imports -- making it harder for Russians to justify buying a shoddy domestic model.
And some foreign companies are now building vehicles in Russia, including General Motors, which is making Chevrolet Blazers in Tatarstan and plans to make Opels in a joint venture with Avtovaz.
Patriotism may influence some Americans to buy American-made cars, but it has no such hold over most Russians. If they drive Russian-made cars, it is because they are cheaper to buy, cheaper to fix and can handle pervasively rough roads.
The bad roads are at least partly responsible for the popularity of sport utility vehicles, including the Blazer, Toyota Land Cruiser, Jeep Cherokee and Ford Expedition. And this is one category in which Russian manufacturers are keeping up. The Niva, reminiscent of a hardtop Jeep Wrangler, is popular at a price of $8,000.
Yet competition has taken its toll on the 11 Russian vehicle manufacturers, whose production has plunged by half in recent years, to about a million cars a year, though output did rise 13 percent in the first seven months of this year over the period a year earlier. Factories are antiquated and inefficient, taking up to 30 times as long to produce a car as the Japanese require. The overstaffed auto makers cannot afford the investments needed to develop new power trains and modern designs, and some are becoming the public charities of politicians.
At the auto show, Russians closely examined Avtovaz's latest models: the Lada 10; the Bohemia convertible with a modern 16-valve, four-cylinder engine, and the Consul mini-limousine, which comes with a television, stereo, wood-trim interior panels, folding tables, leather upholstery and a price of $30,000 to $35,000. But there were few takers.
The show was also a second birth for the struggling Moskvitch, which has a dreary reputation for being unreliable. Spinning on a platform, a blunt-looking new model, the Knyaz Vladimir, seemed to get the same reaction as the bearded lady at the circus. After a quick look, Roman Babikov, a 28-year-old grocery store manager, shook his head and said, "It's a car of a previous decade."
But one aspect of Russian life makes the ownership of a Russian car attractive: the roads. Poorly paved and pocked with potholes from severe winters, the roads are so bad they have become the subject of poetry and proverbs. And while foreign cars are prestigious, many Russians admit that the roads are best handled by sturdy Russian frames. Thus, Moskvich is installing Renault engines in its newest models, and Tekhnoservis, a company in Nizhny Novgorod, is retrofitting Volga cars with reliable Rover, Ford and Toyota engines. At the auto show, the sight of a powerful Rover V8 inside a black Volga body made Tekhnoservis's display a popular attraction.
While noting that the Volga's native engine is unsophisticated, inefficient and polluting, Mikhail Smirnov of Tekhnoservis praised its body. "For our Russian roads, our exterior is the best," he said. "If you have an accident it's still 10 times cheaper to fix a Volga than a Ford."

LOAD-DATE: September 7, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: At the Moscow auto show, Avtovaz displayed its new virtual limousine, the Consul. (James Hill for The New York Times); A fashionable model drew spectators to a concept car, the Daewoo Mya, from Korea. Tekhnoservis showed the reliable import engines it installs in sturdy Russian sedans.
 
Table: "A Car Shopper's Guide to Moscow"
Import duties, partly based on engine size, inflate the prices of new cars and trucks in Russia. Table shows popular 1997 models and their starting prices.

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SPENDING IT;
Florida Bank Merger May Ruffle Customers

BYLINE: By DAVID J. MORROW 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 11; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 771 words

MERGERS like Nationsbank's planned acquisition of Barnett Banks, the biggest banking company in Florida, are nothing new for Manu Patel. When completed, the $15.5 billion deal, one of the biggest yet on Wall Street, will mark the fifth time since 1979 that his bank account has changed hands through a buyout or a merger.
Bank buyouts in Florida have been so frequent that Mr. Patel, 56, an accountant in Lakeland, cannot remember all the banks' names anymore, though he knows the directions to the branches he once visited. 
 "I can remember 10 years ago when there was a lot of competition," he said. "They'd say, 'Come on over and we'll give you a television or an alarm clock.' "
The pending acquisition of Barnett has been unsettling for some customers of its 629 branches in Florida. And because this state has huge numbers of elderly residents, the deal may prompt special concern: Many older customers shy away, for instance, from A.T.M.'s, preferring teller services. But in the interest of cutting costs, merging banks tend to move away from teller services and to stress technological advances like computerized banking or A.T.M.'s on virtually every corner. Merging banks also tend to close branches, which means more inconvenience for the elderly, who may find it hard to travel to another bank's branch.
Consumer groups are concerned that the merger will raise banking fees to new highs.  They are particularly alarmed that two banks -- Nationsbank and First Union, both based in North Carolina -- will control about half the Florida market.
"Usually, bigger means better for consumers," said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of the Florida Public Interest Research Group, a consumer rights organization based in Tallahassee. "But in banking it means a raw deal. The banks don't pass on their savings to consumers. This lack of competition here is going to be a serious problem."
Barnett customers may not feel any pain immediately. A Nationsbank spokesman said the company had yet to decide about branch closings. And, after raising its banking fees in July, Nationsbank recently froze all service charges through August 1998.
But banking analysts expect Nationsbank to close some Barnett branches and to raise some fees. While both banks already have some of the highest fees in Florida -- Barnett levies a $29.50 charge for every bounced check -- Nationsbank has become especially aggressive about fee revenue.
Along with First Union, Nationsbank is one of the few banks in the country to charge for deposit and withdrawal slips inside branches. Call Nationsbank's automated computer too many times to check your balance, and you could be charged 50 cents a call. Customers who call the bank's operator more than once may be charged $2, then placed on hold; low-profit accounts go to a separate operator.
"What we're seeing in Florida is a three-fold strategy by the big banks," Mr. Ferrulo said. "They are increasing fees, making it harder to avoid existing fees and then after all that, they're inventing new fees. There's no way fees are going to go down in a merger."
While rising fees and closing branches could hurt the banks' elderly customers, wealthy account holders could gain from the merger. Nationsbank's recent deal to acquire Montgomery Securities should give Barnett's customers easier access to the market and to their investments. "There's usually a silver lining to these takeovers," said William Gregor, a senior vice president at Gemini Consulting, a management consulting firm in Morristown, N.J. "The merger will allow Barnett's customers to be exposed to new products and services."
Consumer groups offer some options for Barnett's customers. Instead of paying higher fees, Mr. Ferrulo said, they can move their accounts to local banks or credit unions, which usually offer most of their services free. One drawback is that credit unions usually have only one A.T.M. machine, while big banks like Nationsbank have networks of thousands.
Other people in the banking industry say that staying put may be best, at least for a while. "It's not a bad idea in any merger to keep your account where it is until you see what happens," said Michael Auriemma, managing director of the Auriemma Consulting Group, a banking consulting company in Westbury, N.Y.
Consumer advocates also suggest that customers check their statements closely, because mergers tend to produce computer mistakes. Customers should also ask questions of tellers, since visits inside both Barnett and Nationsbank branches are free.
And if a fee seems too high, complain, Mr. Ferrulo says.

LOAD-DATE: September 7, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Table: "How Much for a Withdrawal Slip?"
Bank mergers usually lead to higher fees, but consumer advocates worry that Barnett's merger with Nationsbank could set new records. Nationsbank is one of the few banks that charges for deposit slips in its branches; in some ways Barnett is even more expensive. Table compares fees of the two banks. Withdrawl slips are free but cost $1 at Nationsbank off the counter. (Sources: Barnett Bank; Nationsbank)

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September 7, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

RACE FOR CITY HALL: In Uphill Battles, 3 Democrats Offer Visions to Challenge the Mayor's;
Albanese Sees a City Divided

BYLINE: By NORIMITSU ONISHI 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 47; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 753 words

At a center for the elderly in Harlem the other day, Sal F. Albanese described himself once again as the embodiment of "the New York experience" -- a garment worker's son who rose to city councilman and mayoral candidate thanks in part to the city's long tradition of generous social support.
But that tradition, he warned, has eroded under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. 
 "When I talk about the city, I talk about a city that elevates people, which is the strength of New York," said Mr. Albanese, a Brooklyn Democrat. "We always had the ability to do that. We had the services to do that: good schools, living-wage jobs. We're moving away from that toward a two-tiered system: a small group of very wealthy people and the rest of the city, poor and working poor."
The listeners at the A. Phillip Randolph Senior Center applauded politely when Mr. Albanese finished speaking and took his first -- and only -- question. After you lose the Democratic primary on Tuesday, an elderly man asked, will you endorse one of your two rivals?
Mr. Albanese appeared irritated -- as he did again later that day when a columnist for a Queens weekly posed a similar question -- and insisted that he was going to win.
Lacking the money of Ruth W. Messinger, the Manhattan Borough President, or the prominence of the Rev. Al Sharpton, Mr. Albanese has nonetheless doggedly pushed his theme of an increasingly divided city throughout his campaign.
His rivals have also accused Mr. Giuliani, a Republican, of creating a similar climate. But Mr. Albanese has made that message his campaign's central theme, using his personal and political life as backdrops.
Although the message seemed to resonate well in the working-class neighborhoods he had visited throughout the city, Mr. Albanese's campaign faces more practical problems.
Despite a late burst of television advertising, Mr. Albanese can still step outside his campaign headquarters on Lexington Avenue and 41st Street without being recognized.
At the Pelham Parkway subway station in the Bronx last week, as Mr. Albanese greeted early-morning commuters, Kenneth Agosto, a registered Democrat, told him he would support him. But later Mr. Agosto said he was not hopeful about the Councilman's chances in Tuesday's primary.
"I'm not crazy about Messinger, and I think he's the best candidate," Mr. Agosto said. But he predicted a victory for Ms. Messinger. "I think the machine is too powerful."
Mr. Albanese -- a former public school teacher who, despite a liberal voting record, has served for 15 years in conservative Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst -- long ago earned a reputation as a maverick.
He voted repeatedly, for instance, against budget agreements worked out between Mayor Giuliani and Peter F. Vallone, the City Council Speaker, criticizing their effects as too severe on middle- and lower-income New Yorkers.
In keeping with those views, Mr. Albanese sponsored a so-called living wage bill that required some city contractors to pay higher minimum wages. The bill was enacted last year over Mr. Giuliani's objections. Mr. Albanese has also proposed another bill that would sharply reduce campaign contributions and curtail the influence of big donors.
"I want to be a Mayor that offers all the people the same opportunities I had when I was growing up in this town," said Mr. Albanese, who often points out that he attended York College, which is part of the City University of New York, when tuition at the university was free.
"You can bring people together around the issue of economic fairness," he said and, referring to the contrasting reactions Mr. Giuliani's appearances often elicit in the city, added: "I don't want to be a Mayor that goes into one neighborhood and gets jeered, and goes into another neighborhood and gets cheered."
At a voter's drive at Manhattan Community College, Reggie Mason, a former student and current member of the Independence Party, which has placed Mr. Albanese's name on its line in November, said he supported Mr. Albanese. More than Ms. Messinger or Mr. Sharpton, the Councilman could unify the city, Mr. Mason said.
A few minutes later, Mr. Albanese's low-key remarks were lost amid Mr. Sharpton's thunderous appeal to "rock the vote! rock the vote!" Mr. Mason could not help pumping his fists in the air, but quickly added that he thought Mr. Albanese's almost reserved style of politicking could work in his favor.
"Sal is a very humble man," Mr. Mason said. "I think people will respect that."

LOAD-DATE: September 7, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Sal F. Albanese marching in Labor Day parade with Andrew Letwin, 8. (Frances Roberts for The New York Times)
 
Chart: "ISSUES: The Candidates' Plans"
Where the Democratic mayoral candidates stand on issues.
 
CRIME
 
Sal F. Albanese -- Would not support any reduction in size of police force. Supports creation of an independent board to monitor instances of police brutality. Would hire 500 sergeants to increase supervision of younger officers. Would institute tighter screening in hiring.
 
Ruth W. Messinger -- Would put more officers on police patrol through increased use of civilians on desk jobs, but might also seek to reduce overall size of force to trim the budget. Supports creation of an independent oversight agency to monitor police brutality.
 
The Rev. Al Sharpton -- Opposes reduction in size of police force. Would push for more focus on community policing and having officers work closely with community groups. Supports independent review board of police department.
 
EDUCATION
 
Sal F. Albanese -- Would hire more teachers to reduce class sizes to under 25 in first three grades. Supports perfor 2/3mance-based standards for principals, using salary increases or, converse 2/3ly, specter of dismissal to im 2/3prove their performance. Undecided on retaining Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew.
 
Ruth W. Messinger -- Would hire more teachers to decrease class size. Would set tougher standards for student promotion, eliminating automatic grade promotion based on age. Would institute performance standards for teachers and principals. Would likely dismiss Chancellor Crew.
 
The Rev. Al Sharpton -- Would hire 3,000 more teachers and review each teacher's performance and negotiate for penalties for teachers who don't perform well. Undecided on Chancellor Crew.
 
ECONOMY
 
Sal F. Albanese -- Would hire an economic development czar from the business world to encourage small-business develop 2/3ment. Would advocate residency for prospective city employees to increase local employment. Would focus most economic development efforts on small businesses.
 
Ruth W. Messinger -- Supports targeted tax credits to foster development. Believes companies that do business with New York should be required to hire a certain number of city employees. Believes that companies that get tax abatements should be required to create jobs in New York.
 
The Rev. Al Sharpton -- Would set goal of 120,000 new jobs and pledges to cut unemployment in half. Would accomplish that with a public works program and a requirement that contractors and companies that get tax incentives or city business pledge that 80 percent of new employees be city residents.
 
WELFARE
 
Sal F. Albanese -- Believes welfare recipients should be required to work. Would bring in someone from a city that has been innovative in welfare reforms. Would increase day care programs for welfare recipients. Supports giving welfare recipients working in government jobs the right to organize.
 
Ruth W. Messinger -- Believes welfare recipients should be required to work. Believes participants in Work Experience Program should be allowed to organize and are entitled to workplace protection. Supports increased spending on day care and education training.
 
The Rev. Al Sharpton -- Says welfare recipients should be required to work in real jobs or be placed in training programs. Would give people in welfare work programs the right to organize. Would emphasize training and day care programs.
 
TAXES
 
Sal F. Albanese -- Supports increasing taxes if we needed to, and specifically mentions the commuter tax and the tax rate on higher income New Yorkers. Supports cutting taxes on unincorporated business, com 2/3mercial rent and clothing sales.
 
Ruth W. Messinger -- Does not believe taxes would have to be raised in her term. Supports cutting taxes on unincorporated business and commercial rent, and also supports cutting sales tax on clothing.
 
The Rev. Al Sharpton -- Would ask state Legislature to increase the commuter tax and, if the city went into a downturn, would reinstitute a stock transfer tax. Would not support any other for city residents. Supports cutting taxes on unincorporated business, commercial rent and clothing sales.

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September 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
MARGOLIS, LAURA

SECTION: Section D; Page 27; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 156 words

MARGOLIS-Laura. The Officers, Board and Staff of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JdC), deeply mourn the passing of one of the outstanding figures in JDC history, who was involved in the rescue and relief of thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. A true Woman of Valor, she directed JDC's humanitarian programs in Cuba, Shanghai, Portugal, Spain & Sweden before and during W.W. II. Her courage, daring and resourcefulness made her a legend. Afterwards, she directed JDC Services in France, later settling in Israel and helping forge JDC's Malben Homes For The Aged, into a model of services for the elderly. A giant has passed on. Funeral sevices were private. We express our condolences to her nephews: Donald l. Margolis of Teaneck, NJ and James A. Margolis of Brookline, Massachusetts. Jonathan W. Kolker, President Milton A. Wolf, Chairman Michael Schneider, Executive VP Ralph I. Goldman, Hon. Exec VP

LOAD-DATE: September 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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September 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

New Jersey Daily Briefing;
Guard Is Charged in Fire

BYLINE: By JESSE McKINLEY 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 94 words

DATELINE: PARAMUS

Two days after a fire at the Bergen Pines Hospital in Paramus forced the evacuation of 150 elderly patients, a security guard at the hospital was charged with setting the blaze, officials said. 
 The guard, Arnaud Protin, 32, was charged yesterday with aggravated arson and official misconduct, said Ralph Lilore, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor. No one was injured in the minor fire in a second floor-storage area on Saturday night. Bail was set at $100,000. Mr. Protin checked himself into the hospital and was undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

LOAD-DATE: September 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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September 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
MARGOLIS, LAURA

SECTION: Section D; Page 27; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 156 words

MARGOLIS-Laura. The Officers, Board and Staff of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JdC), deeply mourn the passing of one of the outstanding figures in JDC history, who was involved in the rescue and relief of thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. A true Woman of Valor, she directed JDC's humanitarian programs in Cuba, Shanghai, Portugal, Spain & Sweden before and during W.W. II. Her courage, daring and resourcefulness made her a legend. Afterwards, she directed JDC Services in France, later settling in Israel and helping forge JDC's Malben Homes For The Aged, into a model of services for the elderly. A giant has passed on. Funeral sevices were private. We express our condolences to her nephews: Donald l. Margolis of Teaneck, NJ and James A. Margolis of Brookline, Massachusetts. Jonathan W. Kolker, President Milton A. Wolf, Chairman Michael Schneider, Executive VP Ralph I. Goldman, Hon. Exec VP

LOAD-DATE: September 12, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



462 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

September 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

New Jersey Daily Briefing;
Guard Is Charged in Fire

BYLINE: By JESSE McKINLEY

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 94 words

DATELINE: PARAMUS

Two days after a fire at the Bergen Pines Hospital in Paramus forced the evacuation of 150 elderly patients, a security guard at the hospital was charged with setting the blaze, officials said. 
 The guard, Arnaud Protin, 32, was charged yesterday with aggravated arson and official misconduct, said Ralph Lilore, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor. No one was injured in the minor fire in a second floor-storage area on Saturday night. Bail was set at $100,000. Mr. Protin checked himself into the hospital and was undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

LOAD-DATE: September 12, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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September 11, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

In America;
Racing to Oblivion

BYLINE: BY BOB HERBERT  

SECTION: Section A;  Page 31;  Column 1;  Editorial Desk  

LENGTH: 686 words

New York does not need this. Two losers, one meek and essentially devoid of leadership qualities, the other brash, irresponsible and very loud, vying for the right to concede the mayoralty to a man who would like nothing more than to crush his opponents and govern the city with something approaching absolute power.
On Tuesday night, after learning that he would be in a runoff with Ruth Messinger for the Democratic mayoral nomination, the Rev. Al Sharpton waved his arms and jubilantly sang: "I can fly! I can fly!" 
 Perhaps. But what he is flying through is the leadership void left by the incompetence and cowardice of Democratic politicians who ought to own this town. Reasonable people are shaking their heads at the idea that the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York should come down to a race between Ms. Messinger and Mr. Sharpton. Not that long ago it would have been easier to believe that a delegation from Pluto had landed in Sheepshead Bay.
Nothing good will come of this runoff. Mr. Sharpton is a polarizing figure who forfeited any right to run the city when he went on the radio two years ago to describe the Jewish owner of a clothing store on 125th Street as a "white interloper." Mr. Sharpton promised his listeners that "we are not turning 125th Street back over to outsiders."
The clothing store, called Freddy's, had been the target of protesters. On Dec. 8, 1995, in an act of utter madness, a gunman invaded the store and set it on fire, killing himself and seven others.
Ms. Messinger, who has been campaigning as if she were running for schools chancellor, has to try to beat Mr. Sharpton in the runoff but is reluctant to criticize him harshly because she needs to inherit all of his black support to have any chance of running a credible race against Rudolph Giuliani.
This is a tightrope she'll never be able to negotiate. A great deal of Ms. Messinger's support in the runoff will come from whites, many of them Jews, who are appalled at the mere thought of Al Sharpton kicking back in Gracie Mansion.
"No, not him. Never!" said Erica Krause, who runs a nail salon on the East Side. "I will vote for Ruth in the runoff, although I am not impressed with her. In November, I will vote for Giuliani."
On Tuesday afternoon, even as the meager turnout of Democratic primary voters was making its way to the polls, Mr. Giuliani was happily holding a very public press conference at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. The museum was swarming with voters, senior citizens who were attending a festival sponsored by the city's Department for the Aging.
It might as well have been a campaign rally. An advance team had set up the Mayor's wood and blue velvet podium (very much like the President's) on the decommissioned aircraft carrier. Four large flags were then arranged as a backdrop for the Mayor's announcement that the weeklong sales tax exemption on some clothing had been, in his estimation, a "tremendous success."
The senior citizens standing behind the reporters applauded.
It was one of the more bizarre press conferences I have attended. The reporters might as well not have been there. The Mayor said that he had purchased the shirt he was wearing for $20, and his tie for $25 or $30, and that he would enjoy them even more because of the tax exemption.
There was a Nixonian quality to the Mayor's appearance, the awkward attempt at affability, the rigid smile, the extreme condescension. He rambled on at one point (in response to a convoluted question) about Mother Teresa. She was a saint, he said, a wonderful woman. She had blessed his two children. He had never expected to meet a saint, or something like that.
He may have rambled but you could tell he is on a roll. The people at the museum on Tuesday, from senior centers around the city, are a lock for Mr. Giuliani, and he has a similar lock on many other segments of the population. Most voters, whether they like Mr. Giuliani or not, see no reason to get rid of him. Crime and quality of life remain the paramount issues. Along with the dismal quality of the Democratic candidates.

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September 12, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Last Chance

SECTION: Section C; Page 31; Column 1; Weekend Desk 

LENGTH: 211 words

Here is a sampling of shows and exhibitions in Manhattan that are to close soon:
 
Closing This Weekend
 
"MARC RIBOUD: 40 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN CHINA," International Center of Photography, 1130 Fifth Avenue, at 94th Street. Through Sunday. Hours: Today through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Admission: $4; $2.50 for students and the elderly; $1 for those under 12. Information: (212) 860-1777. 

Closing Next Weekend
 
DANCE THEATER OF HARLEM, Aaron Davis Hall, Convent Avenue at 135th Street, Harlem. Through Sept. 21. Tickets: $12 to $35; $50 for a benefit performance and reception on Sept. 21. Performance information: (212) 650-7148. Ticket information: Ticketmaster, (212) 307-7171.
 
"KEITH HARING" AND "FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: DESIGNS FOR AN AMERICAN LANDSCAPE, 1922-1932," Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street. The first, a retrospective featuring more than 100 works. The second, drawings, architectural models and other items. Both through Sept. 21. Hours: Wednesday and Fridays through Sundays, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M.; Thursday, 1 to 8 P.M.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission: $8; $7 for seniors and students; free for those under 12 and for everyone on Thursdays, 6 to 8 P.M. Information: (212) 570-3676.

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September 13, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Opening the Doors on Family Court's Secrets

BYLINE: By JOE SEXTON 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1734 words

At 9:30 on Monday morning Judge Philip C. Segal, suddenly a public figure, sat in his courtroom in Family Court in Brooklyn, a converted office roughly the size of a bedroom.
The day's calendar held 50 cases. With a portable fan blowing in his face, Judge Segal began the unending effort simply to gather together the people required for each case: city lawyers, child welfare caseworkers, parents and court-appointed lawyers. 
 "Is the respondent here?" Judge Segal asked about one case.
"No," said the woman's lawyer. "She is incarcerated. As far as I know, anyway."
The cases kept coming -- child abuse, abandonment, domestic violence, 12-year-olds charged with assault. Ten minutes was spent on a 16-year-old's trial on a probation violation, to be continued later in the month. A custody fight, involving two fathers, one mother and six lawyers, was adjourned. An order of protection was granted to an elderly woman afraid of her elderly husband.
Unlike actions in criminal and civil courts, most proceedings in the state's Family Court have long been closed to the public. The secrecy was intended to protect the privacy of people embroiled in intimate family battles, but journalists and others have pushed for access, arguing that the closed doors shielded judges and other public officials from scrutiny.
But starting this week, the state's chief judge, Judith S. Kaye, ordered that most Family Court hearings be opened.
One reason, she said, was to help the public better understand the dire conditions in the court, where the caseload has grown rapidly and which has handled a string of notorious cases recently -- from the abuse case of Elisa Izquierdo, the 6-year-old who was murdered by her mother, to the trial of Malcolm X's grandson for setting a fire that led to the death of his grandmother.
Judges still have the discretion to close certain proceedings, like those involving the mistreatment of young children. But under the new rules, New York joins just one other state, Florida, in routinely opening Family Court cases to the public.
"It is high time public consciousness was raised about the issues surrounding Family Court as well as about the people inside Family Court," Judge Kaye said. "The conditions of the courts do so much to undermine the experience of the people who work there and who come there. Days for Family Court judges are unbelievable. This can't go on forever."
But the openness will also put a sometimes harsh spotlight on the work of the judges, caseworkers and lawyers in Family Court. "There was a certain sense of safety in all the confidentiality -- for the judges and the practitioners and the city agencies appearing in Family Court," said Peter Reinharz, chief of the city's Family Court prosecutors. "The enforcement of that confidentiality was used to shield not only victims, but the players in Family Court, too."
The players themselves acknowledge that the system often works badly or barely works at all, but they differ on where to place the blame. Judges, for example, make clear that they do not trust much of the monitoring work done by the city's child welfare agency.
Judge Maureen A. McLeod on Wednesday ordered the child welfare agency to do another investigation of a grandmother seeking visitation rights. "But I am telling you," Judge McLeod said, "you better be very specific about what you want investigated or we are going to get another report saying her apartment is clean."
In another courtroom, Judge Betty E. Staton, trying to decide if two children could be returned to their parents, asked why a child welfare caseworker was absent and why a court-ordered investigation had not been done. "Unfortunately," Judge Staton said, "this happens a lot." The parents left crying.
Meanwhile, both city prosecutors and Legal Aid Society lawyers say the work of the judges is often below par. They say some can not manage their calendar of cases, and others regularly arrive late to the courtroom. One Brooklyn judge, according to numerous lawyers, gives religious advice in court.
"Many judges seem almost not to care what the rules are," said Ralph Sabatino, senior city prosecutor in Brooklyn. "There are judges with agendas."
Mildred Negron, a senior Legal Aid lawyer in Manhattan, has reservations, too. "The judges make precipitous decisions based on what they see in the five seconds they look up," she said.
Judge Segal, who was plowing through his 50 cases on Monday, is one of 43 Family Court judges in the city, appointed to 10-year terms by the Mayor. He handles part of an enormous citywide caseload. In 1996, there were 226,000 Family Court cases filed in the city, 100,000 more than were handled in 1986. A judge can have 800 active cases.
The circumstances inside Judge Segal's courtroom, Room 571, on Monday were often clumsy and claustrophobic, perpetually flirting with chaotic. Lawyers, seeking clients or colleagues, circled in and out. An abandoned 4-year-old child, so traumatized that he could not say how old he was, was cleared for long-term foster care.
Another case entered. "Wait a minute, I have to get back on that frequency," Judge Segal said. Later, exasperated, he said, "It's an amazing phenomenon. Whenever you are about to call a case, lawyers disappear."
The logistical problems often create a paradox: an overwhelmed court where judges are commonly forced to sit and do nothing. "It's hard for an outsider to know what's going on, and half of it is still secret," said Judge Segal, who said he was confident that, despite the surroundings, his decisions were sound. "The message will go out, though: the city's children and families deserve better. There is not much dignity to what they encounter."
Indeed, they encounter the worst conditions of the city's court system.  In the Bronx, one courtroom is an old Department of Probation office. In Queens, three prosecutors often have to use the same room to interview three sets of young victims.
"The victims who come through Family Court often feel revictimized," said Lara Treinis, a Family Court prosecutor specializing in sex crimes. "They appear, but their cases do not get called. The judges, with so many cases, lose a sensitivity. I have to apologize for the judges a lot. The consistent tone in the buildings is that victims come cheap."
Brooklyn Family Court is regarded as the worst environment. Women seeking orders of protection sit in waiting rooms alongside their victimizers. Child welfare caseworkers are next to the parents of children they have removed from dangerous households. Law assistants to the judges negotiate pleas and parents agree to foster care placements in the building's hallways.
On Wednesday in Judge Lee Elkins's courtroom, as a girl, 16, testified about being abused by her father, the courtroom door repeatedly swung open inches from her. "You have to judge what we do within the context of the means we are given to work with," said Judge Elkins.
With anyone allowed inside -- including friends or enemies of parties involved in the traumatic litigation -- security is a constant concern. Court officers have asked for an increase in staff and for more officers to be armed.
The judges do not know how much to fear. "We already work in combat conditions," said Judge Joseph M. Lauria in Queens.
The combat was more literal than metaphorical on Tuesday morning in Judge Lauria's courtroom when Leroy Bethea, accused of threatening to kill the mother of his child, entered. The mother, Nicole Price, was seeking a final order of protection. "This guy could explode," said Judge Lauria. Mr. Bethea, 23, did -- lunging at the woman and provoking an uproar.
A dozen court officers descended. "Get him off the bench," the officers screamed, and they hustled the judge and the mother out. Mr. Bethea was removed in leg irons and two sets of handcuffs.
"Give us a couple of minutes to put the courtroom back together," Capt. Michael P. DeMarco, a court officer, told the judge.
"It is going to be a reality check for the public," Judge Lauria said of the coming scrutiny. "As for us, our talents vary, our motives vary. In Family Court, we are not going to make people happy."
It is the judges who will feel the harshest glare of the new public exposure. "You have to see this as a bizarre place," said Judge Michael A. Ambrosio, supervising judge in Brooklyn Family Court. "Law is founded on reason. The experience inside Family Court is founded on emotion. Lots of terrible things happen.
"Of course, it's legitimate to question the quality of judges," said Judge Ambrosio. "But it is going to be difficult for people to measure. The quality of most of our decisions -- to terminate parental rights or return a child to a troubled household -- are not discernible for some time. But people are welcome to come, see, call me a moron if that's what I am. I am a public figure."
Judge Segal said he, too, welcomed the light. "In other courts, there are cases dealing with questions about what happened -- what happened in this crime, what happened in that accident," Judge Segal said. "Here, you want to know what happened, but you also have to ask who and what people are. Can they care for a child? Will they hurt their spouse? It would be hard, and take time, under the best of circumstances."
As for those whose lives and families are judged, disrupted, torn apart or put together in the court, no one is pleased at how the system operates and many are furious.
Joseph Rivera, trying to recover his child after nearly a year, sat waiting for hours on Wednesday. So, too, did Kathya Sanchez. Her child had been taken away last spring. Both Mr. Rivera and Ms. Sanchez derided the system, their court-appointed lawyers, the judges, the waiting, the repeated delays by the child welfare agency.
"It's a fiasco," Mr. Rivera said. "My lawyer is here for a paycheck; the judge is covering his rear end; the adjournments come and go. I am sympathetic to everybody's caseload. But it's my child."
Ms. Sanchez wept in the hallway of the fifth floor of Brooklyn Family Court. She was told the child welfare agency's investigation had not been done. She screamed.
"The place is so antiseptic," she said. "Lawyers duck in and out of doorways. Judges come and go. They all worry about their schedules -- their vacations, their son's play. How do you think that feels to me?"

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GRAPHIC: Photo: In the hallways of Brooklyn Family Court, tedious waiting and a volatile mixture of opposing sides. (Angel Franco/The New York Times)
 
Chart: "The Search for Answers"
Court officials have set these programs in motion to make New York State's Family Court system work better.
 
NIGHT COURT To deal with the expanding number of cases, many involving daytime workers, Brooklyn Family Court opened two courtrooms this month from 5:30 to 9 P.M. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
 
DRUG COURT In Manhattan, all cases of child abuse and neglect where drugs are a problem will be directed to a designated judge. A court-monitored drug-prevention program will be enforced. On-site drug testing and more frequent court appearances are planned.
 
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE In a pilot project in Manhattan, one Family Court judge, Richard Ross, has been designated to handle all domestic violence cases. Social workers are frequently assigned to make sure complainants return to court.
 
'FAST TRACK' ADOPTION The court identified children in foster care who were cleared for adoption but were languishing. Concentrated action resulted in 2,100 adoptions from April to August.
 
REORGANIZATION The state's top court administrators are exploring a reorganization plan that would raise the status of Family Court. This could mean more money from the state, and help from judges in other courts.
 
Graph shows the number of cases filed in New York City Family Court.
 
In 1996, most cases involved paternity, support, custody and abuse of children.
 
(Source: Office of Court Administration)(pg. 26)

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September 13, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

RACE FOR CITY HALL;
In Their Own Words

SECTION: Section 1; Page 27; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 256 words


RUTH W. MESSINGER
Speaking to the elderly yesterday at the Riverdale Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. in the Bronx:
 
"Unfairly in the last several years there have been constant efforts to cut back on Medicare protections, to cut back on Medicaid protections, which many people need, to make it harder and harder to be eligible for health protections. There is no one that is hurt more by this than seniors because you are at a point where your income is fixed, where your income is limited and you are at a point where, unfortunately from time to time, you are ill and you need health care. Believe me, I know, I knock on wood and consider how lucky I am. My mom is 81, my dad is 89." 

AL SHARPTON
At a ceremony for the Harriet Tubman Women of Distinction:
 
"The only way that Rudolph Giuliani can be beat is if we all mobilize and organize, and it can't be no nice thing. Ms. Messinger is a nice lady, but this ain't a fight for nice people. I went to high school with a bully. I was a boy preacher and we tried to talk and the bully didn't talk. He would jump and carry on, in the locker room at the gym. Finally one day, I went to a schoolyard and hit him in his jaw, and I found that the bully wasn't that bad after all. And that's what you've got to do to Giuliani. You need somebody to go out there right in the middle of the political yard and take him on. I don't think he's as bad as he acts. He just hasn't had somebody to take him on. He needs somebody who is as bad as he is to say, 'Let's get it on, Mr. Giuliani.' "

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September 14, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

LONG ISLAND GUIDE

BYLINE: By BARBARA DELATINER

SECTION: Section 13LI; Page 24; Column 4; Long Island Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 1039 words


FREE CHOICES
TODAY Consisting of two ordained ministers -- Janet Rhodes and Jimmy Only -- and three lawyers -- Ross Rhodes, Howard Miller and Zoilo Silva, who just happen to be musicians, too -- Country Rhodes is about as unusual as country bands get. The quintet, which released its first compact disk in December, appears at 3 P.M. at the Bellmore Library on Bedford Avenue (785-2990). 
 TOMORROW Although reluctant to sit for a film portrait, Alan Berliner's reclusive father finally did permit his son, the film maker, to explore their family history. "Nobody's Business" is the documentary result of that study and Mr. Berliner will screen and discuss his work at 8 P.M. at the Port Washinhgton Library on Library Drive (883-4400).
THURSDAY Capping her two-day stint as "Distinguished Jurist in Residence" at the Touro Law School, United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will discuss "Reflections on Way Paving: Jewish Justices and Jewish Women" in a public lecture at 6 P.M. at the school on Nassau Road in Huntington (421-2244, ext. 352).
 
NEW ORCHESTRA PLAYS
The Joseph G. Astman International Concert Series at Hofstra University is one of the best musical bargains on the Island. Each week during the school year, promising and frequently leading musicians from all over the world perform and it only costs $10 a ticket or $8 for the elderly and students to attend. The series opens Tuesday at the Monroe Lecture Center Theater on the Hempstead campus on a local note, with the Chamber Orchestra of the New Orchestra of Long Island. With Naomi Drucker as clarinet soloist and Eric Knight as conductor, the ensemble plays Bach, Britten, Holst and Mozart at 8 P.M. (463-6644).
 
'WEST SIDE STORY'
Two veterans of television soap operas take to the stage of the Westbury Music Fair Tuesday in "West Side Story," the Laurents-Bernstein-Sondheim classic. Brian Lane Green, who appeared in "All My Children" as well as "Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch," plays Tony, and Francine Sama of "Sunset Beach" fame is Anita in the production featuring the dance sequences originally choreographed by Jerome Robbins. The musical runs through next Sunday at the fair on Brush Hollow Road and is the first in a quartet of musicals coming to Westbury: Morgan Brittany and Avery Schreiber in "Crazy for You," Oct. 28 to Nov. 2; Tony Orlando in "Jukebox Dreams," Feb. 17 through Feb. 22, and Barbara Eden in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes," April 28 to May 3 (334-0800).
 
PLAY DEBUT
Described as "a story of two '90's love triangles of boy meets girl meets girl," a new romantic comedy by Jospeh deSane, "Excuses," debuts Thursday at Guild Hall's John Drew Theater in East Hampton. Presented by Dark Horse Productions, the play, which features Bea Alda, Alan Alda's daughter, in a cast sprinkled with Actor's Equity Association members like Roderick Griffis and Georgia Hester, runs Thursdays through Sundays through Oct. 5 (267-6299).
 
BEACH CLEANUP
Like communities throughout the world, Long Island celebrates International Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, which means that volunteers will take to the beaches to collect the junk that summer brought. Last year more than 6,000 New Yorkers cleaned 220 miles of shoreline of more than 150,000 pounds of debris at 248 sites. The state parks on the Island have made it a two-day affair through Sunday and will give the first 75 picker-uppers a free T-shirt (669-1000, ext. 247). To find out about other local locations, call Barbara Cohen, beach cleanup ccordinator for the American Littoral Society, at (718) 471-2166.
 
POETRY FESTIVAL
For those inclined to spend Saturday at more intellectual pursuits, the Huntington Y.M.C.A. has an ambitious alternative on tap: the all-day inaugural "Huntington Y Write Poetry Festival." From 8:45 A.M. to 11 P.M. on streets, the waterfront and indoor sites like Old First Church on Main Street, some 50 poets, including the United States Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky; Alfred Corn; Suzanne Gardinier; Sam Hamill; David Lehman; Sharon Olds; Karen Swenson; James Tate and Quincy Troupe, will read their works, hold seminars and symposiums and even join in sessions of improvisation with jazz musicians. Schedule and registration information: 421-4242.
 
PHILHARMONIC
The Long Island Philharmonic returns from its hot weather break with three concerts this weekend.  With the music director David Lockington on the podium and Santiago Rodriguez, pianist, as soloist, the orchestra performs Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Dvorak's Symphony No. 8 and "A Laurentian Overture" by Alan Shulman, a Long Island composer and the father of the Philharmonic's cellist, Jay Shulman. In its Long Island premiere, the work, dedicated to Tallulah Bankhead, was first played by the New York Philharmonic in 1951. The performances are 8 P.M. Saturday at Staller Center on Stony Brook campus of the State University; 2 P.M. next Sunday at East Islip High School in Islip Terrace, and at 7:30 P.M. Sunday at Tilles Center on the C. W. Post campus in Brookville. Mr. Rodriguez will also offer a master class at 3 P.M. Friday at Suffolk Community College in Selden that will be open free to the public (293-2222).
 
FROM THE CHAMBERS
Chamber music dominates the musical scene Saturday as two Long Island-based ensembles begin their season and a series devoted to imports gets under way. They are:
The Long Island Baroque Ensemble, which starts is 28th season with "Polished Brass," a program of works for brass and strings by Telemann, Vivaldi and other Baroque composers, at 8 P.M. at St. Andrews Lutheran Church on Brookside Drive in Smithtown. The concert will be repeated next Sunday at 3 P.M. at Christ Church on Route 25A in Oyster Bay (724-7386).
The Waldorf Chamber Players will perform "An Evening of Music to Welcome the Fall Season," featuring Brahms, Dvorak and Haydn at 8 P.M. at the Waldorf School on Cambridge Avenue in Garden City (536-2911).
The Emerson String Quartet, which opens the 21st Chamber Music series for the Islip Arts Council, performing Beethoven, Mozart and Smetana at 8 P.M. at the Sayville Middle School on Johnson Avenue (224-5420).   BARBARA DELATINER

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NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: QUEENS UP CLOSE;
Guiliani Kills 2 Burning Issues With One Campaign Stop

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF

SECTION: Section 13; Page 12; Column 3; The City Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 556 words

There is perhaps no hotter topic in Forest Hills than a proposed super-shopping center and 24-screen multiplex movie theater planned for 25 industrial acres to the south of Metropolitan Avenue along Woodhaven Boulevard. Some residents see it as an architectural alligator that would clapperclaw the guts out of their neighborhood.
So there they sat in folding chairs Tuesday night in the Continental Post No. 1424 of the American Legion Hall, the bedrock of Mayor Giuliani's constituency: mostly white, mostly homeowners and mostly elderly. The Mayor, who has made it known that he supports superstores, was to make a campaign appearance. And the members of the Forest Hills Community and Civic Association were waiting to bawl him out. 
 The Mayor, arriving a half-hour late, received a quick refresher on the development, which include a 136,000-square-foot Home Depot, a Sports Authority, several smaller projects and, most needling to locals, the multiplex. The plan would overwhelm their calm neighborhood, clog traffic and drive small merchants out, a gray-haired gentleman respectfully told the Mayor, adding, "Is it quid pro quo, Mr. Mayor?"
The Mayor looked displeased. The man was referring to the fact that the developer of the multiplex, Bruce C. Ratner, is one of his contributors.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," the Mayor said to the elderly man in a schoolmasterlike tone. "Contributors do not make my decisions. In fact, I am against the theater. So it will not be built."
The Mayor explained that he has welcomed superstores like Home Depot because they can bring back business lost to the suburbs.
For their part, the other developers on the site plan to go ahead despite the opposition. The area is zoned for light manufacturing, and under the zoning laws, they are entitled to build hardware stores, toy stores, book stores, warehouse stores and movie theaters "as of right."
Mr. Ratner originally planned a 170,000-square-foot supermarket that was not covered under the law and would have needed a zoning variance.
When the idea was loudly opposed by residents, Mr. Ratner floated the idea of the monster movie center, which would not need a zoning variance, although it would require permits from various city agencies. Responding to the local clamor, the Mayor, who can influence building and fire permits, vetoed the theater idea. In the meantime, local attitudes have softened about the supermarket.
"We have not decided anything," said Joyce Baumgarten, a spokeswoman for Mr. Ratner's Forest City Ratner Companies. "But something is definitely going to happen on that site." Another possibility is that Mr. Ratner may sell the land to the city for a school, Ms. Baumgarten said.
Home Depot, a hardware store under the zoning laws, plans to open its third store in Queens on the site within two years. Sports Authority, considered a warehouse, says it will open soon.
After 10 minutes discussing superstores, the Mayor steered the talk to tall grass and fallen trees. At the end, the audience, pleased with his stance on clean streets, mowed grass and welfare, gave him a gushing ovation.
"You can't always get everything you want," said Paul Betancourt, who promised to fight on, despite his pledge to vote for the Mayor. "After all, I'm a Republican."   CHARLIE LeDUFF

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Mayor Giuliani met in Forest Hills with opponents of a new retail complex that he supports. (Lenore Victoria Davis for The New York Times)
 
Map of Queens showing the location of the proposed developement site.

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In Gangs, Youths Say They Find Quick Route to Respect

BYLINE: By KIT R. ROANE 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 40; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 478 words

William and Chelsea and their friends liked to hang out together at a local pool hall on the corner of Lenox Avenue and 119th Street. Some days they would look for jobs, other days they would make a few dollars selling anything from T-shirts and socks to drugs. Most of the group -- there were about 30, and they had been friends for nearly a decade -- had given up their dreams of becoming basketball and baseball stars.
When Chelsea and William -- they would not give their last names -- began talking last year about forming a gang, many of their friends readily agreed. William said he was well-schooled in the Blood creed from watching television, and Chelsea had studied gangsta rap artists like Tupac Shakur, a suspected Bloods gang member from the Bronx who helped to popularize gang culture before he was killed in a drive-by shooting last year. 
 They called themselves the Rolling 30's Bloods, etching phrases like "Bloods Forever" in the soft green felt of pool hall tables and spray-painting it on the security fences around the block. Chelsea, a printing press operator, walked around wearing a belt fashioned from small gun replicas. Some chose to display the gang's colors in red T-shirts, caps or bandannas.
It was about getting respect, Chelsea said, adding that disrespect was what "leads to a lot of flower bringing and hymn singing."
But while their language gained a few more slang terms and they began to greet each other with secret handshakes, their hustles remained the same and little actually changed in their lives. None of them has apparently been linked to violent crimes, like the gang initiation rite the police said is called "eating food," meaning to shed someone's blood in a random attack.
Even after the police arrested seven gang members for selling drugs or guns to undercover officers, elderly women continued to stop by and chat with those left on the corner, while small children rode up to have them fix their bicycles.
The gang members themselves say that even after the recent mass arrests of dozens of suspected gang members throughout the city, they are firmer than ever in their desire to remain Bloods, with William saying it is the only symbol of black power left to believe in.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died and left them behind in the ghetto, he said, adding: "I couldn't become a black Muslim, because it would have taken forever."
"Some Bloods are misinformed about what this is all about," he said. "I've never cut nobody or shot nobody and to me 'eating food' is having a ham and cheese sandwich when you're hungry.
He added: "I mean, I've got two kids. But I'm still a Blood because being a Blood just takes having respect for your set. Everyone out here is just trying to find a decent hustle and survive. Being Bloods keeps us together and getting arrested ain't going to stop that."

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September 14, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

POSTINGS: New York City Exemption of 15 or 25 Percent;
Co-op Tax Break For Some Veterans

SECTION: Section 9; Page 1; Column 4; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 308 words

A program of partial tax exemptions for military veterans has been extended to veterans who own and reside in co-op apartments in New York City. The exemption, put into effect last month after action by the City Council and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, was authorized by an amendment to the state's Real Property Tax Law the month before.
The Veterans Property Tax Exemption Program provides reductions to qualified veterans by exempting part of the assessed value of a residence from property taxes. 
 To qualify, an individual must have served on active duty during a period of armed conflict, including World War I or II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf conflict. Also qualified are merchant marines who served in World War II, and military veterans who participated in expeditionary operations in Lebanon, Grenada and Panama. Under previous law, veterans who owned co-ops were not eligible.
Marc Wurzel, a spokesman for the City Department of Finance, said qualified veterans or surviving spouses can get a 15 percent exemption. Those who served in a combat zone are eligible for a 25 percent exemption, he said; disabled veterans can get additional exemptions based on the severity of their disability. There are no income limits.
Applications, being mailed to co-ops in New York City, can also be obtained from the Tax Assessor's office in the borough where the veteran's property is situated. Mr. Wurzel said that the tax exemption program, along with similar programs that benefit elderly homeowners, was the result of the efforts of Charles Rappaport, founder of the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives. Mr. Rappaport, who lobbied vigorously for property tax relief for veterans and the elderly, died Aug. 28 at age 75, a week after the veterans' exemption became available to co-op shareholders.

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CORRECTION-DATE: September 28, 1997, Sunday

 CORRECTION:
A rendering with the Postings column on Sept. 14, showing three penthouses to be built atop 1150 Fifth Avenue, carried an erroneous credit. It was by Platt Byard Dovell Architects.

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September 16, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Will Hare, 81, a Founder of Actors Studio

SECTION: Section D; Page 23; Column 1; Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 224 words

Will Hare, a veteran character actor and a founding member of the Actors Studio, died on Aug. 31 at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. He was 81 and lived in Weehawken, N.J.
He died of a heart attack after collapsing onstage during a rehearsal at the Actors Studio, said his agent, Jerry Kahn. 
 Off Broadway, Mr. Hare starred in Brian Friel's "Crystal and Fox" (as the leader of a provincial acting company), played Dylan Thomas in a revival of Sidney Michaels's "Dylan" and was in John Ford Noonan's "Older People" and Conrad Bromberg's "Dream of a Blacklisted Actor." He also appeared in plays by Horton Foote, Clifford Odets, David Rabe and Maxim Gorky.
Mr. Hare was born in Elkins, W. Va., and moved to New York City in the late 1930's. In 1944, he was on Broadway in Jack Kirkland's "Suds in Your Eye," and was also in Mr. Foote's "Only the Heart."
In 1953, he appeared on Broadway with Lillian Gish in Mr. Foote's "Trip to Bountiful." Through the next four decades, he worked on and off Broadway, in films and on television.
His first film was "The Wrong Man," directed by Alfred Hitchcock. On television he appeared in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman." Mr. Hare gave his last New York performance in 1996 in Samuel Beckett's "Nacht und Traume," directed by Joseph Chaikin.
No immediate family members survive.

NAME: Will Hare

LOAD-DATE: September 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Will Hare. (The New York Times, 1972)

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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September 16, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Norway Chief Steps Down As Votes Fall Short of Goal

BYLINE: By The New York Times 

SECTION: Section A; Page 10; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 504 words

DATELINE: OSLO, Tuesday, Sept. 16

Prime Minister Thorbjoern Jagland had posed an ultimatum to the voters of this oil-rich welfare state: if his Labor Party did not get 37 percent of the vote in Monday's national election, he would resign. With 95 percent of the votes counted early this morning, Mr. Jagland was 2 percentage points shy of his goal, and he announced that he and his government would step down.
Norway's Christian Democratic Party, which opposes abortion and seeks to instill strict Christian values in schools and society at large, was preparing to lead the Government. 
 Mr. Jagland said he would resign effective Oct. 30 if the voting pattern stayed firm. Barring a surprise in party jockeying in the coming weeks, the leading candidate to take over the Prime Minister's office will be Kjell Magne Bondevik, 50, a leader of the Christian Democrats. He heads a coalition of three center parties that are considered moderate on economic matters and conservative on social issues.
Another winner in the vote is Carl I. Hagen, the leader of the anti-immigrant Progress Party, which advanced from being a fringe party to the nation's second-largest single party with 15.3 percent. The Progess Party grew in part at the expense of the Conservative Party, who received 14.3 percent and whose leader still hopes to engineer a coalition of its own with the Christian Democratic Party.
Mr. Bondevik's three-party coalition will actually end up with fewer seats in Parliament than the Labor Party alone, which remains Norway's largest. So Mr. Jagland was not forced out of office. Rather, he gave it up, saying that Labor's departure from leadership would help "clarify the political landscape."
Bjarne Christiansen, a spokesman for the Norwegian Gallup Institute, predicted a short, turbulent period of governance for the Christian Democratic coalition followed by a return of Labor. He said no other party or coalition enjoys the credibility of Labor, which has ruled for 9 of the last 10 years on the strength of former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland's immense popularity. She resigned last fall to give Mr. Jagland a year in office before an election.
Mr. Jagland's 37 percent ultimatum reflected the level of support received by Labor in the last election, in 1993. The leader of the Socialist Left Party, which often cooperates with Labor, said that if Mr.  Jagland resigned unnecessarily "he would go down in history as Norway's most puzzling politician."
His year in office was marred by a series of scandals among the ministers he appointed. He further hurt his chances when he described as "nauseating" an opposition proposal to raise pensions for the elderly. Then, last month, a former Soviet K.G.B. agent said in a book that Mr. Jagland, as a budding politician in the 1970's and 1980's, had been classified by the K.G.B. as a "confidential contact" because of his willingness to discuss political affairs with Soviet agents posing as diplomats. Mr. Jagland insisted that the conversations were innocent exchanges.

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September 17, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Man Charged With a Wave Of Muggings In a Subway

BYLINE: By JOHN SULLIVAN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 582 words

Prosecutors say a blank check led the police to charge a Manhattan man with a string of subway muggings of the elderly that began in early June and stretched through most of the summer.
The man, David Irons, 25, was arrested Aug. 21 after he jumped a turnstile at the subway station at 34th Street and Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, said Lieutenant Paul O'Connor, commander of the Manhattan Robbery Squad. The police, who had the station under heightened surveillance because of the robberies, found the check, which had been stolen earlier that month from an 80-year-old man, in Mr. Irons's possession, the Manhattan District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, said yesterday. 
 Prosecutors have charged Mr. Irons with 14 robberies and say that he and two accomplices may be linked to 15 to 25 other robberies.
"This guy was part of a three-man crime wave," Mr. Morgenthau said at a news conference. He asked anyone with knowledge of any similar robberies to contact his office.
An assistant district attorney, Matthew Bogdanos, said that Mr. Irons and his accomplices looked for elderly people inside the 34th Street subway station. He said the men would typically choke the victims and threaten them with a knife or gun before grabbing their cash and jewelry. In one case, the robbers cut a 70-year-old man's pants off during a robbery, and in another they held a 67-year-old man down and repeatedly kicked him in the legs.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Irons and his accomplices made as much as $500 in some robberies, and estimated that the men made $5,000 to $10,000 altogether. If Mr. Irons is convicted, they said, he will face up to 25 years to life under sentencing as a persistent felon because he has three previous convictions.
Mr. Morgenthau said the police knew the names of Mr. Irons's accomplices but had not arrested them yet. He declined to identify them.
The first attack, prosecutors said, occurred on June 9. They have accused Mr. Irons of choking a man until he was unconscious and stealing his wallet. The rest of the robberies generally occurred between 10 A.M. and 3 P.M., usually somewhere in the 34th Street subway station.
Lieutenant O'Connor said that the police noted the rash of robberies in the area, but did not attribute it to one group until midsummer, in part because of the different weapons and different numbers of suspects.
Using information from witnesses, detectives put together a general profile of the man they believe committed at least three of the robberies, including one in which blank checks were stolen from an elderly man. Lieutenant O'Connor said undercover officers from the Transit Bureau used the profile to spot Mr. Irons, of 144th Street in Harlem, as he walked through the 34th Street station.
"The transit patrol force was staking out the area out," the lieutenant said. "He fit the general description."
When Mr. Irons jumped a turnstile, Lieutenant O'Connor said, the undercover officers arrested him and found the check. The officers knew that detectives were investigating the case, and they turned the matter over to the robbery squad. Lieutenant O'Connor said detectives questioned Mr. Irons for two days, extracting information about different cases and using that information to go further.
"He started talking about the cases that he was initially charged with and then he started expanding on it," the lieutenant said. "When we got him going, we found out more about him, more about the other cases."

LOAD-DATE: September 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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September 19, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

A Gene Link To a Disease Of the Eyes Is Identified

BYLINE: By DENISE GRADY

SECTION: Section A; Page 21; Column 1; National Desk

LENGTH: 781 words

Scientists have found the first genetic link to age-related macular degeneration, an incurable eye disease that strikes 25 percent of Americans over the age of 65 and is the major cause of vision loss in the elderly.
Mutations in a newly identified gene were found in 16 percent of patients with macular degeneration, but in fewer than 1 percent of people without the disease, researchers are reporting today in the journal Science. A difference of that size is strong evidence that the gene is involved in the disease. 
 "This represents the first really good lead on the cause of macular degeneration," said Dr. Carl Kupfer, director of the National Eye Institute. "It's a major public health problem, and it's becoming worse as the population ages."
Dr. Kupfer was not involved in the study, but his institute helped pay for the research.
Researchers say they hope the new genetic findings will eventually help them understand how the disease damages the eye, identify people at risk and lead to methods of treatment and prevention. But for now, doctors do not recommend that people be tested for the gene defect, said Dr. Michael Dean of the National Cancer Institute and an author of the study.
"There's no clear evidence of a way to prevent macular degeneration," Dr. Dean said, adding that there is also no treatment for the most common form of the disease. People at increased risk could only be given the advice already offered to the rest of the population: avoid smoking and fatty foods, which studies have linked to the disease, and eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables, which contain nutrients that may ward it off.
About 1.7 million Americans have impaired vision from macular degeneration. The disease attacks the retina, the layer of light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. It destroys the macula, a region in the center of the retina that enables a person to see straight ahead and to discriminate fine details. Victims gradually lose their ability to read, drive and recognize faces. They come to rely on their peripheral vision, looking at the world out of the corners of their eyes and missing much color and detail. Most do not lose their eyesight completely but do become legally blind.
About 80 percent of people with macular degeneration have a type in which yellow spots appear on the macula, called the "dry" form. The other 20 percent have a more serious type called the "wet" form in which blood vessels beneath the macula grow abnormally.
There is no treatment for the dry form, and only about 5 percent of people with the wet form can be helped by laser treatments, which cannot repair the damage but may slow it down.
The study was conducted by teams from the National Cancer Institute, in Frederick, Md.; Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston; the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, and Harvard Medical School.
It was a follow-up to findings reported last March by some of the same scientists. In the earlier study, they identified the gene that causes Stargardt disease, a severe form of macular degeneration that usually develops in childhood. The disease develops when a child inherits two copies of a defective gene, one from each parent.
Stargardt disease somewhat resembles age-related macular degeneration, and so the researchers began a second study, to determine whether the Stargardt gene might be involved in the age-related disease.
Their theory was correct: of 167 unrelated patients with age-related macular degeneration, 26, or 16 percent, had mutations in one copy of the Stargardt gene. "That's a very high percentage," said Dr. Kupfer. By comparison, a defect in that gene was found in only 1 of 220 healthy people.
In the remaining 84 percent of patients with macular degeneration, the researchers attributed the disease mainly to different genes, as yet undiscovered, and factors like smoking and a fatty diet. Included in this group were people with the more serious wet form of the disease.
It is still not clear how the mutations cause macular degeneration. Researchers know that the gene is normally active in the retinal cells known as rods, where it controls the production of a molecule called a transporter. The transporter is thought to pump some unwanted substance out of the cells.
But what the unwanted substance is and how the mutations cause the transporter to malfunction, leading to retinal damage, are subjects for future research, said Dr. Richard Lewis, an author of the study and professor of ophthalmology at Baylor.
"We're hoping we can figure out what this gene transports," Dr. Lewis said, "because transporter molecules are amenable to drug therapy."
      

LOAD-DATE: September 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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September 19, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Flu Outbreak on Ship; Shots Are Advised

BYLINE: By DAVID ROHDE

SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 282 words

A cruise ship carrying scores of passengers and crew members stricken with the flu is scheduled to dock in New York City tomorrow, and health officials yesterday advised New Yorkers in high-risk groups to consider getting flu shots.
Federal officials noted that influenza does not require quarantine, but Fredric D. Winters, a spokesman for New York City's Department of Health, said those at risk should get shots to safeguard themselves against infected vacationers and crew from the ship, Holland America cruise line's Westerdam. 
 "People who are in high risk groups should get their flu shots," Mr. Winters said. "Senior citizens, people with serious underlying respiratory conditions and people whose immune systems are compromised -- chemotherapy patients, H.I.V. patients, AIDS patients."
About 20,000 people a year die of complications related to the flu, said Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Twenty-nine of the boat's 1,500 passengers and 40 of its 600 crew members have reported flu symptoms over the course of a 10-day cruise that began on Sept. 11 in Montreal and ends tomorrow in New York, according to Lawrence Dessler, a Holland America spokesman. Crew members are taking rimantadine, intended to block the spread of the virus, he said. The drug is also being offered to passengers.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control had criticized Holland America for a letter distributed to passengers, saying it played down the seriousness of the situation. But a second letter was issued later, urging passengers to take the medication, said Dr. Robert Wainwright, head of the C.D.C.'s Quarantine Division.

LOAD-DATE: September 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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September 21, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER;
'A Father's Day Diary' as Confession

BYLINE: By ALVIN KLEIN 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 9; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 639 words

DATELINE: CROTON FALLS

IT is better than an hour of Oprah Winfrey, Sally Jessy Raphael or all those other overpaid purveyors of the tell-all genre, with their spotlights on the dysfunctional.
But the disputatious Mac, a 25-year-old college malcontent, with no career, a pregnant wife and a cocaine habit, would say it is not. Mac would want his father, Jake, to adapt "A Father's Day Diary," a confessional play, to the screen, large or small, so Jake could have a crack at the big time instead of wasting his life on small regional theater stages. 
 In "A Father's Day Diary" at the Schoolhouse here, Jake is a struggling actor, not a playwright, but George Bamford, who wrote the play and plays Jake, is so transparently a stand-in for the character that the difference between the real playwright and the invented actor is a mere technicality. In this play, God is not in the details.
Whether the actualities of the other two characters -- Mac and his grandfather Jacob, Jake's father -- are an observer's assumptions is of no consequence. "A Father's Day Diary" is clearly another autobiographical work in a line of plays about sons who never sang for or are having epiphanic conversations with their fathers.
Between Mac, who is in Baltimore, and Jake, a 1960's type white liberal who quotes Karl Marx and lives in Harlem, the goal of a life's misperceptions and animosities is contact. The symbol is the telephone, as opposed to the speaker phone, which represents distance and hostility. In a reversal of the stock father-son conflict, Mac, though he has none, thinks that money is the measure of success. He goads his father to get a job and move to Los Angeles. He calls him a bum and a failure (Jake agrees) who has blown 25 years. Even though Mac, a loudmouth representative of Generation X, shoots aphorisms like "without truth we have nothing" at his father, he is as much an evader as Jake, who on the other extreme needs to stop the war that has defined the worst years of his life with father.
A warming peace is effected between the two older men: a truce between Jake and Mac. Whenever the play buckles under overworked verbiage, the director, Cara Caldwell Watson, seems dead set on giving it a whack.
Mr. Bamford saddles himself with maxims like "a man who doesn't respect his father doesn't respect himself" and "tolerance is not an act of altruism, it's an act of self-preservation." That last one is heard not just twice. Then there are Jake's defensive rules about what a father must do and what a father never does as well as fancy phrases out of nowhere ("collective thought," "duplicity of options"). The play bulges with inevitable references to guilt and denial; feminism and homophobia are both less relevant to the evening's dramatics than to its didactics. Over three generations, accusations fly; fault and blame are the operative words.
Deluding himself into believing he is a good and necessary leveler, while intensely spewing forth a resentful son's rage, Michael Teigen as Mac embodies the contradictions within a human time bomb.
Donald Symington gracefully negotiates the journey of an ornery 75-year-old man (Jacob) from narrowmindedness to a reconciled enlightenment, which the actor makes believable.
Mr. Bamford as Jake juggles emotional blocks and fragments of truth, all the while being goaded by his son and his father to grow up. As a playwright and as an actor, Mr. Bamford is most effective at transmitting the love of theater. Still, Jake's facile wrap-up is even less convincing than the combat and the recriminations that led to it. "A Father's Day Diary" is Mr. Bamford's fault but not as an actor.
"A Father's Day Diary," produced by Wordplay II at the Schoolhouse Theater, 1 Owens Road in Croton Falls. Performances through Oct. 5. Phone number for tickets: 277-8477.

LOAD-DATE: September 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: George Bamford and Michael Teigen in "Father's Day Diary."

TYPE: Review

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September 21, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER;
Accusations Flying Over the Generations

BYLINE: By ALVIN KLEIN

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 11; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 636 words

IT is better than an hour of Oprah Winfrey, Sally Jessy Raphael or all those other overpaid purveyors of the tell-all genre, with their spotlights on the dysfunctional.
But the disputatious Mac, a 25-year-old college malcontent, with no career, a pregnant wife and a cocaine habit, would say it is not. Mac would want his father, Jake, to adapt "A Father's Day Diary," a confessional play, to the screen, large or small, so Jake could have a crack at the big time instead of wasting his life on small regional theater stages. 
 In "A Father's Day Diary" at the Schoolhouse in Croton Falls, N.Y., Jake is a struggling actor, not a playwright, but George Bamford, who wrote the play and plays Jake, is so transparently a stand-in for the character that the difference between the real playwright and the invented actor is a mere technicality. In this play, God is not in the details.
Whether the actualities of the other two characters -- Mac and his grandfather Jacob, Jake's father -- are an observer's assumptions is of no consequence. "A Father's Day Diary" is clearly another autobiographical work in a line of plays about sons who never sang for, or are having epiphanic conversations with, their fathers.
Between Mac, who is in Baltimore, and Jake, a 1960's-type white liberal who quotes Karl Marx and lives in Harlem, the goal of a life's misperceptions and animosities is contact. The symbol is the telephone, as opposed to the speaker phone, which represents distance and hostility. In a reversal of the stock father-son conflict, Mac, though he has none, thinks that money is the measure of success.
He goads his father to get a job and move to Los Angeles. He calls him a bum and a failure (Jake agrees) who has blown 25 years. Even though Mac, a loudmouth representative of Generation X, shoots aphorisms like "without truth we have nothing" at his father, he is as much an evader as Jake, who on the other extreme needs to stop the war that has defined the worst years of his life with father.
A warming peace is effected between the two older men, a truce between Jake and Mac. Whenever the play buckles under overworked verbiage, the director, Cara Caldwell Watson, seems dead set on giving it a whack.
Mr. Bamford saddles himself with maxims like "a man who doesn't respect his father doesn't respect himself" and "tolerance is not an act of altruism, it's an act of self-preservation." That last one is heard not just twice. Then there are Jake's defensive rules about what a father must do and what a father never does as well as fancy phrases out of nowhere ("collective thought," "duplicity of options"). The play bulges with inevitable references to guilt and denial; feminism and homophobia are both less relevant to the evening's dramatics than to its didactics. Over three generations, accusations fly; fault and blame are the operative words.
Deluding himself into believing he is a good and necessary leveler, while intensely spewing forth a resentful son's rage, Michael Teigen as Mac embodies the contradictions within a human time bomb.
Donald Symington gracefully negotiates the journey of an ornery 75-year-old man (Jacob) from narrow-mindedness to a reconciled enlightenment, which the actor makes believable.
Mr. Bamford as Jake juggles emotional blocks and fragments of truth, all the while being goaded by his son and his father to grow up. As a playwright and as an actor, Mr. Bamford is most effective at transmitting the love of theater. Still, Jake's facile wrap-up is even less convincing than the combat and the recriminations that led to it. "A Father's Day Diary" is Mr. Bamford's fault but not as an actor.
"A Father's Day Diary," at the Schoolhouse Theater, 1 Owens Road in Croton Falls, N.Y. Performances through Oct. 5. (914) 277-8477.

LOAD-DATE: September 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: George Bamford and Michael Teigen in Mr. Bamford's "Father's Day Diary" at the Schoolhouse in Croton Falls, N.Y.

TYPE: Review

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

September 23, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

The Hot Zone: Technology Issues Continue to Rise

BYLINE: By DAVID BARBOZA 

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 979 words

When Wall Street strategists were asked last December to select their favorite sector for the coming year, the choice was just about unanimous: technology.
They have not been disappointed. Through nearly three quarters, shares in technology companies have skyrocketed, largely because of robust sales of personal computers, sharply higher profit margins and a steady stream of news suggesting that technology will rule the stock market roost for some time to come. 
 This year, and especially this summer, technology issues have stormed ahead of almost every other sector, including the consumer goods industry, which has been bolstered by the performance of the likes of Colgate-Palmolive and Wal-Mart Stores.
Yesterday, for instance, technology shares led the market higher after I.B.M. -- one of the industry's senior citizens -- said it had developed a new computer chip using copper rather than aluminum, a manufacturing breakthrough that could result in faster and more powerful chips.
As a result, shares of I.B.M. soared 4 5/8 to 103 7/8, helping lift the Dow Jones industrial average 79.56 points, or 1 percent, to 7,996.83. The Pacific Stock Exchange Technology Index fared even better, gaining 1.6 percent, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.7 percent, the equivalent of about 218 points on the Dow.
Just last week, the Intel Corporation, the semiconductor giant, said it, too, had developed a new process, one that doubles the storage capacity of some memory chips.
What all this means is more powerful and efficient computers, and with PC sales booming and companies like Microsoft weaving themselves into the lives of growing numbers of Americans, it is no surprise that shareholders are gobbling up more and more high-technology shares.
"At the end of the day, business results drive stock prices," Michael T. Moe, director of growth stocks at Montgomery Securities in San Francisco, said. "And what we've seen is that technology is playing an ever-increasing role in the new economy, in terms of productivity and competitiveness. Investing in technology is mission critical for a lot of companies."
The chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan, has probably even intensified the investor hunger for technology as he has cited its key role in enabling the economy to grow at a steady pace without a resurgence in inflation.
There have been setbacks this year, and warnings of profit slowdowns at some high-technology companies -- which may be why some of the best-known technology leaders, like Microsoft, I.B.M. and Intel, have slipped below their all-time highs.
Still, investors seem eager to build on last year's solid gains, when the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 22.7 percent, and the phenomenal returns of 1995, when the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index rose 50.8 percent.
This year, technology shares have easily outperformed the stock market's major indexes. While the Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks is up 29 percent, the Pacific Stock Exchange Technology Index -- an index of 100 of the nation's leading technology companies -- is up 42 percent. The outperformance this summer has been even greater, with the S.& P. 500 index up 6.3 percent since June 20, while the technology index has risen 20.2 percent.
A driving force behind the summer romp was the sector's better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. "They were the best," said Charles Hill, director of research at First Call, which tracks earnings, noting that earnings for technology companies were 29 percent higher than a year ago. "Technology was head and shoulders ahead."
By comparison, earnings of consumer goods companies placed a distant second, Mr. Hill said, with a 14 percent gain. And the outlook for third-quarter profits? First Call said that analysts are estimating a gain of 25 percent for the technology sector over the period last year.
Mary Meeker, a managing director in the technology group at Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Discover & Company, said that investors are still rushing into technology stocks because they believe that regardless of the already dizzying ascent of the sector, individual issues can still take off.
"The thing that's driving this is money flows and a good economy," she said. "People are enthusiastic, but there's also a major supply-demand imbalance. And we've also hit an inflection point as far as Internet opportunity goes. People are saying, 'I'm Joe Investor and I missed Yahoo, but I'm not going to miss Amazon.com.' "
Yahoo, the hot Internet search engine stock, is up 373 percent this year, and Amazon.com, the online bookseller, has been in heavy demand recently. Yesterday, more than 1.4 million Amazon.com shares traded hands -- nearly one in every two shares available -- sending the stock up 6 5/8 a share, to 54.
Other big gainers yesterday were Texas Instruments, up 5 a share, to 139 5/8; Micron Technology, up 3 1/8, to 40 1/2, and Dell Computer, up 2 1/16, to 99 13/16. Intel rose 15/16, to 96 3/8, helping push the Nasdaq up 9.09 points, to 1,689.45, another closing high.
Indeed, sales of PC's seem to be fueling much of the optimism. That optimism has driven shares of Dell, the best performing S.& P. 500 stock this year, up 276 percent.
"The fundamental backdrop has been better than people expected," said Roger McNamee, a principal at Integral Partners. "The PC industry has seen phenomenal growth."
Mr. McNamee noted that this performance has come even as the industry has seen its share of problems this summer. "There's been a lot of bad news the market has just shrugged off," he said. "At the moment, investors are choosing to see something half full as overflowing."
 
ON THE WEB
The latest stock and mutual fund quotations, along with news updates, are available on the Internet from The New York Times on the Web: www.nytimes.com

LOAD-DATE: September 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Table: "The Favorite Stocks" shows performance of the 15 issues with the most shareholders. (pg. 17)
 
Graphs: "Beating the Summertime Blues"
Alghough there has long been talk of a summer slowdown in technology shares, in the past three summers they have generally outperformed the broader market. Plotted are the percent changes of the Pacific Stock Exchange Technology Index and the S. & P. 500 from June 21 to Sept. 22 of 1995, 1996, and 1997. (Source: Bloomberg Financial Markets)      

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September 24, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Eating Well;
Folic Acid: Pop a Pill, Or Eat The Food?

BYLINE: By Marian Burros 

SECTION: Section F; Page 9; Column 1; Dining In/Dining Out/Living Desk 

LENGTH: 748 words

WILL folic acid turn out to be the latest miracle nutrient, following in a long line of other miracles that never quite lived up to their advance billing? Beta carotene and vitamin C come immediately to mind. Or will folic acid prove to have staying power after the initial rush to buy it?
Folic acid, one of the B vitamins, does have more going for it than many other dietary supplements, because clinical trials appear to show that it reduces the risk of two birth defects. The Food and Drug Administration will now require the fortification of certain grains with folic acid and will permit these foods as well as dietary supplements with folic acid to make health claims. Also pumping up the value of folic acid is increasing epidemiological evidence -- though no clinical trials have been performed -- that folic acid may reduce the risk of heart disease and colon cancer. 
 Lost in all of this rush is the fact that folic acid, in the form of folate, is plentiful in dried beans and fruits and vegetables.
"I really do think folic acid is an important nutrient, a rising star," said Dr. Irwin H. Rosenberg, director of the Agriculture Department's Human Nutrition Center on Aging, at Tufts University.
But he added, "Once a nutrient becomes a rising star, people quickly lose interest in its place in a good diet" and concentrate instead on the single nutrient.
In other words, it is much easier to pop a pill than to eat the foods it is in.
There is an important caveat: no one yet knows all the possible risks associated with too much of the nutrient. Scientists are already aware that too much folic acid can mask the symptoms of pernicious anemia, a problem prevalent among the elderly.
Dr. Marion Nestle, chairwoman of the department of nutrition and food studies at New York University, says that fortifying foods is a mistake, partly because of the lack of "an upper limit of safe intake."
In a paper published in the November-December 1994 issue of The Journal of Nutrition Education, Dr. Nestle writes that there are so many uncertainties in the data and concerns about safety that the Governments of Canada and the Netherlands recommend supplementation only for women of child-bearing age who are at special risk of giving birth to babies with neural tube defects.
Nutritionists who disagree have been trying to get all women of child-bearing age to take folic acid supplements to prevent the two neural tube defects, spina bifida and anencephaly, without much success. Unlike supplements that promise renewed sexual drive, a painless way to lose weight or a more youthful appearance, folic acid is a dowdy relative. But a combination of Government plans to promote folic acid to prevent birth defects, and the more recent findings about its role in combating heart disease and cancer, are likely to make sales of the supplement take off.
AS of Jan. 1, 1998, Federal regulations require that the following foods be fortified with some folic acid: enriched bread, rolls and buns; all enriched flour; enriched corn grits and cornmeal, farina and rice, and all enriched macaroni and noodle products. The level of fortification is intended to keep the daily intake of folic acid below 1 milligram, because researchers say intakes above that amount could mask the symptoms of pernicious anemia.
In addition, breakfast cereals can add up to 100 percent of the Federal Government's Recommended Dietary Intake of 400 micrograms a day.
And under the new rules, manufacturers will be allowed to state on the labels of both food and dietary supplements that an adequate intake of folic acid has been shown to reduce the risk of neural tube defects.
Of course, fortification and supplementation would be unnecessary if Americans ate adequate amounts of the foods in which folate occurs naturally: citrus fruits, dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli and asparagus, dried beans and peas, peanuts, wheat germ, yeast, mung bean sprouts and liver. The trouble is, Americans are not especially fond of these foods.
Like Dr. Rosenberg, Bonnie Liebman, the director of nutrition for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based nutrition advocacy group, wants people to eat fruits and vegetables, but she also wants the insurance of supplements. "We should push both fruits and vegetables and supplements," she said. "We're talking about such a huge risk, you want to do whatever you can to lower that risk. I don't see the harm in that."

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September 24, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

H.M.O.'s Seen as Easing Death for the Elderly

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section A; Page 13; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 487 words

DATELINE: CHICAGO, Sept. 23

Health maintenance organizations may be making death more merciful for elderly patients, researchers say.
Although the cost-cutting practices of the organizations are sometimes criticized as harmful to patients, a new study has found that Medicare patients in H.M.O.'s are less likely to get prolonged, costly and ultimately futile care than those with traditional Medicare coverage. 
 "If we can avoid these kinds of outcomes, which have suffering associated with them, we can improve the quality of care-giving," said Dr. Leslie A. Lenert, a co-author of the study, which is reported in Wednesday's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Skeptics said that the data might underestimate the cost of treating patients in H.M.O.'s and that Medicare beneficiaries who chose H.M.O.'s might be people who would decline aggressive care at life's end anyway.
Nationally, about 13 percent of Medicare beneficiaries belong to H.M.O.'s.
In the study, based on 1994 data, Medicare patients hospitalized in intensive care units in California were 25 percent less likely to receive aggressive, highly expensive care that proved futile if they were H.M.O. members than if they were covered by fee-for-service reimbursement.
The H.M.O. patients did not die at a higher rate than fee-for-service patients while they were hospitalized, and they died at an only slightly higher rate, 8 percent, in the 100 days after release.
"This suggests that H.M.O. practices may be better at limiting or avoiding injudicious critical care near the end of life," the authors wrote.
H.M.O.'s treat patients under a prepaid agreement rather than according to the actual cost of care and services. H.M.O.'s also reward doctors financially for withholding unnecessary care. Critics argue that the cost-cutting sometimes deprives patients of treatments they need.
In the study, of 81,494 people, H.M.O. patients generated $49 million less in bills for aggressive care that proved futile. That is nearly 5 percent of the intensive care costs, the researchers said.
Knowing when to turn off a breathing machine or to stop kidney dialysis because a patient is probably beyond saving requires difficult medical judgments, said Dr. Lenert, an assistant professor of medicine and molecular pharmacology at Stanford University Medical School.
"At some point, the physicians have to start to talk to the family about limiting care and saying: 'This is enough. We're not going to be able to salvage this person,' " Dr. Lenert said. "And that's always a difficult thing to do, with family. It's almost always easier to continue on."
Dr. J. Randall Curtis, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, said hospital billing data used for the study might understate the cost of care given to H.M.O. patients.
Dr. Curtis also said less aggressive care at life's end was not necessarily better.

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September 25, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

3 Big Health Plans Join in Call for National Standards

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 28; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 952 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Sept. 24

Three big health maintenance organizations joined two consumer groups today in calling for more regulation of managed health care, saying all health plans should be subject to "legally enforceable national standards."
Such standards, they said, are essential to restore confidence in the health care system, which has been eroded by reports from many H.M.O. patients that they have had difficulty getting the care they need. 
 The proposals represent a significant development in the struggle over regulation of the health care industry. That struggle is comparable to the debate over regulation of railroads in the second half of the 19th century, and it is just as important for consumers, businesses and the economy. Until now, H.M.O.'s had generally sought voluntary, not government, standards.
Today's "statement of principles for consumer protection" was issued by three nonprofit H.M.O.'s: Kaiser Permanente, HIP Health Insurance Plans, based in New York, and the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. Together, they have more than 10 million members.
The principles were worked out by the H.M.O.'s in a year of negotiations with two consumer groups, Families USA and the American Association of Retired Persons, which has more than 33 million members.
The proposed national standards would replace a crazy quilt pattern of regulation that now varies from state to state. The Federal Government has set basic standards for Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor. But states regulate private health plans and private insurers in radically different ways.  Kaiser and HIP said it would be simpler to comply with national standards than with conflicting state regulations.
Daniel T. McGowan, president of the HIP Health Plan of New York, said: "We have failed to convince the public of our commitment to quality. That's the crisis we face today."
Anthony L. Watson, chairman of the parent company, HIP Health Insurance Plans, said that "we are more than willing to see laws enacted" to guarantee higher standards of care.
Kaiser, HIP and the Group Health Cooperative see themselves as having a deeper commitment to consumer protection than many commercial H.M.O.'s, but they say it is difficult to fulfill that commitment if they can be undercut by competitors not bound by the same standards.
Dr. David M. Lawrence, chairman of Kaiser Permanente, said that if the standards did not apply to all health plans "it would put us at a disadvantage competitively."
Kaiser Permanente, established in 1945, operates in 19 states. HIP, which does business in four states, and the Group Health Cooperative, which has customers in Washington State and Idaho, were formed in 1947.
Here are some of the proposed standards:
*Health plans should provide access to round-the-clock care seven days a week. Women should have direct access to obstetricians and gynecologists. Patients should be able to see outside doctors at no additional cost if their health plan does not have a doctor with "appropriate training and expertise."
*"Individuals should be given a choice of health plans."
*Health plans should be required to pay for emergency care in any situation that "a prudent lay person" would regard as an emergency. H.M.O.'s sometimes refuse to pay if, for example, chest pains are found to be a result of indigestion rather than a heart attack.
*Health plans should pay for experimental treatments if outside experts conclude that such services are necessary to treat a condition likely to cause the patient's death within two years. Likewise, when H.M.O.'s cover prescription drugs, they should be required to pay for items not on the list of approved medications if the items are necessary.
*Every H.M.O. should have an ombudsman to investigate patients' complaints and to help appeal the denial of coverage or services.
*Health plans should not pay doctors in any way that directly encourages them to limit medically necessary care.
Other H.M.O.'s were cool to the idea of more regulation. Susan M. Pisano, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Health Plans, which represents managed care companies, said, "Rather than micromanage, the Government should provide a framework in which the marketplace can play its proven role" in fostering innovation.
The authors of the new proposals said they had not yet decided how the standards should be enforced.
In a separate action, the General Accounting Office reported today that it had examined 1,150 contracts used by 529 H.M.O.'s and had not found any explicit "gag clauses" limiting what doctors can tell patients.
It found a number of contract provisions that doctors said could have a "chilling effect" on doctor-patient communications. But the General Accounting Office said that even those clauses were unlikely to alter doctors' behavior because doctors did not always read their contracts carefully and sometimes disregarded the restrictions.
The accounting office said that 38 states had passed laws to guarantee open communication between doctors and patients. Explicit gag clauses would violate such laws.In addition, the report said, many doctors fear that they will be sued for malpractice if they do not tell patients about all treatment options.
Senate Republican leaders cited the findings in arguing against heavy-handed regulation. Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the assistant majority leader, said today, "This report provides a cautionary message about the Federal Government's typical knee-jerk reaction to a problem. We should not move forward pre-empting state law or regulatory authority on any issue without full consideration of sound science, thorough research and data."
      

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September 25, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Home Health Attendant Is Guilty of Murder

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 136 words

A home health care attendant charged with killing two elderly women in Bensonhurst in May 1996 was convicted of first-degree murder yesterday afternoon in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
A jury found the attendant, Lavonda Prater, 27, guilty of killing Concetta D'Andrea, 85, and her cousin, Vincenza Weaver, 75, by striking them with a blunt instrument and strangling them with a cloth belt in their apartment. 
 Ms. Prater was also convicted of forgery in the second degree for signing Ms. Weaver's name on three $200 checks. She is scheduled to be sentenced on all the charges on Oct. 28.
'The Brooklyn District Attorney, Charles J. Hynes, said he intended to seek a sentence of life in prison without parole. Mr. Hynes had said the death penalty was not appropriate in the case. He did not elaborate.

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September 26, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

A 41-Story Tower Is to Rise Over the West Side Y.M.C.A.

BYLINE: By THOMAS J. LUECK 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 887 words

The Y.M.C.A. of Greater New York said yesterday that it would proceed with a fiercely opposed and long-stalled plan for a 41-story condominium over its branch on West 63d Street, creating one of the tallest residential buildings to overlook Central Park.
The tower, first proposed in 1986, is to be built by two large real estate concerns, the Vornado Realty Trust and the New York development company owned by David Edelstein. Y.M.C.A. executives said they had signed a contract to sell their development rights to the two companies for $9.3 million in cash and improvements to their existing building valued at about $9 million. 
 The plan provoked immediate protests from community groups on the Upper West Side. They said they would challenge the proposal. Neighborhood groups had sued to stop the Y.M.C.A.'s 1986 plan, saying it would create too much traffic congestion, overburden municipal services and cast a long shadow over Central Park. Although the courts ultimately ruled in favor of the development plan, the Y.M.C.A. was forced to put the plan on hold when the city's real estate market sank into a deep recession at the end of the 1980's.
"If we can find a way to stop it, we will," said Olive Freud, vice president of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, which has challenged several large developments in the neighborhood.
Under the new proposal for the Y.M.C.A. site, the tower would be built over the former McBurney School, a five-story building that is owned by the Y.M.C.A. and adjoins the west side of its 14-story building at 5 West 63d Street. Meeting rooms, athletic areas and other Y.M.C.A. facilities would either be rebuilt or left untouched by the developers, and the ornate facade of McBurney School, which is protected as a New York City landmark, would be left intact.
The residences would begin on the sixth floor, with the eight lowest residential floors reserved as rental apartments for low-income people, senior citizens and artists.
Beginning on the building's fifteenth floor, where it would ascend over the ornate roof line and cantilever over the Y.M.C.A., it would become a luxurious building by any measure. Most, if not all, the condominiums would command sweeping views of Central Park, extending beyond the Y.M.C.A. and two smaller buildings on Central Park West that house the Ethical Culture Society and its school.
Real estate executives said the condominiums might fetch prices of almost $1,000 a square foot, or $1.2 million for a two-bedroom apartment.
Y.M.C.A. executives said they had received all necessary development approvals from the city and could begin to erect the new condominium immediately. John M. Preis, the chief financial officer of the Y.M.C.A. of Greater New York, said he expected construction to begin early next year, but he declined to be more specific.
One immediate cause for concern, according to many parents in the neighborhood, is the West Side Y.M.C.A. Co-op Nursery School, with 180 full-time students and educational programs for more than 1,000 others. Parents said they were informed of the Y.M.C.A.'s plan at a meeting on Monday night.
"They definitely didn't give parents enough notice," said Moisha Blechman, a resident of a cooperative building at 64th Street and Central Park West, who attended the meeting. "There will be noise, dust in the air and other disruption. Just being in that atmophere will create problems."
Mr. Preis said the Y.M.C.A. had retained a real estate broker, Cushman & Wakefield Inc., to find space in another nearby building for the school during construction. He also said other measures would be taken to protect children who will use the Y.M.C.A. building while construction takes place. "We know we are dealing with a bunch of 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children, and we will go the extra five miles," he said.
Others in the neighborhood said the Y.M.C.A. project may become a catalyst for the kind of tightly organized community resistance that emerged in the 1980's and has since ebbed even though several large condominiums and commercial buildings have been built or are nearing construction on nearby blocks. Indeed, the burst of building has made the blocks just west of the south end of Central Park one of the city's most active development areas.
"This is becoming Times Square North," said Arlene Simon, president of Landmark West, a community group. "People in this neighborhood don't want it to stand still, just slow down enough so we can evaluate what is going on around us."
But real estate executives said yesterday that rapidly rising real estate values, particularly along Central Park West and on the blocks around the West Side Y.M.C.A., are providing a powerful incentive for developers.
"The prices are astounding," said Clark Halstead, owner of the Halstead Property Company, who said prices in the most sought-after Central Park West buildings now exceed those along Park Avenue. He said the building planned over the Y.M.C.A. could become among the most expensive in the city.
Mr. Preis said the timing of the Y.M.C.A.'s decision was guided in part by the resurgence of property values.
Despite neighborhood protests, he said the money raised through the sale would be used mainly to expand and improve services in the West Side building.

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GRAPHIC: Photos: A plan to build a 41-story condominium tower over the 14-story West Side Y.M.C.A. on West 63d Street would substantially change the skyline along Central Park West. (pg. B1); A condominium tower would begin next to the West Side Y.M.C.A., at 5 West 63d Street, and over the historic McBurney School, then cantilever over the Y.M.C.A., which would also receive improvements. (John Sotomayor/The New York Times)(pg. B6)
 
Map of Manhattan showing site of proposed tower: Condominiums would be built alongside and above the Y.M.C.A. (pg. B6)

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September 26, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

COMPANY NEWS;
AMERICAN HOMEPATIENT, RETRENCHING, TO LAY OFF 300

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section D; Page 4; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 121 words

American Homepatient Inc., one of the nation's largest providers of home oxygen, said yesterday that it would lay off 300 workers, close offices in 16 states and post losses for the third quarter and the year to deal with coming Medicare cuts. The health care company, which is based in Brentwood, Tenn., plans to close or consolidate 15 percent of its operating centers, close or scale back 9 billing centers, abolish 4 of its 20 operating regions and eliminate marginal products and services. The company cited cuts in the reimbursement rates that the Medicare health program for the elderly pays for oxygen services, which account for 23.5 percent of American Homepatient's revenue. Its shares rose $2.625, to $22.25.

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September 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

TRAVEL ADVISORY;
Britain Salutes American Airmen

SECTION: Section 5; Page 3; Column 4; Travel Desk

LENGTH: 299 words

The American Air Museum, a tribute to the 500,000 United States airmen who served in Britain during World War II and a memorial to the 30,000 who died, opened last month at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford Airfield, 50 miles east of London. Duxford, which is still an active airfield, was home to the 78th Fighter Group of the Eighth Air Force during World War II.
Among the displays are combat aircraft used by Americans, including a Spad XIII biplane, a French-designed fighter used during World War I; a Boeing B-29A Superfortress bomber from World War II, and fighter jets used in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.
A sculpture, "Counting the Cost," has been created by Renato Niemis, a Briton. It comprises 52 glass panels leading to the entrance of the museum, engraved with outlines of the 7,031 aircraft flown by Americans that were lost on missions from Britain during the war.
Designed by Sir Norman Foster, a pilot himself, the building resembles a vast hangar, with its great domed precast concrete roof and giant glass doors opening to an airfield. Inside, eight aircraft are suspended from the ceiling, while 13 stand on the floor. The centerpiece is a B-52 bomber, with its eight engines and a wingspan of more than 200 feet.
Visitors enter the 70,000-square-foot museum from the higher back entrance and come face to face with the nose of the B-52. An encircling walkway leads down to the museum floor.
Computer and video displays explain the conflicts in which the aircraft were used, and simpler displays of personal memorabilia, including uniforms, cigarette packets and gum wrappers, offer a human perspective.
The museum is open daily. Admission is about $10.50, with discounts for children 5 to 16, senior citizens and families. Call (44-12) 23 835-000.

LOAD-DATE: September 28, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Grumman Avenger above B-25J bomber at the Duxford museum. (Nigel Young)

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September 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER;
One Company's Four Seasons in Three Spaces

BYLINE: By ALVIN KLEIN

SECTION: Section 13CN; Page 19; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 743 words

GIVE a good director a couple of chairs, a plank of wood and a light bulb, or some such manifestation of the elementary and the minimal -- and theater will happen. Be it in a five-flight walk-up, in an unfinished basement or, of course, in a barn, the show will go on.
But would it not be lovely to show off a real stage: seats fastened to the floor; lighting, not just lights, even a lobby and a box office? 
 Although Lewis Arlt has had far more than the rudiments to work with as producing director of Fleetwood Stage in Westchester County, N.Y., the fact is that in four seasons, the company has been making do with the makeshift -- in three different spaces.
One was a Mount Vernon elementary school auditorium in August -- with an eviction notice taking effect when September came. During that first summer, Mr. Arlt would make a nightly pre-performance plea for a home. Two employees of a center for elderly people in Mount Vernon were in the audience one night and invited Mr. Arlt's company to take up residence in one of the Wartburg's 20 buildings. Fleetwood Stage wound up in two.
One was a lecture hall that was used for day care; the other was a part of a nursing home. "We put up risers," Mr. Arlt recalled, "and lighting grids; we built a stage -- and created a space, as well as dressing rooms, and we were told they might take the space back."
And they did.
"Come to New Rochelle, Mr. Arlt," a member of that city's Council on the Arts beckoned.
And he did.
Fleetwood Stage now holds a three-year lease on the Wildcliff Center for the Arts in New Rochelle.
Welcome to a theater, Mr. Arlt.
Fleetwood Stage's fifth season is to begin in its new space on Thursday with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams. Mr. Arlt is to direct. The play is scheduled to run through Oct. 12. The season's next three plays are "The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard (Nov. 6 through 23), "Mass Appeal" by Bill C. Davis (Feb. 26 to March 15) and "Intimate Exchanges" by Alan Ayckbourn (April 30 through May 17). The telephone number for ticket information is (914) 654-8533.
"I don't think we've lost our audience; we're approximately three miles east of the old space, and our passport membership has doubled," Mr. Arlt said after a rehearsal the other night. Instead of subscriptions, Fleetwood Stage offers what it calls a user-friendly flexible plan, which allows buyers of four tickets to use them for whatever performances and in any combination they choose.
Wildcliff, a 19th-century stone mansion, once served as a nature center, then a popular museum for children. The short-lived East Coast Arts Company took up residence in 1985 after the building was converted to a theater.
Mr. Arlt spoke with glee about the building's history and the scenic splendor that surrounds it. One hundred and one seats were shipped to East Coast Arts from a Shubert theater in renovation on Broadway. "The dressing rooms -- we have real dressing rooms, all renovated!" he said. "They were once snake pits, so we've named them the cobra room and the viper room and the asp room. We even have an art gallery as well as a view to die for. You can look across the water and see Great Neck."
That sent Mr. Arlt's imagination reeling with thoughts of staging "The Tempest" on Wildcliff's outdoor stage with Prospero and the shipwrecked ascending from Long Island Sound onto lawn. "This is our Mount, our Delacorte," Mr. Arlt said, referring to outdoor theaters in Lenox, Mass., and Central Park.
"And having a theater brings out the best in people," he continued. "New Rochelle is primed for a cultural blossoming for revivification." In "The Real Thing" Mr. Arlt will appear in the role played by Simon Jones on Broadway; Mr. Arlt was understudy to Jeremy Irons and Mr. Jones in the original Broadway production. He went on for Mr. Jones for several weeks; never for Mr. Irons. Soap operas pay for Mr. Arlt's theater habit. He is seen regularly on "As the World Turns," and he is a director for "Another World."
Going over Fleetwood's mission, Mr. Arlt said: "I still believe the arts are not an optional extra, but intrinsic to the lives of everybody. We mean to be not just entertainment but challenging."
He added: "TV subsidizes my other life, and I like it too, but putting on plays is irreplaceable, unmatchable. It's a wonder that this theater is actually happening, how an idea has grown. It is gratifying, it is honorable, it is good."

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THEATER;
A New Space for Fleetwood Stage

BYLINE: By ALVIN KLEIN 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 10; Column 4; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 752 words

DATELINE: NEW ROCHELLE

GIVE a good director a couple of chairs, a plank of wood and a light bulb, or some such manifestation of the elementary and the minimal (the polite word for meager) -- and theater will happen. Whether it is in a five-flight walk-up, in an unfinished basement or, of course, in a barn, the show will go on.
But would it not be lovely to show off a real stage: seats fastened to the floor; lighting, not just lights -- even a lobby and a box office? 
 Although Lewis Arlt has had far more than the rudiments to work with as producing director of Fleetwood Stage, the fact is that in four seasons, the company has been making do with the makeshift -- in three different spaces.
One was a Mount Vernon elementary school auditorium in August -- with an eviction notice taking effect when September came. During that first summer, Mr. Arlt would make a nightly pre-performance plea for a home. Two employees of a care center for the elderly in Mount Vernon attended one night and invited Mr. Arlt's company to take up residence in one of the Wartburg's 20 buildings. Fleetwood Stage used two.
One was a lecture hall that was used for day care; the other, a part of a nursing home. "We put up risers," Mr. Arlt recalled, "and lighting grids; we built a stage -- and created a space, as well as dressing rooms, and we were told they might take the space back."
And they did.
"Come to New Rochelle, Mr. Arlt," a member of that city's Council on the Arts beckoned.
And he did.
The Fleetwood Stage now holds a three-year lease on the Wildcliff Center for the Arts, an old mansion.
Welcome to a theater, Mr. Arlt.
Fleetwood Stage's fifth season is to begin in its new space on Thursday with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams. Mr. Arlt is to direct. The play is scheduled to run through Oct. 12. The season's next three plays are "The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard (Nov. 6 through 23), "Mass Appeal" by Bill C. Davis (Feb. 26 to March 15) and "Intimate Exchanges" by Alan Ayckbourn (April 30 through May 17). The telephone number for ticket information is 654-8533.
"I don't think we've lost our audience; we're approximately three miles east of the old space, and our passport membership has doubled," Mr. Arlt said after a rehearsal the other night. Instead of subscriptions, Fleetwood Stage offers what it calls a user-friendly flexible plan, which allows buyers of four tickets to use them for whatever performances and in any combination they choose.
A 19th-century stone mansion, Wildcliff once served as a nature center, then a popular museum created for children. The short-lived East Coast Arts Company took up residence in 1985 after the building was converted to a theater.
Mr. Arlt spoke with glee about the building's history and the scenic splendor that surrounds it. One hundred and one seats were shipped to East Coast Arts from a Shubert theater in renovation on Broadway. "The dressing rooms -- we have real dressing rooms, all renovated!" he said. "They were once snake pits, so we've named them the cobra room and the viper room and the asp room.  We even have an art gallery as well as a view to die for. You can look across the water and see Great Neck."
That sent Mr. Arlt's imagination reeling with thoughts of staging "The Tempest" on Wildcliff's outdoor stage -- yes, there is an outdoor stage as well -- with Prospero and the shipwrecked ascending from Long Island Sound onto Wildcliff's rolling lawn.
"This is our Mount, our Delacorte," Mr. Arlt said, referring to outdoor theaters in Lenox, Mass., and Central Park.
"And having a theater brings out the best in people," he continued. "New Rochelle is primed for a cultural blossoming for revivification." In "The Real Thing" Mr. Arlt will appear in the role played by Simon Jones on Broadway; Mr. Arlt was understudy to Jeremy Irons and Mr.  Jones in the original Broadway production. He went on for Mr. Jones for several weeks; never for Mr. Irons. Soap operas pay for Mr. Arlt's theater habit. He is seen regularly on "As the World Turns," and he is a director for "Another World."
Going over Fleetwood's mission, Mr. Arlt said: "I still believe the arts are not an optional extra, but intrinsic to the lives of everybody. We mean to be not just entertainment but challenging.
"TV subsidizes my other life, and I like it too, but putting on plays is irreplaceable, unmatchable. It's a wonder that this theater is actually happening, how an idea has grown. It is gratifying, it is honorable, it is good."

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September 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/Westchester;
Role for Elderly Nears on Former Iona Campus

BYLINE: By MARY McALEER VIZARD 

SECTION: Section 9; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1101 words

DATELINE: YONKERS

THE former Iona College campus on North Broadway, which for the last year has been used by this city's public schools, has moved a step closer to also becoming the site of a 250-unit residence for the elderly at the southern end of the campus.
Last month the City Council voted unanimously to remove any environmental hurdles to the project, which would be built on seven acres of the 21-acre campus. The move essentially excuses Henry George Greene, a Scarsdale developer, from having to do an environmental-impact statement. 
 The developer's next step now is to present a detailed site plan to the City Council, which must grant a zoning change before it can be built since the property now permits an educational use only.
In a related development, Tara Circle, an Irish cultural organization, just announced its intention to begin negotiations with the city next week to buy five acres at the northern end of the campus to establish its first cultural and recreational center in Westchester.
"Plans for the campus are definitely moving along and we're very pleased about it," said Lee Ellman, the city's planning director. "I think all three uses of the campus, including the public elementary school, the senior housing and Tara, are compatible and are all needed by the city."
Such multiple uses for college campuses are an increasingly frequent occurrence. Once a college fails, its campus can be the subject of a flurry of development proposals. The Iona campus, which sits on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River, was particularly desirable. But since it is one of the last remaining green spaces along the Hudson, Yonkers was determined to control its future to the extent that it could.
As a result, the city took a very pro-active stance with Iona from the start. Two years ago it purchased two-thirds of the campus for $3.75 million, with the intention of using a portion for the Foxfire elementary school and marketing the rest.
The city is also a third party in the contract Mr. Greene signed for his portion of the campus. It states that he will purchase the property for $3.25 million only if the city grants approvals for his project.
If not, the city is required to find another buyer in 18 months. Failing to do so, it must buy the property from Iona. The city does not, however, anticipate such an eventuality, according to Mr. Ellman.
"We have stipulated a number of conditions Mr. Greene must meet to move ahead with his project," Mr. Ellman said. "If he meets these I see no reason he should not move forward in the approval process."
Among those conditions are that construction of the residence must not disrupt the elementary school classes and that the entire project must be shielded from the school by dense and strategic landscaping.
Mr. Greene intends to construct a building ranging from two to five stories in height. "The design will be in keeping with the other buildings on campus and in the surrounding area," Mr. Greene said.
OF the 250 apartments, 180 will be for the independent elderly and 70 will be for assisted living, Mr. Greene explained. One-bedroom apartments, some with den, and two-bedrooms will range in size from 800 to 1,150 square feet. At this time, it has not been decided whether the units will be for sale or rent. In either case, prices still need to be worked out.
The Iona campus started out as Elizabeth Seton College, a two-year school that catered to economically disadvantaged students. When the small private school ran into financial difficulties, Iona purchased it in 1989 to use as a satellite campus to its main school in New Rochelle.
Because of declining enrollment, Iona sold Yonkers the major portion of the campus, which included several buildings. The city wanted the buildings, in large part, to relieve overcrowding in its schools.
For the last two years, the Foxfire School, covering pre-kindergarten through grade 6, has occupied an 86,000-square-foot classroom building. In addition, there are two large buildings -- the 1912 Alder Mansion, designed by Carrere & Hastings, architects of the Frick mansion and the New York Public Library in Manhattan and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Basch Hall, a 51,000-square-foot dormitory, which is now being used to house the city's continuing-education program.
Tara expects to pay $1.2 million for five acres and the two buildings and has scheduled a meeting this week with the city to discuss terms, according to James Rice, Tara's president.
In anticipation of Tara's purchase, James Grasso, director of operations for the city's schools, said he had already been asked to find another site for the continuing-education program.
This is the second time that Tara has attempted to purchase part of a college campus in Westchester. The first target was Kings College in Briarcliff Manor, a four-year multidenominational Christion school that fell on hard times and became ripe for re-use. . For years, Tara Circle had been trying to purchase the campus to establish a cultural and sports center. The group has since abandoned those plans, due to vociferous community opposition.
KING'S COLLEGE has just filed for bankruptcy protection, according to Mr. Rice. "We still have a financial interest Tara Circle is a creditor in bankruptcy proceedings as a result of a $200,000 down payment on its aborted purchase in what comes out of those proceedings, but we're not interested in the campus anymore," Mr. Rice said. "We wish Briarcliff well with King's College."
As for its plans in Yonkers, Mr. Rice would like to establish a hall of fame in the Alder mansion and use the dormitory building for classes in Irish history, music and dance. Tara Circle now runs classes for 250 students a semester at a White Plains high school and on the Manhattanville College campus in Purchase.
"It would be great to consolidate the classes, which have proven to be very popular," Mr. Rice said. The group is still looking for a suitable location to hold Gaelic football and hurling games, which was a big bone of contention at King's College.
Residents living near the school feared noise and traffic resulting from the sporting events. Since the Yonkers property is too small for such use, Mr. Ellman sees little concern about Tara's gaining approval for its cultural center.
"Having an Irish center in a community that already has an Italian center, a Polish and Chinese center, seems a natural to me," he said. "We're a very ethnic town in a Metro-New York kind of way. Rather than recoil from it, we actually revel in it."

LOAD-DATE: September 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Tara Circle hopes to purchase the 1912 Alder Mansion, left, and another building as well as their five-acre site on the former Iona campus in Yonkers; interior of mansion.(Chris Maynard for The New York Times)

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September 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

POSTINGS: $7.6 Million Residence in East New York;
Rental Housing For the Elderly

SECTION: Section 9; Page 1; Column 4; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 268 words

A $7.6 million, six-story residence with one-bedroom rental units for low-income elderly couples or individuals is going up at 568 Rockaway Parkway, between Linden Boulevard and Church Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn.
The two-tone red-brick facility is Federally financed and affiliated with Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center across the street. It is to be completed by next summer. 
 "My hope is that it will draw people from the community, which has a significant geriatric population," said Frank J. Maddalena, president and chief executive officer of the hospital.
Half the 86 unfurnished units are for residents able to manage on their own; the other half are for those who require assistance but do not need to be in a nursing home.
"We're trying to give them a decent place to live," said Albert Efron, a principal with Schuman, Lichtenstein, Claman, Efron, its architect. Each 540-square-foot apartment, equipped with emergency call systems, will have a living room, bedroom, separate kitchen and full bathroom. Assisted-living residents are to have access to necessary services.
A community room, club room and arts and crafts area are to be found on the ground floor, along with a 24-hour security station and mailboxes. The exterior is to be landscaped and include a sitting area and a 20-car parking lot.
The project has income limits: $14,600 for individuals and $16,700 for couples. Rent is 30 percent of income. Applications will be available six months before the project opens, though those interested may send their names to the hospital now.

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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September 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ON POLITICS;
It's Not the Economy, It's the Monthly Bills

BYLINE: By Jennifer Preston;  Jennifer Preston is Trenton bureau chief of The New York Times.

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 2; Column 5; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 832 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

The national economy must be doing better if voters in New Jersey, and Virginia, the only states with gubernatorial elections this year, are preoccupied with the cost of running a car.
In New Jersey, it is the cost of automobile insurance that is dominating the debate in the race between Governor Whitman and her Democratic opponent, State Senator James E. McGreevey. 
 In Virginia, it is a personal property tax on cars that is infuriating voters and prompting both the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates there to say they will consider eliminating that tax and come up with alternative sources of revenue.
So, why auto insurance and excise taxes? As one political expert said, voters focus on minor irritants during a strong economy when they are not as worried about the next paycheck. It would be easy to conclude that voters here in New Jersey, and perhaps in Virginia, are just cranky and have nothing else to complain about it.
But interviews with dozens of New Jerseyans over the last few weeks suggest that they are not just bellyaching. There is a high level of frustration over the cost of auto insurance, as well as property taxes, here in New Jersey because voters do not believe that they are getting ahead despite the strength in the economy and Governor Whitman's tax cuts.
Only 16 percent of New Jerseyans surveyed in the most recent New York Times/CBS News Poll believe that their state income taxes have gone down. Another 28 percent said that their income taxes have gone up. The the largest share of respondents, 43 percent, said their state income taxes had remained the same.
Why did 40 percent of those surveyed in the same poll spontaneously cite the cost of auto insurance as their top concern, and property taxes as their next biggest gripe? Their concerns over these two issues reflect the growing financial pressures on many working families and senior citizens to make ends meet. Unlike the telephone bill or the electric bill, or even the mortgage, the property tax bill and the auto insurance bill are two bills that voters believe government can lower. They are two measures that they can point to and argue, rightfully, that government can do something about.
As everyone knows by now, New Jerseyans pay the highest auto insurance rates in the nation. The average cost of auto insurance per vehicle in the state is $1,113. And according to a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, New Jerseyans also pay the highest property tax bills. The average young married couple who own a home in New Jersey paid $3,562 in property taxes in 1995. The next highest property tax bills were in Connecticut. The average bill there is $2,573.
The Dow may be soaring, but not everyone in the state is benefiting from the Wall Street boom. New Jersey may be on the verge of replacing all of the jobs that the state lost in the recession of the late 1980's and early 1990's. However, many of the jobs lost were in manufacturing, where workers without college educations could rely on getting decent salaries and benefits. Many of the new jobs are in the service industry. They do not pay nearly as well, and they do not always come with benefits.
Meanwhile, property taxes and automobile insurance bills continued to rise over the last four years, further squeezing already tight household budgets across the state. And while Governor Whitman has taken some steps to address both bills, polls show that voters do not think that she has done enough.
"In our family, two 80-year-old widows had to give up their homes because they could not afford the property taxes on their homes," said Jean Phillips, 50, of Roselle. "The property taxes on one house was $7,800 a year. On the other house, the property taxes were $5,500. This is not the American way. And the cost of automobile insurance is outrageous."
Mrs. Phillips said that she voted for the Governor in 1993. "I will not vote for her again," she said. "I don't think that she has done anything."
Mr. McGreevey is seeking to tap into this frustration and anger among voters who want government to do something to ease their daily financial pressures. Last week, he unleashed his first television advertisement spot, reminding residents that they are paying the nation's highest auto insurance and property tax rates. His campaign advisers said that they will focus on these two issues and education.
Mr. McGreevey is getting the attention of voters by recognizing their plight. But empathy alone will not help him win the State House.
This campaign is really not about auto insurance and property taxes. It is about paying the monthly bills without relying on the line of credit in your checking account.
In the final weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 election, voters are hoping that the candidates will present their plan to bring down monthly household expenses by addressing those two big bills. Folks are just looking for a break.

LOAD-DATE: September 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Jennifer Preston.

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September 29, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

System Is Swamped for Immigrants in Quest of Citizenship

BYLINE: By CELIA W. DUGGER 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1425 words

In the midst of a vast movement of immigrants to citizenship that dwarfs those of earlier eras in its magnitude and diversity, the creaky, understaffed machinery of naturalization ground virtually to a halt last week in Brooklyn and Queens, national centers of immigration.
Even as 216,000 applicants in the New York metropolitan area are awaiting naturalization -- more than the number who sought citizenship in the entire nation in 1991 and more than double the New York district's total just last year -- the wood-paneled Federal courtroom in Brooklyn, where about 1,200 immigrants a week have been swearing allegiance to the United States, fell silent on Wednesday. 
 "Unfortunately, after that date, the number of eligible applicants for naturalization has been exhausted," an official from the Immigration and Naturalization Service informed the Federal court clerk in a letter, then expressed the hope that the ceremonies would resume in a month or so.
In New York and other major metropolitan areas across the country, obsolete computer technology and stringent new procedures to screen out applicants with criminal records have slowed the troubled naturalization process, but it now appears that staff shortages are hobbling it even more.
Immigration officials say staffing levels have been eroded by high turnover among temporary workers hired for yearlong stints with no health benefits to handle the surge in applications. The agency's request to Congress for the authority to hire 400 workers for two to four years with benefits has not been approved.
New York has been particularly hard hit by this problem. The number of workers interviewing citizenship applicants and handling their paperwork has sunk to 194, from 289 last year. In Los Angeles, the staff has dropped to 231 from 269. In Chicago, the staff has shrunk to 57, from 73. And in Miami, it has dropped to 118, from 127.
The slowing pace of naturalizations is occurring at a moment when citizenship, for many immigrants, has become a key to putting food on the table. Nationally, Federal officials said 935,000 poor immigrants were expected to lose food stamp benefits under the welfare law adopted last year. It made legal immigrants who have not become citizens ineligible for food stamps.
New York State decided in August to give counties the option to restore food stamps to legal immigrants who are children or are disabled or elderly, as long as they have applied for citizenship, but the state will still deny such aid to able-bodied adults until they become citizens.
New York City, home to more than 70,000 such food stamp recipients, chose to participate. The food stamp restoration will cost the state and localities an estimated $20 million.
As the time it takes to become a citizen has stretched from five months last year to more than a year now, immigrants in the queue, especially the elderly, say they have grown increasingly nervous. Most of the aged students in a civics class sponsored by University Settlement House on the Lower East Side of Manhattan are taking it for the second time, trying to refresh fragile memories in preparation for the civics examination they will have to pass to become citizens.
The teacher, Eleuteria Ventura, asked Julian Fonseca Cruz, 91, of Nicaragua, for the date of Independence Day. "July 24?" he asked tentatively. Mr. Fonseca, who wears a worn fedora and walks with a cane, cannot read or write and finds that facts now slip easily from his mind. He took the class for the first time in March, when he applied for citizenship, and is now in it again. He still has no exam date.
"I am worried that I haven't heard from the I.N.S.," said Mr. Fonseca, who receives food stamps. "It takes so long."
The growing waves of new immigrants seeking citizenship in the last few years have been driven by a variety of factors, including the feared loss of Federal benefits and concerns about a national backlash against immigrants.
But while the number of citizenship applications nationally has continued to climb this year and is expected to reach a record 1.8 million, the number of completed naturalization cases has tumbled at an accelerating pace, compared with last year -- by almost one-third in the first three months of this year and by more than half from March to June, Federal statistics show.
And the backlog seems especially likely to worsen in New York's already clogged naturalization pipeline. New York City has opened six offices and hired 120 people in the last two months in a $10 million effort to help even more of those whose food stamps are at risk to apply for citizenship.
In the last two months, it has contacted 9,700 people at risk of losing food stamps. Most had already applied for or attained citizenship. So far, city workers have helped 650 to prepare applications. City officials say there are still tens of thousands more immigrants to contact. Until that work is done, they said, they will not know how much demand there is for the citizenship services the city is offering.
"Whether or not this initiative is ultimately a success I can't tell after a month," said Martin Oesterreich, Commissioner of the city's Department of Youth and Community Development. "We've not been in operation long enough to draw any conclusions."
The state and private philanthropies are spending an additional $4 million this coming year on English and civics classes and other services immigrants need to apply for citizenship.
"It's not going to do any good for all these people to apply if they can't get through the process," said Jane Stern, a program director at the New York Community Trust, which has dispensed almost $2 million to nonprofit groups for naturalization efforts. "That's a huge problem. Obviously, we don't have any power to do anything about the I.N.S."
This week, there are only two small ceremonies for a total of 200 immigrants scheduled for the Federal District Court in the Eastern District of New York, which covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Nassau and Suffolk Counties. After that, there are no more on the calendar.
The immigration service submitted a $150 million request to Congress in July to support its naturalization programs in the Federal fiscal year that begins on Wednesday, but the request has been bogged down in the acrimonious debate about the agency's failure to screen out criminals in the citizenship process. Last fall, Republicans accused the Clinton Administration of rushing to naturalize immigrants before the election without conducting thorough criminal background checks. In May, the Administration announced that it would try to strip 5,000 people of citizenship who have criminal histories and were wrongly sworn in.
The chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees that oversee the immigration service, Representative Harold Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, and Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, have both made it clear that they are leery of giving the agency more money for naturalization staff until they are convinced that it has set up a system to insure that no more criminals will become citizens.
The immigration service asked Congress in July for authorization to increase spending on overtime and to hire 246 permanent workers and 400 employees with contracts of two to four years to chip away at the naturalization case backlog.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Rogers, Susan Zimmerman, said last week that he would review the staffing request after the appropriations bill that contains the immigration service's budget for next year is approved in the coming week or two. "He remains gravely concerned that there are serious management problems at the I.N.S.," she said.
Senator Gregg expressed similar reservations. "I don't want to give them more money to approve applications incorrectly," he said.
Their inaction on the immigration service's request has infuriated advocates. "Chairman Rogers is out to cripple naturalization," said Mark Hetfield, a lawyer at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a nonprofit group that serves immigrants. "His idea of fixing it is to bring it to a complete screeching halt."
Immigration service officials say the modernization of the naturalization system's computers and other efficiency measures should begin to speed the process next year.
"With the proper resources and the time to apply them, we can start to ease the backlog," said Eric Andrus, an I.N.S. spokesman. "If that doesn't happen, the backlog could likely increase."

LOAD-DATE: September 29, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Immigrants in a class taught by Eleuteria Ventura on the Lower East Side are preparing for a civics exam. The class, sponsored by University Settlement House, meets at the Rafael Hernandez Community Center. (Angel Franco/The New York Times)(pg. B7)
 
Chart: "KEEPING TRACK: A Backlog of Citizenship Applications"
Applications for citizenship are rising, but the I.N.S. has acted on fewer of them, so the number of pending applications just keeps growing. Chart shows the number of applications for citizenship, of applications that have been either approved or denied, and of pending applications in Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami during both 1996 and 1997. (Source: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service)(pg. B7)      

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September 30, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

SCIENCE WATCH

BYLINE: By JAMES GORMAN 

SECTION: Section F; Page 4; Column 6; Science Desk 

LENGTH: 374 words


Old Men and Baby Boys
 THE old advice, enshrined in a folk song, is, "Maids, when you're young, never wed an old man." Unless you want a son, according to a report in the current issue of the journal Nature.
Dr. John T. Manning and his colleagues at the University of Liverpool looked at 301 English families from diverse backgrounds and found that the size of the gap in ages between parents predicted the sex of each couple's first child. 
 If the man was older than the woman, the first offspring was more likely to be male. In pairs with men up to 5 years older than their wives, there were 117 sons and 84 daughters; with a 5-to-15-year gap, there were 37 sons and 20 daughters. With older wives, daughters prevailed.
The authors did the research because it had been noted that male births increased in relation to female births after a war. They suggested that perhaps during wartime, women preferred to marry older men with more resources.
Although the authors did not have a biological explanation for the phenomenon, they speculated that women might somehow unwittingly influence the success of sperm that carried sex-determining chromosomes.
 
Babies Tuning In
Children actually do listen to grown-ups, at least when they're 8 months old. Dr. Peter W. Jusczyk of Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Elizabeth A. Hohne of AT&T Laboratories in Holmdel, N.J., tested infants' memory for spoken sounds by reading them children's stories each day for 10 days. Then they tested the babies to see whether they paid more attention to a list of words from the stories, like back, laugh, out and best, or to a list of other words, like front, burp, change and beach.
The babies paid more attention to the words from the stories. Their attention span was about seven seconds for words from the stories and less than six seconds for other words. The researchers concluded that when a parent read one of those books about bunnies or trucks or ladybugs to an 8-month-old, the baby was already separating out words and remembering the sounds.
 What the researchers do not point out, but which might give parents an added incentive to read to babies, is that the infants will inevitably get older and stop listening altogether.

LOAD-DATE: September 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Nurit Karlin)

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September 30, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

John F. McMahon Jr., Leader of Volunteers, 87

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 114 words

John F. McMahon Jr., president of Volunteers of America from 1958 until retiring in 1979, died on Tuesday in Louisville, Ky. He was 87.
Mr. McMahon was the organization's first national president who did not come from relatives of Ballington and Maud Booth, who founded Volunteers of America in 1896. 
 Mr. McMahon is credited with helping to expand the organization to what is now 37 states and some 160 social programs. It is one of the largest nonprofit providers of housing for the elderly, the poor and disabled.
Mr. McMahon's wife, Irene, died in 1977. A son, Michael, died in 1989. He is survived by a son, John F. McMahon 3d, of New Jersey, and four grandchildren.

LOAD-DATE: September 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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October 1, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
MCCLINTOCK, JOHN T.

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 87 words

McCLINTOCK-John T. The Board of Directors of Amsterdam Nursing Home records with sorrow the passing of our esteemed former director, John T. McClintock, on September 25, 1997. Mr. McClintock served from 1953, when we were known as the Home for Old Men and Aged Couples, to April of 1987. Despite his retirement from the Board, Mr. McClintock remained a devoted supporter of the nursing home until his death. We extend our sincere condolences to his entire family. Dyer S. Wadsworth, Chairman James Davis, President

LOAD-DATE: October 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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October 3, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER REVIEW;
Was There a Boy or Not? Secrets, Lies and Ghosts

BYLINE: By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER 

SECTION: Section E; Part 1; Page 5; Column 1; Movies, Performing Arts/Weekend Desk 

LENGTH: 348 words

"Mickey's Home" is an enigmatic little play of secrets, guilt and roiled psyches that unravel in the apartment of an elderly Jewish couple on the Lower East Side.
Well-acted by its cast of three but at times vexatiously manipulative, Stephen Fife's mixture of drama and comedy raises the ghosts buried in horrible memories of the Holocaust, murder and abandonment, and makes of its characters both haunts and the haunted. 
 At its outset, an elderly, long-married couple, Esther (Sylvia Gassell) and Ira (Joel Friedman), bicker and joke before dinner. Their conversation alludes to jealousy, infidelity and a child named Mickey, who may be imagined or who may actually exist.
Soon they are joined by Robert (Ron Bagden), a young man who says he is writing a book about changes in the neighborhood. "Nobody remembers what happened yesterday," he says, and he asks to hear about the couple's "long and wonderful life" and any children they might have.
Questions like these provoke Ira at times to anguished grief or insane rage at a little box that holds many memories, and they prompt Esther to turn frustratingly evasive.
Ira's past lies in Poland, where his first wife and their two sons perished in the Holocaust. But in the United States, he and Esther, the daughter of a restaurant owner, have accumulated their own festering history. And so, it soon becomes clear, has Robert.
Plays like "Mickey's Home," which approach their revelations in fits and starts, can seem arbitrary and capricious in their pacing, and this one is no different. But "Mickey's Home," directed by Thomas Caruso and playing until Oct. 12 at the Theater for the New City, gathers momentum in its second act, and its players at all times are well worth watching.
 
MICKEY'S HOME
 
By Stephen Fife; directed by Thomas Caruso; stage management and lighting by Rebecca Smithmeyer. Presented by the Theater for the New City, Crystal Field, executive director. At 155 First Avenue, at 10th Street, East Village.
 
WITH: Sylvia Gassell (Esther), Joel Friedman (Ira) and Ron Bagden (Robert).

LOAD-DATE: October 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Guilt rules: Sylvia Gassell and Joel Friedman in "Mickey's Home." (Tom Brazil)

TYPE: Review

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October 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

A French Director With a Taste for the Gritty and Unglamorous

BYLINE: By LESLIE CAMHI

SECTION: Section 2; Page 26; Column 5; Arts and Leisure Desk

LENGTH: 1224 words

DATELINE: PARIS

AS SHE SITS AND TALKS IN her agent's offices on an elegant boulevard near the Place de l'Etoile, the director Claire Denis is a long way from the remote French colonies and the working-class urban neighborhoods in which she has set each of her four feature films. But Ms. Denis navigates the distance gracefully.
She's an elfin woman with a shock of white blond hair, a small face that tenses with extreme concentration and a voice that's surprisingly bright and deep. She's also a daring filmmaker, who for the last decade has been breaking and remaking the esthetic and political codes of French cinema. 
 Her most recent film, "Nenette et Boni," which opened in New York on Friday, explores the troubled, inscrutable relationship between a disaffected teen-age brother and his pregnant younger sister as they move through the parallel economies and faltering social services of the port city of Marseilles. Beautiful, lost youth is the film's constant focus.
"My way of making films is tied to desire," says Ms. Denis, who is 49. "Not just the physical desire for another person but desire in general. All my films function as a movement toward an unknown other and toward the unknown in relations between people."
The power of this approach was evident as early as "Chocolat" (1988), the director's first feature. Loosely based on Ms. Denis's childhood in French West Africa, this story of colonial officials and their servants in the Cameroon of the 1950's centers on the mysterious and intimate tie between a young French girl and the African domestic who looks after her.
"Chocolat" made Isaak de Bankole, who played the servant, a star; it was the first of three films in which the director's eye focused, with passionate curiosity, on the intersection of European, African and West Indian cultures, and on the bodies of black men. (It also began the collaboration between Ms. Denis and her camerawoman, Agnes Goddard, who has worked on all her major films since then.)
In 1991, "No Fear, No Die" starred Mr. de Bankole and Alex Descas as partners who raise and train cocks for fights organized by a white entrepreneur in a deserted commercial zone outside Paris. Three years later came "I Can't Sleep," inspired by the true story of Thierry Paulhin, a black, gay transvestite who, with his white lover, murdered at least 20 elderly women in Paris during the 1980's. "The press called him a monster," Ms. Denis says. "My question was, Could I have been the mother of this monster, or his sister?"
Amid critical praise, "I Can't Sleep" earned the director vicious attacks in the right-wing news media, but she also received a flood of letters, she says, "from ordinary people, who felt that it spoke to the loss of social and affective ties that is perhaps the primary pain of our modern condition."
"Nenette et Boni" was born of Ms. Denis's collaboration with Gregoire Colin and Alice Houry, two young actors who starred in "U.S. Go Home," a short film she made three years ago for French television. That film is a portrait of a teen-age brother and sister growing up in a desolate Parisian suburb in the 1960's.
LIKE "CHOCOLAT" IT IS loosely autobiographical; when Ms. Denis, at the age of 13, returned with her family to France from Africa, she lived in the same suburb, or banlieu. (Later, she went to college, and then to the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques, the prestigious state-run film school, before a decade of working as an assistant to directors like Jacques Rivette, Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch.)
These and other suburban neighborhoods, abandoned by the French middle class, are now impoverished ghettos inhabited by immigrant communities; they're the subject of sociological speculation, political debate and the so-called films de banlieux, a new cinematic genre. Intimate, sensual and complex, "Nenette et Boni" is in part Ms. Denis's reaction to the stereotypes of the banlieux genre.
"It's a neighborhood film," she says. "Though I don't show postcard shots of the city, I wanted Marseilles to be present in the characters, in their language and way of being."
Boni (Gregoire Colin) drives a pizza truck around the streets of Marseilles; when he's not baking and serving pies, he's reveling in overwrought sexual fantasies that focus on his neighbor (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), the voluptuous wife of a baker.
He lives with assorted friends in a house he inherited from his dead mother. One day, his sister, 15-year-old Nenette (Alice Houry), appears at his door. She has run away from school because she is pregnant; the child's father, she says, "doesn't exist." Their own father (Jacques Nolot) runs a lamp store and has problems with the mob; his attempts at paternity are useless. Nenette regards her growing middle with misery and stubborn lack of interest, but her predicament begins to startle Boni out of his daydreams.
Ms. Denis's gift is to integrate the characters so fully in their milieu that they emerge from it almost insensibly. "It's always been interesting for me to refuse the idea that everything in a film be organized around the main characters and their needs," she says. "I like the idea that viewers arrive as strangers in what appears to be a total mess, and little by little the main characters materialize."
Contemporary Marseilles is a place of conflict between a vibrant (and ancient) immigrant community and supporters of Jean-Marie Le Pen's extreme right-wing (and anti-immigrant) National Front party. In "Nenette et Boni," the actor Alex Descas has a small role as a black gynecologist. "Curiously, it's very rare to see that kind of role in French film," he says. "If you take the subway, or go into a cafe, or a courtroom, or a bakery, you'll see black people, Asians, Arabs. All that exists; why not show it in film? Well, for Claire, it's natural and normal."
Yet the roots of "Nenette et Boni" go deeper than politics. "When I was an adolescent I read Jean Cocteau's 'Les Enfants Terribles,' " Ms. Denis says. "Later I thought about the constant haranguing between brothers and sisters that exists alongside the unacknowledged desire for this bond of childhood to be their real love story, the one that binds them forever."
Growing up the eldest of four siblings, she only realized later, she says, that "the bond between brothers and sisters is troubling and mysterious, a blood tie as in ancient Greek tragedy."
Mr. Colin's performance as Boni is at once raging, sex-starved and tender. The role was written for him. "What I love about working with Claire," he says, "is that she lets the actor imbue the character with everything he is at a given moment. She never gives orders; she offers a critique of what she's seen."
This approach has much to do with Ms. Denis's faith in her medium. "Cinema has this incredible way of making us feel what psychology can't explain," she says. "You can read 15 books about serial killers, but that has nothing to do with the way you may look at people in the subway, or your own brother, or your mother, that mysterious element that makes you sense that what unites us, as human beings, is our opacity for each other. Cinema is made with light and shadow, but the beauty of light is that it delimits shadow. And that element of shadow is the part of cinema I'd like to continue exploring."

NAME: Claire Denis

LOAD-DATE: October 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: TO BE YOUNG AND TROUBLED IN MARSEILLES Alice Houry, left, in the new film "Nenette et Boni," about a teen-age boy and his pregnant runaway younger sister, and the film's director, Claire Denis, in Paris. (Strand Releasing/Monlau/Rapho)

TYPE: Biography

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The New York Times

October 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Older Faces Affect Colleges

BYLINE: By MERRI ROSENBERG 

SECTION: Section 13WC; Page 29; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 890 words

WITH substantially smaller enrollments, more homogeneous student bodies and, in many cases less modern campuses, the college landscape of a generation ago was significantly different from today's. Many programs that have become entrenched as institutions at various colleges did not exist or were in their infancy. Demographic and social changes, including an overall shrinking traditional college population and the return of women to both college and the work force, transformed the county's colleges.
At Purchase College, for example, construction was barely completed. The weekend college program that has since become such a significant part of Marymount College was a year old, and few colleges had any sort of computer studies. The Science Building did not exist at Sarah Lawrence College, nor were there nearly as many male undergraduates at Manhattanville College, which had begun admitting men just a few years before. 
 Perhaps most significantly, the 1976-77 academic year saw nontraditional college students entering classrooms in sizable numbers, a trend that has echoed across the years. "Everything is a continuum," said Dr. Joseph Hankin, president of Westchester Community College. "Nineteen seventy-six was a continuation of the early 1970's or even the late 1960's. It was the first year that more women graduated from high school than men, and as many women went on to college. We were getting older women and nontraditional students. There was a revolution in technology, and we had secretaries coming in to upgrade and refresh their skills in noncredit courses." Disabled students also began to appear on campus in greater numbers.
Westchester Community College this fall has an enrollment of 11,210 students, but 20 years ago the enrollment was 7,800. Familiar fixtures today, like the Science Building, the Academic Arts Building and the Administration Building, had not been built. The college had opened its doors to 3,000 elderly students, who took noncredit courses like conversational Italian and computer classes.
As for courses for women, Sister Brigid Driscoll, president of Marymount College in Tarrytown, recalled: "There was an enormous need for higher education for women who had returned to the work force.  We began the Weekend College Program in 1975. Many women had gotten a two-year degree, but there was a huge number of women returning to the work force without a four-year degree who had no access to lateral or upward mobility. We were one of the first to provide this opportunity.
"Enrollment in women's colleges was in decline, men's colleges were going co-ed, and this forced us to take a look at the real needs of women.  And shortly after 1977, the trend toward transfer students coming in grew significantly."
At Manhattanville College in Purchase, Ann Bavar, now an associate studio art professor, returned there as an older student, graduating in 1977. "I had never gotten a fine arts degree, although I was already an exhibiting artist," Ms. Bavar said. "There were not a lot of returning adult students then. I was in classes with mostly 18-year-olds." The campus had a less international flavor then, and Ms. Bavar remembers a more wooded campus. "Back then, there was still a sense that it was a holdover of being a girls' Catholic school, even though it had separated from the church. It was a much more homogeneous student body then. Now it's much more diverse."
Twenty years ago, Purchase College had not yet established an image, Richard Maass, chairman of the College Council, said. "It had a fine teaching staff, but wasn't known at all," he said. "It was a smaller school then, of about 2,000 students, compared to 3,000 today. The Performing Arts Center was completed in 1977." At that time, Mr. Maass said, there were no master's degree programs and the college's continuing education program was a small part of the campus compared with its presence today. The partnership with public schools had not yet been established, nor did the college have any booster groups.
Despite some external changes, some campuses have changed little in their fundamental mission. "The College of New Rochelle has always been a women's college," said Dr. Stephen J. Sweeny, president of the college. "It was obvious to us 20 years ago that to preserve the nature of the college as a women's college, we needed to diversify."
In the early 1970's, the college began the School of New Resources for adult women who wanted to earn a bachelor's degree, as well as offering master's degree programs in art, psychology and education. Satellite locations were developed, not only in New Rochelle, but also in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, to reach students where they lived and worked. The school of nursing was begun as a baccalaureate program in the 1974-1975 academic year.
And at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, Dr. Barbara Kaplan, Dean of the College said, the school's graduate program was just beginning. One significant difference was that the student body was far less diverse than it is today. In 1976, there were 773 undergraduates and 50 graduate students; today there are more than 900 undergraduates and 275 students pursuing advanced degrees. "Back then, students were more insular," Dr. Kaplan said. "Today, their concerns are more global."

LOAD-DATE: October 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Rick Donald of Yonkers, a music major, practices in the parking lot at Purchase College. (Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times)

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The New York Times

October 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

For the Elderly, The High-Rise, High-End Life

BYLINE: By ALAN S. OSER

SECTION: Section 9; Page 1; Column 4; Real Estate Desk

LENGTH: 2952 words

WHEN we were young we thought we would retire to some exotic place," said Hugh Appling. "In the end we went where the children were."
Mr. Appling is 76; his wife, Mary, is just a bit older. He retired in 1976 as deputy director general of the Foreign Service, but it was not until 1993 that the Applings sold their house in McLean, Va., and bought a condominium at the Jefferson in the rapidly developing Ballston section of Arlington, Va., across the Potomac from Washington. 
 The Jefferson is an elegant five-year-old, 21-story building that the Marriott Corporation, the developer and operator, calls a "senior living retirement community." In many ways it is a particularly lavish example of the high-rise, high-end, service-oriented retirement projects that have occasionally been built in northern cities, and will be arriving at an accelerated rate in New York City over the next few years.
The Jefferson has a health-care center and suites for assisted living, but for the most part the accent is on independent living, with monthly fees that cover one meal a day served by a uniformed staff in a handsomely furnished dining room, plus other household and recreational services.
As Mr. Appling sees it, most people wait too long to choose appropriate housing after they retire, and when circumstances force change upon them, they have trouble adjusting to the idea. "We are still healthy and we enjoy making new friends," Mr. Appling said. "We can cope with the change in life style. It's hard for people in failing health to do this."
Where the Applings went and why, and the age at which they went there, point up the likely characteristics of the many of the early arrivals at the new market-rate urban developments for the elderly. They will typically be people in their 70's or 80's who are still capable of independent living, but are seeking hotel-like services and communal dining, with assisted-living facilities available when dependency sets in.
With the decision of the Battery Park City Authority to put up a building to house elderly residents in the northern section of its Lower Manhattan riverfront site, Manhattan will be getting its own version of unsubsidized new housing designed specifically for luxury retirement living.
The 14-story building will have 220,000 square feet or space and be close to the varied facilities at the northern end of Battery Park City -- schools, high-rise family housing and a spacious park along the Hudson River. The authority is expected to choose the development team by the end of this month, and the building will probably be completed within three years.
Other market-rate developments for the elderly in New York City will no doubt arrive sooner -- in Riverdale in the Bronx, in Forest Hills and Kew Gardens in Queens, and, in the rehabilitation of an existing apartment hotel, at Cambridge House on West 86th Street near Riverside Drive in Manhattan.
Most of these projects will be rentals, without the initial fee charged by "life-care" communities, also called continuing-care retirement communities, which assure future assisted-living or full-time nursing care with little or no additional charges. Nor will they have the real-estate investment feature of a condominium, in which buyers or their estates may later resell their units.
Newly built unsubsidized housing for older people is unusual in Manhattan, because of the costs and regulatory complexities involved. But the demand may prove strong. It will enable the well-to-do elderly to stay in Manhattan, or move into it, in a place where they will get security, services and activities, and served meals.
It won't be cheap. Retirement-housing specialists said that at today's building costs, rents in Battery Park City for a studio apartment will probably be at least $3,500 a month, while a one-bedroom will cost at least $4,500 a month, including a meal a day and weekly housekeeping.
The three finalists in the Battery Park City bidding are the Rockrose Development Corporation, in collaboration with Goldman Sachs & Company and Senior Lifestyle Corporation, a Chicago-based operator of housing for the elderly; Forest City Enterprises, the Cleveland-based national real estate company; and Brookdale Living Communities, a Chicago company that is a publicly held spinoff of the Prime Group, a privately owned development company. Brookdale owns and operates 10 retirement communities in the Middle West, including the Hallmark, a luxury 37-story development on North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
Joseph T. Howell, whose Washington firm, Howell Associates, acted as consultant to the Battery Park City Authority, said he expected most of the renters at the development to be in their late 70's and have incomes above $50,000 a year. "About 15 to 20 percent will be two-person households and the rest will be one-person," Mr. Howell predicted.
B UT the market for retirement housing doesn't only come from nearby. Consultants and developers note that retirees often relocate from afar to get closer to their children. Battery Park City, with its pleasant city-within-a-city environment, can also be expected to draw suburbanites and others who want to get nearer to Manhattan's attractions without taking on the burden, or experiencing the isolation, of living in a conventional apartment house.
Moreover, retirees often make more than one move, sometimes because they regret an earlier decision, sometimes because they are ready for a change. Robert and Sandy Bryman, in their early 60's, gave up a house in Oceanside, L.I., in 1993 and moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., after Mr. Bryman sold his travel business and retired. But they found the heat intolerable.
"It was 115 degrees six months a year," Mrs. Bryman said. "Now it's down to 102; I just checked." So they sold the house and bought another at an adult leisure community called The Ponds in Cranbury, N.J.
In Florida, Daniel and Pearl Rosenthal, who are in their late 80's, said they had lived in five different places since they moved South from Great Neck, L.I., in 1969. It turned out that to feel well Mrs. Rosenthal had to be near the ocean. They live at the Seasons, a 167-unit high-rise in Pompano Beach owned and operated by Classic Residence by Hyatt, an affiliate of the Hyatt Corporation.
And in Riverdale, in the Bronx, Betty Bennett, who is 91, went to live near her son in West Virginia after her husband, Irving, died in 1979. She came back to Riverdale only three years ago in an independent-living unit at the Hebrew Home for the Aged. "I thought I would be happier where I have roots," she said.
The existence of an independent living component at the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale, on a 19-acre campus high over the Hudson River off Palisade Avenue, is a commentary on the longterm changes occurring in housing for people of advanced years. New York State regulations have prevented publicly owned corporations from providing medical care and skilled nursing; also, until recently, life-care programs were prohibited.
Accordingly it is primarily the nonprofit operators of nursing homes that have moved toward developing assisted-living buildings and also independent living, with services and activities for the healthy elderly. The residents of the Hebrew Home's independent-living building -- a 137-unit eight-story building called River House West -- may eventually be candidates to move on to assisted living or nursing care. Meanwhile, their meals and activities are separated from those of the infirm.
Daniel A. Reingold, the executive vice president, said that developments that lack the capacity to deal with the infirmities of old age may be storing up problems for themselves and their occupants.
"Retirement housing is not a real estate play, it's a service play," Mr. Reingold said. "Fifty percent of the people who are in the building the day it opens will develop Alzheimer's disease. Thirty percent will be in wheelchairs in three years. Whatever age group the building is designed for, add three or four years to the average age of the move-ins."
The Hebrew Home used Federal funds under the program that finances housing for the elderly, the Section 202 program, when it built River House West in 1981. Using regulatory leeway that has since been withdrawn, it was able to supplement the Federal subsidy by 20 percent, thereby using its own money to create amenities not eligible under the Section 202 rules: a larger lobby, a Judaica museum, a store, more windows in the corridors, a finer dining room.
There is a three-year waiting list to get into River House West. All currently arriving tenants are getting a Federal rent subsidy under the Section 8 program. This means they pay 30 percent of their income as rent, but there are income limits. In New York City the current limits are $27,450 a year for a single person and $31,350 for a couple.
T HE newer market-rate retirement communities offer far more amenities than the Federally subsidized Section 202 projects, whether the sponsorship is for-profit or nonprofit, said P. Douglas Powell, president of Retirement Living Services in Hartford, Conn. They are likely to have pools, libraries and high-quality decoration and furnishing. "This is what you have to do to attract the market," Mr. Powell said.
The elimination of the tax on a capital gain of up to $500,000 on the sale of a house, effective this year under tax revisions adopted in Washington last year, should further stimulate the development world to provide higher-end retirement housing, he said. For years, the only new housing produced for the elderly in New York City has been built under the Section 202 program. Middle- or upper-middle-income people often find it necessary to leave the state to find retirement housing.
The most active company in the metropolitan area so far is Kapson Senior Quarters Corporation of Woodbury, L.I., known as the Kapson Group before it went public a year ago. Kapson owns and operates 20 projects in the metropolitan area, and now has 22 more under development or in construction, including four in New York City, said Glenn Kaplan, chairman of the company.
The emphasis is on assisted living, where people get help with such chores as bathing and dressing. "Rents will be generally between $3,000 and $4,000 a month, but there's a service package -- three meals a day, full housekeeping, a recreation program," Mr. Kaplan said. "We get a lot of people who were already retired and are coming back to live closer to their families, and they need a little bit of help."
Two of these projects are new construction, done in partnership with J. E. Levine Builders of Douglaston, Queens -- a 14-story, 205-unit building at 3718 Henry Hudson Parkway in Riverdale, and an eight-story, 142-unit building at 117-01 84th Avenue in Kew Gardens, Queens.
The two others are rehabilitations of existing buildings -- Cambridge House, at 333 West 86th Street, a 217-unit apartment hotel, in partnership with Philips International Holding Corporation, and the Midway Hotel at 108-25 Horace Harding Expressway, in Forest Hills, with AVR Realty of Yonkers as partner. It will have 150 units.
A NOTHEr development impetus is coming from Forest City Enterprises, in partnership with Classic Residence, the Hyatt affiliate. They are planning a development on a three-acre site adjacent to the College of Mount St. Vincent on Riverdale Avenue, close to the Yonkers line. It is expected to have 202 independent-living apartments, 79 assisted-living units and, tentatively, 32 Alzheimer's units.
In the Northeast, the model for the life-care community in a downtown urban setting is the 13-year-old Logan Square East in Philadelphia. A 418,000-square-foot building 24 stories high, it provides all three levels of housing and services associated with a continuing care community: independent living, assisted living and skilled and intermediate nursing care.
Built and operated on a nonprofit basis, it has 327 units of independent living on 19 floors; 17 units for assisted living on one floor, and 128 nursing-home beds on two floors. Incoming independent-living tenants buy life care contracts, currently paying $52,000 to $72,000 for a studio apartment and $78,000 to $116,000 for a one-bedroom.
"We think life care is the way to go because it assures you a place to go when you can no longer live independently," said Peggy Brown, the marketing director. In addition to initial fees, independent-living residents pay monthly fees of $1,600 for a studio to $2,000 a month for a one-bedroom. A second person is an additional $876 a month.
Logan Square East draws from Manhattan and Long Island and also has a large contingent that has moved back from Florida, Ms. Brown said. "They want the city life," she said. The average age of a new arrival is 82, and 65 percent are single.
But the new New York City projects are to be rentals, not life-care facilities with their major upfront fees. The Battery Park City building will occupy a site at North End Avenue and Chambers Street, across the avenue from a mixed-use building now in construction that will house a public elementary and intermediate school, P.S./I.S 89, with 151 rental apartments above.
The development teams have received considerable leeway in designing the interiors. They also must make a financial bid for the longterm ground lease the authority awards to developers. The senior facility will receive no tax abatements or special tax incentives. "The market will be affluent people," said John LeMura, president of the authority.
In one plan, advanced by Brookdale Living Communities, the Chicago firm, there would be 216 apartments, with 39 of them two-bedrooms. There would be 128 one-bedrooms, and only 49 apartments would be studios, of which 20 would be on the assisted-living floor. The public spaces on the ground floor include private and communal dining rooms, a library area and billiards room, an ice cream parlor and a garden terrace area.
The relatively large number of two-bedrooms illustrates the recent direction of retirement housing as the home-sales market improves, enabling retirees selling their homes to put more money into retirement housing, specialists say. "People want more space," said Erik Gjullin, vice president of Joseph Howell Associates, the Washington consulting firm. Residents of 10-year-old communities who want to sell and move are now finding their one-bedroom apartments difficult to sell, he said.
Mark J. Schulte, president of Brookdale Living Communities, said that residents of its projects typically pay no more than 65 percent of their annual income for their retirement housing, and in addition have a pool of income-producing assets of at least $200,000. Brookdale provides no licensed medical services, but it may affiliate with a hospital or home-health-care agency. The turnover rate in independent-living units is about 20 percent a year, half of it caused by a death, he said. The average age of an arriving tenant is 79.
Mr. Howell, the Washington consultant, said that in retirement housing living quarters should resemble conventional apartments, adapted for use by older people. "It should be as noninstitutional as possible," he said.
Noninstitutional is descriptive of several of the independent-living retirement housing centers in the Washington area. At Maplewood Park Place in Bethesda, just over the Maryland line from Washington, immense carpets and furnishings create a sumptuous feeling for arrivals at a five-story building approached by a circular drive and a port cochere entrance. At the Classic Residence in Chevy Chase, Md., an underground parking lot attests to the intention of many residents to continue to get around by car.
In the late 1980's and early 90's, however, developers had trouble with some developments, which leased up far more slowly than they expected, partly because they provided insufficiently for assisted living, consultants report. Some of the failed projects had received Federal mortgage insurance. They have been revived by adding assisted-living or home-health-care services.
LIVING independently are some surprisingly vigorous people of advanced years who speak enthusiastically of the programs that keep them socially and intellectually busy much of the day.
In Chicago, Alice Rosenberg, 81, who lives in the Hallmark on the lakefront, says she no longer drives, but she still takes the three-mile bus trip to downtown Chicago three or four times a month to go to the movies or the theater, in addition to organized van trips with other residents. The bus stops a block from her building.
At the Jefferson, the Marriott residence in Arlington, Va., residents buy rather than rent. In recent resales, buyers have been paying about $163,000 for a 715-square-foot one-bedroom with a den, and $257,000 for a 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom with two baths, the management reports. Monthly condominium fees average $110 for a one-bedroom and $150 for a two-bedroom. Buyers also pay service fees under varying plans, ranging in cost from $1,100 to $1,500 a month. The fee pays for 30 meals a month, weekly housekeeping, linen service, group trips and other services.
Among the residents are Kendrick and Bradford Holle, 68-year-old twins who retired from the Army Corps of Engineers in the 70's, and bought a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium at the Jefferson in 1992. Both are bachelors.
"There's never nothing to do here," said Kendrick Holle. "But we also have people concerned with our welfare looking out for us. If you don't show up for a meal on a regular basis, someone will come looking for you."

LOAD-DATE: October 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: The Jefferson (Marty Katz for The New York Times), a 21-story condominium for the elderly in Arlington, Va., has a health-care center and suites for assisted living, but accent is on independent living. Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale also has independent-living component. (Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times) (pg. 1); Bradford, left, and Kendrick Holle, twin residents of the Jefferson, an Arlington, Va., condominium. Classic Residence in Chevy Chase, Md. (Photographs by Marty Katz for The New York Times)(pg. 13)
 
Map showing the location of Battery Park in Manhattan: Battery Park City plans a 14-story building to house the elderly. (pg. 6)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



499 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

October 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

IN BRIEF;
The State Is Ranked No. 2 In Pedestrian Deaths . . .

BYLINE: By KAREN DeMASTERS 

SECTION: Section 13NJ; Page 6; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 206 words

Crossing the street can be hazardous to your health in New Jersey, especially for senior citizens and children. The state has the country's second-highest rate for pedestrian injuries and deaths, following New York, according to a new study.
Last year 183 pedestrians died in traffic accidents in New Jersey and approximately 6,000 other pedestrians are injured each year, according to a study released last week by New Jersey Public Interest Research Group, a citizen lobby organization that advocates on consumer and environmental issues, and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a coalition of groups organized to work for traffic safety. Only New York regularly tops New Jersey, with an average of 250 deaths each year. 
While seniors make up 13 percent of New Jersey's population, they accounted for 34 percent of the pedestrian deaths last year; those under 20 years of age make up one-fourth of the population but accounted for nearly half of the deaths, according to Kristen Brengel, a spokeswoman for N.J.P.I.R.G.
Police in the state do not enforce pedestrian laws, the report said, and cited low priority given by the state and Federal governments to sidewalks and other traffic safety features.KAREN DeMASTERS

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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The New York Times

October 5, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

FROM THE DESK OF;
Be Patient, And I'll Be A Loyal Customer

BYLINE: By MARILYN A. GELMAN; Marilyn A. Gelman is a writer living in North Jersey.

SECTION: Section 3; Page 9; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 759 words

OTOBER is Brain Injury Awareness Month, but I do not need a calendar to be aware of the devastating impact of this often invisible injury. Ever since a BMW crashed into my Chevrolet in June 1994, I have been trying to take back my life.
With the help of friends, fax machines and an Olympian tolerance for frustration, I have tried to manage simple banking needs, make doctor appointments, get information from customer-service phone lines and deal with an army of insurance representatives, lawyers, social workers, transportation providers and doctors who specialize in things I'd never heard of before the crash. 
 I strive to work around my impairment. But I am surprised that I also must work around the poor business habits of people who should know better, especially those who earn a living from the rapidly changing consumer needs of accident survivors, sick people and the aged.
"What do you want to do with the car, lady? What do you want to do?" demanded the policeman, angry because I could not choose one of the options for removing my car from the accident scene. "If you don't want to give me your address, move away from the window," shouted the hospital admissions worker when my injury prevented me from giving her the information quickly.
When a receptionist or customer-service representative machine-guns me with the usual office spiel, this is what I hear: "Fillinthis formfrom toptobottom signat the dotted lineand bringitto mewitha copyofyouridentifi cationcardas soonaspossible."
Then I have to translate before I can follow the instructions.
The Brain Injury Association reports that every 19 seconds someone in the United States suffers a traumatic brain injury. When you add to our numbers the aging baby boomers and the elderly Americans who are living longer, more active lives, we total a rapidly growing slower-moving population that can translate into dollars for you. But how can we do business with you if we cannot understand you or your employees?
So that I won't cost you $1.50 for every dollar you get from me, I have modified my consumer behavior in these ways:
* To save your time, I do my homework and get my facts in line before I call. I research products, or I check the availability of transportation.
* To speed the exchange of information, I put it in writing. I fax questions to avoid the difficult task of leaving messages.
* I find out the best time to call, and I offer to speak with a supervisor if that is best.
* When necessary, I explain the nature of my disability in terms that relate to our business. For example, "I am recovering from a head injury. This means I have to speak slowly (or deal with one topic at a time, or speak to the same person I spoke with earlier, or call back with an answer or combat information overload by doing only a little of our business at one time)."
* I ask friends to call on my behalf.
Now, this is what you can do to meet me, and others like me, halfway. (These recommendations, incidentally, may even be appreciated by your customers and clients who do not have special needs.)
* Speak slowly, softly and simply. Neither shouting nor industry jargon helps my comprehension. Information given twice quickly is not as effective as information given once slowly.
* Eliminate sources of confusion. On the phone, give me the option of no music while I'm on hold, and give me time to take notes. In person, stand still and make eye contact. One person speaks at a time. Does your company have a procedure for dealing with customers who easily become flustered?
* Stick with standard sales savvy. Listen to me. Let me finish speaking before you assume you know what I mean. Deal with one concept at a time. High-pressure techniques will cost time and lose business.
* Share. Tell me what I can do to make doing business with you easier. Can you send me background material in advance of our next conversation?
IT'S a new ball game for me. Sadly, I have had to stop using merchants I patronized for more than 20 years. Despite my explanations, they were accustomed to the old me and confused by how I now think or what I now say. Don't become angry with me because I am the way I am; I hate it more than you do. Be kind. By a quirk of fate, I was the one the guy hit, not you.
Go the extra mile, and I'll reward you with loyalty and referrals.
And remember the disabled, aged and ill when you train your staff. If your employees are not communicating with your potential clients, patients or customers, why are you paying them to talk?

LOAD-DATE: October 5, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Carla Siboldi)

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The New York Times

October 7, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Monkeys, Like Mice, Live Well and Prosper On Low-Calorie Diet

BYLINE: By DENISE GRADY 

SECTION: Section F; Page 3; Column 1; Science Desk 

LENGTH: 1021 words

IF you eat less, will you live longer? It is tempting to quip that life would at least seem longer. But the question is serious and has intrigued scientists since the 1930's, when it was discovered that a very low-calorie diet would lengthen rats' maximum life spans from three years to four, an increase of 33 percent.
Over the years, the finding has been confirmed many times in mice and other small animals, and has proved the only reliable means of extending a mammal's life span. Normally, old rats and mice turn grizzled, gray and humpbacked, much like old people. But a carefully balanced, low calorie diet -- 30 percent to 50 percent fewer calories than the animals would normally eat -- prolongs not just life, but also youth. Rodents stay sleek and supple longer, navigate mazes swiftly and resist many ailments associated with aging, including diabetes, hypertension, cataracts and cancer. 
 To help determine whether people might similarly benefit, researchers began a decade ago to study caloric restriction in a closer relative, the rhesus monkey. Although it is still too soon to tell whether monkeys will live longer on a low calorie diet, medical findings so far do suggest that they are healthier and aging more slowly than animals permitted to eat as much as they want.
The latest study, published in the October issue of The American Journal of Physiology, compared 30 monkeys that were allowed to eat freely with 30 others that were fed a diet containing 30 percent fewer calories than normal. Both groups of animals were given the same kind of low-fat food, with only the amounts differing.
Animals on the low-calorie diet developed several traits associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke: they had higher blood levels of a type of "good cholesterol," HDL2B , lower blood pressure, lower triglyceride levels and less fat stored around their midsections.
"Their biochemical markers for cardiovascular disease are moving in the right direction," said Dr. George Roth, an author of the paper and acting chief of the laboratory of cellular and molecular biology at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore. Dr. Roth and his colleagues have been studying the monkeys since 1987, and now have about 200.
His team also reported in July that calorically restricted monkeys showed still another sign of a slower aging process. They maintained higher levels of two forms of the hormone DHEA, or dehydroepiandrosterone, which normally decrease over time; the decline is considered a marker for aging.
But no matter how well the monkeys do, Dr. Roth said, the ultimate goal of this research is not to apply caloric restriction to people. A 30 percent reduction, the amount imposed on the animals, would be too extreme. "Most people have a tough time staying on a diet," he said. Although the monkeys in the study are healthy and appear content, he said, they are hungry much of the time. "They eat all their food, and if we gave them more, they would eat more," Dr. Roth said.
He and his colleagues are trying to discover the mechanism by which calorie reduction slows aging in the hope of designing drugs that mimic its effects -- without cutting calories.
Dr. Richard Weindruch, who also studies caloric restriction in monkeys and other animals at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, said he had already begun working with a company that will make antioxidant drugs to counter the aging process. Many scientists, including Dr. Weindruch, think an important factor in aging is cellular damage caused by substances known as free radicals, which are generated during normal metabolism. Antioxidants can protect against free radicals, perhaps taking the place of calorie restriction, which lowers the rate at which free radicals are produced.
But Dr. Weindruch did not completely rule out caloric restriction for people, provided that meals are carefully planned to include all essential nutrients. In an article in the current issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, he suggested that people from families prone to cancer or degenerative diseases associated with aging might be motivated enough to stick to a low-calorie diet. He says that safe appetite suppressants may eventually be developed to help dieters control eating.
People are already practicing caloric restriction. Many base their diets on books by Dr. Roy Walford, a researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles who recommends cutting back calories and body weight by about 20 percent. In eight people he has studied on such a plan, Dr. Walford has found beneficial changes in blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol similar to those now reported in the monkeys.
A person who begins 20 percent caloric restriction at age 18 might live to be 140 years old, Dr. Walford has estimated. At 73, he himself eats only 1,800 calories a day, as opposed to the 2,000 to 2,800 normally recommended for a man his age.
Brian Delaney, a 34-year-old graduate student in philosophy at the University of Chicago, is among those who have put Dr. Walford's ideas into practice. Five feet 11 inches tall, Mr. Delaney weighs 137 pounds, down from about 150 when he started the plan a few years ago. He said he eats two meals a day, feels well and has plenty of energy. "I got used to being hungry all the time," he said. "There's this pit in your stomach, but you get used to it. I think of it as a pit of immortality."
Mr. Delaney said he was convinced that caloric restriction could prolong life. Nonetheless, he said he hoped researchers would find an another way of achieving the same thing. "I don't really want to look this skinny," he said. "It's not so attractive." At times, he said, he has looked like he had AIDS, and people have worried about him. "I'm into this whole life extension thing, living to be 120 or 130 or 150, but the idea of having to live like this for another 80 or 90 years is unappealing."
Dr. Roth said he did not find it appealing, either. "We all like food, and that's why we're all working hard on the mechanisms, because we'd like to continue to eat," he said.

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Dr. George Roth of the Gerontology Research Center of the National Institute on Aging (Marty Katz for The New York Times) reports that monkeys on low-calorie diets, like the one at left, show signs of slower aging than those in a control group, like the one at right. (National Institute on Aging)

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October 7, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

PERSONAL HEALTH;
Breast Cancer Awareness May Carry Its Own Risks

BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY 

SECTION: Section F; Page 1; Column 4; Science Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 1204 words

HAS the concern about breast cancer gone too far, prompting many women to neglect far more serious risks to their health and life? Two 1997 polls certainly suggest that. A New York Times/CBS News Poll found that 52 percent of women think that they are more likely to die of breast cancer than heart disease. And a survey of 1,000 women 30 to 80 years old by Merck Media Minutes, a newsletter from Merck & Company, reported that women ranked breast cancer as the leading risk to their health, above heart disease and lung cancer. But the facts say otherwise.
Heart disease is responsible for 30 percent of the deaths among American women. Breast cancer accounts for only 3 percent. And breast cancer is not even the leading killer among the cancers that strike American women. Lung cancer causes many more deaths among women, yet it does not come close to breast cancer when women are asked about their health concerns. The Merck survey showed that five times as many women listed breast cancer rather than lung cancer as the health topic that interested them the most. 
 Of course, lung cancer rarely strikes before age 50, even among women who have been lifelong heavy smokers. Heart disease, too, is unlikely to kill women younger than 60, while breast cancer does sometimes strike women in their 30's and 40's. But premenopausal breast cancer is not nearly so common as most women seem to believe.
Breast cancer is primarily a disease of older women. By age 35, a woman has 1 chance in 622 of developing breast cancer. The risk rises to 1 in 93 by age 45, 1 in 33 by age 55 and 1 in 17 by age 65. The "one woman in eight" figure now frequently heard refers to the lifetime risk of breast cancer for a woman who lives beyond the age of 85. And while the incidence of breast cancer rose during the 1980's, it has leveled off in recent years, suggesting that the "epidemic," if there was one, has begun to wane.
Furthermore, breast cancer is not nearly so deadly as many women think. The death rate has been dropping lately, thanks largely to earlier detection and improved treatments. The five-year survival rate for women with localized breast cancer is now 97 percent (up from 72 percent in the 1940's). Even if the cancer has spread to tissues surrounding the breast, 76 percent of the women will be alive five years later. Over all, including cases diagnosed in an advanced stage, 65 percent of women with breast cancer will survive for 10 years and 56 percent for 15 years.
But don't think I am callous about this disease. It took three of my friends in their early 40's, and two of them left behind young children. But a dozen other friends who had breast cancer are alive and well many years -- for some, decades -- after their cancers were discovered.
 
Who Is at Risk?
Women are confused about the factors that can influence the risk of developing breast cancer. Many worry unduly because there is breast cancer in their families. It is only cancer in first-degree relatives -- a mother, sister or daughter -- that might raise a woman's risk above that of the general population. Only 10 percent to 15 percent of breast cancers are familial, and not all of those are hereditary. Environmental factors might also play a role. Now that researchers know which genes are responsible for hereditary breast cancer, a woman who can afford genetic testing can find out if she is at increased risk.
As for the 85 percent of cases without a family history, there are several well-established risk factors, and some are amenable to adjustment. The primary risk factor is aging, something we are all stuck with.  The risk also increases if menarche comes at an early age or menopause starts late -- both lengthen the exposure of breast tissue to high doses of growth-stimulating estrogens. A woman who started to menstruate before age 14 has a risk that is 30 percent higher than a woman who reached menarche at 16. Because of improved nutrition, better control of childhood infections and reduced physical activity among girls, the average age of menarche has dropped to less than 13 from 16 in the last 130 years. Likewise, a woman who enters menopause at age 55 or later has a risk 50 percent higher than that for a woman whose menopause begins earlier.
Another risk factor is having a first baby late in life or having no biological children, which one study suggests could account for almost 30 percent of the breast cancer cases in this country. A pregnancy carried to term changes breast cells in a way that helps block abnormal growth later. Having a first child at age 30 or later, or having no children, nearly doubles the risk of breast cancer, compared with the risk faced by a woman who bears her first child before she is 20. Furthermore, the earlier a woman has a child, the more children she is likely to have, and these additional pregnancies further protect her breasts, as does prolonged breast feeding.
 
Reducing the Risk
Women do not always have a choice about when -- or if -- they give birth and nurse babies. But there are other factors that can raise the risk of breast cancer over which women do have control. According to Dr. Graham A. Colditz and Dr. A. Lindsay Frazier of Harvard Medical School, preventive efforts should be focused on girls because it is young breasts that are most vulnerable to the molecular damage that can accumulate over the years.
Two habits that often start in the teen-age years are especially dangerous: alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking. The Nurses' Health Study, based at Harvard, found that compared with nondrinkers, women who consumed more than one drink a day faced a 2 1/2-fold increase in breast cancer risk. Other studies have indicated that this risk is limited almost entirely to women who start drinking before age 25.
As for smoking, a large Danish study found a 60 percent increase in the risk of breast cancer among women who had smoked cigarettes for more than 30 years. Smokers also tended to develop cancer at younger ages than nonsmokers. The Harvard researchers noted that among women who smoked more than 25 cigarettes a day, those who had started to smoke before they were 16 faced an 80 percent increase in breast cancer risk.
On the other hand, vigorous physical activity in adolescence and young adulthood is protective, perhaps because it can delay menarche and, like pregnancy, reduce the number of ovulatory menstrual cycles. But even after menopause, exercise is likely to be helpful because it reduces body fat, where estrogens are formed from other steroids. As you might guess, weight gain in adulthood increases the postmenopausal breast cancer risk.
As for diet, women would be wise to eat more fiber and less fat. Women on high-fat diets have higher levels of estrogen in their blood, which can spur the growth of breast cancer. However, in a new study of premenopausal women by Dr. David Rose of the American Health Foundation, wheat bran -- one cup or two servings of a whole-bran cereal daily -- diminished blood levels of estrogen. Studies at Tufts University have indicated that dietary fiber from vegetables and fruits, legumes and cereal brans can lower the risk of breast cancer.

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October 7, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

HEALTH WATCH;
Agency Urges Elderly To Get Their Flu Shots

BYLINE: Reuters 

SECTION: Section F; Page 10; Column 5; Science Desk; Health Page

LENGTH: 299 words

DATELINE: ATLANTA, Oct. 6

Federal health officials say more elderly people should get the annual flu shots that have been available for free through Medicare since 1993.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that 58 percent of Americans 65 and older had received flu shots in 1995, an 8 percent increase since 1993. 
 But only 39 percent of older African-Americans and 50 percent of elderly Hispanics got their shots in 1995, the agency said.
The C.D.C. said 20,000 people die from the flu each winter and recommended that older Americans get flu shots in the next two months.
"We've seen a slight increase in vaccinations among Hispanics and African-Americans, but health care providers and communities need to make an extra effort to close that gap and keep the overall number of older Americans receiving flu shots going up," said Dr. David Satcher, director of the health agency.
The C.D.C. said hospitals often missed opportunities to vaccinate the elderly because their medical records did not include vaccination histories. Hospitals in 12 Western states missed the chance to administer flu vaccine to 65 percent of pneumonia patients on Medicare in a four-month period in late 1994, a survey found.
The health agency said some elderly people wrongly believed that they could catch the flu by getting a flu shot. "It's impossible for the flu vaccine to cause influenza," said Dr. Jose Cordero of the C.D.C. "That's a myth that needs to be corrected."
Medicare began paying for flu shots without requiring a co-payment in 1993. The shots are free for patients enrolled in Medicare Part B from doctors who accept Medicare payment as full payment, the health agency said. Medicare also covers vaccinations against pneumonia, the most common complication of influenza.

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October 10, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
BLUMBERG, ALBERT E.

SECTION: Section D; Page 19; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 72 words

BLUMBERG-Albert E. The Audubon Reform Democratic Club mourns the passing of our longtime President. A political leader, senior citizens advocate, philosophy professor and an activist in the truest sense, he worked hard to organize people in northern Manhattan to improve their communities and especially to empower the Dominican community. He has left an indelible mark and will be greatly missed by all who worked with him.

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COMPANY NEWS;
EMERITUS EXPECTS INVESTMENT FROM SOROS-BACKED FUND

BYLINE: Bloomberg News 

SECTION: Section D; Page 4; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 117 words

The Emeritus Corporation said yesterday that an investment fund backed by Soros Fund Management L.L.C. had agreed to invest $25 million in the company. Emeritus, which builds and operates housing for elderly people who need daily assistance, said Northstar Capital Partners L.L.C. would buy 1.37 million newly issued preferred shares, representing about 10 percent ownership in the Seattle-based company. Northstar, based in New York, makes investments on behalf of Quantum Realty Partners, a real estate fund affiliated with the financier George Soros. Emeritus owns and operates about $500 million worth of housing communities for the elderly. Its shares were up 87.5 cents yesterday, to $15.6875.

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October 11, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
BLUMBERG, DR. ALBERT E.

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 93 words

BLUMBERG-Dr. Albert E. The Congress of Senior Citizens of Greater NY deeply mourns the loss of our long-time president and friend who died October 8, 1997. Al's dedication, leadership and support for the seniors of our city will continue to remain an inspiration for the Congress of Senior Citizens. Al's commitment to the welfare of children and seniors would have him shouting from the grave, "Don't privatize Social Security." Arrangements for a memorial service are being drafted for a later time. We extend our very sincere condolences to the family.

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October 11, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW;
A Legend at Home With Life and Art

BYLINE: By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER 

SECTION: Section B; Page 11; Column 3; The Arts/Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 610 words

"When I was young, life seemed long and endless to me," the elderly man says.
His name is Marcello Mastroianni, and his life ended on Dec. 19, 1996, at the age of 72. 
 But a fine and loving memorial that preserves his charm, his intellect and his splendid body of work is to be shown tomorrow at 3 P.M. at Avery Fisher Hall as part of the 35th New York Film Festival.
Titled "Marcello Mastroianni, I Remember," this 3-hour-and-20-minute documentary is the work of Anna Maria Tato, the actor's companion in the final 22 years of his restless, accomplished life.
Part travelogue, part biography, part philosophical rumination on cinema and the actor's art, this long and loving film renders a splendid portrait of a man who entered his profession as a child, honed his craft on the stage and made more than 170 films, among them such enduring works as Federico Fellini's "Dolce Vita" and "8 1/2," Ettore Scola's "Special Day," Vittorio De Sica's "Marriage, Italian Style" and Nikita Mikhalkov's "Dark Eyes."
His last, Manoel de Oliviera's "Voyage to the Beginning of the World," shown on Monday at the festival, provides "Marcello Mastroianni, I Remember" with its framework.
While making that film, the actor is seen traveling through Portugal by car or floating leisurely aboard a boat on a river that is almost a metaphor for life. There and at other locations, the man who once intended to become an architect reveals an irrepressibly comic outlook as he reminisces about his career, recalls the great directors he worked with, disclaims the title Latin Lover ("a crazy, stupid idea"), refers to his readings in Proust, Chekhov, Stendhal and Kafka, tells funny stories about his family, heaps scorn on television, distances himself from Method acting ("Why all this suffering and torment?"), discusses cities and travel and floats some of his unrealized dream projects (playing an elderly Tarzan).
"Marcello Mastroianni" is filled with clips from the actor's movies, including some hilariously awful ones ("only saints and heroes never make mistakes") and from his stage appearances, as well as newsreel film and video. Though the documentary refers only fleetingly to some of his romantic liaisons and his daughter by Catherine Deneuve, it is never less than a thoroughgoing rendering of Mastroianni's career and his attitude toward life.
It differs from many documentaries in one important respect. Unlike films where the camera seems intrusive, where the subjects seem all too conscious of the filmmakers' presence, here is a documentary whose subject's natural home is before the camera. At ease, addressing the lens in an un-self-conscious manner, Mastroianni is the ideal model for a portrait on film, a man who never lost the best of his childish qualities or his love of adventure and who was neither afraid to grow old nor too vain to portray the elderly. But he didn't feel old, he says, because he never stopped working.
"I like people," he says. "I love life."
"Marcello Mastroianni, I Remember," whets the appetite to see the remarkable actor's great films once more. This rich, funny documentary heightens the realization of how much the art of the cinema is impoverished by his loss.
 
MARCELLO MASTROIANNI, I REMEMBER
 
Directed by Anna Maria Tato; in Italian, with English subtitles; director of photography, Giuseppe Rotunno; edited by Ms. Tato; music by Armando Trovajoli; produced by Mario Di Biase; released by First Look Pictures. Shown tomorrow at 3 P.M. at Avery Fisher Hall, as part of the 35th New York Film Festival. Running time: 200 minutes. This film is not rated.
 
WITH: Marcello Mastroianni.

LOAD-DATE: October 11, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Marcello Mastroianni in a film by Anna Maria Tato, to be shown tomorrow at the New York Film Festival. (Film Society of Lincoln Center)

TYPE: Review

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October 11, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK;
Developer Is Selected For Residence for Elderly

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 184 words

The Battery Park City Authority announced yesterday that it had selected Brookdale Living Communities, a company based in Chicago, to develop a 14-story residential rental building that is expected to appeal to the well-to-do elderly.
The 216-unit building will be the first in Manhattan to offer market-rate, large-scale unsubsidized housing for the elderly. Most of the units would provide so-called independent living, with recreational and housekeeping services and a meal or two a day. About 20 studio apartments are designed for assisted living, in which help is provided in bathing, dressing and medical monitoring. 
 The building will be at the northern end of Battery Park City, near Stuyvesant High School.
The authority said the building would have 39 two-bedroom apartments, 128 one-bedrooms and 49 studios, with private and communal dining rooms and various specialized spaces.
Construction is expected to start next year and be completed within three years, the authority said.
Mark J. Schulte, president of Brookdale, said the company would take applications next year.

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October 11, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

When Bad Economic Theory Threatens Good Times

BYLINE: By Robert Eisner;  Robert Eisner, professor emeritus at Northwestern University, is the author of the forthcoming "The Great Deficit Scares: the Federal Budget, Trade and Social Security."

SECTION: Section A; Page 11; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 751 words

DATELINE: EVANSTON, Ill.

Just when we thought Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, had settled into a wise laissez-faire approach to our surging economy, he warned this week that we may soon be tasting some foul medicine.
Why? Because we are doing too well. Unemployment has been at or below 5 percent for six months and below 6 percent for three full years. And the growth in our gross domestic product has been running at 3 percent for the last four years, instead of the roughly 2 percent that many thought was the best we could do. 
 The conventional wisdom has long been that such figures could not be achieved without accelerating inflation. Yet inflation and even prices themselves have been falling, and Mr. Greenspan seemed to have abandoned this conventional view.
Until this week, that is, when he unexpectedly declared that wages may rise unless the recent two-million-plus annual rate of job creation is cut to the million a year that would be consistent with population growth.
When we're shrinking unemployment, why stop now? We even have a legislated target, in the old Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, of 4 percent unemployment. In fact, Mr. Greenspan is required to testify regularly before Congress about policies to meet that target.
Might 4 percent unemployment bring some increase in wages? It might, after years of decline in real wages. When few people are unemployed, employers have to bid higher to find workers.
But with profits at record highs, productivity rising, the dollar strong and international competition brisk, companies have little reason to increase prices, even if they give employees modest wage increases. And there is certainly no excuse for the peremptory strike of raising interest rates to slow the economy, a move that -- thanks to Mr. Greenspan's remarks -- Wall Street now fears when the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meets Nov. 12.
More fundamentally, there is no reason to hold employment growth to the long-term rate of population growth, as Mr. Greenspan suggested. There are millions of black Americans and Hispanic Americans, as well as women, youths and elderly people of all races and ethnic groups, who would take jobs if they could get them.
In some cases putting these people to work would require more and better education and training, but in all cases it would require a brisk, growing economy. This employment growth will not occur if Mr. Greenspan follows through on his implicit threat to hold the economy down.
The underlying culprit in all this, openly espoused within the Federal Reserve Board, is the dogma that there is an unemployment rate below which inflation goes crazy (a "non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment," or Nairu, in the economist's jargon). Until recently the idea that there is such a magic number was widely accepted by liberal and conservative economists alike, liberals putting it at 6 percent and conservatives at 6.5 or 7 percent.
Whatever the figure -- and recent work has indicated increasing doubt as to just what it is, if it exists at all -- unemployment below these rates would do more than simply generate higher inflation, the believers say. It would give us continuously accelerating inflation -- that is, inflation that would get higher and higher: 2 percent, 5 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent and so on. Who would dare risk letting this genie out of the bottle?
I have been pointing out for years that the theory simply does not hold up to evidence, and other economists have increasingly been agreeing. Really high unemployment, as might be expected, has reduced inflation. In the Depression, inflation turned negative. And in the recession of 1982-83, with unemployment approaching 11 percent, inflation slowed markedly.
But the critical fact is that unemployment and inflation are not linked so tightly. Relatively low unemployment for whatever reason -- increasing productivity may be one -- has simply not been associated with either higher or rising inflation.
So Mr. Greenspan should resist the Nairu dogma. And he certainly shouldn't follow his counterparts in the German Bundesbank, who have just announced an increase in an interest rate even though unemployment there is more than 11 percent.
Mr. Greenspan should aim for maximum employment, maximum growth and real wages that befit our mighty economy. He shouldn't even threaten to shoot at inflation until he sees the whites of its eyes.
 
Maureen Dowd is on vacation.

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October 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

TRAVEL ADVISORY -- CORRESPONDENT'S REPORT;
The Forbidden City Gets a Face Lift

BYLINE: By SETH FAISON 

SECTION: Section 5; Page 3; Column 1; Travel Desk 

LENGTH: 740 words

DATELINE: BEIJING

OF all China's illustrious and history-rich places to visit, perhaps none is quite so stunning in scope and design as the Forbidden City, the palace complex where emperors once lived and ruled.
It may also be the hardest to keep up. A vast collection of courtyards and enormous halls and former living quarters spread out over 250 acres, the Forbidden City is forever fighting crumbling walls, decaying roofs and shaky pavilions. 
 China's Bureau of Relics recently announced that it would begin a $25 million renovation of the Forbidden City, or part of it anyway, mostly along the exterior walls, where a moat surrounds the old palace. "The renovation will not affect visitors," said Wang Hongnian, a senior official at the relics bureau. "We will do it part by part. Some visitors even like to come see how traditional repair work is done."
By the southwest corner, where the towering gray brick walls seem to have suffered from the elements worse than in other places, a dozen workmen have set up camp to recast enormous bricks, two feet long, to replace bricks that are missing -- many of them stolen by Beijing residents, who either needed building materials desperately or wanted to boast that they had a piece of the Forbidden City in their own homes.
The workmen carefully measure the gray bricks, filing down the corners just so, trying to preserve the original look as closely as possible.
"After another 100 years, you won't be able to tell the difference between these and the originals," said one workman, only partly in jest. He pointed out that the existing wall just behind him was 570 years old.
Today the moat that meanders around those walls is lined by soft willow trees, and a few elderly men with long fishing poles can be found sitting beside it on any given afternoon. But the water itself is somewhat dirty, with clumps of algae and assorted urban detritus.
Another aim of the renovation is to clean that water and dredge the moat, clearing away the thick piles of mud that have collected at the bottom.
"The moat hasn't been dredged since the mid-1970's," said Mr. Wang, the relics official, who wonders what may turn up this time. "Older people say they found all kinds of things in the moat, like musical instruments that were abandoned during the Cultural Revolution."
Over by Wu Men, a horseshoe-shaped gate that seems to draw in, like a magnet, all who approach the Forbidden City from its south-facing entrance, the crimson walls have faded from years of rain, wind and snow, and are peeling badly in some places.
But the imperial yellow roofs that sit atop the gate, and are visible straddling the long halls and other buildings within, still glisten in the afternoon sun. A renovation earlier this decade cleared the incipient plant life growing on the roofs, and their rich saffron luster was retained.
Although long overdue, and clearly necessary for the long-term health of the palace, the renovation has its human costs as well. It brings to an end one of Beijing's minor secrets: a few dozen people have actually been living within the Forbidden City. Employees of the Palace Museum, they occupied a few rows of ramshackle houses along the inside of one of the enormous external walls. Built to be temporary, but somehow lasting into semipermanence, they are now run down and cramped.
Yet these houses offered their inhabitants an atmosphere virtually unmatched in Beijing. At night, after the crowds of tourists had gone and only imperial ghosts were left, the quiet air was rich with history.
Anyone lucky enough to know someone who lived in one of these houses, and lucky enough to be invited there one evening, could walk in the silent darkness of the Forbidden City and sense the echoes of Chinese culture that seem to lurk within the majestic walls and courtyards.
Parts of the palace's old living quarters, where the emperors and their thousands of attendant concubines, eunuchs and servants once stayed, are now offices of the museum, while other parts are open to visitors. But the museum authorities have decided that many of the rundown offices and the temporary housing should be razed or fixed up, as should the aging electrical wiring that has long been a fire hazard.
A New China News Agency account of the renovation said it would be complete by 2000. But Mr. Wang said repair work on the palace never really stops: "It will go on and on and on."

LOAD-DATE: October 12, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Map of Beijing showing the location of the Forbidden City.

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In the Region/New Jersey;
For Tinton Falls, a Vast Continuing-Care Complex

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE 

SECTION: Section 10; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1301 words

CONSTRUCTION of one of the state's largest retirement communities is to begin later this month in Tinton Falls. It will eventually turn 134 acres into a complex of 1,786 residences that will offer people 62 and older meals, services and health care at each stage of aging.
The first phase of the project, known as Seabrook Village, involves 92 residences and a 60,000-square-foot community center. They will be joined over the next four to six years by 1,694 more residences and two other community centers, which collectively will include six dining rooms and a medical center. There will also be a 240-bed nursing home and amenities, ranging from a health club to computer and crafts rooms to continuing-education classes and shops. 
 Seabrook Village will have 1,650 independent-living apartments, where residents capable of living on their own will get such services as housekeeping, transportation, social activities and one meal a day. There will also be 136 assisted-living units for residents who need help with daily living. They will receive all the services plus three meals a day. For those who need more medical attention there is the nursing home.
As is typical of many continuing-care retirement communities residents at Seabrook Village will pay an entrance fee that will entitle them to access to a1l levels, as well as a monthly service fee.
The fees are being targeted to middle-income residents "which is a solid and definitely underserved market," said Daniel Rexford, vice president of marketing at Senior Campus Living, in Baltimore, the developer. Financing for the $300-million project is coming from the company and its financial partner, a division of LenLease, an international developer based in Sidney, Australia.
Two years after the initial wave of independent-living units is built construction will start on the health-care component, either the assisted-living apartments or the nursing home, said Mr. Rexford, adding that since marketing began in April deposits had been taken on 85 percent of the first 92 units.
Elda and Benjamin Pinz, who have two grown daughters, reserved one of the initial units. The couple -- she is 72, he is 80 -- say they are ready to surrender the maintenance and chores tied to their single-family home in Marlboro. "We want to be independent," said Mrs. Pinz. "This is a way to leave our care to someone else rather than our children."
The Pinzes are among the growing number of older people who are seeking an alternative to nursing homes that offers care as they age, but avoids the regimentation of a medical setting. Stoking the trend are demographics and the desire by the aging to stay close to their families and friends.
With nearly 1.1 million of its 8 million residents age 65 and older, New Jersey has the ninth-largest aging population in the nation. The fastest growing segment of that population is people 75 years of age or older.
Those demographics attracted Senior Campus Living, which hopes to open up to five communities in New Jersey as part of its 10-year expansion program. The company is negotiating to build a second continuing-care development, a 1,400-unit project in Pequannock, in Morris County.
Seabrook Village is getting under way at a time when a spate of varying kinds of specialized housing for the elderly is also advancing in the state. The big surge is in assisted-living complexes, a relatively recent alternative to nursing homes. Beyond such services as dining and housekeeping, these complexes have staff on hand to help with daily needs like dressing and bathing and taking medications.
Since 1994, when the state started licensing assisted-living communities, 36 have been built and licensed and 234 more are in various stages of the approval or application process, according to state figures.
UNLIKE continuing-care retirement communities -- there are 21 in the state and two more are planned -- assisted-living projects do not offer three levels of care or guarantee access to each. But an entrance fee is not required.
Some communities that offer all levels of care, such as the Windrows at Princeton Forrestal in Plainsboro, also do not require entrance fees. Windrows is structured as rentals and a condominium "so residents have control of their assets while maintaining a continuum of care," said Michael Zaccaro, executive vice president at Care Matrix of Needham, Mass., the developer.
The project, which will have a medical as well as a community center, is rising on 45 acres in Princeton Forrestal Center, the mixed-use complex developed by Princeton University. It contains 180 nursing beds and 83 assisted-living units, with monthly rents, including all meals and services, of $2,350 to $4,000. There will also be 294 independent-living residences priced at $174,900 to $444,900. Monthly fees of $1,135 to $2,268 will cover all services and 30 meals a month.
Because of the rising number of options the growth of continuing-care retirement communities, which surged during the 1980's, has leveled off, said Barbara Kleger, president of Senior Living Associates, a Philadelphia-based marketing firm. "But the ones being developed tend to be well-planned and cater to certain niche markets," she said.
At Seabrook Village, the entry fee will be 100 percent refundable upon death or departure after the unit is reoccupied. The fees, which will range from $107,000 to $312,000, will be used to pay off construction costs and, later, to finance improvements.
There will also be a monthly fee of $1,167 to $1,172 for the studio to 2-bedroom independent units, which will have 625 to 1,414 square feet of space. For a second person there is an added $554 fee. For the 550-square-foot assisted-living units the fee wi1l be $2,200. The monthly fees will cover everything but advanced medical care, which residents will pay for as they need it, Mr. Rexford said. Those entering the nursing home will pay a "competitive" daily rate, he added, noting that it was too early to give exact figures.
"It is very reasonable for what the community is providing," Mr. Pinz said of the monthly fee, which he said was slightly more than what he and his wife pay per month to maintain their home. "But I will not have to worry about the washer or some other appliance breaking down."
Having so large a project allows the company to achieve certain economies of scale. But the size was a tough sell in Franklin Lakes and Wayne, where the company advanced earlier development plans that were derailed by local concerns.
But the Monmouth County community of Tinton Falls welcomes Seabrook Village, which will rise on Essex Road, a mile east of a point between Exits 100A and 102 the Garden State Parkway. "It is a self-contained community that will have little impact on municipal services, especially schools," said Anthony J. Muscillo, the township's Business Administrator.
From 1985 to 1995 the population of Tinton Falls rose to 15,000 from 8,000, prompting the expansion of three elementary schools. But the township did not see corresponding commercial growth, Mr. Muscillo said, adding that "this project will go a long way to keep real estate taxes stable."
Mr. Rexford said his company had bought the site, which was rezoned from office use, because of its size and highway access. Moreover, he said, a market study showed that 22,258 people age 75 or older live within a 10-mile radius of the site.
The independent-living units will be in 12 residential buildings laid out in 3 neighborhoods, each with 4 buildings around a community center. The assisted-living units will be in a separate structure, as will the nursing home. All the buildings as well as the community centers will be linked by enclosed walkways. Initial occupancy is scheduled for next fall.

LOAD-DATE: October 12, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Rendering of Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls. The 134-acre complex will target middle-income residents. (The Hillier Group)
 
Map showing the location of Tinton Falls, N.J.

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October 12, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

IN BRIEF;
New Jersey, Healthy for All, Aiming at Health of the Elderly

SECTION: Section 14NJ; Page 6; Column 1; New Jersey Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 357 words

New Jersey residents lead healthier lives than those in three-fourths of the nation, according to a survey released last week.
New Jersey ranks 12th from the top when all of the factors considered by the Reliastar Financial Corporation of Minneapolis in its annual evaluation are combined. The survey considered such seemingly diverse factors as a state's unemployment rate because that has a bearing on a person's ability to obtain health insurance; the rates of heart disease, cancer and infectious diseases like AIDS; the mortality rate; job-related fatalities, and motor vehicle deaths. 
 Minnesota, the home state for Reliastar, a life insurance, employee benefits and mutual funds holding company, comes in first with the healthiest residents followed by New Hampshire, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Wisconsin. Louisiana and Mississippi tie for last place.
"This is a general survey, not something that is necessarily precise," said Leah Ziskin, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Health and Senior Services, "but I think our concerted effort to reduce youthful smoking and to promote the use of seat belts and reduce the number of drunken drivers contributed to our high ranking."
Residents of nursing homes or those 65 and older being discharged from hospitals will be offered influenza and pneumonia vaccinations under regulations being drafted by the state Department of Health and Senior Services.
Thirty-seven percent of New Jersey residents 65 and older now get flu shots, compared with 41 percent nationally, and 13.5 percent get pneumonia shots, vs. 16 percent nationally. The new requirements for nursing homes and hospitals are designed to reduce the 2,000 deaths among New Jersey seniors that are caused each year by the two diseases, Len Fishman, state health and senior services commissioner, said in announcing the program Thursday.
Until the regulations are changed, the health department is asking hospitals and nursing homes to begin immediately to offer the shots voluntarily, which are covered by Medicare. There are slightly more than one million New Jersey residents over the age of 65.

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October 13, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Albert Blumberg, 91, Philosopher and Communist

BYLINE: By ROBERT McG. THOMAS Jr. 

SECTION: Section D; Page 11; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 755 words

Albert E. Blumberg, an idealistic philosophy professor who fought for economic and social reforms as an oft-harassed Communist Party official in the 1940's and 50's, then continued the fight with somewhat more success as a Democratic Party district leader in Manhattan, died on Wednesday at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center near his home in upper Manhattan. He was 91.
To the Congressional committees and Justice Department officials who hounded him over two decades, Dr. Blumberg's professed interest in improving the plight of workers and minority groups was a sham. 
 As they saw it, his work as secretary of the Communist Party in Maryland and the District of Columbia, and as the national party's legislative director, was a cover for his role in a Stalin-directed conspiracy to overthrow the Government.
To those who knew him during his years as a respected philosophy professor and department chairman at Rutgers University and as a Democratic leader in New York, his commitment to helping others was real.
Among other things, since settling in northern Manhattan in 1965, he organized and led numerous community organizations, served as president of the Audubon Reform Democratic Club and of the Congress of Senior Citizens of Greater New York and became an adviser to officials like City Councilman Stanley E. Michels, Assemblyman Herman D. Farrell Jr., State Senator Franz S. Leichter and Mayor David N. Dinkins, who named him chairman of the senior citizens advisory panel.
A native of Baltimore whose parents were immigrants from Lithuania, Dr. Blumberg was a brilliant student who graduated from Johns Hopkins University before going off on a grand academic tour, picking up a master's from Yale, studying at the Sorbonne and receiving a doctorate from the University of Vienna, where he was attracted to the Vienna circle of logical positivists.
In recent years, Dr. Blumberg talked so little about his past that it is hard to know just how or why he became involved with the Communist Party, but a nephew, recalling his uncle describing campaigns against Jews in Vienna in the 1930's, suggested that, like many European Communists of the day, he came to see Soviet Communism as an antidote to Nazism.
Whatever the initial attraction, Dr. Blumberg and his Baltimore-born wife, Dorothy Rose, quickly became prominent in party circles.
In 1940, for example, he was cited for contempt for refusing to identify party members to the House Un-American Activities Committee, but apparently did not learn the intended lesson: in 1957, he refused to answer similar questions before the Senate Internal Security subcommittee.
By then, Dr. Blumberg had become one of the first Communists convicted under a provision of the 1940 Smith Act equating party membership with conspiring to overthrow the Government.
Despite that 1956 conviction, Dr. Blumberg did not go to prison. In 1957, while his appeal was pending, the Supreme Court declared the provision unconstitutional. (His wife, convicted earlier under a different section, served a three-year term.)
For Dr. Blumberg, the victory was a hollow one. Although he had taught philosophy at Johns Hopkins in the 1930's, he could not get a teaching job and worked in a bookstore until he was hired by Rutgers in 1965.
There he helped organize Livingston College, the university's first residential college for men and women; served as chairman of its philosophy department; wrote an acclaimed textbook, "Logic: A First Course," and was repeatedly elected president of the faculty governing body. As a colleague, Dr. Peter Klein, recalled on Friday, Dr. Blumberg was a master synthesizer who would often astound his colleagues by tapping his gavel during a rancorous dead-end debate, declaring, "I think I hear a consensus," then articulating an inspired compromise.
After retiring in 1977, he stepped up his political activities in New York. By then he had become such an established figure in the local Democratic Party that he won a 1977 election as leader of the 71st Assembly District even though his opponent had tried to use his Communist past against him.
As district leader, Dr. Blumberg was chairman of the county committee's policy committee and worked to bring his upper Manhattan neighborhood's growing Dominican population into the party's inner circles, succeeding so well that he lost his post to a Dominican rival in 1985.
Dr. Blumberg, whose wife died several years ago, is survived by a brother, Harold, of Boston.      

NAME: Albert Blumberg

LOAD-DATE: October 13, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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October 14, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

The Aging Eye: Researchers Aim To Stop the Clock

BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY

SECTION: Section F; Page 1; Column 2; Science Desk

LENGTH: 1955 words

DATELINE: UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.

AGING Americans expect more from their eyes these days than ever before. People in their 70's and 80's want to be able to drive, play cards, recognize people on the street, travel with their grandchildren, take advantage of senior discounts in the movies and read the books they missed while working full time.
But eyes have a way of aging that can render such expectations unrealistic. Far worse than the loss of visual acuity that prompts most middle-aged people to resort to magnifying lenses are sight-robbing diseases like glaucoma, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other retinal disorders that afflict tens of millions of Americans, usually after age 50. 
 The incidence of such potentially blinding disorders is increasing rapidly as the number of older people grows. Experts predict, for example, that by the year 2030, 6.3 million older Americans will develop macular degeneration, up from 1.7 million in 1995. It is a still-irreversible disorder that robs people of the central vision needed to drive, read, watch television, recognize faces, play cards or do any fine work. If Grandma Moses had had macular degeneration, her artistic talents would never have been noticed.
Fortunately, research is progressing on a number of promising new treatments, including low doses of radiation, and a combination of lasers and light-activated chemicals, both of which are used for some particularly hard-to-treat forms of macular degeneration. Other research is concentrating on how to stop toxins that damage the eye in glaucoma, and the genetics of several different eye diseases.
"Older Americans today expect to enjoy their retirement with the same visual capacity that they had in their younger years," said Dr. Harold Spalter, professor of ophthalmology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. But, alas, as was apparent at a four-day seminar that Dr. Spalter chaired here last month, researchers are still a long way from knowing how to reverse most blinding eye disorders.
Still, major progress in understanding and treating these conditions -- and perhaps detecting them early enough to blunt their effects -- was evident at the seminar, organized by Research to Prevent Blindness, a New York-based voluntary organization. Unfortunately, though, many elderly Americans cannot afford the early detection procedures described at the seminar because Medicare and many other insurance programs do not cover such preventive measures.
For example, while insurance companies would routinely cover a visual field examination for a patient who already has glaucoma, most would not pay for this test for a person who has not yet experienced vision loss, when the disease process might be stopped without lasting vision damage.
Furthermore, an ongoing study of 2,520 men and women aged 65 to 84 in Salisbury, Md., has revealed that the usual eye chart test for visual acuity is inadequate to assess vision losses that interfere with the ability of elderly people to get around on their own, perform tasks of daily living and avoid accidents that can result in serious or fatal injuries. Rather, Dr. Sheila West, professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, reported that tests for contrast sensitivity -- the ability to distinguish, say, a step from the one below it -- are more revealing of functional disability in older people.
"We have found that loss of contrast sensitivity is as important as arthritis and heart failure in determining loss of mobility in the aged," Dr. West said. She traced this loss to "nonspecific retinal changes" and the beginnings of cataracts, a gradual clouding of the lens of the eye that eventually obscures vision. However, early-stage cataracts are rarely recognized by those who have them and are often dismissed as inconsequential by eye doctors.
Sunlight, Dr. West said, is a major factor in the formation of cataracts, and the damage is cumulative. By assessing the exposure of study participants to sunlight, Dr. West and colleagues determined that for every 1 percent increase in exposure to ultraviolet-B light, the risk of developing cataracts rose by 10 percent.
"There is no threshold for sun-related damage, the dosage is cumulative and no group is immune to it," Dr. West said the study showed. She recommended that when out of doors, everyone -- starting in childhood -- should wear lenses that block ultraviolet light and a cap with a brim that shades the eyes.
Dr. M. Cristina Leske, head of preventive medicine at University Medical Center in Stony Brook, N.Y., and associates, identified other risk factors for cataracts. Through a five-year study of 764 patients, they found that Caucasians are three times as likely as blacks to develop cataracts. Those who take the gout medicine allopurinol face more than a two-fold increase in risk, and smokers have a 60 percent increase.
On the other hand, certain nutrients appear protective. The risk was 30 percent lower among those who took multivitamin-mineral supplements and nearly 60 percent lower among those who took a vitamin E supplement, a finding that is now being tested in a clinical trial sponsored by the National Eye Institute. Still another study of 247 women aged 56 to 71 conducted at Tufts University in Boston found that taking vitamin C supplements for more than 10 years reduced the risk of early cataracts by 77 percent and the risk of moderately advanced cataracts by 83 percent.
But while cataracts can usually be treated very successfully by surgically removing the damaged lens and replacing it with a synthetic lens implant, age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of legal blindness in the elderly, has yet to yield to an effective treatment. Macular degeneration involves progressive damage to the cells in the center of the retina that are responsible for straight-ahead vision.
Early cases are often treated with lasers, which have the unfortunate side effect of destroying normal retinal cells as well as the damaged areas beneath them. Furthermore, after laser treatment, the vision-damaging tissue often grows back.
Dr. Dennis M. Marcus, an ophthalmologist at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, said that laser therapy usually cannot be used for the most severe form of the disease -- so-called wet macular degeneration, which involves the growth of leaky blood vessels beneath the central retina. Instead, he and his colleagues are testing low-dose radiation to destroy the blood vessels but spare the normal retinal cells. Thus far, 100 patients have been treated in a clinical trial that will eventually involve 500 people with wet macular degeneration. While it is too soon to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment, Dr. Marcus said that he has seen no radiation-induced complications.
Another clinical study is testing a technique called photodynamic therapy. It starts with the intravenous administration of a photosensitive dye that collects in the damaging blood vessels that are growing beneath the retina. The eye is then exposed to laser light that activates the dye, destroying those vessels only. Dr. Joan W. Miller, an ophthalmologist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, said that preliminary studies showed that the technique effectively closes off the leaky vessels in the majority of patients. And while these vessels reopen and leak in some patients, the treatment can be repeated, if needed, without harm to the eye.
Some seminar participants said the best hope for conquering blinding eye diseases was unraveling the sometimes complex genetics underlying many if not all of these conditions. Just last month, for example, a team of scientists announced the discovery of the first genetic link to age-related macular degeneration, which strikes 25 percent of Americans over the age of 65 and is the major cause of vision loss in the elderly. The researchers hope that by studying mutations in this gene they will gain an understanding of how the disease damages the eye, a means of identifying those at risk and methods of prevention and treatment.
Glaucoma, for example, usually involves elevated pressure inside the eye, leading eventually to the death of ganglion cells, the nerve cells that transmit information from the eye to the brain. This disease afflicts perhaps eight million Americans and causes blindness in 5,500 each year. Currently the only available treatment involves continual use of eye drops that reduce intraocular pressure. This only works if treatment is begun early.
Dr. Robert W. Nickells, an eye researcher at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, said, however, that "new advances suggest that glaucoma could be treated during the second or even the third stage of the disease." The second stage involves the release of high concentrations of "excitotoxins," amino acids that are toxic to nerve cells. Dr. Nickells said that several compounds that intervene in the formation of excitotoxins have been developed to treat other neurodegenerative disorders and may also prove useful in treating glaucoma.
As for the third stage, he and his colleagues have found in monkeys and rodents that ganglion cells succumb to a form of programmed cell death that appears to be controlled by three genes that act as a molecular switch. One of the genes, called bcl-x, prevents the fatal blow and might be harnessed therapeutically to override the cell death mechanism, Dr. Nickells said.
But discoveries about the genetics of eye disorders can sometimes raise more questions than they answer. For example, Dr. Fulton Wong of Duke University Medical Center reported that as many as 50 genes are believed to be involved in the progressive disease retinitis pigmentosa, which begins as night blindness and loss of peripheral vision and eventually destroys central vision, leaving people blind. Thus far, four genes have been identified, each with multiple mutations that may result in different aberrations of the condition. One of the genes that codes for the production of the visual pigment rhodopsin can exist in 92 different mutated forms, Dr. Wong reported.
This year alone, three genes for various forms of glaucoma have been identified. But Dr. Janey Wiggs, an ophthalmologist and geneticist at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, said: "This is a very complicated disease, with maybe 20 or 30 genes involved. And finding genes is only the first step. Where and when is the gene required and how does it produce disease? Does it result in too much or not enough of a gene product or make a toxic product?"
Still, she and others expressed guarded enthusiasm for the prospects of gene therapy to treat various devastating eye diseases. "The eye is accessible," she said. "It can be given selective treatment, using the other untreated eye as a control to see how well the treatment is working."
Dr. J. Timothy Stout, head of the division of ophthalmology at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, said, "The potential use of gene therapy is nearly limitless for the ophthalmologist." He and his colleagues are exploring in animals the potential of a so-called suicide gene to treat eye diseases that involve excessive cell division, such as intraocular proliferative disease, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Normally, most cells in an adult eye are not dividing. Using as a gene carrier a virus that infects only actively dividing cells, he introduces into the eye a gene that by itself is not toxic but that results in cell death when combined with the drug ganciclovir, which also does not harm normal cells. Thus, the treatment is specific for the proliferating cells involved in the eye disease.

LOAD-DATE: October 14, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Chart: "As Time Goes By"
The aging eye is prone to a number of vision threatening conditions. Researchers are exploring new ways of treating them. Diagram lists some treatments. (Charles M. Blow/The New York Times/Photographs courtesy of National Eye Institute)
 
Diagram: "Seeing Things Clearly"
Normally, light is focused through the
1 -- Cornea
2 -- pupil and
3 -- lens and onto the
4 -- retina, where it is converted to
5 -- electrical impulses and
6 -- sent to the brain.
(Sources: National Eye Institute; The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine (Random House); "Human Anatomy and Physiology' (Benjamin Cummings))

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October 14, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Health-Care Workers Spread Flu Among Elderly

BYLINE: AP

SECTION: Section F; Page 7; Column 1; Science Desk

LENGTH: 525 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Oct. 13

Doctors, nurses and other health-care workers are major sources of influenza infections that kill thousands of elderly residents of nursing home every year, a new study has found.
Dr. Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said that health-care workers were lax in getting annual flu shots and that only about half of people over 65 received the vaccine. 
 Even fewer of the elderly have received shots that protect against pneumonia infections.
This results, he said, in thousands of deaths that could be prevented.
"The very people who are charged with protecting the elderly from the flu may bring the virus into nursing homes and expose residents to this disease and its life-threatening complications," Dr. Poland said.
"Physicians, nurses and health-care workers who have not received flu vaccine are regularly putting the patients under their care at risk," he said.
Dr. Poland said a British study of 1,059 residents at 12 different centers for long-term care found that the death rate among patients dropped to 10 percent from 17 percent when health-care workers were required to receive annual flu shots.
"Just immunizing the health-care workers gives significant protection for these patients," Dr. Poland said.
About 25 percent of health-care workers become infected with flu every year, he said. Yet surveys show that only about 30 percent of doctors, nurses and attendants get flu shots every year.
Dr. Poland said flu shots gave a high level of protection against infection from the virus. In addition, he said, people protected by the vaccine are much less likely to spread the virus to others. Dr. Poland emphasized that the flu vaccine was made from killed virus, which means the shots cannot cause the infection.
People over 65, particularly those already in poor health, are very susceptible to flu and its potentially lethal side effect, pneumonia. Dr. Poland said many elderly people who got the flu went on to develop pneumonia, and about 10 percent of those patients died.
Dr. Jay Butler of the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta cited an alarming rise in strains of pneumonia-causing bacterium that do not respond to antibiotic treatment.
Dr. Butler said that about 20 percent of the pneumococcus strains now found in elderly patients did not respond to penicillin, an antibiotic that has long been the mainstay against the infection. Ten percent of the bacteria are now unresponsive to even advanced types of antibiotics, he said.
This makes it even more important, Dr. Butler said, that people over age 65 receive not only the flu vaccine but also shots that protect against most of the types of pneumococcus.
"As many as 22 million elderly have never been immunized against pneumococcal disease," he said.
The combination of flu and pneumonia was the sixth-leading cause of death among Americans last year, claiming about 40,000 lives. There were about 500,000 cases of influenza that required hospitalization, Dr. Poland said.
Inoculation against flu and pneumonia can reduce the risk of death from these infections by about 80 percent, Dr. Poland said.

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October 14, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

43 on a Holiday Die In Quebec Bus Crash

BYLINE: AP

SECTION: Section A; Page 8; Column 4; Foreign Desk

LENGTH: 154 words

DATELINE: ST. JOSEPH DE LA RIVE, Quebec, Oct. 13

A bus carrying elderly people on an outing on Canada's Thanksgiving holiday fell into a ravine in central Quebec today, killing 43 of the 48 people aboard.
The Quebec provincial police said the accident had occurred 60 miles northeast of Quebec City. The bus crashed at the bottom of a steep hill. 
 Real Ouellette, a Quebec Provincial Police spokesman, said faulty brakes were the probable cause of the wreck. There were no skid marks at the bottom of the hill, where 15 people died in an accident in 1974.
The passengers were from the Beauce region southeast of Quebec City, a police spokesman said.
Michelle Robitaille, a spokeswoman for the Charlevoix Hospital Center in Baie St. Paul, said that five injured people were brought there in critical condition and that four of them were transferred to a trauma center in Quebec City.
The bus was headed for Ile aux Coudres, an island in the St. Lawrence River.

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October 14, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

COMPANY NEWS;
EMERITUS MAKES AN OFFER FOR ARV ASSISTED LIVING

BYLINE: Dow Jones

SECTION: Section D; Page 4; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 139 words

The Emeritus Corporation said yesterday that it had offered to buy ARV Assisted Living Inc. for $16.50 a share, or $210 million. Emeritus, based in Seattle, operates care centers for the elderly. It already owns 8 percent of ARV, which is based in Costa Mesa, Calif. A merger of Emeritus and ARV would create an assisted-living company with 164 residential communities and capacity for 17,200 residents. Emeritus said its bid topped a $135 million offer for 49.9 percent of ARV made earlier this year by an affiliate of Lazard Freres Real Estate, a unit of Lazard Freres & Company. The affiliate, Prometheus Assisted Living L.L.C., had offered to buy 9.6 million ARV shares for $14 each. Lazard already owns a 17 percent stake in ARV. Shares of Emeritus closed down 25 cents, to $16, while shares of ARV rose $1.625, to $16.875.

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October 16, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER REVIEW;
If 6 Million Jews Moved Back to Germany?

BYLINE: By ANITA GATES 

SECTION: Section E; Page 9; Column 1; The Arts/Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 450 words

President Clinton is really sorry about slavery. The Swiss are sorry about banking practices during World War II. So a future German Chancellor in the early 21st century might conceivably wake up one morning and decide to apologize for the Holocaust by inviting six million Jews to return to Germany to live.
"Lebensraum," a new play from Israel Horovitz, begins with that scenario and ends with a disturbing possible answer to the question "Could it happen again?" 
 Mr. Horovitz, best known for his 1968 play "The Indian Wants the Bronx," presents dozens of characters with differing points of view. One German reacts to the news by shouting, "Heil, Hitler!" (He is promptly stomped to death by the crowd.) A rabbi declares, "We must reclaim this place for Jews." An Israeli predicts, "These Jews will be shot in the back." The situation reminds an elderly camp survivor of a joke that ends "Buchenwald -- those were the days!"
The first Jews to arrive are two gay Frenchmen, in matching blue berets, with a fondness for public kissing. They're quickly hidden away so the Linskys, a lovely, all-heterosexual family from Massachusetts, can be the official first arrivals and become the talk-show celebrities that the Chancellor's plan needs.
An unemployed dock worker in Bremerhaven is outraged that new jobs are going to newly arrived Jews ("Take care of Germans first"). His 15-year-old daughter falls in love with the Linsky son. Meanwhile, the elder Linsky decides "they owe us."
"Lebensraum," which takes its title from Hitler's promise of "living space" for Germans, is scattered at first, with a plethora of characters, events and shifting scenes to keep up with, but eventually the play becomes both powerful and touching.
All the parts are played by only three actors, who occasionally go into character by wearing masks or poking their heads and hands through portrait cutouts. Emme Shaw and Jeremy Silver's most affecting work is as the teen-age lovers. Scott Richards's finest moments are as an elderly man who finds a job in Germany caring for the woman who turned in his family to the police 60 years ago. She is now bedridden and unable to speak. Alone with her, he considers murder but finds a better, absolutely legal and particularly satisfying way to have his revenge.
 
LEBENSRAUM
 
By Israel Horovitz; directed by Richard McElvain; sets by Lisa Pegnato; lighting by Scott Poitras; costumes by Jane Alois Stein; production stage manager, Jeff Benish. Presented by the Miranda Theater Company, Valentina Fratti, artistic director. At 259 West 30th Street, Manhattan.

WITH: Jeremy Silver (Actor 1), Scott Richards (Actor 2) and Emme Shaw (Actor 3).

LOAD-DATE: October 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Review

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October 16, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

In His Own Words

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 97 words


JAMES E. McGREEVEY
During a visit to Classic Residence by Hyatt, a luxury retirement apartment house in Teaneck, N.J., on the need to provide home health care insurance for the elderly. 
 "I want to encourage a wife to take care of her husband. I want to encourage a husband to take care of his wife. That's why I believe you need to have a differential rate schedule for home health care providers. It's been done in seven other states successfully, and it provides for home health care, which is not only less expensive to the state but it's where people want to be."

LOAD-DATE: October 16, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Text

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October 17, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Close-Knit and Proud, Quebec Town Mourns Crash Victims

BYLINE: By The New York Times 

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 504 words

DATELINE: ST.-BERNARD-DE-BEAUCE, Quebec, Oct. 16

The choir that sang at the community memorial service came from a neighboring town. St.-Bernard's own choir, mourning members killed in the worst bus crash in Canada's history, was unable to perform at the ceremony today in the town's Roman Catholic church, Saint Bernard's.
Forty-three people were killed when the bus, chartered by the town's senior citizens club for a fall foliage tour in the Charlevoix region, smashed through a guardrail and plunged 60 feet into a ravine on Monday. 
 Today, they were remembered in a nationally televised funeral mass attended by Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Quebec's Premier, Lucien Bouchard.
As the names were slowly read, family members put roses in an urn and white candles were lighted for each victim.
"It will take years to get over this, and there will be some, I believe, that will never get over this," said Lise Berthiaune, 52, who lost three cousins in the accident.
St.-Bernard is a proud French Canadian town south of Quebec City.  The majority of its inhabitants work farms that have been passed through generations.
"The people of St.-Bernard are strong," wrote the Mayor, Liboire Lefebvre in a book published for the town's 150th anniversary. "They don't do things halfway. They are proud to say that here it is special."
A page was designated for each family to write its history in the book, and most of them wrote in an unadorned French used by the local residents. Several of the writers died in the crash. In a town that occupies a mere 4 1/2 pages in the phone book, the bus crash meant a devastating loss. Nearly all of St.-Bernard's 2,100 citizens have lost a family member, relative or friend in the accident.  There were only 20 different names shared among the 42 victims from the town. The driver, Andre Desruisseaux, 29, was also killed. Five people survived the crash and are hospitalized.
Dozens of graves will be dug in the small, freshly raked cemetery behind the church that parishioners have attended for more than a century. And 17 houses were left empty by the deaths.
St.-Bernard has no funeral home; nor does it have any establishment big enough for a group funeral service to be held for all the victims. For the ceremony today, the church, which holds 800 people, was full, as was the 500-seat community hall.
Individual funerals will be held over the weekend.
The area of the crash is well known for its stunning autumn colors, and it is also known for its steep roads, which have been the site of fatal bus crashes in the past. A tour bus crashed into the ravine in 1974, killing 13 elderly passengers and injuring 24. Twenty more people died in the same area in 1962.
"The Government doesn't act quickly enough," said Rachelle Gregoire, who lost two neighbors in the crash. "It always waits till something awful happens before acting."
Investigators are examining the condition of the bus to determine whether a mechanical failure led to the crash.
An autopsy is also being performed on the driver.

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October 17, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Successful Births Reported With Frozen Human Eggs

BYLINE: By GINA KOLATA 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1228 words

In an advance that promises to make it vastly easier for older women to remain fertile, researchers at a private clinic in Atlanta said yesterday that they had frozen human eggs, thawed them, fertilized them and created a successful twin pregnancy.
The recent birth of twins in Georgia is the first successful pregnancy in this country using an egg that had been frozen, experts said. Fertility clinics have long been able to freeze sperm and embryos, but they had been stymied by their inability to freeze eggs. 
 One immediate consequence would be to allow women to freeze their eggs when they are young, for use later when they are older and their eggs are of poorer quality. This would make menopause obsolete, in effect, because women could have their own babies, with eggs they stored when they were younger, at any time in life. It would also enable women who are undergoing chemotherapy, which can damage the ovaries, to save their eggs for later use.
Researchers in Hong Kong and Australia reported successful pregnancies from frozen eggs about 10 years ago, but the work was not repeated. One advance that made the new work possible was the ability to fertilize an egg by injecting sperm directly into it. Ordinarily, sperm cannot penetrate an egg that has been frozen and thawed.
Dr. Michael Tucker, an embryologist at Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta who led the team that achieved the pregnancy, said that the frozen eggs were from a 29-year-old woman and that they had been frozen for 25 months before he thawed them and fertilized them. The recipient, a 39-year-old woman from Georgia who had undergone premature menopause and so had no eggs of her own, became pregnant and gave birth to healthy twin boys in August.
Dr. Tucker said he would describe the results this weekend at a meeting of the American Society for Assisted Reproduction in Cincinnati. He said in an interview that a second woman was 12 weeks pregnant with a fetus his group had created from a frozen egg. He also has nearly 100 other eggs frozen, awaiting recipients.
Infertility experts said they were greatly encouraged.
"This is very good work," said Dr. Jacques Cohen of St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., who is also working on freezing eggs.
Dr. Alan DeCherney, an infertility expert at the University of California at Los Angeles and the editor of the journal Fertility and Sterility, said: "They're a credible group -- they definitely did it. If this can be repeated, it's a breakthrough."
Dr. DeCherney added that he would publish a paper describing the new results in a forthcoming issue of the journal.
This month, the journal carries a report by investigators in Bologna, Italy, of a baby girl born from an egg that had been frozen for four months and then fertilized.
Now that the egg-freezing barrier seems to be falling, infertility experts said, they will be able to take their art to a new plane, building banks of frozen eggs for infertile women or for those who want to store eggs when they are young for possible use later.
"We all know that the eggs of a woman who is 18 are a lot better than those of a woman who is 48," Dr. Cohen said. "If you can freeze eggs of young women, that's what you would want to do."
Dr. Mark Sauer, an infertility expert at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, said that many of his patients were women who had decided when they were in their late 30's or early 40's that they were ready to have children. The problem, they discover, is that they are now so old that their eggs are difficult to fertilize.
"If you told men going into their careers when they are in their 20's that by the time they are ready to have kids, their sperm might be no good, you know the men would be banking their sperm," Dr. Sauer said. So, he added, if egg freezing is successful, "maybe women should bank their eggs."
Donor eggs would also become much less expensive, Dr. Tucker said. It now costs about $8,000 for a donor egg, with the donor, matched with a single recipient, getting about $1,500 to $2,000. But donors, who take drugs to stimulate their ovaries, typically produce as many as 25 to 30 eggs, which could be frozen and used by several women.
The egg-freezing problem had bedeviled scientists for more than a decade.
Normally, when scientists freeze cells, they replace the water in them with chemicals that do not form crystals, putting the water back when the cells are thawed. That method allowed investigators to successfully freeze human embryos. But most cells, including embryos, have membranes that allow cryoprotectants, the protective chemicals, to enter and leave. The membranes of unfertilized eggs are nearly impermeable.
In addition, sperm no longer penetrate eggs that have been frozen and thawed. It was only with the recent development of a new method, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or I.C.S.I., in which doctors inject sperm directly into eggs, that this obstacle loomed less large, experts said.
A final problem is that an egg's chromosomes, containing the genes, are spread out and fragile, and are susceptible to shattering when an egg is frozen and thawed. Research with mice in the late 1980's indicated that freezing eggs could damage chromosomes, Dr. Tucker added. And so, "suddenly, everyone panicked and everyone just forgot egg freezing," he said.
Dr. Tucker said he did nothing special to succeed in egg freezing. He and his colleagues had been working on the method for four years but, he said, what was required was mostly perseverance, tinkering with each of the many steps of freezing until the method worked.
Then he had to find a woman who would agree to take a chance with an egg that had been frozen and thawed.
It took 25 months before he found the recipient, who insisted on anonymity to protect her children's privacy.
Because she had undergone premature menopause, she could not produce eggs of her own and initially tried to become pregnant using fresh eggs provided by donors. Soon, she ran out of money, because in vitro fertilization with a donor's eggs cost about $16,000, Dr. Tucker said.
"This was a couple who needed a break," Dr. Tucker said. His group offered free in vitro fertilization if they would accept frozen eggs. "In a sense, it seems like a monetary coercion," Dr. Tucker said. But, he said, the couple gave informed consent and the study had been approved by an outside ethics review panel.
The young donor had taken drugs to stimulate her ovaries and had produced 44 eggs in a single menstrual cycle. The investigators froze 31 of them, then thawed 23 when they found a recipient for them. Sixteen seemed healthy and so the doctors fertilized them with sperm from the recipient's husband, using I.C.S.I.  Eleven of the 16 developed into embryos. The doctors implanted four of the embryos into the woman's uterus and froze the rest for future use. Two of those embryos survived and the woman had twin boys.
She said she wanted a large family and had had two girls but put off having more children while she went back to school and got a master's degree. In her late 30's, when she decided to try to become pregnant again, she discovered she was infertile.
She added that she was not nervous about using frozen eggs.
"All I wanted was to have a happy baby," she said.
      

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October 17, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

PRO BASKETBALL: Holding Class on the Court;
Larry Brown Takes On Task of Teaching the Young 76ers 'What the Game Is About'

BYLINE: By MIKE WISE 

SECTION: Section C; Page 1; Column 2; Sports Desk 

LENGTH: 1001 words

DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 15

It is a special day in Larry Brown's class. Jimmy Jackson is celebrating a birthday. A humongous, two-layer frosted cake is wheeled onto the court after practice. Jackson's teammate, Jerry Stackhouse, plays maestro and everyone sings along.
There is no sign of a disgruntled power forward asking to be traded or a cocksure point guard who wants to go 1-on-28 against the National Basketball Association. Everyone is harmonizing on this Wednesday, even the new kid at school, the rookie Tim Thomas, who playfully puts a piece of cake (chocolate and vanilla with custard filling) in the face of the old man Jimmy. 
 Jackson is only 27, but that makes him an elder to 11 players on the training-camp roster of the Philadelphia 76ers. They are restless youngsters, but who better to guide them than the game's most nomadic coach?
"I think God sent me Larry Brown," said Allen Iverson, the dizzying second-year point guard whose game, like Brown's coaching career, has been all over the map. "People say Coach Brown is real hard on point guards, but he was a point guard himself and he knows a lot about the position."
Brown's chore is clear, really. He has to implore Iverson, a No. 1 overall draft pick, to pass the ball to Stackhouse, a No. 3 draft pick, and Jackson, a No. 4 pick, and have enough assists left over for Derrick Coleman, another No. 1 pick.
The ultimate goal is to stop a once-proud franchise from collecting any more top draft picks.
To that end, Brown brought in 37-year-old Terry Cummings, who will play both power forward and mentor. "I don't even think they know he scored more than 18,000 points in his career," Brown said of the 15-year veteran. "It's mind-boggling to me. I'm trying to remind them what the game is about."
It's easy to forget when you finish 22-60 and your soon-to-be-deposed head coach is egging on a point guard with a twitchy shooting hand. Even as Iverson piled up rookie of the year votes last season, his accomplishment was tainted by a three-game stretch in which Coach Johnny Davis told him to score and score some more, an enterprise that became more bacchanal than basketball.
Iverson averaged 40-plus points a game, but the 76ers were blown out in each of the three contests.
"We hadn't won any games," Iverson said. "It was time to do something. We're going into games nine deep. Guys were sitting out hurt. Guys didn't want to play. We were out there with two guys on 10-day contracts. I mean, my coach asked me to go out and score points. And that's what I went out there to do."
Brown wants and demands more. Figuring he made Reggie Miller and Ron Harper pass the basketball, he believes Iverson will fall in line, too.
"Allen is an unbelievable talent," he said. "Sometimes, he thinks he can beat five guys by himself. Until he realizes he can't, it's going to be a struggle. But he's trying to do what's right. That's the thing that makes me believe. Everyone is.
"These kids, they want to do it the right way. Now we've got to have a little success to show them." Because if they don't, Brown said, the habits about rewarding individuals will crop up again.
Brown's things-to-do list grows daily. He wishes Thomas would learn to practice through pain and Jackson would worry more about scoring than trying to be unselfish. He's also busy persuading Coleman and Clarence Weatherspoon to jettison their love handles, and he's helping Stackhouse through a serious case of contract envy.
Over the summer, some of Stackhouse's peers, like Bryant Reeves and his former college teammate, Rasheed Wallace, signed large contracts based on two years of mixed results.
"Can you blame this kid?" Brown said of Stackhouse. "I look at him, he's got to be thinking in his mind. It's not a selfish thing on his part. He's in the last year" of his contract.
Yet for Brown, who took the Indiana Pacers to within a game of the N.B.A. finals in 1995, there is no greater task than stabilizing Iverson.
Iverson, 22, pleaded no contest to a weapons charge over the summer; he was a passenger in a car going 90 miles an hour. It fostered his rotten-apple image and earned him a one-game suspension by Commissioner David Stern to open the season. The suspension is under appeal.
"He'll turn all this negative stuff around," Brown said. "There is no doubt in my mind."
Said Iverson: "I have a lot of learning to do, I know. But I think people are a lot tougher on me because of me being picked first. I don't know. People are not giving me a chance to learn the basketball game, the N.B.A. basketball game.
"It was my first year and I was criticized more than guys that have been in the league 10 years. So, I mean, it's rough. But that's life, man. Everything's not going to be peaches and cream."
Today, Iverson and his teammates had white-and-yellow frosting all over their faces. And so far through training camp the only person to go astray is the 20-year-old Slovenian guard Marko Milic.
Milic, who has spent less than a few months in America, knew his new city from two images: Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" video and Sylvester Stallone running up a flight of museum steps in "Rocky."
Milic was visiting a mall in the city's west suburbs only a few minutes from his house, got lost and decided to drive toward the airport, miles out of the way, because he knew how to get home from there.
Cummings, whose career has run the gamut, is amused.
"Marko asked me one day, 'Did you have trouble when you were a rookie coming off the bench?' I said, 'Marko, my situation was different. I played a lot of minutes.' He said, 'Huh?'
"I said, 'I was rookie of the year my rookie year.' "
"You?!" Milic said, shocked.
Cummings, who averaged 23.7 points for the San Diego Clippers in his rookie season, 1982-83, laughed.
"Another history lesson," he said. The veteran power forward nodded approvingly and smiled, the way Brown does when he speaks of Iverson, the way elders do when they feel the kids are beginning to listen.

NAME: Larry Brown

LOAD-DATE: October 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Larry Brown has taken a hands-on approach to teaching Allen Iverson. (Associated Press)(pg. C1); Larry Brown instructing his 76ers, including Kebu Stewart (41), Eric Montross (00) and Brett Szabo (50). (Associated Press for The New York Times)(pg. C4)

TYPE: Biography

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October 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SPENDING IT;
How That Free Social Security Card Can Still Cost You $15

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 13; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1281 words

TWO weeks after the birth of her son, Connor, Irene M. O'Brien received a letter, amid mounds of advertisements for baby products, that angered her.
She had applied for a Social Security card for her son through the hospital. So she was startled to get the letter, which she said looked "official" but was actually from a private company offering to obtain a card for her newborn -- for $15. 
 "Someone knew I had a baby and found an easy way to try to make money," said Ms. O'Brien, 28, of River Edge, N.J. Annoyed, she tossed the letter in the trash.
Ms. O'Brien is one of many consumers -- from new parents and recently married and divorced couples to senior citizens -- who receive letters from companies that charge for services available free from Government agencies like the Social Security Administration. And while Ms. O'Brien did not pay, many other people do.
Such solicitations are so widespread that a bill has been introduced by Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, that would require companies to disclose that the services they offer can be obtained free from the Government.
It is not illegal for these companies, which have been around since the 1970's, to charge for such services. But under a 1988 amendment to the Social Security Act, it is illegal to solicit business by using words, materials, emblems or names that could lead consumers to think the company is affiliated with the Government.
Acccording to the Congressional Record, when Senator Harkin produced the bill in June, he wrote in the introduction that companies operating under "official sounding names, like Federal Document Services, Federal Record Service Corp., National Records Service and U.S. Document Services are scaring people into remitting a fee to receive basic Social Security benefits and eligibility information."
Such mailings say the firms will help obtain a Social Security card for a newborn or a change of name in the event of marriage or divorce. Some letters offer to help the elderly obtain entitlements like death benefits or information on retirement benefits, services that are also provided free by the Government.
Senator Harkin said the number of mailings had increased in the last few years amid talk of money problems at Social Security and Medicare. John B. Trollinger, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration in Baltimore, said the increase was also fueled by a new law requiring that any child, regardless of age, listed as a dependent on 1997 tax returns must have a Social Security number.
Because the companies' fees are not very high, and because consumers tend to feel embarrassed if they realize they have paid a few dollars for something that should have been free, some people may decide not to complain. Thus these companies are not the subject of intense inquiries and Capitol Hill hearings, which allows the practice to continue, Government officials said. Senator Harkin's office says the money paid to such companies for services offered free by the Government has added up to tens of millions of dollars over the last three or four years.
The services of some companies that help consumers navigate the Federal bureaucracy are not at issue. For instance, visa and courier companies typically provide expedited services for consumers seeking passports if the consumers do not need to apply in person, said Maria M. Rudensky, a State Department spokeswoman.
But of the companies that have drawn questions, Social Security mailers seem to be among the most widespread. One sent recently to a Manhattan woman after the birth of her daughter came from a firm that noted in small type that it was not part of the Government, but the letter and its business reply envelope looked and read like an official document.
Under the bold, black heading "Federal Record Service Corp," it starts: "Important notice: New Federal legislation requires that all dependents reaching one year of age by the end of the tax year must be listed by Social Security number on your income tax return." It then offers, for $15, to obtain and complete an application form for a Social Security card, which the applicant must then submit to the appropriate Social Security office; the process could delay rather than expedite the cards, Mr. Trollinger said.
In the last two years, 819 complaints have been filed against 178 entities that consumers think are using deceptive advertising in relation to Government services like issuing Social Security numbers, according to the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General The 178 entities include companies and individuals, according to the office, which has been reviewing such complaints since it was established in 1995.
Karen M. Shaffer, assistant inspector general for operations, said the office first tries to work with companies to change questionable advertisements but can then fine those that continue to violate the act. The law was amended in 1995 to remove the $100,000 cap on such penalties.
Senator Harkin's office said that when these companies feel heat, they tend to close down and reopen under new names. Ms. Shaffer said the inspector general had not levied any fines in the two years the office has been responsible for enforcement.
The Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, can investigate firms suspected of mail fraud, and Senator Harkin's staff said the Postal Service was or would be reviewing the firms named in his statement. The Postal Service said it had received complaints about many firms.
Government officials said companies read newspaper announcements, buy mailing lists, or tap into public documents like birth records, for leads.
A few months before her wedding last year, Teresa Bernardi, 28, of New Rochelle, N.Y., paid $15 to Federal Record Service to help her get a new Social Security card.
"It was a crazy time for me," she said. "I was harried, so I thought I would just pay someone to take care of getting a new card."
She said that her heart sank when she learned Social Security offered the service free and that she now "is paranoid" that someone else could be using her Social Security number.
Ms. Bernardi filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of New York City against the company, which lists addresses in Manhattan and Washington. The Better Business Bureaus in New York and Washington show that the company has "an unsatisfactory rating and has failed to eliminate the underlying source of customer complaints."
Edward J. Johnson, a spokesman for the Better Business Bureau in Washington, said Federal Record Service "represents one of the most active complaint-related activity companies in the history of the Better Business Bureau," which was founded in 1920.
Calls to the company's Manhattan office were often answered with a recorded message, but one time a woman answered and said only that she did not have time to talk. Another call was answered by a man who said he was a janitor; he declined to give a name, saying the company had a policy of making no comment. No phone number was listed for the company's Washington office.
In May 1996, the Massachusetts Attorney General sued Federal Record Service, contending that its mailings were deceptive and in violation of the state's Consumer Protection Act. According to the Attorney General's office, a settlement reached that summer requires the company to disclose that its services are available free from the Government.
Senator Harkin's bill would make such disclosure mandatory. "Our best defense is an informed consumer," he said.
Ms. Bernardi agrees. "It was a lesson learned," she said.

LOAD-DATE: October 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Teresa Bernardi paid $15 to Federal Record Service for a new Social Security card when she got married. The company also sends out forms like the one above to new parents. (Jack Manning/The New York Times)

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October 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Elderly Wield Their Might in Florida;
In the Silver-Haired Legislature, Building a Political Powerhouse

BYLINE: By MIREYA NAVARRO 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 16; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1013 words

DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 16

For a week, the corridors of power in the State Capitol were devoid of campaign finance troubles, sex scandals or hovering lobbyists. Even more strikingly, agreement to pass or reject bills came swiftly as the Florida Silver-Haired Legislature, where the average age is 80, showed little patience for posturing, meandering speeches or tardiness.
"Do you know what's the most important thing for seniors? Food!" Senator Robert P. Franklin, 81, of Broward County, said as he looked at his watch. It was 11:35 A.M. and the Honorable Gerald Kogan, Chief Justice of Florida's Supreme Court, was more than a half-hour late to address the session. 
 "Come 12 o'clock, everybody is going to run out of here," Mr. Franklin said seconds before Justice Kogan rushed in.
For a week every year, the Silver-Haired Legislature, whose 300 members include former judges, teachers, doctors, business owners and even former legislators, takes over the Senate and House chambers here to consider dozens of issues of concern to the state's elderly. They pick five priorities and take those to churches, civic clubs, condominium boards and mobile home park associations to enlist support, and then go promote them among real lawmakers.
Now in its 20th year, the Silver-Haired Legislature is a working example of grass-roots politics and why older adults are a powerful lobby in Florida. During their annual session here this week, they were courted by the Democratic Governor, Lawton Chiles, at the executive mansion for two hours; by the Attorney General, Robert Butterworth, a Democrat and possible candidate for governor next year; by the Secretary of State, Sandra B. Mortham, a Republican and possible running mate in the governor's race; and by the all-in-one Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal, Bill Nelson. Mr. Nelson, a Democrat who is up for re-election next year, sent an aide on Wednesday to ask to be squeezed into the group's program.
About half of the states now have similar bodies, but Florida, a state where 3.5 million of 14 million residents are 60 or older, has among the most active and politically influential senior legislatures. Its members estimate that more than 100 of the issues they debated have gone on to become state law. Their greatest achievement: the creation in 1988 of a State Department of Elder Affairs.
The Silver-Haired Legislature, whose members must be at least 55, has also pushed for bills to eliminate waste, fight consumer fraud, and press for adequate health care. It has also taken stands when other organizations for older people have balked. This year, for example, the senior legislators were alone in filing a friend-of-the-court brief with the State Supreme Court as it considered a ban on physician-assisted suicide.
The senior legislature sided with repealing the law, one of their priorities last year, saying that to deny such relief thwarts the rights of many older people. The court let the law stand, so this year the members of the Silver-Haired Legislature plan to take the fight to the full Florida Legislature.
"We come up with ideas on the cutting edge," said Monroe Treiman, 77, a former judge from Hernando County in central Florida, who serves as House Speaker. "We don't expect the priorities to be adopted right off the bat. We figure it's going to take some educating of the legislators" -- the real ones.
On Tuesday, for instance, the senior legislature's joint Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee debated a bill urging the state to approve the use of radiation to protect food from bacteria. Senator Bobbe Taffel, 70, from Palm Beach County, persuaded the panel to vote it down with an argument that questioned the safety of irradiation.
"More than 30 years later, we found out X-rays lead to muscle damage," she said. "If any of you want to know what a destroyed muscle looks like, see me later."
Up next was a bill requiring all residents over 75 to be tested for "reflexes, sight and coordination" in order to renew a driver's license. Representative Lemoria Lester, 69, a Baptist church deacon from Palm Beach County, spoke for the bill, saying that "it should be more important to give up driving than to cause a death." But opposition was overwhelming.
"I'm 80 and I drive very well indeed," said Representative Evelyn Winchester, from Largo on the Gulf coast. "I'm very alert. I've seen people in their 50's and 60's who are awful."
Although many are active in party politics as individuals, members of the Silver-Haired Legislature strive to appear nonpartisan. Language, nonetheless, can get blunt.
"People are stupid to do it," Representative Jeanette Slavin, from Delray Beach, said in arguing for a bill to protect consumers who pre-pay their funeral expenses if the funeral home goes out of business.
Representative Evelyn Fisher, 77, from Largo, one of three committee members who sheepishly admitted to pre-paying, responded that she had done it "because prices go up." The bill passed with a requirement that the customers' money be placed in a surety bond.
Members of the senior legislature get no government money, paying their own way to the state capital and usually seeking sponsors for some expenses, like meals. Costs and illnesses have kept the body from filling all 120 seats in the House and 40 in the Senate. This year, 97 delegates from the state's 11 regions showed up.
For Halley B. Lewis, 87, a Democrat who served two terms in the Florida Legislature in the late 1930's, the senior legislature is a matter of habit. "They speed it up," he said of the senior body, compared to the real one. "Otherwise, it's the same."
And while some of the elder senators and representatives may argue a little louder and may be more forgetful than their junior counterparts, many look decades younger than their age. They attribute it to remaining active in civic life.
"When I come here, I feel like a big shot," said Senator Taffel, a retired school librarian, mother of two and grandmother of six. "Then I go home and the kids go, 'What do you do there?' "

LOAD-DATE: October 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Although she needs a walker to help her go about her business in the State Capitol now, Ruth Hodges, left, remains a member of Florida's Silver-Haired Legislature, as does Helen Elleck, 91, the oldest person there. (Manuel M. Chavez for The New York Times)

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October 19, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ANALYSTS EXPECT HEALTH PREMIUMS TO RISE SHARPLY

BYLINE: By PETER T. KILBORN 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 6; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1175 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Oct. 18

After four years of near stability brought about by the spread of managed care, the premiums that most Americans pay for their health insurance are poised to rise significantly next year, industry groups and health care consultants report.
Many say the average charge for health benefits, deducted from paychecks, will go up at least 5 percent, or more than twice as much as wages and inflation have been rising. For very large employers with great negotiating clout, the increases could be smaller, they say. Such companies in California, for example, appear to be holding the line at 1 percent. But across the nation, at some small companies with older and illness-prone employees, analysts say, the premiums might rise as much as 30 percent. 
 "We're finding about a 5 to 10 percent increase across the board with our renewal rates" for managed care plans, said Mark Psleger, director of marketing for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in Chicago, which represents the nation's Blue Cross companies.
"I'm sorry; it's going to happen," said John C. Erb, a principal of the William M. Mercer benefits consulting firm who surveys employers on health care trends. Mr. Erb, who is based in Miami, said he had three large clients in the area. One negotiated a health benefit increase from its insurance company of 3.5 percent. "But one had 12 percent," he said, "and the other had about 6."
Chris Jennings, President Clinton's chief White House health care adviser, said: "Do I expect premiums to go up at a higher rate than in the last few years? The answer is probably yes."
But with most private industry contracts still being negotiated, with the economic impact hard to discern as yet and with costs stable in two big Government health insurance programs -- Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor -- Mr. Jennings said he did not yet see grounds for Government complaint or intervention.
Most experts doubt that the 1998 increases portend an explosion in premiums like that of the 1980's and early 1990's, which was driven by surging hospital and doctor fees. That led to Mr. Clinton's failed effort to overhaul the health care system, and to the proliferation of managed care plans that have achieved most of the cost savings that were one of the President's goals.
Many health industry analysts expected significant increases this year, too, as insurance companies and managed care organizations began trying to raise premiums to recapture profits that they were losing after they froze or cut premiums in the intensely competitive market for patients and their employers. And they had predicted that medical costs would increase by 5 to 10 percent in 1998, increasing the pressure to raise premiums.
But in contract negotiations this year, employers resisted the pressure. Thus, the average premium has risen just 2.1 percent this year, said Jon Gabel, director of the Center for Survey Research at KPMG Peat Marwick, a large accounting and consulting firm.
"But they underpriced their products," Mr. Gabel said. "They ran out of profits. And now they're trying to catch up."
This fall, one giant, often trend-setting employer, the Federal Government, agreed to substantial increases for the first time in five years. Nine million Federal employees, retirees and family members, from members of Congress to park rangers, are covered by contracts negotiated by the Office of Personnel Management. Under the 1998 contracts that the office signed last month, Federal employees face an average 8.5 percent increase under the 350 health plans covering them.
Because of the formula used to allocate payment of the premium, many employees will actually pay about 15 percent more each month, though still somewhat less than most private industry workers with equivalent coverage. The Government, which, like most employers, shares the cost of health insurance with its workers, will pay 6 percent more.
As a result, Federal workers who insure only themselves will see an average charge of $27.74, up from $24.42, for health care in their twice-monthly paychecks next year, an increase of 14 percent. The average charge for family coverage will rise 16 percent, from $54.15 to $62.79.
What is also driving the increase is an underlying 6 or 7 percent annual rise in medical cost inflation, a result of new technology and an aging population, said Edward Flynn, the personnel office's associate director for retirement and insurance.
Managed care programs helped purge the health care system of cost increases exceeding medical inflation, he said. "But there's a point at which the big gains from managed care begin to diminish," he said, and future gains will be much smaller. "All employers are going to face the same things we have this year," he said, "and I don't think they will be as successful as we have been."
Indeed, managed care groups can be expected to invoke the contracts they worked out for Federal employees in negotiations with private industry. "That program's a bellwether of what we'll see in rates," said Kate Paul, president of the Rocky Mountain division of Kaiser Permanente, a part of the nation's largest health maintenance organization.
The parent Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals has said it will lose money this year for the first time in its 50 years in business. Many other health care organizations and major insurance companies like Aetna, the Cigna Corporation and the Prudential Insurance Company of America are suffering losses this year or acute erosion of their profits.
The dynamics of the marketplace have shifted in other ways. In many communities, the fierce competition for customers has driven out some contenders, leaving those remaining freer to seek higher rates.
Meanwhile, doctors and hospitals, once pressed by insurers and health maintenance organizations to cut charges and fees if they wanted to participate in the organizations' programs and keep their patients, are now uniting into stronger bargaining groups. "They're not stupid," Mr. Erb of the Mercer firm said.
In addition, employees are demanding more choice in their health plans. In a reaction against the closed system of a health maintenance organization, in which patients make appointments with a "gatekeeper" doctor who can refer them only to specialists within the network, employees are choosing more open preferred-provider organizations and point-of-service plans that let them bypass gatekeepers and seek out specialists anywhere.
Greater choice also involves higher costs. Tom Bowser, executive vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, predicts increases of 5 to 8 percent for H.M.O. members, but 9 to 12 percent for preferred provider organizations. For very small programs with disproportionately high numbers of chronically sick members, he predicts increases exceeding 30 percent.
Only the largest employers, and those in cities where competition for customers remains fierce, are expecting lower increases than the 5 percent or more that most face.

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October 20, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Immigration Law's Fine Print Emerges, Setting Off a Debate About Welfare Provisions

BYLINE: By CELIA W. DUGGER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1305 words

On Dec. 19, the Government will begin enforcing a new law that will make it more difficult for poor and working-class immigrants living legally in the United States to have members of their families immigrate to join them.
The law will require an income test for the half a million legal immigrants and citizens who annually seek to bring relatives to the United States. Research sponsored by the Government found that 30 percent of the sponsors of immigrants would not have passed the new income test. 
 Under the new law, the sponsoring relatives will generally be required to prove that they earn 125 percent of the poverty level, or $20,062 this year for a family of four.
Forty pages of rules spelling out how the law will be applied and when it takes effect will be published today in The Federal Register.
The new law also requires the sponsoring families to sign contracts to support the newcomers and to reimburse the Government if their relatives receive welfare benefits.
But the new rules limit the definition of such public aid to the major anti-poverty programs -- food stamps, Medicaid and income supports for low-income families and for poor people who are elderly or disabled.
The new reimbursement requirement will have little impact for at least a few years because the welfare law adopted last year made most legal immigrants who enter the country after August 1996 ineligible for the major Federal anti-poverty programs for at least five years.
The rules exempt the sponsoring families from reimbursing the Government if their relatives use a range of smaller programs, including school lunches, Head Start, foster care, student loans and emergency medical care.
Before the new law was passed, there was no income requirement for families sponsoring their relatives, nor had the courts found sponsors' general promises to support relatives to be legally enforceable.
Typically, able-bodied immigrants who showed proof that they had a job waiting for them in the United States were not required to have sponsors who promised to support them indefinitely.
The new rules drew sharp criticism on Friday from an author of the law, Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas and chairman of the House immigration subcommittee, who said the Clinton Administration had defined the liability of sponsoring families too narrowly and should have defined welfare benefits more broadly.
"The effect of the Administration's groundless interpretation will be to relieve immigrants' sponsors of all responsibility to repay the taxpayers for a vast set of welfare benefits," Mr. Smith said.
But Federal officials said their interpretation of which welfare benefits were covered was consistent with both the law and Congressional intent. They included programs in which benefits are based on recipients' incomes and spending is mandated by Congress. Programs like Head Start, whose financing is discretionary, were not included.
The Clinton Administration opposed the new income test for sponsors, but it supported the requirement that sponsors sign contracts to support their relatives.
Despite their disagreement over the definition of welfare benefits, both the Congressional authors of the provision and Clinton Administration officials say the law, part of the immigration bill adopted in September 1996, sends an important signal to immigrants that their sponsoring families are responsible for supporting them.
Under the guidelines, sponsors will have to commit to supporting immigrant relatives until the new arrivals have become citizens, worked for 10 years in this country, left the United States permanently or died. If the immigrants receive welfare benefits, state and local government agencies will be able to sue their sponsors for reimbursement.
Advocates for immigrants and some scholars say the income test will have unnecessarily harsh consequences and is likely to backfire. It will prevent many poor and working-class immigrants and citizens who do not meet the new test from legally bringing in relatives even though those relatives would be unlikely to wind up on welfare under the new welfare law, they said. And it will encourage wives, children and others who want to be reunited with their families in this country to come illegally, the critics of the income test say.
"It's another example of the law of unintended consequences," said Thomas Espenshade, a sociology professor at Princeton University. "It's particularly perverse because Congress has long set as its objective to preserve legal immigration and reduce the number of immigrants coming illegally."
The new income test will make it extremely difficult for immigrants who work in the underground economy and do not pay taxes to bring in relatives, even if the relative has a job offer here.
For example, some farm workers, day laborers and sweatshop workers may have trouble qualifying as sponsors. The new guidelines state that sponsors must provide income tax returns for the past three years to establish their income.
The new law is also likely to hit Mexicans and Salvadorans hard because their incomes are generally lower than those of other groups, according to research sponsored by the Immigration and Naturalization Service that has not yet been released. The analysis of a random survey of 2,160 statements signed by sponsors of family immigrants in 1994 found that roughly half of Mexicans and Salvadorans would not have met the new requirement.
A third of Dominicans and Koreans, a fourth of Chinese and Jamaicans and a fifth of Filipinos, Indians and Vietnamese would not have met the requirement, say several people familiar with the survey, including both critics and supporters of the new law. Over all, the survey found that 3 immigrants in 10 had incomes below the new standard.
Similarly, a study of 1993 Census Bureau data by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research group in Washington, found that 40 percent of immigrant families and a quarter of Americans born in the United States would not make enough to sponsor an immigrant.
But it is impossible to predict how many prospective immigrants will be excluded because the guidelines provide two ways that poor families can bring in their relatives, even if the head of household alone does not earn enough to qualify.
Family members who have lived in the sponsoring household for at least six months can pool their earnings to reach the income standard, though each person must then sign a contract promising to help support the newcomer.
The family is also allowed to find an employer, friend or relative who is not part of the household to co-sponsor the immigrant. Again, the co-sponsor has to sign a contract to support the immigrant in hard times.
Advocates for immigrants say that families who are considering sponsoring relatives fear that the new rules can spell financial ruin in extreme circumstances and play havoc with relations within families.
What if a relative develops a catastrophically expensive illness after arriving? What if a husband brings in his wife, and she leaves him for another man? Under the guidelines, divorce does not release a sponsor from the responsibility to support a former spouse. In fact, immigrants can sue their sponsors for financial support under the new rules.
The immigration service says it will keep computer records on the estimated 565,000 immigrants who will be sponsored annually by family members and will make this information available to state and Federal agencies that provide welfare benefits.
Sponsoring relatives will be required to notify the immigration service if they move. Sponsors who fail to send in a change of address form can be fined $250 to $2,000, or up to $5,000 if they know that a relative they sponsored has received welfare benefits.

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October 20, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final
(New Jersey)

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING;
Program to Protect the Elderly

BYLINE: By JESSE McKINLEY

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 76 words

DATELINE: WESTAMPTON TOWNSHIP

Hoping to discourage crimes against the elderly, police officials in Westampton Township are to announce a special program today to prevent crimes often committed against the elderly, a sheriff's official said. 
 The program, paid for in part by a $52,000 grant for Burlington County Office of Aging, will include teaching older residents about confidence schemes and home security, said Jean Stanfield, the undersheriff of Burlington County.

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October 23, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

In America;
A Revolution Subsides

BYLINE: By BOB HERBERT

SECTION: Section A; Page 27; Column 1; Editorial Desk

LENGTH: 705 words

It's not more than a stirring at the moment, like a soft breeze that heralds a change of seasons. But it's there. It's happening.
The conservative hold on the national electorate is loosening. 
 The so-called conservative revolution has more or less exhausted itself. It has left its mark, but it has also left a majority of Americans to face the 21st century with the unsettling sense that they are on their own when it comes to such potentially overwhelming matters as earning a living, raising a family, sending their children through college, caring for aging parents, securing adequate health care and providing for their own retirement in an increasingly insensitive and unforgiving global economy.
The conservative philosophy tells these working Americans to forget about turning to their government for help. There is nothing to be done. We are in a new era in which giant corporations rule the economic world according to the merciless dictates of a free market. The best the government can do is get out of the way.
Not surprisingly, this cynical, self-serving and ultimately inhumane approach is increasingly being seen as unsatisfactory. The conservative revolution has not raised the standard of living of most Americans, has threatened such cherished and hard-won supports as Social Security and Medicare, and has not come up with a game plan for addressing the economic and cultural challenges ahead.
Ever so subtly, ever so warily, the American gaze is drifting to the left. Let's not get crazy. We're not talking about a paradigm shift. And God forbid we should use the term liberal. That's out. But "progressive" is O.K.
Whatever the terminology, the evidence seems to be there. We found that there was a great deal of sympathy for the workers striking against United Parcel Service, and overwhelming public support for an increase in the minimum wage. Last fall we saw Republican Congressional candidates sprinting away from Newt Gingrich and the harshest elements of the conservative ideology. And in the past two Presidential elections we have seen the so-called Reagan Democrats, as worried as anyone about the economic uncertainties, returning to the fold to vote for Bill Clinton.
A recently published book, "The New Majority: Toward a Popular Progressive Politics," argues that an opportunity exists for the Democratic Party to regain the support of a solid majority of the electorate by re-establishing its traditional identification with the struggles and aspirations of working Americans -- the middle class, the working class and the working poor.
The book was edited by Stanley B. Greenberg, a pollster and former adviser to President Clinton, and Theda Skocpol, a professor of government at Harvard. It's a compilation of essays by progressive (get used to that word) thinkers, including the historian Alan Brinkley; the president of the Economic Policy Institute, Jeff Faux, and the sociologist William Julius Wilson.
The book points out that while we have been in an economic recovery for several years now, the gains are not being properly shared. Most working Americans -- despite a booming economy and a recent modest uptick in wages -- are either treading water economically or slowly sinking.
A poll taken not too long ago showed that 60 percent of whites, 58 percent of blacks and 55 percent of Latinos say that, "compared to 10 years ago, they are now farther away from attaining the American dream."
Very few of those respondents see their interests being well served by the Republican Party, the conservative ideology or the corporate juggernaut. The question is whether the Democratic Party can get its act together and seize the opportunity to fashion this new majority. It can do so only by addressing in a compelling way the real-world concerns of working families.
Right now both parties are stumbling around Washington in a dance of mutual incoherence. The Republican leadership is feuding and the top Democrats are ducking subpoenas and hiding from special prosecutors. If there are any good ideas around, they are being carefully concealed.
Which is a shame. Because there is a new majority that is just waiting for responsible, progressive leadership.

LOAD-DATE: October 23, 1997

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October 23, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Walter W. Curtis, 84, Bishop Of Bridgeport for 27 Years

BYLINE: By JAMES BARRON

SECTION: Section D; Page 27; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 401 words

Bishop Walter W. Curtis, the former head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, died on Saturday at St. Joseph Manor, a nursing home in Trumbull, Conn. He was 84.
The cause was pneumonia, said the Rev. Michael K. Jones, the vice chancellor of the diocese and the secretary to Bishop Curtis's successor, Bishop Edward M. Egan. 
 Bishop Curtis was the second bishop of the diocese, which covers Fairfield County and had 286,000 Roman Catholics when he was installed in 1961. In his 27-year tenure, the diocese grew to include more than 300,000 Catholics, and he started a high school building program and established a string of homes for the elderly.
He also decided to keep St. Augustine Cathedral in downtown Bridgeport in the 1970's, when church officials considered moving the spiritual and administrative center of the diocese to a less urban site. Instead, he oversaw the renovation of the cathedral and, in 1979, its rededication.
Born on May 3, 1913, in Jersey City, Bishop Curtis graduated from Seton Hall University in 1934. He was trained at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, N.J., and the North American College in Rome, and was ordained there and assigned to the Archdiocese of Newark in 1938. He did graduate work at Gregorian University in Rome before being appointed a professor of moral theology at Immaculate Conception. He was awarded a doctorate from Catholic University in Washington in 1978.
In 1951, he was named to the editorial board of the archdiocesan newspaper, The Advocate. Bishop Curtis was named auxiliary bishop to Archbishop Thomas A. Boland of Newark in June 1957. In 1958, he was named pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Bloomfield, N.J.
Pope John XXIII appointed him to the post in Bridgeport Sept. 23, 1961. He was installed in November of that year.
In the 1960's, he founded Sacred Heart University as a commuter college. It is now the third largest Catholic university in New England. He also started two nursing homes, the Pope John Paul II Health Care Center in Danbury and the St. Camillus Health Care Center in Stamford.
In addition, he founded the Fairfield Foundation, a nondenominational group that helps people in need in Fairfield County.
Bishop Curtis stepped down in 1988, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.
He is survived by a sister, Edna Feehan of Bridgewater, N.J., and by six nieces and nephews.

NAME: Walter W. Curtis

LOAD-DATE: October 23, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Bishop Walter Curtis in St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport. (The New York Times, 1971)
      

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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October 24, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Residential Real Estate;
Luxury Assisted Living On the Upper West Side

BYLINE: By RACHELLE GARBARINE 

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 796 words

Hoping to capture a segment of Manhattan's growing elderly population, developers are converting an apartment hotel on the Upper West Side into luxury rental housing that will provide tenants with services and help with daily chores.
At present, 120 of the 217 units in the prewar building at 333 West 86th Street, between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive, are vacant and are being turned into assisted-living units. The studio to two-bedroom apartments, renting for $4,000 to $7,500 a month with hotel-like living arrangements, will offer residents meals, recreation and housekeeping services as well as assistance with dressing and the monitoring of medication. The remaining 97 occupied units are rent-stabilized. 
 The $63 million project is being developed by the Kapson Senior Quarters Corporation of Woodbury, N.Y., and the Philips International Holding Company of Manhattan. They are leasing the 22-story structure, which will be renamed Senior Quarters at West 86th Street, for 45 years from the owner, a group of limited investors. The building is now known as the Cambridge House.
The former lessee, Cambridge House Hotel Inc., ran the building as a residential hotel since the early 1980's. Under the conversion, which began last month and is to be completed next September, improvements like new mechanical systems and elevators and refurbished hallways are also planned. So is the renovation of 21,000 square feet of space on the lobby and lower levels into common areas for the assisted-living residences, like a dining room, beauty salon, convenience shop and activity-exercise room. The top floor will become a library.
"Given the city's demographics, there is a need for such housing, and the building's location in a residential neighborhood close to shopping and transportation supports it," said Evan A. Kaplan, Kapson's president. Despite the complexities of developing a partly occupied building, he said, "With over 100 vacant units, we can make the economics work."
Kapson owns and operates 20 similar projects in the metropolitan area and has 22 more under development, including 4 in New York City. Two of those are a 143-unit building in Kew Gardens and a 206-unit structure in Riverdale. They are being done in partnership with J. E. Levine Builders of Douglaston, Queens, which is the general contractor at the Manhattan project.
Assisted-living residences are among the newer alternatives to nursing homes for older people who need some help, but do not need constant medical care. They have been slow to come to New York City in general and Manhattan in particular because of high development costs and tight regulations.
By separating the housing operations from the health care services, companies like Kapson have found an entry. They avoid the need for state licenses or special permits to develop such projects.
The 86th Street conversion will be among the first upscale projects in Manhattan to offer such housing, though more are planned. They include projects at Battery Park City, at the former Towers Nursing Home site on Central Park West, and on Fifth Avenue between 109th and 110th Streets. One of four redevelopment plans for the old armory, set on one block from 14th to 15th Streets between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas, also includes assisted-living units.
The 1990 Census found 953,317 people 65 or older in the city, of whom 102,554 were 85 or older, including 23,315l in Manhattan. That segment of the population, the fastest growing, is expected to rise to 212,000 by 2010, indicating a need for specialized housing with some health service, industry experts said.
"We welcome such housing," said Herbert W. Stupp, the commissioner of New York City's Department for the Aging, "because it provides more options for and another way to keep seniors of all income brackets in the city."
Existing tenants at the 86th Street building, while wary, are taking a wait-and-see attitude about their building's future, said Charles A. Carner, a member of the Cambridge House Tenants Association and a 23-year resident. "There's a sense of cautious optimism," Mr. Carner said. "Any physical improvements made to the building will be a benefit." He said he also hopes the new population will bring stability.
The assisted-living units at the building will range in size from 294 to 1,251 square feet. There is a charge of $1,000 a month for an additional person. Personal care assistance can be provided at extra cost by a Kapson affiliate and will be available to existing tenants.
Mr. Kaplan said he expected most of the renters at the building to be in their 80's and have annual incomes of at least $65,000. He said leasing is expected to begin by December, with occupancy next September.

LOAD-DATE: October 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The apartment hotel on West 86th Street in Manhattan that developers are converting into luxury rental housing, with services provided. (Nancy Siesel/The New York Times)

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October 24, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

INSIDE METRO

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 171 words


ELECTRIC CAR'S JOURNEY -- For two decades, electric cars have been seen as a "someday" kind of technology.  But yesterday, a pioneer of electric car design drove a consumer-ready model from Boston to Manhattan. B3. 

PARKING DISPUTE -- A dispute between a Bronx parking lot owner and transportation officials, which began three weeks ago, has grown nastier. B3.
 
BRAWLEY CASE IN SPOTLIGHT -- Nine years later, the Tawana Brawley case creeps back to the public consciousness in a slander suit. B4.
 
TRIPLE SLAYING -- A wholesale diamond dealer and two other men were killed in the merchant's modest home on a quiet street in Bogota, N.J. B4.
 
ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL -- Mayor Giuliani touted his record against organized crime. But his Democratic opponent, Ruth W. Messinger, tried to shift the spotlight to his fund-raising. B7.
 
LUXURY-ASSISTED LIVING -- Hoping to attract a segment of the elderly population, developers are converting an apartment hotel in Manhattan into luxury rental housing. B8.

LOAD-DATE: October 24, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo (Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times)

TYPE: Summary

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October 25, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Health Care's Weird Geography

SECTION: Section A; Page 10; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 509 words

In medicine, as in real estate, location turns out to be everything. That disturbing message emerges from an extensive survey by Dr. John Wennberg and colleagues at the Dartmouth Medical School, which shows that hospitalization rates, surgical choices and other medical practices vary across regions for reasons that appear unrelated to patient desires or medical needs.
The Dartmouth study shows that Medicare enrollees in Miami receive about twice as many surgical procedures and tests as enrollees in Minneapolis, even after adjusting for differences in the incidence of illness between the two cities. People are five times more likely to use hospital intensive care during the last few months of life in some regions than in others. 
 There are more than 330 physicians per 100,000 residents in White Plains, N.Y., but fewer than 90 in McAllen, Tex. Surgeons in some regions perform three times as many coronary bypass grafts or non-emergency prostate operations as their colleagues in other regions.
The shocking fact is that Dr. Wennberg finds no medical necessity for these disparities. The elderly who live in Minneapolis, where Medicare costs are low, live as long and as well as the elderly in Miami and other regions where surgery and end-of-life intensive care are more prevalent. Hospitalization for illnesses like asthma is three times more frequent in Boston than New Haven, with no evidence that Bostonians are healthier.
One implication of such "idiosyncratic" care is that the nation could, by using less costly but equally effective treatment, cut specific types of surgery by perhaps 40 percent. The more profound implication is that millions of patients across the country are routinely subjected to risky surgery and invasive procedures without medical justification. Indeed, the study shows that "medically necessary" -- the standard that health plans use to define coverage -- is largely meaningless. What is deemed necessary in Miami is deemed unnecessary in Minneapolis, and no one seems to suffer.
Dr. Wennberg's favorite process for finding the best medical decisions is to give patients more say in making them. In a Colorado study, patients informed of the benefits and risks were less keen on surgery to eliminate mildly uncomfortable prostate symptoms than were surgeons. More medical research and dissemination of the results would help patients make sensible decisions.
Managed care was supposed to be, and may yet prove to be, another solution, provided consumer complaints about ease of access and choice of physicians in managed-care plans can be satisfied.  Under fee-for-service coverage, doctors are largely unsupervised and tend to hold onto bad habits.  Managed care was supposed to study medical outcomes from different treatment practices and replicate the best practices for all patients. That happens at some managed-care plans. But judging from the Dartmouth study, there is little evidence that managed care has yet turned idiosyncratic medical practices into a more reliable science.

LOAD-DATE: October 25, 1997

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October 25, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

THE 1997 ELECTIONS: CAMPAIGN JOURNAL -- THE MAYOR;
While Not a Natural, Giuliani Has Learned to Work a Crowd

BYLINE: By R. W. APPLE Jr. 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1248 words

Nobody would call Rudolph W. Giuliani a natural.
In his first campaign for mayor, eight years ago, and to a degree in his second, four years ago, he was awkward, wooden, ill at ease. His gestures were metronomic, his smiles forced. The suits fit badly, the hair was hopeless. Like Richard M. Nixon, he seemed exceptionally ill-suited to the stump. 
 But Mr. Giuliani learned, and these days, he works the crowds as if he loves it. The crowds reciprocate. His oratorical style will not make people forget Mario M. Cuomo's any day soon, but people laugh at his jokes and joke back.
Nothing is too corny. Forget the lesson of frozen-faced Calvin Coolidge and the Indian war bonnet that he was once photographed in; the Mayor poses in funny hats, too.  Crossing from Manhattan to Staten Island this week, he donned a ferry captain's cap and mugged for the cameras.
Staten Island is the most Republican of the boroughs, and polls show Mr. Giuliani with a bigger lead there over his Democratic rival, Ruth W. Messinger, than anywhere else. So the Mayor could expect to be well received. What was surprising was how enthusiastically a man known better for his fierceness than his charm threw himself into the hokum of New York-style campaigning.
At a daily news conference, the Mayor took a few pokes at Ms. Messinger, linking her to what he called huge job losses during the administration of former Mayor David W. Dinkins. Without naming her or them, he described her supporters as "the doomsday people, the naysayers, the can't-be-done crowd." He fended off charges that his administration had been sloppy about social services.
But most of the time, he sounded like a candidate cruising worry free. "We have had some successes," he said rather loftily, "and my opponent has not made a case for a change in the direction of city government."
At City Hall, he may be aggressive and even abrasive. But not on the campaign trail, at least not lately, at least not since the snide comment about his opponent's nonattendance at Mass. Graciousness comes more easily to Mr. Giuliani -- as it does to any candidate -- while sitting atop a big lead.
In Staten Island, he posed with anyone who asked -- from three young girls to a dozen women, some of them blue haired, at the Mount Loretto Senior Center in Tottenville. He signed autographs on newspapers, paper napkins and campaign fliers. He hugged a few of the elderly, kissed a few and danced with one, while Guy V. Molinari, the Staten Island Borough President, crooned, "When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie . . . " He told them about his 88-year-old mother, told a Jackie Mason story, told them they had built New York.
In the ferry terminal, Mr. Giuliani's aides herded the commuters toward him as they left the boat -- the John F. Kennedy, named in a day when the Democrats still owned City Hall. One woman complained about cuts in financing for after-school activities, and another shouted, "Not everyone likes you, Rudy! Boo! Boo!" But hundreds of others -- white, black, Hispanic, Chinese-American, Indian-American, leather-jacketed, stockbroker-suited, jog-togged -- happily shook his hand, and many said things like, "Doing a great job, Mayor."
Clearly, the Mayor connects with his demanding, fickle, wildly heterogeneous electorate. Maybe not so fully as Edward I. Koch or John V. Lindsay at the peaks of their careers, not with the magnetism that made people yell, "Hiya, Rocky!" when Nelson A. Rockefeller hit the streets and certainly not with the charisma that set crowds to tousling Robert F. Kennedy's hair and stealing his cuff links. But he connects.
And he knows now how to shake hands: "You shake their hands, you don't let them shake yours." He learned, he said, after he shook hands with 4,000 firemen at the St. Patrick's Day parade one year -- "you've never seen hands as big as New York firefighters" -- and had to ice his right hand for days.
"Most politicians end up pretty much the way they start out," said Mr. Molinari, not always a Giuliani ally. "Not him. The old, stiff Rudy is gone. There's been a transformation, no question; he's learned how to meet and greet."
Even in a city of 7.3 million, Mr. Giuliani practices retail politics whenever he gets the chance, and he gets the chance a lot. New Yorkers approach him with the kinds of questions that ward heelers deal with in most big cities.
Thekla Hansen-Young, 15, who moved here from Hawaii with her mother six weeks ago, approached the Mayor about an intern's job. He invited her to walk around with him so he could evaluate her meet-and-greet technique. Stephanie Nesbitt, who asked for help in finding a clerical position, got a promise that "we'll call you -- someone from my office will call you tomorrow."
When one of the heavy motorized metal doors started closing while he talked to another commuter, threatening to make her miss her (city-owned) boat, he pulled rank, telling the doorman to wait a second so she could finish her spiel and still get on board.
"Service politics," he said, with half a wink.
Like any successful pol, Mr. Giuliani knows the uses of incumbency.  Standing in front of Borough Hall in St. George Terminal, he used a chart listing crime statistics for the last four years: homicide down 40 percent, burglary 46.7 percent, auto theft 47.75 percent, overall crime 35.81 percent.
He took credit for it, of course, and for the city's prosperity, and for other good things that have happened on his watch (though to be fair, he did not claim responsibility for the cerulean blue sky or the Statue of Liberty or the beauty of the sharply etched Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines).
Before opening the senior center, he mentioned that it was he and Mr. Molinari, a fellow Republican, who had found the money to build it. And he pointedly reminded Staten Islanders that he had abolished fares on their ferry.
Compared with politicians who strut the national and international stages, though, Mr. Giuliani sounded a lot less partisan, no doubt in part because he is a Republican running in a city where Democrats predominate by a 5-to-1 ratio.
He sounded proud, in a conversation later, that he had managed to agree on three budgets with a City Council composed of 45 Democrats and 6 Republicans (though actually he is required to do so by law), and he made a point of listing occasions when he had worked with President Clinton (like the crime bill) as well as mentioning issues on which they have disagreed, such as the line-item veto.
"When I was young, bipartisan cooperation on foreign policy and major domestic programs was the norm," the Mayor said, "and here in New York the greatest mayors, like Koch and La Guardia, have taken the same approach. That's my model, but in Washington today, partisanship gets worse every year. They spend all their time settling old scores, and the voters can't stand it."
The main reason he expected to be re-elected, Mr. Giuliani said, was the decline in crime. He called crime, which is going down in most parts of the country, "the major impediment to people enjoying the spirit and all the resources that New York City has to offer." The main reason for the decline in New York, the Mayor argued, was the redeployment of police forces every week so they could work on high-crime neighborhoods.
"People come to you and tell you they need five more cops on their block," he said. "You can only give them three, but they're happy with you."

LOAD-DATE: October 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani celebrating the renovation of Mount Loretto Senior Center on Staten Island. The Mayor, once known as a stiff campaigner, has learned the skills of personal political contact. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times)(pg. B5)

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October 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Beyond 50 and Blazing Trails on the Frontier

BYLINE: By CAROLYN BATTISTA 

SECTION: Section 14CN; Page 10; Column 3; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1173 words

ONE afternoon Carole Bobruff and Dale Callahan were at their kitchen table, talking about health care, money, entertainment, relationships and a sprightly fellow named Otto. Most mornings they're in a studio at radio station WSUB-AM in Groton, talking about such matters -- and more -- with listeners in a dozen states.
The Mystic residents are hosts of "Senior Focus," a radio show for those they call "seasoned citizens." The show, which began in 1990 with local, once-a-week broadcasts, has been syndicated since February. Now on the air Monday through Friday, it's a success with listeners and with advertisers. "I think that's because it's something that hasn't been done before," said Ms. Bobruff. She doesn't know of any other prime-time radio talk show "that's targeted to the needs of the 50-plus audience and reflects the tremendous diversity of our interests." There's certainly no other show where Otto -- a character that she created -- gets to speak his seasoned mind. 
 On the air, Ms. Bobruff, who's 62, uses the name Carole Marks. She and Mr. Callahan, who's 59, chat with each other, callers and guests (including politicians, doctors and a milkman). They aim to inform as well as entertain. "Now that we're living so much longer, we need information to get through the next 20 or 30 years," said Ms. Bobruff.
The two also hope to open some eyes to the needs, contributions and power of older people. "We're on a frontier, but people don't know it," Ms. Bobruff said. For one thing, Mr. Callahan said, advertisers are just beginning to recognize the growing market of people over 50. "They're still concentrating on people 24-45, but they're suddenly realizing that they may be targeting the wrong market. It's economics," he said.
Senior Focus is "a fight against agism -- and that's a fight that has to be fought," added Ms. Bobruff. On the show the character Otto (played by an actor) often observes that Americans treasure old things, not old people. "We have to turn our society around a little bit," said Ms. Bobruff.
The hour-long show is syndicated through Talk America II, a radio talk show network based in Canton, Mass. Besides reaching WSUB audiences in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Long Island, the show is sent via satellite to stations in Arkansas, California, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada and Texas. Broadcasts are live, not taped, with guests interviewed in the studio or by phone.
Much -- but not all -- has changed since 1990, when Ms. Bobruff, who'd been the director of a volunteer program staffed by older people, decided that a radio show could help older people be better informed and less isolated. She'd never done any radio work before, but she plunged into the tasks that she still carries out -- researching topics, scheduling interviews, writing scripts and selling advertisements. "I've never been afraid to take a risk," said Ms. Bobruff, who went to college in her 40's. Mr. Callahan, who'd never been involved in radio either, gamely became the show's producer. "We were together, and she needed some help," he explained. His past experience included selling insurance and cars.
In 1995, he became a co-host. He says that his sales background helps him to put people at ease, "so we can talk." Ms. Bobruff says, "It's valuable to have a male point of view."
Mr. Callahan reads three or four newspapers daily, to stay informed on varied issues and perspectives. Ms. Bobruff finds the Internet useful. The two share in the show's national and local advertising revenues. In Groton, Ms. Bobruff said, Senior Focus draws more local advertising than the Rush Limbaugh show.
Since syndication, Senior Focus has had more guests with national appeal. The hosts frequently mention toll-free numbers -- like that of a national insurance association, for instance -- so that listeners anywhere can get information on particular topics. This summer they introduced Otto, a character who has apparently lived for centuries. "He's the ultimate senior citizen," said Ms.  Bobruff. "He's seen it all. He can comment."
Recent topics on the show have ranged from the workings of the weather to the discovery of the genes linked to macular degeneration, a visual impairment. Guests have included Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, who discussed the state's settlement with tobacco companies; the artist Peter Max, who talked about his work, and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who talked about his proposal to support training for medical students in gerontology.
It wasn't easy, Ms. Bobruff said, to persuade Jack LaLanne, the long-time promoter of physical fitness, to be interviewed at 9 A.M., Connecticut time. That's 6 A.M., California time -- and that's when Mr. LaLanne, a Californian who's 83, is into his daily workout. Nor was the 9 A.M. slot so good for the milkman who still makes daily deliveries. He was more tired than talkative, recalled Mr. Callahan, because he'd been up and working since 2 A.M.
The hosts said they especially enjoyed their interviews with older entertainers, including Steve Allen and cabaret singers like Julie Wilson and Margaret Whiting. "Lots of them are working," said Mr. Callahan. "They still sound good." Ms. Bobruff calls Mr. Allen, who's 76, "a mentor." He's given them advice and allowed them to use some of his music.
Senior Focus gets calls from people of varied ages. "We have lots of younger listeners," said Ms. Bobruff, adding that often younger people call because they're concerned about their parents.
Calls from different areas reveal regional differences, like more conservatism in the interior of the country. But more often they indicate common concerns. The hosts say that, everywhere, people who once served their country are distressed by cuts in military retirement benefits. And everywhere, said Ms.  Bobruff, older people are concerned about "health, health and health." They're also worried about finances.
She and Mr. Callahan see plenty to be done. "If I could accomplish one thing through the show," said Ms. Bobruff, "it would be to try to work through the political system to get premiums for long-term care, and for home health care, completely tax deductible." That, she says, would make the expensive premiums more feasible for more people.
More attention should be paid, the hosts say, to problems like drinking and depression in the older population. Recently they informed listeners about a nation-wide depression-screening program.
They'd like to look at how much older people are helping their adult children these days. With downsizing and other changes in the workplace, Ms. Bobruff said, "It's so much harder for your children to become secure. You worry; you care, you're going to help out."
Mr. Callahan said, "There should be more talk about relationships between older people. People say, 'It's all over.' It's not true." He turned to Ms. Bobruff with a big smile. "Maybe," he said, "Otto can advise on personal relationships."

LOAD-DATE: October 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The character known only as Otto, left, offers his views of the day to Carole Bobruff and Dale Callahan on "Senior Focus." (Thomas McDonald for The New York Times)

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October 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Long Island Q&A: Gerard T. Breitner;
Setting the Right Course for Retirement

BYLINE: By SUSAN KONIG 

SECTION: Section 14LI; Page 2; Column 1; Long Island Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1631 words

"AMERICANS have fallen in love with mutual funds, but beware," cautioned Gerard T. Breitner, president of Excomp Asset Management, a Manhattan-based financial planning concern that uses mutual funds exclusively to create investment portfolios.
Over the past five years, Mr. Breitner said, thousands of mutual funds have come to the marketplace, giving investors much more choice.  Yet, selecting from all of these funds can be confusing, he cautioned, and investors need to know what is in these funds, and if there are hidden fees, to avoid investment disasters. 
 Mr. Breitner founded Excomp in 1982. The company currently oversees $60 million in client assets. He is also the host of "The Mutual Fund Report," a four-year-old radio show that airs Mondays at 7 P.M. on Long Island's WGBB (1240 AM), where he interviews top mutual fund managers and answers listener questions live on the air.
Mr. Breitner has worked in the financial services industry since 1974. He earned a bachelor's degree from St. John's University and a master's in financial services from the American College. He is a certified financial planner, a chartered financial consultant and a member of the Estate Planning Council of New York.
He and his wife, JoAnn, live in Rockville Centre. They have one daughter.
Q. You say the mutual fund industry is booming partly because people aren't prepared for retirement?
A. There are some major changes happening in our society today. Baby boomers are shifting from being consumers to being savers and investors. I think they hear the footsteps of retirement off on the horizon, and it's creating a dramatic change in the way they spend their money. Therefore, there's a tremendous flow of money into mutual funds, and a slow-down in the shopping binges they went on in the 1970's and 80's, and the real-estate explosion that occurred when they bought their homes.
However, there have been two studies -- one by Fidelity Funds, the other by Scudder -- which say that most baby boomers' goals for retirement are on a collision course with what they're actually saving and investing. They view retirement as playing on the golf course, spending time with the grandchildren, living half the year in Florida and half the year here. But saving for retirement is something you've got to do all along.
Q. Should people start saving for retirement as soon as they enter the work force?
A. Yes. One of the biggest secrets to a successful retirement is to start saving early. Another is to invest well. But saving early can even make up for investment mistakes.
Q. Is this a realistic expectation when people are faced with high living expenses, caring for children and elderly parents, etc.?
A. There are lots of temptations not to save-- putting the kids through college, keeping up with the Joneses, etc., and I don't pretend to have the answer for each individual case. But I think people need to pay themselves first. They need a strategy.  They need to make sure they're taking care of their 401k plans and saving a little on top of that. If you want to spend the rest, then that's O.K. But pay yourself first.
Q. You say the notion of retirement has changed dramatically from just a generation ago?
A. Most people are going to spend a third of their life in retirement. We used to view this as sitting in our rocking chairs. Now, people consider retirement a very active part of life, a transitional phase where they've got more time to do the things they like. And that takes money. It's funny; I have clients in their early 80's who still play singles tennis. I don't ever remember seeing anything like that before.
Q. How does one go about creating a portfolio for a comfortable retirement?
A. You need to set specific goals and have a specific plan. It's not just a question of saving; you need to know what you're saving for and whether you're accumulating enough. You need checks and balances to know where you're going.  People can do this on their own. More often than not, though, I think you need help from someone who can be objective, a professional who knows how to deal with taxes, inflation, etc.
Q. Are you a proponent of asset allocation?
A. Asset allocation and diversification are wonderful tools to help reduce the risk of investing. There are 8,000 mutual funds out there. Sometimes, people own 10 or 12 funds and think they are diversified when, in fact, a lot of the funds own some of the same kinds of holdings. You really need to what kinds of things are in the funds and who the manager is.  Have an eyeball-to-eyeball meeting with the manager, see if he or she is focused on and passionate about what they do. Since a lot of funds are similar, statistically, you're likely to do better with a fund manager who loves what he is doing.
Q. What advice do you have for investors trying to select mutual funds?
A. You have to be wary of what I call "rear-view mirror investing." If you want to drive to a particular destination and you only look in the rear-view mirror, you're not going to have much success. And, I think using past performance as the main tool to make your investment decisions is just as futile.
It's important to take a forward perspective. Look at what's happening in the economy, make an assessment as to what Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve might be doing.  Then ask yourself, "What kinds of funds do I want to own based on what's happening in the economy in the next 6 to 12 months?"
Q. Is investing in mutual funds -- or the stock market in general -- too risky for some people?
A. The bigger risk is not being invested, particularly for the long-term. I consider 65-year-olds as still having a long-term horizon, based on the fact that their life expectancy is probably another 20 to 25 years. The biggest risk is being too conservative, because inflation really annihilates conservative investments like CD's and bonds.
Q. You're somewhat skeptical of major mutual fund families. Why?
A. There are 8,000 mutual funds, and a good fund family might have 60 or 80 choices. If you restrict yourself to one particular fund, you're really only using about 1 percent of the choices that are available to you.  And, you're not choosing from the best 1 percent; you're choosing from the 1 percent that has a particular brand or fund name on it. Each fund has a couple of good choices. The rest become mediocre, and some are downright "dogs." So, to the extent that you're moving around within one particular fund family, you're going to wind up with mediocre performance in your portfolio.
Q. Why do you prefer mutual funds over high-performing individual stocks?
A. There are a number of reasons.  Funds today allow you to diversify more effectively than individual stocks, international funds and real-estate securities. Secondly, and equally as important, a mutual fund, being broad-based and diversified, will tend to be less volatile and risky than individual stocks or bonds.  Since the market's been good, people are kind of lulled into a sense that there's no risk involved in being an investor. But, we've seen much more volatility in 1997 than in the two years previous. We stress to our clients that they need to have a specific strategy so that, when periods of volatility and down markets occur, they won't lose sight of the long-term picture, panic and make some bad investment decisions.
And, it's not just investors who panic -- the professionals can too -- which is why it's important to have a definitive strategy from the very start.
Q. What strategy do you recommend?
A. We take a three-pronged approach: we use a buy and hold strategy, a market-timing strategy and a sector rotation strategy, which means investing in different sectors of the market, i.e., utilities, technology, bonds, etc. We combine them to try and get the benefits of each without the down sides.
Q. You don't put a lot of client investments into bonds. Why?
A. I look at portfolios as being like daisies. The core funds -- the funds you want to hold for three to five years -- are the center of the daisy.  The "petals" are other groups of funds you're using to try and add some performance over the short-term -- to add some zip in good markets and some stability in bad ones. I see bonds as being out on the petals, rather than in the core, because I believe they have as much risk as stocks but nowhere near as much of the upside.
Q. Why do you prefer "no-load" funds?
A. The world is global today. It's moving very fast. Commissions kind of stick people's feet in concrete; they prevent them from being proactive with their portfolios. No-load funds allow you to move about fairly freely.
Q. What are the greatest concerns of your clients?
A. Clients don't have a good sense of what risk is all about. We've done studies on human behavior and investing, and most people aren't necessarily rational about their portfolios from a risk standpoint.
If people are given a choice between something that's a sure gain or a chance to win more, overwhelmingly, they choose the sure gain. But, when given a choice between paying a traffic fine or gambling on being assessed a much greater fine, they usually take the chance of paying the higher fine. Risk aversion seems to apply only in the gain dimension; in the loss dimension, most people aren't risk-takers. Statistically, people view losses as being 2 to 2 1/2 times more painful than gains are pleasurable.
Investing isn't necessarily trying to get the greatest of gains. I think it's about taking the least amount of risk, while trying to have your portfolio and investments help you achieve your financial goals. They need a strategy to figure out the least amount of risk they can take for their plan to be effective.

LOAD-DATE: October 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Gerard T. Breitner, head of Excomp Asset Management, which uses mutual funds to create investment portfolios. (Thomas Dallal for The New York Times)

TYPE: Interview

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October 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

In the Region/Long Island;
In Mt. Sinai Project, a Little Something for Everyone

BYLINE: By DIANA SHAMAN 

SECTION: Section 11; Page 7; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1472 words

IT has taken 12 years for a controversial development plan for a 404-acre tract in Mt. Sinai to evolve.
Final details still have to be worked out, but the major components for a development that combines a variety of housing units with a nursing home, golf course and country club are finally in place. The property borders Route 25A, Mt. Sinai-Coram Road and County Road 83. 
 Lori Baldassere, the president of the Mt. Sinai Civic Association, which opposed a previous plan giving the developers more density, and the developers, Robert Worrell of Syosset and Donald M. Eversoll of Commack, say there are disappointments in the resolution. But, they all add, they can live with the result. "There was a lot of wailing at both ends of the table, and that is why I feel it was a fair resolution," said Mr. Eversoll, a partner with Peter Klein of the Klein & Eversoll development group.
Under the agreement, the project, called the Villages at Mt. Sinai, will include 185 houses for people 55 and over, 600 attached and detached houses for all age groups, 225 housing units for older people able to live independently but needing some health care, and a 120-bed nursing home.
In addition to the housing, there will be an 18-hole, 6,700-yard golf course and country club, with a restaurant, catering facilities, eight tennis courts, a health spa and other amenities, all open to the public. Of the 600 houses, 154 will be built around the fairways of the golf course.
The developers, under an agreement with the Mt. Sinai School District, will donate $2.1 million to the district as houses are sold, to mitigate the impact so many new families will have on its schools. The town will receive up to $600,000 for park improvements. The $100 million development is expected to generate $1.7 million to $2 million annually in tax revenues, over and above the cost of new services.
The agreement follows a lawsuit filed in 1995 by the civic association against the town of Brookhaven, of which Mt. Sinai is an unincorporated area, after the town rezoned what was then a 346-acre parcel to allow the two developers to build 784 houses, 166 assisted-living units and a 200-bed nursing home. An additional 58 acres was later added to the project, bringing the total acreage under the current proposal to 404 acres.
The developers had originally applied for a rezoning of the 346 acres in 1988, but their first proposal for 981 housing units, 225 assisted-living units and a 120-bed nursing home was rejected by the town in 1990.
Some local residents felt that the 1995 rezoning still permitted too high a density, even though it gave approvals for 256 fewer housing units, including those for assisted living. Their lawsuit alleged among other complaints that the town violated the State Environmental Quality Review Act in approving the project, and that it also rezoned the property while a hamlet study it had commissioned in 1994 was still under way.
"Just as we were trying to look into the future with the hamlet study, our biggest piece of land was downzoned," said Mrs. Baldassare, who had been the co-chairwoman of the hamlet study and who became president of the Mt. Sinai Civic Association last year.
The biggest concerns were that too many houses were proposed on small lots, and that an influx of young children would lead to overcrowding in local schools, she said.
LOCAL residents raised a preliminary $14,000 and hired the Manhattan law firm Neufeld & O'Leary to represent them in the lawsuit against the town.
Expectations are that the final version of the new agreement, which contains some technical revisions, will be signed by the end of this month, said Denis P. O'Leary, who is representing the civic group. It will then be submitted to Justice H. Patrick Leis 3d of State Supreme Court in Central Islip. Once it is signed by the judge, the agreement becomes a court order by which all parties, including the town, are bound, he said. The new agreement was worked out with the support of Felix Grucci Jr., the town supervisor.
Thereafter, the developers must still file site plans and maps before sales can start, a process that could take another 12 to 18 months.
The developers say their troubles began in 1986, when they decided to join forces to build a planned community rather than building on land each owned separately.
Mr. Eversoll and Mr. Klein had purchased a 150-acre tract for $5.9 million. The existing zoning permitted them to build 207 single-family houses on 135 of the 150 acres, and 150,000 square feet of commercial space on 15 acres fronting on Route 25A.
"We could have filed a site plan and been in and out, because we had interest from King Kullen and Genovese Drugs for the commercial space," Mr. Eversoll said.
But since an adjoining 133-acre pumpkin crop farm zoned for houses on half-acre lots had also just been purchased by Mr. Worrell, "it appeared to me that this provided a really good opportunity to build a master-planned community," Mr. Eversoll said.
"If we had done it piecemeal instead, it wouldn't have seemed so massive and it could have been done a lot faster."
Interest on his $5.9 million initial investment has cost him $10 million during the 12 years, he said.
"It's been a money pit," said Mr. Worrell, adding that his expenses have been $19 million. "Don and I bought adjoining pieces of property and we said, 'Let's put it together,' so that we could design a contiguous community with a diversity of housing. Had we asked for approvals of 50 acres at a time, it would have been a lot easier."
Mr. Worrell subsequently entered into agreements with adjoining property owners to purchase three additional parcels totaling 121 acres, which have been added to the overall project. The parcels included the 34-acre Davis Peach Farm, established in 1910 and still in operation.
Mr. Worrell will develop the 193-acre golf course and country club and 154 houses of up to 3,600 square feet along the fairways. The houses are expected to sell from $285,000 to $340,000. He will also build town houses and small detached houses in a 34-acre section bordering Route 25A. Those houses, expected to attract mostly couples and singles without children because of their 1,400-square-foot to 2,100-square-foot size, will be $150,000 to $200,000. On another 34-acre section bordering County Road 83, Mr. Worrell will build houses of up to five bedrooms from $200,000 to $250,000.
Klein & Eversoll will build the 185 houses for buyers 55 and over on 40 acres. The two-bedroom dwellings on 55-foot by 110-foot lots will be 1,400 square feet to 1,800 square feet and will sell for $180,000 to $200,000. The developers' other 185 single-family houses with no age restrictions will be built in an 85-acre section on quarter-acre lots. Prices for the houses, which will be 1,600 square feet to 2,500 square feet, will be $190,000 to $220,000. Each of the residential sections will have its own pool and other recreational amenities.
Mr. Eversoll said he intended to sell the 25 acres approved for the 225 assisted-living units and the 120-bed nursing home. The parcel is on the market for $7 million.
Mrs. Baldassare, the civic association president, said residents never wanted to pursue a lawsuit, they simply wanted a better project.
"Felix Grucci, the town supervisor, said he would help bring the parties together if we were all willing to talk, and I was very willing to do that," she said. "I felt that if we talked about what everyone's needs were, we could find something that worked for everyone." The current plan "solved a lot of problems, and I think the developers have a very marketable product," she said.
THE idea for a golf course was generated by proposals developed through the hamlet study. "Financially, the golf course works for Robert Worrell, yet it gives us open space and it will increase our property values, as well as the property value of the new houses," Mrs. Baldassare said. By increasing the number of houses for people 55 and over, and specifying that some of the other units be town houses "the project won't bring in so many children," she said.
"Now there will be a better housing mix, we will have a stronger tax base, which we desperately need, and this project gives us 193 acres of open space because of the golf course," she said.
Even her former opponents concede that she has a point. "This civic association recognized that a property owner is entitled to develop his property," Mr. Eversoll said. "On the other hand, builders today must also try to work something out that meets the community's needs."
"We could have resolved this 12 years ago," Mr. Worrell said. "We had a good plan prior to this, but this is a good quality plan that works for all parties, and everyone can now move on."

LOAD-DATE: October 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Lori Baldassere, the president of the Mt. Sinai Civic Association, with the developers of the 404-acre Villages at Mt. Sinai, Robert Worrell of Syosset and Donald M. Eversoll of Commack. (Vic DeLucia/The New York Times)
 
Map showing the location of Mt. Sinai, Long Island

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October 26, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Clintons Focus on Importance of Mammograms

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 18; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 219 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Oct. 25

President Clinton was joined by his wife, Hillary, today on his weekly radio broadcast to stress the importance of mammograms in detecting breast cancer.
Mr. Clinton, whose mother died of breast cancer three years ago, said Government financing for research, prevention and treatment has nearly doubled under his Administration. 
 He also said the recent discovery of two breast cancer genes holds great promise for finding a cure.
"Until that day, we know that early detection is the most potent weapon we possess in our battle against breast cancer," the President said.
"And we know that mammography is the best way to detect breast cancer so that it can be treated before it's too late."
Mrs. Clinton lauded the ongoing work of the National Mammography Campaign, an effort begun three years ago to increase awareness about the issue through public service announcements and partnerships with the private sector.
"Mammography can mean the difference between life and death for millions of women," Mrs. Clinton said. "Yet, I know from my conversations with women around the country, particularly older women, that far too many think they don't need mammograms because they are past their childbearing years."
Others do not know that their health insurance and Medicare cover the test, she said.

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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October 27, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Smart Rules for Health Plans

SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 440 words

The "bill of rights" for patients that was tentatively approved last week by a Presidential commission would, if adopted by Congress, build in sensible consumer protections without strangling health plans with innovation-killing rules. There are important holes in the commission's work, but on the whole its draft is promising.
The rise of managed care has brought innovative coverage and a surprisingly swift deceleration of health care inflation. But managed care imposes obstacles to choosing doctors and treatments and can reward plans that skimp on care. The insecurity surrounding managed care has triggered calls for Government action, and Congress is inundated with ill-conceived bills that would dictate how health plans treat patients. President Clinton deftly cut off the rush to legislate by appointing the commission, which will reconvene in November to adopt a final report. 
 The draft requires disclosure of key information -- such as the number of times surgeons have performed specific operations and their outcomes -- so that consumers can judge which plans are best. The draft also guarantees consumers the right to appeal to an external authority their plan's decision to deny care for a treatment that the patient believes was covered by the plan's contract. The commission's focus is exactly right. Patients can feel secure about their health plan only if they have enough information and a right to appeal denials of promised benefits.
The commission's report is also interesting for what it does not say. On the positive side, it does not delve into specific mandates, like restrictions on the right to hire and fire doctors, that would raise costs and crimp flexibility. Anything that raises medical costs leads employers -- which cover most non-elderly Americans -- to drop health coverage entirely. On the negative side, the plan does not say how to implement any of its recommendations.
The plan also sidesteps the crucial component of a consumer-friendly health care system: choice. The best way to achieve choice is to require that employers give employees a choice of health plans. Only when consumers can drop one plan for another will their needs drive what health plans do, rather than the other way around. The commission need not fear that employers will drop coverage when faced with a mandate to offer choices. In fact, the evidence is clear that employers save money on premiums when they set up competition among employee health plans.
Of course the biggest hole in the commission's plan is not of its doing. Nothing in a bill of rights can cover 40 million uninsured Americans.

LOAD-DATE: October 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Editorial

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October 28, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

NEW YORK CITY MARATHON: SPECIAL PREVIEW SECTION;
For Seniors, A Group Walk In the Park

BYLINE: By RON DICKER 

SECTION: Section G; Page 4; Column 4; Sports Desk 

LENGTH: 628 words

For all the people it has touched through the New York City Marathon, the New York Road Runners Club had overlooked a huge segment that would never run a block but wanted to stay fit: walkers, especially older ones. So when club members told Allan Steinfeld, the club's president, about the lack of outlets for their elderly parents, he knew it was time to reach out.
"My father is 86 and walks every day," Steinfeld said. "I just figured, what can we do for the community which is noncompetitive?" 
 The Road Runners' seniors walking group has been around since June, and is already a hit with its members. The core of 30 devotees that began walking through Central Park last summer is still around, with 10 or so additions.
The walkers, 60 years and older, meet every Tuesday at 10 A.M. at Fifth Avenue and 90th Street. There is no fee; they simply show up.
Some come to battle illness. Dorila Morano is recovering from surgery for colon cancer. "I can't go very far yet," she said.
Betsy Frew, one of the few with competitive race-walking experience, has a leaking heart valve and faces open-heart surgery. "I just got out of the hospital; I'm not looking forward to it," she said.
The walkers are divided into 1-mile, 2-mile and 3-mile loops. Beforehand, there is a lecture and stretching exercises led by one of the Road Runners' volunteers.
The eldest of the walkers is 86-year-old Walter Piekarski. The Tuesday gathering has become part of the 6-mile route that he has been taking daily for 10 years. "I know this is the best medicine," he said.
Piekarski, wearing a houndstooth hat, walked alone in a determined stride, balling his hands in a fist and pumping his arms as if he were a sprinter. He does not need to be pushed or educated. But Marion Scott, a volunteer who is a 1992 marathon finisher, is on the trail in case someone does. She ran back and forth between the leaders and the stragglers, yelling encouragement and instructing everyone to accelerate for a lamppost or two before resuming their normal stride.
"I try to make them aware to move their arms," Scott, 65, said. "Once they move their arms faster, their legs are going to go faster, too."
Just then, Scott noticed two women strolling. "Now those two, I have to bark at them," she said.
Scott backpedaled to the conversing pair -- one in heels -- and urged them to pick up the pace.
They spoke no English, but they understood. "We speak the language of walking," said Rita Suarez, another member of the Spanish-speaking contingent.
The woman in the pink dress shoes, Glorinda Caban, explained that she had no intention of walking, but was just accompanying another walker to the starting point. Would Caban return the next Tuesday? Yes, she said shyly, but in softer shoes.
Scott said beginners are often unaccustomed to taxing themselves for aerobic benefit. "People have a tendency when they're concentrating to hold their breath," she said. "We want them to relax and breathe."
One of the intermediate walkers, Darlene Kimbrough, aspires to run the New York City Marathon someday. Hampered by blood clots and asthma, she already has covered a considerable distance, losing 24 pounds and drastically lowering her blood pressure since the program started in June. "I'm doing beautifully," she said.
The walkers come from Murray Hill to Harlem and are mostly women. But Doris Summers is doing her best to change the gender mix.
After the constitutional, as everyone was catching his or her breath at the kiosk behind the reservoir, she pointed to her husband, James, sitting in a car on 90th Street. They have been walking together, but he has been hesitant to join the group, partly because of the dearth of men.
"At least I got him out of the house," she said.

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October 28, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Helio Beltrao, 81, Official In Brazil Who Cut Red Tape

BYLINE: By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO 

SECTION: Section B; Page 10; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 405 words

DATELINE: RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Oct. 27

Helio Beltrao, who served in the cabinets of three governments during Brazil's 21-year military dictatorship, died on Sunday morning here. He was 81 years old.
The Brazilian press reported the cause of death as respiratory insufficiency due to a brain tumor. 
 After a long career in Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, Mr. Beltrao began his public life under the military dictatorship that ended in 1985. He was one of the signers of a December 1968 decree that shut down the Brazilian Congress and abrogated civil rights.
Mr. Beltrao served as Minister of Planning from 1967 to 1969, during the government of Gen. Costa e Silva, and as Social Security Minister from 1982 to 1983. But it was as special minister in charge of "debureaucratization," under the Government of Joao Baptista Figueiredo, that Mr. Beltrao attracted attention and popularity. A reporter visiting Mr. Beltrao at the time found letters on his desk addressed to "Mr. Champion Minister."
He started his crusade against red tape in a country sorely in need of paperwork relief. In interviews while he held the job, he expressed the levels of absurdity the blizzard of documents, signatures and attestations had reached, using the anecdote of an elderly woman who waits for hours in line to apply for Social Security benefits. When she reaches the head of the line, she is turned away, having forgotten the essential "atestado de vida," a document confirming she is alive.
In another case, a retired military lawyer who wanted to register at the local bar association needed proof of a clean criminal record from every place he lived since the age of 18. But each certificate was valid for only three months. By the time he managed to obtain the last clearance, the first ones had expired.
"Brazilians are very informal and they trust everybody," Mr. Beltrao told The New York Times in a 1979 interview. "But this culture inherited the laws, decrees and regulations of Portugal, which had copied the centralization and the formalism of France."
In 1981, Mr. Beltrao told the newspaper O Globo that he had faith in his country, though he did not consider himself an optimist. "Optimism is for those who don't know the facts," he said. "I have faith because I do know them." Mr. Beltrao is survived by his wife, the archaeologist Maria da Conceicao and three chldren, Helio, 30, Christiana, 28 and Maria, 26, as well as a grandchild, Marcos.

NAME: Helio Beltrao

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Helio Beltrao (Camera Press Ltd., 1980)
      

TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography

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October 28, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

First Lady's Hometown Birthday Bash

BYLINE: By DIRK JOHNSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 21; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 829 words

DATELINE: PARK RIDGE, Ill., Oct. 27

Back in her hometown to celebrate her 50th birthday, Hillary Rodham Clinton sat in her old grammar school today, surrounded by old chums and teachers, reminiscing about the innocence of their childhoods.
Mrs. Clinton recalled walking to school as a kindergartner. Another friend noted that bikes never had locks. Somebody else remembered the freedom "to go everywhere, trick-or-treating at every single house -- except maybe for the one place, where some real old lady lived." 
 "Yeah," chimed in a fellow Baby Boomer, "she was probably 50."
While most people in their 40's are not particularly eager to turn 50, it must help to come home as a globe-trotting celebrity greeted adoringly by foreign crowds, and to then be able to show off the gold necklace given to her by her husband, the President.
In what seemed as much like a day on the campaign trail as a birthday celebration, Mrs. Clinton arrived at O'Hare International Airport to high school bands playing "Sweet Home Chicago," and then whisked around her hometown, sharing hugs and handshakes with old neighbors and going to a new park in Chicago being named the "Hillary Rodham Clinton Women's Park."
After that was a big party at the Cultural Center on Michigan Avenue, with Mayor Richard M. Daley and other dignitaries, celebrities and movers and shakers on hand to toast the First Lady.
There were a few anti-abortion pickets in Park Ridge, where one sign denounced her as the anti-life co-President. And inside the Happy House coffee shop here, a white-haired man grumbled into his soup about Mrs. Clinton's being feted so extravagantly.
"Why should we be proud of her?" he asked. "And who's footing the bill for all this?"
But no sooner had the elderly man spoken, muttering something about women "belonging in the kitchen," than the restaurant's owner, Soula Tsapralis, the mother of three daughters, dispatched with that customer-is-always-right business.
"Women are equal," she told him.
In general, Mrs. Clinton, whose birthday was on Sunday, was showered by praise all day. And she returned the favor at every turn, paying homage to Park Ridge for teaching her lasting values.
Park Ridge, a prosperous, uniformly white, conservative-to-the-bone Chicago suburb, did not, however, succeed in keeping her within the Republican fold.
There are still people here who regard the bright, well-behaved Rodham kid from Wisner and Elm as something of a wayward daughter, abandoning the good sense of her childhood years -- she belonged to Youth for Goldwater as a teen-ager and played Carrie Nation in a high school play -- and straying into the clutches of the Democrats.
Standing in front of her childhood home, a brick colonial with arching windows and tall shade trees, Mrs. Clinton recalled the day she brought "this Arkansas boy" to meet her father, a "gruff, strict" man, especially when it came to young suitors.
"He didn't know what to make of Bill Clinton," she said.
But within three days, she added, her father was "completely charmed" by the future President, and even traveled to Arkansas to do some campaign work for him.
"And this was a man," she said of her father, "who never had anything good to say about a Democrat in his entire life."
Her mother, Dorothy, and her brothers, Tony and Hugh, also came home for the celebration.
While young Hillary was irresistibly drawn to academics -- a freshman teacher recalled her handing in a 75-page typed term paper -- her brothers had more luck as wrestlers and football players, and succeeded in ruffling a few feathers at school.
Mrs. Clinton waited until a bit later to ruffle feathers. A lightning rod for conservatives and a hero to liberals, Mrs. Clinton's politics have long been a point of discussion around Park Ridge. A few years ago, the suggestion that the library hang a portrait honoring the local-girl-made-good sparked fierce letters to the editor, on both sides.
In the end, no portrait went up on the library wall. A painting of Mrs. Clinton ultimately was put up in her high school.
Mrs. Clinton made a trip to Orchestra Hall in Chicago this afternoon, the place where her youth pastor took her to listen to a speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on a day in 1962 that Mrs. Clinton says made a lasting impression.
Even as a child, Mrs. Clinton seemed to be trying to change the world, one parent at a time. When a friend was forbidden by her father to wear nylons to the sixth-grade dance, young Hillary circulated a petition among the students asking the strict parent to reconsider. He did not.
Besides the academics, Mrs. Clinton recalled, there were other things in Park Ridge that prepared her for the world of politics.
In speech class as a freshman, Mrs. Clinton recalled, some of the senior boys in the front row, most of them football players, "would sit there and insult me, say mean things," to try to get her rattled.
"So," she said, with an easy smile, "Washington's nothing."

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Showered by praise, Hillary Rodham Clinton visited her elementary school in suburban Chicago yesterday to mark her 50th birthday, which was on Sunday. The First Lady also visited her old home in Park Ridge. (Todd Buchanan for The New York Times)      

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October 28, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

MEDICARE NOMINEE IS CAUGHT IN FIGHT OVER RULE ON FEES

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1284 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Oct. 27

Senate Republicans are holding up action on President Clinton's nominee to run the Medicare program in an effort to force Mr. Clinton to let doctors sign private contracts with affluent elderly patients willing to pay more than the fees set by Medicare.
Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, said that he had placed a "hold" on the nominee, Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, as a way to pressure the Administration. Mr. Kyl said he wanted the White House to accept his bill letting doctors negotiate private contracts with Medicare beneficiaries. Under such contracts, doctors would not be bound by Medicare's fee limits, but could charge whatever patients were willing to pay. 
 "Private contracts would give seniors more freedom to choose their doctors, to be treated by physicians of their choice outside the Medicare system," Mr. Kyl said in an interview. "Even beneficiaries of Britain's notoriously inadequate National Health Service have the right to enter into private contracts."
Republicans said they had no specific objections to the nomination of Ms. DeParle. At her confirmation hearing, Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, said she was very well qualified.
Mr. Kyl said he would lift his "hold" on Ms. DeParle's nomination if the Administration would "just agree to the language of our bill" on private contracts. Referring to Administration officials, Mr. Kyl said: "They have my phone number. They know what I want."
A "hold" is a shadowy Senate practice by which one or more senators serve notice to the Senate leadership that they object to taking up a nomination or a bill and are threatening to filibuster it. The Senate majority leader can call for consideration of a nominee, but leaders ordinarily try to accommodate senators who have registered their concerns by putting a hold on a nomination. Such holds are usually anonymous, though Mr. Kyl is quite open about his effort.
Melissa T. Skolfield, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said today that Ms. DeParle had become "a pawn in the end-of-the-year politics of Capitol Hill."
If confirmed, Ms. DeParle would become administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration. The agency spends more than $300 billion a year on Medicare and Medicaid, which finance health care for 74 million people who are elderly, disabled or poor.
The vacancy at the top of the agency comes at a crucial time, just as Federal officials are trying to carry out vast changes in Medicare made by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which Mr. Clinton signed on Aug. 5.
Representative Bill Thomas, the California Republican who is chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, supports Mr. Kyl's bill but objects to the use of the nomination as a bargaining chip.
"That whole approach drives me up a wall," Mr. Thomas said in an interview. "It's so petty to think that you can stop the world until your little issue gets addressed. To hold up a nominee over one specific issue -- that's in the category of bribery and blackmail, not policy. It's like assault and battery on a Government nominee."
Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, held up Ms. DeParle's nomination for several weeks until she assured him that she would find more money to fight Medicare fraud.
Ms. DeParle, who is married to Jason DeParle, a reporter in the Washington bureau of The New York Times, was nominated on June 27 to succeed Bruce C. Vladeck. Mr. Vladeck left the job on Sept. 13.
Senator Kyl's bill, called the Medicare Beneficiary Freedom to Contract Act, has 43 co-sponsors.
In the House, 135 lawmakers have signed up as co-sponsors of an identical bill. Mr. Kyl said he might try to attach it to an appropriations bill or other measure that Congress must pass before adjourning next month.
Mr. Kyl's bill has been embraced by the American Medical Association and by Republican leaders including Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, Speaker Newt Gingrich and Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the majority leader. They see it as a way to blast a small hole in the price-control regime enforced by Medicare.
But the American Association of Retired Persons and many Democrats said Mr. Kyl's bill would undermine Medicare the foundations of Medicare, expose patients to higher costs and create new opportunities for billing fraud.
"The bill would allow doctors to charge much more than the Medicare fee schedule," said Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California. "It's pure greed wrapped in the flag of freedom."
"We like to think of contracts between equals, negotiated fairly," Mr. Stark said. "But there is no equality, no fairness, in a contract with a doctor who holds your life in his hands, who demands that you give up your Medicare benefits and let him charge anything he wants."
Under Mr. Kyl's bill, doctors and patients who signed private contracts would forgo Medicare payments for services covered by the agreement.
Congress hopes to adjourn by Nov. 7 or Nov. 14. Under Senate rules, unconfirmed nominations are returned to the President unless there is unanimous consent to carry them over to next year's session.
Most doctors have agreed not to charge more than the Medicare fee schedule amounts, even though they are allowed to charge 15 percent more.
For cataract surgery, one of the more commonly performed procedures, the basic Medicare fee is $960. But doctors said that affluent patients would be willing to pay two or three times that amount to eminent specialists.
The original Medicare law said nothing about private contracts. In recent years, Medicare officials have told doctors that they must abide by all Medicare rules, including limits on fees, even if some elderly patients want to use their own money to pay for services.
In the budget law passed this year, Congress allowed doctors to enter into private contracts with Medicare beneficiaries but stipulated that such doctors could not submit any claims to Medicare for any services provided to any patients for two years. In other words, a doctor who signs even one private contract is excluded from Medicare for two years.
The American Medical Association and other physician groups said that few doctors would enter into private contracts under those conditions.
Mr. Kyl said, "Our bill would repeal the punitive two-year exclusionary requirement and allow seniors to enter private contracts with the physician of their choice on a case-by-case basis.
"If you require a two-year opt-out, you are almost forcing doctors to dump their Medicare patients in order to engage in private contracting."
Federal spending on Medicare has been growing an average of 10 percent a year for a decade. As Congress tries to rein in costs, some doctors, especially surgeons, expect to see their Medicare fees decline in the next few years.
In view of such cutbacks, the A.M.A. says, doctors are "being forced to restrict the number of Medicare beneficiaries they take or to scale back services to these patients."
Private contracts may offer doctors a way to offset the loss of income. A recent article in the journal of the Medical Group Management Association, a trade group, said doctors could tap a lucrative "niche market" by offering "top-of-the-line care" to affluent consumers willing to spend their own money.
Doctors said that with the extra income from private contracts, they could afford to provide more charity care.
John C. Rother, chief lobbyist at the American Association of Retired Persons, said, "There may be some very sincere physicians who would use that income to subsidize charity care, but for most doctors, the private contracts would be just a way to increase their own income."

LOAD-DATE: October 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, left (Associated Press), said yesterday that he had put a "hold" on the nomination of Nancy-Ann Min DeParle to head Medicare. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)(pg. A18)
      

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October 28, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

NEWS SUMMARY

SECTION: Section A; Page 2; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 1426 words


INTERNATIONAL   A3-15
 
Chinese President Swims In Hawaiian Waters
Afternoon strollers on Waikiki Beach were surprised by the unexpected arrival of President Jiang Zemin of China. Mr. Jiang, 71, swam the breast stroke for a full hour, probably to dispel rumors in China that he has been suffering from heart trouble.   A12 

No Quick Euro for Britain
Britain's Labor Government ruled out the country's early entry into European monetary union. Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, told the House of Commons that Britain would not join a common currency in the first wave, but that membership in a successful monetary union was right "in principle" and urged both Government and businesses to start "preparing intensively" for that eventuality.   A11
 
Scientology Protest in Berlin
The Scientology movement held a march in Berlin designed to depict modern Germany as being as intolerant toward Scientology as Hitler was toward Jews. Police estimated that 3,000 people took part, though the Scientologists said there were 6,700. Even fewer attended a counterdemonstration, where participants waved a flag proclaiming the official German view that Scientology is not a religion but a mercenary and undemocratic movement.   A11
 
Teachers Strike in Canada
Most of the 126,000 public and Catholic school teachers in Ontario went on the largest teachers' strike ever in North America. They oppose a provincial government proposal to weaken local school boards and allow some noncertified instructors to teach.   A8
 
Non-Orthodox Jews Press Suit
Leaders of the Conservative and Reform Jewish movements announced they would pursue legal action to gain recognition of their conversions to Judaism in Israel. They rejected a Government request to postpone their litigation while negotiations continue with the Orthodox rabbinate over who can perform conversions.   A3
 
Iraq Ponders Counter Tactic
Iraq's Parliament recommended suspending the country's cooperation with United Nations arms inspectors to counter a Security Council resolution threatening more sanctions against Iraq, the Iraqi news agency INA said. The report said the Parliament proposed the freeze until a timetable is set for lifting the United Nations embargo imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.   (Reuters)
 
Algerians Protest Voting Fraud
Thousands of Algerians marched through the capital as both pro-Government and opposition parties protested what they said was widespread fraud in elections won by the governing party last week. The protests were no help to President Liamine Zeroual's hopes of widening his political base and crushing an Islamic insurgency.   (AP)
 
NATIONAL   A16-21
 
G.O.P. Stalls Nomination In Medicare Policy Battle
Senate Republicans are holding up action on President Clinton's nominee to run the Medicare program in an effort to force him to let elderly people go outside Medicare and use their own money to pay some doctors higher fees. But the American Association of Retired Persons and many Democrats say that a bill to create that option would undermine the foundations of Medicare, expose patients to higher costs and create new opportunities for billing fraud.   A1
 
Labor Fights Image Setback
The wave of corruption charges involving the teamsters and other unions has badly embarrassed the labor movement just when John J. Sweeney, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s president, was boasting that efforts to improve labor's image were finally paying off with some major organizing victories.   A21
 
Hillary Clinton Visits Home
Hillary Rodham Clinton, back in her hometown of Park Ridge, Ill., to celebrate her 50th birthday, sat in her old grammar school surrounded by old chums and teachers, reminiscing about the innocence of their childhoods.   A21
 
Miami Celebrates Its Series
Miami, the home of the new World Series champion Florida Marlins, woke up giddy from celebrations that did not even begin until the early morning hours, its euphoria tempered neither by the work day nor the uncertainty over the possible sale of its winning team.   A16
 
Fight Over Donor Records
Secret bank documents containing the names of donors to two conservative nonprofit groups that helped elect Republican candidates in 1996 have inadvertently fallen into the hands of Democratic members of the Senate Governmental Affairs committee -- and the Democrats are refusing Republican demands to give them back.   A18
 
Clinton Orders Help for Schools
President Clinton will order the Department of Education to help cities and states find ways to deal with failing schools, using existing programs to improve them or, as a last resort, shutting them down, Administration officials said.   A18
 
Amtrak Strike Compromise
Amtrak and negotiators for several unions finalized an agreement to keep the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit trains running on weekdays only, for at least a few days, if the track workers' union goes on strike, which could occur as early as 12:01 A.M. Wednesday. The agreement allows about 100 Amtrak supervisors and workers from other unions to cross the picket lines to keep trains running into Pennsylvania Station, which Amtrak owns.   A19
 
Secessionists Disrupt Court
Two leaders of the Republic of Texas secessionist movement were ejected from the courtroom at their own trial after repeatedly interrupting jury selection.   (AP)
 
NEW YORK/REGION   B1-8
 
11 Girls Infected By Man With H.I.V.
A 20-year-old man with H.I.V. has apparently infected at least 11 teen-age girls in western New York with the virus that causes AIDS, and officials says that the man -- or his sex partners -- may have infected up to 50 other people. Six of the girls, including a 13-year-old, were infected after the man had been tested and told he had H.I.V.   A1
 
New York Digest   B1
 
SCIENCE TIMES   F1-10
 
Seahorse Sexual Roles
Scientists have long known that the male sea horse is the one that becomes pregnant, carries the young in his belly and gives birth. But new findings show that the female is doing most of the work.   F1
 
Tracking the Y Chromosome
New research has determined almost all of the genes of the Y chromosome as well as the emergence of a pattern that explains how the chromosome evolved. The new findings may also help toward understanding the sources of male infertility, the cause of half the childlessness that affects some 10 percent of American couples.   F2
 
HEALTH   F9
 
Treatment for Parkinson's
An experimental treatment for Parkinson's patients involves a pacemaker-like device that stimulates the brain electrically to prevent uncontrolled movements.   F9
 
SPORTS   C1-8
 
FASHION   B9
 
ARTS   E1-8
 
OBITUARIES   B10
 
Mina S. Rees
A mathematician who broke new ground for women as a university administrator and a leader among her peers in the sciences, she was 95.   B10
 
BUSINESS DAY   D1-26
 
U.S. Stocks Plummet
A worldwide plunge in stock prices erased more than 7 percent from the Dow Jones industrial average and forced the New York Stock Exchange to halt trading, the first time that has happened other than following presidential assassination attempts. The Dow average ended the day down 554.26 points, or 7.2 percent, at 7,161.15, the worst in a decade and the 12th worst ever. The drop was only about a third as large as the 22.6 percent, 508-point, drop on Oct. 19, 1987.   A1
 
Oxford Reports Billing Lapse
Oxford Health Plans, the big New York area health plan that has been held up as a model of keeping costs down while satisfying patients, said it had been losing money because it fell behind in sending bills to customers and underestimated how much it owed doctors and hospitals. The shares of Oxford fell $42.875, to $25.875, making it the biggest decliner on the New York Stock Exchange.   A1
 
Intel to Buy Digital Unit
Intel has agreed to buy Digital Equipment's semiconductor manufacturing operations for $700 million and to pay royalties to the computer maker as part of a broad settlement of a patent infringement suit brought by Digital.   D1
 
Business Digest   D1
 
EDITORIAL   A22-23
 
Editorials: The plunging Dow; call a constitutional convention; baseball's free-market champs.
 
Columns: Russell Baker, A. M. Rosenthal.
 
Chess   F2
 
Crossword   E4
 
Chronicle   B8
 
Weather   C7

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GRAPHIC: Photos

TYPE: Summary

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October 30, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

After Childhood of Violence, A One-Man H.I.V. Epidemic

BYLINE: By JOE SEXTON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1907 words

Nushawn J. Williams, a Brooklyn neighbor put it with plain-spoken certainty, was "running wild from Day 1."
And Mr. Williams's sprint into trouble -- from a broken home to childhood thievery, from gangs to crack dens, from girl to girl -- has left a breathtaking array of damage, recounted by former neighbors, acquaintances and the authorities. 
There was the elderly man who was regularly beaten for his pocket change by Mr. Williams when he was a child, neighbors say. There was the store owner who used to chat about the Knicks with the 16-year-old Mr. Williams but said he wound up being shot by the teen-ager in a robbery. There were the Crown Heights residents who said they found themselves on the wrong end of Mr. Williams's two regular trades: drug sales and street holdups.
And now there are dozens of people who the state authorities have said may have been infected with H.I.V. as a result of their contact with the 20-year-old Mr. Williams or his sexual partners.
Mr. Williams, state health officials have charged, had unprotected sex with scores of women, many of them after he learned that he had the virus that causes AIDS. Apparently he told none of them he was infected.
City and state officials yesterday continued the grimly painstaking work of locating potential partners, and partners of partners, in both the city and Chautauqua County in western New York State, where Mr. Williams lived for a time. For the moment, they say they have no way of even estimating how many people might have been harmed, but officials in Chautauqua County fear that their earlier estimates may have been too low.  Page B12.
The rough outlines of Mr. Williams's route from troubled child to street thug to potentially deadly womanizer, who could mix charm with threats in his accumulation of sexual encounters, do not include many moments of innocence or stability. And they end, for now at least, with Mr. Williams in an isolation cell on Rikers Island, self-identified as a member of the Bloods street gang and classified by prison doctors as requiring observation for possible psychiatric problems.
A neighbor said those people who had tried to discourage Mr. Williams, known as JoJo, from his pursuit of trouble -- a grandmother, a friend -- had a futile task. "They couldn't keep up with JoJo," she said. "He was too much in the fast lane."
The road began on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. Mr. Williams's mother, described by neighborhood residents as dangerously dependent on drugs, was the subject of repeated investigations by the city's child welfare agency. No one interviewed could recall the presence of a father. Mr. Williams was assigned to special education classes in the city's public schools. It could not be learned when he dropped out.
The arrests accumulated early and often. There was a robbery conviction when he was 15, a murder charge when he was 17. He spent a year in jail, from 1994 to 1995, before being acquitted of the killing, and began his series of ricochets from New York City to Jamestown, N.Y. In all, he amassed eight arrests with at least three convictions, though the disposition of some cases was unclear last night.
"He made his bones here in the streets -- selling crack, doing stick-ups," one Brooklyn detective said.
But in Jamestown, investigators said, his routine was one more of bravado than violent criminality. Mr. Williams dealt drugs, they said, and may have been transporting them from Brooklyn to Jamestown, but he was not seen as a major criminal. Still, he struck the pose of the big-city gangster, using it to attract any number of the Jamestown area's poorer, street-hardened and disaffected girls.
Neighbors and acquaintances said sex was the one constant in his life. It was often bartered for drugs, they said, and took place in public places or miserable circumstances, but that did not deter Mr. Williams.
Neighbors in Brooklyn say Mr. Williams had frequented known crack houses for years with a steady stream of women, some young, some prostitutes. In the Bronx, a variety of people tell of Mr. Williams's selling drugs on the street, sleeping in a garage and having sex with younger girls over the last eight months.
Delroy G. Hanson, a plumber, said he used to park his car in the Bronx garage in which Mr. Williams was sleeping earlier this year. He said he walked in one afternoon to find Mr. Williams having sex with a girl he estimated to be roughly 15. "He laughed, and I went about my business, took the car, shut the door and went to work," said Mr. Hanson. "The guy was laughing, but the girl was in shame."
Mr. Williams was the oldest of Denise Williams's three children. The family -- including a grandmother, Eleanor Johnson McRae -- moved from apartment to apartment in central Brooklyn. Ms. Williams, according to child welfare workers, had a major drug problem. One neighbor said that as many as 30 people once appeared to be using the family's apartment as a flophouse.
Nearly a dozen investigations of Ms. Williams were conducted by the child welfare agency from 1981 to 1996. One of her daughters was placed in foster care; another child has been formally adopted. City child welfare workers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the investigations over the years had found that Ms. Williams was unable to provide for or care for her children. Mr. Williams, the workers said, may have spent part of his childhood in foster care, too.
In 1993, the grandmother, Ms. McRae, asked the Family Court to take over control of Mr. Williams, who was then 16. Court records do not indicate if action was taken.
"I knew him since he was 5 years old," said another Brooklyn neighbor. "His family was always pretty unstable. He was very rebellious. If you told me JoJo killed someone, I wouldn't be surprised. But that he has the AIDS virus is a shocker."
Collin Lawrence, the owner of a record store on Nostrand Avenue, used to give the young Mr. Williams a couple of dollars on weekends and talk with him about the Knicks. But in 1993, he said, Mr. Williams entered the store with a gun. "If you are going to be robbed by someone who knows you, chances are they are going to kill you," said Mr. Lawrence, who said he was wounded in the hand but did not press charges.  "But God was on my side."
Detectives from the 77th Precinct said that if anything, Mr. Williams was remarkable for how widely and aggressively he was disliked by others in the neighborhood that stretches along Eastern Parkway. Describing him as one of the regulars they encountered, the detectives said people often could not wait to offer incriminating information about Mr. Williams when crimes were being investigated.
"Everything we found out about him, someone in the street told us," said Ernie Bostic, a retired detective who arrested Mr. Williams in 1994 in the murder of a 34-year-old Queens man, Frederick Douglas. "People were afraid of him. I think he had threatened people in the past. So people were eager to get him off the street."
After spending 12 months in the juvenile jail on Rikers Island, Mr. Williams was acquitted in the 1994 killing. Law enforcement officials said that upon hearing the "not guilty" verdict, Mr. Williams walked from the courtroom without speaking, without thanking his lawyer, without waiting to hear the guilty verdict that then came against the man tried with him, Mitchell Raife.
"In all the time I represented him, no family called me, nobody came to the trial on his behalf," said Luis F. Candal, the lawyer who defended Mr. Williams in the murder case. "He was more like a street person."
It was upon his release from Rikers in 1995 that Mr. Williams, apparently joining relatives, moved to Jamestown.
Law enforcement officials there said Mr. Williams lived at three different locations in and around Jamestown, dealing drugs from all. He was a regular at parties with girls as young as 14, and apparently used his charm and the image of a big-city gangster to great effect.
Several girls in Jamestown said he cooked for them after he became involved with them -- chicken, macaroni, lima beans -- and that they were excited to braid his hair. He took the girls shopping in Buffalo or Erie, Pa., buying them rings, music tapes and watches.
Natasha Schuler, 15, and Lanie Philbrick, 17, said they had three friends who had tested positive for H.I.V. since they had had sex with Mr. Williams. Of one friend, Natasha said: "He treated her like Princess Di. If anyone tried to step in her face, he was on them."
But Diane Doty, who said she lived downstairs from Mr. Williams and one of his girlfriends for several months in a building on Barrows Street in Jamestown, said the young woman sometimes appeared at her door with black eyes or bruises, fearful of Mr. Williams. The girlfriend had also had an infant, Ms. Doty said, but it was not clear whether the baby was Mr. Williams's.
Mr. Williams moved back and forth between Jamestown and Brooklyn from 1995 until early this year, when he returned to New York City more or less permanently. Brian Jones, a resident of the Albany Houses project in Brooklyn, said he had been a partner with Mr. Williams in his drug ventures upstate and elsewhere. Mr. Jones, who said he had later given up dealing drugs, said Mr. Williams would take crack to Jamestown, do $600 in business and return. He said Mr. Williams also made similar trips to Boston, Richmond and Washington.
Law enforcement officials say the Albany Houses project in Brooklyn is home to many members of the Brooklyn version of the Bloods street gang, and New York City police detectives and officials with the city's Department of Corrections confirm Mr. Williams's membership.
In February 1997, Mr. Williams was shot and wounded after being held up by three men outside the Albany Houses in what investigators say was a gang-related incident.
Police officials and residents interviewed at the Albany Houses estimated that a half-dozen girls there feared that they had been infected with H.I.V. by Mr. Williams. "He had it and he could have done something about it," Mr. Jones said, "instead of infecting all those girls and killing all those daughters."
After having been shot, Mr. Williams appeared to have lived chiefly in the Bronx, first in a house with a family and then a garage in the Williamsbridge section, and then on the streets of Baychester. Those who came across him in the Bronx describe a man with a blossoming crack addiction, who could sleep for 48 hours straight and then pester women on the street, coax girls to a car or a blanket, hang out with prostitutes trading drugs for sex.
He was arrested several times, most recently on Sept. 21 on charges of selling drugs to undercover officers and then assaulting them.
At Rikers Island, he was evaluated and ordered kept under watch. One correction official said he had spoken of suicide. On Oct. 21, Mr. Williams was interviewed by an investigator with the city's Department of Health. He named several dozen recent sexual partners in New York City, and gave vague descriptions of more, department officials said.
Health Department officials refused to say if he was remorseful, agitated, depressed or aware of his damage. He was described only as cooperative.
Last night, he sat in an isolation cell, watched 24 hours a day by a single corrections officer. The man who had run wild from Day 1 could not go anywhere.

LOAD-DATE: October 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Chautauqua County, N.Y., has issued posters warning sexual partners of Nushawn Williams that they are in danger of developing AIDS. (Associated Press)(pg. B12)      

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SECTION: Section E; Part 2; Page 41; Column 1; Leisure/Weekend Desk

LENGTH: 2683 words


ATTRACTIONS
Museums and Sites
 
AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY, Audubon Terrace, Broadway at 155th Street, Washington Heights. The society has the most extensive coin collection in North America; its library is open to the public. On permanent display is "American Numismatic Design, 1892-1922," which includes all coins issued during this period. Also on view is "The World of Coins," a history from 600 B.C. to the present. Free. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.; Sundays, 1 to 4 P.M. Information: (212) 234-3130. 

CZECH CENTER NEW YORK, 1109 Madison Avenue, at 83d Street. The center has an exhibition on Dvorak that includes photographs, letter facsimiles, musical scores and contemporary documents through Nov. 21. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Free. Information: (212) 288-0830.
HISTORIC RICHMOND TOWN, Staten Island Historical Society, 441 Clarke Avenue, Richmondtown. About 27 buildings from the late 1600's to the 19th century, many restored and furnished. This authentic village and outdoor museum complex depicts three centuries of the history and life of Staten Island and the surrounding region. A Victorian Masquerade Ball, tomorrow from 8 to 11 P.M., offers the opportunity to come disguised (or not) as a historical character and learn 19th-century dances. Live music and refreshments will be available. Prepaid Reservations: $16. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, 1 to 5 P.M.; closed most holidays. Admission: $4; the elderly and ages 6 to 18, $2.50; 5 and under, free. Information: (718) 351-1611.
INTREPID SEA-AIR-SPACE MUSEUM, Pier 86, West 46th Street at the Hudson River, Clinton. A converted World War II aircraft carrier featuring two full decks of displays, including four theme halls: "United States Navy Hall"; "Pioneer Hall"; "Technologies Hall" and "Intrepid Hall." Also on view is a 1950's French naval fighter jet, the Etendard IV-M, given to the museum by the French Government. On view through Jan. 5, 1998, the exhibition "On the Waterfront," photographs of New York City's Hudson River waterfront by Maggie Hopp, focusing on the area that stretches from Battery Park City north to 59th Street. Free with paid admission to the museum. Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission: $10; the elderly, veterans, reservists and ages 12 to 17, $7.50; ages 6 to 11, $5; 5 and under, $1. Information: (212) 245-0072.
THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE: A LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST, 18 First Place (West Street and Battery Place), Battery Park City, lower Manhattan. Artifacts, documents, photographs, videotapes and film clips are included in exhibitions on the Holocaust and on Jewish life before and after World War II. Hours: Sundays through Wednesdays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Thursdays, 9 A.M. to 8 P.M.; Fridays and the eves of Jewish holidays, 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.; closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Admission: $7; students and the elderly, $5; 5 and under, free. A limited number of same-day tickets are available at the museum; because of the current crowds, tickets should be purchased in advance through Ticketmaster: (212) 307-4007. Information: (212) 968-1800.
MUSEUM OF TELEVISION AND RADIO, 25 West 52d Street, Manhattan. A collection of taped historic radio and television broadcasts, as well as exhibitions of other media, including drawings, posters and photographs. Through Dec. 4, the museum is featuring a tribute to Arte, a French-German cultural channel, with a screening series that spotlights 15 programs. "The Age of Possibilities" (1996) by the French filmmaker Pascale Ferran will be shown today at 5 and 7 P.M. and tomorrow and Sunday at 1 P.M., "Ex" (1995), directed by Mark Schlichter, will be shown today at 6:45 P.M. and tomorrow and Sunday at 3 P.M.. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 6 P.M.; Thursdays, noon to 8 P.M.; closed Mondays and holidays. Admission: $6; students and the elderly, $4; 12 and under, $3. Information: (212) 621-6800.
NEW YORK TRANSIT MUSEUM, Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, downtown Brooklyn. Current exhibitions include "Building to Last: The Restoration of Grand Central"; "Steel, Stone and Backbone," a display that traces the construction of the subway system from 1900 to 1925 through photographs, construction tools, films and other objects; "Ceramic Ornamentation," a look at the mosaics, tiles and terra cottas used to adorn subway stations from 1904 to the present, and "Here to There: Signs for Moving Around Underground," an exhibition of more than 100 subway signs. Also on view are 19 fully restored subway cars from 1903 to 1960. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M.; closed Mondays and holidays. Admission: $3; the elderly and ages 6 to 17, $1.50; 5 and under, free. Information: (718) 243-3060 or (718) 243-8601.
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM AND MARKETPLACE, South and Fulton Streets, lower Manhattan. The 19th-century port district has an array of restaurants, shops and bars. Among the display areas at the museum are three gallery spaces, a children's crafts center and a boat-building center. Among the current exhibitions: "City in Play: Toys and the Transformation of New York From 1865 to 1945" and "Traveling in Style: 20th-Century Ocean Liners." Hours: daily, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; closed Tuesdays. Admission: $6; the elderly, $5; students, $4; children 12 and under, $3. Information: the museum, (212) 748-8600; the marketplace, 732-7678.
WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER, Liberty Street Gallery, 200 Liberty Street, lower Manhattan. "Mechanical Marvels: Invention in the Age of Leonardo," a display of 50 working models of machines designed by artist-engineers of the Renaissance, including Filippo Brunelleschi, Mariano di Iacopo and Leonardo da Vinci. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 P.M. Admission: $6; $3 for students and the elderly; free for children under 6. Information: (212) 945-0505.
 
ON THE STREET
Parades
 
VILLAGE HALLOWEEN PARADE, Avenue of the Americas, from Spring Street to 22d Street, Greenwich Village. Today at 6 P.M.
 
Street Fairs
 
GREENWICH AVENUE FALL FESTIVAL, Greenwich Avenue, between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue, Greenwich Village. Tomorrow, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Sponsored by the Federation to Preserve Greenwich Village.
ASTOR PLACE AUTUMN FESTIVAL, Astor Place, between Broadway and Lafayette Street, Greenwich Village. Tomorrow, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Sponsored by the Women's Democratic Club.
PARKSIDE FESTIVAL, Union Square West, between 17th and 23d Streets, Manhattan. Sunday, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Sponsored by the Gramercy-Stuyvesant Independent Democrats.
WAVERLY PLACE PUMPKIN FESTIVAL, Waverly Place, between Avenue of the Americas and Macdougal Street, Greenwich Village. Sunday, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M. Sponsored by the Waverly Block Association.
 
EVENTS
 
FALL CRAFTS PARK AVENUE, Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Avenue and 66th Street. Today, 3 to 9 P.M.; tomorrow, 11 A.M. to 6 P.M.; Sunday, noon to 5 P.M. Admission: $8; free for those under 16. Information: (800) 649-0279.
NEW YORK CITY MARATHON, five boroughs. The 28th running of the 26.2 mile race beginning Sunday at 10:40 A.M. at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The race ends at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. Sponsored by the New York Road Runners Club. Information: (212) 860-4455.
21ST VILLAGE HALLOWEEN COSTUME BALL, Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, at 10th Street, East Village. An indoor and outdoor event with music, dance, juggling and storytelling. Outdoor entertainment, which is free, begins tonight at 5; tickets are $15 for the indoor performance that begins at 7:30 P.M. Reservations advised: (212) 254-1109.
"JEKYLL AND HYDE" PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST, Plymouth Theater, 236 West 45th Street, Manhattan. Pumpkins carved by junior and senior high school students on the theme of good and evil will be judged by cast members of the show; the winner will receive tickets to the show for his entire English class, along with dinner at an area restaurant. Participants should take their entries to the theater today at 6 P.M. Information: (212) 391-0555.
HALLOWEEN TOUR AT KING MANOR MUSEUM, King Park, Jamaica Avenue, between 150th and 151st Streets, Jamaica, Queens. A tour of the 18th-century house (properly decorated for the holiday) that was the country home of Rufus King, a Revolutionary War hero and a United States Senator. Also music, pumpkin-painting and a costume contest. Today at 4 P.M. Fee, $2.50. Information: (718) 206-0545.
"THE MASQUERADE," Landmark on the Park, 160 Central Park West, at 76th Street, Manhattan. A masquerade ball with dancing and refreshments. Tonight at 8. Admission, $75; proceeds benefit the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club, an organization that provides social services to New York City children. Information: (212) 532-0858.
"BORIS KARLOFF: THE GENTLEMAN MONSTER," American Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue and 36th Street, Astoria, Queens. A screening of "The Raven," a 1963 spoof of the Poe story featuring the actor, along with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson. Sunday at 4:30 P.M. Part of a three-week tribute to the actor. Included in museum admission: $8; $5 for the elderly and students; $4 for children 4 to 18 years old; free for children under 4. Information: (718) 784-0077.
 
WALKING TOURS
 
"THE NEW DOWNTOWN," lower Manhattan. A tour that focuses on the history of the financial center, with stops along Wall Street, the World Financial Center and Battery Park City. Meets today at 11 A.M. at the Heritage Trails Kiosk, Broad and Wall Streets. Fee, $14; students and children 7 to 12, $7; the elderly, $10. Sponsored by Heritage Trails New York. This is the last tour of the season. Information: (888) 487-2457.
"THE HALLOWEEN PARADE: A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE MASK," Greenwich Village. A behind-the-scenes look at the preparation for the annual parade. Today at 5 P.M. Fee, $25. Sponsored by Cooper Union. Reservations and meetingplace: (212) 353-4198.
HAUNTED AND HISTORIC HALLOWEEN WALKING TOURS. A tour of scary spots from Union Square to Madison Square, including haunted theaters and houses and hidden graveyards. Meets today at 6 P.M. at Union Square South and 14th Street. Also tomorrow and Sunday at 2 P.M. Sponsored by the American Renaissance Theater of Dramatic Arts. Fee, $10. Reservations: (212) 924-6862.
"BURIAL GROUNDS OF LOWER MANHATTAN," lower Manhattan. A walk past some of the oldest cemeteries in the area, including the African Burial Grounds, with a stop at the grave site of Alexander Hamilton. Meets today at 5:30 P.M. in front of Trinity Church, Wall Street and Broadway. Fee, $10; $8 for students and the elderly. Sponsored by Big Onion Walking Tours and Fraunces Tavern Museum. Reservations: (212) 425-1778.
"MACABRE MIDTOWN: MURDER AND MYSTERY," Manhattan. A tour of sites associated with the deaths of Nelson Rockefeller, the former New York Governor; Gig Young, the actor; and Arnold Bernstein, a gangster. Meets today at 6:30 P.M. in front of the Broadway Diner, East 52d Street and Lexington Avenue. Also tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30 P.M. Fee, $10. Sponsored by NYC Tours. Reservations and information: (212) 465-3331.
"GOTHAM CITY GHOST TOUR," Greenwich Village. A tour of macabre sites including two in Washington Square Park : the "hanging elm" and the burial ground. Meets today at 6 P.M. in front of Barnes & Noble, 4 Astor Place, between Broadway and Lafayette Street. Fee, $10. Also tomorrow and Sunday at 11:30 A.M. Sponsored by NYC Tours. Information: (212) 465-3331.
"THE HAUNTED BIG APPLE PART I," Greenwich and East Villages. A tour that includes sites said to be haunted by the ghosts of Peter Stuyvesant and Aaron Burr. Today at 1 P.M. Fee, $5. Sponsored by Adventure on a Shoestring. Reservations and meetingplace: (212) 265-2663.
"THE HAUNTED BIG APPLE PART II," Manhattan. A tour of "haunted midtown" including the Belasco Theater, where the late David Belasco is said to make appearances. Today at 3:30 P.M. Fee, $5. Sponsored by Adventure on a Shoestring. Reservations and meetingplace; (212) 265-2663.
"ALL HALLOWS EVE TOUR: GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY," Brooklyn. A tour of the historic cemetery that contains the final resting places of Louis Comfort Tiffany, Peter Cooper and Leonard Bernstein. Tomorrow at 10 A.M. Fee, $25. Sponsored by Cooper Union. Reservations and meetingplace: (212) 353-4198.
IRISH ELLIS ISLAND. A tour of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum as well as Castle Clinton, with an emphasis on Irish immigration. Meets tomorrow at noon at Castle Clinton National Monument in Battery Park. Fee, $15; $13 for students and the elderly. Sponsored by Big Onion Walking Tours. Reservations necessary: (212) 439-1090.
"GHOSTLY GREENWICH VILLAGE." A tour of some of the area's "haunted" sites including Mark Twain's house and the sites of public executions. Meets tomorrow at 6 P.M. at the Washington Square Arch. Fee, $10. Sponsored by Street Smarts N.Y. Information: (212) 969-8262.
"GREENWICH VILLAGE PAST AND PRESENT." The area as seen through the eyes of the writers and artists who have lived there. Meets tomorrow at 2 P.M. at the Washington Square Arch. Fee, $10. Sponsored by Street Smarts N.Y. Information: (212) 969-8262.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS. A tour of parks in the area. Meets Sunday at 1:30 P.M. in front of Supreme Court, Borough Hall. Contribution, $1. Sponsored by the Friends of the Parks.
"FROM BEAUX-ARTS TO ART DECO IN THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT." A look at the early-20th-century buildings that tell the story of American big business. Meets Sunday at 11 A.M. in front of the National Museum of the American Indian, 1 Bowling Green. Fee, $17; 12 for students and the elderly. Sponsored by the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts. Registration: (212) 501-3013.
JEWISH LOWER EAST SIDE. A walk past a kosher winery, a bialy bakery and one of the largest synagogues in the area. Sunday at 3:30 P.M. Fee, $5; refreshments not included. Sponsored by Adventure on a Shoestring. Reservations and meetingplace: (212) 265-2663.
"HISTORIC LOWER MANHATTAN: CITY HALL TO THE BATTERY." A tour of the area called New Amsterdam by the Dutch, where the city's first skyscrapers appeared. Meets Sunday at 11 A.M. by the statue of Nathan Hale, Broadway and Murray Street. Fee, $12. Sponsored by Citywalks. Information: (212) 989-2456.
THE FAR WEST VILLAGE. A tour that combines the architecture, business and history of the area. Sunday at 11 A.M. Fee, $16. Sponsored by the 92d Street Y, at Lexington Avenue. Registration: (212) 996-1100.
"WALDORF-ASTORIA WALKING TOUR," Manhattan. A tour past of the historic buildings and mansions in the area. Meets Sunday at 2 P.M. at 550 Lexington Avenue, between 49th and 50th Streets. Fee, $10. Sponsored by New York City Cultural Walking Tours. Information: (212) 979-2388.
"BOSS TWEED AND LA GUARDIA'S NEW YORK," lower Manhattan. A tour of sites associated with the political leader as well as Fiorello LaGuardia and Robert Moses. Meets Sunday at 2 P.M. at 110 Church Street. Fee, $10. Sponsored by Dr. Phil, New York Talks and Walks. Information: (718) 591-4741.
WALKS IN OLD CHELSEA. A tour of some of the "secret" spots of the neighborhood. Meets Sunday at 2 P.M. in front of the Flatiron Building, Broadway, at Fifth Avenue and West 23d Street. Fee, $10. Sponsored by Street Smarts N.Y. Information: (212) 969-8262.
"MORE TEEMING THAN BOMBAY: THE OLD JEWISH LOWER EAST SIDE." A look at the history, foods and architecture of the area. Meets Sunday at 1 P.M. at Straus Square, East Broadway and Essex and Canal Streets. Fee, $12. Sponsored by Joyce Gold History Tours of New York. Information: (212) 242-5762.
ABIGAIL ADAMS SMITH MUSEUM AND SUTTON PLACE, Manhattan. A tour of the museum and its neighborhood, which evolved from a working class area to an upscale residence. Sunday at 1 P.M. Fee, $25. Sponsored by Cooper Union. Information: (212) 353-4198.

LOAD-DATE: October 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: ON THE STREET -- The Village Halloween Parade starts tonight at 6. (G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times)

TYPE: Schedule

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THE 1997 ELECTIONS;
In His Own Words

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 57 words


JAMES E. McGREEVEY
 Referring to Gov. Christine Todd Whitman as he spoke to about 30 residents of a housing complex for elderly people in Newark yesterday. 
 "She gave insurance companies four premium increases in the last four years. It has doubled their income. Who here has seen their income double in the last four years?"

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THE 1997 ELECTIONS: THE GOVERNOR;
Whitman Works to Shore Up Her Softer Areas of Support

BYLINE: By FRANK BRUNI 

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 598 words

DATELINE: CRANFORD, N.J., Oct. 31

With the clock ticking down until Election Day and new polls showing that her re-election remains in doubt, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman turned her attention today to some of her softer areas of support, giving a speech on personal responsibility that seemed intended to appease social conservatives in the Republican Party and expressing her solidarity with minority voters who traditionally favor Democrats.
Mrs. Whitman, whose positions in favor of abortion and gay rights have alienated some fellow Republicans, told hundreds of teen-agers at Cedar Grove High School in Cedar Grove that she wanted to begin a dialogue with children in New Jersey about the importance of choosing between right and wrong. 
 Alluding to a number of widely publicized crimes by teen-agers in New Jersey over the last year, Mrs. Whitman said, "We as adults have not been doing a very good job of communicating to you and the people coming up after you about consequences and responsibility.
"When you make a decision and take an action, there are going to be consequences," she said.
Later, Mrs. Whitman stood on a dais outside the Oak Avenue School in Orange, a relatively poor city that has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, and accepted endorsements from several local black leaders.
The words she chose to thank them tacitly acknowledged the broad spectrum of support she needs to win on Tuesday.
"To have people such as this come across party lines, step forward and be willing to back a Republican woman governor means that everything we've been doing over the last three-and-a-half years to help people is being recognized," Mrs. Whitman said.
"We didn't put policies in place that helped black people or white people or Oriental people," she said.
"We put them in place to help people. We didn't put them in place to help Democrats or Republicans or independents. We put them in place to help people."
The Governor made more than a half-dozen campaign stops in three counties in northern New Jersey today. For the most part, the events were short of speechifying and heavy on symbolism.
She teetered delicately on an undersized chair, looking like Gulliver among the Lilliputians, to read stories to young children at a day-care center in Bloomfield. She embraced elderly people who were waving red, white and blue pompoms at an assisted-living residence in Cranford.
And as she had been almost every day last week, Mrs. Whitman was flanked by prominent Republicans whose presence underlined her own stature.
The people accompanying her today were former Gov. Tom Kean and United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
At a stop in Union, Mrs. Whitman announced that a major pharmaceutical company, Pharmacia & Upjohn, had decided to relocate its worldwide headquarters from London to New Jersey, though the exact place has not been determined. Mrs. Whitman framed the announcement with upbeat assessments of economic vigor in New Jersey during her administration.
Mrs. Whitman began the day in a more defensive posture, sparring with her Democratic challenger, State Senator James E. McGreevey, during a taping in New York City of a segment of WNBC-TV's "News Forum" that is scheduled to broadcast on Sunday.
In what was expected to be their last meeting before Election Day, the candidates turned to familiar points of contention: auto insurance rates and government debt.
But Mrs. Whitman jettisoned such prickly topics for the rest of the day, focusing instead on shaking hands and posing for photographs with just about anyone who strayed near her.

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November 1, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

THE 1997 ELECTIONS: THE CHALLENGER;
McGreevey Given Counsel by Newark Voters

BYLINE: By RONALD SMOTHERS 

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 554 words

DATELINE: NEWARK, Oct. 31

Even before State Senator James E. McGreevey walked in the door at most of his stops here today, it was clear that he was preaching to the converted.
"Attention," read the notice posted in the lobbies of two high-rise buildings for the elderly. "Come and meet Governor McGreevey." While some of the residents seemed more interested in the fruit baskets being handed out by Democratic workers supporting Mr. McGreevey's gubernatorial campaign, others saw value in Mr. McGreevey's presence. 
 "It's a nice gesture, you know, for someone to bring you something," said Verna Lillie Bridgeforth, one of the elderly residents at 1 Court Street. "But I think McGreevey's going to make it because everyone seems to like him."
At the campaign stops with senior citizens, as with others throughout the day, the 40-year-old Democratic candidate hit on his major campaign themes, criticizing Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's inaction in the face of high automobile insurance rates in the state and charging that her policies are at the root of local property tax increases. And he said the core-curriculum standards she had introduced into the state's schools were vague and inadequate.
"You are the next generation and I want to set standards of excellence and not mediocrity," he said to a gathering of students at Paramus High School. It was a theme he would repeat to the senior citizens, invoking their concern for their grandchildren.
In his appearances he alluded to the expected visit tomorrow by President Clinton to campaign with him. Mr. McGreevey also plans to campaign with Senator Robert G. Torricelli, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg and former Senator Bill Bradley over the weekend. These appearances are aimed at energizing the traditional Democratic voters in the state whose support for his candidacy was a rather anemic 56 percent, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll this week.
It was 88-year-old Annie McClanahan who seemed to genuinely buoy Mr. McGreevey as he paused to sit with her for a time in the lobby of the Newark apartment building where she has lived for 17 years. He asked her what her secret to longevity was and she answered, "Be good, kind, honest and work hard." It was the wisest thing he said he had heard in years, and Mrs. McClanahan, who will turn 89 on Nov. 4, then assured him, "You can't miss on Election Day."
Later in the day, Mr. McGreevey visited Councilman Luis Quintana's annual East Ward Halloween Party. Mr. Quintana said that Mr. McGreevey's message in the last days of campaigning had to be "an urban message" to heighten the contrast with Mrs. Whitman, who the Councilman said was more concerned with the suburbs. Mr. Quintana conceded that many in his district had deserted the Democrats four years ago to vote for Mrs. Whitman, but he said they were now disappointed with her and her policies.
Millie Mendez, an employee of the Newark Housing Authority, who was waiting to get into the party, said she had voted for Mrs. Whitman last time because of her anger at then-Gov. Jim Florio for increasing the state's income taxes.
"This year I'm mad at Whitman, especially because of the auto-insurance issue," she said, noting that the high cost of insurance was a particular problem in poorer, urban areas.  "So this time I think I'll give McGreevey a chance."

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The New York Times

November 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Elderly Seek To Keep Fit Longer And Reap Benefits

BYLINE: By KATE STONE LOMBARDI

SECTION: Section 14WC; Page 1; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk

LENGTH: 1278 words

DATELINE: RYE

RAYMOND EHRENBERG'S hair was still damp from swimming laps in the pool. Trim in his maroon warm-up suit and seated in the fitness center at the Osborn, a retirement community here, Mr. Ehrenberg conceded that he had had to give up downhill skiing at the age of 82. Still, at 91, he swims at least three times a week, and when the weather permits he takes his sailboat out on weekends.
"I'm in pretty good shape," Mr. Ehrenberg said. 
 Nearby, Evan Johnson was bench pressing. On the wall next to the weight machine was posted a chart that showed heart-rate targets illustrating the level of exercise intensity appropriate to different age groups. When Mr. Johnson was asked his age, he indicated the poster, which only went as far as 80.
"See the chart?" he said to a visitor. "I'm not on it."
Mr. Ehrenberg and Mr. Johnson are part of a growing trend of older adults who are trading rocking chairs for walking shoes. Belying the notion that being old means being sedentary, more and more elderly men and women are exercising regularly. In doing so, doctors say, they are reaping benefits as close to the fabled fountain of youth as nature provides.
To be sure, this is not a population that wears spandex leotards and engages in high-impact aerobics while rap sounds thump out of speakers at ear-splitting levels. In general, moderate exercise under the supervision of a doctor is the optimal plan for older adults.
As with all age groups, there is a wide range of fitness and ability -- from 80-year-olds who enter marathons to 55-year-olds who become winded when they rise from a chair. But geriatricians and fitness experts agree that the benefits of exercise for older adults are far reaching and that there is some form of activity appropriate for everyone.
This year the Federal Government released the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, which advised everyone to get 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five days a week. Most important to the elderly was the report's suggestion that exercise need not be vigorous to be beneficial.
Experts say that while exercise cannot stop the aging process, it can prevent certain conditions and slow the onset of others. Among the many improvements in health and well-being for older people who take up exercise, the Surgeon General noted these:
*Physical activity can halve the risk of developing heart disease or stroke.
*Exercise lowers the risk of developing certain cancers. As at any age when exercise is started, it can increase the density of bones and reduce the risk of fractures.
*Older people who are active are less likely to develop diabetes than their sedentary peers.
*Stretching and regular moderate activity reduces arthritic pain and the need for medication.
*Mental health is improved with exercise, which has long been known to help people overcome depression. Insomnia is also helped by physical activity, as is memory.
Dr. William Martimucci, chief of geriatrics at United Hospital in Port Chester and the medical director at the Osborn, said that while the benefits of physical activity in older adults were indeed far reaching, it was important to keep in mind that the elderly face risks of certain illnesses associated with age, like heart disease. Before beginning any exercise program, an individual should talk to his doctor to get an appropriate pre-exercise assessment, which may include an exercise stress test.
"The degree of exercise that an older person could or should sustain is less than that of a younger one, excepting those individuals who are very aerobically fit," Dr. Martimucci said. "Obviously, jogging is not for everyone. An individual has to choose the type of exercise with their physician."
Dr. Martimucci said that while people tend to think of exercise only in terms of aerobics, weight training is increasingly recognized as beneficial to older adults. Not only does it improve muscle mass and bone strength, but weight-bearing exercises are also considered one of the best preventative activities for osteoporosis, he said.
The benefits of exercise are not confined to elderly adults like Mr. Ehrenberg and Mr. Johnson, who enjoy independence and health. Even the most frail elderly person can reap physical and emotional rewards from activity. At a recent exercise class in the nursing home division at the Osborn, participants sat in a semicircle of wheelchairs to get their daily workout. They stretched to the music of Vivaldi and tossed a ball back and forth while Irish jigs played.
One participant was in the early stages of a progressive, neurological disease. Another, Cecile Davidson, is blind. At 100, Lucille Canfield occasionally gets sleepy during class. But the mood in the room was upbeat, and the activity, though gentle, was restorative, said Susan Postal, activities director at the Osborn.
"The movement improves circulation and oxygenation, and the use of music makes it more enjoyable," Ms. Postal said. "Inevitably, people notice a change of mood from the beginning to end. They're revved up."
Ms. Postal said that even those who have Alzheimer's disease and other dementia disorders are able to enjoy the movement and music. She said one woman who came to class could not speak in comprehensible sentences but suddenly sang "You Are My Sunshine" clearly and on pitch.
Even those who are unable to work some part of their bodies can exercise other parts. Bob Cullen, the fitness director at the Osborn, said that people who need walkers on land can sometimes swim with relative ease. They can also use treadmills, which have rails for balance. Those who use wheelchairs can exercise their upper bodies.
While the younger population may exercise for esthetic reasons, for the elderly population, the key motivation is to improve the quality of their lives. At this stage, sculptured muscles or a flat abdomen are less compelling than being able to climb stairs more easily or get out of a chair without pain.
Dr. Martimucci said that for the very frail elderly even small improvements in medical conditions can have a large impact on everyday living. "Having an individual be more independent, for instance, to build strength in his upper elements, so he can transfer himself from bed to chair, can make a very big difference to an impaired individual."
Those who work in fitness are paying attention to population trends. Mirroring the national picture, the county's fastest-growing population group is the elderly. In 1970, there were 34,770 people older than 75 living in Westchester; by 1990 that number had grown to 56,067. The County Planning Department projects that by 2020, the number of elderly older 85, now 13,794, is expected to double.
With an eye on those numbers, the Y.M.C.A. in White Plains began its "Active Older Adults" program this fall, which includes water aerobics, low-impact exercise classes, strength training and special exercise classes for people suffering from arthritis. The music played in those classes is tailored to the tastes of an older population and substitutes show tunes for the pulsating rap usually heard in gyms. In addition, the older-adult program offers seminars covering issues like nutrition, getting started on exercise and protecting oneself from unscrupulous salespeople.
Formal exercise programs are not the only way to stay fit. Florence Adamson eschews classes but never misses her daily walk. With flushed cheeks after her rounds at the Osborn recently, she said: "I'm 102 and three-fourths. I love to walk, and I walk every day. I'm terribly lucky, and I'm very thankful. My daughter enjoys it too. She's 70."

LOAD-DATE: November 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Fritzi Ughetta, exercising at the Osborn in Rye. (Susan Farley for The New York Times)(pg. 1); Robert Cullen directs exercises for residents at the Osborn retirement community in Rye. (Susan Farley for The New York Times)(pg. 19)

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The New York Times

November 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

A Garden For Adults Of Any Age

BYLINE: By FRANCES CHAMBERLAIN 

SECTION: Section 14CN; Page 19; Column 1; Connecticut Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1258 words

A WOMAN at the East Shore Regional Adult Day Center in Branford was wheeled outside for a breath of fresh air one day a couple of years ago. She turned to her attendant, as Donald Hyatt, chairman of the board, tells it, and remarked how wonderful it was to be outdoors.
"This woman was ecstatic," Mr. Hyatt said. "She hadn't been outside in two or three months and all we had done was wheel her out in the driveway to look at the grass." 
 It's a lot more than grass these days. Her comment spurred the board, the home's director. Thomas Russell Romano, and an army of volunteers to transform a big field into a carefully designed garden with plenty of benches, serpentine walkways, shade trees, flowers, sculptures and a gazebo.
Two years after the wheelchair-bound woman expressed her pleasure in just sitting in the parking lot, the garden is finished, a setting for a recent party held in honor of those who had contributed, in work and materials, to the effort.
Eighteen people from the Regional Water Authority and several from People's Bank, coordinated by the United Way, spent the day weeding, raking, mowing and spreading mulch. They are part of a much larger cadre of volunteers at the center, a place for the elderly and physically or mentally challenged, who spend time reading, walking, singing and just visiting.
Adult day care, according to Mr. Romano, is a desperate need today. "Sixteen years ago I was finishing my master's degree in gerontology and I asked to be a resource person for a feasibility study here," he said. "There were 17 centers in the state in 1980, and so I visited them all."
The East Shore group got a Federal grant for $100,000 and hired Mr. Romano as director. He in turn hired staff and started programs in the basement of Branford's Baptist Church. Fourteen years ago the agency moved into the vacant Short Beach school building, and it now has about 70 people enrolled.
Mr. Romano said he was determined to have people of all ages. "I don't like to see segregation," he explained. "We started off with senior citizens and then got other funding. The majority of our clients are frail and elderly, probably 60 percent, but 20 percent are in the 40 to 60 age range, with psychiatric problems, and 10 percent are younger people with cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and mental retardation."
The new garden is especially helpful for Alzheimer's patients, Mr. Romano said. "If you keep an Alzheimer's patient indoors, they don't know where to go," he said. "The garden gives them a chance for fresh air and exercise. One of the last things to go, for an Alzheimer's patient, is his or her ability to walk."
The center serves a challenged but still independent population.  "There was an 80-year-old woman living in a retirement village," Mr. Romano recalled. "She had Parkinson's disease, but didn't belong in a nursing home. Her husband couldn't care for her all the time, so a home health aide helped out some; our bus picked her up on other days, and he could have time to do things for himself."
Another typical person at the center might be a 95-year-old who is still living independently but forgets to take his medications. Then there is John Greenleaf of Clinton, who suffered traumatic brain injury in an accident. Mr. Greenleaf, now 49, was in a coma for four years, and, although he is restricted to a wheelchair, he is at the center four days a week for activities, socialization and to provide some respite for his mother.
"Our service costs $7.95 per hour, with a sliding scale, and we provide door-to-door transportation, breakfast, a full-time registered nurse, program activities, and a full meal at lunchtime," Mr. Romano said. "Thank God we have fine nursing homes, when people need them, but adult day care saves the state millions of dollars that would have otherwise been spent on nursing care."
The East Shore Center has won its share of awards. In 1985 the Administration on Aging's Project Independence Award for Connecticut went to the center, the same year that Mr. Romano won a Certificate of Award from the state's Department on Aging. In 1987 and 1989 the Friends of East Shore Regional Adult Day Center received a Congressional Award. Mr. Hyatt, the board chairman, is a retired NBC producer whom Mr. Romano describes as "my mentor."
Friends of Adult Day Care, the center's volunteer organization, coordinates fund raising events and activities for those at the center, and donates as much as $3,000 each year from a raffle. The Homemaker Thrift Shop, another volunteer organization, gives proceeds to the Visiting Nurse Association and the adult center -- as much as $12,000 per year, Mr. Romano said.
In addition, the center benefits from student interns and community volunteers. "Several years ago we had many more volunteers," Mr. Romano said, "but this is the sandwich generation. People are working, taking care of elderly parents and children."
One special volunteer during the development of the new garden was Tom Piscatelli of Branford who worked on his Eagle Scout badge by helping out. But in general, Mr. Romano said, "We don't need special talents; we just need someone to take a walk in the new garden or read to someone."
The center employees six part-time bus drivers, four full-time and four part-time certified nurse's aides, one full-time recreational therapist, one registered nurse, the director, an assistant director, one counselor and a part-time development director.
The nursing care is an important part of what adult day care does, Mr. Romano noted. "If you go through a home care agency it costs about $22 per hour to hire someone to give a bath, or $12 to $14 per hour to hire a companion," he explained. "We are a medical/ social model, certified by the state, which means we can provide both the social activities and fulfill the medical needs of clients. One lady had to be catheterized four times a day. We were able to do it here twice daily, for free, saving her the $95 fee for each time the home care agency would have to do it. The fee for changing a dressing is about $75 to $95 per visit; our nurse does it just as part of the daily routine."
A nursing home might cost $50,000 to $90,000 per year, with the average at about $70,000. The state, then, could pay $23,000 per year for seven days of adult day care each week, with some home health care, and save a total of $50,000 per person, Mr. Romano estimated.
East Shore Day Center was a forerunner in the adult day care field, Mr. Romano said. "The next evolution is overnight respite care," he added. He described the case of a young couple expecting a baby, who were trying to deal with one parent suffering from Alzheimer's and another who had a heart attack the day the young mother went into labor. "It took me hours to find a place for the elderly father to stay while the young couple had their baby," Mr. Romano said.
"The fastest growing segment of the population is 85-plus," Mr. Romano added. "We need the wherewithal to care for the elderly in the future. People live longer, but they want to live in dignity."
Or, as Mr Hyatt put it, "The question is what adult care is all about. This runs the gamut from those who are disabled to those who are just lonely. Many need companionship and sociability. We fit into the health care revolution because we take care of so many people who would otherwise be in homes, a depressing alternative. People say 'This is my home away from home.' They get a sense of community here."

LOAD-DATE: November 2, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: At the East Shore Regional Adult Day Center, exercises led by Rosemary Hayens, top center. Above: Donald Hyatt, chairman, gardening with Kate Powell. Left: Thomas Russell Romano, center's director, with John Greenleaf. Below left: Arlene Driska and Grace Lee, seated, in crafts class. (Photographs by Thomas McDonald for The New York Times)

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The New York Times

November 2, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
PEARCE, HENRY

SECTION: Section 1; Page 45; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 778 words

PEARCE-Henry, 89 years young. Loving Husband of Sally; Adoring Father of Dr. David and Linda and Dr. Norton Rosensweig; Proud Grandfather of Jonathan and Laurie Rosensweig and Julie and Paul Schwartz. Founding partner of Pearce Mayer & Greer in 1928, devoted his career to Real Estate Philanthropy and his Family. Memorial services will be held at the "Riverside", 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, on Monday, November 3rd, at 11:15 A.M.
PEARCE-Henry. The Board, staff and members of the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA) note with profound sorrow the passing of our beloved mentor, friend, colleague and supporter, Henry Pearce. He joined the JASA Board shortly after the organization's founding and was instrumental in guiding its growth. As Co-Chair of the Executive and Nominating Committees, he had a profound impact on the evolution of JASA's policies and programs. He gave his love generously and was loved by all who were privledged to know him and share in his dreams. He was persistent, caring, kind, funny and totally committed to JASA. He personally recruited most of the members of the Board of Trustees, for when Henry asked you to do something it was difficult, if not impossible, to say no. Through programs he helped initiate, his comitment to older volunteers, his inspiring pep talks to his colleagues and friends, his philanthropy, but most of all through his personal example, he helped us all to better recognize the capacity of older persons to continue to grow, create and contribute to society's well being. With his brilliant mind, passionate heart, boundless energy, and love of life he continually pushed us to do more and to do better. He faced his illness with dignity and courage, and remained active and vital until the end. We will miss him. But we shall be guided by his legacy as we seek to perpetuate his vision of service to older persons. Our hearts go out to his beloved and devoted bride of more than 60 years, Sally, and to his children and grandchildren. Marilyn F. Friedman, President Steven M. Jacobson, Chairman David J. Stern, Exec VP
PEARCE-Henry. The officers, leadership and staff of UJA-Federation of New York mourn the passing of Henry Pearce, a dear friend and dedicated supporter of our mission around the world. Together with his beloved wife, Sally, a former officer of UJA-Federation and longtime board member and community leader, the impact of their extraordinary philanthropic activities will continue to be enormous. Henry was involved for many years in our Real Estate Divison and was a founding trustee of the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA), a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation. He and Sally established a generous fund to promote volunteerism within the Jewish commuinty. They also funded a kindergarten in Israel which bears their name and which they loved to visit together. To Sally, to their children Linda and Norton Rosensweig and David Pearce, to their grandchildren J.P., Julie and Lori, to his brother Leon, and to the the nieces, nephews and friends who loved and admired him, we send our deepest sympathies. Judith Stern Peck Board Chair Louise B. Greilsheimer President Charles Borrok Chair, Real Estate Division Stephen D. Solender Executive V.P.
PEARCE-Henry. The Board of Trustees and staff of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services acknowledge with great sorrow the death of Henry Pearce, husband of Sally Pearce, our devoted trustee. Henry was an inspired leader of the Jewish community and supported Sally's important work with our agency, including leadership of the Sally Pearce Passover Outreach Program. We extend our affection and heartfelt sympathy to Sally and her family. Seymour R. Askin, Jr, Pres. Joseph S. Kaplan, Pres-Elect Fredric W. Yerman, Chairman of the Board Gladys Wiesenthal, Chair, Volunteer Services Divisional Committee Alan B. Siskind, Ph.D., Executive Vice President
PEARCE-Henry. Older brother of our late founding partner Saul Pearce. Henry was more than a client, friend and inspiration. Everything he touched he infused with energy, wit and integrity. We share with Sally and his wonderful family a sense of tremendous loss. Robinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman, LLP
PEARCE-Henry. The Officers, Board of Governors and Members of Metropolis Country Club mourn the passing of our esteemed member, and extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Sally, and his family. Murray B. Hirsch, President Howard Ecker, Secretary
PEARCE-Henry. A dynamo in the real estate industry, a good friend whose advice I cherished. I will miss him. My condolences to Sally and the family. Benjamin Duhl

LOAD-DATE: November 4, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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The New York Times

November 3, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

THE 1997 ELECTIONS: THE VOTERS;
In Rutherford, the Disgruntlement Factor

BYLINE: By EVELYN NIEVES 

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 988 words

DATELINE: RUTHERFORD, N.J., Oct. 31

At Station Square, thick with morning train commuters en route to New York, the topic of the hour was the election, and John Martin, an insurance and mutual funds broker, was getting grumpy.
With the New Jersey governor's race reaching its end, he was still undecided about his vote and was becoming unhappy with the choices. Mr. Martin, president of the East Rutherford School Board, said the three chief candidates had spent too much time on auto insurance rates. "The person who I'm going to vote for is the person who is going to do the most for the New Jersey school system," he said. 
 But Mr. Martin, a registered Republican with a daughter in high school, said he could not figure out who the education candidate was. He voted for Mrs. Whitman four years ago, but has been unimpressed with her on education. He said her rivals, State Senator James E. McGreevey, a Democrat, and Murray Sabrin, a Libertarian, seemed to have glossed over the subject. "I guess I'm disgruntled," Mr. Martin said.
He has company. A sampling of voters in this tree-shaded borough nine miles from Manhattan revealed quite a few grumpy undecideds in the last days before the election. In random interviews over two days with two dozen voters from Rutherford and nearby communities, eight said they were completely undecided, while the rest were equally divided between Mrs. Whitman and Someone Other Than Whitman.
This says a great deal about the election, since Rutherford, in must-win Bergen County, is a political bellwether. Mrs. Whitman won here by a narrow margin four years ago, mirroring her victory in the state. President Clinton carried the borough last year, while George Bush won four years before that. Among its registered voters, Republicans and Democrats are far outnumbered by undeclared voters and independents, reflecting the state's political composition.
The Governor would not be pleased to know that of the eight completely undecided voters, six voted for her before, as did four who said they would vote for someone other than her.
Mr. McGreevey would not be happy to hear that his support here looks soft. While he has seized on high auto insurance rates and property taxes as big campaign issues, voters seemingly have not connected him to the solution. Of the eight voters who said they have decided to vote for someone other than Mrs. Whitman, only four planned to vote for the Democrat. The others were still weighing their options.
Rutherford (population 18,000) is like several New Jersey suburbs rolled into one: it has blue-collar neighborhoods with two-bedroom Cape Cods, and fancy enclaves with $600,000 Victorians; it has old money, new immigrants, formerly urban professionals with young children and senior citizens with empty nests. But voters interviewed seem to share the same concerns: property taxes, education, high auto insurance rates and crime, in that order.
Over the last four years, property taxes have been climbing, so that someone with a property assessed at $190,000 pays $5,176 a year, $635 more than in 1993. Yet many voters said they doubted that any of the candidates would be able to change matters. For them, their decision seemed to boil down to how much the administration deserved blame or credit for the state of the state.
Take Susan McConville and Gerry Bellotti, administrators at Fairleigh Dickinson University having breakfast at the Boiling Springs Diner. Both said New Jersey was in average shape. For Ms. McConville, a registered Democrat who voted Democratic four years ago, this meant the glass was half empty. She said she planned to vote for Mr. McGreevey, largely because "I haven't been satisfied with the job Whitman has done." For Mr. Bellotti, a Republican, the glass was at least half full. "She hasn't done a bad job," he said of Mrs. Whitman.
Others who gave the Governor high marks, like Norman Stampone, a retired truck driver, praised her dedication, sincerity and efforts. "That other guy raised taxes in his town 43 percent," he said, quoting one of the Governor's campaign ads that attacks Mr. McGreevey's record as the Mayor of Woodbridge.
But those who gave the Governor the worst grades seized on her 30 percent cut in income taxes. "I don't understand how people could think the Governor could cut income taxes and not have it come out of somewhere else," said Alex Thomson, a psychotherapist and self-described "old hippie" liberal Democrat. "I call it typical Republican voodoo."
Ann Perry, having her hair done at the Permanent Solution beauty parlor, would agree. To her, the Way Things Are ("car insurance and property taxes sky high") are so far from the Way Things Ought to Be ("reasonable and well managed") that Mrs. Whitman had to be stopped. "You want to know who I'm voting for on Tuesday? Not Whitman! Not Whitman!" she said, flapping her arms so wildly that her colorist had to warn her that she would leak auburn onto her forehead.
But while Ms. Perry, who voted for Gov. Jim Florio four years ago and Bob Dole for president last year, had nothing good to say about Mrs. Whitman, she had nothing at all to say about Mr. McGreevey. She said she was as likely to choose Mr. Sabrin in casting her Not Whitman vote. "I might make up my mind in the voting booth," she said. "It wouldn't be the first time."
Mary Bolobanic, Ms. Perry's hairdresser, had a similar notion. While she voted for Mrs. Whitman before, she now blames her for making education jobs disappear. "I don't know what the Governor has done, exactly," she said, "but she cut programs. I know it's her fault."
Still, Ms. Bolobanic admired her ads. "She's very attractive and she seems sincere," she said.
"Don't believe her," Ms. Perry said. "There's only one candidate who is really good. He's brilliant."
"McGreevey?" Ms. Bolobanic said.
"It's that Mayor Giuliani," Ms. Perry said. "I wish I lived in New York so I could vote for him."

LOAD-DATE: November 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Norman Stampone: Retired truck driver -- He praised the Goveror and said, "That other guy raised taxes in his town 43 percent."; Mary Bolobanic: Hairdresser -- On education, she said, "I don't know what the Governor has done, exactly, but she cut programs. I know it's her fault." (Photographs by Norman Y. Lono for The New York Times)

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November 3, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

In Congress and White House, Debate Begins on How to Use Future Budget Surpluses

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 20; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1226 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 2

After decades in which huge Federal budget deficits cast a shadow over politics and the economy, Congress and the White House face the possibility that the Government will begin running surpluses in the next few years, and a heated debate is already breaking out over what to do with the money.
Many conservative Republicans want to dedicate all or most of any surpluses to paying down the mountain of debt accumulated over decades of wars, recessions and fiscal profligacy. Other Republicans are pushing for tax cuts. 
 Members of both parties are eagerly promoting more spending on roads, bridges and other politically appealing construction projects. Many Democrats lean toward additional spending on education and health programs.
Both White House officials and members of Congress are pondering how surpluses could help address the looming shortfall in financing for Social Security retirement benefits and the Medicare system of health insurance for the elderly.
That the debate is taking place at all strikes some officials as premature, given that the budget deficit, while falling rapidly, has not been eliminated and may never be if the economy falters. Even if the economy remains robust, just talking seriously about surpluses could erode the political will needed to bring the budget into balance, they said.
"We need to stop hyperventilating and complete the job of balancing the budget," said Representative John R. Kasich, the Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House Budget Committee.
The rapidly improving fiscal situation has nonetheless opened the door to a wide-ranging consideration of policy and political priorities as the glow of prosperity is beginning to alter the way official Washington is addressing the nation's long-term problems.
The deficit for the Government fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was $22.6 billion, its lowest level since the early 1970's. If the economy remains strong, many analysts say, the budget could show a surplus within the next several years and continue to do so for years to come.
"For 15 years or more, the most important question you could ask about a public policy idea was what its effect was going to be on the budget deficit," said Franklin D. Raines, the White House budget director. "Now you have to ask what an idea's contribution to the country is going to be and how does that compare to other options."
In its broadest terms, the debate is dominated by two camps. One considers reducing the national debt to be the best use of any surplus, likening the nation's fiscal condition to that of a consumer who has learned not to use a credit card so much but still must muster the discipline to pay off the card's balance. The national debt is $5.3 trillion, and interest payments on it account for 15 percent of all Federal spending.
The other camp believes that there are other more pressing uses for the money, like tax cuts, transportation projects, higher Pentagon spending, school system improvements and access to medical care.
"Maintaining a surplus for use in reducing the national debt is good policy but bad politics," said Robert D. Reischauer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and former director of the Congressional Budget Office.
"It would help increase the productivity of the work force and national living standards, help keep interest rates down and significantly reduce the fraction of the total budget that goes to debt service," he said. "But those types of benefits are very distant and diffuse, and politicians want concrete rewards and immediate ones. So it's natural for this debate to begin, and it's likely to intensify."
When Speaker Newt Gingrich presented his views on how to use the surplus to the House Budget Committee several weeks ago, he provided a perhaps unintentional look at how expansive a political appetite there is for new and expensive initiatives.
Mr. Gingrich started by saying that Congress should do whatever it takes, including cutting Federal spending further, to eliminate the annual deficit and push the budget into surplus. Then, he said, the country should push to run an annual surplus "large enough that a reasonable recession doesn't stop it" for use in paying off the national debt.
But Mr. Gingrich went on to lay claim to a slice of any surpluses for other uses, starting with a tax cut every year. Then he called for increased spending on science, the military and transportation. And last, he noted Congress's responsibility to shore up the Social Security and Medicare programs.
Mr. Kasich responded, somewhat wryly, by telling Mr. Gingrich that his proposals were "a tall order, you will have to admit, for a surplus that is yet to materialize" and that any surpluses that do materialize might never be big enough to pay for Mr. Gingrich's entire wish list.
"I think you are pushing the envelope with what you propose, but nevertheless, I think it is the kind of debate we need to have," Mr. Kasich told Mr. Gingrich.
There is no shortage of proposals to debate. Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio and Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan, both Republicans, have introduced a bill that would set aside any revenue collected by the Government beyond that projected in the balanced budget deal negotiated by Congress and President Clinton earlier this year. The money would be reserved primarily for tax cuts or to pay for the costs of a fundamental overhaul of the tax code, another Republican priority. But the legislation would bar the use of any of the money for new spending programs.
Representative Mark W. Neumann of Wisconsin, a Republican, has introduced a bill that would cap increases in Federal spending at one percentage point below the rate of increase in tax revenues and mandate that two-thirds of the resulting surplus be applied to paying off the national debt and the other third to tax cuts.
"I feel pretty strongly that we have a moral and ethical responsibility to pay off the debts we've run up in the last 15 years," Mr. Neumann said.
But Representative Bud Shuster, a Republican from Pennsylvania who is chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is leading a push for more spending on highways and other transportation projects.
Democrats in Congress, wary of being tagged as tax-and-spend liberals, have shied away from detailed proposals for increased spending. But their leaders, including Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, have made clear that they see health, education and transportation as priorities.
The White House has taken a hard line against using any unexpectedly high tax revenues to finance spending programs before the budget is balanced. But Administration officials have begun meeting to discuss how to use any consistent surpluses. Officials said the options included things like tax incentives to reducing the emissions that cause global warming, more spending on education, training and health care, and getting an early start on fixing Social Security.
"Our general approach," said Gene Sperling, the director of the White House's National Economic Council, "is to take a deep breath, don't spend money you don't have and, if it does turn out that you have sustainable surpluses, to think long and hard about what would be best for the economy and average families."      

LOAD-DATE: November 3, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: November 4, 1997, Tuesday

 CORRECTION:
An article yesterday about a debate over what should be done with a possible budget surplus misattributed a quotation in response to Speaker Newt Gingrich's proposals at a House Budget Committee hearing. The speaker -- who called Mr. Gingrich's proposals "a tall order, you will have to admit, for a surplus that has yet to materialize" -- was Representative John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, the ranking Democrat on the committee, not Representative John R. Kasich, the Ohio Republican who is the committee's chairman.
"I think you are pushing the envelope with what you propose," Mr. Spratt said, "but, nevertheless, I think it is the kind of debate we need to have."

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The New York Times

November 4, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Science Watch;
Churchgoing May Aid Health

BYLINE: By CORNELIA DEAN 

SECTION: Section F; Page 4; Column 6; Science Desk 

LENGTH: 285 words

REGULAR attendance at religious services does a lot for the soul, but now researchers at Duke University Medical Center say it may help the body as well.
In a survey of older North Carolinians, the researchers found that those who attended services at least once a week were much less likely to have high blood levels of interleukin-6, an immune system protein associated with many age-related diseases. 
 The researchers, Dr. Harold Koenig and Dr. Harvey Cohen, said they could not explain the findings but suggested that attending services might help counteract stress.
"Perhaps religious participation enhances immune functioning by yet unknown mechanisms, such as through feelings of belonging, togetherness, even perhaps the experience of worship and adoration," Dr. Koenig said.
The researchers said they studied interleukin-6 because it was a good marker for a number of conditions, including some cancers, autoimmune disorders and certain viral diseases. Dr. Cohen said his earlier research had shown an association between high levels of the immune system protein and difficulty with routine tasks like walking, dressing and cooking.
The researchers discounted the possibility that their findings might be skewed because healthy people would be more likely to attend services. They said many of the participants in their study were regulars at church despite severe disabilities.
The study, reported in the October issue of The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, involved 1,718 adults over age 65, who were some of the 4,000 North Carolinians participating in a larger study, financed by the National Institute on Aging, on the health of the elderly.   CORNELIA DEAN

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GRAPHIC: Drawing (Nurit Karlin)

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The New York Times

November 4, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

THE 1997 ELECTIONS: THE GOVERNOR;
Vote, and Stay With Party, Whitman Tells Republicans

BYLINE: By MELODY PETERSEN 

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 509 words

DATELINE: LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J., Nov. 3

On the final stops of her 10-day bus tour, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman worked on shoring up her Republican base today, repeatedly urging party members to vote and not to meander to a third party.
At most of her stops, Mrs. Whitman was clearly in friendly territory. And she often gave a thumbs-up sign, showing her confidence. 
 At the Lacey Township fire hall, Terry Farina paused from pouring coffee for the senior citizens in the crowd and reached up to touch the Governor's cheek as she passed by.
"I wanted to know if she remembered me," Ms. Farina explained, referring to having shaken the Governor's hand at a parade.
And at a stop at the fire hall in Whiting, Catherine Kenny, 72, shook Mrs. Whitman's hand and said, "We'll be out there for you."
"We believe in her," Mrs. Kenny told a reporter later. "There's something about her. She comes across as very honest."
Talking to the mostly Republican crowd of 300 people jammed into the Lacey fire hall, Mrs. Whitman said that voters should not believe the television advertisements of Murray Sabrin, the Libertarian Party's candidate, who has been attracting the attention of some of the Republicans' most conservative members.
"All that you are hearing is just garbage," Mrs. Whitman told the crowd. "It's not true. But we need your help in getting that message out, making sure that everybody understands how important tomorrow's election is, and what it's really about."
While conservative Republicans rallied around Mrs. Whitman in 1993, some are now quiet or are even fighting to defeat her. Members of the Christian Coalition, for example, who were angered by her veto of a ban on certain late-term abortions, have been urging Republicans to vote for Mr. Sabrin or Richard J. Pezzullo, the Conservative Party candidate, both of whom oppose abortion.
Mrs. Whitman told about 300 supporters gathered at the Monmouth County Hall of Records in Freehold: "We need your help, we need your votes, we need your neighbors' votes and your families' votes." Her voice hoarse from weeks of campaigning, she went on, "We want to keep this state on a road to a brighter future."
As her red-and-blue campaign bus rolled some 200 miles through New Jersey today, Mrs. Whitman benefited from the perks of office as the local police stopped traffic so that the bus and the press corps following her could make it to her eight scheduled stops on time.
Her day began at the train station in Hoboken, where she greeted early morning commuters heading to their jobs in Manhattan. Her night ended with a rally with Hunterdon County Republicans in Flemington, not far from her farm in Oldwick.
At the Freehold rally, Tom Sichort of Egg Harbor City said he had come because he was told that Mrs. Whitman had found some money to help the annual Senior Olympics. Mr. Sichort, 74, a speed walker and horseshoe thrower, said, "We got the call to come up because she was giving a donation."
Of Mrs. Whitman, he said, "You can always complain about a few things, but I think she's done quite well."

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The New York Times

November 5, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Studies Show Overall Value In Air Bags, Despite Deaths

BYLINE: By MATTHEW L. WALD

SECTION: Section A; Page 18; Column 3; National Desk

LENGTH: 448 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 4

Even though air bags have killed dozens of children, old people and short people, they are still a benefit over all, according to a study published today by researchers at Harvard University who have found that that benefit is as large as that of common medical procedures that cost the same.
But the study made clear that the balance of costs and benefits for passenger-side air bags was considerably less favorable than for driver air bags. 
 A second study, by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that for 1992-1995, passengers in the right front seat were 18 percent less likely to die in head-on collisions if the car had air bags, although children under 10 had a 34 percent higher risk of dying in such cars. Both studies were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association today.
The Harvard study showed that installing driver and passenger air bags in all cars, which costs about $400 each, was about as expensive, in terms of lives saved, as many medical screenings, said the lead author, John D. Graham, a professor of policy and decision sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health. The authors said their study was the first peer-reviewed scientific analysis of costs and benefits.
It was also a cold numerical look at a topic that has been the subject of emotional hearings in response to cases in which small children were killed by air bags that deployed in fender-benders, some at less than 10 miles an hour. The controversy has led the Government to consider letting mechanics disconnect air bags, and auto makers have asked for a change in the rules that could lead to air bags that inflate more slowly and less dangerously.
Safety advocates, including Mr. Graham, point out that air bags are the first Government-ordered equipment that increases risk for a large segment of the population, children. Researchers also say that statistically, air bags have little or no benefit for people over 65.
The study employed a counting system widely used in health-care planning, in which researchers calculated the years of life that were saved or lost through air bags. For adults whose lives were saved, researchers said that on average, 40 years of life were added; for each child killed, 80 years of life were subtracted. Researchers also subtracted a small number of years from the adult total to account for adults who survived with permanent injuries, which reduced the quality of their lives.
The cost, per "quality-adjusted life year," was $24,000 for drivers and $61,000 for passengers, although the researchers said that the passenger figure could be reduced by $10,000 by getting children out of the front seat.

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The New York Times

November 6, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

German Court Rejects Claims of 21 Auschwitz Slave Laborers

BYLINE: By ALAN COWELL 

SECTION: Section A; Page 5; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 561 words

DATELINE: BONN, Nov. 5

In a ruling likely to dim the hopes of thousands of survivors of forced labor in the Nazi era, a state court here today rejected a vast majority of claims by a group of elderly Jewish women seeking payment for their work as slaves at Auschwitz.
Of a total of 22 claims, Judge Heinz Sonnenberger upheld only one, awarding $8,600 to Rywka Merin, a woman from Poland who emigrated to Israel in the late 1960's. She missed her chance to apply for payment under Germany's Federal Compensation Law, adopted in 1953, because she lived in a Soviet-bloc country at the time. 
 Under that law, Germany has paid $58 billion in reparations to survivors of Nazi persecution. Judge Sonnenberger ruled against the other claimants -- now living in Israel, Canada, the United States and Germany -- on the ground that they had already received payments under the compensation law.
"The claims of the other women are not justified, because they all received compensation under the Federal Compensation Law and some are still receiving pensions," the judge said. "No damage claims can be paid alongside this law -- not even for slave labor."
The case, which took five years to reach today's conclusion, was seen by the German authorities as a potential precedent for thousands of other survivors.
Millions of people, many of them Jews, were forced to work under murderous conditions for German private companies sustaining Hitler's war effort with vehicles, synthetic rubber and fuel.
While the authorities have insisted that claims for slave labor itself -- as opposed to damages caused by injury or incarceration -- are invalid, Judge Sonnenberger said in his ruling that the question "is a political issue for which lawmakers could find a new ruling."
The 22 women who brought the court case against the current German Government -- as the legal successor to the Nazi regime -- originally came from Hungary and Poland and were forced to work at the Union Werke munitions plant, part of the Auschwitz complex of death camps and factories.
They were represented in Germany by Klaus von Munchhausen, a college lecturer from the Institute for the Study of Genocide and Xenophobia at Bremen University. He took on their cause after meeting one of the former Union Werke workers during a vacation in Israel 12 years ago.
Mr. von Munchhausen, who said he would appeal today's ruling, maintains that some 30,000 former slave laborers have never received compensation. Since the current court proceedings opened, 2 of the 22 claimants, all in their 70's, have died. The claims they made were for up to $39,000 each.
Mr. von Munchhausen said he believed that the ruling would help some other former slave laborers claim pensions, but not all. "I am very disappointed," he said. "All foreign slave laborers have a right to remuneration. We do not agree that a court can rule them out."
By the end of World War II, Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister, had turned the slave labor system into a brutal colossus employing at least seven million people.
Speer and some German industrialists, including the steel magnate Alfried Krupp, were sentenced at the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal for using slave labor. The issue has remained contentious in the postwar era, with some hugely successful companies paying only modest reparations and others paying nothing.
      

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The New York Times

November 8, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Review/Fashion;
3 Thinking Designers Outdo Themselves

BYLINE: By ANNE-MARIE SCHIRO 

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 3; Style Desk; Fashion Page

LENGTH: 1093 words

Each collection challenges the designer to make clothes that are good enough to reap praise from the press, to be photographed by magazines, and to be bought in quantity by stores. Of course, some designers have sufficient financial clout to advertise widely, which assures them of a certain acceptance even in a weak season.
But beyond all that, there are designers who test themselves in other ways. They want to outdo themselves each season, to propel fashion forward by devising new ways of working those few yards of fabric, and if in the process they manage to tempt women to covet clothes they don't really need, well, that's one of the aims of high fashion, isn't it? 
 Any woman who cares about fashion should be tempted by the fresh ideas that walked the runways of three thinking designers who are never satisfied with what they did the previous season.
Geoffrey Beene proved himself yet again the designer's designer, a man who can show the others how it should be done.
Calvin Klein continued to experiment with fabric, turning out clothing so ethereal it might have been sewn by invisible hands.
And Isaac Mizrahi displayed a new maturity as he turned away from jokes and gimmicks and toward making serious clothes.
An unusual thing happened in the Beene showroom at the end of yesterday morning's show. As Mr. Beene retreated backstage after taking a brief bow, the photographers shouted "Bravo," inspiring the audience to a fresh surge of applause, which built in a crescendo, drawing the surprised designer -- a notoriously shy man -- back into the room. It was, as they say in the fashion world, a moment. It was as if the people present suddenly awoke to the fact that they had just seen something truly special after a week in which such treats were rare.
In fact, a Geoffrey Beene show is always special, but every so often he scales a new height. This time, he seemed to be telling the world that anything some other designer can do, he can do better, whether it's a jacket that wraps to the side, a skirt that folds back on itself, an asymmetrical neckline or a dress that combines sheer and opaque fabrics. But he also did something else: he injected youth into a collection that in recent years has tended to look mature by today's standards.
Mr. Beene didn't desert his older customers. He supplied plenty of the impeccable suits and covered-up dresses they prefer, but he put striped T-shirts under those suits and showed plenty of bare arms for the well-toned.
He also made a strong case for the dress, showing both day and night versions of calf-skimming silk jerseys with tiny tops and softly flared skirts. They came in pretty shades of blue, pink and ivory as well as gray and had waistlines defined by narrow Lucite belts trimmed with Lucite flowers. An evening version glowed in lime green with yellow outlining the low V neckline and a cutout triangle in back.
Sheer organza jackets topped striped T-shirts and slim short skirts for a slightly askew take on sportswear. And Mr. Beene's sense of whimsy surfaced in jackets printed with circus performers and animals, in giant-size jagged rickrack trimmings, in two child-size gloved hands beaded near the shoulders of a black and white dress, and in bracelets that looked like french cuffs (or were they french cuffs worn as bracelets?).
Evening dresses were as varied as a column of blood-red satin with a sheer back and an organza dance dress with a tight bodice of wine with giant white dots and a full skirt of red with white dots floating over a narrower skirt of black and white dots.
The mood at Calvin Klein's show, though in a huge loft space, was more romantic, but not in an obvious way. The clothes were light and airy, devoid of color except for a few injections of pale blue, yellow, pink and peach for evening.
Models wafted by in loose dresses and skirts of georgette, parachute silk or cotton sheeting with hems that either turned under or had delicate drawstrings. Suits were in lightweight wool voile and had unlined, totally unstructured jackets and pants with elastic waistbands or dropped waistlines with a narrow yoke. Sweaters were as thin as stockings and were in fact knitted on hosiery machines.
Mr. Klein said before the show that he had been inspired by athletic wear and classic American sportswear. But the results were anything but classic or expected. The designer was exploring new ground, as he has in recent seasons, by moving away from stark minimalism, not by adding ornamentation, but by seeking a fresh way to handle fabric.
Anoraks were of parachute silk, T-shirts of ruched silk georgette or gauze. And there was a new take on the pants suit: a shirt, sometimes sleeveless, sometimes double-breasted, often short-sleeved, was made of stretch wool voile and tucked into matching pants. As a variation, the jacket, equally light in weight, was cropped to end where the low-slung pants started. They looked like a perfect way to go to the office, or anywhere else, next spring and summer.
But it was those airborne dresses that made the deepest impression, with touches like uneven hemlines, hand-ruching, intentional wrinkling, insertions of sheer floating panels and ingenious wrap-and-tie techniques that may present quite a puzzle in the dressing room.
Isaac Mizrahi was also experimenting with fabric, but rather than setting it free to billow away from the body, he tugged it close and wrapped it snugly. He cut some suit jackets so small they looked shrunken. He said last week that losing weight had led him to think about pulling clothes tight for a sleek, elegant look.
He had also been thinking about ancient Greece and Rome, he said, and that led to wrapping the clothes with narrow stringlike ties. He might also have been thinking about Clare McCardell, who borrowed the idea from the ancients before Mr. Mizrahi was born. Or of Ann Demeulemeester, who has done quite a lot of side-wrapped jackets. But to his credit, Mr. Mizrahi worked out his own ways of using the technique, so his clothes don't really look like anyone else's.
Some other ideas in the fashion wind that he made his own include corselets, which he put under jackets or in lace over a T-shirt; the mannish oversize pants suit, which he scaled down, and the wrap skirt, which he adapted for trousers in a modified form.
The show marked an interesting point in Mr. Mizrahi's career, highlighting his transition to a more ambitious level to match the changes in his life as he becomes more involved in films and the arts.

LOAD-DATE: November 8, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Calvin Klein's drawstring-hem skirt. His skirt with uneven hem. Black silk and chiffon dress. Isaac Mizrahi's wrap cardigan. Mr. Mizrahi's gold Grecian goddess dress. His beaded lace corselet over a T-shirt. Geoffrey Beene's flowered column with a sheer back. His jersey dress with Lucite belt. Short black dress with a sheer net cage. (Photographs by Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times)

TYPE: Review

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The New York Times

November 8, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

H.M.O.'s Faulted for Inadequate Preventive Health Measures

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 420 words

DATELINE: TRENTON, Nov. 7

State health officials, in releasing their first report on New Jersey's health maintenance organizations, said today that the organizations should be doing a better job on preventive measures aimed at maintaining the health of their customers.
The report of a dozen of the managed care companies covering more than 1.7 million New Jersey residents found that on average, only 57 percent of the children covered by H.M.O. plans had received recommended doses of vaccines by age 2. Only 4 in 10 new mothers had a checkup at least six weeks after having a baby, and nearly 20 percent did not receive early prenatal care. Only 6 in 10 older women had tests for breast cancer within two years, and an equal number had tests for cervical cancer within three years. 
 "There is significant room for improvement for H.M.O.'s when it comes to preventive services," the State Health Commissioner, Len Fishman, said. "Preventive services are supposed to be the stock in trade of H.M.O.'s. They're called health maintenance organizations for a reason. While H.M.O.'s are doing a good job in some areas, they are falling far short in other areas, like keeping people healthy."
The report does give the managed care companies better marks in a number of areas for which they have been criticized. About 85 percent of the customers surveyed said they could easily find a doctor that they are happy with, and 79 percent reported few problems getting a specialist.
The report measured 27 categories for 12 companies that account for 98 percent of the 1.8 million New Jerseyans who get their health care from managed care companies. The department did not rate Medicaid or Medicare. Paul R. Langevin Jr., president of the New Jersey H.M.O. Association, said the reports give a wide range of information about the managed care companies.
"We're not perfect." he said, "That's not a shock to us, but we're the only ones who are measuring to find out how imperfect we are." The association represents 9 of the 12 managed care companies included in the study.
The report is part of changes in the state laws regulating the managed care companies adopted earlier this year in response to consumer complaints. It is intended as a shopping tool for businesses and individuals because it compares one plan with another. For example, only 2 of the 12 plans -- Aetna U.S.H.C. and AmeriHealth -- got higher than average ratings for the overall quality of their plans. H.M.O. Blue, QualMed and United got lower than average ratings.

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The New York Times

November 9, 1997 Sunday  
Late Edition - Final

Life as a Quilting Bee

BYLINE: By Bruce Weber. 
Bruce Weber is the national cultural correspondent for The New York Times.

SECTION: Section 7; Column 1; Book Review Desk; Pg. 10

LENGTH: 626 words


ANY GIVEN DAY
The Life and Times of Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux.
By Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux.
Illustrated. 287 pp. New York:
Warner Books. $19.95.
 Oh, brother, what a setup to make a reviewer look like a grinch. Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux is 98 years old, and this memoir, undertaken when she was 80 for a writing class for senior citizens, is her first book. Of course, one's initial reaction is applause, especially in the opening chapters, which are about a happy girlhood in a family that traversed rural America in the early part of the century and show the author to be possessed of a genuine, utterly guileless voice. There is a lot of cheery fruit-gathering and quilting. You almost believe that the good old days really did exist.
  ''We didn't have fancy reels, just lines and hooks tied to a pole with a red bobber that lay on the water until a fish jerked it under,'' Foveaux writes about fishing near the family home in Quick City, Mo. ''No greater joy can I imagine than a clean blue sky, a quiet stream, a fishing pole, a good book and an apple in your pocket.'' Unhappily, guilelessness soon gives way to tedium. Foveaux's story is full of dramatic event. Her loveless marriage was sundered by her husband's drinking, and there was plenty of hardscrabble living, sickness and death. Indeed, her family history has enough tragedy in it to support an epic, but her inexperience as a writer means it is never done justice. The book's anecdotal recollections are organized fitfully into short chapters -- there are 120 of them -- that often fall short of resonance. The two World Wars are witnessed from the home front, but the apprehension and sadness of those years are more duly noted than effectively illustrated. And Foveaux doesn't seem to have a trustworthy sense of how to weight her recollections. In her youth, the family moved frequently -- back and forth between Kansas and Missouri, once to Arkansas and once to Anacortes, Wash., where her father found work in a sawmill -- and the narrative would have you believe that leaving various pet dogs behind was much more memorable for her than the time she saw a man shot to death in a train station. 
 It should be said that the book was never meant for publication. Foveaux wrote it to assuage her children's and grandchildren's desire to learn about her life. And the close-in look she provides at her populous family tree has undoubtedly been instructive for them. So, one can imagine, is the lecture she provides near the end on the evils of drinking. But for the rest of us, the rewards are elusive. Introduced by name are dozens of relatives and neighbors, rarely made distinct enough to keep them straight. After all those names it's curious that when Foveaux, despondent over her husband's alcoholic fecklessness, is brought out of her funk with the encouragement of a man she refers to as ''an old friend I hadn't seen in a long, long time'' who ''saved my life,'' she never tells us who he is. It is equally curious that near the end of the book she says she named her eighth child after a woman she hadn't yet mentioned and never mentions again. 
 All of this is simply amateurish. A prefatory note from the publisher explains that ''other than standard copyediting changes, Jessie Lee's words come to you here just as she wrote them for her family.'' Ostensibly this was done (or not done) to preserve the authenticity of Foveaux's voice. But it seems more cynical than that, more like a marketing ploy for a book that Warner paid more than $1 million for. In the end, Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux is no more authentic a writer than, say, Paul Reiser or Whoopi Goldberg. The only difference is that one wishes Ms. Foveaux had begun her literary efforts sooner and profited by the experience.

URL: http://www.nytimes.com

LOAD-DATE: March 29, 2004

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper


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The New York Times

November 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

A Town Is Dazed After a Deadly Church Dinner

BYLINE: By MICHAEL JANOFSKY 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 16; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 882 words

DATELINE: CHAPTICO, Md., Nov. 7

The head-shaking has not stopped for days. People around here still cannot believe what happened last Sunday night. They say they are stunned, saddened and amazed.
"People put their heart and soul into that dinner," said John Keegan Jr., manager of the Chaptico Market and Deli. "It's sad, really sad. They need to find out what happened to prevent it from ever happening again." 
 Last Sunday night at Our Lady of the Wayside Parish, nearly 1,400 people crowded into the church meeting hall for the annual fall dinner of stuffed ham, turkey and fried oysters. In this part of Maryland, annual church dinners are as much a tradition as the food served, and this one has been held for 50 years.
But in the days that followed, many of the people who dined or went to buy carry-out platters grew sick with nausea, cramps, dehydration and fever, classic symptoms of salmonella poisoning. Two elderly people died, more than 100 visited a hospital emergency room and about 700 people, some from as far away as Baltimore and the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Md., have reported feeling ill.
Three independent tests, including one by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in Baltimore, have determined that the illnesses were caused by the bacteria salmonella-B in the ham, although tests have not confirmed whether the deaths were directly linked to the food. One was a 75-year-old woman from Baltimore, the other an 83-year woman from Chaptico who belonged to the church.
"We were extremely lucky," said Mary H. Novotny, a spokeswoman for the St. Mary's County Health Department, referring to the speed with which officials isolated the cause of contamination. "They sold so many carry-out dinners that people brought them in and we could send up every item for testing."
The salmonella was the second bacteria to cause problems in recent months for southern Maryland residents. Directly east of here, on the western banks of the Chesapeake Bay, the microbe Pfiesteria piscicida killed thousands of fish and made people who were exposed to the waters sick, prompting state officials to close several bay tributaries.
Like the Pfiesteria outbreak, salmonella poisoning is not unknown around here, a rural section of Maryland with dozens of towns and villages on tributaries leading to the lower reaches of the Potomac River.
But as Ms. Novotny said, "We've never gotten anything this big."
Even now, almost a week after the church dinner, local residents like Mr. Keegan still seem visibly shaken. At first, he did not want to talk about it today. Then he could not stop. "This town is pretty strong, and it has a tight community," he said.
He said he felt especially sorry for the owner of the market, Virginia Tennyson, who has helped coordinate the dinner for 20 years and keeps the hams, which are prepared at the market, stored in the market freezers. They are a local specialty -- stuffed with kale, cabbage, hot peppers and spices and then boiled.
He said Mrs. Tennyson had gone home early today because she was "stressed out."
"She focuses so much on that dinner," Mr. Keegan said. "She puts her heart into it. She lets her business go for a month to dedicate herself to the dinner."
The town of Chaptico, which was founded in 1683, is not much more than than the market, a liquor store, a gas station, the post office and the homes of its 100 residents. Probably no one has lived in the town longer than Erva Davis, the unofficial historian. She has lived in the same white house across from the gas station and post office since 1938. She is 91.
"This is the second-oldest port in Maryland and we have the second-oldest post office," she said. "The British marched through here in 1814, during the War of 1812."
She does not get out much anymore, she said, because of bad knees. But she was at the dinner on Sunday night "and stuffed myself with fried oysters -- never ate so many in my life." She said she also ate the stuffed ham with mashed potatoes and gravy, suffering no consequences.
"But I was scared to death," she added quickly, remembering early in the week when the reports of sickness began making the rounds. "I called my doctor to ask him what to do when you're not sick before you get sick. I told him I already had a glass of sherry, and he said, 'You're doing fine.' I am doing fine."
Others were not. Ms. Davis said she had many friends who had attended the dinner and were "desperately ill." Ms. Novotny said 17 people remained in the hospital but were out of danger.
The Rev. John Stack, a native of the Bronx who came here eight years ago to lead the Roman Catholic congregation of about 350, sat behind his desk, smoking a cigarette, and said the outbreak was "not only astonishing but devastating" to the church and community. "This is such a small parish, one you would call a family," he said.
With health officials now declaring the crisis over, other churches are preparing for their annual dinners. One is scheduled for Sunday night at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in nearby Morganza.
Thinking about next year's dinner, Father Stack said: "I don't think anything will change. We will get through this, try to get over our devastation, pick up the pieces and go on. We always have. That is unchanged."

LOAD-DATE: November 9, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: John Keegan Jr., the manager of the Chaptico Market and Deli in Chaptico, Md., was still shaken up on Friday by the salmonella poisoning that broke out at a church dinner. "It's sad," Mr. Keegan said, "really sad." (Amy Toensing for The New York Times)
 
Map of Maryland showing the location of Chaptico: Seven hundred people fell ill after a church dinner in Chaptico, Md.

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The New York Times

November 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Medicare Pays Millions in Ambulance Overbilling, Report Says

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 33; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1066 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 8

Federal investigators, having documented many instances of overbilling and false claims by ambulance operators, say that Medicare wastes hundreds of millions of dollars a year by paying for unnecessary ambulance services provided to elderly patients.
In a new draft report, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, June Gibbs Brown, said that ambulance companies frequently billed Medicare for "medically unnecessary transportation." In addition, the report documents how some ambulance companies falsified "destination information" and charged the Government for supplies and services that were not needed or not provided. 
 The Inspector General said that more than 100 providers of ambulance services had been cited for civil or criminal violations of Medicare laws in the last five years. Medicare's system of paying for ambulance services, she said, is so complex that it "encourages fraud and abuse and thwarts efforts to control expenditures."
Ambulance operators, however, said that in its zeal to crack down on abuse, the Clinton Administration would inadvertently reduce services to victims of heart attack, stroke and other medical emergencies.
About 10 percent of the 38 million Medicare beneficiaries use ambulances each year. Outlays have more than tripled in the last decade and now total $2 billion a year.
"Medicare payments for ambulance services appear to lack common sense," said the report, to be issued later this month.
Ms. Brown said that some ambulance companies billed Medicare for supplies even though their vehicles were "restocked free of charge by local hospitals." In some cases, she said, companies misrepresented the condition of patients, stating, for example, that women were bedridden when they actually walked from the ambulance into the hospital.
Moreover, Ms. Brown said, some ambulance companies have run up huge expenses by taking Medicare patients on regularly scheduled trips to kidney dialysis treatments three times a week. Federal investigators found that most of these claims did not meet Medicare guidelines for medical necessity because the patients could have safely used other means of transportation.
The Ambulance Industry Journal, published by the American Ambulance Association, regularly carries news of ambulance owners who have pleaded guilty or agreed to pay monetary penalties to settle accusations of submitting false claims, though the organization insists that these are a tiny minority of all ambulance companies.
Federal investigators have repeatedly described the problems in confidential reports to top Medicare officials in the past three years. The Government has increased audits of ambulance companies, but a Medicare official conceded that "we have no way of insuring that we are paying properly for the services."
Congress this year required the secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a fee schedule, with fixed payments for each type of ambulance procedure. But the fee schedule will not take effect until Jan. 1, 2000. Under the law, the secretary must negotiate details of the fee schedule with the ambulance industry.
David A. Nevins, executive vice president of the American Ambulance Association, which represents 750 companies around the country, said the rise in Medicare spending was a good thing because it reflected improvements in ambulance technology and service that were saving lives.
"Where fraud exists," Mr. Nevins said, "we fully support efforts to ferret it out and prosecute the wrongdoers. But a major reason for the increase in Medicare expenditures is that we have more advanced ambulance units on the street, saving more lives. Many studies have shown that a patient's chances of survival are linked to ambulance response time. Well-trained paramedics and well-equipped ambulances can reduce death and disability from heart attack, stroke and trauma."
Many cities and counties are buying the most advanced equipment because it saves lives, Mr. Nevins said. To help pay for it, he said, some rescue squads and volunteer fire departments have begun billing Medicare and other insurers for ambulance services formerly provided at no charge.
In her report, the Inspector General gave these examples of problems:
*The owner of an Ohio ambulance company altered trip tickets submitted by his drivers "to show that patients were bedridden when, in fact, the patients were in wheelchairs and, in some instances, could walk." In some cases, "the company billed for ambulance transports when patients were transported in a company station wagon."
*An ambulance company in Illinois "falsified medical and trip records and back-dated them" in an effort to justify ambulance services provided to nursing home residents who did not need them.
*A woman convicted of Medicaid fraud used "front men" to form an ambulance company. She "then billed Medicare and Medicaid for individual services when multiple patients were transported in unlicensed personal vehicles."
*In Indiana, an ambulance operator improperly billed Medicare when he took patients from nursing homes to medical appointments at doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals. The ambulances billed Medicare for oxygen that was not provided.
*Federal officials rarely checked with patients to see whether they had received the ambulance services billed to Medicare.
*Ambulance companies in the same area often get different payments for the same service. Payments vary widely among states but have "little or no relationship to the cost of doing business in an area."
In 26 states, Ms. Brown said, "Medicare pays more for routine nonemergency basic life support transportation than it does for advanced life support emergency transportation." This is paradoxical, she said, because the crew on an advanced life support vehicle can provide a wider range of medications and a higher level of care.
In June, the Clinton Administration proposed changes in the way it pays for ambulance services. Under the proposed rules, the Government would prescribe a specific type of ambulance service -- basic or advanced -- for each of 43 medical conditions.
Mr. Nevins of the American Ambulance Association said, "The proposed rules will result in lower payments to ambulances, but higher payments to hospitals because thousands of patients will arrive at the hospital in worse condition."

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NEWS SUMMARY

SECTION: Section 1; Page 2; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 665 words


INTERNATIONAL   3-8
 
House Continues Dealing On Clinton's Trade Power
The wheeling and dealing on President Clinton's trade legislation began in earnest as the House of Representatives went into an unusual weekend session, trying to rewrite agriculture provisions to gain more votes. The measure would give the President the authority to negotiate trade pacts that Congress could vote up or down but could not amend. 1
 
Chinese Divert the Yangtze
An army of workers and engineers in China diverted the Yangtze River from its natural course, clearing the way for construction to begin on the world's biggest dam. President Jiang Zemin attended the event, turning a feat of engineering into a major political celebration. 1
 
A Torturer's Tale
As South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation commission continues its work, the brutality of the country's past is being itemized in the testimony of victims and apartheid functionaries, like Jeffrey Benzien, a paunchy police officer who acted as a professional torturer. 1
 
NATO's Anonymous Pitchman
Javier Solana, NATO's most senior civilian official, commands little notice in the United States despite his emerging role as an important pitchman for why the world's biggest military alliance needs to get bigger. 3
 
Struggle for Spoils in Serbia
Three top associates of President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and about a dozen of their lieutenants have been killed in recent months, apparently as part of a struggle within the ruling elite for control of state-run industries and vast black-market rings. 13
 
NATIONAL   16-36
 
United Way, Facing Fewer Donors, Gives Away Less
Five years after its former national president was found to be converting charity money to his own use, United Way is in crisis, abandoned by 4.5 million people -- 20 percent of its donors. And most of its 17.7 million remaining donors give less through payroll deduction, United Way's bread and butter. 1
 
Church Dinner Turns Deadly
Nearly 1,400 people crowded into the meeting hall at Our Lady of the Wayside Parish in Captico, Md., for the annual fall dinner of stuffed ham, turkey and fried oysters. But in the days that followed, many grew sick with nausea, cramps, dehydration and fever, classic symptoms of salmonella poisoning. Two elderly people died and more than 100 visited a hospital emergency room 16
 
Assault on the J.F.K. Mystique
In his new book, "The Dark Side of Camelot," the investigative reporter Seymour M. Hersh portrays John F. Kennedy as an often immoral cad who accepted the aid of mobsters, was obsessed with killing Fidel Castro, and steered the United States deeper into the Vietnam war so as not to appear weak in his campaign for a second term. But historians question the plausibility of key accounts and the reliability of the 35-year-old memories of Mr. Hersh's sources. 26
 
Overbilling on Ambulances
Federal investigators, having documented many instances of overbilling and false claims by ambulance operators, say that Medicare wastes hundreds of millions of dollars a year by paying for unnecessary ambulance services provided to elderly patients. 33
 
NEW YORK/REGION   37-41
 
Welfare and Drug Abuse
On Nov. 1, New York State ordered that all people receiving or applying for welfare be interviewed to determine whether they abuse drugs or alcohol. Those found to have a problem will immediately be denied all cash benefits. The new rule has experts re-examining the relationship between drug abuse and welfare. 37
 
A Legal Cavalry
The four little-known lawyers who represented Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant who, prosecutors say, was tortured by New York City police officers in a Brooklyn station house, now find themselves sharing the case with three big-name colleagues, including perhaps the most famous lawyer in America today, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. 37
 
OBITUARIES   43
 
Cong. Vote   40
 
Weather   42

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November 9, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

National News Briefs;
San Francisco Charges 5 In Deaths of Elderly Men

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 34; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 209 words

DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 7

Five people were indicted and jailed on Friday in a case that investigators said involved the swindling and poisoning of five elderly men.
Investigators said the victims had been slowly poisoned with the heart drug digitalis, which is derived from the foxglove plant. The authorities say the men were killed from 1984 to 1994 after being bilked out of more than $1 million total in cash, property and investments. 
 The suspects were associated with the Tene Bimbo clan, which gained notoriety in "King of the Gypsies," the 1974 book by Peter Maas, and in a film of the same name.
For weeks, a grand jury here heard testimony from dozens of witnesses into the deaths of the men: Philip Steiner Jr., 93, Konstantin Liotweizen, 92, Nicholas Bufford, 87, and Stephen Storvick, 91, whose bodies were exhumed. Harry Glover Hughes, 94, has been reported as the fifth victim.
The police said three of the suspects either befriended, married or took care of the elderly men. In each case, the police said, they managed to persuade the men to make them beneficiaries of their property.
Those charged with conspiracy to commit murder were identified as George Lama, 39, Angela Bufford, 37, Mary Tene Steiner, 57, Danny Tene, 35, and Teddy Tene, 27.

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The Pain of Being Forbidden to See or Contact Grandchildren

BYLINE: By DARICE BAILER 

SECTION: Section 14WC; Page 20; Column 1; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1466 words

ELEVEN years ago, a Manhattan businesswoman lost three people she dearly loved. First, her 36-year-old daughter died of leukemia. Then, her daughter's husband kept her from seeing her two granddaughters, even though they lived not far away.
The woman's son-in-law never explained why he was shutting her out of the girls' lives. When the woman invited the girls, then 5 and 12, to visit, her son-in-law said he was busy, or that his car had broken down. When she asked to speak to the children, he said they were in the shower or at his mother's house. "In a quiet voice, he denied me access," said the woman, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, as did many other grandparents in this article. 
 The woman heard about a grandparents' support group at Scarsdale Family Counseling. When she began attending the Westchester meetings, she discovered that she was not alone. An increasing number of elderly people have a very difficult time seeing their grandchildren after a death, divorce or quarrel even though they may previously have seen the children several times a week.
"What you're left with are grandparents who once had a very close relationship with their grandchildren, suddenly being told that they cannot see them anymore," said Judy Levin, a senior outreach worker and family therapist at Scarsdale Family Counseling. "It's devastating."
Edith Engel of Larchmont, a former grandparent support group co-leader at Scarsdale Family Counseling, said, "It's a very serious problem all over the 50 states." Grandchildren may grow up before the estrangement ends, Mrs. Engel said. And, while the bitterness leading to the separation can endure for many years, grandparents cannot. Some die without having seen their grandchildren in years, leaving behind grief-stricken grandchildren who, as young adults, are painfully aware of the love they missed.
Mrs. Engel said adult children are usually the adversaries and grandchildren the pawns in what she calls "an intergenerational fight." She said the role of grandparents has changed dramatically over the years. Mrs. Engel, 81, remembers a time when grandparents were part of the household and were considered a precious source of love and advice, but that is not always true today. Grandparents often do not play the same role in families and grandchildren lose out on an additional source of nurturing.
"Grandparents," Mrs. Levin said, "can offer a wealth of caring and a wealth of love."
In New York State, grandparents can petition Family Court to visit their grandchildren. But in most situations, parents' rights supersede grandparents' rights. In a divorce, judges usually want to see parents who do not have custody of the children get more time with them first. Grandparents may win a few hours each month after thousands of dollars in legal fees and further estrangement from their children or in-laws.
It is rare that grandparent visitation cases go to trial, perhaps because of the expense. "I would say the most we would have is five a year," said Judge Adrienne Hofmann Scancarelli, supervising judge of the Family Courts of the Ninth Judicial District, which covers Westchester. "That's very small considering our caseload," she added.
Judge Howard Spitz, who presides in Yonkers Family Court, said he sees 10 to 15 cases a year.
Grandparents who turn to Family Court must prove that they had a good prior relationship with their grandchildren. Once standing has been established, judges listen to the parents' objections. Judges must decide whether visits are in the best interest of the child and then decide the related questions of how often the visits should occur and whether they should be supervised.
Judge Spitz said he tries to mediate a case before trial and preserve the grandparent-grandchild relationship. He said he would be devastated if he could not see his grandchildren.
Rosemarie Paloscio is the site coordinator at the supervised visitation program at the Y.W.C.A. of White Plains and Central Westchester and the Y.W.C.A. of Yonkers. Ms. Paloscio, Roger Burchell, program director, or Deana Tietjen, court liaison, oversee the visits of grandparents and grandchildren, which take place in the Y.W.C.A. nursery or preschool classrooms. They insure that grandparents comply with the ground rules. For instance, gifts are allowed only on birthdays, Christmas or Hanukkah. A monitor sits in and observes the visit, taking notes. The notes are summarized for a court report.
"It can be an alien atmosphere to producing a productive exchange," Mrs. Engel said.
Ms. Paloscio said the grandparents in her program are upset when a relationship ends in monitored visits. She has seen grandparents in their late 70's and early 80's, hunched over and leaning on canes as they pass through the center's metal detection scanner to see their grandchildren, she said. When accusations against them are accepted by the court, it is up to grandparents to prove the allegations untrue.
The Manhattan businesswoman was cautioned against going to court by her support group at Scarsdale Family Counseling, which she attended in the 1980's. Instead, members encouraged her to continue sending cards and presents to her granddaughters, showing how much she loved them in every possible way. So she did. She said she also "prayed that I would stay alive long enough to see the girls grow up and have access to them."
The girls are 16 and 23 now, and their grandmother said she has a wonderful relationship with them. Mrs. Engel's story has a happy ending, too. In 1978, Mrs. Engel's older daughter left her two children in the care of her husband and disappeared because she was afraid of harming them or herself. Mrs. Engel's son-in-law seemed to blame her for his wife's emotional frailty. He refused to let her or anyone on her side of the family see the children.
Two years later, Mrs. Engel led the grandparent support group at Scarsdale Family Counseling with Marjorie Slavin, who was then a social worker. Six years after that, she was reunited with her grandchildren. The support group disbanded after 15 years, but Mrs. Levin has started a new one for grandparents, whom she calls "the forgotten people of divorce." The group, called Grandparents in Divided Families, meets once a week at Scarsdale Family Counseling, and focuses on emotional support. One Westchester husband and wife were very close to their son's four boys before his 1986 divorce. The husband taught his grandchildren how to climb a big oak tree in the couple's backyard. In the winter, there were sleigh rides, snowball fights and walks together in the snow.
In the divorce, the couple's daughter-in-law won sole custody of the two youngest boys, then 9 and 11. She severed the relationship with her in-laws.
Within months of the divorce, her father-in-law suffered a paralyzing stroke. He died five years later in a nursing home. The boys attended his funeral and wept, begging their grandmother for forgiveness. Death reunited them. Both boys invited their grandmother to their weddings and are very close to her now.
Another Westchester retired couple lived a block away from their son and daughter-in-law and played with their grandchildren several times a week. Now that the couple's son is divorced and their daughter-in-law has sole custody of the children, she keeps them from talking to other children in the street or watching their soccer games. The couple says their daughter-in-law is angry. "This is her aim in life, to prevent us from seeing the children," the husband said.
The Manhattan businesswoman still cries when she recalls what she lost. "I missed out on all the good years," she said, adding that her grandchildren "missed out on all the love I had to give them."
 
When Patience Counts the Most
 Edith Engel, a former grandparent support group co-leader at Scarsdale Family Counseling, offers these tips for grandparents who cannot see their grandchildren:
*Keep in touch with your grandchildren any way you can. Continue sending cards and presents, even if they are returned, destroyed or not acknowledged. Let your grandchildren know that you love them.
*Be flexible. If there is a family conflict, do not insist that your grandchildren spend traditional holidays with you. Celebrate whenever you can. "It's getting together that's important," Mrs. Engel said.
*Avoid litigation. It costs thousands of dollars and often makes the situation worse. If possible, when your child is seeking a divorce, have your visitation rights included in the divorce agreement as a precaution against having to go to court later.
*Be patient and do not give up. You may miss out on a lot of years, but most likely you will be able to see your grandchildren one day.   DARICE BAILER

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November 11, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

An Acne Drug Eases Rheumatoid Arthritis

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section F; Page 6; Column 4; Science Desk 

LENGTH: 336 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 10

An antibiotic used to treat acne significantly improves the swollen, painful joints caused by rheumatoid arthritis if therapy begins early, scientists say.
Rheumatologists said the new study, by researchers at the University of Nebraska, provides enough proof of the worth of the antibiotic, minocycline, that the drug may soon be widely prescribed. 
 "This isn't a cure," said the lead researcher, Dr. James O'Dell, who presented his study on Sunday at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. "If the medicine is stopped, the problem comes back."
But Dr. O'Dell said the drug seems to block enzymes, called metalloproteinases, that destroy irreplaceable cartilage inside joints. "By inhibiting these metalloproteinases early on, maybe we can help shut off the whole inflammation cascade," Dr. O'Dell said.
If his theory is right, these enzymes could aid the treatment of osteoarthritis, the much more common form of arthritis that largely affects the elderly. Tests in osteoarthritic dogs suggest that anti-enzyme compounds offer similar protection, prompting other scientists to begin clinical trials of a minocycline cousin called doxycycline.
Antibiotic therapy has been controversial because doctors have been unable to prove that an infection causes rheumatoid arthritis. And early studies of minocycline showed only a modest effect, said Dr. Doyt Conn of the Arthritis Foundation.
Thinking that earlier treatment might work better, Dr. O'Dell tested 46 patients who had had rheumatoid arthritis for less than a year and were not taking strong arthritis medicines. Sixty-five percent of the patients showed a 50 percent improvement in joint swelling, stiffness and pain after six months of therapy. Just 13 percent of patients given a dummy pill had similar responses.
The main side effect of minocycline is dizziness among elderly patients, Dr. O'Dell said. About 5 percent of long-term users develop dark splotches on the skin that disappear when they stop the drug, he said.

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November 12, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW JERSEY;
Safety Director Resigns After Theft Accusation

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 162 words

DATELINE: TRENTON

The public safety director of Trenton resigned on Monday after being accused by state officials of embezzling $270,000 from two elderly women who had entrusted him with their assets.
The safety director, James A. Waldron Jr., was also disbarred after the State Office of Attorney Ethics uncovered the theft during a random audit, said Robert Seidenstein, a spokesman for the State Department of the Judiciary. 
 "Waldron knowingly misappropriated client funds by making numerous unauthorized and improper disbursements totaling more than $270,000 from the accounts of two elderly, legally incompetent widows for whom he had power of attorney," Mr. Seidenstein said.
Mr. Waldron signed papers consenting to his disbarment, Mr. Seidenstein said.
The case will be referred to the Mercer County Prosecutor's office for possible criminal prosecution, Mr. Seidenstein said. As public safety director, Mr. Waldron was in charge of police, fire and emergency services.

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National News Briefs;
Apartments Damaged By Blast in Vault

BYLINE: AP 

SECTION: Section A; Page 24; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 89 words

DATELINE: WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Nov. 11

Three apartments were damaged today by the concussion from an underground electrical vault explosion that rocked a four-story building like an earthquake and rattled its elderly residents.
No one was hurt and there were no evacuations, although dozens of residents left the building while firefighters searched the building to make sure no one was hurt. 
 The vault exploded at 7:23 A.M. and blew out the windows of apartments in the 140-unit building. There was no fire.
The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

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November 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: BROOKLYN UP CLOSE;
Speed Humps That Divide

BYLINE: By AMY WALDMAN 

SECTION: Section 14; Page 11; Column 1; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 476 words

Christopher R. Lynn was the most unpopular man in Brooklyn last week, at least among the borough's community boards. In district after district, Mr. Lynn, the Transportation Commissioner, was under fire for what critics described as an autocratic management style, characterized by a refusal to consult or advise the boards.
The eye of the political hurricane was Board 14, which represents Flatbush and Midwood. Mr. Lynn had installed speed humps at several sites in the district. Officials said they had not been asked whether or where the humps should be installed, and residents had been complaining of increased traffic on nearby streets and screeching brakes. 
 Board 14 is not the only one gunning for Mr. Lynn. On Wednesday night, Board 6 passed a resolution condemning Mr. Lynn for "various and sundry acts performed by him in his capacity as a public official," said Craig Hammerman, the board's district manager. Mr. Hammerman said Mr. Lynn had repeatedly refused to send representatives to apprise the board of ongoing major capital projects.
Some board officials also said when they had tried to follow up citizen complaints with the agency, they had been told to file Freedom of Information requests. The department, they said, seemed to be trying to circumvent their authority by encouraging citizens to call a help line (212 or 718 CALL-DOT) directly to report potholes, broken traffic lights and other problems.
Robert Leonard, a spokesman for Mr. Lynn, said the Commissioner sought input from community boards during the budget consultation process but could not do so day to day. "Does Howard Safir ask the commnity boards when he wants to arrest someone?" Mr. Leonard asked, referring to the Police Commissioner.
Community boards, he said, "are not made up of engineers." He said that having citizens call the department directly would eliminate the time-consuming paper trail that community boards used to process citizen complaints.
On the streets of Board 14, meanwhile, opinion on the humps was divided. Sandra Stein, the president of the board for Terrace Garden Plaza, a housing co-op on East 17th Street, was so upset by the humps on East 16th Street between Avenues I and J that she collected 250 signatures on a petition, which she presented to the community board.
Her neighborhood was a warren of one-way streets and dead-ends, she said, and East 16th Street was the main egress for the emergency medical vehicles that Terrace Garden's elderly residents relied on. "This is a safety issue for everyone," she said.
But some neighborhood residents said they thought the humps enhanced safety, especially considering the Yeshiva of Flatbush High School at the corner. "People were trying to make the light, and there's a school there," said Renee Saperstein, 65. "So it's a good thing."   AMY WALDMAN

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November 16, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Inquiry Begun on Klan Ties Of 2 Icons at Virginia Tech

BYLINE: By The New York Times 

SECTION: Section 1; Page 38; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 693 words

DATELINE: BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 15

Virginia Tech has begun an investigation into whether a longtime professor for whom a dormitory was named was a student leader of the Ku Klux Klan a century ago.
An undergraduate class studying the 125-year history of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University found in an 1896 college yearbook a brittle, yellowed page devoted to the Klan. "K.K.K.-1895-96" reads the headline on page 101. Beneath a drawing of a skeleton covered by a white sheet, the group lists as its objective: "To right the unrighteous." The favorite pastime is listed as "(Midnight) field sports." 
 Claudius Lee, a student, is listed as the organization's "Father of Terror," founding leader of the campus Klan. Another student, O.M. Stull, is called "Right Hand of Terror." The yearbook shows that Mr. Lee belonged to another campus group called the Pittsylvania Club, whose sketched logo depicted a black man hanging by his neck from a tree.
Mr. Lee went on to teach electrical engineering at Virginia Tech for 50 years. By the time he retired in 1946, he had been nicknamed the school's "Grand Old Man." Virginia Tech named a dormitory for him in 1968, six years after his death at age 90.
Mr. Stull, as a student, coined the school yell, "Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy!/ Tech, Tech, V.P.I!" from which the nickname for Tech students, Hokies, is derived. A former quarry company executive, he died in 1964.
"These are core icons of the school," said Peter Wallenstein, a history professor whose students found the yearbook. If the Klan material is true, he said, "It's kind of ugly."
The college president, Paul Torgersen, appointed a committee to look into the issue. "It is regretful that this did happen, if in fact there was an affiliation with the K.K.K.," he said. At a meeting with students this week to discuss the discovery and incidents of intolerance on campus, Mr. Torgersen said that although the jury was still out on the nature of the yearbook material, "When I first saw these pages I was sickened by them, and still am."
Historians are unsure whether the yearbook page was a sophomoric joke or the record of an active group.
The Klan was founded in 1866 in Tennessee by Civil War veterans and quickly spread throughout the South, becoming a secret terrorist organization intent on keeping blacks and Republicans from gaining political power during Reconstruction.
Historians say the Klan disbanded by the early 1870's, not to be revived until 1915, when it broadened its activities to target Jews, Roman Catholics and foreigners, as well as blacks. The 1895-96 date of the yearbook raises the possibility that the Klan item was a prank. The Klan entry does not appear in other yearbooks.
"To the best of my knowledge, there's no Klan activity and there's no Klan in that era," said John Kneebone, a historian of the Klan in Virginia who lives in Richmond.
The students' designation of members as "Angels of Terror" is in keeping with the Klan's white-sheet symbolism, which sometimes represented the ghosts of Confederate dead, Mr. Kneebone said. But identifying members by name is "very un-Klanlike," he said.
Family members, former students and colleagues who knew Mr. Lee and Mr. Stull said the two did not appear racist.
Bill Stull of Buchanan, Va., Mr. Stull's grandson, said: "I never saw any evidence of that prejudice or anything. My gut feeling is he may have felt that way, but I believe he may have gotten over it."
Black students who made the discovery were appalled.
"I honestly cringed when I opened the yearbook and it was there," said Cordel Faulk, a black senior in the history course. A white student, Geoffrey Buescher, who is also in the class, said he did not respond as viscerally as did black students like Mr. Faulk.
The committee -- Professor Wallenstein, a black studies professor and a black graduate student -- will try to find out whether the Klan group existed on campus and recommend possible responses, including whether to remove the Lee name from the dormitory.
"Even at that time, what the K.K.K. stood for was common knowledge," Mr. Torgersen said. "Even if it was a joke, it was a very bad joke."

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November 17, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Kalgoorlie Journal;
As a Tourist Lure, the Leer of a Naughty Museum?

BYLINE: By CLYDE H. FARNSWORTH 

SECTION: Section A; Page 4; Column 3; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 1153 words

DATELINE: KALGOORLIE, Australia

As a tourist attraction, it hardly competes with Sydney's Opera House or Ayers Rock, but fat tour buses inevitably crawl along Hay Street, the brothel quarter of this hard-edged capital of Western Australia's goldfields. Skimpily dressed young women wave from gaudily lighted stalls. Sometimes tourists wave back.
Prostitution has been a fact of life in Kalgoorlie since 1893, when Paddy Hannan, Tommy Flanagan and Danny Shea scooped out the first nuggets from nearby Golden Mile, now recognized as one of the world's richest gold-bearing lodes. 
 As reports of the find drew fortune-seekers from all over the world, women too began arriving, chiefly from Japan, Britain and France, to work as nurses, barmaids, and in the flashy pink, blue and orange establishments lining Hay Street, making it the national icon for wantonness.
Three brothels remain, and the town of 20,000, which lately has become a considerably more family-and-church-oriented place, is divided over one madam's plans for a $1 million renovation of her premises at 181 Hay Street, which would include a Museum of Prostitution.
"We can make Hay Street into an even bigger tourist asset," exclaimed Mary-Anne Kenworthy, whose front-stoop advertising brags: "At one-eight-one, the girls are yum." Her proposal just cleared a major obstacle with a 7-4 vote in the town council granting building approval. She intends to start construction on Feb. 1.
"The museum, occupying the front ground floor, would be open during the day before the girls arrive," she said. "There will be a guide, photographs, paintings, a lot of history, including one of the old working beds."
Ms. Kenworthy believes her museum will be especially popular with women. "Not a woman exists who doesn't itch to get her nose inside a brothel," she said.
One recent early evening, four older women strolled by 181 as blonde Tanya, 23, trying to pay her mortgage, and raven-haired Niki, 22, planning to finance college, were beckoning to men in cars.
"It's a fact of life,' said Molly Wooller, 63. She and her three companions, all widows on pensions, were visiting from Perth, 350 miles to the west, and "decided to take a walk on Hay Street" a hop-skip from the main business district.
They said they favored the restorations. "Why not, if it'll make conditions better for the girls?" asked Mrs. Wooller. When the women encountered Tanya and got to talking, they expressed curiosity about the inside of 181. As Tanya had a little spare time, she gave them a tour. Inside, the place looked tacky and rundown, in need of paint.
But many Kalgoorlie citizens see Ms. Kenworthy's proposal as the thin edge of the wedge. Should her establishment be upgraded, this could encourage others to upgrade as well, and, according to Jay Townsend, deputy editor of the local daily, the Kalgoorlie Miner, "You could turn what exists today as a historic tourist attraction into something more."
That "something more" makes many townspeople skittish, including Mayor Ron Yuryevich, who believes that while the sex industry will never be crushed, it must be compressed to keep from suffocating other businesses.
"We've always recognized the brothel situation because of our large contingent of single young males, so you'll probably never build a home on Hay Street," he said with a cautious smile. A third of Kalgoorlie's population is aged 25 to 35, and half aren't old enough to vote.
"What we don't need," the Mayor added, "are the takeaways -- call girls operating from the brothels, sometimes knocking on the wrong doors at night, or more massage parlors and freelancers offering discount services."
If only for health reasons, he emphasized, it's important to "keep a handle" on the situation.
So far the brothels don't seem to have suffocated other business. Despite a slump in world gold prices, the town is thriving.
The population is up by 50 percent over the last 15 to 20 years, largely thanks to new discoveries of nickel near the gold seams. Instead of wizened prospectors, newcomers are computer specialists, accountants, engineers and other skilled professionals brought in by big mining corporations, often with young families. Real estate prices have never been higher.
Although the Mayor, who operates a local air-conditioning business, lost the fight on the council to stop the renovation of 181, his support for brothels as they now exist makes him a moderate in the broader civic struggle.
Seeking to root them out completely is a formidable coalition of local church leaders and the Australian Family Association.
"Are we trying to present ourselves as the brothel capital of Australia, or a place for families?" asks Thomas Graf, minister of the Uniting Church, composed of former Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists.
Adds the Rev. Terry Raj, a Roman Catholic priest born in Bangalore, India, "No parents want their children walking along Hay Street. The redevelopment plan and creation of a museum, by glamorizing prostitution, breaches the limits of acceptability."
Robert Hicks, president of the family association, opposes anything that might adversely affect a family environment.
"We see prostitution as not conducive to good relationships," he said. "It should be squashed, subverted, kept underground. If it pops up, the police should go after it."
Under Section 190 of the criminal code of Western Australia, prostitution is illegal. But because the law is hard to enforce, a policy of containment has evolved. Kalgoorlie's three brothels are tolerated without threat of prosecution, along with nine brothels in Perth and two Perth escort agencies.
The state government is considering legalizing prostitution, but from the array of opposing forces mustered in Kalgoorlie alone, that path will obviously run into thickets of opposition.
Yet many believe renovations are needed if only to keep the old structures from becoming fire hazards, and that a prostitution museum, along with the Goldfields Museum and the Superpit of surface workings three miles from town, will draw tourist dollars.
Ray Delbridge, former president of the Australian Workers Union's mining division, led the successful fight in the council for Ms. Kenworthy's proposal. "We have a duty to the people of Kalgoorlie to give them what they want."
So contentious is the issue, it divides colleagues. Manila-born Vergel Licerio, a computer technician who works two blocks from the brothels, utterly opposes them. "They're illegal, do no good for the town."
His boss, Bill Main, argues that brothels perform a community service, for example, in reducing the number of rapes, and should be treated like any other business.
"The girls are not legal but the police accept them because they are there, and because they are well controlled, everything is done in a very open manner," he said. "There are no heavy men controlling prostitution here."

LOAD-DATE: November 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: It's enough to make a tough old mining town like Kalgoorlie blush. The owners of a bordello called Club 181 want to renovate the premises and include a Museum of Prostitution. Proponents say it would draw tourists. (Clyde H. Farnsworth/The New York Times)
 
Map showing the location of Kalgoorlie, Australia: Since 1893 brothels have been a fact of life in Kalgoorlie.

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November 17, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Mechanic Held in Series of Killings;
Police in Louisiana Say Gambling Habit Motivated Suspect

BYLINE: By CHRISTOPHER COOPER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 18; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1078 words

DATELINE: LaPLACE, La., Nov. 16

At the Airline Motors lunch counter in sugar-cane country, a rifle-shot away from the muddy churn of the Mississippi River, the talk about Daniel J. Blank is as straightforward as the food served here: he was a gifted mechanic, a quiet customer with deep blue eyes, a family man who drank his coffee black.
But last week Mr. Blank was jailed, arrested on three charges of first-degree murder. The local authorities said he had confessed to six murders, including a double bludgeoning of an elderly couple just across the street from the diner. 
 His arrest, a big event in a town that often goes a year without a killing, stirred the memory of a waitress, Gloria Vicknair. Only a few months ago, Mr. Blank, the son of a sugar-refinery worker, emerged from the video poker stall in the back of the restaurant and asked her to change two crisp $100 bills, a lot of money for a man who usually ordered only black coffee.
Ms. Vicknair said she made the change but thought nothing of it. "They say it's always the quiet ones that'll surprise you -- he was extra quiet," she said after the arrest was announced. "Of course, I was lucky. He went after wealthy people. I work for a living, thank God."
A quest for the big win and lust for a piece of the American dream, the police said, was what drove Mr. Blank to kill six elderly residents within 20 miles of his family's home in the River Parishes, a water-bound stretch of chemical plants and sugar cane between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Most of the dead were elderly; most were found in their homes with their pockets turned inside out. Nearly all had at least a nodding acquaintance with Mr. Blank. One couple survived being beaten and shot, Leonce Millet Jr. and his wife, Joyce, both 66, of Gonzales.
The authorities said Mr. Blank had killed to feed a gambling habit. He favored slot machines and video poker, acquaintances said, and visited many different gambling parlors.
Toward the end of his suspected string of killings, Sheriff Wayne Jones of St. John the Baptist Parish said, it became apparent that Mr. Blank was either on an extraordinarily lucky streak or was up to no good. The authorities estimate that he had stolen as much as $200,000, much of which he was believed to have squandered at the casinos.
"He was without question a gambling addict," Sheriff Jones said. "I guess you could say his income didn't quite correspond with his life style."
He has confessed to these murders, the authorities said, which occurred between October 1996 and June 1997: Victor Rossi, 41, of St. Amant; Barbara Bourgeois, 58, of Paulina; Lillian Philippe, 71, of Gonzales; Sam Arcuri, 76, and his wife, Louella, 69, of LaPlace, and Joan Brock, 55, of LaPlace. Mr. Blank is to be arraigned in LaPlace on Monday.
The police have given little information about the case, saying only that a tip had led to the arrest. But their relief is obvious.
"It was the first homicide we had experienced since 1986," Chief Bill Landry of Gonzales said. "We weren't prepared. We had to retrain ourselves." His office handled three of the cases -- one murder in April and a double murder attempt in July.
Acquaintances and family members said that since the killings began late last year, Mr. Blank had lived at a notch or two above transient status, making three moves in the River Parishes and then moving in the summer to a small resort town in eastern Texas. Mr. Blank was taken into custody in Onalaska, Tex., on Friday, about four months after he reportedly tried to buy a four-bay automobile repair shop there for $65,000 in cash.
During this time, Mr. Blank periodically appeared at his boyhood home, a jumble of trailers and frame structures in Paulina, west of LaPlace, to report on his new fortune.
Once, Mr. Blank, known as Bone to his family, wheeled into the dusty yard on a shiny red Suzuki motorcycle.
On two other occasions, he arrived with huge cardboard copies of checks from casinos in nearby Kenner and Baton Rouge. The checks, payable to Daniel Blank, totaled $33,000. "Daniel went to casinos pretty often," said Mr. Blank's sister, Sally Blank, a 34-year-old cosmetology student and one of eight siblings. "He said he won big, and he showed us the papers to prove it. He told us they took his picture at the casino."
Sally Blank said the family had taken her brother at his word and had been shocked by his arrest. Her brother had been in trouble before, Ms. Blank said, but not since he was a teen-ager.
"He burned down a building when he was a teen-ager and had to go to reform school," Ms. Blank said. 'But a lot of teen-agers get in trouble. I don't think he did it. At least not all alone, not all by himself."
Mr. Blank had apparently been living quietly in Onalaska, a small town a few hours from Houston, in a double-wide trailer with his wife, Cindy, and their four children. He was working as a mechanic out of a former muffler shop he leased from Don Evans, a retiree in Onalaska.
"What happened was the mayor referred him to me, said he was looking to buy a piece of property," Mr. Evans said. "I leased him the shop, although he did offer to buy it. Said he'd pay me $65,000 in cash.
"That kind of scared me," Mr. Evans said. "I refused."
Mr. Evans said he was later told by his 12-year-old daughter, a friend of Mr. Blank's 12-year-old daughter, that Mr. Blank had made a fortune playing video poker machines.
To Mr. Evans, Mr. Blank was an expert mechanic. "I've been at this for 35 years," Mr. Evans said, "and just from talking to him I knew he must have been born and raised a mechanic. That boy knew transmissions inside and out.
"I don't know about all that gambling nonsense. It seemed to me he was interested in being successful in business and living in a way he'd never been able to as a kid."
The problem was, Mr. Evans said, Mr. Blank was nearly broke when the Louisiana and Texas authorities surrounded his trailer on Friday.
Among the items recovered, according to news accounts from Texas, was a cane-cutting knife, apparently smeared with blood and hair.
Mr. Evans locked the repair shop after Mr. Blank's arrest. As he went through the jumbled contents of the office, he said, he came across the latest bank statement for Daniel's Automotive.
"He had $123 in it, and 11 cars in the lot waiting to be repaired," Mr. Evans said.
"Thank God they arrested him," Mr. Evans said. "I'll tell you what, I think he was just about ready to do it again."

LOAD-DATE: November 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Daniel J. Blank, right, arrested in multiple killings, is taken into custody in LaPlace, La., by Sheriff Wayne Jones of St. John the Baptist Parish. (Associated Press); Copies of checks made out to Daniel J. Blank, accused in a series of killings, are held up in Paulina, La., by a brother, Jerry Blank Jr. Below, Jerry Blank Sr. displays a school picture of his son. "I can't believe something like this would happen," the elder Mr. Blank said after his son was arrested. (Photographs by Thom Scott for The New York Times)      

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November 19, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

The Bronx: An All-America City, Thonx

BYLINE: By BARBARA STEWART 

SECTION: Section B; Page 4; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 522 words

Sure, plenty of Manhattan residents still raise their eyebrows at the prospect of setting foot in the Bronx -- at least anywhere outside of Riverdale.
Sure, it has the poorest Congressional district in the country and the city's highest number of evicted tenants. 
 But for the moment, the Bronx can forget all that. Yesterday, Fernando Ferrer, the Borough President, returned from the White House with a new appellation for the Bronx, one that is 180 degrees from Tom Wolfe's jungle or the place Ogden Nash dismissed in a poem with "The Bronx? No thonx."
The Bronx has now been recognized as an All-America City by the National Civic League, a national nonprofit group of municipal administrators and public policy scholars. It was among 10 so honored this year -- an honor handed out by Vice President Al Gore.
"This place, the Bronx, getting an award is literally man bites dog," Mr. Ferrer said. "Over a decade ago, the Bronx was everybody's idea of urban failure. Now it's a national example of what you can do to revive cities."
That is precisely what the award is intended for: cities that have had bad reputations and are making efforts to fix themselves up. Quincy, Fla., for instance, had one of the state's highest rates of teen-age pregnancy and infant mortality. Fosston, Minn., with a population of 1,529, was watching its Main Street stores dwindle away. Each set up committees to address the problems and, to some extent, they succeeded.
While the Bronx's honor included the overall improvement of the borough, it specifically cited three projects, according to Hy Frankel, Mr. Ferrer's chief of staff. One was the rehabilitation of the long-abandoned Morrisania Hospital, which was gutted and rebuilt with 132 units of low-income housing, a day-care center, an employment center and a bilingual elementary school.
Another project was a turn-of-the-century mansion converted by the Bronx Senior Citizens Council to house indigent elderly people. The third honored project was the cleanup of the Underwood-Sedgwick neighborhood, an area that "looked like bombed-out rubble, abandoned cars, really bad," Mr. Frankel said.
Borough officials have been eager to cite other upbeat statistics. The Bronx, until recently spurned by banks and book superstores, has increased its number of jobs by 3,256 between 1987 and 1995. In the last decade, 20,000 new housing units have been created.
But not everyone thinks the picture is so bright. "The Bronx is looking much better," said Matthew Lee, executive director of Inner-City Press/Community on the Move, a community reinvestment advocacy group. "But the downside is that low-income people can't afford the new housing."
Mr. Ferrer also cited such worthwhile destinations as Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Zoo, the Botanical Gardens and four of the city's most prestigious and competitive high schools: Bronx High School of Science, Horace Mann, Fieldston and Riverdale Country School.
He said the recognition had already resulted in "nibbles" from manufacturers planning to relocate. "For us, we've been recognized as innovative and can-do," he said.

LOAD-DATE: November 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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November 20, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
ZARROW, SADIE

SECTION: Section B; Page 13; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 67 words

ZARROW-Sadie. Dearly loved and loving wife of the late Joseph, mother of Walter and the late Marilyn, grandmother of Laura, Andrew, Gayle, Scott, and Susan, and great grandmother of Matthew, Anna, Blaire, and Danielle on Nov. 17th at the age of eighty-seven after a brief illness. She was a great lady. Contributions to the Daniel Cantor Senior Citizens Center, Sunrise, FL, will be appreciated.

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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November 20, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW JERSEY;
Judge Stops Company From Phone Solicitations

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 152 words

DATELINE: CAMDEN

A Federal judge in Camden granted an order on Tuesday temporarily halting the operations of a Mount Laurel telemarketing company accused of preying on thousands of elderly people.
The company, S.E.L., offered customers the chance to store their medical histories in a computer database that would be made available to doctors through a 24-hour telephone line, said Paul Blaine, an assistant United States attorney. About 20,000 subscribers signed up at a cost of $120 a year, Mr. Blaine said. 
 In a civil complaint, the Government accused the company and its owners, Diane and Frank Giordano of Medford and Christine Watson of Mount Laurel, of failing to enter nearly 90 percent of their subscribers in the database.
The temporary restraining order granted by Judge Jerome B. Simandle freezes the defendants' bank accounts and stops them from using mail or electronic wire to conduct their business.

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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November 20, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW JERSEY;
Atlantic City Man Is Charged in Robberies

SECTION: Section B; Page 6; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 105 words

DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY

A 28-year-old Atlantic City man was arrested at the Showboat Casino Hotel Tuesday and charged with robbing at least seven elderly women within the last two months, the police said.
The man, Ernest Brathwaite, is considered a suspect in at least five other robberies, said Capt. Richard Andrews of the Atlantic City police. The police had been looking for Mr. Brathwaite after video cameras caught him knocking down women and taking their purses, Captain Andrews said. 
 In all, Mr. Brathwaite made off with about $1,000 from robberies at Bally's Park Place and Trump's Worlds Fair and Trumps Marina, Captain Andrews said.

LOAD-DATE: November 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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November 21, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
ZARROW, SADIE

SECTION: Section B; Page 11; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 67 words

ZARROW-Sadie. Dearly loved and loving wife of the late Joseph, mother of Walter and the late Marilyn, grandmother of Laura, Andrew, Gayle, Scott, and Susan, and great grandmother of Matthew, Anna, Blaire, and Danielle on Nov. 17th at the age of eighty-seven after a brief illness. She was a great lady. Contributions to the Daniel Cantor Senior Citizens Center, Sunrise, FL, will be appreciated.

LOAD-DATE: November 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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November 21, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

Greenspan Issues Call for Action To Rescue Social Security System

BYLINE: By RICHARD W. STEVENSON 

SECTION: Section A; Page 24; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 470 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 20

Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, urged Congress today to act quickly to fix the looming problems in Social Security, saying the political and economic difficulties of addressing the impending shortage in the program's financing would only grow with time.
Mr. Greenspan, who was chairman of a national commission on Social Security in the early 1980's and has long used his platform at the Federal Reserve to warn of the problem's urgency, said the solutions to the retirement system's financial difficulties would not be painless, but were within reach. 
 "More important," Mr. Greenspan said, "most entail changes that are less unsettling if they are enacted soon, even if their effects are significantly delayed, rather than waiting five or 10 years or longer for legislation."
"We owe it to those who will retire after the turn of the century to be given sufficient advance notice to make what alterations in retirement planning may be required," he said. "If we procrastinate too long, the adjustments could be truly wrenching."
Mr. Greenspan's statements, to the lone Senator at a hearing called by the Senate Budget Committee's Social Security Task Force, came as Congress and the Clinton Administration are beginning to grapple with the problems of the pension program. Social Security will start running out of money in the decades after the baby boom generation begins reaching retirement age in 2010.
The task of the White House and Republican leaders will be made easier by projections that the Government will begin running budget surpluses in the next few years. Both parties are exploring how the surpluses could be used to shore up the system or to help create a new one that would give people more responsibility for retirement savings.
Yet neither the White House nor the Republican leadership has developed a plan or even a timetable for dealing with the issue, which is among the most politically sensitive facing either party and is certain to draw pressure from constituencies as diverse as the elderly and Wall Street.
Among the questions being debated is whether Washington should address Social Security before the next Presidential election in 2000 and whether a Social Security overhaul will have to wait until after Congress deals with similar problems afflicting the Medicare system of health insurance for the elderly.
Mr. Greenspan said it would be a mistake to use any budget surplus to increase Government spending. Although he suggested that surpluses alone would probably not be enough to restore the retirement system's health, he offered no new solutions.
Instead, with Congress out of session, he conducted what amounted to a tutorial for Senator Judd Gregg, a Republican from New Hampshire who is the chairman of the task force.
      

LOAD-DATE: November 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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November 22, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
LIBROT, SUSAN

SECTION: Section D; Page 16; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 136 words

LIBROT-Susan. On November 20, 1997. Of New City, NY. A graduate of Columbia University, she had a special interest in music therapy. Worked as a volunteer with senior citizens for many years. Devoted wife of Dr. Irwin. Loving mother of Mitch and Ken and their wives Diane and Lynn, of Allendale, NJ. Cherished grandmother of Justine, Michael, Amanda, Jeffrey, Emily and Andrew. Services Sunday 1:30 PM, at Hellman Memorial Chapels, 15 State St, Spring Valley, NY. Entombment to follow at the Sanctuary of Abraham and Sarah, Paramus, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Tomorrows Children's Fund, 30 Prospect Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601 in the name of Sue Librot, or Temple Beth Shalom, 228 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY 10956, to the Rabbi's Discretionary Fund in the name of Sue Librot.

LOAD-DATE: November 22, 1997

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TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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November 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

ART;
Erotica Whose Purpose Was Scholarly

BYLINE: By DOUGLAS WISSING; Douglas Wissing is a writer and art consultant living in Bloomington, Ind.

SECTION: Section 2; Page 47; Column 1; Arts and Leisure Desk

LENGTH: 667 words

DATELINE: BLOOMINGTON, Ind.

TWO ELDERLY WOMEN pressed their noses to the display case of erect Japanese phallus fetishes while students peered at photographs of copulating couples and glistening musclemen in classical poses. Tattoo art of a naked woman grappling with a cobra and posters from stag movies like "I Want More" and "Jungle Virgin" shared the gallery walls with a Matisse odalisque and a Rembrandt boudoir scene.
A security guard idly perused the entangled nude figures in Picasso's "Man and Woman." A wall label next to the painting read: "When asked to distinguish between art and eroticism near the end of his career, Picasso said, 'But there is no difference.' " 
 The works are part of "The Art of Desire: The Erotic Treasures From the Kinsey Institute," an exhibition here that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. It is the first comprehensive show of the institute's erotic art, a collection that spans 3,200 years as well as the globe, ranging from folk art to Old Masters to the amatory works of amateur photographers. It remains on view through Dec. 5 at the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts Gallery at Indiana University.
 The collection is composed entirely of donations, many from Dr. Alfred Kinsey's contacts with postal, customs and prison authorities, who had confiscated some of the materials on display. The 75,000 photographs in the collection include a trove from the 19th and early 20th centuries, some of them on postcards. Others were taken as part of research; there are pictures of swimming sperm, for example, and copulating elephants. All are catalogued with the scholars' arid code (for instance, FIG NUDE XG SIT HND ABV translates as "female figure, nude, genitals covered, sitting, hand above waist").
The 200-plus works on view reflect the range and ubiquity of sexual themes in human culture since ancient Egypt. Academic art commingles with the unschooled: there are elegant etchings and pristine prints by George Platt Lynes alongside "Tijuana Bibles," comic books depicting characters like Popeye and Olive Oyl in anatomically unlikely situations. Condoms embellished with motifs like waving red hands and heads with cowboy hats are preserved in test tubes.
The show is attracting a cross section of the public: students and teachers, women's groups, Hoosiers from the surrounding hills who seldom visit the campus and older people who knew the Kinseys, who were revered figures in the community. "They're really packing in here," said Betsy Stirratt, the gallery director and co-curator of the show. "I've never seen people look at a show so intently. They get so close to the cases, it takes a lot of cleaning every day."
In mining the institute's erotica for material, the curators had to be sure it fell within the standards of decency of this university town, tolerant though it is. Given the mass of art, the chore was like "Hercules cleaning out the stables," said Sarah Burns, a co-curator of the show.
The result is decorous. The show depicts beauty, humor and fantasy that appeal to both sexes and sexual orientations while eschewing the borderlands of violence, pedophilia or zoophilia. "No animals, no nuns," Ms. Stirratt said. "We wanted this to be a positive show, kind of 'up with sex.' "
The exhibit represents a new, more public profile for the Kinsey Institute even as it has come under attack. Last month, a conservative group, the Concerned Women of America, picketed the institute's offices, protesting research findings. And a recent biography, "Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life," presents Dr. Kinsey as a pervert, a portrayal that the institute has condemned as a distortion.
"So far we've had no negative responses about the exhibit," said John Bancroft, the director of the Kinsey Institute. "We recognize the need to make the institute more open. We want people to know as much as they can. After all, demystification is very much the name of the game."

LOAD-DATE: November 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: FANTASY "Woman in Boots," a 1936 photograph by J. A. S. Coutts. (Kinsey Institute)

TYPE: Review

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November 23, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: ROCKAWAY PARK;
After Slashing, New Wounds

BYLINE: By CHARLIE LeDUFF 

SECTION: Section 14; Page 8; Column 1; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 473 words

When four teen-agers slashed a priest across the face with a box cutter on the A train early one morning in July, it set off a string of events in which nothing much good happened.
The priest went back to Ireland with a 45-stitch scar. Three boys were sent to an upstate home for juvenile delinquents, and the 16-year-old who did the slashing is now jailed on Rikers Island. Moreover, residents in Rockaway Park held regular Saturday morning protests in front of the St. John's Residence for Boys, a foster care home for 85 boys on Beach 111th Street where the young men had been staying. 
 "Enough was enough, and the priest episode was the last straw," said Lew M. Simon, the Democratic leader of Assembly District 23, who led the protests. "There were just some kids, too many bad kids that just didn't belong here."
There is no doubt that there were some bad boys at St. John's. Last June, four boys from the home were arrested for trying to rob an elderly man at an automated teller machine. (The charges were later dropped because the man could not identify the boys.) A few weeks later, a teen-ager from the home was arrested for riding a bike around the neighborhood with a loaded pistol in his waistband.
After several meetings between community representatives of Rockaway Park, elected officials, the commissioner of the Administration for Children's Services and the director of the home, Brother Thomas N. Trager, a compromise was reached.
Under the agreement, the number of boys living at St. John's will be reduced to 75, from 92. The Administration for Children's Services has pledged to better screen new arrivals to weed out troublemakers, drug abusers and children with a record within the juvenile justice system. They will also share the boys' personal information with the home.
"We're going to be a little more discerning about the kids we send to St. John's," said Nicholas Scoppetta, the commissioner of the Administration for Children's Services, which oversees the 42,000 children in foster care in the city. "We will also be establishing better lines of communications with elected officials and community representatives."
"We've gotten more flexibility," Brother Trager said. "They've given us the ability to decline prospective clients based on their needs and history." Historically, Brother Trager said, they had to accept whomever the agency sent, and the home could have lost its contract with the city if it refused a child for any reason other than a clear "theraputic objection," such as refusing to take a child on several behavioral medications.
"Those were a few bad apples," Brother Trager said. "The majority of these kids are good people who need a little help through the world. Since the slashing, things have gotten better for everyone around here."   CHARLIE LeDUFF

LOAD-DATE: November 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Brother Thomas N. Trager had to change policy at St. John's Residence. (Rebecca Cooney for The New York Times)

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November 27, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Is Treatable by a New Drug

BYLINE: By LAWRENCE M. FISHER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 28; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 599 words

DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26

The Food and Drug Administration today approved a new genetically engineered drug for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The drug, Rituxan, was approved for treating low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a slow-growing but fatal and incurable cancer of the immune system. It will be made and marketed by Genentech Inc. of South San Francisco. 
 In clinical trials, Rituxan was shown to be comparable to chemotherapy in slowing progression of the disease, but with fewer side effects.
Rituxan is the first of a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies to be approved for treating cancer, but F.D.A. officials said there are at least two dozen such drugs in various stages of clinical trials.
Monoclonals, which are genetically engineered copies of powerful immune system proteins, were one of the first technologies pursued by the biotechnology industry, but have until recently failed in most applications.
"To me this is a milestone for monoclonal antibody technology for this field," said Dr. Kathryn Stein, director of monoclonal antibodies for the F.D.A. center for biologicals evaluation and research.
Most impressive, Dr. Stein said, is that Rituxan is a "naked" antibody, meaning that it is not linked to a radioactive or chemical drug, but is itself an anticancer therapy.
"It really is a turning point," she said.
Because monoclonal antibodies were initially produced in mice, they caused allergic reactions in human beings, which limited their effectiveness. The antibodies now advancing in the clinic have been genetically engineered to be either chimerized, about half human, or humanized, more than 90 percent human.
Rituxan follows Reopro, from Centocor Inc., an antibody for the prevention of blood-clotting in heart patients, which was approved in 1996.
"Unquestionably, monoclonals are gathering momentum," said Viren Mehta, an analyst with Mehta & Isaly in New York. "While it has clearly taken some time for the basic elements of the science to come together, we now have the second important monoclonal in a year, and this is just the beginning."
The most common side effects of Rituxan were moderate flu-like symptoms that occurred in the majority of patients during the first infusion. And unlike the typical four- to six-month chemotherapy regimen or high-dose radiation treatment, Rituxan can be administered in four infusions on an outpatient basis over 22 days.
"Although it is not a cure, we finally have a cancer agent that can be effective with less serious side effects than with conventional chemotherapy," said Dr. Myron Czuczman, assistant professor of medicine at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, and a main investigator of the new drug.
"This is exciting news, especially for elderly patients and relapsed patients who have failed at least one standard treatment regimen."
Genentech also has a monoclonal antibody of its own invention in clinical trials for the treatment of breast cancer, and plans to develop more drugs based on this technology for other solid tumors.
Monoclonal antibodies aim at proteins implicated in the cause or maintenance of cancer, so they can be more specific than a chemical drug that simply kills fast-growing cells. The more specific a drug, the lower the toxicity, meaning physicians can prescribe higher doses without serious side effects.
Rituxan works by binding to a protein known as the CD20 antigen on the surface of mature B cells and B-cell tumors. Then it recruits the body's natural defenses to attack and kill both malignant and normal mature B cells.

LOAD-DATE: November 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: December 2, 1997, Tuesday

 CORRECTION:
Because of an editing error, an article on Thursday about Food and Drug Administration approval of Rituxan, a drug for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, omitted the company that discovered it. It was Idec Pharmaceuticals Inc. (As the article reported, the drug will be made and marketed by Genentech Inc.)

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The New York Times

November 30, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

WEDDINGS;
Sheila Patel, Steven Benfield

SECTION: Section 9; Page 9; Column 1; Society Desk

LENGTH: 222 words

Sheila Harilal Patel, an equities trader, and Steven Carroll Benfield, an investment banker, were married last evening at the Burden Mansion in Manhattan. The Rev. Dr. Douglas L. Trees, a Roman Catholic priest, performed the ceremony.
Ms. Patel, who is keeping her name, works in the equity-derivatives department of Morgan Stanley & Company, the investment bank in Manhattan. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and received an M.B.A. degree from Columbia University. She is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Harilal N. Patel of Grymes Hill, Staten Island. The bride's father retired as a general surgeon in private practice in Brooklyn, where her mother, Anne T. Harilal, was the office manager. 
 Mr. Benfield is a managing director at Prudential Securities in Manhattan. He graduated from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., and received a master's degree in history from New York University, where he also received an M.B.A. He is a son of the Rev. and Mrs. Dwayne R. Benfield of Toccoa, Ga. The bridegroom's mother, Jane Benfield, is a teacher's assistant at Eastanollee Elementary School in Toccoa. His father, who retired as the pastor of Carnes Creek Baptist Church, is a minister to the elderly at Grace Baptist Church, both in Toccoa.
The bridegroom's previous marriage ended in divorce.

LOAD-DATE: November 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Sheila Patel. (Andrea Sperling)

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The New York Times

November 30, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

COPING;
Wheels of Misfortune

BYLINE: By ROBERT LIPSYTE 

SECTION: Section 14; Page 1; Column 3; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 798 words

THE mail and calls have been angry and anecdotal in recent days in response to a perceived surge in police brutality, or at least discourtesy, toward middle-class citizens, and to the death of a 68-year-old businessman as he stepped out of an Upper West Side restaurant into the path of a food delivery bicycle being ridden illegally on the sidewalk.
Outrage is easy to share. While relatively few people have been killed by the sidewalk riders, many pedestrians report having been hit, forced off the sidewalk, routinely intimidated. Older people feel particularly vulnerable. Except for Councilman Andrew S. Eristoff, himself a victim of a sidewalk rider, few politicians have addressed it seriously. It simply wasn't a tape-at-11 issue. Illegal sidewalk riding could have been stopped on the precinct level years ago by cops on beats handing out warnings to the restaurant owners who exploit this underpaid, overworked, often undocumented cavalry. Now the Mayor has called bicycle scofflaws a major quality of life issue, and some bike people are concerned. 
 "That was the same phrase and tone he used to demonize the squeegee men," said a rider, requesting anonymity, who works in a city agency. "Does that mean bike riders are going to be driven out of the city in another cosmetic gesture? Are we not going to be able to deal with the real problems, congestion, double-parking, illegal driving?"
No one died during the long night of Melva Max, although her story seemed to strike an even more exposed nerve. I've heard a dozen similar stories in the past week. Last month, outside her Chelsea restaurant at midnight, Ms. Max waved down a passing patrol car and asked the sergeant inside to quiet some noisy motorcycles. When he seemed dismissive, she asked for his name and badge number. Exactly what happened next is scheduled to be Rashomoned out early next year in Criminal Court. What no one denies is that Ms. Max was arrested, cuffed behind her back, taken to the precinct house, strip-searched and held until nearly 4 A.M. She refused to accept an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, a sort of plea bargain, in a community court; she wanted to go to trial on the minor midemeanors of disorderly conduct and obstruction of government administration to make her point.
Few of my middle-class callers think she should have just "paid the $2." Most say they think there is some kind of class war going on between cops and citizens, which reminds some of their "off the pigs" 60's protests. Several asked for the telephone number of Ms. Max's high-priced criminal lawyer. They didn't seem put off that he was also representing one of the police officers indicted in the Abner Louima assault.
This is, after all, the post-irony age, which means we don't necessarily make connections anymore. Do you really think deliverymen ride on the sidewalk to bowl over peds? Or is it because they don't want to be "doored" or bumped or run over by bigger bullies, cars and trucks? In one city program that deserves our support, if not awards, the Department of Transportation distributes an orange safety vest for bikers with Share the Road on the back. Now that should be the message of the age.
But will City Hall and the police brass order officers to enforce that, and to keep cars off bike paths, to do something about double-parking, stuck streets and all the cars that routinely make right turns in front of bikes and sometimes over them? And how will super-sensitive, easily offended, obviously insecure cops learn the brisk professionalism of the majority of officers?
"Everyone knows that New Yorkers are tough and have attitude," Ms. Max said last week, "but so many cops act like surly teen-agers behind the deli case who want you to go home without buying anything."
She has been trying to form a coalition of Chelsea groups to stage a public forum about what many residents and store owners feel is a general lack of responsiveness by the 10th Precinct. Her so-far disappointing experience in bringing her case before the Civilian Complaint Review Board leads her to believe that the City Council's override of the Mayor's veto of a new independent police review board may be a terrific idea.
Meanwhile, it would be helpful if the Mayor, who apparently loves to dress up, would wear a Share the Road safety vest, and if you noisily boycotted neighborhood restaurants that ship food via sidewalk.
Otherwise, wait until Disney privatizes the city and teaches theme-park courtesy to the cops they hire as security guards under the new plan to allow them to wear their uniforms while moonlighting. It probably won't be so bad. No one will get into midtown without a ticket. If you mouth off, you'll have to wear mouse ears for the rest of the day.

LOAD-DATE: November 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (Mark Matcho)

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The New York Times

November 30, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

A Safety Net for the Neediest

SECTION: Section 4; Page 8; Column 1; Editorial Desk

LENGTH: 377 words

The city seems safer and more prosperous to those with good jobs and peaceful homes, but New York's most vulnerable residents struggle daily for food, shelter and freedom from violence. With unemployment in the city at 10 percent, boom times have not come to people on the margins of society.
All over New York, neglected children are waiting to be fed. Young mothers are struggling to cope with too few resources. The elderly, often cut off from families, are languishing alone in silent apartments. Unexpected illness, a divorce or a lay-off from a job can push a family into crisis. Private generosity is now more important than ever as governments at all levels retreat from sustaining society's weakest members. 
 Today The New York Times's Neediest Cases Fund begins its annual appeal to help seven of the city's largest and oldest charities provide the poor and the abused a shot at a better life. In a big city, it is often hard to see how one can help one's neighbors. The annual drive, first held in 1912, does that by putting every dollar into direct aid for people in the city's five boroughs. No money is diverted for solicitation or administrative expenses.
Donations will help the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service pay for a program in the New York public schools to combat child abuse and provide emergency cash and food aid for families on the verge of collapse. The Children's Aid Society, another beneficiary of the fund, reaches 100,000 children a year with services ranging from transitional housing for homeless families to running mobile health clinics in the poorest neighborhoods and tutoring programs for teen-agers all over the city. The Community Service Society of New York, another beneficiary, prevents homelessness by giving clients cash to help them stop evictions, while rehabilitating buildings to house the homeless and low-income families. These efforts form part of a social safety net that no city can survive without.
Every dollar can help make New York a more humane and caring place to live. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Checks should be made payable to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 5193, General Post Office, New York, N.Y. 10087.

LOAD-DATE: November 30, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Editorial

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The New York Times

November 30, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

The Last Best Friends Money Can Buy

BYLINE: By Ted Conover;   Ted Conover is a contributing writer for the Magazine. His most recent article, in March, was about documentary film making.

SECTION: Section 6;Page 124;Column 1;Magazine Desk

LENGTH: 5008 words

Normally you didn't have to interview for a home health care placement -- the agency just told you where to be, and when, and a little background information on the client. But Lorna Kingston didn't mind. It would be a good job if she got it -- $150 a day for a 24-hour live-in. The client, as Nick Newcombe, who was overseeing her home care, had explained, was resisting help and had fired a succession of workers. Newcombe thought the client would feel empowered if she had a choice, and so had arranged for Lorna and two other aides to be interviewed by the woman, her nephew Howard (Buzz) Katzen and his wife.
Dressed in a pale yellow suit, Lorna, a 35-year-old Jamaican immigrant, sat in the lobby of the building on Central Park West and waited to be summoned upstairs. She went over in her mind what more she knew of this woman's history: that the week before, Rose Enselman had called the police, saying she was being held prisoner by the home attendant. Then she had barricaded herself in her bathroom while naked and demanded the bread and water that was any prisoner's due. The police, upon arrival, had summoned an ambulance, and Rose was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for psychiatric evaluation and treatment. 
 The interesting thing about the delusion was the grain of truth it contained. Just months before, as Buzz had explained to Newcombe, 99-year-old Rose was still leading a relatively independent life in her apartment of three decades, with only occasional visits from a housekeeper, a laundry woman and a social worker from Dorot, an Upper West Side service agency for the elderly. She had recently attended the wedding of her geriatrician, Dr. Cathryn Devons, unaccompanied, wearing Ferragamo shoes and a coat from Bergdorf Goodman.
But a number of little falls had prompted Buzz, her only available relative, to hire an agency whose aides Rose "hated" -- and whose presence had not prevented a fall out of bed that resulted in an injured hip, the pivotal crisis for many elderly. As Newcombe put it, "When you're 99 and you sneeze wrong, all of a sudden your brain's crooked."
Rose quickly became truly feeble, and delusional as well. The aides had done nothing to restrain her; her own decrepitude was responsible for that. But home health care and real infirmity had arrived around the same time, and late that night, Rose's mind conflated them into one malevolent force. Hours after her arrival at Mount Sinai, a calmer Rose still spoke of the "nice attendant" she knew from the daytime and the "monster woman" who invaded her apartment at night.
Back at home now, medicated by the anti-psychotic drug Haldol, Rose ran the interview herself, explaining to Lorna what the job required -- assistance in bathing, dressing, preparing food and getting around the city. She was a frail, stooped woman, hard of hearing and poor of sight -- but not the least bit timid. Why did Lorna think she was right for such a responsible position? Rose demanded.
Lorna explained that in Jamaica she had cared for her grandmother and great-grandmother, who had lived past 100, and that she was a good listener and accustomed to hard work. "I told her I would try to make her happy," Lorna said. Rose hired her on the spot -- even though Buzz and his wife had been impressed with another of the aides, who had worked with Rose. ("She was very professional," Buzz said, "and had lasted two nights with Rose. Any sane person would already have jumped off the balcony.")
Lorna started work the same day, Oct. 11. Rose immediately forgot her name and began calling her Cookie. "I thought the reason she hired me was my great-grandmother," Lorna recalls. "But that night she told me: 'Cookie, the reason I picked you instead of the other one? She was too big.' " If push came to shove, maybe with Lorna she'd have a fighting chance.
The American home health care boom began in the early 80's, a response to increases in both the number of elderly (there were 25.6 million Americans 65 and older in 1980; there will be around 70 million in 2030) and the cost of nursing-home care. The average home now charges $127 a day, though special services can add hundreds more. And then there is the homes' notoriety as a last stop for the very old and ill, the point of no return. Though a variety of alternatives now exist -- from hospices to assisted-living complexes to adult day care -- the most popular place to stay, unsurprisingly, is home.
Seven million people now receive some form of paid home care in this country, without which many would have to enter an institution. Endorsements of the practice by Medicare in 1965 and Medicaid in 1971 gave home care a big boost; meanwhile the desirability of aging or recuperating at home was growing in the popular mind. It was in 1979 that Norman Cousins, in "The Anatomy of an Illness: As Perceived by the Patient," wrote that "a hospital is no place for a person who is seriously ill."
The quality and experience of home care workers varies widely: many individuals providing paid home health care have relatively little formal training. It still takes a nurse to give intravenous injections, insert catheters, monitor kidney dialysis and the like. But many older people can manage with a little help and can thereby maintain some degree of independence amid the comfort of familiar possessions and routines. These are people who need only a companion-housekeeper who cooks and cleans but provides no "hands on" care, or a licensed home health aide with at least 75 hours of training in the specific needs of the elderly like bathing, dressing and the taking of medication.
For those 65 and older, Medicare will pay for skilled recuperative care after an acute illness -- generally up to four hours a day, 7 days a week, for 40 days or so. For anyone poor, Medicaid pays for ongoing home care for those with chronic maladies; when those costs reach 90 percent of the cost of a nursing home, the patient is usually sent to such an institution. Families with money can find comfort in the care they can buy for elderly relatives -- and nightmares in the endless ways that the costs can quickly exhaust a fortune.
For home care aides, of course, the signs are auspicious: their field is expected to be one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States in coming years, with a 119 percent increase in jobs predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1994 to 2005. But this growth is not occurring in an entirely savory way. Perhaps because the Federal budget for it has increased so rapidly (Medicare's home care budget in 1996 was $16.9 billion, up from $3.5 billion in 1990), perhaps because it is difficult to monitor, fraudulent billing by companies has been epidemic. Indeed, it was so easy to make home care money off the Government that nearly 100 new companies a month were getting on the gravy train until President Clinton placed a moratorium on them in September, pending the establishment of a better vetting system. The two top executives at the Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, the nation's largest health care company, resigned in July during an extensive investigation of Medicare billings, particularly for home care and laboratory tests.
Other problems have to do with abuse on a more personal scale. The elderly at home with attendants are vulnerable in the same way as babies left with nannies. When two cousins in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, last year accused their home care aide of writing herself $600 in checks from one cousin's account, the woman bludgeoned them with a 36-inch metal rod and then choked them to death. Sometimes it's the worker who's abused. In the Westchester town of Eastchester last November, both an 80-year-old millionaire and his 35-year-old home attendant were murdered. Articles on the killings revealed that two of his previous aides had filed criminal charges against the man, one for threatening her with a gun, the other for forcing her to perform a sex act.
But these horrors distract us from a more subtle and significant story. While at least two-thirds of home care for the elderly is still provided by relatives and other nonpaid caretakers, that figure appears to be shrinking. We don't take Grandma in anymore -- or at least not as readily as we used to. In part it's because we're busier, or we've moved away, or we still have kids to support, or because she's likely to live so long. Nobody feels too good about it, but old age has expanded faster than we can handle. The nanny tradition for children is time tested, but at the other end of life there is a new kind of nanny -- and a caretaking relationship fraught with guilt, resentment and love that we are very likely to be wrestling with for years to come.
You see it on the sidewalks and in the parks and lobbies of neighborhoods throughout cities like New York: elderly people, often white, assisted or simply accompanied by younger women, usually black or Hispanic. As our parents and grandparents live longer, and spend fewer and fewer of their final years with us, a caring woman from the Caribbean -- her face, her voice, her touch -- will very likely be the last human contact many of them will have.
Though Rose's one-bedroom apartment was new to Lorna, she found many of its trappings familiar. In the living room were a large-button telephone and a daybed she knew without asking would be hers; in the bathroom were baby wipes and Depends. Rose's twin bed had a railing on it; the dining-room table was given over to the bottles of prescription drugs that Lorna would dispense. And the thermostat was set at a tropical level, which suited Lorna fine.
Other than that, the apartment, like many older peoples', was a shrine to a life already lived -- with photos of dead relatives, books read long ago, furnishings from another era. A Christmas card from George Bush was tucked into a dusty Venetian blind, near a card, hand-drawn in crayon, that read, "Dear Person, Have a Happy Passover." There was a signed, framed photograph of Albert Einstein, as well as a photo of Justice Louis Brandeis.
Even though Lorna was more diminutive than the competition, she still felt that Rose was afraid of her. She tried to break down barriers by fussing over Rose's appearance and by listening. "You have to give them room and talk to them so nice to see what they're like," she says. She realized that Rose loved dancing in her walker -- or "race car," as she called it -- and after a couple of days Lorna got permission to play her records, and the two would dance. And when she saw that Rose was having trouble swallowing, a side effect of the sedating medication, she used the blender she found under the Heritage Foundation calendar in the kitchen to increase the variety of things Rose could eat.
Nursing is one of the few careers traditionally open to women in Jamaica -- a fact that dovetails nicely with Americans' growing needs. Lorna's mother, now employed by a nursing home in Brooklyn, left the island for New York in 1988; Lorna had arrived a year earlier, at age 25. Lorna's aunt and stepmother are also here, both employed as home care workers. "In the countryside, we always take care of old people ourselves," Lorna says. And frankly, she feels, it is superior to the American system. When you do it yourself, "you give them more love, you understand much more about them. You make them more happy." That happiness is important, she says, because "you have some old people who just give up on their life." One client she was fond of had suffered bouts of depression and died one night in a fire -- probably from smoking in bed, firemen suggested outside the Lower East Side apartment when Lorna arrived for work. But a friend of Lorna's, who had met the woman and felt he knew her, told me he thought she had set it intentionally. Lorna didn't contradict him. "I took very good care of her; she was my baby. We could sit down and talk -- she called me Character. She said, 'You don't know how much joy you bring to my life.' "
Lorna comes across as a joyful person. Though she doesn't make much money, she is glamorous, always wearing stylish clothes, gold bracelets and gold earrings. She has a ready smile and makes good use of lipstick. She paints her fingernails and toenails red and braids her own hair. She lives in a two-story townhouse of recent construction on a redeveloped block of the South Bronx with her fiance, Robin Stephenson, and her sons, Courtland (Junior), 14, and Germaine, 12. Though work can force her to leave them for days at a time (live-in pays the best), she feels the sacrifice is small compared with others she has made.
To bring that joy to her clients -- and advance her own prospects -- Lorna entered into the kind of Faustian bargain that immigration presents to many from poorer countries. When she came to America, unable to procure visas for her children, she left them behind.
"I leave Germaine when he was 2, and Junior when he was 4," she says, "and Germaine was so close to me, I cried every day." When after five years she finally went home to fetch them, in 1992, "Germaine didn't know me. He really didn't. I'd say, 'Come here,' and he'd run away from me. It hurt so much. When I left Jamaica with them, the immigration man said, 'Why you go and leave your kids like that?' I felt so bad! I said I did it because I had to get them a better life." Doubtless the official knew that already -- New York City is full of immigrant mothers who leave their own families to take care of other peoples'. But Jamaican culture is conflicted about the trade-offs -- just as Americans are about leaving the care of our parents to strangers.
Lorna earned her license to be a home health aide at Caliber Training Institute in New York, but says that doing the actual work taught her more. She once saw a colleague knock down a demented elderly person who kept barging into her bedroom. "I felt so bad, I will never forget it," she says. "I would never do that -- you don't do that to nobody who's not in their senses. I said, Remember, you have a mother and someday you could be like that. Some old people are like a baby, they don't understand.
"This field is not for everybody. People who don't have patience should stay away. You have to love people." Lorna's own patience would soon be put to a big test.
Lorna and Rose had wound up together because Buzz, 65, of Westport, Conn., a Xerox executive on the verge of both retirement and departure with his wife to a winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz., was at the end of his rope. His aunt Rose "hated each and every one" of the home health aides supplied by the first agency he engaged. After brief trial periods, she had rejected assisted living in Connecticut and White Plains ("she didn't like the way people there dressed," he says); a place in her own neighborhood that had once seemed appealing would no longer accept her because she couldn't walk by herself.
Under the circumstances, Buzz sought out Fine & Newcombe, one of the larger of the three dozen geriatric-care-management businesses in the New York metropolitan area. Such firms typically oversee all aspects of the care of an aging person -- everything from advice on living arrangements to consultation with doctors to accounting help for monthly bills. Thirteen years ago there were only a handful; now there are more than 1,000 nationwide. Fees range from about $100 to $150 an hour in New York, making them affordable to only a small segment of the population. Older people sometimes sign themselves on, but the agencies are particularly useful for relatives of the aged who live in other cities, providing a means of watching over the elderly from afar -- like a kind of child surrogate.
For an amazing number of years, Buzz explained to Newcombe in the care manager's Upper West Side office, Rose had taken care of herself, riding buses alone into her 90's. She had outlived a husband who died 28 years ago, a daughter who died seven years ago at 70 and virtually all of her friends of her generation. A forceful, some would say controlling, woman, she had alienated three nieces who lived in Manhattan; when Buzz's mother and another sister died, the care of Aunt Rose fell on him. It was a responsibility he had never sought.
"Rose expected me to transfer my affections to her," he says. "I couldn't, but I felt I had to take care of her for one reason. And that is, if my mother were alive, she'd tell me to take care of her sister. I was the only one geographically available." The first request was to help her rewrite her will. She had an annual income of about $15,000 on $220,000 of assets, and received a $400 monthly check from Social Security. She wrote the new will "exclusively for the purpose of eliminating her granddaughter -- her only living descendant." When Rose decided to write yet another will, Buzz persuaded her to put the granddaughter back in. In addition, she made a large gift to Brandeis University (though she had not attended, Rose was a longtime benefactor) and "gifts of $1,000 to 18 people, half of whom are no longer alive," Buzz says with resignation.
As she deteriorated, he assumed power of attorney for her. The stabilized rent for her one-bedroom apartment with terrace was only $560 a month, so 24-hour home care (at $150 a day) and the services of Fine & Newcombe were things Buzz felt she could afford, given her advanced age. He signed on with Nick Newcombe, interviewed and hired Lorna, returned to Westport and then, with eight days to go until he left for Scottsdale, he phoned Lorna at Rose's, praying that his problems were solved.
They were not. Though Rose by day was acting reasonable enough, by night the demons came. "Cookie! Cookie!" she called, all night long, but when Lorna came, Rose couldn't say what she needed. She got out of bed by herself, clambering over the rail, and turned lights on and off all over the apartment. About 3 A.M. she came under the spell of what would come to be known as the Scream: head back, eyes closed, she began a high-pitched ululation that went a-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!
"I try to give her something cool, I try to give her something warm, nothing help," sobbed Lorna in frustration. She called Robin, who told her to stick with it if she could but not feel bad if she couldn't. The next night was the same. And the next. Exhausted, Lorna told Newcombe she couldn't do it anymore. She hadn't slept in three days. Newcombe begged her not to quit, and sent over Claudia Piper, 30, to relieve her from 8 P. M. to 8 A.M.
Another Jamaican living in the Bronx, Claudia Piper was not as cheery as Lorna, but she was steady, capable and articulate. She was hopeful for the new job because her previous one had been awful. The client, a woman in her 60's with Alzheimer's, had been fine. But the crowded Upper West Side apartment also contained the client's imperious and inconsiderate husband, who wouldn't let Claudia receive phone calls, fed her only leftovers from his plate and urinated all over the toilet seat that Claudia helped his wife use. Claudia knew that home care work suffered from many such pitfalls. There was the 300-pound woman she had had to lift onto and up from her bed; the four-packs-a-day smoker who demanded that Claudia hide the habit from his nurse; the squalid condition of many apartments.
Newcombe warned her that taking the new job could be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire, but Claudia said the frying pan was so bad she'd be willing to try. She was paid $10 an hour, $120 for the shift -- the same as Lorna now got -- but she had to suffer, she soon realized, a bit more. While Lorna could focus on the salon and doctor appointments, Claudia would become the expert on Rose Enselman's nocturnal dysfunction. She quickly discerned a pattern.
"It starts about 10 P. M., and sometimes it goes on all night," Claudia says of that time. "Sometimes I get two hours of peace and then it starts again." It, of course, was the uncontrolled screaming from the bedroom. Claudia sighs to recall how neighbors complained. She moved Rose to the living room. "And then that neighbor started banging on the wall, I think with pots." Claudia seldom got five hours of sleep a night, and what little she did get came in many small parts. Claudia's mother in the Bronx, who cared for her 8-year-old daughter when Claudia was on a job, would receive calls in the middle of the night. "At 2 o'clock I would call her. And she'd say, there's nothing you can do.
"At first I felt frustrated for me, not for her. It's like, it's night, and you're supposed to be sleeping at night." One morning after a long night, Claudia opened the door for Lorna and said, "Lorna, I think I'm going to quit."
"I was saying, oh, Claudia, please don't give up," Lorna says now. "I said: 'Don't quit tonight. Come tonight and see how it goes.' " Lorna was finding that the daytime Rose, the coherent Rose, was a person who could grow on you. She had told Lorna of her love of the opera, about her journeys to four continents, about her lifelong support of women's rights. "The life she used to live!" Lorna said at the time. "And how fast it changed for her. I feel sorry for her -- she can't help it now." She felt Claudia would come to feel the same way. "You know what happens?" she told her. "After a couple of weeks, you get so close to her you don't want to give up."
Claudia didn't give up. But Rose was contemplating it. Though she had no specific recollections of her nighttime delirium ("I was screaming? Oh, darling, I'm sorry," she'd tell Claudia in the morning), she felt physically and spiritually awful. Claudia had been working only a few days when she and Lorna began to fear that Rose wasn't eating enough. Her ability to swallow had deteriorated to the point where food stuck in her throat made it sound like she was gargling when she talked. Buzz, Newcombe, Evelyn Morris (the social worker from Dorot who had been checking on her weekly for nearly two years) and an accountant Buzz had hired to pay her bills met in the apartment to discuss her affairs. Lorna, as seemed to be the protocol at such moments, left the room.
Rose, appearing exhausted, horrified the rest of them by saying, "If I have to live like I'm living now, I'd rather die." She complained about the job being done by Lorna, but only halfheartedly. Not just her presence, Newcombe suggested out of Rose's earshot, but the gathering of all of them had driven home to her "just how managed she was," how dependent on others. The next day she had a fever, and Cathryn Devons suspected that aspirated food had brought on pneumonia. Rose was readmitted to the hospital.
Lorna and Claudia sat by her there for 10 days (a common practice, which prevents a client from having to find new caretakers when her hospital stay is over), helping to nurse her through the crisis. Even though questions remained about how to handle Rose's trouble swallowing while on the sedating medicine, once the pneumonia was cleared up, she was sent home.
Lorna and Claudia resumed their shifts at Rose's residence. When I came to visit, it was a big production: Rose wouldn't receive me unless she was well put-together, and there was nothing Lorna liked better than dressing Rose up. Would she prefer the readier access to doctors that a nursing home might provide? I asked her. Never, she said. "In your home, you got a right to get mad, you got a right to get glad." Did she miss the opera? "Ever so much." What was her favorite television show? "Charlie Rose."
Claudia watched her and talked with her as late into the night as she could but the Scream returned and intensified. Once Rose got started, she wouldn't take any of the medications intended to calm her down. And it was hard to anticipate when it would begin -- sometimes late afternoon, sometimes early morning, once for 48 hours straight. "Claudia and Lorna were living in a screaming hole," says Newcombe, who made frequent visits. "I couldn't tolerate the intensity of it for even 15 minutes, and I've heard a lot of screaming patients. I said: 'Rose, use your other voice. You have a lower voice than that.' And she said: 'Oh dear, I don't know what's wrong with me. I just a-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!' This began to go on night and day."
Lorna says: "I always hurt for Rose, always. When she's good, she's such a sweet person. I would say, 'Oh, Rose, I love you,' " she says, indicating how she would embrace Rose, "and she hugs me, too."
One night, suffering a fit of delirium in her bed, Rose seemed to Claudia like nothing so much as a baby who needed comforting. "Normally they train you to be so cautious, to wear gloves all the time," she says. That didn't seem the right thing in this situation. "You want to stop the baby from crying, so you hug it, you just do it." The young Jamaican woman went over and put her arms around the frail, quaking Jewish woman. It seemed to help. Both women were in their nightgowns. Rose seemed to calm down a great deal. Claudia lay down next to Rose with her arms around her, and both of them fell asleep.
"I don't know what's wrong with families here," Claudia told me on a day when she and Lorna overlapped at Rose's apartment. "They don't spend time with their mother or father, they don't care. I've been into maybe 100 homes. Most don't get affection from their family. They have to get it from an outsider. And it helps, I'm telling you, it helps. It's a very good healing process. To have a person who really cares about them be around them.
"This one lady, her granddaughter wouldn't do anything for her anymore. She called up her mother, and told her the grandmother did a b.m. And she wouldn't clean it up.
"I said: 'Clean her! I do the same thing every day. What's so hard about it?' And the daughter told the lady, as soon as you get home, I'm putting you in a nursing home."
It is easy to be hard on children of the dependent elderly. No one ever does enough. Americans, perhaps, do less than those in poorer countries, but our parents live to be older and can persist much longer in a debilitated, needy state. The American dilemma, at the century's close, is what to do about the hidden costs of longevity -- not just the economic ones, but the intimate, personal costs as well. Home health care aides, among our least educated and less well paid, understand these costs as well as anyone else.
"I know if they put Miss Rose in a nursing home, she would die," Lorna says.
Jamaica exists like a shadow reality for women like Lorna and Claudia. Memories of wood fires and dirt roads, heat and humidity, spicy food and reggae, the "jelly" of the coconut and the closeness of families create aches of longing alongside equally sharp memories of why they left.
The morning I visited the small town of Maggotty in St. Elizabeth parish, Lorna's sister May had got up before 6 A.M. to sell fish. She had purchased the freshwater red snapper at a local farm using money provided by Lorna, and then shared two taxis to get to the neighboring Ginger Hill area. There, with a 40-pound bucket of fish at her side and a 45-pound bucket of fish heads on her head, she walked door-to-door until all were sold. She returned to the tidy, two-room shack she lives in with her husband, Joseph, and their four children. She was soaked with perspiration, her $30 profit in small damp bills in a skirt pocket. I thought now she'd be free to talk, until I realized that the school teacher on the porch was waiting for May to braid her hair. "When do I stop working?" asks May. "When I close my eyes on the pillow!"
Nearby I visited Lorna and May's childhood home, a green-painted cinder-block structure with a corrugated roof. Their brother Man lives there now, with his toddler son and girlfriend. He drives a minivan taxi that Lorna bought for him; Lorna's next project is to buy May and Joseph a bigger house. Now that she has a green card, she comes home every couple of years. Her father, buried out back, died of a brain tumor after Lorna left but before she had got the green card that would let her re-enter the United States if she flew home. One of the agonies of her life was not being able to come visit and tend to her own ailing father in his last days.
If Lorna and May didn't bear a strong resemblance to each other, I would never guess they were sisters. As girls, they went barefoot, skipped school for the sugar-cane harvest and bathed together in the creek under the No. 1 Bridge. But today, Lorna wears stylish outfits and makeup and keeps her hair just so; May wears plastic sandals and a T-shirt and is covered with a sheen of sweat. Lorna has taken many classes in New York and speaks clear English; May's accent is so thick I often don't know if she's speaking English or the Jamaican patois. May tells me she would "leave tomorrow" if a visa came through -- "everyone around here would." She thinks Lorna might come to live in Jamaica again. Back home, Lorna tells me no, not after New York, not after what she has achieved. "In this country, I learned to read and write a lot better. I got my G.E.D. here, nice clothes, a nice apartment full of furniture -- it all make me feel so good. It make me feel this high!"
A hundred feet down the road from Lorna's childhood home lives her grandmother, Claribel Brown, age 83. She serves visitors a plate of small, sweet bananas and says that when she's too weak to take care of herself, there are many, many relatives nearby who will step in. "All my life I took care of children," she says. "Now they carry me."
I report this to Lorna and ask who will take care of her when she's an old lady. Would she never consider Jamaica? She shakes her head. "I talk to Junior about it. He already says he won't put me into a nursing home. He say, 'Mama, I'm going to get you the best care there is. And I'm going to check on it all the time to make sure you get it.' "
Then she voices a very American sentiment: "And I sure hope he don't forget."

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December 1, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

GLOBAL WARMING;
Getting New York Ready For a Hotter, Wetter Future

BYLINE: By ANDREW C. REVKIN 

SECTION: Section F; Page 8; Column 4; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 560 words

THE Port Authority isn't planning to start building dikes around the runways at Kennedy International Airport just yet. But a variety of groups have begun identifying steps to limit global warming's potential impact on the New York region -- steps that, in many cases, experts say are worth taking no matter how the climate changes.
The most serious predictions concern the length of summer heat waves, which now average about 14 days. In the warmer world predicted by some climate scientists, the heat waves may stretch out to become twice as long. 
 Under a recent study by the Regional Plan Association, a private group that analyzes long-term trends around New York City, global warming could lead to a less reliable supply of drinking water as precipitation patterns shift, more smog, shortages of electricity and flooding. "This is not going to unfold overnight, but it could have enormous consequences for us here," said H. Claude Shostal, the association's president.
City planning officials and engineers for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have determined that the city does not yet need to start spending money to protect, say, its low-lying airports, which could be vulnerable to flooding if sea levels rise as predicted. "This will be a gradual change over 100 years," said Allen Morrison, a spokesman for the Port Authority.
But some planning experts say cities like New York could immediately begin taking some steps to lessen the impact of any warming, steps that also make sense for other reasons, like increasing energy efficiency by toughening building codes, planting trees and encouraging building owners to replace black rooftops with light reflective materials.
Studies by the Department of Energy show that planting trees and making roofs and pavement light instead of dark, so they reflect sunlight, could cut summer temperatures on city streets by up to 7 degrees.
"That's enough to offset the predicted warming," said Dr. Douglas Hill, a consulting engineer from Huntington, N.Y., and the editor of "The Baked Apple: Metropolitan New York in the Greenhouse," a book published last year by the New York Academy of Sciences.
Because of what is called the heat-island effect, the city, with all its concrete and asphalt, already tends to be 3 to 5 degrees hotter, on average, than surrounding areas during the summer.
Along with higher temperatures would come higher levels of ozone pollution in the air close to the ground, leading to more smog and endangering the health of the elderly and people with breathing problems.
New York City has more deaths from heat than any other large American city, Dr. Hill said. "The mortality rate from heat in New York is twice that of Chicago," he said. "And it could double by 2030."
The region may also experience coastal flooding if seas rise a foot or more, as many climate models predict. Flooding and erosion are already costly problems in many parts of the New Jersey coast and Long Island.
Finally, he said, there are likely to be significant indirect effects of a warming world.
"There could be 17 million refugees just in Bangladesh from sea level rise," Dr. Hill said. "They're going to want to go somewhere. And New York City has always been a magnet for dislocated people. In the end, the most severe consequences of all this could be indirect."

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December 2, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

U.S. Proposal on Pension Funds Is Faulted

BYLINE: By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON

SECTION: Section D; Page 2; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 506 words

Retirement advocates warned yesterday that a Labor Department plan could seriously erode the ability of workers to make sure that their pension funds were being handled properly.
Large pension funds must annually disclose what stocks, bonds and other assets they hold. Under the Labor Department plan these holdings would no longer be disclosed in the annual reports, known as Form 5500's. 
 The annual disclosures are critical to making sure workers collect promised benefits, said Karen Ferguson, executive director of the Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington. Workers, unions and reporters have used the disclosures to bring to light misuse of pension funds, she said.
"This list of investments is where you find the problems because your company's pension plan has invested most of its money in a failing company owned by your boss's brother-in-law," Ms. Ferguson said.
Ending the annual disclosures would also increase the risks of workers who are in defined contribution plans, who now bear all the investment risks even though they may not directly control their retirement money, said Vicki Gottlich, a lawyer with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Washington.
In a traditional, or defined benefit, pension the Government guarantees at least partial payment of benefits if the plan fails, Ms. Gottlich said, "but if you are in a defined contribution plan you have no protection at all and now you would not have disclosure," which could raise red flags.
The American Association of Retired Persons is "concerned about the fact that they would be knocking out a lot of information," said David Certner, a pension specialist. "There are hundreds of thousands of pension plans, which the Labor Department, with its limited resources, obviously cannot monitor. Indeed, the pension law was meant to be self-enforcing, with individuals having a role to play in monitoring their pension plan."
The annual disclosures have been under attack by some large pension plan sponsors as a waste of resources.
"For a plan with $20 billion in assets the filing is the Manhattan phone book," said Alan Lebowitz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for pensions at the Labor Department. "The truth is it has not been useful to us."
He said participants would still receive an annual summary giving total assets in a plan, which is sufficient to alert them if assets are being dissipated.
Pension plans would have to make their list of investments available on request by the Labor Department, Mr. Lebowitz said. Workers would also be entitled to examine the documents and, if they feared reprisals, could have the Labor Department obtain them on their behalf, Mr. Lebowitz said.
Lynn D. Dudley, a vice president of the Association of Private Pension and Welfare Plans, said it favored simplifying the disclosure statements, but supported disclosures that helped participants monitor the plans.
The Labor Department said it would accept comments on its proposed rule through tomorrow.      

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December 3, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
HARTIGAN, NANCY IRENE

SECTION: Section D; Page 20; Column 1; Classified

LENGTH: 101 words

HARTIGAN-Nancy Irene. On December 1, 1997. Beloved wife of John D., mother of Anne Harrison, Carol, Patti and Thomas. Devoted grandmother of five. Since 1985, she was a Reference Librarian at the Harrison Public Library where she was invaluable to patrons from youngsters to senior citizens. Visiting hours are 2-4 and 7-9 PM today at the William H. Graham Funeral Home, 1036 Boston Post Road, Rye, New York. The funeral mass is 10 AM tomorrow at Resurrection Church in Rye, New York. In lieu of flowers, contributions to The Friends of the Harrison Public Library, Bruce Avenue, Harrison, New York.

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December 4, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Long Island Economy Is Thriving, Economists Say

BYLINE: By JOHN T. McQUISTON 

SECTION: Section B; Part 2; Page 21; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 480 words

DATELINE: HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Dec. 3

The Long Island economy is booming, with shoppers spending, builders building and businesses hiring, according to year-end reports by local economists.
"At long last, the Island's economy is now back to where it was in the heydays of the mid-1980's, with one major plus," Dr. Irwin L. Kellner, the former chief economist for Chase Manhattan's Regional Bank, told a group of business executives today at Hofstra University in Hempstead. "It's not a one-trick pony, dependent on only one industry, defense." 
 He said there has been an increase in tourism and financial services and growing diversity in areas like technology, biotechnology, telecommunications and filmmaking.
"I think we're in great shape here and safely out of the woods," said Dr. Kellner, who holds the August B. Weller Distinguished Chair of Economics at Hofstra.
Dr. Pearl M. Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association, the region's largest business group, was even more optimistic.
"Long Island's economic recovery has finally caught fire," Dr. Kamer said in her year-end regional review.
She said that Nassau and Suffolk Counties had 1,123,000 nonfarm jobs in September, up 22,500 from September 1996. The service industry alone added 9,800 jobs, she said.
And while an estimated 37,000 people have entered the labor force since May, there has been no increase in the unemployment rate because many of them were able to find jobs, she said in her report.
In his speech, Dr. Kellner noted Nassau County's 3.5 percent unemployment rate and Suffolk County's 4 percent rate. "A growing number of manufacturing jobs offered opportunities to many people who perhaps don't have a higher education but who have physical skills," he said.
"On the other hand, there are some continuing shortages of people for jobs such as programmers and computer operators, machinists and even accountants," he said.
Consumer spending, meanwhile, has led to a 5.5 percent increase over last year in sales tax revenues in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, easing the pressure to increase property taxes, Dr. Kellner said.
"And when you consider that prices are up 2 percent, if that much, you're talking about real goods being moved off the shelves and out of warehouses to the tune of 3 to 4 percent over a year ago," he said.
Builders constructed more than 5,500 new residential units this year and could be expected to do the same next year, he said, even though there is little available space.
"There has been a sharp increase in the number of senior citizen assisted-living units being built here," he said. "We're on the cutting edge in this area, adding to the economy not only in terms of building, but in wages and other spinoff effects."
Because the area has an aging population, he said, "this is something that I think will provide at least a modest push to the Long Island economy."

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December 4, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Fire Damages Meals Center

BYLINE: By The Associated Press 

SECTION: Section B; Part 2; Page 16; Column 6; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 114 words

A fire that investigators believe was intentionally set damaged the kitchen at a Brooklyn senior center, leaving 125 to 135 people without their daily hot lunch yesterday.
Because the center, the Dorchester Senior Citizens' Center, is in a synagogue, Prospect Park Temple Issac, the police were investigating the fire as a possible bias attack, Officer Joseph Cavitolo said. The police said it was reported at 11:30 P.M. on Tuesday and was quickly put out. 
 The fire started in trash next to the building, which is on Dorchester Road in Flatbush, Janet Schur, director of the center, said. She said the kitchen, which is next to where the trash burned, was heavily damaged.

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December 6, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

M. S. Knowles, 84, Adult Education Pioneer

BYLINE: By WOLFGANG SAXON 

SECTION: Section D; Page 15; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 537 words

Malcolm Shepherd Knowles, widely acknowledged as a founder of adult education as a separate discipline, died on Nov. 27 at the Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Ark. He was 84 and lived in Fayetteville.
The cause was a stroke, his family said. 
 Dr. Knowles contended that the education of adults should address the specific needs and approaches to learning of more mature and experienced students. He called this concept andragogy, introducing it in the late 1960's and inspiring a new line of research and literature in the field.
In essence, Dr. Knowles worked from the notion that adult students -- whether they seek a degree they had missed, wish to enhance their professional skills and standing or merely want to satisfy their curiosities -- are a wholly different breed. Typically they are members of the work force, spouses or parents and must be taught in their own social context.
His own exposure to the special needs of young adults past freshman age and older people seeking to broaden their horizons began in the 1940's. He first built a comprehensive education program for adults at the central Y.M.C.A. in Chicago, where he worked from 1946 to 1951.
He then became the founding executive secretary of the Adult Education Association of the United States and led it until 1959. In 1982, it merged with a parallel group to form the present American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, based in Washington.
"He pioneered the idea in this country, and put it into coherent form, that adults learn differently from children or 18-year-olds who enter college," said Dr. John A. Henschke, the association's president and a professor of adult education at the University of Missouri at St. Louis.
Dr. Knowles, who was born in Livingston, Mont., graduated from Harvard College with a degree in history in 1934 and, at the University of Chicago, received a master's degree in 1949 and a doctorate in adult education in 1960. He was a professor of adult education at Boston University from 1960 to 1974 and then at North Carolina State University until 1979.
After retiring, he remained active in the field into the 1990's. He taught at the Fielding Institute, a graduate school in Santa Barbara, Calif., offering degrees in clinical psychology and related subjects and at the University of Arkansas.
He took his theories before scholarly assemblies and explained them to practitioners in workshops, conferences and consultations worldwide. He wrote about 200 articles on the theory and practice of adult education, and his books are used as texts in adult education programs around the world.
The books include "The Modern Theory of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy" (Cambridge, 1988), "The Adult Learner, A Neglected Species" (Gulf, 1990), "A History of the Adult Education Movement in the United States" (Krieger, 1994), and "The Making of an Adult Educator: An Autobiographical Journey" (Jossey-Bass, 1989).
Dr. Knowles is survived by his wife of 62 years, Hulda Fornell Knowles; their son, Eric S., of Fayetteville; a daughter, Barbara E. Hartl of Orange, Calif.; a sister, Margaret K. Sterling, of Black Mountain, N.C., and five grandchildren.

NAME: Malcolm Shepherd Knowles

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December 6, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Partisanship Imperils Advisory Panel on Medicare

BYLINE: By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1155 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 5

Medicare is such a hot political potato that politicians here realized long ago that using normal legislative procedures, they would never be able to agree on measures to make the program financially secure for baby boomers when they retire.
So they took a traditional Washington escape route. They voted last summer to create a commission to tell them what hard choices to make. 
 But there are strong signals that this approach will not work either, from the partisanship that infects most things here to the natural unwillingess to take political risks. The commission, even though President Clinton filled it out by naming his appointees today, has a task ahead that is all but insurmountable.
The problem is that beginning in the second decade of the next century, there will be many more retirees and many fewer workers paying taxes to support the retirees' health insurance under Medicare. Any long-term solution is bound to have unpleasant aspects: higher taxes on the working-age population, more out-of-pocket costs to retirees, fewer Government-paid medical services for the elderly, restrictions on who is eligible for the program, or some combination of those steps.
"We have an obligation to strengthen it for the next century, to insure that it is as strong for our children as it has been for our parents," the President said today.
In that vein, provision was made in the Balanced Budget Act that Congress adopted and Mr. Clinton signed last summer for an advisory commission, the members to be appointed by the President and Congressional leaders by Dec. 1, to study the program and recommend changes.
The notion was that if a commission of experts could lay out for the public the dire situation facing Medicare when the baby boomers begin to retire, that would provide the cover politicians would need to make difficult choices and cast tough votes.
Now, prospects have dimmed that the commission will be able to set aside partisan differences and resolve how to change the health insurance program for the elderly and the disabled.
First, Mr. Clinton and the Republican leaders in Congress found themselves unable to agree on who should become chairman of the commission. The President initially decided to miss the Dec. 1 deadline for picking members and wait to name the four members of the 17-member panel he is allotted until he could announce a chairman. But with the chairmanship still unresolved, he went ahead and named his appointees anyway.
Commission chairmen are generally the ones responsible for whether an advisory panel succeeds or fails. They choose the staff and set the tone for the panel's work.
Then Speaker Newt Gingrich's office said on Monday that he had required his four appointees to pledge in advance that they would not accept a tax increase as a solution to Medicare's fiscal problems.
Most authorities on health policy assume that taxpayers, beneficiaries and health-care providers will all have to contribute eventually to making the Medicare system sound. The Speaker's stricture severely limits the options available to the commission members.
That was the point made by Horace B. Deets, executive director of the American Association of Retired Persons, who was approached by Mr. Gingrich about becoming a commission member and declined because he could not take the no-tax pledge.
In an interview later, Mr. Deets said: "The commission should look for all possible solutions. It's too early to take anything off the table. I hope the commission will approach its work with an explorer's mentality, not a crusader's mentality."
Mr. Clinton had a similar response. A tax increase may not be needed, he told reporters on Tuesday, but he added, "I hate to see the commissioners themselves have their hands tied at the outset."
Mr. Gingrich's strong stand against increased taxes had the additional effect of anointing the commission with a distinctly partisan oil.
Republicans have made it clear that they intend to make their opposition to taxes in all forms the cornerstone of their Congressional campaigns next year. The implication of the Speaker's position is that Democrats will be forced to defend themselves at every turn if they do not explicitly reject higher taxes to bolster the Medicare system.
Of course, this is not the first time that politicians have used Medicare for political advantage. For more than 30 years, Democrats have reminded voters in election after election that most Republicans voted in 1965 against the establishment of Medicare.
A repeated theme in the President's re-election campaign last year was his accusation that Republicans were out to gut the program.
But the history of Federal advisory commissions on politically sensitive topics is that the only ones that succeed are the ones that set partisanship aside.
That was the case with the National Commission on Social Security Reform, a panel headed by Alan Greenspan, then a Wall Street economist and now chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. With support from Democrats and Republicans, the Greenspan commission voted in 1983 to recommend a package of Social Security benefit cuts and tax increases. Congress enacted the recommendations almost intact.
By contrast, the National Economic Commission, which was supposed to find ways to lower the Federal deficit at the beginning of the Bush Administration, split along party lines and was never able to agree on a set of recommendations.
Rank partisanship is not the only reason to doubt that the Medicare commission will resolve the problem of how to pay for the program after the baby boomers retire.
No one doubts that a serious problem exists. Even if the rise in medical costs could somehow be restrained, the demographics demand change. There are now almost four workers paying taxes for each retiree on Medicare. By 2015, the ratio will fall to about 3 to 1, and by 2050, there will be only two workers per retiree.
But the crisis in Medicare is years away, and politicians almost never make difficult choices unless their backs are against the wall.
In the case of Medicare, Congress adjusted the program this year to stave off insolvency until at least 2007 (the estimate of the Congressional Budget Office) and perhaps 2010 (the estimate of the Clinton Administration's health care actuaries) or even 2015 (the latest Office of Management and Budget estimate). That was plainly responsible in the short term, but by making a long-term solution more difficult, it was perhaps irresponsible in the long run.
The crunch is "at least four election cycles" away, said Robert D. Reischauer, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office, an authority on health care financing.
"For a Congress in which over half of the members were not on Capitol Hill four elections ago, that is a political lifetime," Mr. Reischauer added. "The Medicare problem will become someone else's problem."

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December 7, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

New Health Giant Pledges Millions for Community

BYLINE: By JOHN RATHER 

SECTION: Section 14LI; Page 20; Column 4; Long Island Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1298 words

IN the rush of events leading to the recent merger of North Shore Health System and the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, one aspect of creating a health-care giant with an annual budget of $2.5 billion has gone nearly unnoticed.
The less than two-month-old North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has guaranteed that it will contribute $50 million to $100 million over five years in new health services for the community. 
 The money, from savings anticipated in the merger, would exceed the more than $120 million a year that the two hospitals now contribute in caring for the medically indigent. Both hospitals treat patients regardless of their ability to pay.
The sum for new programs would depend on the extent of savings from the merger. Spokesmen for the new system said last week that it was premature to forecast how the money might be spent.
The possibilities include prevention, new clinical programs and working with the elderly.
The final decisions will rest with the board of the system and administrators, who are now focused on merging two institutions that had been competitors.
The two hospitals agreed on the $50 million guarantee and a rate freeze for two years in an effort to advance the merger, which the Justice Department opposed. In October, Judge Arthur D. Spatt of Federal District Court in Uniondale ruled against a Justice Department contention that the merger would violate antitrust laws, lead to higher rates and lessen choice for consumers. The Federal officials have until the end of the month to appeal.
The agreement was also a factor in a decision by State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco that the merger would not hurt competition and was in patients' and the state's best interests.
In addition to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, the system serves Queens, home to half the patients at L.I.J., and Staten Island, the site of two of 10 acute-care hospitals that belong to North Shore. The other North Shore hospitals are five in Nassau, two in Suffolk and one in Queens.
Ambulatory care adds Brooklyn to the service area, and the system is examining how to provide care, particularly complex procedures, for other parts of the New York metropolitan region.
"We will study the total geographic area we cover and find out where there are program needs and where there are underserved populations," a spokeswoman, Carol Hauptman, said. "We haven't zeroed in on anything specific yet."
On Long Island officials of health groups said even a relatively small amount of money for new programs, in a period when government spending on health is declining, could bring major benefits.
"There are underserved populations, and specific well-targeted efforts can make a difference," said Marge Rogatz, president of Community Advocates, which works with what Ms. Rogatz described as "the most vulnerable populations in Nassau County."
Ms. Rogatz, who is also on the board of the Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless, suggested sending mobile units to shelters, churches and other places where the homeless and needy congregate.
"A few units out there would make an enormous difference," she said. "They could pick up people desperately in need of care and refer them quickly."
"Homeless people don't have cars," the chairman of the coalition, Ralph G. Fasano, said. "Medical-outreach programs to shelters would certainly help."
The coalition estimates that Long Island has 50,000 homeless people, including a small number who live on the streets.
Other programs could help a wider group. The executive director of the Long Island region of the American Heart Association, Edward W. Webb, said training additional people in cardiovascular pulmonary resuscitation would have major benefits.
"Imagine if every school kid on Long Island could be trained in c.p.r.," Mr. Webb said. "But those things cost money."
Two weeks ago, Mr. Webb said, he was at a meeting of the Mineola-Garden City Rotary when a Rotarian collapsed from cardiac arrest. "Thank God two of us were trained in c.p.r.," he said. "We kept his heart pumping until the emergency crew got there."
The patient survived.
Mr. Webb said he would like to discuss c.p.r.training and research on heart disease with officials from the merged system.
Dr. Edward M. Condon, an endocrinologist at North Shore Diabetes and Endocrine Associates, said diabetes programs needed money. "Eleven percent of the population has diabetes, but only half of those recognize it," Dr. Condon said. "If they use money for outreach, prevention and to uncover cases early it can have a dramatic impact."
The pledge of up to $100 million could set a pattern for other hospital mergers, affiliations and joint ventures. "We would hope that other hospitals would enunciate how their new relationships will benefit the communities that they serve," said Richard Klarberg, a spokesman.
The state now bans profit-making hospitals. If they were allowed, one result could be hundreds of millions of dollars in charity care. Federal tax laws require that when a nonprofit hospital is sold to a for-profit company, the proceeds of the sale have to go to charity, in exchange for donations and years of tax exemptions.
Nearly $9 billion in charitable assets had been transferred that way in other states by April.
New York nonprofit hospitals are required to treat patients, regardless of their ability to pay, and to give other benefits to communities in return for tax exemptions and other benefits.
North Shore has more than 150 outreach programs, many for speakers on prevention and other problems. But the donations and services that nonprofit hospitals provide depend on their financial health.
Some experts say New York changed regulations, creating conditions in which care for the poor and uninsured could falter. Assuring care for the poor was cited by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre when it reorganized the four Catholic hospitals on Long Island into a unified system. Msgr. Alan J. Placa of the diocese said the deregulation of hospital rates in New York in January and resulting competitive pressures meant that "the poor are in a more precarious position than ever."
Last year, Monsignor Placa said, the 136 parishes on the Island reported 300,000 visitors to outreach programs, with many who sought food or shelter also having medical problems.
The elderly and people receiving Government social services are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, he said, but the church is concerned about the growing number of employed people without medical coverage. "We are trying to make sure we have the ability to respond quickly to those needs," he said.
Monsignor Placa said the diocese applauded the North Shore-Long Island Jewish pledge, but he added that the merger of the two large former competitors was "a clarion call to the rest of the market" that the new system could further destabilize other hospitals that are already dealing with major changes.
Those changes involve rate deregulation. In the free-market system rates are heavily influenced by what management organizations are willing to pay to deliver patients. As lower rates negotiated by health maintenance organizations cut into hospitals' margins, that part of the total proceeds from patient payments, government reimbursements and donations above the break-even point, hospitals have to reduce costs to avoid deficits.
Mergers are one way to do that. Larger systems have added leverage in negotiating rates with H.M.O.'s.
Hospitals unable to compete on rates face losing patients, lower or negative margins and cost-cutting steps that reduce services and purchases of equipment. In such cases only fund-raising or large subsidies from private or church sources may sustain operations.

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December 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Direct-Mail Guru Tells (Almost) All

BYLINE: By DAVID STOUT 

SECTION: Section G; Page 16; Column 4; Giving 

LENGTH: 854 words

MOST Americans have never heard of Jerry Huntsinger, but they have probably heard from him. Mr. Huntsinger, 64, is a direct-mail fund-raiser, one of the best in the business by most accounts, and he spends much of his energy devising ways to keep people from tossing their junk mail into the wastebasket.
"How do you get them to open the envelope?" he asked in a recent interview. If they do open the envelope, how do you keep them reading? And, praise God, if they read on, how do you get them to give money? 
 So, Jerry, how do you?
"I give people the opportunity to participate in a charitable endeavor," he said.
What is this? Science? Craft? Art? A little of each. Let us begin with the envelope. He picks the words, typefaces and colors -- none too garish, thank you -- on the envelope, striving for a package that is eye-catching "but not too slick, no screaming headlines." If 1 recipient in 50 opens the envelope, Mr. Huntsinger calls his campaign a success.
All right, the envelope is open and the recipient is reading the letter. No fool, the reader sees that someone wants money. Does the letter go into the trash? Usually, yes.
To get even a small percentage of recipients to read on, Mr. Huntsinger said, the letter must have the right blend of simplicity, clarity and sophistication. It should also appeal to the idealism and generosity he sees in the American character.
"I try to give them a vision of sharing the good life they've experienced," he said.
Warming to the subject, he soon dashed an interviewer's skepticism by asking what he does with his own money when feeling generous. All right, the interviewer gives money to his Midwestern university alma mater; it gets him on an inside track for football tickets.
"You'd be a good candidate to give to the American Indian College Fund," Mr. Huntsinger said, picking up on the interviewer's underlying impulse to help young people the way older people once helped him.
"I have developed certain intuitive feelings about things," Mr. Huntsinger added. "Women open up their hearts. Men protect themselves from emotional response. You have to give them a reason to donate."
But he is wary of stereotypes, particularly those that apply to fairly well-off people in their mid-50's and beyond. These third-agers, as he calls them, are a fast-growing segment of the population and, Mr. Huntsinger thinks, pose a major fund-raising opportunity. But woe unto fund-raisers who patronize them or call them senior citizens. "They don't like to be called that," he said.
Mr. Huntsinger conceded a paradox. The third-agers, like many Americans of all ages, are savvy and sophisticated, yet the key to winning their hearts and wallets is simplicity: "If I can't articulate a concept in one sentence, it's too complicated for the people out there to understand."
Eight years ago, for example, Mr. Huntsinger came up with a slogan for the Center for Marine Conservation: "Will a dolphin save your life?" That simple reference to the dolphins' ability to drive away sharks, he said, "worked like gang busters."
Once he drafts a solicitation letter, Mr. Huntsinger edits with these principles: Don't talk down; don't try to change minds. Just make it clearer, more user-friendly, with a crystalline opening paragraph and "little road maps" along the way. One technique is to underline and indent a crucial paragraph, coaxing the cautious eye to linger a second longer.
GOOD as his intuition is, Mr. Huntsinger has more to go by. Direct mailers have reliable tests to determine what works and what doesn't -- by sending 10,000 letters to carefully selected homes, for example.
Sometimes Mr. Huntsinger will have a test mailing compete with one of his previous efforts. Improving the rate of opened letters by even a single percentage point can be tremendously important in a fund-solicitation campaign of, say, 20 million letters. He has had a few flops. In a test mailing for a population-control organization, he came up with "Will a condom save the world?" He doesn't know if the slogan was too flip, too embarrassing or what. He does know it failed spectacularly. But "I don't make many mistakes," he said matter-of-factly.
Mr. Huntsinger's professional eminence was made official a few years back when he received the Professional Achievement Award from the Direct Mail Advertising Association's nonprofit council.
He can make a pitch for a client without agreeing personally with what the client stands for. But he is no mercenary. He does not work for political candidates, he said, and since he believes in gun control he will not work for the National Rifle Association.
He wrote his first fund-raising letter 35 years ago, for a Roman Catholic organization. His fee was $10. A month later, the same group sought his services again. Reasoning that the first letter must have worked, he raised his fee to $25. Today, he gets paid, um, much more, conceding he is very comfortable (though he declined to say how comfortable). But in his business, as he put it, "You're only as good as what you've got in the mail right now."

LOAD-DATE: December 9, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Jerry Huntsinger, shown on his Virginia farm, believes that the most effective fund-raising letters appeal to an American streak of idealism. (Timothy Wright for The New York Times)

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December 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

THEATER REVIEW: 'Doctor, My Life's Just a Joke.' 'So Laugh.';
A Couple of Young Septuagenarians Bask in Simon 'Sunshine'

BYLINE: By BEN BRANTLEY 

SECTION: Section E; Page 1; Column 5; The Arts/Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 1212 words

"You know what your problem was, Willie? You always took the jokes too seriously." So says one aged ex-vaudevillian to another in Neil Simon's "Sunshine Boys," a comedy in which living for punch lines has nearly fatal consequences. It's obvious that Willie Clark, the character played by Jack Klugman in the revival of the play that opened last night at the Lyceum Theater, would be a healthier man if he could just uncoil a little. But aren't we lucky he can't?
Otherwise, we would miss the delicious and oddly affecting spectacle of Mr. Klugman wielding one-liners like a cornered, exasperated terrorist with an Uzi. Or the snapping-turtle aggressiveness in the way he extends his neck to punctuate catalogues of his dislikes. Or the manic, evangelical heat with which he explains why words with a "K" are funny. As a lonely septuagenarian holding on like a lockjawed terrier to the rhythms of the routines that made him famous, Mr. Klugman does indeed give a seriously funny performance. 
 That his partner in John Tillinger's highly enjoyable, surprisingly touching revival for the National Actor's Theater is Tony Randall adds inescapable resonance to the verbal combat on stage. Younger versions of Mr. Klugman and Mr. Randall can be seen, of course, in an eternity of mutual irritation in the syndicated reruns of "The Odd Couple," the 1970-1975 sitcom based on Mr. Simon's earlier play.
Here, they do and don't look like their vintage television selves. Unlike their previous appearance together for the Actors Theater (of which Mr. Randall is the founder) in "Three Men on a Horse," this one makes no attempt to pretend its stars are younger than they are. Balding pates and slackened jaw lines are, if anything, emphasized rather than camouflaged.
The effect is jolting at first, as though these men had suddenly been released from the deep-freeze of the small screen and started melting. At 75 and 77, respectively, Mr. Klugman and Mr. Randall look, in a word, old. They do not, however, act it.
Oh, sure, they mime their characters' deterioration convincingly enough. (Or Mr. Klugman does; Mr. Randall often seems ready to spring from his assumed stiffness and dance a tarantella.) But there's the energy of young men in the rancor of the old comedians they portray: Al Lewis (Mr. Randall) and Willie Clark (Mr. Klugman), a pair of Smith-and-Dale-like headliners from a lost era of theater. As Mr. Klugman, especially, makes clear, hostility can be a vitalizing force. So can pretending that all the world is indeed only a stage on the vaudeville circuit.
Nearly all of Mr. Simon's plays are crammed with quips, but he has never used one-liners as relentlessly or, more important, as appropriately as he does in "The Sunshine Boys," first seen on Broadway in 1971, with Jack Albertson and Sam Levene, and the basis of the 1975 hit movie starring Walter Matthau and George Burns.
The play is a portrait of men for whom comic style is a religion. They define themselves by their delivery and timing, and even in the full throttle of anger, fear or despair, they can't break the cadences of their old routines or stop behaving as if the world were their straight man. To level the usual accusation against Mr. Simon, that he overdoes the jokes, is to miss the point here. Those jokes are organic; Lewis and Clark are reflexively writing the script as they bicker along.
You probably know the plot. Clark stopped talking to Lewis 11 years before the play begins, when Al announced he wanted to retire just after they had appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Now, Willie's nephew and agent, Ben (Matthew Arkin), has been asked by CBS to reunite the two for a television special.
The setup is obvious, and the payoff is, too. But for the most part, Mr. Simon has managed to inflect a contrived form with a variety of emotional shadings. Because of this, "The Sunshine Boys" still works and probably always will; it's the author's most eloquent statement on comedy as a defense system.
Mr. Klugman knows exactly how to manipulate that system, too. The play's opening scene, set in Willie's hotel apartment (a model of domestic degeneration designed by James Noone) on the Upper West Side, finds Willie asleep in a chair in rumpled pajamas. He seems hopelessly inanimate, an unmade bed in human form. But from the moment he's wakened by a whistling tea kettle, he's on, bouncing quips off the television set and the apartment walls.
Even the increased sandpaper qualities of Mr. Klugman's always raspy (and here specially miked) voice, a consequence of his battle with throat cancer, feed effectively into the picture of decrepitude animated by an inextinguishable spark. And once Mr. Arkin, in a likable performance as the solicitous, aggravated nephew, arrives onstage, the portrait just keeps getting richer, locating feelings of rage and abandonment in Willie's snappy comebacks, which perversely makes them even funnier.
Those expecting an exact reproduction of the chemistry between Mr. Klugman and Mr. Randall in "The Odd Couple" may be surprised to find a shift of emphasis. Though Mr. Randall's Al, like his Felix, has a dapper, fastidious mien (as opposed to Mr. Klugman's unredeemable slob), the balance of energy has changed. It's Mr. Klugman who progresses to the edge of hysteria here, while Mr. Randall milks laughter from the long, impassive set of his face.
Mr. Randall doesn't inhabit his part as thoroughly as his co-star does. (For one thing, his Brooklyn accent keeps slipping.) But there's a haunting, Buster Keaton-ish quality to his melancholy presence that complements Mr. Klugman's ferocity. Their characters are both, in different ways, men in mourning.
Mr. Tillinger's affectionate, lively direction has a few inspired new touches, including a lovely image of Al and Willie when they're first left alone together, with their backs to each other like bookends. Other bits of business, like Al noisily stirring his tea, go on for too long. And the second act, both as written and performed, isn't quite up to the first.
But these are small objections about an evening that keeps you laughing and then leaves you surprisingly moved. Certainly, there are worse ways of staring down old age and mortality than with barbed comedy. And while your first reaction on seeing the stars of "The Sunshine Boys" may be to wonder at how old they now look, that will quickly give way to sense of how impossibly vital they are. A life in the theater, for all its ego-bruising wear, is apparently a most effective tonic.
 
THE SUNSHINE BOYS
 
By Neil Simon; directed by John Tillinger; sets by James Noone; costumes by Noel Taylor; lighting by Kirk Bookman; sound by Richard Fitzgerald; technical supervision, Arthur Siccardi; production supervisor, Mitchell Erickson; production stage manager, Anita Ross; general management, Niko Associates Inc.; managing director, Fred Walker. Presented by the National Actors Theater. At the Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, Manhattan.
 
WITH: Jack Klugman (Willie Clark), Tony Randall (Al Lewis), Matthew Arkin (Ben Silverman), Jack Aaron (Patient), Stephen Beach (Eddie), Peggy Joyce Crosby (Sketch Nurse), Ebony Jo-Ann (Registered Nurse) and Martin Rudy (Voice-TV Director).

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GRAPHIC: Photo: Jack Klugman, standing, and Tony Randall play a pair of feuding comics in the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's "Sunshine Boys." (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)(pg. E1)

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December 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Schwab Name Used in Fraud, U.S. Says

BYLINE: By LESLIE EATON

SECTION: Section D; Page 14; Column 3; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 325 words

In a new twist on an old swindle, a Brooklyn man raised $195,000 from investors by falsely contending that the brokerage firm Charles Schwab & Company was selling shares in his computer software company, prosecutors said yesterday.
In fact, the man's only connection with Schwab was that he had opened an account with the brokerage firm and deposited his victims' checks there, according to complaints filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan by the United States Attorney and the Securities and Exchange Commission. 
 The case comes as law enforcement officials complain that stock fraud has soared along with the stock market and attracted a new group of con artists. Most of these swindles involve small or illicit brokerage firms that aggressively sell stocks over the telephone.
The Brooklyn man, Mark Shkolir, who was described as a Russian emigre, was arrested yesterday along with an associate, Eric Vainer of Staten Island, on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, said Thomas M. Finnegan, an assistant United States attorney. They were in jail late yesterday, did not yet have lawyers and could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Finnegan said at least 28 people had been defrauded. "Unfortunately," he added, "many were elderly people, and they were threatened."
The court froze the assets of Mr. Shkolir's company, Millennium Software Solutions Inc., which prosecutors said contended that it had a solution to the problem that computers are expected to encounter with the year 2000. The company, which was incorporated only last month and gives as its address a mail drop in Manhattan, is not related to the closely held Texas company of the same name, said Andrew J. Geist, associate regional director of the S.E.C.
Schwab also asked the court for a temporary restraining order against the software company and anyone associated with it, "to safeguard against further abuse of our name," a spokesman said.

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December 9, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

Mr. Pataki's Fair Fares

SECTION: Section A; Page 28; Column 1; Editorial Desk

LENGTH: 375 words

Gov. George Pataki put himself behind imaginative discounts in transit fares yesterday when he endorsed unlimited-ride monthly, weekly and daily passes and other breaks for New York City's subway and bus riders. The Governor's plan is sensible and superior to that proposed by city officials. He needs to insure that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board, which he dominates, approves the development of discount options and gives transit executives freedom to experiment and fiddle with fares at the M.T.A.'s next board meeting later this month.
Mr. Pataki's proposal will lessen the transit drain on many riders' wallets, and it suggests that those who share responsibility for governing New York and nurturing its economy want the city and region to offer the array of rapid-transit fares long taken for granted in London, Paris, Tokyo and other world capitals and in U.S. cities as well. 
 The Governor's plan sets out to introduce deep-discount options in exchange for unlimited rides for customers with different needs, desires and incomes: a monthly pass priced at $63 (the cost of 42 rides), a weekly one priced at $17 and a one-day $4 pass, as well as breaks for senior citizens and users of express buses. Equally important, his proposal will allow the transit executives to begin to exploit the Metrocard's vast untapped power to lure different kinds of customers to ride more often. Designing an off-peak fare that can relieve rush-hour overcrowding should be on the M.T.A.'s agenda.
While not much was said about when these fare options will kick in, it appears that the M.T.A. is poised to roll out its set of discounted, unlimited-ride fares next summer. That is too far off. It should only take about 90 days to assess the fare structure's fairness to riders of various incomes, adjust accordingly if necessary, and build customer awareness.
With such a long lead time, transit executives might well seek advice on fine-tuning the pricing from an advisory panel composed of individuals sensitive to the city's social goals and others who are experts at defining the right price points for generating revenues. Few issues have such impact on individuals and businesses as the fares charged for mass transit.

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December 10, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

Defendant Becomes an Issue in Slander Case

BYLINE: By FRANK BRUNI 

SECTION: Section B; Page 5; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 710 words

DATELINE: POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., Dec. 9

Lawyers at the defamation trial of three former advisers of Tawana Brawley waged a fierce battle today over the character and credibility of one of the defendants, C. Vernon Mason, whose fourth day on the witness stand yielded moments as dramatic and exchanges as bitter as any in the proceedings so far.
The swirl of angry, overlapping remarks forced the court stenographer to ask for an unusual sidebar conference with the lawyers, whom she had repeatedly begged to speak one at a time. 
And on several occasions, what emerged from the contest of voices in State Supreme Court here were racially charged statements that recalled some of the ugliest aspects of the public debate over the Brawley case a decade ago.
Mr. Mason, once a prominent black civil rights lawyer, was disbarred in 1995 for 66 instances of professional misconduct with 20 clients, most of them African-American.
But he testified today that he had not received a fair hearing from the court disciplinary committee, which he said had been intent on punishing him for the Brawley case.
"It was an all-white panel," he said. "They rubber-stamped it."
And when the plaintiff's lawyer, William E. Stanton, who is white, grew flustered and mistakenly referred to Mr. Mason by the surname of another defendant, Alton H. Maddox Jr., Mr. Maddox fired off a barbed retort.
"I know we all look alike," said Mr. Maddox, who is black, gesturing to Mr. Mason. "But I'm sitting over here. He's sitting over there."
About an hour later, Mr. Stanton, again flustered, referred to Mr. Mason as "Mr. Stanton."
Mr. Mason, Mr. Maddox and the Rev. Al Sharpton were advisers to Ms. Brawley, a black woman who said white men raped her in November 1987, when she was 15. The three publicly accused Steven A. Pagones of being one of the rapists.
The next year, a grand jury said there was no credible evidence to support Ms. Brawley's claim. It exonerated Mr. Pagones, who is now suing the three for defamation.
Today, the defense team sought to portray Mr. Mason as a martyr for equal justice for blacks, while Mr. Stanton painted him as an irresponsible, mendacious firebrand.
The scores of spectators in the courtroom watched raptly as Mr. Stanton rolled a snippet of videotape showing a demonstration here in early 1988 about which Mr. Mason had previously testified.
Mr. Mason had said that he watched John M. Ryan, a state official leading the investigation of Ms. Brawley's charges, beat up a blind, elderly black man. The testimony was relevant to Mr. Mason's stated belief that law enforcement officials could not be trusted to pursue justice for Ms. Brawley.
But the footage, flickering across two large television screens, challenged Mr. Mason's account, presenting images of an old man apparently instigating a brawl with a state trooper. Mr. Ryan came upon the conflict belatedly and did not seem to participate in it.
Mr. Mason, 51, is now a student at the New York Theological Seminary in Manhattan, preparing for a new career as a hospital chaplain.
When questioned by Mr. Maddox, who is acting as his own lawyer, Mr. Mason spoke of his church work, his two daughters and his moral outrage over Ms. Brawley's accusations.
"This showed me something that touched my very essence," he said.
Mr. Mason's reputation was not the only one under a spotlight today.
Mr. Sharpton's lawyer, Michael A. Hardy, used his cross-examination of Mr. Mason to elicit observations that Mr. Sharpton's conduct in the Brawley case had been no different than it had been in other famous cases, such as the Howard Beach case, in which a group of young white men killed a young black man by chasing him into a busy highway in Queens.
Mr. Mason compared Mr. Sharpton repeatedly to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and once to Mahatma Gandhi. Prodded by Mr. Hardy's questions, Mr. Mason also testified that after a white man stabbed Mr. Sharpton during a demonstration in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in 1991, Mr. Sharpton pleaded with the courts to be lenient in the man's sentencing.
Although Justice S. Barrett Hickman then struck these comments from the record, saying they were irrelevant, Mr. Hardy had succeeded in giving jurors a glimpse of Mr. Sharpton as a man without racial animosity.

LOAD-DATE: December 10, 1997

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GRAPHIC: Photo: The Rev. Al Sharpton arriving in a crowd of reporters yesterday at the courthouse in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He and two other former advisers in the Tawana Brawley case are being sued for defamation. (Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times)

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December 12, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

For 30 Minutes, Elderly Callers Get Best-of-All Long-Distance Rate

SECTION: Section B; Part 2; Page 21; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 284 words

When Moysey and Fenya Saponar, both 68 and recent emigrants from Moldova, arrived at Brooklyn Borough Hall yesterday morning, they came prepared with lists of eight friends and relatives in their homeland and Israel. "We've been waiting for this for the last year," Mrs. Saponar said.
The Saponars joined more than 500 elderly residents of Brooklyn and 1,500 elsewhere in the city in taking advantage of a program called Holiday Calls, courtesy of Teleport Communications Group, a Staten Island-based company that provides local phone services. 
 For the ninth year, the company has given the elderly in New York and 24 other cities in the United States 30 minutes of free calls anywhere around the world. "It's to give back to the communities where we operate," Donna Suky, a company spokeswoman, said. Last year, the company estimates, 2,000 callers in the city made more than 20,000 phone calls, at a cost to the company of $175,000.
Dr. Bill Morganstern, 80, an optometrist from Brighton Beach, tried reaching an old Army buddy from World War II who now lives on the Hawaiian island of Maui. "We haven't spoken since The Big One," he said. The line was busy, so he dialed a sister in Los Angeles.
While most of the callers tried to reach loved ones, Daphne Jackson, a 71-year-old retired nurse from Bedford-Stuyvesant, spent her allotted time giving a lawyer in Kingston, Jamaica, an earful. "He owes me more than $4,000 from my sister's will," she said.
Francesca Gippen, 69, from Kensington, Brooklyn, went to Borough Hall to call her son in Portland, Ore., a daughter in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and seven others. "This is a nice Christmas gift," Miss Gippen said of the free calls.

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December 13, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Our Hungry Legal Immigrants

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 1; Editorial Desk 

LENGTH: 380 words

Close to a million legal immigrants across the country have had food stamps revoked under the 1996 welfare law, 50,000 in New York City alone. The city's food distributions to soup kitchens and food pantries are soaring, and some are reportedly running out of food each month. But statistics mask the individual tragedies. As reported by Rachel Swarns of The Times, a mother of four from Trinidad has been forced to use her rent money for food and substitute Kool-Aid for orange juice. A Peruvian mother spends her days pleading for groceries in one food pantry after another.
White House officials will meet next week to decide what programs need additional money next year. No item should rank higher than food stamps for the legal immigrants cut off by the harsh 1996 act. Congressional leaders and some Administration officials smugly believe that this year's balanced-budget plan corrected the worst of the 1996 cuts in aid to immigrants. But Congress restored Medicaid coverage and cash assistance for only some elderly and disabled immigrants. It did not restore food stamps. Food stamps are crucial because they are the only surviving welfare program whose benefits are set by Washington and not dependent on the generosity of state legislatures. 
 A dozen states, including New York, have decided to spend their own money restoring food stamps for immigrants. But almost all of these state programs cover only some groups of immigrants, like children or the elderly, and are likely to shrink once state budgets contract under the weight of the next recession. Even in these generous states, however, the picture is not pretty. In New York, for example, a Cambodian father of six has seen the value of food stamps fall to $127 a month from $354. A Dominican mother of three has lost $214 a month in food stamps.
Rising tax revenues in flush economic times should give the Administration some leeway to raise spending next year. White House officials have already drawn up a tentative list of entitlement programs to trim to make way for new initiatives. The cost of restoring food stamps need not be huge. Providing them for immigrant households with children would cost only about $400 million a year -- a small price to put food back on children's plates.

LOAD-DATE: December 13, 1997

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December 14, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Family Firm Offers Elderly Luxury Living

BYLINE: By PENNY SINGER 

SECTION: Section 14WC; Page 8; Column 3; Westchester Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1134 words

JUST because the calendar says 80, it does not mean exile to Florida.
One entrepreneurial family, the Scharfs, say older people are like everyone else and may want to live a fuller life. So in 1993, when a prewar apartment hotel on West End Avenue in Manhattan fell on evil days and went into receivership, the Scharfs bought it. 
 "Ten months later, after millions of dollars worth of renovations, we opened the Esplanade as an upscale residence for seniors, the only one of its kind, in Manhattan," said David Scharf who, at 28, is the youngest member of the family company started by his grandfather, Elias Scharf, in 1950.
"My grandfather had four sons, including my father, Tommy, head of the company today," Mr. Scharf said. When the family arrived from Poland in 1950, they settled on a farm upstate where they raised chickens, but as soon as they were able they moved to Long Beach on the south shore of Long Island on the ocean but near the heavily populated metropolitan area "because my grandfather had an idea, something different in residences for older people, whom he identified with," Mr. Scharf recalled.
The family opened the 150-room Scharf Manor in Long Beach, a residence for the elderly in a hotel setting. "It was the first of its kind and was very well received, judging from the competition that quickly appeared," Mr. Scharf said, adding that eventually five similar establishments were opened in the New York region; most were hotels, and one was a nursing home. "We still own them, but they are managed by others." The Esplanade in Manhattan is the prototype, he said, of future Scharf projects.
"It is in one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods, a block from Riverside Drive, a block from Broadway with its shops restaurants and is near Lincoln Center," Mr. Scharf said. "In the heart of things, not like other retirement communities. And people can get anywhere and everywhere without a car. Everything is available to them." Housekeeping services and three meals a day are included in the monthly charge of $2,500 to $4,500 a person for Esplanade apartments.
"We even have tenants who made the reverse move -- from Florida," Mr. Scharf said. "The place is so popular there's a nine-month waiting list." Encouraged by success, the Scharfs began looking for other suitable properties, and three years ago when the White Plains Hotel came on the market, they bought it.
"The hotel was built in the 60's in downtown White Plains," Mr. Scharf said, "and for years it was the No. 1 choice of business and leisure travelers and the scene of business meetings, conventions, weddings and social events, but eventually it fell on hard times and by the time we bought it, it was as a 'distressed' property."
Mr. Scharf, whose part-time and summer jobs have always been in the family business, was named the managing partner in charge of the conversion of the White Plains Hotel into the Esplanade.
"It was a very capital-intensive project," he said. "We ended up spending $3 million on improvements. The mechanical plant needed overhauling and updating. Bathrooms and bedrooms had to be configured, new carpets and draperies installed."
The high-rise hotel was eventually converted into a luxurious residence for the elderly, offering tenants a choice of room arrangements ranging from studios to one- and two-bedroom, two- and three-bathroom suites, including some with terraces. Monthly rates range from $2,100 to $4,700 in single occupancy with an additional $600 charge for double occupancy.
Three meals a day, housekeeping, personal laundry, linens and towels, a full recreation program, 24-hour emergency call system and 24-hour emergency care assessment are provided.
On the site are a licensed home care agency offering a full range of health care services and a floor devoted to the care of Alzheimer's patients.
Stephen W. Harrigan, the Esplanade's general manager, was formerly a nursing home administrator.
In describing some of the differences between a nursing home and a residence for the elderly, Mr. Harrigan said, "Nursing homes are regulation driven, dictated to by the state. As a private enterprise, the Esplanade is consumer driven, which means we're operating in a competitive environment which sets much higher standards. It's a very different atmosphere here. These people are still living. I enjoy it. I call it the Jewish hotel experience."
Indeed, about 90 percent of the residents, whose ages range from 85 to 100, are Jewish. The food is kosher, which Mr. Harrigan said, has not deterred a number of Catholic residents. "We track referrals," he said. "So we know that The Catholic News is a source for us. A priest visits once a week." The Catholic News is a weekly newspaper for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
What all the residents share, he said, is a certain level of affluence. "Most of the people here have led the good life," he said. "Others have children who foot the bills. And we have our snow birds. They live in Florida but stay here for a couple of months. Some belong to country clubs and still play golf."
One former golfer, Beatrice Gardner, 93, moved into a terrace suite at the Esplanade in September. "For years my husband and I were members of a country club in Westchester," she recalled. "We lived on Manhattan's East Side, but we spent weekends at our club. My daughter lives in White Plains, and my granddaughter and her children live in Croton, so they all visit often. This is such a convenient location. I like being in the heart of White Plains. It's exhilarating. There's a lot to do. I keep active and walk up to Mamaroneck Avenue, one of my walking destinations. I also take advantage of activities here, which are many and varied."
A day's activities taken from the Esplanade's recreational calendar offers a shopping trip, exercise video, current events, arts and crafts, an afternoon walk, a sing-along and an evening movie.
"By next summer, gardening will be included," Mr. Harrigan said. "We're building a roof garden that will feature arbors planted with wisteria and honeysuckle. And raised beds for those who want to garden."
The newest Esplanade, a conversion of a 90-unit apartment house in Branford, Conn., is expected to open in six months, Mr. Scharf said. "Branford is a shoreline community that has the conveniences of a city," he said. "We're looking at properties in Stamford and New Jersey. My dad and my brother Joseph are in charge of acquisitions. My brother Alexander manages our real estate portfolio, and our sister Susan does the marketing and advertising and the interior decorating. We're a close family, and I think that's what makes us different from our competitors -- the Marriotts and the Hyatts. Ours is a personal business."

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December 14, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

YOUR HOME;
Homeowner Tax Cuts In New York

BYLINE: By JAY ROMANO 

SECTION: Section 11; Page 3; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1089 words

LAST August, Gov. George E. Pataki signed into law one of the most significant property-tax cuts in memory -- the New York State School Tax Relief Program, known by the acronym STAR.
Officials expect the measure to cut the school-tax portion of local property taxes on most owner-occupied, primary residences in the state by about 27 percent -- and by as much as 45 percent on residences owned by certain elderly homeowners. The cuts are to be phased in over the next four years. 
 Simply stated, the STAR program, which was signed into law Aug. 7, offers eligible homeowners a property-tax exemption that will ultimately reduce the portion of their property taxes that go to pay for public schools in the taxpayer's school district.
While the application process is relatively straightforward -- in most cases, the application consists of just one page -- the variability of the local property tax-collection system has made implementation of the program a bureaucratic nightmare.
"I can't begin to tell you what a can of worms this thing has opened up," said Douglas F. Wasser, a Manhattan real estate lawyer. "We're talking about a 27 percent reduction in school taxes, and many people don't have a clue as to what is going on."
Mr. Wasser's concern was triggered when he started to write a memo to clients about the STAR exemption and how to go about applying for it. First, Mr. Wasser said, he was perplexed by the different deadlines for applications being imposed in different areas of the state.
"In Nassau County, they told me the application deadline was Dec. 31, 1997," he said. On the other hand, he continued, the deadline in New York City is Jan. 5 and in Suffolk County it is March 2.
Moreover, Mr. Wasser said, while New York City officials said they had mailed notifications and applications to all property owners in the city, not every property owner received them.
"My mother lives in an 1,800-unit co-op in Queens and she didn't receive a notice," he said. "And I've spoken to three lawyers here in my office who also live in the city and they haven't received notices either."
Most puzzling of all, however, was an item contained in the New York City notice and application.
The application, Mr. Wasser said, contained a statement indicating that "all applicants, not just eligible seniors" must file their application by Jan. 5.
He pointed out, however, that the first year's exemption is only available to elderly residents who meet certain income requirements. All other homeowners must wait until the second year of the program to receive the tax reduction.
"What the heck is going on here?" Mr. Wasser wondered. "Does that mean you lose the exemption forever if you don't file by January?" Charles Deister, a spokesman for Governor Pataki, offered this explanation of Mr. Wasser's confusion:
"The deadline dates could be anywhere from Oct. 15 of this year through Aug. 1 of next year," Mr. Deister said, explaining that the deadlines vary because they are determined by the tax years used by the individual school districts. The deadline for Westchester County, for example, is next June 1, except for Peekskill, where it is June 29.
Only certain elderly homeowners can receive the exemption in the first year, he said. To qualify for the first year's exemption, Mr. Deister said, the property must be the primary residence of its owners -- at least one of whom must be 65 or older. Also, the maximum annual allowable household income for eligibility for the first year's exemption is $60,000.
"There should be no confusion on this," Mr. Deister said, referring to published reports of widespread perplexity over the definition of income and reports that elderly New York City homeowners would be ineligible for the program.
"Every senior citizen who meets the requirements of the program is eligible for the enhanced exemption," Mr. Deister said. "Enhanced exemption," he added, describes the tax reduction starting in the 1998-1999 tax year that is available only to eligible elderly homeowners who meet age and income requirements.
He said that the definition of income includes Social Security and retirement benefits, interest, dividends, total gains from the sale or exchange of capital assets (which may be offset by losses from the sales of capital assets in the same tax year), net rental income, salary or earnings and net income from self-employment.
Excluded from income, Mr. Deister said, are supplementary security income, welfare payments, gifts, inheritances, the return of invested capital and moneys earned through the Federal Foster Grandparent Program or reparations received as a victim of Nazi persecution.
Elderly homeowners who apply for the first year's benefits, Mr. Deister said, might be asked by local tax officials to provide proof of income -- such as income-tax returns or certifications of total annual Social Security benefits. Those who now get a Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption, he said, do not have to apply for the STAR exemption because it will be granted automatically.
Beginning in the 1999-2000 tax year, he said, the owners of all owner-occupied residences in the state -- including co-ops and condominiums -- will be eligible for the exemption, regardless of age or income.
When the program is fully phased in, Mr. Deister said, the average annual tax savings for qualified elderly homeowners in New York City will be $320 and $190 for other homeowners; in Nassau, $1,240 and $750, respectively; in Suffolk, $1,170 and $700, and in Westchester, $1,990 and $1,200.
Applications and information may be obtained from the local tax assessor's office.
Mr. Deister also said that, despite the warning in New York City's application, it is not necessary for those who are not eligible for the first year's exemption to apply right now.
Richard LoConte, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Finance, agreed.
"We asked everyone to file by Jan. 5 because there was already enough confusion out there about this and we didn't want to confuse people with different dates," Mr. LoConte said.  "But that's not to say we won't accept applications for next year's exemption next year."
Mr. LoConte added that while the tax assessor's office attempted to contact every property owner -- more than 950,000 applications were sent out in November -- it is possible that some did not receive applications. New York City residents who have not yet received applications should call (718) 935-9500 for further instructions.

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EARNING IT;
Same Players in New Roles

BYLINE: By LOUIS UCHITELLE 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 13; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 373 words

So the husband is about to retire while the wife stays on the job. That is a momentous change in routine, a reversal in roles for older men and women who were raised in a tradition of men as the chief breadwinners. The potential for marital stress is considerable.
Here is a checklist of issues that psychologists say couples must discuss before taking such a big step: 
 * Make a budget. Sacrifices must be agreed upon, particularly by the man. His pension is rarely as much as his salary was, so a working wife may grow resentful if she cuts back on new clothing while her husband eats lunch regularly with his pals. Settle what he will spend beforehand.
* Redivide the chores. If she is the spouse earning a salary, then he must do more at home, picking up tasks she was willing to do when they both worked. Cooking is a big issue, particularly dinner, as is shopping. A working wife may be irked to find that her retired husband has done nothing around the house all day.
* Keep him busy. The man must find productive and satisfying ways to fill his days, and what he will do should be settled before he retires. Women often arrange a couple's off-hours social life when both are working, and she must not feel that he is waiting for her to get home to plan his life. She may feel guilty -- and resentful that he is so dependent.
* Tell the children. Discuss in advance how they might react, and then raise your concerns with the children, who are presumably young adults, before Dad takes the step. They may resent a father for not carrying his share, as they see it. And they will wonder about asking Mom and Dad for money. Lay out the new parameters. Make clear that Dad is supportive of Mom's decision to keep working.
* Tell the neighbors, too. The working wife and the retired husband are not yet the norm. So while he is still employed, head off gossip by telling neighbors and friends about the plan and the reasons for it.
* Keep talking. Once he retires, new frictions arise. He gets up after she leaves, and that annoys her. He is refreshed in the evening, having taken an afternoon nap, and she is exhausted. He may resent that she is not around. Whatever the problem, hash it out.   LOUIS UCHITELLE

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NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: VOLUNTEERING;
Agencies That Need a Hand

SECTION: Section 14; Page 13; Column 1; The City Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 1272 words

Here is a list of some organizations around the five boroughs that can use your help.
 
THE MAYOR'S VOLUNTARY ACTION CENTER -- 49-51 Chambers Street, Suite 1231, Manhattan. A volunteer clearinghouse that uses a database listing more than 3,000 volunteer jobs in the five boroughs to match people with agencies that could most use their help. Call Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., for an appointment. (212) 788-7550. 

NEW YORK CARES -- 116 East 16th Street, Manhattan. Requires a one-hour orientation at which volunteers receive a monthly calendar listing opportunities to help at 100 to 150 organizations. No long-term commitment required. Orientation by appointment. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 228-5000.
 
THE LIGHTHOUSE INC. -- 111 East 59th Street, Manhattan. Reads to blind or visually impaired business people and students in two-hour sessions. Also needs volunteers for Saturday youth program, annual sale of new and used designer clothes, and office help. For interview or reading audi tion, Monday through Friday, (212) 821-9406.
 
VOLUNTEER SUPPORT PROJECT -- Department of Aging. 2 Lafayette Street, Manhattan. Provides basic care and assistance to blind and visually impaired people in communities. Volunteers can be any age. Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212)442-3168.
 
FOSTER GRANDPARENT PROGRAM -- City Department of Aging, 2 Lafayette Street, 14th floor, Room 1419, Manhattan. Elderly volunteers care for children with physical or mental illnesses. Applicants must be over 60, and meet low-income requirements. Transportation, training and food provided. Small stipend available. Five days a week, four hours a day. Information: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 442-3117.
 
INSURANCE AND HEALTH COUNSELING -- Department of Aging, 2 Lafayette Street, Manhattan. Volunteers over age 60 are needed to provide information about health insurance options to other seniors. Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 442-1382.
 
R.S.V.P. -- (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) 105 East 22d Street. Locations in all five boroughs. Fills 10,000 volunteer spots annually. Volunteers are ages 55 and older. Openings include tutoring positions, museum docents and food delivery people. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212)674-7787.
 
RIVINGTON HOUSE -- 45 Rivington Street, Manhattan. Residential health care facility for people with AIDS. Volunteers visit with and counsel residents and perform clerical and administrative tasks. Volunteers are required to complete a six-hour orientation. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 539-6219.
 
THE SAMARITANS OF NEW YORK SUICIDE PREVENTION HOT LINE -- P.O. Box 1259 Madison Square Station. Volunteers must complete 24 hours of training and then commit to four shifts a month, including one weekday shift of 11 P.M. to 8 A.M. Volunteers must be 21. Donations welcome. (212) 673-3041.
 
G.M.H.C. -- (Gay Men's Health Crisis), 119 West 24th Street, Manhattan. The name may be deceiving because the Gay Men's Health Crisis helps everybody with AIDS. Volunteers take part in all aspects of helping the ill from home care to clerical work in the G.M.H.C. office. Volunteers must complete a training session. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. (212) 367-1030.
 
NOW -- (National Organization for Women), 105 East 22d Street, Suite 307, Manhattan. Needs volunteers both for daytime and nighttime work. They can handle the help line, do clerical work or at night, be an advocate. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; (212) 260-4422.
 
PARTNERSHIP FOR THE HOMELESS -- 305 Seventh Avenue, Manhattan. Will train volunteers for any of its seven programs for the homeless. Ask for Jennifer Brady for more information. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 645-3444 ext. 118.
 
GOD'S LOVE WE DELIVER -- 166 Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan. Prepares food for homebound men, women and children with AIDS and will accept toys, and new articles of clothing. In Manhattan, volunteers do not need a car. For other boroughs, delivery person must have a vehicle. Program needs van assistants and weekday delivery help. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 294-8104.
 
THE BRONX ZOO -- 2300 Southern Boulevard, the Bronx. The Friends of Wildlife Conservation will train volunteers once a week for 12 weeks to assist in guided tours of the zoo and all facets of the animal education program. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (718) 220-5141.
 
POWARS -- (Pet Owners With AIDS/ARC Resource Service), 1674 Broadway, Suite 7A, Manhattan. Powars is a privately financed volunteer organization to care for the pets of people with AIDS. Volunteers are needed for dog walking, veterinarian visits, clerical work, grant writing and public relations. Volunteers must complete two training sessions. Hours: flexible. General office: (212) 246-6307.
 
VICTIMS SERVICES AGENCY -- 2 Lafayette Street, third floor, Manhattan. Victims Services offers support and counseling to victims of domestic violence, rape, incest, muggings and other violent incidents. Volunteers are trained in accordance with the job they choose. Opportunities include counseling, child care, client intake, clerical and answering the hot line. Office hours: Monday through Friday 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 577-7409.
 
COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS -- 89 Chambers Street, Manhattan. The coalition has several mobile soup kitchens that each feed at least 750 a night and need volunteers. Orientation required. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. (212) 964-5900, ext.163.
 
MIRACLE HOUSE -- P.O. Box 30931, New York, N.Y. 10011-0109. Miracle House provides housing and support to the out-of-town family and friends of New Yorkers with AIDS and cancer. Volunteers go through a two-hour training program. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. (212) 462-8096.
 
LITERACY PARTNERS -- 30 East 33d Street, Manhattan. Literacy Partners/ Literacy Volunteers of New York City has programs in Manhattan. Volunteers can either teach reading after an eight-week training program or do clerical work immediately. Need volunteers in evenings, 6 P.M. to 8 P.M. Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (212) 725-9200.
 
COVENANT HOUSE RIGHTS OF PASSAGE PROGRAM -- 346 West 17th Street, Manhattan. In need of mentors to work one-on-one with youths 18 to 21. Mentors offer a sense of stability and a realistic view of the work world to young people who are just entering the job market. Qualifications: Over 30 years of age; established in career and able to offer a consistent and supportive adult relationship. Training provided. Flexible hours. Limited time commitment. (212) 727-4198.
 
JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES -- 120 West 57th Street, Manhattan. More than 1,600 men and women work side by side, in 20 volunteer programs, with mental health and social service professionals to provide support and caring as an adjunct to the therapeutic services provided by the agency. (212) 397-4090.
 
WOMEN IN NEED -- 115 West 31st Street, Manhattan. Provides shelter for homeless women with children. Volunteers welcome to tutor women, help children with homework, crafts or computers. (212) 695-4758.
 
NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY -- New York City Chapter. 30 West 26th Street, Manhattan. Volunteers welcome to help with fund-raising events, office work and programs. (212) 463-7787, ext. 3011.

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EARNING IT;
She's Wound Up in Her Career, but He's Ready to Wind Down

BYLINE: By LOUIS UCHITELLE 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 1; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 2065 words

AFTER a career as a salesman, Ruth Cambron's husband retired, and she thought she might, too. She took a leave from her job as a health care specialist in California, and the couple traveled on cruise ships. "That convinced me not to retire," Mrs. Cambron said. "I did not want to feel useless." She also wanted to build her pension. And 12 years later, at 73, she still draws a paycheck -- a stalwart in the growing ranks of older women who continue to work after their husbands stop.
Sandra Kaul, an art gallery director and consultant, is just entering those ranks. Her husband, lured by the offer of a sweetened pension, retired in June at 58, after 30 years as a college art professor in Minnesota. "I encouraged him," said Ms. Kaul, who is 55. "I knew he really wanted to stay home and paint, while I have a career to pursue." 
 Helena Genovese, 63, stays at her job out of both necessity and desire. Her husband, a professional hypnotist, now 68, retired seven years ago, worried that if he did not ease up he might suffer a fatal heart attack, as a friend had. But his $850 in monthly retirement benefits, mostly from Social Security, is insufficient to maintain the couple's suburban life style without Ms. Genovese's $1,900-a-month salary as a manager of the parking facility at Buffalo's airport.
"Besides, what would I do all day at home?" she asked. "He plays with the dog, builds model planes and visits our children. I think that if two people are home together constantly, they could end up killing each other."
Having distinguished themselves as the first generation to leave the house to work in large numbers, women in their late 50's and early 60's are now in retirement range. If they are single, divorced or widowed, they often keep working, surveys show, because they lack the Social Security credits or pension savings of men their age, who earned more and worked more years. But in growing numbers, married women in this age group are also staying on the job -- breaking with the practice of sharing their husbands' retirement.
Surveys are just beginning to catch the shift and the reasons for it. A big one is the promise of an independent pension to avoid the poverty that often comes to widows who rely on their husbands' benefits. Social Security, the main ingredient in most cases, is cut after a husband's death.
"Older women keep working to secure their economic survival," said Heidi Hartmann, director of the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington.
What is more, the extra income earned by the women helps maintain family living standards, particularly if a husband has been pushed out of the labor force before he had planned to retire. And there is what Mathew Greenwald, a market researcher who polls people on retirement issues, calls the sociability aspect.
"Building friendships on the job is often more important to women than it is to men," he said. "Women may want to go on working to maintain these friendships. They find the idea of being retired more isolating than men do."
Whatever the reasons, women's persistence in working could have broad implications for the economy. It could, for example, relieve some of the financial pressure on the Social Security system, which will be stretched thin when the baby boomers retire.
The statistical evidence is still sparse, but the shift appears to apply mainly to those 55 to 64 and not to those 65 and older. The number of working men and women in that older group has traditionally been relatively small, although it has crept up slightly for both sexes in the 1990's.
The University of Michigan, which is tracking people in their 50's and 60's in a federally financed study that is just beginning to produce data, found that of 813 married women whose husbands had retired, 45 percent still worked, most of them full time. "These are serious workers, not just women doing real estate," said Marjorie Honig, a Hunter College economist who helped tabulate the results.
Labor Department surveys also suggest that married women are working in increasing numbers after their husbands stop, or at least that married women aged 55 to 64 are staying in the labor force in rising percentages while men are not. Nearly 3.5 million women in this group were in the labor force last year, or 48.6 percent of all married women 55 to 64, up from 41.3 percent in 1989 and 36.3 percent in 1980. But the percentage of married men in that age group in the labor force has fallen to 70.2 percent, from 75.4 percent in 1980.
"Women are beginning to realize that by working just a few more years, they become eligible for good pensions," said Olivia Mitchell, a labor economist at the University of Pennsylvania. "The benefit of those few extra years can be quite high."
MS. GENOVESE, who took a salaried job in 1980 when the youngest of her four children was 13, came to exactly that conclusion. "If I work three more years, I'll be eligible for a pension of $1,000 a month," she said. She made it clear that if her health held up, she would work indefinitely, qualifying for an even bigger pension. Her job also provides the couple's health insurance.
Many other women are also working for bigger pensions. The Social Security Administration projects that if current trends continue, by 2015 nearly 60 percent of married women will be entitled to higher pensions upon retirement than the spousal benefit they would receive under their husbands' Social Security. That would be up from 33 percent today. And 20 percent of the women will qualify for pensions that are higher than those of their husbands, up from less than 10 percent today.
But there is a caveat about projecting the trend forward. What Ms. Cambron, Ms. Kaul and Ms. Genovese share with many older married women is this: They took jobs and began careers relatively late in life after raising children or at least staying home until their children were in junior high school. Younger women, on the other hand, are far more likely to have careers that parallel those of their husbands. Once they reach retirement age, husband and wife, having gone through the same career cycles, may think alike about retirement.
"The question is, will these younger people prod each other to stay on the job or will they prod each other to retire," said Angela O'Rand, a Duke University sociologist and retirement specialist.
For now, however, older husbands and wives are increasingly going in separate directions.
Six months after her husband retired, Ms. Kaul is in high career, having entered the work force only 14 years ago, once her two children became teen-agers. She is even expanding her domain, looking into using retail stores as small, makeshift art galleries for Minnesota painters. Actually, her work as the art gallery director at Bemidji State University, 100 miles north of Minneapolis, where her husband, Marlin, had taught for 30 years, is a part-time job. But Ms. Kaul has five part-time jobs, most of them as a paid consultant to various art councils and art projects in Minnesota.
"I am in the process of proposing to the university a larger position for myself," she said. "It will probably be three-quarters time. I am suggesting that we start a museum program, to manage art collections and curate them for traveling exhibitions."
Still, the Kauls do not have to rely on her income. Marlin Kaul's sweetened pension -- a lump-sum payment and $40,000 a year -- is enough for them to live comfortably. The $15,000 she brings home helps, of course, but her decision to keep working separates the Kauls from three couples who are their friends. The men, also professors at Bemidji, accepted sweetened pensions, too, and their wives have decided to retire with them. All three women had worked much longer than Ms. Kaul.
"Two of them were in teaching careers," Ms. Kaul said, "and they no longer like their jobs enough to keep doing them anymore now that their husbands are retiring."
The decision also swings the other way. And when it does, a wife who continues to work sometimes ends up on Rosalind Barnett's couch. Ms. Barnett, a psychologist and senior researcher in women's issues at Brandeis University and Radcliffe College, recounts one patient's story:
"Her husband, a lawyer who never liked what he did, lived for the day he could move to the woods in New Hampshire, and this was a nightmare for her," Ms. Barnett said. "She was the director of a nonprofit organization, involved in work and community life, with a big network of people around her, and he wanted to retire to a rural life style."
In the end, the husband did not retire. "He cut back his hours," Ms. Barnett said, "but he is still working as a lawyer. He is very unhappy."
EVEN husbands who support their wives' decisions to keep working can take awhile to get there, as Dominic Genovese did.
He had never cooked, and for five years after he retired he stayed out of the kitchen, which meant that his wife could not relax until she had prepared dinner. "The stress for me did not end with the job," she said. And the dinner hour became later and later. "That ticked me off," Mr. Genovese said, "But cooking is something I did not think of doing. I made the bed; that took only a few minutes. And I vacuumed; I did not want to be home with dog's hair around."
A life-threatening stomach ailment changed his attitude toward cooking, he said -- as did the fact that the couple's three adult sons cook. He now makes dinner four nights a week.
Howard Aronoff, 57, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., also cooks. His mother had taught him, and in retirement, he took over that task from his wife, although she still does the grocery shopping. Unlike Mr. Genovese, Mr. Aronoff did not willingly retire: he took a buyout in 1993 from I.B.M., where he was a senior planner, rather than risk being laid off without any payment. After briefly trying a new career as an insurance salesman, "I drifted into retirement," Mr. Aronoff said. "When people found out I was no longer at I.B.M., they looked on me as a piece of dead wood."
Her husband's changed status scared his wife, Roberta, who is 53.  His earnings suddenly deflated from more than $80,000 a year to a $35,000 pension even as the couple, who were nearly finished paying for their two children's undergraduate education, were counting on the next five years to save for retirement. So she has continued in her nearly $30,000-a-year job as the manager of a dental office, a position she had held for a decade.
"You have to sit down and work out the money issues," she said. "My husband did that. He showed me, with spreadsheets, how we would get by, and that eased my mind. He found a way even to save a little."
The new budget meant belt-tightening. They bought a new car for her, for example, but he still drives a 1988 model. And their daughter, now at Harvard Law School, pays her own way. "My wife would have liked some new jewelry," he said, "and I would have liked to help my children more."
Sometimes a husband chooses retirement because changes at work suddenly make the job much more difficult. William Cambron found himself in this situation in 1985, when he was 62. For years, he had been a salesman for a wholesale company that offered a line of toasters and household wares to hardware stores. As those stores lost out to big discounters like Sam's Club, the Wal-Mart unit, Mr. Cambron had to travel farther from the couple's home in Sacramento.
"They kept widening his territory as the market dwindled, and he was tired," Ms. Cambron said. And so he stopped. "He does not have a need to work. Basically, he enjoys supporting me in what I do. He even keeps my car filled with gas. I never have to do that anymore."
When her husband retired, Ms. Cambron, a year younger, was only a decade into a career as a health care specialist in the California Department for the Aging. That job paid her $50,000 a year when she retired two years ago and shifted to a job monitoring nursing homes for a nonprofit organization, earning just $7,000 but working far fewer hours. Being older than 70, she is permitted to draw her full Social Security and a California state pension. They total $37,000, exceeding her husband's retirement payments by $7,000, even as she still draws a paycheck.
"I would not be well off," she said, "if I had not continued working."

LOAD-DATE: December 14, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: In larger numbers these days, women like Ruth Cambron, 73, of Sacramento, Calif., are choosing to continue their careers for years after their husbands have retired. (Don Preisler for The New York Times)(pg. 1); Sandra Kaul, 55, knew that her husband, a retired professor, wanted to stay home and paint, but she felt she had to pursue her career as an art gallery director and consultant. (Monte Draper for The New York Times); Helena Genovese, 63, works because of desire and necessity. Her pay as the parking director at Buffalo's airport allows her and her retired husband to maintain their life style. (Robert Kirkham for The New York Times)(pg. 13)
 
Charts: "Shifting Gender Patterns"
The percentage of married men age 55-64 in the labor force has declined, but the share of older married women has risen sharply, suggesting that a growing number of women work after their husbands retire. Graph shows percentage of working men and women age 55-64. (Source: Labor Department)
 
"The Rewards of Working a Little Longer"
A few extra years of work can substantially increase a woman's monthly Social Security benefits. For example, a woman who started working in 1981 at age 45 and is earning $30,000 annually at the time she retires could double her benefit by working to age 70. Chart shows increase in benefits.
 
As more women keep working longer, a growing percentage, as shown below, will collect higher Social Security benefits from their own account than by relying on spousal benefits from their husband's account. (Source: Social Security Administration)(pg. 13)

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December 14, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

EARNING IT;
Shattering The Age Mystique

BYLINE: By LOUIS UCHITELLE 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 13; Column 6; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 332 words

Sure, older married women are continuing to work after their husbands retire. They took jobs later and are not done yet. But that is a passing phenomenon, Betty Friedan says, and really off the point. A decade or two from now, a much healthier phenomenon will kick in, she hopes. Older men and women will both skip retirement, which in Ms. Friedan's vision will become passe.
"The idea of retiring at 65 is obsolete; it is based on an outdated life expectancy," said Ms. Friedan, who is 76 and certainly not retired herself, teaching at Cornell this winter, among other projects. Her 1963 book, "The Feminine Mystique," helped break the psychological and social barriers that kept women at home and out of the work force. Now she would break the age barrier, extending everyone's working life into their 80's, a goal she first articulated with the publication in 1993 of "The Fountain of Age." 
 For Ms. Friedan, who lives in Washington, working past 65 opens new possibilities. "Should we have two or three careers?" she asks, and suggests that we probably should. "Once liberated from the need to prove yourself and be promoted, the second career can be chosen with different considerations. We are on the verge of having to do a lot of new thinking for a society in which the working years last until age 80."
Ms. Friedan does not yet know just how the new system might work. But she says older people who work remain healthier than those who retire -- and that many older people today are as vital as younger ones. Certainly, extending the working years would mesh with several proposals for financing Social Security that come down to this equation: Work longer and collect less in benefits.
"The mix at work will be different," she said. "There will be periods for study, for job training, for sabbaticals, for time out for children and adventure. Work will become much more flexible as it sinks in that people will spend many more years at work."   LOUIS UCHITELLE

LOAD-DATE: December 14, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: The author and teacher Betty Friedan says the concept of retirement will itself become obsolete. (Reuters)

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December 15, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
OTTINGER, LOUISE L.

SECTION: Section B; Page 7; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 60 words

OTTINGER-Louise L. The Board of Directors of Municipal Concerts, Inc., mourns the death of Louise L. Ottinger. For many years Mrs. Ottinger made possible free concerts in parks, day centers for older adults, and homes for the aged in areas where such enriching experiences are rarely available. Dr. Irwin Feigin, President Julius Grossman, Musical Director

LOAD-DATE: December 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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December 15, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

An Aging Nation Ill-Equipped for Hanging Up the Car Keys

BYLINE: By SARA RIMER 

SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 2; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1833 words

DATELINE: TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 9

When Herb Corwin, 73, was married in September to Lucille, a widow from his retirement community near here, the groom's cousin said in his toast that the bride had landed the most eligible bachelor in all of southwest Florida.
Besides being a great guy, Mr. Corwin's cousin said, "Herb drives at night." 
 In a country where the car reigns supreme, Mr. Corwin, whose previous wife died, is still on the road, zipping about town in his cherry-red, 1996 Pontiac Grand Am, taking his wife out to dinner, to dances, to Shriner's events -- to Miami and Boca Raton, wherever and whenever they want to go. For millions of other older people, the issue is not whether they can drive at night but whether they can drive at all.
The first driver's license is a rite of passage signifying independence, the move from adolescence to adulthood, and the initiation into the nation's car culture. As people move into middle age and beyond, a valid driver's license is as much a certificate of continued youth, vitality and freedom as a basic necessity.
"Man, I feel like I'm 25," Mr. Corwin said, his car radio blaring a Glenn Miller tune as he drove around his retirement community, Sun City Center, waving to his neighbors, some in Cadillacs, others relegated to electric golf carts.
To have to give up driving is viewed as a step toward dependency, and even death. Yet that moment will come for more and more Americans as the ranks of the "old old" increase. The issue poses a dilemma for the children of the elderly, for whom the prospect of taking the car keys from their parents is a poignant reversal of roles. And experts say that a suburbanized America is not ready to cope with a population that can no longer take to the highway.
But it is the elderly who will feel the most pain.
In Richmond, Va., Deborah Perkins, a geriatric nurse practitioner, recently advised a woman in her 80's with severe memory impairment to stop driving.
"She burst into tears and said, 'You might as well shoot me,' " Mrs. Perkins said in a telephone interview. "It's like telling a patient they have a terminal illness."
Experts say it is the lack of adequate mass transit that makes the nation unprepared for the rising number of older people who have to stop or limit their driving.
"We plan for retirement," said Donna Cohen, chairwoman of the Department of Aging and Mental Health at the University of South Florida, in Tampa. "We don't plan for the day when people have to stop driving."
Nowhere is this more vividly demonstrated than in sprawling Florida, which has lured millions of people to its suburban retirement communities, but not put in place the public transportation to support them when they reach their 80's and 90's and physical or cognitive impairments force many of them to give up their cars or use them less.
"You can't live down here without driving," Bentley Lipscomb, secretary of Florida's Department of Elder Affairs, said. "You can't go to the grocery store, the doctor, the hospital. You can't go anywhere."
With the soaring ranks of older drivers -- nationwide, there will be an estimated 40 million drivers over age 70 in the year 2,020, up from 24 million in 1995, according to census data -- experts are grappling with another problem: How to identify unsafe drivers, and get them off the roads without restricting those who are not at risk.
Overall, older drivers, who spend far less time on the road than other drivers, have fewer accidents. But on the basis of accidents per miles driven, they have a higher rate of crashes than middle-aged drivers. The rate rises after age 75 and increases significantly after 85.
Factors like vision and hearing impairment, loss of mobility, dementia and other memory disorders, and side effects from medicines are largely responsible.
Eleven states, including Florida, California and Pennsylvania, require physicians to report medical problems to motor vehicle departments. Only a few states require age-related testing of driving skills; one of the most restrictive, Illinois, requires drivers over 80 to renew their licenses every two years and those over 86 must renew every year.
Florida, with 3.4 million people over 60, and 85 percent of them still driving, is one of the states most lax when it comes to testing. Under current law, drivers can renew their licenses for six years, with testing required in most cases only after the second renewal.
"It's feasible someone could go for 18 years without a test," said Sandy Lambert, head of the state motor vehicles bureau, who has called for people over 65 to be tested every two years.
There is a powerful senior citizens lobby in Florida, and every year the state legislature considers -- and soundly rejects -- legislation for more frequent testing.
"They should check up on us," said Aileen B. Chapman, who is 90 years old and plays violin for the Pinellas Park Civic Orchestra. She can still drive safely to evening concerts.
 
Taking Away the Keys Can Be Painful
Clare Conant, 60, moved into her parents' condominium in a retirement community in Clearwater, Fla., last spring on one condition: that her father, who is 86 and physically impaired after a stroke, sign a piece of paper saying he would stop driving.
"He was leaving the complex on the wrong side of the street," Ms. Conant said. "The neighbors said if we didn't take the car away, they'd have a warrant out."
Her father, who had made his living as a traveling furniture salesman in the Midwest, signed, but kept driving. So Ms. Conant took the keys.
Her father took them back.
Finally, she hid his car in another part of the complex.
Around the same time, her brother informed the bureau of motor vehicles that their father should not be driving. A doctor concurred, and after failing to report for a driving test, their father's license was revoked.
"I cried," Ms. Conant, who works in a nursing home, said. She said the home's residents proudly display their drivers' licenses on top of their dressers. "It's demoralizing when it's your own parents. It's their last grasp of independence."
It is particularly traumatic for men to give up their cars. About 75 percent of men over 75 still drive, compared with only 26 percent of women, according to national transportation statistics.
"You're talking about one of the last vestiges of manhood," John Eberhard, a psychologist for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said.
Ms. Conant's father, who declined to be identified, was seated on his living room sofa one afternoon, going through the cards in his wallet. The spotless white 1996 Mercury Marquis that he no longer drives, but still has regularly washed, was parked in front of his condominium complex.
When he and his wife moved to Florida 26 years ago, they were both active and in good health. These days their daughter takes them to the bank, the supermarket and the church, outposts of their vastly reduced world.
With shaking hands, the man who once won a Pontiac Bonneville for being his company's salesman of the year, pulled out his no longer valid license. He pointed to the designation, "Safe Driver." In 26 years in Florida he had not gotten a traffic citation or been in an accident.
"Being cooped up without a license," he said, "it's like doing time in a jail."
 
Some Drivers Know When It Is Time to Quit
There are plenty of older drivers who voluntarily give up the car keys. One is Morton Massey, 87, a retired electronics equipment salesman whose eyesight is blurred due to macular degeneration.
For Mr. Massey, the moment of truth arrived a year ago, when he was driving to a supermarket near his home in Tampa with his wife, Frieda.
"I narrowly missed a crowd of people on the curb talking," Mr. Massey said. He told his wife she would have to drive home and, after more than a half century on the road, he turned in his license.
For the first 57 years of their marriage, Mr. Massey had done all the driving. "He thought it was the manly thing to do," said Mrs. Massey, 80, a retired statistical typist.
Now, she is the one behind the wheel of their 1984 silver Cadillac. "He always did for me," she said. "Now I'm doing for him."
Just as Mr. Massey depends on his wife to get around, Betty Zentgraf, an 89-year-old widow, looks to her best friend and roommate, Bernice Payne, 91.
Mrs. Zentgraf, a retired kindergarten teacher, gave up her license 11 years ago, when she began to lose her eyesight. Ms. Payne, a former Girl Scout executive, who did not learn to drive until she was well into her 30's and always felt more comfortable in the passenger's seat, took over the driving.
Mrs. Zentgraf and Ms. Payne live in a four-story apartment building for the elderly. "June up on the fifth floor -- she's in her 70's -- she still drives," Mrs. Zentgraf said. "Eugene and his wife on the second floor, they take us driving. So does Mrs. Sanford on the second floor, and Paula on the fourth floor."
On a recent Sunday, the two women climbed into Ms. Payne's 1977 Chrysler Le Baron, as they do every Sunday, and headed to Kissin' Cuzzins for their ritual lunch of chicken fingers and mashed potatoes. The restaurant, five miles from their apartment in St. Petersburg, is about the farthest trip Ms. Payne makes.
"I haven't driven the interstate in years," she said.
Nationwide, there is a large network of individual transportation services, public and private, for the elderly. But only 11 per cent of those 65 and over have ever used them.
With the number of older nondrivers increasing, a handful of pilot projects have been created in several communities.
In Portland, Me., for example, Katherine Freund in 1995 founded an on-demand, low-cost car service after her young son almost died after being run over by an elderly driver.
In Eugene, Ore., Ethel Villeneuve, an 80-year-old retired social worker, runs a support group that helps older people who cannot drive negotiate alternative modes of transportation.
The American Association for Retired Persons offers refresher classes for older drivers that teach defensive driving techniques, and introduce safety equipment such as special rear view mirrors that provide a wider view of the road.
Katie Graham, an 85-year-old widow, lives in a neighborhood on the east side of Tampa, where she raised seven children, working as a maid. Mrs. Graham, who has used a walker since she broke her hip, does not drive. But it hardly matters.
Her church, St. John Progressive Missionary Baptist, sends a van to bring her to Sunday services, and Wednesday prayer meetings. Her fellow church members, her neighbors, her children, and her grandchildren all make themselves available to take Mrs. Graham anywhere she wants to go -- to the store, to friends' houses, out to dinner, to Disney World.
Mrs. Graham, who recalls getting behind the wheel of her father's Model T when she was young, said she does not miss driving at all.

LOAD-DATE: December 15, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Betty Zentgraf, 89, of St. Petersburg, Fla., switched to the passenger seat after eyesight troubles. Her roommate, Bernice Payne, 91, drives. Before remarrying, Herb Corwin, left, was a leading bachelor in Sun City Center, Fla. He drove at night. He met Gene Diehl yesterday. (Photographs by Cindy Karp for The New York Times)(pg. A20)

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December 17, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

U.N. Tells How Taliban Were Killed By the 100's

BYLINE: By BARBARA CROSSETTE 

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 1; Foreign Desk 

LENGTH: 631 words

DATELINE: UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 16

A United Nations team investigating reports from Afghanistan that more than 2,000 Taliban fighters held as prisoners were killed has found hundreds of bodies in wells and shallow graves, officials said today in Geneva.
Many had been thrown into the wells alive or shot at close range with their hands tied behind their backs, the officials said. 
 "The manner of death was horrendous," said John Mills, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a telephone interview after briefing reporters in Geneva on the investigation. Mr. Mills said the United Nations had not yet determined the total number who died or exactly when. But he said the bodies appeared to those of Taliban soldiers captured earlier this year.
"Prisoners were taken from detention, told they were going to be exchanged and then were trucked to wells of a type used by shepherds," Mr. Mills said at the briefing. "They were thrown into the wells either alive, or those who resisted were shot and then tossed in. Shots were fired into the wells and hand grenades were thrown in before the top of the well was bulldozed over."
Dr. Mark Skinner, a Canadian forensic expert on the team who represented Physicians for Human Rights, estimated that each well, near the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif, could contain up to 100 bodies. There were about nine wells, each between 30 and 100 feet deep with 30 to 45 feet of water. The shallow graves in the same region contained an undetermined number of bodies that appeared to have been shot with heavy-caliber machine guns.
The investigators were led by a South Korean lawyer, Choong Hyun Paik, who watches developments in Afghanistan for the United Nations. He will submit his final report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in March.
Mr. Paik also investigated allegations that the Taliban, a militant Islamic movement that controls more than 80 percent of the country, had itself killed noncombatants in northern Afghanistan.
The investigators visited two villages where local people said that Taliban fighters had shot civilians of the Hazara people as the troops moved from place to place demanding weapons. The local people said the Taliban fighters had killed 53 civilians of various ages in one village, and 30 elderly people in another. The Hazara, who are Shiite Muslims supported by Iran, have resisted Taliban rule.
Taliban leaders have said for months that prisoners were being killed by forces of the Northern Alliance, the remnants of the former mujahedeen government. Those remnants are largely made up of Tajiks and Uzbeks, who were driven out of Kabul in September 1996 and now fight from bases along the border with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The alliance still holds Afghanistan's seat at the United Nations.
In May, a second-rank northern military leader, Abdul Malik Pahlawan, allied himself briefly with the Taliban, who entered the north's stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif for the first time. But General Pahlawan then double-crossed them and drove them out of Mazar-i-Sharif, taking thousands of prisoners.
Last month General Pahlawan former commander, Abdul Rashid Dostum, who had been driven into exile, said he had found the graves of Taliban prisoners around Shibarghan, near Mazar-i-Sharif. He accused General Pahlawan of murdering the prisoners.
The Taliban tried to take Mazar-i-Sharif again in September but failed. United Nations officials are not certain whether prisoners taken then were also killed.
Responding to the disorder in Afghanistan -- troops in the north have looted United Nations food supplies and stolen vehicles, and Taliban forces have blocked food shipments to their enemies -- the Security Council today called on the two sides to find a political solution.

LOAD-DATE: December 17, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Map of Afghanistan showing the location of Mazar-i-Sharif: Deep holes near Mazar-i-Sharif could each hold up to 100 bodies.      

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December 18, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Senior Class;
Living Independently, but Not Going It Alone

BYLINE: By ROBERT W. STOCK 

SECTION: Section F; Page 1; Column 3; House & Home/Style Desk 

LENGTH: 2000 words

MARY E. ZOELLER, 65, is a technical writer with plenty of reservations about typical retirement communities.
 "I don't play bridge, and I don't want to be with people my own age exclusively," she said.
Last year, she heard about an unusual housing alternative and decided to check it out. 
 Today, Ms. Zoeller is one of 29 residents of an intergenerational co-housing "village" in Berkeley, Calif., among the growing number of new housing options for older Americans who are looking for ways to balance their desire for privacy with their growing need for companionship and support.
What Ms. Zoeller found on her first visit to the community was a cozy group of cottages and town houses around a common yard, on a property abundantly landscaped with redwoods and stone pines, fruit trees and palms.
There was only one home for sale, a three-bedroom unit she thought was too large for her needs. "But I'd promised to attend a community dinner in the common house that night," she recalled, "and afterward people sat around chatting. A toddler came over and leaned against my knee. I felt like it was home -- a comfortable family gathering. I changed my mind on the spot and bought in. It's been like family ever since."
Most older Americans want to remain in their own homes: 84 percent, according to a 1996 survey by the American Association of Retired Persons. But physical weakness, loneliness and financial need lead millions to give up that dream. Some move directly into assisted-living sites and nursing homes because they require continuous medical care. Others are healthy enough, but they sell their homes because they have trouble with the activities of daily living: opening windows, getting out of a tub, driving a car. Perhaps their neighborhoods have deteriorated or they can't pay their heating bills.
"For these people, some form of communal living seems only logical," said Deborah Chalfie, a senior program specialist with the association, in Washington. "It's less expensive and it's personally supportive."
Across the country, the idea of communal housing options for the elderly is growing, albeit slowly. Possibilities range from a low-cost apartment complex in Los Angeles to the middle-class co-housing condominiums in Berkeley where young and old live independently side by side to a sprawling Tudor house in Staten Island, with rooms by the month. But there's one major stumbling block: For now at least, many older women especially, who far outnumber older men, take pride in maintaining their own homes and resist moving.
"A lot of them are widowed or divorced and living alone, and they can concentrate on their own needs for the first time in their lives," Ms. Chalfie said. "They also worry about the group dynamics, about getting along with the other people."
But Ms. Chalfie says she suspects that women of the baby boom generation, who are more likely to have experienced group living in college, may be more receptive to the idea.
Following is a closer look at three evolving styles for communal living.
 
Alternative Living for the Aging
Janet L. Witkin was years ahead of her time when, in 1978, at age 32, she founded a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles called Alternative Living for the Aging. "In most places, there were just two basic kinds of housing for seniors," she said, "independent living and institutions. I wanted to find a way to give them something in between, a bridge, where they could help each other -- independence through interdependence."
She has since created five rental apartment complexes for middle- and low-income older residents in the Los Angeles area. At three of her "villages in the city," as she calls them, units have no kitchens and everyone helps with dinner. At the others, residents do their own shopping and cooking, except for an occasional holiday or birthday celebration held in a common room.
Prospective tenants of the West Hollywood residence must be at least 62 and healthy enough to be on their own, since no medical services are provided. They may have an annual income of no more than $17,000; most have incomes far below that. The rents range from about $400 to $500 a month.
On a recent afternoon, Sylvia Rainey, 67, was seated with a few of her 15 neighbors in the neat, grassy courtyard of the complex. All the units in the two-story building face the courtyard, which functions as a kind of town square.
"If I feel I want to talk to someone, I can come down here and be with people," Ms. Rainey said. "If I want to be private, I can do that, too."
Looking out for one another is a comfort for the residents. When the building opened, two years ago, a formal buddy system was organized, but gradually a free-form buddy system has replaced it. Ms. Rainey told of receiving a phone call from a neighbor who was worried after noticing that her car had not moved for several days.
Ms. Rainey is African-American; seven of the residents are from the former Soviet Union, and they tend to stick together. "Even if we can't really talk with some of them, the friendliness is there," Ms. Rainey said. "We use body language."
Bertha Bunimovich, 80, who was born in Latvia, agrees. "I feel very good and safer because everybody has a care about you," she said.
Ms. Witkin makes certain that new residents in any of her villages have a cooperative spirit. "The idea is to set up a situation where older people will be there for each other, whether it's help with shopping or a sympathetic ear," she said. "Everything I've seen tells me they live longer that way."
Further information about Alternative Living for the Aging is available from (213) 650-7988.
 
Age-Integrated Co-Housing
 In the common yard shared by the 29 residents of the intergenerational co-housing village in Berkeley, a skateboard rested precariously on a picnic table; a nearby stroller awaited its 6-month-old passenger. "I get to hold him every day," a pleased Nina Falk, 67, said of her tiny neighbor.
It was 1992 when Ms. Falk joined a group that was planning the project, which was completed last June. She and most of the residents, which include couples and families, lived on site while the 14 units were being renovated or built from scratch.
Co-housing, a form of communal living in which residents design and manage their own housing complex, had its start in Denmark about a quarter-century ago. Thirty American projects are up and running, with 22 others under construction and 150 in the planning stages, said Charles Durrett, a co-owner of the Co-Housing Company, an architectural firm in Berkeley that is a clearing house for such projects. Mr. Durrett says the elderly are well represented in his plans: the number who have expressed interest in co-housing is far greater than their percentage in the population. He expects that will increase, he said -- and a 1996 American Association of Retired Persons survey of people 50 and over may prove him right: when asked where they preferred to live, 76 percent chose a mixed-age neighborhood over one of only people their own age.
Co-housing communities, which do not segregate by age or race, typically include a common house where residents share dinners a few times a week and meet to discuss the upkeep of the gardens and the shared laundry room. A co-housing community may be wooded and spacious, but it is not suburbia. There are no private lawns, and the homes, which range from separate cottages to two-family town houses, are clustered together. Prices in the Berkeley village range from about $125,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $220,000 for one with two bedrooms, office space and a deck. The price includes a one-14th share of the whole property, including the common grounds and common house. Decisions about common concerns, including the design for the village itself, are made by consensus.
"We've been through a lot together, and we've developed systems for getting along," Ms. Falk said. Some of those systems are formal: bulletin boards beside the washer-dryers record the loads so electrical costs can be divided up. A more elaborate board in the kitchen indicates who is responsible for cooking and cleaning up after the the common meal (held three nights a week).
Items on the agenda of each monthly meeting are posted in advance. When a dispute arises, all parties have up to three minutes to state their positions. If the dispute remains unsettled, a committee may be appointed. If all else fails, the village may call in an expert on conflict resolution. (So far, the only two unresolved issues are the village's name and a policy on pets.)
Ms. Zoeller said a major plus was the "diversity of personalities and types." "At the same time there was the intention of people to live together as neighbors, to make decisions based on the common good," she added. There was also a real respect for individuality and privacy."
"I found the young people's idealism to be very enriching," she added.  "It rekindled in me some of my former hopes and belief in change that I'd allowed to be stifled by life. As a telecommuter, I used to have little contact with the outside world. Here, there are others like me, people to have lunch with. Or if I decide to throw some laundry in, I run into mothers with young children who are doing the same thing and I get to see kids, then go back to my desk and get back to work."
More information on co-housing and village locations is available from the Co-Housing Company, (510)549-9980, www.cohousingco .com; the Co-Housing Network, (510) 486-2656, www.cohousing.org, publishes a magazine.
 
Marie's Place
 At some moment of the day, when the mood is upon him, Tony Lorenzo, 94, will retreat to his tiny, second-floor bedroom and put one of his 200 records on the phonograph. Beethoven or Bing Crosby, the music will be shared, willy-nilly, with his nine neighbors at Marie's Place, a large renovated Tudor former doctor's house in the Westerleigh section of Staten Island. Living on top of one other, as one resident commented, eases the loneliness, but also puts a premium on privacy.
The residents gather for the three daily meals prepared by their live-in manager-cook, Jeffrey Kantrowitz. Except for an occasional outing -- two residents still drive -- or a game of cards, they tend to keep to themselves or watch the big television set in the high-ceilinged living room, especially for "The Price Is Right."
Mr. Lorenzo, who calls himself a grouchy bachelor, allowed that the food at Marie's Place was good and that the residents felt like family.
Richmond Senior Services, a nonprofit agency, opened Marie's Place a year ago; it is one of several similar residences run by the group. "We had a group of these older men and no place to put them," said Dorothy Landau-Crawford, the executive director. Most of the people with houses to share were women, and a strange man was not what they had in mind. So Marie's Place, named after a board member, started out all-male. (It now has women, too.)
Residents pay $1,000 a month in return for meals, a room (which they are expected to furnish) and linens. Heavy cleaning, including rugs and windows, is provided; medical care is not. When residents can no longer take care of their rooms and themselves, they must leave. That happened when a man in an early stage of Alzheimer's disease summoned fire engines at 4 A.M., obeying, he said, his dead wife's instructions.
For Gaspare Russo, 87, a former longshoreman, Marie's Place is a safe harbor. His wife died two years ago, and a stroke and arthritis prevented him from living alone. He didn't want to move in with any of his sons. "I didn't want to spoil their marriages," he said. Shared housing was the solution.
"I take short walks, watch TV, talk with the others and eat lasagna," he said. "It's what I needed."
Information about Marie's Place and other shared housing sites operated by Richmond Senior Services is available from (718) 816-1811.

LOAD-DATE: December 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: No gap: Nina Falk, 67, and a neighbor at a "village" in Berkeley, Calif. (Terry Schmitt for The New York Times)(pg. F1); THE WARMTH OF COMPANY -- Home but not alone at Marie's Place. Left, Warren Davis and Jeff Kantrowitz, manager; right, Tony Lorenzo. (Photographs by James Rexroad for The New York Times)(pg. F9)

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December 18, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Doctors' Reliance on Technology Is Bringing House Calls to an End

BYLINE: By The Associated Press 

SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 361 words

Doctors' house calls are disappearing in the United States, in part because doctors have become dependent on modern medical technology, which they cannot carry in their black bags, researchers say.
An analysis of Medicare claims in 1993 found that fewer than 1 percent of elderly patients received house calls. Most of those patients were very sick, the researchers said in a study being published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. 
 The main reasons for the decline are low Medicare payments for house calls and the failure of medical schools to train students in low-technology diagnosis, said the study's chief author, Dr. Gregg Meyer of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.
In 1993, the study found, Medicare paid doctors an average of $87 per home visit, $3 more than for an office visit. But reimbursement has improved, and doctors now get about $20 more for a house call than for an office visit. Still, Dr. Meyer said, that does not cover the additional time and travel involved.
Even with higher Medicare payments, the number of home visits by doctors continues to decline, to 984,000 in 1996 from 1.6 million in 1988.
In part, that is because younger doctors are trained to rely more heavily on laboratory medical tests, said Dr. Thomas Cullen, a 60-year-old general surgeon in Gilford, N.H., who was not involved with the study.
"Not many of them are prepared to go to the home of an elderly patient and listen to her chest and say, 'I think she's developing pneumonia,' and prescribe antibiotics without the backup of a chest X-ray," he said.
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Edward Campion, a deputy editor of the medical journal, called for medical schools to resume training young doctors in how to make house calls.
Doctors who make house calls can get a more complete picture of the patient by seeing, for example, whether the person has food in the refrigerator or a ramp up the front steps, and is taking his or her medicine properly, Dr. Meyer said.
Before house calls disappear altogether, research is needed on whether they can save insurance companies money, Dr. Meyer said.

LOAD-DATE: December 18, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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The New York Times

December 19, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

U.S. Publishes First Guide To Treatment of Infertility

BYLINE: By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG 

SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 5; National Desk 

LENGTH: 801 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 18

In its first clinic-by-clinic guide to the confusing and often emotionally wrenching world of infertility treatment, the Government reported today that high-tech methods of conception failed 70 percent to 80 percent of the time.
The report was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta five years after Congress approved a measure requiring the agency to publish statistics for consumers on the pregnancy rates of infertility clinics. It provides data from 281 infertility programs around the country, including the percentages of multiple births, information about the diagnoses of patients and success rates categorized by age. 
 Using figures provided by the clinics, the agency reported that in 1995 doctors initiated 59,142 treatments using "assisted reproductive technology," or A.R.T. The treatments, which occur over the course of one month and are therefore called cycles, resulted in 11,315 live births.
Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, who sponsored the bill, described the report as an important step toward increased protections for infertility patients, who are often vulnerable and sometimes find themselves lured by emotional appeals from clinics that promise to help them have children.
The report said that in 78 percent of the cycles, fresh embryos from a couple's own egg and sperm were used, and most of those came from the procedure called in vitro fertilization, in which an egg and sperm are fertilized in a laboratory dish and transferred into the woman's uterus. In 14 percent of the cycles, frozen embryos were used and in 8 percent, donated eggs were used.
For women who tried to become pregnant using their own eggs, as opposed to a donor's, the report said the national "take-home baby rate" -- the percentage of births per cycle of treatment -- was 19.6 percent. The rate was higher, about 30 percent, for those who became pregnant with a donated egg, a procedure typically used for older women who are unable to produce eggs or whose eggs are of poor quality.
The statistics varied widely by clinic, with success rates ranging from 7 percent to more than 35 percent. Infertility experts cautioned, too, that the numbers could be deceiving; the success rates of any given clinic depend, in large part, on the number of patients treated, their age and their diagnoses.
"There is too much emphasis on numbers and not enough emphasis on patients," said Dr. Jamie A. Grifo, director of reproductive endocrinology at New York University Medical Center. "Some of my 43-year-olds have babies. I could make my pregnancy rates look better by not allowing them to cycle. So should I have refused them treatment?"
At Dr. Grifo's clinic, for example, the overall take-home baby rate was 37.5 percent, when adjusted for the patient's age. But for women under 35, the rate was 45.9 percent. For women 35 to 39, the rate fell to 38.6 percent, and it dropped to 13.8 percent for women older than 39.
The agency avoided ranking the clinics, said Dr. Lynne Wilcox, who directs the agency's division of reproductive health. The report, Dr. Wilcox said, is simply "a starting place" to help consumers decide if they want to use reproductive technology. It is not meant to compare one clinic against the next, she said.
Even so, Dr. Grifo and others have said they are concerned that with so much emphasis on statistics, some clinics might change the way they treat patients, turning away women who may be most in need of help because they fear it will hurt their numbers. For that reason, some experts urged Congress not to get into the business of infertility reporting.
"I testified against it," said Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. "I was not in favor of it because I felt that any legislation regarding reporting of statistics was going to affect practice in some way."
Dr. Rosenwaks is a past president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, which since 1989 has published data similar to the report by the disease control centers, and helped publish today's report.
But advocates for the infertile said there were two advantages to the agency's report: it is easier to understand, and it will be provided free by the Government. The society's report cost $35. "With this report, you can compare how you do nationally, which really puts it in a context," said Diane Aronson, executive director of Resolve, an advocacy group for the infertile that also joined in publishing the report. "You can say, 'O.K., I have endometriosis, I'm 37, what are my chances?' "
The report is available on the World Wide Web, at www.cdc.gov/ nccdphp/drh/arts/index.htm. Or copies can be obtained from Resolve by calling (888) 299-1585.

LOAD-DATE: December 19, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Graphs: "BY THE NUMBERS: Tackling Infertility" shows pregnancy rates in 1995 for women who used procedures like in vitro fertilization to try to conceive. (Source: Centers for Disease Contol and Prevention)
      

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The New York Times

December 20, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
PASTER, FRANCES (NEE KASS)

SECTION: Section D; Page 16; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 80 words

PASTER-Frances (nee Kass). On December 19, 1997. Beloved wife of the late Aaron. Loving mother of Fredi Pomerance and Leslie Slocum. Cherished grandmother of Janice and Yoji Nimura. Beloved sister and aunt. Friends may call Saturday, December 20 7-9PM Frank E. Campbell, 1076 Madison Ave at 81 Street. Service Sunday December 21, 2PM at Frank E. Campbell. Contributions in her memory may be made to the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, 225 E. 93rd St, NY, NY 10128.

LOAD-DATE: December 20, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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The New York Times

December 21, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Paid Notice: Deaths
PASTER, FRANCES (NEE KASS)

SECTION: Section 1; Page 51; Column 3; Classified

LENGTH: 80 words

PASTER-Frances (nee Kass). On December 19, 1997. Beloved wife of the late Aaron. Loving mother of Fredi Pomerance and Leslie Slocum. Cherished grandmother of Janice and Yoji Nimura. Beloved sister and aunt. Friends may call Saturday, December 20 7-9PM Frank E. Campbell, 1076 Madison Ave at 81 Street. Service Sunday December 21, 2PM at Frank E. Campbell. Contributions in her memory may be made to the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, 225 E. 93rd St, NY, NY 10128.

LOAD-DATE: December 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

TYPE: Paid Death Notice

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616 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

December 21, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Commercial Property/Lodging;
For Many City Hotels, Some Guests Are Permanent

BYLINE: By JOHN HOLUSHA 

SECTION: Section 11; Page 9; Column 1; Real Estate Desk 

LENGTH: 1456 words

THIS is a profitable time to be in the hotel business, with occupancy levels nationwide nearing record levels. It's an even better time to be in the hotel business in New York, where most hotels are effectively full from Monday to Friday. Average occupancy this year was a record 85.5 percent, according to a survey by Coopers & Lybrand's lodging and gaming consulting practice. And average daily room rates rose 9 percent to $175 this year, as hotel operators took advantage of booming demand.
Within this outpouring of prosperity to hotel owners and operators, and scarcity for people who want to visit New York, is a curiosity produced by the city's rent regulations: hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hotel rooms are permanently occupied by residents who pay only a fraction of the rates paid by overnight guests. 
 "I have people paying $200 a month for rooms I could rent for $200 a night," said Bernard Goldberg, the chief executive of the Gotham Hospitality Group, which operates five remodeled hotels in Manhattan. All have permanent, rent-regulated residents.
Many of these occupants are elderly people who have had no other home for a long time. Hotel operators say most are reluctant to leave even if financial incentives are offered, especially since as hotels are renovated they become even more attractive places to live.
Don Lewis, the owner of the Riverside Tower Hotel at Riverside Drive and 80th Street, said his informal research found that about one-third of the approximately 100 hotels in New York City have permanent residents. These rooms, Mr. Lewis said, constitute an invisible hotel the size of the 1,400-room Waldorf-Astoria that could be added to the 65,000 rooms now available to accommodate visitors but for the legal restrictions. The Riverside Tower has 120 rooms, with 18 occupied by rent-regulated tenants.
"It would benefit the city mightily if more middle-class tourists were able to visit here," he said. "But at this point we are full, so a lot of these people are locked out." He said that because business and tourist visitors tend to spend much more on food and entertainment than permanent residents do, the city loses tax revenues and businesses lose potential sales when their numbers are restricted because of a lack of available rooms.
Tenant advocates, however, note that these residents have a legal right to their rooms and that coercion to remove them can constitute illegal harassment. "There is pressure on tenants, and it is directly correlated to the conditions of the market," said Karen Stamm, managing attorney for the East Side SRO Legal Services Project. "During the slump, things were easier for tenants."
One tenant, Bern Marcowitz, said he had been a permanent resident of the Roger Williams Hotel, a Gotham property, for almost a decade, and described it simply as his home. "This is my legal residence," he said. He said officials of the company wanted to relocate him while the hotel's recent renovation was under way, but he declined.  "I was not coerced," he said, "although they may try to raise my rent based on the investment in the building."
Nobody doubts that if hotel operators had more rooms available, they could rent them immediately. "New York is not only one of the tightest hotel markets in the country, it is one of the tightest in the world," said Francis J. Nardozza, national hospitality director for KPMG Peat Marwick. "From Monday to Friday it is virtually impossible to get rooms in the better-known hotels in the city."
He said the recovery was all the more remarkable because hotels could be purchased for what he described as "bottom basement prices" as little as four years ago.
Rent-regulated hotel rooms are largely a New York phenomenon, said Daniel Lesser, national director of hospitality services for Cushman & Wakefield. "As you survey the land, you don't find many places that have the residential rent controls that New York has," he said. And those regulations are not likely to change, since the State Legislature approved a six-year extension this summer.
A thousand or more rooms held off the tourist market? "That figure does not surprise me in the least," said Arthur Adler, who follows the New York market for Coopers & Lybrand. "It's a holdover from the days when these hotels were residential, and rent controls still apply. Hotels like the Barbizon were places where aspiring actresses lived when they came to the city. They may not be aspiring anymore, but they are still there."
Clearly, having rent-regulated permanent tenants occupying rooms that could be rented to affluent visitors affects the financial values of a property. "Permanent residents have a negative impact on hotel valuation," said Michael Fishbin, a hotel specialist with E&Y Kenneth Leventhal, a consulting company. "A property would have a higher value if those rooms were available for transient use."
HE said placing a value on a hotel was a combination of analyzing cash flow and making some estimates about how long it would be before the rent-regulated rooms would become available for tourists, as well as other subjective factors. "You want to look at the rooms to see if they are the smaller units," he said. "If they are grouped on the lower floors? Can you buy out the tenants or group them in one part of the building? These are all factors."
Even if the rooms become available, they may not be immediately suitable for the tourist trade. Many of the rent-regulated rooms in older hotels do not have their own bathrooms; the tenants must share one down the hall with other residents. Since renovating a room at a time is usually not practical, many will stay empty even after being vacated, industry analysts say, until enough can be combined.
"It is not as simple as vacating a unit and converting it to transient use," Mr. Adler said. "You have to redo rooms in blocks."
Nevertheless, the demand for hotel rooms is providing a powerful incentive for developers to supply them. Several new hotels are under way and, according to Coopers & Lybrand, 15 major renovations are under way or recently completed. Not all involved rent-regulated units, but many do.
"The only way to treat these people is well and with respect," Mr. Goldberg said. "You have to renovate around them and give them the same services as everybody else, like changing the sheets every day. Being obnoxious leads to immense trouble."
Ian Schrager, who will have to deal with over 150 permanent tenants in his newly acquired 1,000-room Henry Hudson Hotel on West 58th Street, said that to make sense an acquisition has to be financially viable even if all the tenants remain. His Ian Schrager Hotels plans to convert the building to a budget hotel, with rooms renting for about $75 a night.
"The numbers have to work with all the tenants staying there," he said. "If they don't, you should not make the acquisition. That, to me, is the threshold issue."
He said that in some cases tenants were offered financial incentives to move on, but added that "we are dealing with people's homes, so we don't always get a rational business decision." He said people who wanted to stay in their existing rooms would be able to do so, even though moving all the permanent residents to a few floors might simplify the renovation.
Not all property owners have been as enlightened, tenant advocates are quick to point out. "Landlords hired professional thugs to get people out of buildings," Ms. Stamm said. "We were able to prosecute them for theft of leasehold."
Even now, she said, renovation can be difficult for permanent residents. "These people are under siege, with jackhammers going at all hours," she said. "If the electricity goes off or the plumbing fails, they are the ones affected."
As a result of past offenses, tenants have more weapons at hand today. One is a "Certification of No Harassment" from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which is required on some projects before a developer can file plans with the Buildings Department.
"If a building is to be converted or upgraded, the owner cannot do so unless there is a determination of no harassment," said Miriam Calabro, a supervising lawyer at the department. "We post announcements, mail notices and do field investigations to find if there has been harassment." She said the investigators tried to talk with tenants who have been gone from the building as long as three years, to find evidence of tough tactics.
Armed with tools like this, tenants can make owners' lives miserable if they feel ill used, Mr. Schrager observed. "The tenants are protected and they have to be treated sensitively," he said. "That's a fact of life in New York."

LOAD-DATE: December 21, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: Don Lewis, owner of the Riverside Tower Hotel (left), says that about one-third of the city's hotels have permanent residents. (Photographs by Frances Roberts for The New York Times)

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

December 22, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

BUSINESS DIGEST

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 559 words


Managed-Care Companies Trim Benefits for Elderly
Managed-care companies nationwide are starting to cut some of the generous benefits that millions of elderly Americans on Medicare counted on when they signed up with health maintenance organizations. 
 Because of rising drug costs and a lid set by Congress on next year's payments to Medicare H.M.O.'s, some plans are beginning to charge monthly premiums or are increasing fees. And a few are eliminating some of the most popular features: free drugs, eyeglasses and dental care.  Page A1.
 
Opportunity in Digital TV
A plan by the nation's largest cable television companies to buy 15 million digital set-top boxes could sharply accelerate the delivery of new digital services to viewers. But the deal also heralds a race by computer companies to enter the far larger television business.  D2.
 
College Computer Plan Under Fire
A proposal to give a consortium formed by four giant technology companies the exclusive right to modernize and maintain the computer and telecommunications infrastructure of the California State University system has spurred resistance on some of the system's 23 campuses.  D3.
 
Marketing in Virtual Reality
An Indiana University professor has developed computer software that enables consumers to stroll virtual supermarket aisles stocked with laundry detergent, toilet paper and breakfast cereal. The "shoppers" select products that appeal to them, while researchers tally the results.  D3.
 
New Names in Almanacs
Even in the era of CD-ROM's and the Internet, publishers remain enthusiastic about the business of almanacs. Two new titles are entering the market, bringing the total to four.  D10.
 
Health Magazine a Hit in Russia
A new magazine, meant to enlighten Russian men on diets and romance while offering news-you-can-use articles on subjects like "How to Win a Drunken Fight," was a surprise hit when it was introduced last week. The first 50,000 copies of Men's Health were snapped up in Moscow and other cities even before the publisher began promoting the title.  D10.
 
Rides Push Entertainment Envelope
A pair of motion-simulator rides soon to open in Las Vegas not only push technological limits but embody two different answers to the question of how a multimedia attraction can best entertain. One uses electronic gadgetry to assault the senses with fantasy visions, the other to create the most lifelike experience possible. Entertainment.  D10.
 
Taxing Matters on the Web
Consider a visit to a few tax sites on the World Wide Web in the next few days. The money you save on taxes by taking advantage of moves no longer available after Dec. 31 could pay those mounting bills for presents and parties.  D7.
 
Cults and Their Adherents
Technology and religion sometimes seem to be woven from similar cloth, as some technocrats argue that technology promises salvation, or at least transformation. In a new book, a Canadian history professor argues that the connection between technology and religion is, in fact, a fundamental one. Edward Rothstein: Connections.  D3.
 
Advertisers Bring on New Shops
A flurry of activity by large marketers in the year's waning days means accounts with total billings in excess of $325 million will change hands. Stuart Elliott: Advertising.  D12.

LOAD-DATE: December 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Chart: "YESTERDAY"
Dow Industrials -- 7,756.29 Down 89.01
30-yr. Treasury yield -- 5.92% Unchanged
The Dollar -- 128.93 yen Down 1.52

TYPE: Summary

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618 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

December 22, 1997, Monday, Late Edition - Final

MEDICARE H.M.O.'S TO TRIM BENEFITS FOR THE ELDERLY

BYLINE: By MILT FREUDENHEIM  

SECTION: Section A;  Page 1;  Column 6;  Business/Financial Desk  

LENGTH: 1941 words

Managed-care companies nationwide are starting to cut some of the generous benefits that millions of elderly Americans on Medicare counted on when they signed up with health maintenance organizations.
The health plans have become popular because they fill many of the biggest gaps in Medicare, notably costs for prescription drugs, which otherwise have to be covered by expensive supplemental policies known as Medigap insurance or out-of-pocket cash. Best of all, there is often no charge, or only a modest one, to belong to one of these Medicare H.M.O.'s. The cost is largely paid by the Government, which has tried to save money by applying managed-care methods to soaring Medicare expenses. 
 But because of rising drug costs and a cap set by Congress on next year's payments to Medicare H.M.O.'s, many of the plans are rewriting the rules. Some are charging monthly premiums for the first time or are sharply raising fees. And a few are eliminating some of the most popular features: free drugs, eyeglasses and dental care.
Gloria Blevins, 75, a part-time nurse in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., received a letter this month from Senior Options, a unit of First Option Health Plan, saying it was ending her coverage for prescription drugs, eye examinations and dental care. Ms. Blevins said her arthritis medicine alone cost $120 a month.
"I'm desperate," she said. "How do I afford it? If I stop the medication, I get stiff as a board."
Dennis Wilson, a spokesman for First Option, which has 12,000 Medicare H.M.O. members in New Jersey and is based in Neptune, said revenues from Medicare "were not covering our medical expenses and drug expenses."
While Medicare H.M.O.'s have tinkered with benefits in the past, the changes that are being announced amount to the first widespread cutbacks. They will take effect on Jan. 1.
"If plans are making major reductions in benefits," or charging more for the same benefits, "that would be a reversal of the trends we have seen in the 90's," said Patricia Newman, director of the Medicare Policy Project at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
One of the biggest national managed-care companies, Humana Inc., told Wall Street analysts earlier this month that it planned to triple the fees that members pay for some brand-name drugs.
"Other H.M.O.'s will be making similar announcements," said Mimi Willard, a health care analyst with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. "It is going to be widespread."
Many health care experts think the Government's payments to Medicare H.M.O.'s have been unjustifiably high in certain parts of the country, including New York, Miami and Southern California, and in effect have rewarded inefficiency, said Marilyn Moon, a Medicare expert with the Urban Institute in Washington. Congress's decision to curb the payments "was a necessary thing to do," Ms. Moon said, "but a real hardship for some people who made a decision to go into these plans."
In the end, added Ms. Willard of Donaldson, Lufkin, the Government's austerity move "will boomerang onto the elderly, who will be left with less complete coverage and higher medical bills."
And many may find themselves with little recourse, experts say. H.M.O. members who want to switch back to a traditional fee-for-service Medicare approach may be turned down for Medigap coverage if they have health problems, said John Rother, legislative director of the American Association of Retired Persons. Others may wind up paying a lot more for a new Medigap policy than if they had kept their old policies. That is because most insurers tie their Medigap rates to an applicant's age on the theory that an older policyholder is more likely to have higher health costs.
The changes have important national policy implications, too. Congress and the Clinton Administration are counting on managed care to help slow Federal spending on Medicare, reduce budget deficits and stave off perceived threats of bankruptcy in the program, which faces spiraling costs as the baby-boomer generation ages.
But if the benefit cutbacks are widely copied, they could put a damper on the rapid growth in Medicare H.M.O. enrollment, which has increased by more than one million in the last 12 months. The plans now cover 5.9 million people, or almost one in six of the 38 million elderly and disabled Americans eligible for Medicare.
The effect of the changes will not be felt equally across the country. In states like Minnesota, where health costs are relatively low, Medicare H.M.O.'s have not become a big factor. By contrast, the plans have tended to proliferate in states like California, Florida and New York, where costs are the highest. Medicare payments, which are based on those costs, have been high enough in those states to make it possible for H.M.O.'s to offer liberal benefits.
That will become harder to do, however, as the new payment levels take effect. In passing balanced budget legislation earlier this year, Congress approved a payment increase to Medicare H.M.O.'s for 1998 of just 2 percent to 3 percent more than the 1997 level. That compares with a 5.9 percent increase in 1997 and a 10.1 percent rise in 1996.
Many Medicare H.M.O.'s are still deciding how to react to the new payment level, and it is unclear just how many policyholders will be affected. But premium increases or benefit cutbacks have already been announced by H.M.O.'s in California, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states.
"Plans are finding themselves between a rock and a hard place," said Bruce Fried, director of the Federal Center for Health Plans and Providers, which oversees Medicare H.M.O.'s.
In California, Fred Perkins, a 70-year-old retired shop mechanic for United Airlines, said that Aetna Inc. had recently called and said that his Medicare H.M.O. premiums would be raised to $49.50 a month from nothing. He said he had been told that premiums were being raised in San Mateo County, where he lives, "because Aetna was not making enough money here."
Mr. Perkins said it would be hard for many elderly people to break longstanding ties with doctors they trusted to switch to another H.M.O., which might raise premiums later.
Jill Griffiths, an Aetna spokeswoman, said Medicare reimbursement did not fully cover expenses in San Mateo County. She said Aetna was raising premiums in some places and lowering them in other cities.
"One thing we are looking to do is maintain or enhance our profit margins," Ms. Griffiths said.
For each Medicare member, healthy or not, managed-care companies receive a monthly fee from the Government that is slightly lower than the per-capita cost of all Medicare spending in a given county. In high-cost New York City, Medicare pays as much as $671 a month for each H.M.O. member, essentially subsidizing zero premiums and generous drug benefits.
But Oxford Health Plans, a big, financially troubled H.M.O., said earlier this month that Medicare payments were inadequate to cover its costs in downstate New York counties. Oxford did not say what it would do about the problem.
Even with higher premiums, the typical Medicare H.M.O. will charge less than the traditional Medigap policies available in its region -- at least for now. Monthly premiums for Medigap policies range from $23 for basic coverage in rural New Mexico to $183, including prescription drugs, in Southern California. Still, if an H.M.O. policyholder is suddenly without coverage for drugs, any saving in premiums could be quickly eaten up by a mountain of bills for prescriptions.
Prescription drugs are one of the biggest concerns for people older than 65, and many elderly people have supplementary private drug coverage, often subsidized by former employers.
Mike Megarian, 81, a retired rancher in Coalinga in central California, said he and his wife had joined a Blue Cross plan without a premium in August to "save ourselves some money and get the benefits," which included free drugs, eyeglasses and dental care. A few weeks ago, California Blue Cross announced a $65 monthly premium and eliminated the drug, vision and dental coverage for the Megarians and several thousand others.
"This really made us mad," Mr. Megarian said. "We let our good policy go and signed up with this. We didn't think that after three months they were going to start raising prices."
A Blue Cross spokeswoman said the Medicare payments were "too low to cover what we were paying out to customers" in four California counties. Another Blue Cross executive said unhappy H.M.O. members were being "encouraged to call local agencies that can advise them on other competitive plans."
Indeed, Leonard Schaeffer, chairman of Wellpoint Health Plans, the parent of California Blue Cross, has said that Medicare H.M.O.'s are not good for his business. He has "shied away" from expanding in that area, said Cynthia Coulter, a Wellpoint spokeswoman.
Many health plans try to keep drug costs down by charging a few dollars for low-priced generic drugs, twice as much for selected brands for which the H.M.O. receives a rebate and much more for more costly drugs.
Actuarial consultants who help big companies negotiate with health plans on behalf of retired employees say that individuals, not big employers, will pay most of the increases in Medicare H.M.O. premiums. Indeed, after Congress voted to slow the growth of Medicare spending, many companies quickly demanded a freeze on 1998 premium rates for their retirees, said George Wagoner, a health care actuary in Richmond at William Mercer, a consulting firm.
That does not please consumer advocates. "The big companies have leverage, so everybody else ends up paying more," said Diane Archer, executive director of the Medicare Rights Center in New York. "Medicare is supposed to provide the same care to everyone at the same price."
Large employers often insist on an unlimited drug benefit for retirees. Mark Schafer, the health insurance administrator for 48,000 members of the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System, said health plans could manipulate the drug benefit to get rid of expensive, sicker members.
"If an H.M.O. could get away with offering little or limited prescription drugs," Mr. Schafer said, "it could encourage people whose health has deteriorated to leave the H.M.O. It would be too easy for the H.M.O.'s to make themselves unattractive to a group of people who are heavy utilizers of health care."
One H.M.O. said it would no longer provide unlimited drug coverage for the Pennsylvania retirees, Mr. Schafer said, adding, "We told them that was not acceptable." The H.M.O., Keystone Health Plan Central, then raised the monthly premium 133 percent, to $72.75, and doubled the payment for each prescription, to $20, Mr. Schafer said.
Brian Herrmann, a spokesman for Keystone, a joint venture of Pennsylvania Blue Shield and Capital Blue Cross based in Harrisburg, said the H.M.O. had raised monthly premiums and eliminated drug coverage for individual members in five counties.
"We've had to make some changes based on the Medicare reimbursement and primarily based on the cost of drugs," he said. He said that expensive new drugs were constantly being introduced and that drug use in general had increased.
Pamela Hastie, a principal in Chicago with Buck Consultants, said most H.M.O.'s "didn't anticipate the sharp increase in drug costs -- they are much greater for retirees than for active employees."
Whatever the reason for the changes, many policyholders are not taking the news well.
"It's a rip-off of the people who are most vulnerable," said Mr. Perkins, the retired shop mechanic.      

LOAD-DATE: December 22, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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The New York Times

December 23, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final

THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING;
Efforts are under way to change the image of older consumers as tradition-bound tightwads.

BYLINE: By Stuart Elliott 

SECTION: Section D; Page 7; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 948 words

EFFORTS to interest advertisers, agencies and the media in older consumers are being redefined to make the older audience, well, younger.
For almost two decades, there have been initiatives aimed at burnishing the image of consumers in their 60's and 70's to counter perceptions of them as tradition-bound tightwads. Those attempts have made some headway -- think high-fiber cereals and decaffeinated beverages -- but not enough to offset the longtime obsession on Madison Avenue with youth who are believed to spend more freely and have more malleable brand preferences and buying habits. 
 So now, those trying to bolster appeals to the so-called mature market are increasingly portraying that demographic segment as beginning with people in their 50's. That reinterpretation seeks to revitalize the market by including the baby-boom generation, the 76 million Americans born from 1946 through 1964 who are turning 50 at a rate of one every seven to eight seconds.
However, seeking to expand the mature market by counting the estimated 10,000 boomers a day who celebrate a 50th birthday runs a risk: the boomers are notoriously Peter Pan-like in refusing if not to grow up then not to grow old.
"The focus has been on the younger audience because that's where the fun seems to be," said Louis Van Leeuwen, managing partner of Fifty Something Marketing, a shop in Riverside, Conn., being started by several longtime advertising and agency executives.
"But by 2000," he added, "Americans 55 and older will have twice the discretionary income of those who are 18 to 34."
One advertiser presenting younger older people is the VF Corporation, in a campaign for Vanity Fair lingerie recently introduced by the Martin Agency in Richmond, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. One print ad begins: "How could you know, when you were 20 and impossibly sexy and unable to imagine yourself otherwise, that time would teach you something. That age is not a loss but an exchange: of wisdom for youth, grace for foolishness, love for lust."
"Important companies are beginning to accept that there is an aging America and they will start to lose share of market if they do not adjust their advertising messages," said Leda Sanford, vice president and senior editorial director of the targeted marketing division at the Age Wave Communications Corporation in Emeryville, Calif., which concentrates on older demographic groups.
"The force of the boomer wave is what will change what America feels about aging," she added.
For instance, for the Miracle-Ear hearing aids sold by the Dahlberg Inc. division of Bausch & Lomb Inc., Age Wave is designing a publication, titled Better and Better, that will seek to capitalize on what Ms. Sanford described as "a much more pro-active approach to aging" among boomers that differs from attitudes among the boomers' parents.
"A 70-year-old accepts deafness as part of aging," Ms. Sanford asserted, "but it's our belief deafness is something boomers will not accept. The boomers fight back and want to solve problems."
The contrast between the younger old and the older old will be even more pronounced among women, Ms. Sanford declared, because "when a 40-year-old woman turns 55 now, she will have for the most part worked." "She will be proficient," Ms. Sanford added. "Nobody will push her around."
To reflect that, Age Wave has introduced a younger version of Always on the Go!, a magazine aimed at women in their 50's that is published for the Buick division of the General Motors Corporation. The new magazine, Get Up and Go!, is directed at working women ages 40 to 50.
The CBS television network unit of the CBS Corporation has been working hard to convince Madison Avenue to rethink demographic definitions to consider baby-boom age groups like 35 to 54 as well as younger age groups like 18 to 34.
One reason is the median age of CBS's viewers: 52.4, the oldest of any of the six broadcast networks, according to a study released last week by BJK&E Media, a unit of Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt.
"The baby boomers have established the cultural and social agenda of this country since they were in school," said David Poltrack, executive vice president for planning and research at CBS Television in New York. "They're not going to concede that leadership position as they break 50."
He added, "There will be a degree of affluence and consumption with boomers as a 50-plus generation that no 50-plus generation has had."
Besides, Mr. Poltrack asserted, age ought not to be deemed "an absolute determinant of whether someone is in the market for a product or not," adding, "Income, education and family size are more important."
Those involved in boosting boomers into the ranks of the mature market are aware of the pitfalls.
"The boomer is not going gently into that good night and will continue to gravitate to youthful images," Ms. Sanford said. "As we're getting older, we want to be perceived as younger."
At the same time, she added, "some of the best ad agencies in the world are afraid of 'contaminating' the younger part of the market: if they do things right for the older market and the younger people see it, they worry younger people will be turned off." That is important because the boomers' children are becoming an important market for products like cosmetics, movies, snack foods and soft drinks.
And while "the concept is gaining momentum," Mr. Van Leeuwen said, so far only "a small fraction" of marketers are "beginning to see the light" about the mature market.
"You can't sell everything to everybody," he added. "I can't sell you a car if you're not in the market for it."
      

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December 23, 1997, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

FILM REVIEW;
Forget the Mittens; They're Wrapped In Life and Loss

BYLINE: By STEPHEN HOLDEN 

SECTION: Section E; Page 5; Column 1; The Arts/Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 778 words

Phyllida Law and Emma Thompson bear such a remarkable physical resemblance that if you didn't know these wonderful British actresses are actually mother and daughter, you could almost imagine that the same person wearing different makeup and aided by trick photography was playing both their roles in "The Winter Guest." In this solemnly talky film, adapted by Sharman Macdonald (with the director Alan Rickman) from his play, Ms. law and Ms. Thompson are Elspeth and Frances, a mother and her recently widowed daughter who spend a frigid winter day trudging through the bleakly beautiful landscape around a Scottish seaside town.
It is so cold that even the sea around the village has frozen solid. And the film, with cinematography by Seamus McGarvey, luxuriously drinks in a magnificent desolation that conjures up somber thoughts of mortality and human loss. Frances, a professional photographer, is still grieving over the death from an unidentified illness of her dashing husband, whose pictures crowd the mantelpiece of the roomy cottage she shares with her teen-age son, Alex (Gary Hollywood). When Elspeth arrives uninvited to offer emotional support, Frances is not happy to see her. And half the dialogue during their hike consists of petty bickering over matters like Frances's short, allegedly unalluring haircut. 
 A fussy, sentimental exercise in theatrical counterpoint, "The Winter Guest" interweaves Elspeth's and Frances's dialogues with simultaneous little dramas in the lives of three other pairs of villagers. Lily (Sheila Reid) and Chloe (Sandra Voe), two elderly women, take a bus to a nearby town to attend a funeral. While Frances is out of the house, her bashful son brings home Nita (Arlene Cockburn), a brash tomboyish new girl in town for his first serious kiss. Meanwhile, Sam (Douglas Murphy) and Tom (Sean Biggerstaff), two pubescent schoolboys, hang out together exchanging bogus sexual lore that prompts Tom to conduct an excruciating experiment involving some fiery ointment. He also saves an abandoned kitten.
It is easy to see why Mr. Rickman, a talented English actor who personifies a rakish literary worldliness, was drawn to "The Winter Guest" as his first directorial feature. With its four pairs of seaside partners seen at various stages of life, the play offers tour-de-force acting opportunities. And the film's verbal pas de deux are so polished and fine-tuned that they go a long way toward camouflaging the creaky portentousness of much of the dialogue. Elspeth, who has a voracious appetite for life despite signs of failing health, looks at her well-creased face in the mirror and remarks that she can't reconcile that face with the fact that inside she is still 17. It's one of the movie's many heavily underlined reflections on youth and age.
The dramatic tension between Elspeth and Frances hinges on a question that hangs teasingly (and falsely) in the air and is not answered until the film's end: Is Frances planning to leave her grief (and her mother) behind and move to Australia? In an equally false moment, Alex's imminent loss of virginity is suddenly pre-empted by his glancing up at a picture of his father, who seems to be staring at him. The boy explains sheepishly that he thinks his father has been haunting the house.
As the movie goes along, its stiff upper lip quickly begins to tremble and then to flutter. By the end, it has degenerated into an unabashedly mushy assertion of ties of need that bind us together. Somehow those ties make everybody in the movie bizarrely oblivious of the climate. If it is the coldest day of the year, why is no one wearing gloves, a hat or ear covering? And why does no one's breath come out white in the freezing air? Could it be those hot salty tears that the characters are just barely able to suppress have created a freakish momentary thaw?
"The Winter Guest" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It contains sexual situations and some profanity.

THE WINTER GUEST
 
Directed by Alan Rickman; written by Mr. Rickman and Sharman Macdonald; director of photography, Seamus McGarvey; edited by Scott Thomas; music by Michael Kamen; production designer, Robin Cameron Don; produced by Ken Lipper, Edward R. Pressman and Steve Clark-Hall; released by Fine Line Features. At the Paris Fine Arts Theater, 4 West 58th Street, Manhattan. Running time: 110 minutes. This film is rated R.
 
WITH: Phyllida Law (Elspeth), Emma Thompson (Frances), Gary Hollywood (Alex), Arlene Cockburn (Nita), Sheila Reid (Lily), Sandra Voe (Chloe), Douglas Murphy (Sam), Sean Biggerstaff (Tom) and Tom Watson (the Minister).

LOAD-DATE: December 23, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: December 24, 1997, Wednesday

 CORRECTION:
A film review of "The Winter Guest" yesterday referred incorrectly to the author and co-adapter of the play on which the film is based. Sharman Macdonald is a woman, not a man.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Emma Thompson, left, and her real-life mother, Phyllida Law, as a grieving widow and her supportive mother in "The Winter Guest." (Clive Coote/Fine Line Features)

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December 24, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

There's Been No Rush for Medical Savings Accounts, but Idea Is Gaining Favor

BYLINE: By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM 

SECTION: Section A; Page 11; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1151 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 23

Republicans believe medical savings accounts are a sensible way to cut health insurance costs for the Government and private employers, to provide more affordable coverage for those who are uninsured and to help consumers save money.
Democrats, though, see these accounts -- which involve tax-free savings and low-cost, high-deductible medical insurance -- as a tax break for the healthy and wealthy and a potential trap for unwary workers and some of the elderly. 
 Unable to resolve their differences, President Clinton and Congress agreed in 1996 to begin a four-year pilot project this year to determine how medical savings accounts would work in practice, as opposed to theory. Beginning next year, the project will be expanded to include a limited number of retirees covered by Medicare.
The test in the private market has been under way for a year, and the early returns are in. They show that far fewer people than Republicans hoped or Democrats feared have decided to participate. But there is evidence the idea may be picking up steam.
"Expectations of rapid growth may simply have been unrealistic," concluded the General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress. But in a draft of a report that was sent to Congress this month but has not been made public, the auditing agency added, "Insurers indicated that sales have been steadily increasing over the past few months."
Here is how medical savings accounts work:
Consumers buy (or their employers or the Government, in the case of Medicare, pay for) relatively inexpensive medical insurance that covers them fully against very expensive illness or injury. But this medical insurance pays nothing for as much as the first $2,250 in annual medical expenses for individuals or $4,500 for families.
Edwin Hustead, an actuary here who studies medical insurance, said that the premiums for such policies were generally about 25 percent lower than premiums for conventional insurance with low deductibles or managed-care plans.
For some, the saving may be even more. Joan Jacobson, an employee benefits consultant in San Francisco, said that for a single person under 30 in her area, a high-deductible plan cost only $51 a month, 40 percent less than the $85 a month for a Blue Cross policy.
Part of the money saved from the lower premiums is placed in a tax-free account in the consumer's name, somewhat like an individual retirement account or a 401(k) retirement plan.
The money in the account can be invested and allowed to accumulate from year to year. It can be withdrawn without owing taxes to meet uncovered medical expenses -- not just doctor and hospital bills up to the deductible, but even the cost of treatments like cosmetic surgery, dental care and psychological counseling not covered by ordinary medical insurance.
Consumers can also withdraw the money for nonmedical purposes, but then it is taxed and subject to an additional 15 percent penalty.
Such accounts could be a good deal for healthy people or those affluent enough that they do not have to worry about unexpected out-of-pocket medical costs. Government statistics show that each year about 10 percent of Americans incur 70 percent of all medical expenses. Even among the elderly, 17 percent of those covered by Medicare in a typical year do not file a single claim.
But people who are less well-off could be devastated if they took the risk that they would not get sick and were hit with doctor and hospital bills that were several thousand dollars more than what had accumulated in their savings account.
And some experts in the economics of health care worry that if enough healthy people sign up for medical savings accounts, the result would be much higher premiums for people and companies that stick with ordinary insurance policies.
When lawmakers set up the test program last year, the White House feared that so many people might sign up that the Government would suffer a significant loss of tax revenue, so strict limits were imposed.
The only people eligible are those who are self-employed or who work for companies with fewer than 50 employees. The law specified that no more than 525,000 medical savings accounts would be allowed nationally in the first six months of this year.
Many fewer people than that have signed up. The Internal Revenue Service found that only 22,051 accounts had been set up by June 30. Of those, 3,670, or 17 percent, were opened by people who had not previously been insured.
The General Accounting Office found that consumers had been cautious because of "the complexity of the product and a lack of understanding" about how medical savings accounts worked. The audit also discovered that many insurance brokers and agents were not selling the policies aggressively because the sales pitch for a new product took time and because commissions on low-premium insurance are less than commissions on conventional policies.
But proponents have taken heart in the fact that twice as many accounts were opened in May and June as in the first four months of the year. Many more have been opened since then. American Banker magazine reported last month that its survey had found that about 100,000 accounts had been opened nationwide.
A spokesman at Golden Rule Insurance Company of Indianapolis, the leading underwriter of high-deductible medical insurance policies, said that its customers alone had opened 19,000 medical savings accounts this year.
The company is a big financial supporter of Republican politicians. In the 1996 election campaign, Golden Rule, its executives and its employees donated more than $480,000 to the Republican Party and Republican candidates, according to the Committee for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group.
No one knows yet the characteristics of those who are opening the accounts -- whether they are primarily wealthy professionals, as Democrats suspect, or mostly people with modest incomes who are looking for a way to cut their insurance costs, as Republicans believe.
That will be studied, a Treasury Department official said, after 1997 income tax returns are filed in April.
One of the main Congressional advocates of medical savings accounts, Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said in an interview that he was encouraged by the pilot project.
"As is customary with any new product, the start was relatively slow," Mr. Archer said, "but demand is increasing as the sellers and the individuals covered learned more about it."
But Representative Pete Stark of California, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means panel's health subcommittee, said he expected the pilot project to be the death knell for medical savings accounts.
"It's a whacky idea," Mr. Stark said, "and they will be sold only to people who are bamboozled by slick insurance salesmen."
      

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December 24, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

High-Fat Diet for Men Is Linked to Fewer Strokes

BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY 

SECTION: Section A; Page 14; Column 3; National Desk 

LENGTH: 1123 words

A long-term study has found that men who eat more fat, including more saturated fat, are less likely than men on lower-fat diets to suffer a stroke.
The finding, which is supported by two prior studies in Japan and Hawaii as well as by experiments in laboratory rats, is the latest in a series of conflicting reports in recent years about how much and what kinds of fats are most healthful. 
 Experts say the finding does not mean it is safe to indulge in a diet of hamburgers and other high-fat foods, or even in a fatty holiday meal, which can temporarily reduce the flexibility of blood vessels and may precipitate a heart attack in susceptible people.
Rather, they said, the study suggests that the Mediterranean diet, which is not low in total fat but contains little saturated fat and focuses instead on monounsaturated olive oil, fruits and vegetables, may be the healthiest diet of all. A previous report linked a high intake of fruits and vegetables to a reduced risk of stroke.
The new study, which is being published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, followed the fate of 832 initially healthy middle-aged men in Framingham, Mass., for 18 to 22 years to determine the relationship between their risk of stroke and the kinds and amounts of fats they typically consumed at the beginning of the study.
During the follow-up period the men who were eating the highest fat diets in the late 1960's were least likely to suffer a clot-caused stroke, while those consuming the lowest amount of fat had the highest stroke risk. The association between high fat intake and low stroke risk was found for total fat, saturated fat and monounsaturated fat, but not for polyunsaturated fat, which can lower blood levels of cholesterol.
The study was directed by Dr. Matthew W. Gillman of Harvard Medical School among participants in the ongoing Framingham Heart Study, now in its 49th year. No similar study has been completed yet in women or elderly men, and the researchers said the findings in men might not apply to them.
Dr. Scott M. Grundy, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the results should be considered preliminary and questioned the validity of basing such findings on a single measurement of fat intake that was then projected over a 20-year period.
"It's just totally confusing to the public," Dr. Grundy told The Associated Press. He helped write Federal guidelines that advise limiting fat intake to 30 percent of calories consumed.
Before people resume eating fats of all kinds with abandon, Dr. Thomas R. Price, a neurologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said, a high intake of saturated fats -- the kinds most prominent in meat and dairy products -- can significantly raise the risk of heart attack, which is a much more common killer in Western countries than is stroke. In 1993, for example, heart disease caused 490,000 deaths in the United States, while strokes accounted for 150,000 deaths.
"If a person eats more saturated fats, he may prevent a stroke but cause a heart attack," Dr. Price said, adding that while stroke is responsible for more long-term disability than is heart disease, "we shouldn't be trading one disease for another."
He said that as the Japanese have increased their fat intake in recent years, "they've gone from more strokes and fewer heart attacks to fewer strokes and more heart attacks."
Furthermore, among Americans, 60 percent of whom get no regular physical exercise, "a higher fat diet can result in putting on more weight, which itself increases the risk of a heart attack," said Dr. Price, co-author with Dr. Roger Sherwin of an editorial in the journal commenting on the new study.
"It's time to take a more sophisticated point of view than simply saying eat more fats or eat no fats," Dr. Price said. He and Dr. Sherwin suggested instead that emphasizing monounsaturated fats like those in olive oil, canola oil and nut oils would increase neither stroke or heart attack risk and may be the most sensible approach.
"In particular, this study speaks against the extremely low-fat diets that Pritikin and Ornish have been recommending," said Dr. Sherwin, an epidemiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He was referring to diets containing about 10 percent of calories from fat advocated by the late Nathan Pritikin and by Dr. Dean Ornish of Sausalito, Calif.
The researchers also questioned the advice of the National Cholesterol Education Program to limit total fat intake to 30 percent of calories, which in the study was associated with the highest risk of stroke.
The average American now consumes about 34 percent of calories from fat, while in the new study the total fat intakes, which were measured only once in the 1960's and placed into one of five groups, ranged from a high of 46 percent to 53 percent to a low of 10 percent to 31 percent of daily calories.
Dr. William Castelli, former director of the Framingham Heart Study, said there were problems with the old dietary history data used in the study, among them that in Framingham "people who ate the most fat had the lowest cholesterol levels, and people who ate the most calories weighed the least," which is the opposite of what happens when people are placed on experimental diets in a hospital ward.
The reason for the different findings, Dr. Castelli said, is that in Framingham the people who were most active ate the most of everything, and activity lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Philip A. Wolf, a neurologist at Boston University School of Medicine who is a co-author of the new study, said it was possible that the participants, who were 45 to 65 years old when the study began, were a select group that did not include high-fat eaters who developed or died of heart disease or stroke before the age of 45.
Nonetheless, Dr. Wolf said, the study indicates that heart attacks and most strokes have different causes. Only about 10 percent to 15 percent of strokes result from fatty deposits in the large arteries that feed the brain, while nearly all heart attacks result from such deposits in the coronary arteries. "Clearly, there are different arteries affected in heart attacks and strokes," Dr. Wolf said. "If we can explain this, maybe we can learn something useful from it."
The editorial writers also note that dietary advice has to be based on the best evidence available at the time, and that this advice will change when new evidence comes along. Still, Dr. Price said that even if the new finding is borne out by further studies, "most of the advice we're now giving will still be good advice."
      

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December 25, 1997, Thursday, Late Edition - Final

Behind Bars, Reaching Out to Others;
Inmates Restore Castoff Wheelchairs for Third World's Disabled

BYLINE: By JAMES BROOKE 

SECTION: Section A; Page 16; Column 4; National Desk 

LENGTH: 949 words

DATELINE: BUENA VISTA, Colo.

Behind two rows of fences topped with glinting concertina wire, Jerry Madrid toiled, rebuilding a rusted wheelchair for shipment in January to a disabled person in Qingdao, China.
"I like the idea of helping someone else, of helping someone get around in life," said Mr. Madrid, whose own mobility is limited by the walls of a medium-security prison here in an alpine valley, framed by the soaring, snow-covered peaks of the Continental Divide. 
 To skeptics, Mr. Madrid notes that he passed up a $600-a-month job in the Buena Vista Correctional Institute's trout hatchery to earn $12 a month rebuilding wheelchairs for charity.
The global link between inmate workers in the Colorado Rockies and disabled people on the Yellow Sea coast of China was forged by Wheels for the World, a California aid group. This charity responds to the intersection of two new phenomena in American life: an explosion in used wheelchairs in this country, and, as evidenced by the campaign to ban land mines, growing concern over medieval living conditions endured by disabled people in poor countries.
Without wheelchairs, disabled people routinely remain bedridden and warehoused for years on end, said Joni Eareckson Tada, founder of JAF Ministries, an evangelical group that runs Wheels for the World from Agoura Hills, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb. Disabled people are often carted around in wheelbarrows, or parked on street corners to beg.
"In Poznan, Poland, we found a 14-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who was being pushed around by his parents in a rusty, beat-up baby carriage," said Ms. Tada, who has had to use a wheelchair since 1967, when a diving accident rendered her a quadriplegic at age 17. "In a mountain village in Albania, we delivered a wheelchair to a woman who had been unable to leave her bedroom for 15 years."
Roughly 28 million people in the third world need wheelchairs, John Wern, director of the charity, estimated. On the other side of the equation, in the United States, as many as one million wheelchairs are thrown out as trash or stored in attics and garages every year. Liability worries have led insurers to discourage hospitals and nursing homes from repairing broken wheelchairs. With new wheelchairs selling for as little as $300 apiece and Medicare paying most of the cost, health professionals often prefer to have patients buy new chairs. With the nation's elderly and disabled population growing rapidly, the United States' fleet of castoff wheelchairs is growing, too.
As wheelchair waste mounts, a wheelchair recycling movement is taking root.
Formed in 1994, Wheels for the World conducts wheelchair drives and operates repair centers around the nation.
Sea-Land, the shipping company, has promised free overseas shipment of 3,000 wheelchairs every year. The company began its service last year, when it shipped about 1,300 refurbished wheelchairs to Chile, Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.
Whirlwind Wheelchair International, a secular nonprofit group based at San Francisco State University, has set up 35 wheelchair production shops in 25 third world countries since 1980. The workshops have made 12,000 chairs, all from locally available materials.
Fueling this aid and development movement is growing concern over the human toll from land mines.
In October, the Nobel Peace Prize was bestowed on the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and on Jody Williams, the group's American coordinator. Two weeks ago, representatives of about 120 countries -- although not the United States, Russia or China -- signed a treaty to ban the global production and use of antipersonnel mines.
Galvanizing world support for the treaty, its drafters said that the 100 million land mines around the world cripple about 2,000 civilians a month.
This global concern has filtered through the thick white walls of the state prison here, filling an inmate movie auditorium converted into a wheelchair repair workshop.
Today, 10 inmates in green uniforms worked stripping down wheelchairs. Rust was sanded off. Wheel bearings were repacked. Spokes were tightened, and brakes repaired. Footrests were spray painted. Upholstery was brightened. With chrome glistening, the end product looks as if it had just rolled off the floor of a hospital supply showroom.
One man restores a chair a day -- a rate that should allow the shop to restore 2,000 chairs next year, and inmates say the work is doubly satisfying.
"It feels good when you go home for the day knowing you've finished a chair," Gilberto Encinias said. "It also feels good knowing that this chair is going to put a smile on someone's face."
Prison officials hope that skills learned here will help freed convicts find jobs repairing bicycles or wheelchairs. The biggest immediate benefit, they say, is to morale.
"The inmates feel immediate pride and satisfaction when they see wheelchairs rolling out the door to other countries," said Gene Atherton, the prison superintendent. "Inmates feel better about themselves. They do time with less discontent, with less anger."
In inaugurating the program here in November, Ms. Tada of Wheels for the World said: "I've got a life sentence in this chair, and you have sentences, too. The idea is: what are you doing with that sentence?"
To foster a sense of personal achievement, Wheels for the World plans to send to the prison workshop snapshots of each wheelchair recipient in Qingdao.
Raymond Lewis, an inmate worker who described himself as a born-again Christian, had one complaint about the program: "I don't know if there are any Christians in China, but it would have been nice to have sent out these chairs in time for Christmas."

LOAD-DATE: December 25, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: At the Buena Vista Correctional Institute in Colorado, an inmate refurbishes a broken wheelchair for a disabled person in the Yellow Sea city of Qingdao, China. Inmates at the prison workshop will repair about 2,000 wheelchairs next year for export to China as part of the Wheels for the World program. (Photographs by Kevin Moloney for The New York Times)

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The New York Times

December 26, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

New Video Releases

SECTION: Section E; Part 1; Page 40; Column 4; Movies, Performing Arts/Weekend Desk

LENGTH: 492 words


Conspiracy Theory
Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson, left) is the kind of paranoid who padlocks his refrigerator and constantly spouts cockeyed theories about myriad plots against everybody up to and including the President of the United States. Having achieved annoying lunatic status at the psychiatric hospital, he is ignored by all but the gorgeous Dr. Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts, above), who in the service of a limping thriller that could use a romantic lift, is the only one who will lend him an ear. Later a dark, demented scientist (Patrick Stewart) appears and a black-clad swat team drops from the sky (in the middle of Manhattan yet), but ultimately they don't do that much for a film that remains, Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times, "trumped-up, ultra-slick." 

 
1997. Warner. $107.11. Laser disk, $49.98. 135 minutes. Closed captioned. R. Release date: Tuesday.
 
Out to Sea
They were funnier as grumpy old men in earlier films, but once again Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau go to the geezer well as a pair of geriatrics who sign on as dance instructors on a cruise ship. In a film to nowhere, the two cavort with their elderly rumba students and risk cardiac arrest in December-December romances with a frisky older vamp (Dyan Cannon) and her mother (Elaine Stritch). A cast with good marquee value (Hal Linden, Edward Mulhare, Gloria DeHaven and Donald O'Connor, who has plenty of fancy footwork left in him) bolsters a "weak but genial comedy" (Maslin).
 
1997. Fox. $108.70. Laser disk, $39.98. 109 minutes. Closed captioned. PG-13. Release date: Tuesday.
 
'Til There Was You
In a hackneyed twist of fate, a disappointed young woman with sensible shoes and a load of Annie Hall tics (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and a glib, pretty-boy architect (Dylan McDermott) trip through separate lives before getting together in time for the closing credits. But why bother? The only life in Scott Winant's film is Sarah Jessica Parker as Francesca Lansfield, a funny and winningly dominating former child star. Otherwise, architecture takes its lumps as metaphor for the grand blueprint of love between two people who "truly don't seem made for each other despite all the story's efforts to fling them together" (Maslin).
 
1997. Paramount. $102.32. Laser disk, $34.98. 114 minutes. Closed captioned. PG-13.
 
Le Samourai
Collecting $4,000 a hit but living in seedy solitude, the natty, impassive contract killer Jef Costello (Alain Delon) exists completely outside society's complicated interdependencies, expressing himself solely by the grace and efficiency of his services. Jean-Pierre Melville's film refines the American gangster movie to present a world working at cross purposes, in the process making "a lovely introduction to the work of a most idiosyncratic filmmaker" (Vincent Canby).
 
1972. New Yorker. $89.95. 95 minutes. French with English subtitles. No rating. Release date: Tuesday.

LOAD-DATE: December 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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December 26, 1997, Friday, Late Edition - Final

FAMILY FARE;
Magic, Movies And Moomins

BYLINE: By Laurel Graeber

SECTION: Section E; Part 2; Page 51; Column 1; Leisure/Weekend Desk

LENGTH: 914 words

In Scandinavia, the Moomins are to little Finns what the Muppets and the Smurfs are to Americans. (In Finland, there's even a Moomin World theme park.) Cartoon characters that look like plump ponies, the Moomins will appear tomorrow in "Northern Lights Holiday Sparkler," part of the Lincoln Center Film Society's "Reel to Real for Kids" series.
"They're not hired New Yorkers in costume," said Eileen McMahon, a spokeswoman for Lincoln Center. "They're Finns who appear as the Moomins in Finland." 
 The Moomin family will do a magic show and tell tales about their home, Moomin Valley, a place created by the children's author Tove Jansson in the 1940's. Her books have since appeared in 31 languages (including English), and the Moomins are regulars on Finnish television.
"Reel to Real" will also celebrate other renowned Scandinavians: the Bergmans. "Brenda Brave," a film by Daniel Bergman (son of Ingmar), is about a foundling, Brenda, who lives with a kind elderly woman who makes and sells candy.
But when her adoptive grandmother breaks her leg, it looks as if Brenda will not have her longed-for Christmas doll.
"I watched it and cried," Ms. McMahon said. "It's so Bergman." (Except for the happy ending.)
The program also includes "Lotta Leaves Home," a Swedish film by Johanna Held about a 5-year-old girl who runs away with her stuffed pig.
And to conclude on a festive note -- many, really -- the Swedish Children's Choir and the Christopher Columbus High School Choir from the Bronx will sing seasonal songs.
"Northern Lights Holiday Sparkler," tomorrow at 11 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. at the Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Manhattan, (212) 875-5601 (after 2 P.M.). Tickets: adults, $8.50; 16 and under, $5.
 
Those Unsinkable Bears
Teddy bears take much abuse from childish hands, but few have been through as much as Polar. A New York bear purchased at F.A.O. Schwarz, Polar went on a sea voyage in 1912 with his young master, Douglas Spedden. Their ship? The Titanic.
Polar, fortunately, survived, as did Douglas and his parents. He has since become the hero of "Polar, the Titanic Bear" (Little, Brown), a book edited by Leighton Hammond Coleman 3d, who discovered Polar's tale among some family papers. (His grandmother's cousin was Douglas's mother, who wrote a story from the bear's perspective to entertain her son after the ordeal was over.)
Children will be able to meet Polar this weekend at the South Street Seaport, which is holding teddy-theme activities.
At 1 P.M. today, there will be an interactive tour of "City in Play: Toys and the Transformation of the City of New York, 1865-1945," an exhibition at the Melville Gallery.
Afterward, children will participate in a teddy bear march. (Polar will be the parade marshal.) Their destination will be the museum's Children's Center, where they will build circus parade wagons with boxes, glitter, spangles and paint.
"The whole point is to bring your own bear to the museum," said Peter Neill, the museum's president. All who do can swap bear stories and sip hot chocolate at 3 P.M. on board the Wavertree, an 1855 ship.
More bear doings are to take place tomorrow: "Polar, the Titanic Bear" will be read at 2 P.M. in the Melville Gallery. And tomorrow and Sunday at 3 P.M., visitors are invited to the Children's Center to create pop-up books about teddies, the Titanic or whatever they please.
Next week, the museum will also be open every day except Jan. 1, with "City in Play" tours at 1 P.M. and circus wagon workshops at 2 P.M.
The South Street Seaport Museum, 207 Front Street, lower Manhattan, (212) 748-8600. Hours: 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. All events are free with admission: adults, $6; the elderly, $5; students, $4; children under 12, $3.
 
Light Entertainment
Although Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are very different celebrations, there is one element they share: light. Who could imagine the season without bright stars, blazing menorahs and Kwanzaa candles?
Mme. Starless Nightsky could. The villain in the New York Youth Theater's new musical, "The Lights," Mme. Nightsky (Sharon Quinn) feeds on light.
Grinchlike, she steals every sparkle with the help of her henchmen, Doom (Raymond Santiago) and Gloom (Erich Bergen).
What Mme. Nightsky doesn't bargain for, however, is three intrepid children. Christy (Chloe Patellis), Quinn (Bernard Jones) and Sarah (Alexandra Cassens), who each celebrate a different holiday, go after the lights.
They succeed with spectral inspiration from Sarah's late grandmother (Meghan Lynch), known for delicious latkes and sage advice.
With such a premise, "The Lights" could easily have more sugar than a holiday fruitcake. But thanks to the director, Lawrence Axmith, who wrote the book, and Phill Greenland, the composer and musical director (the men collaborated on the lyrics), the musical offers humor and spunk.
Doom and Gloom do a gruesomely funny, but not tasteless, number about torture, and Ms. Quinn, the only adult in the cast, takes clear pleasure in belting out lyrics about all she's devoured, from the Cape May lighthouse to fireworks.
"The Lights," through Jan. 11 at the Greenwich Street Theater, 547 Greenwich Street (between Charlton and Vandam Streets), Greenwich Village. Performances: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 P.M. (except Jan. 1); Saturdays at 2 and 7 P.M. and Sundays at 3 P.M. Holiday matinees: today and Jan. 2 at 2 P.M. Tickets: $10. Reservations: (212) 242-2822.

LOAD-DATE: December 26, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Mathilda Lindgren in "Brenda Brave," a film at Lincoln Center. (Film Society of Lincoln Center)

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December 27, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

So Much for Table Manners;
Directors Squabble Over How to Carve Up Firm's Spoils

BYLINE: By JOSEPH B. TREASTER 

SECTION: Section D; Page 1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1848 words

For as long as anyone can remember, the senior executives who built the venerable insurance brokerage firm of Johnson & Higgins have congregated every holiday season for a black-tie dinner at an exclusive club in Manhattan.
They came together -- almost exclusively men, graying and affluent -- from around the country like fraternity brothers in a ritual of fellowship and fine wine. "We all looked forward to it," said Kenneth A. Hecken, who retired as vice chairman in 1991 after 31 years with the firm. 
 But this year there was no dinner.
Johnson & Higgins, a 152-year-old insurance giant that worked with little fanfare to arrange coverage for America's biggest corporations, is no more. After repeatedly rejecting takeover bids and suggestions to sell stock to the public, the firm's partners agreed in March to sell to their archrival, the Marsh & McLennan Companies.
For some firms, that would have been all the more reason for an evening of fond reminiscences. But the sale of Johnson & Higgins has driven a wedge through the clubby firm, with its cloistered partnership structure. Moreover, Johnson & Higgins operated for decades with an unusual charter that was designed to give retired directors a financial interest, and a voice in the business, well after they had left the daily fray to younger partners.
Now the firm is at war: the retired directors versus the 24 active directors who orchestrated the sale to Marsh & McLennan. Nine of the 23 retired directors -- who expected to receive dividends for as long as a decade -- have filed suit. Another says he is joining the suit and eight or nine others say they are considering it. The plaintiffs say the active directors maneuvered to exclude the retired directors from participation in the sale of the company, then kept the biggest share of the $1.8 billion in proceeds for themselves.
"I think they sort of forgot the values of the company," said George Benjamin, a marine and aviation specialist who retired four years ago.
The retired partners -- who not long ago had been working shoulder to shoulder with the current directors to provide coverage for companies like General Motors and Boeing -- say they learned of the deal in the newspapers. At first, they were stunned. Then they became angry. Finally, they began to seek redress.
Another group of even older retirees, 18 in all, have been told they have less of a legal claim. They are just as furious. "The active directors have done a perfectly dastardly thing," said Richard I. Purnell, who was chief executive of Johnson & Higgins from 1972 to 1981.
But Paul C. Saunders, the lawyer representing the active directors, says the retirees simply do not have a case.
"Just to say that you had a warm feeling that things might have been different does not entitle you under the law to receive something that you are not otherwise entitled to receive by virtue of contract," Mr. Saunders said. "They don't have anything in writing to argue about."
The suit, of course, focuses mostly on money. But more than that, it is a deeply wrenching dispute about loyalty and friendship and trust at a firm that dates from an era when its founders personally handled insurance claims from the docks of New York harbor for wooden-masted clipper ships. And it reflects the disintegration of an inbred Johnson & Higgins culture, knitted together by ritual dinners, golf outings, fly-fishing adventures and the like.
"A lot of us feel betrayed," said Sam Aiena, who retired as head of the firm's Philadelphia office in 1993.
More to the point, the active directors awarded themselves half the money from the sale, $900 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They allocated $300 million for the retired directors. The remaining $600 million was spread among several hundred senior employees.
Most of the active directors received about $36 million each. David A. Olsen, the chief executive of Johnson & Higgins at the time of the transaction, received roughly $63 million and his deputy, Richard A. Nielsen, got about $55 million. Those payments compare with the average of about $12 million each for the retired directors in the younger group and about $1 million to $3 million for each older retiree.
In most partnerships, there would be nothing striking about such a division of the spoils. Indeed, it may even seem to be overly generous to the retirees. At many law or accounting firms, partners routinely cash out when they retire, expecting little beyond their accumulated share of the partnership at the time they leave. But Johnson & Higgins was different.
And that difference is now coming back to haunt the firm. In a refrain often heard in divorce court, the retired directors contend that the effort they put in over several decades helped make the firm such a rich prize. Some of the active directors, they complain, had been on the board no more than a few years.
Then it gets personal.
"Do you think the chairman who got $63 million made a greater contribution to the firm than I did?" asked Mr. Purnell, the former chief executive. "I question if he made one-tenth the contribution I made."
Because documentation is sparse, plenty is open to dispute. What the retired directors say is that the firm's culture was grounded in the understanding, said Mr. Benjamin, the retired marine specialist, that "should the firm, ever, for important reasons" be sold, "the incumbent directors would treat the retired partners in the same manner as they would treat themselves."
Or as Robert Hatcher, chief executive from 1981 to 1990, put it, "Some got less of a share than they should have and some got more than they should have."
The active directors do not see it that way at all. They argue that they handled the sale properly and that the retired directors were treated more than fairly.
In an interview that was limited to half an hour, Joseph D. Roxe, the chief financial officer at the time of the transaction; Gardner M. Mundy, who was general counsel of Johnson & Higgins, and Mr. Saunders, the group's lawyer, spoke for the current directors.
"We feel that we were very generous in sharing the proceeds," said Mr. Roxe, a 10-year veteran of Johnson & Higgins who is now an executive with Marsh & McLennan. With consolidation sweeping through the insurance business, he argued, Johnson & Higgins was forced to join with another firm or risk falling behind.
"We felt the company was facing a crossroads and we didn't want to be dwarfed in a land of giants in the 21st century," Mr. Roxe said. "We needed a partner who could get us the size to compete. And that's why we thought the merger was necessary."
Apart from the money itself, some of the retired directors say that the current directors should at least have consulted with them before selling the firm.
"The boards I served on clearly understood that we didn't own the company," said W. Mitchell LaMotte, who retired as a director five years ago in Chicago and joined the suit earlier this month. "We were trustees."
But those who arranged the deal dispute that point, too.
Mr. Mundy, who is also working at Marsh & McLennan now, said the directors were obliged "to do what was best for the company, the employees and its clients." And the active directors were free to change the bylaws to allow the sale, Mr. Saunders, the lawyer, added, as long as they fulfilled their contractual obligations to the retired directors entitled to dividends.
Marsh & McLennan, which reclaimed its spot as the world's largest insurance brokerage firm with the acquisition of Johnson & Higgins, is also a defendant in the suit. But Barbara Perlmutter, a Marsh & McLennan spokeswoman, said, "We believe we should not be involved in this matter." She declined to comment further.
In a system worked out long ago to preserve Johnson & Higgins as a closely held firm, directors were required to buy an initial block of 500 company shares when they were named to the board. The price, in recent years, was just $10 a share. When they retired, they returned those shares and others they accumulated as directors in exchange for a certificate giving them the right to the annual dividends from the shares for 10 years. The shares that retiring directors turned in were eventually redistributed to active members who collected no dividends on them until the 10-year contracts had expired.
Last year the dividend per share was $225. And for the plaintiffs in the suit, who were entitled to the payouts from 2,000 to 4,200 shares each, the payments ranged from $450,000 to $945,000. In many cases, that was more than they got as active partners.
The arrangement permitted retired directors to benefit from rising profits. And for a long time, an especially attractive feature was that the retirement payments were treated as capital gains, which allowed them to be taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income. That advantage was phased out in the late 1960's.
To sell the company, the 24 active directors had to amend the certificate of incorporation. Until the directors did that, the document prohibited the sale of stock to anyone other than a Johnson & Higgins employee and did not allow any sale of assets unless approved by two-thirds of the directors who had retired within a decade. That was supposed to assure the retired directors that the company could not be sold without their participation.
With the change in the certificate of incorporation, the active directors were free to sell the stock. Since the assets were not formally sold, approval of the retired directors was not required.
There is no dispute between the two sides that the active directors had the legal authority to amend the documents.
But Michael L. Hirschfeld, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, says that in making the amendments, the active directors changed the rules on which the retired directors had based their decision to exchange stock for dividend certificates. Mr. Hirschfeld regards the certificates as securities and, in his complaint, accused the active directors of violating securities law.
Mr. Saunders, the active directors' lawyer, says the certificates were contracts, not securities. He contends that the only legal obligation was to see that the retired directors received the money specified in their contracts.
Based on last year's dividend of $225 a share, the active directors calculated that the total value of the contracts was $75 million, or just one-fourth what they agreed to give the retired directors.
Still, the sense of betrayal among the retired directors is strong. In early December, about two dozen of them gathered for dinner in Manhattan. It was not at the traditional club and they were not in tuxedos. None of the active directors were invited.
Mr. Roxe, the Johnson & Higgins chief financial officer, said he hoped the formal dinners might be revived in the future. But he acknowledged that rebuilding the prior collegiality would be difficult. Indeed, he added wistfully, "It isn't clear how we can do that."

LOAD-DATE: December 27, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo/Chart: "Humble Pie? Hardly."
Earlier this year, the active directors of Johnson & Higgins sold their venerable insurance firm for $1.8 billion. But many of the retired directors, who continued to receive dividends after stepping down, objected to the manner of the sale and the division of spoils. They have filed suit seeking a greater share of the proceeds.
 
RETIRED DIRECTORS 17%
The 41 former directors were allotted $300 million. The directors who had retired within the last 10 years received an average of $12 million each; those who had retired earlier got about $1.3 million apiece.
 
CURRENT DIRECTORS 50%
There were 24 directors at the time Johnson & Higgins was sold. They gave themselves $900 million, which worked out to about $36 million each.
 
SENIOR EMPLOYEES 33%
Several hundred senior employees split $600 million.
(Naum Kazhdan/The New York Times)

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December 27, 1997, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

Connecticut Pulls Back From a Managed Care Plan for the Elderly

BYLINE: By JONATHAN RABINOVITZ 

SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk 

LENGTH: 1076 words

DATELINE: HARTFORD, Dec. 23

Almost three years ago, Gov. John G. Rowland proposed what was to be the centerpiece of his efforts to rein in the cost of caring for the state's elderly people: a managed-care system that would cover everything from nursing home care to home visits by a cook.
Now, months after the proposal was scheduled to be completed and with the state budget counting on saving $55 million with the program in its next fiscal year, Governor Rowland says the plan is virtually dead. Recent announcements from some managed-care programs about reduced benefits and higher premiums washed away enthusiasm for the plan, he said. 
 "I'm looking at possibly pulling the plug on that," Mr. Rowland said in an interview on Monday. "My best look at it says we might not save any money for quite a long time, for something like seven years out. So there's a pretty good chance that we will not pursue that."
The proposal would have established the first statewide system bringing together money from the federally run Medicare program and the state-run Medicaid program to manage the health care and social support needs of the state's elderly poor people.
In Mr. Rowland's 1995 budget proposal, he called on Connecticut to "be a pioneer" in a "radical restructuring" of long-term care, and declared that it "would be impossible for us to meet future needs of elder care if today's system remains unchanged."
But the proposal appears to have fallen victim to growing questions about managed care. In the last few weeks, managed care organizations for Medicare recipients have announced that they will raise premiums and cut benefits, and Mr. Rowland said managed care no longer appeared to be as clear a solution as it once did.
From the start, his plan to develop managed care for long-term services met stiff opposition. Nursing home operators saw it as little more than an effort to cut rates. The union that represents nursing home workers criticized it as a step toward cutting wages and laying off workers. Groups organized to win benefits for elderly people worried that the plan, to save money, would limit access to care rather than improve quality.
The effort to create the plan was part of a nationwide movement, encouraged by the Federal Government, to better coordinate Medicare and Medicaid in the hope of improving care and saving money.
Policy experts say Medicare and Medicaid are increasingly at odds, with the friction between the two leading to greater costs in both programs.
Medicare, which is financed entirely by Federal money, covers most acute health care needs, like hospitalizations and visits to physicians, for elderly and disabled people.  Medicaid, which is financed 50-50 by the states and the Federal Government, provides health care for the poor and is the primary source of public financing for nursing home care for the aged.
For elderly poor people, Medicaid also fills in gaps in the health care coverage provided by Medicare, such as paying premiums, pharmacy bills and co-payments.
The conflict between the two is this: the Federal Government feels that states and nursing homes do not take the needed steps to prevent elderly people from using expensive acute-care measures, because Medicare ultimately foots the bill.
In turn, states complain that the Federal Government is pushing people into nursing homes so it will not have to cover costs of caring for people in their homes, which in the long run would be less expensive, they say.
Several states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, have already received Federal approval to experiment with a new approach, and they have started pilot programs that try to use a managed care model to provide a continuum of long-term services, like assistance with chores, adult day-care centers and nursing home care, using both Medicaid and Medicare funds. This year, Massachusetts filed an application for a waiver from the Federal Government to offer such a program for the entire state.
In Connecticut, the push stalled this month.
Last week, Rowland administration officials admitted that the plan that they had hoped to submit to Washington by the end of January was seriously flawed.
At a fund-raising party with nursing home operators on Dec. 17, Mr. Rowland said for the first time that he had "major concerns" about the latest version of the waiver that had been released that day.
By the next day, the State Social Services Commissioner, Joyce A. Thomas, had sent a letter to the legislator overseeing the proposal saying that the state planned to delay submission of the waiver.
Marc S. Ryan, a top policy adviser to Mr. Rowland, said that the state had no schedule for when it would be resubmitted. Instead, Mr. Ryan said that the state was intending to try a much smaller pilot program that would involve a couple of centers for elderly people.
The plan was originally intended to be offered to 43,000 poor elderly people, whose health care needs comprise almost half the medical budget.
Mr. Ryan said that it was not clear whether any of the elderly people for whom the state had been intending the program would voluntarily enroll. "Given the number of people that would enroll and the cost of setting up the networks, the state would not be seeing any savings at all," he said. Mr. Rowland had wanted Connecticut to be at the forefront of the national move to develop a long-term managed care system that would bridge the gap between Medicaid and Medicare.
The state was part of a consortium of the six New England states that has been working closely with the Federal Health Care Financing Administration for more than two years to develop a common framework for this new system.
Ms. Thomas, the Social Services Commissioner, is chairwoman of the New England group. Connecticut officials have had dozens of meetings, including public hearings, to develop a plan, hiring several outside consultants for guidance.
At Mr. Rowland's urging, the Legislature passed a measure in 1995 calling for the waiver to be completed by summer 1996.
Meanwhile, the cost of long-term care continues to rise. In the fiscal year ending next June 30, it is projected to be $810 million, about 8 percent of the state budget, according to projections by the Office of Fiscal Analysis, the nonpartisan legislative budget office. That figure represents a 13 percent increase from the fiscal year ending June 30, 1995, Mr. Rowland's first year in office.

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December 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

PRACTICAL TRAVELER;
A Free Museum Is Harder to Find

BYLINE: By BETSY WADE 

SECTION: Section 5; Page 4; Column 5; Travel Desk 

LENGTH: 1202 words

SEEING museums, gardens and art galleries is often the major purpose of a visit to a great city. But admission, once generally free or nearly so, is increasingly steep, both here and abroad.
In Florence this fall, Leda C. Goldsmith of the Bronx and her husband, Gerald, saw a sign at the Pitti Palace saying that people 60 or older were admitted free. When they reached the ticket window they were directed to a posted list of countries whose senior citizens were entitled to free admission. It was a long list but it did not include the United States. So they paid about $7 each for one collection, and $4.75 to visit another. They wrote to The Times saying they considered the charges discriminatory. 
 The Italian Government Tourist Board in New York replied that admission to state museums is free to people under 18 and over 59 who come from European Union countries, or from other countries that grant Italians reciprocal privileges.
The United States is not on that list. But the matter is muddy. The museum that considers itself the largest in the world still grants free admission to all comers, regardless of citizenship or age. That is the Smithsonian complex in Washington, unquestionably the "state museum" of the United States.
 
Erratic Rules in Europe
Admission policies in European museums and galleries are unpredictable, as in the United States, because ownership and subsidies vary.
In 1989 the European Union Commission urged its members to create an "over 60" card for citizens entitled to discounts on public transit and at cultural activities. But Chris Matthews, a spokesman for the European Union, said he found no evidence that the proposal was followed up or that a card was ever developed.
The tide may be running against it. At the end of 1995 the 30 French national museums stopped lowering prices for senior citizens of any nationality. The Louvre is open until 9 P.M. on Monday and Wednesday and there is always a reduced admission fee after 3 P.M.; on the first Sunday of the month, admission is free. Regular admission to the Louvre is about $7.50, and the reduced admission is about $4.30.
Four royal palaces in London -- the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and Banqueting House at Whitehall -- still offer discounts to senior citizens and students. Regular admission to the Tower of London is about $14, while the reduced price is about $10.40. At the British Museum, the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, admission is still free, although there may be a charge for special shows.
Tourist passes for cultural sites in France, Britain and some other European countries can be bought in the United States as well as on the spot. The discount is not great, but with them holders can go the the head of the line, a plus for older travelers.
The London White Card offers unlimited access to 15 major private attractions in London, among them the Barbican, the Transport Museum, the Museum of London, and the Victoria and Albert. The prices quoted for 1998 by the British Tourist Authority are $35 for a three-day pass and $53 for seven days. White Cards are available from two New York ticket brokers, Edwards & Edwards, (800) 223-6108, and Keith Prowse, (800) 669-8687. Marketing Challenges International at 10 East 21st Street in New York, (800) 869-8184, sells the White Card at $32 for three days and $53 for seven, plus a $10 handling charge.
The Paris Carte Musees et Monuments provides entrance to 65 attractions in Paris and environs. According to the French Government Tourist Office, the 1998 prices in France are $13 for a one-day card, $27 for three days and $40 for five days. This card is also sold by Marketing Challenges (address above). Its prices are $20, $34 and $50 plus a $10 handling charge. HSA Voyages in Texas charges $15, $30 and $45, with no handling fee: 5609 Green Oaks Boulevard, S.W., Suite 105, Arlington, Tex. 76017; (800) 927-4765.
 
Finding the Bargains
Apart from the Smithsonian, there are still free museums in the United States, although the number seems to be waning. The American Association of Museums in Washington said its last survey indicated that 55 percent of museums charged admission or suggested a donation.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Museum, Harold Holzer, said that its "suggested donation" policy went into effect in 1970, with $1 the proposed gift. In the day of the $10 movie, he said, the museum considers its current request of $8, $4 for students and seniors, to be the best entertainment buy in New York.
The museums and galleries with no entry fee are mostly at colleges and universities, according to Susan Coppa, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Museums. They range from the well known, like the Yale University Art Gallery, to the almost unknown, like the Farnham Galleries at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.
These places are free because they see their mission as providing a service to the community, said Peter B. Tirrell, president of the Association of College and University Museums. But many are now discussing admission fees, he said. Mr. Tirrell, who works at the Oklahoma University Museum of Natural History, runs his association from his briefcase. He said that many of the museums do charge for special events.
Finding free culture is not particularly easy. Modest help is provided by the American Association of Museums, which has published a 112-page booklet, "A.A.M. Admission Policy Guide," listing at least a thousand museums and galleries that responded to a survey. The booklet indicates which museums are free, although it does not provide addresses or telephone numbers. The association sells the booklet for $ 8: The American Association of Museums, 1575 Eye Street, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20005; (202) 289-1818.
The major resource for finding places of interest that are free or low cost is a hardcover reference book too expensive for most families. "University and College Museums, Galleries and Related Facilities" by Victor J. Danilov (Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1996) costs $99.50. The New York Public Library has it in the reference section of the Mid-Manhattan Branch; universities may also have it. The book is in chapters by subject, not ideal for travelers. Tenacious use of the index and appendix listing colleges will lead to what you want, but browsing is fun.
The 16 units of the Smithsonian in the capital are free because 72 percent of the institution's financing comes from the Federal Government, according to Linda St. Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Smithsonian. The George Gustav Heye Center, now in the Custom House in New York, adheres to the free-admission policy of its parent, the Museum of the American Indian in Washington, according to its spokesman, Russ Tall Chief. But the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Center in New York, also a Smithsonian museum, behaves like a New York museum, Ms. St. Thomas said, and has admission fees except for 5 to 9 P.M. on Tuesday. Barbara Livenstein, a spokeswoman, says the admission fees, $3 for adults and $1.50 for seniors and students older than 12, will rise in June to $5 and $3.

LOAD-DATE: December 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Drawing (J. D. King)

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December 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

Suddenly Single in the Suburbs, and in Middle Age

BYLINE: By NANCY RUBIN 

SECTION: Section 14LI; Page 1; Column 1; Long Island Weekly Desk 

LENGTH: 2137 words

SOME married soon after high school or college. Others continued to date for an additional 10 years before saying "I do." Others ended first marriages, only to rewed with equally unhappy results.
Whatever their histories, the number of people divorced in their middle years is increasingly visible. Census figures show that the percentage of Americans divorced between 40 and 54 in 1995 made up nearly 14 percent of the population, up from 11 percent a decade ago. 
 Specific figures are not available on the marital status of Long Islanders by age. The State Health Department found that of the 2,125 divorces filed in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, , one-fourth involved couples who had been married 15 to 30 years.
Officials, lawyers and other experts attribute much of the increase in midlife divorces to social and economic changes over the last 30 years.
"It's definitely changed," the Director of Women's Services in Nassau, Geraldine Linton, said. "And now that women have had some role models ahead of them it's easier for them than it used to be. Women who work and are unhappy in their marriages are more likely to get divorced once their children leave, because they have something to fall back upon."
A major factor are the personal and social changes of midlife, Ms. Linton said, adding:
"It may be related to the empty nest syndrome. When the children are there they often act as buffers between the husband and wife. But when they leave, when the connections with children are gone, suddenly you've got two people staring at each other across the dinner table without that much in common, and everything dries up."
Some people attribute the rising divorce rate to expanded expectations.
"Many of us, especially in the suburbs, where people tend to be upwardly mobile, are raised with the illusion that once we reach middle age we will be on Easy Street," said Dr. Michael Watson, a psychotherapist in Bayville and the director of the Professional Forensic Group. "But actually it's often the middle years when life is most difficult."
Although the children may have left, many continue to be financially dependent. That, combined with aging parents, means that the middle aged are often burdened with added responsibilities.
"The standard position for most middle-aged people is that they are facing their own aging and simultaneously not accomplishing the goal of being happy and secure," Dr. Watson said. Those disappointments, combined with the accommodations that couples have to make in the empty-nest years, can jeopardize relationships.
Other disappointments may include business failures or debt. "It's a form of denial," Harriette M. Steinberg, a matrimonial lawyer in Westbury, said. "There's a sense that it's time to get out. So the marriage gets the blame. Divorce becomes a way out, because, frankly, it cuts off responsibility for everything after a period of time."
One consequence is economic duress. "We see a lot of women who are frightened about how they're going to support themselves," Ms. Linton said. "Most cannot maintain the style of life they had when they were married. Many women call because they cannot maintain the house, and their homes go into foreclosure."
Many middle-age Long Island women do not work outside the house while they raise their children. A lawyer for the Nassau Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Helen Scofield, said: "This is especially true for women in their 40's and 50's who were raised with the expectation that they would be homemakers and mothers and that their husbands would be providers. At that age it's very difficult to get a well-paying job, and no one can live on a minimum wage."
Courts routinely award half the house to the woman but the maintenance is usually for a limited time.
"In most cases," Ms. Scofield said, "the man is better set up. Chances are he's been working all his life and has an income and pension plan. While she may be entitled to half of that, she has to hire a lawyer to force him to share it."
On Long Island housing costs are high, Ms. Scofield said. "I've seen houses in foreclosure in some affluent families and wonder how could anybody do that. I don't think there's tremendous understanding by the courts about how much it costs to live here."
A study in June 1996 published in The American Sociological Review indicated that women's postdivorce standard of living decreased by 27 percent and men's increased by 10 percent. Yet divorced middle-age men have their own troubles.
"While a divorced man may make more money than his ex-wife, the courts often order that he pays for everything he paid for before, as well as maintaining his own household," said Mark Strauss, who practices family and matrimonial law in Flushing. "That often means he has to continue to work very hard and has few dollars left to live on himself."
In addition, men often suffer a loss of connection to the family home and their community. "Men often experience their wives as keepers of the home, and when they lose that, when they lose their refrigerator, the Sunday barbecues and their nest, it can be quite disorienting," said Joan Hertz, a psychoanalyst in Hicksville who often treats divorcing couples. "In contrast women tend to keep the connections, especially if she has remained in the family home with the kids."
One solution for newly divorced men is remarriage. "What men tend to do is re-establish a second family and relive the whole round of family responsibility once again," said Dr. Watson.
Men who remain single may have to learn to establish a household. "One of the things that upset me the most was learning to prepare my own meals -- that, and taking care of my clothes," said Bruce Hasnas of Huntington.
After his divorce four years ago Mr. Hasnas attended a cooking class at a local high school, and he learned to wash his own laundry. "I discovered it really wasn't so difficult and that I could handle it," he said.
Because some divorced fathers fear losing daily contact with their children, a number remain in Nassau or Suffolk, often in the town where their children go to school.
"I bought a house in the same neighborhood so that my kids can stay with me as comfortably as with my ex-wife," a divorced father, Michael Kisver of Jericho, said.
Spouses frequently experience a sharp sense of isolation from former friends and neighbors after a divorce. "To begin with," Dr. Watson said, "Long Island is traditionally the bastion of the married. And once you get divorced it's more likely in the suburbs that you get dropped like a hot potato. Very often both sides of the couple feel like they've been abandoned by their entire social structure."
Such was the case for Marcia Feuer of Westbury. "We were all married and had a decent life and kids and husbands," Ms. Feuer recounted. "But once you're divorced life changes drastically. Even when a couple has well-established roots in the community, those who become divorced find they no longer have as much in common with old married friends."
"It's difficult to be middle aged and live here in such a coupled world," said a sales representative from North Babylon. "Until you get out and start mingling with others and get involved in activities and organizations it's very lonely."
"Both men and women," Dr. Watson said, "have enormous difficulty trying to meet people of the opposite sex in the suburbs. But it's much more difficult for women because there are fewer single men around."
One reason for that scarcity is that many suburban divorced men tend to remarry quickly while others move to the city. Census statistics from 1990 indicated that Nassau and Suffolk had 39,771 divorced men and 67,589 divorced women.
Another problem is that older men often prefer to date younger women.  "It's become ever so much more difficult to date now than in the past," said a 50-year-old Oyster Bay woman who had been married for 18 years before her divorce 8 years ago.
"The men my age want to date 35-year-olds and those who are in their 60's are too old for me."
A partial solution has been the creation of clubs and social activities specifically designed for those who have become single in mid-life. Perhaps the best known of these is The Dallenger, a nightclub in the Garden City Hotel that is host to dances on Friday nights for those over 40. The club, which opened in June 1996 with live music and video screens, accommodates over 1,000 single middle-aged Long Islanders on Friday nights.
The club's popularity, according to Brian Rosenberg, general manager of The Dallenger, is as much a result of the proliferation of Long Island singles as it is of the club's marketing techniques. "The baby boomers are now getting divorced and many of them live on the Island," Mr. Rosenberg said. "They're back out there again. And this time it's no longer the health club scene but nightclubs where people can talk and meet."
A survey conducted at The Dallenger showed the needs of that older singles population who wanted to meet others at the club. "What we found is that our guests don't want the music so loud that they can't talk, they don't like cigar smoke and they want a mix of music from the 60's to the 90's," said Mr. Rosenberg. The club's goal, he added was "to focus on fun and entertainment and not necessarily be a place where people expect to find a mate, but where they meet others with whom to socialize."
For Francisca Turi, a divorced mother from Deer Park, The Dallenger represents such an opportunity. "It took me a long time to raise my daughter," she said. "And it got to the point where I was sitting home alone and waving good-bye to the kids as they went out. That's when I decided to go out myself, to come here and meet people. Ideally, I'd like to find someone to be with for the rest of my life, to grow old together.  But meanwhile I'm just here to have fun."
Other Long Island organizations offer still more creative ways to meet middle-aged singles. Among the best known are the semimonthly Saturday night tennis parties at Rockville Raquet and the Sunday night parties at the Jericho Westbury Tennis Club sponsored by Marion Smith, an entrepreneur. "Playing tennis is an easy way to meet others," said Mrs. Smith, who began giving tennis parties on Long Island 14 years ago. "It's a good way to get some exercise, hone your tennis skills and make new friends."
Mrs. Smith, who organizes singles dances at local country clubs and in Manhattan hotels, has over 14,000 Long Island singles on her mailing list. Mrs. Smith maintains that it is easier for singles to socialize on Long Island than it was in the past.
"A decade ago it was more difficult to be single in the suburbs because there were fewer divorced people and many moved to the city.  But today, many of the divorced people have remained in the suburbs.  They like the outdoors, the tennis, the golfand the amenities that the suburbs offer," she said.
The growing singles population in the suburbs has also motivated some individuals to start activities through nearby institutions. Among them is the Single Friends group of the Nassau County Museum of Art. In 1995, two single middle-aged members of that museum approached the director, Constance Schwartz. "They felt the museum had such splendid resources, talented docents and magnificent atmosphere that it would a wonderful place for singles to meet," said Mrs. Schwartz.
Before long, the museum announced a six-program membership called Singles Friend. "We were so besieged with people that we finally had to limit the membership," said Mrs. Schwartz.
Today the museum accomodates 500 singles, most of whom are middle-aged, in their Singles Friends group. One reason for the program's popularity, according to Mrs. Schwartz, is its location. "We understand that the museum has a certain atmosphere where people feel safe, where they feel they're going to meet a different level of person than they might in a bar."
One of those enthusiasts was Joan Oliver, a former teacher and an aspiring artist who recently attended a wine-tasting party at the museum.  Like many divorced middle-aged individuals, Ms. Oliver believes that being single can be viewed as an opportunity to explore interests she neglected when she was married, rather than as an empty time between mates.
"I suppose that being single can be difficult if you make finding a mate the sole purpose of what you do," said Ms. Oliver, who has been divorced for seven years after a long marriage. "But that's not my focus. I don't go to activities specifically because they are designed for singles. I participate in activities that interest me. Being single can be interesting as long as you keep an open attitude and simply try to enjoy what is."

LOAD-DATE: December 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photos: The Island, like the nation, is seeing a rise in divorced middle-aged singles. Some gather at The Dallenger, a club inside the Garden City Hotel, that caters to people over 40. (pg. 1); Patrons get acquainted at The Dallenger in Garden City, a popular spot for divorced middle-age singles. A couple dancing at The Dallenger. (Photographs by Rebecca Cooney for The New York Times)(pg. 6)
 
Illustration by Gorka Sampedro

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

December 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

December 21-27;
Curbs on Elderly Benefits

BYLINE: By MILT FREUDENHEIM

SECTION: Section 4; Page 2; Column 1; Week in Review Desk

LENGTH: 126 words

Health maintenance organizations are supposed to provide care at a lower cost than traditional insurance. But as Federal programs often do, Medicare has surprised its sponsors by spending more, not less, per person on the 5.9 million elderly and disabled Americans who have joined H.M.O.'s.
Congress recently limited the increase in next year's payments to Medicare H.M.O's to 2 to 3 percent, down sharply from 10 percent only two years ago. Some H.M.O.'s reacted by raising prices and ending freebies, upsetting elderly members who often live on tight budgets. 
 That was only one of a number of conflicting concerns. "One thing we are looking to do is maintain or enhance our profit margins," an H.M.O. spokeswoman said.   MILT FREUDENHEIM

LOAD-DATE: December 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

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The New York Times

December 28, 1997, Sunday, Late Edition - Final
Correction Appended

EARNING IT;
A Company Where Retirement Is a Dirty Word

BYLINE: By JULIE FLAHERTY 

SECTION: Section 3; Page 1; Column 1; Money and Business/Financial Desk 

LENGTH: 1440 words

DATELINE: NEEDHAM, Mass.

AS far as he can recall, Frederick Hartman has never dismissed an employee. In its 65-year history, his company has never had a layoff. And he has never asked anyone to retire.
Quite the contrary. When Mary Boyt retired recently -- at the age of 89 -- Mr. Hartman was not at all happy about it. 
 "That got me ticked off," he said, shaking his head in disgust. "Her daughter pushed her into retirement. She was a great worker. I hope I'm as sharp at that age."
Mr. Hartman is president of the Vita Needle Company in Needham. And at Vita Needle, there is no such thing as mandatory retirement; even the suggestion is scoffed at. After all, the average age here is 73. Most of the 35 employees joined the small factory as a second career, after retiring from jobs as engineers, nurses, bakers or what have you.
Not that Mr. Hartman, who is 45, is just being nice. He says he recruits older people because he finds them loyal, responsible and eligible for Medicare -- eliminating the need for company-paid health coverage.
Rosa Finnegan, a retired waitress and a widow, took a job here a year ago because her Social Security check was not paying the taxes on her Needham home.
Like most of those who work and chat at the wood benches on the factory floor, Ms. Finnegan praises the flexible hours, the plant's location a few miles from her home and the opportunity just to keep busy. The work, assembling small metal components by hand, is less than exciting, but, she asked, "Who else is going to hire me at 86?"
Actually, in today's tight labor market, someone just might. The national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in November, the lowest since 1970, and as it has fallen, employers have sought out workers in age brackets they might not otherwise have considered. In 1995, some 3.8 million people 65 and older had jobs; that is 2.9 percent of that age group, up from 2.5 percent a decade earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When the American Association of Retired Persons Bulletin asked its readers to complete a questionnaire about their employment, 2,700 people working after age 65 wrote in, many of them former retirees. "We think it's a growing phenomenon as the labor market tightens and employers are finding it hard to fill jobs," said Robert Lewis, senior editor of the publication.
At Vita Needle, though, hiring older workers is nothing new. In 1934, Mr. Hartman's great-grandfather, Oscar E. Nutter, came out of retirement from the textile industry to start the business, which makes a variety of industrial and medical needles. He was 68, and he ran the company until three days before his death at 96. His nephew Carl Nutter worked until he was 88. And despite gall bladder surgery recently, Fred Hartman's father, Mason, at 72, the employee with the most seniority, was soon back at his desk keeping the books.
When Fred Hartman took over the family business 10 years ago, he saw that recruiting retirees would be in keeping with the company's experience with older workers. Mr. Hartman hired Bill Ferson, who was 68, as a design engineer. Now 79, Mr. Ferson is still here because, he said, "they treat us like human beings."
Lena Ferrara, who is 73, said Mr. Hartman called her not long after she left her job at an oil company and asked her to help out. Last week, she put in 40 hours. "He didn't give me a chance to retire," she said.
Having a staff of predominantly older workers has its ups and downs, Mr. Hartman acknowledged. But he is committed to them.
"They are motivated; they take care of the equipment; they don't have the P.T.A. meetings or the kids in day care," Mr. Hartman said. Most important, he said, "coming to work is a high priority" for them.
According to a 1993 report by the Commonwealth Fund in New York, most employers surveyed nationally said workers over 55 were better than younger workers when it came to work attitude, turnover and absenteeism. Another report by the fund found that of older Americans who did not work, one in seven was willing and able to do so.
"This work is kind of like therapy," Ms. Ferrara said. "Getting up early, getting dressed every day, not sitting around in your pajamas. It was too boring to be at home when no one's there. You clean your house for two days in a row, and then what?"
Almost all the older workers in Vita Needle's nonunion work force are part-time, some working as little as 15 hours a week. Two-thirds of them are women, with the workers' pay ranging from $6 to $12 an hour. The company promotes flex time, giving workers a lot of leeway in their choice of workdays and hours. Many employees have keys to the building, so some come in before daylight while others work into the evening; the last ones out shut off the lights.
"Older people are more likely to leave jobs that are physically demanding or have rigid schedules, and more likely to re-enter jobs with flexible schedules," said Diane Herz, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
THE downside of such laissez-faire scheduling, Mr. Hartman said, is occasionally not having all the hands he needs when he needs them. "Summers and winters are harder on us," he said. "People want to go to Florida, or go down to Cape Cod with their grandchildren for a few weeks."
But his workers, he noted, do not need as much supervision. "People are letting themselves in at 5 in the morning," he said. "I'm not here telling them what to do."
A paper tacked on the bulletin board reads: "Remember, old folks are worth a fortune -- with silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys, lead in their feet and gas in their stomachs." And the physical limitations of aging do not go unnoticed. Jim Connolly, a design engineer, remembers one woman who would doze off at her workbench. And, he said, "you get the occasional oddball who makes you a little nervous."
Because the factory is housed in what was once a second-floor movie theater, "the stairs are a bone of contention," Mr. Hartman said. Although no previous experience in the field is necessary, applicants must be able to make it up the steps.
The aging building that houses the business has no loading dock -- it did not even have hot water until the late 80's. It is also cramped for space; the former theater stage is packed with yards of steel tubing. But moving to another site would mean losing employees; many walk or take a short ride to work. Last year, the company, which had been renting its space, bought the whole building. "We're in it for the long haul," Mr. Hartman said.
OLDER workers, of course, can be more resistant to something new. "Change isn't always easy when you have a labor force that is advanced in years," Mr. Hartman said. Mary Bianchi, 76, the office manager, threatened to quit when he replaced her typewriter with a word processor. There were arguments over the addition of the fax machine ("No one thought it would work"), the air-conditioner, even the microwave. "I still think a third of our people won't go next to it," Mr. Hartman said.
On the other hand, the company has remade itself in recent years. In the 1980's, the spread of AIDS caused a huge shift toward the use of disposable needles, making obsolete the re-usable medical needles that were Vita's specialty.
To reinvent itself, Vita found other uses for its type of product -- developing tubes for embalming, tagging salmon, vaccinating wild animals and injecting foam into car seats. One customer, Sea World, contracts with Vita for 4-foot-long needles used to medicate killer whales.
The workers, many of them widows, hardly blush when discussing the special needles for piercing navels, noses, tongues and, um, other body parts. "We're kind of a player in that market," Mr. Hartman said, with slight embarrassment.
By adapting to new manufacturing procedures, the staff has proved itself as versatile as the products. Mr. Ferson used his 30 years of experience in a machine shop to create a gauge that allows him to work with tubing the size of a human hair.
With its new customer base, the company has grown to 35 employees, from 15 in 1984. Sales have doubled in the last five years, and are expected to grow 15 to 20 percent this year.
More change is on the way. Although Ms. Bianchi, the office manager, keeps the company paperwork in files on a shelf behind her desk, computerization is in the works. As he helped her pull down a box, Mr. Hartman, 31 years her junior, joked about when she would retire.
"You're here until three figures, Mary, three figures," he said.
She smiled and said, "You'll have to put the elevator in for me."

LOAD-DATE: December 28, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

CORRECTION-DATE: January 4, 1998, Sunday
January 11, 1998, Sunday

 CORRECTION:
An article last Sunday about the Vita Needle Company, where the work force includes many retirees from various occupations, misstated the year it was founded. It was 1932, not 1934.
An article on Dec. 28 about the Vita Needle Company, where the work force includes many retirees from various occupations, misstated the number of Americans age 65 and older who had jobs in 1995. It was 3.7 million, not 3.8 million. The article also misstated the percentage of people in that age group who held jobs in 1995 and 1985. It was 11.7 percent in 1995, not 2.9 percent. It was 10.4 percent in 1985, not 2.5 percent.

GRAPHIC: Photo: The Vita Needle Company in Needham, Mass., offers flexible schedules to its staff of predominantly older workers. Marion Archibald, 87, is among the 35 employees. (Kirsten Elstner for The New York Times)(pg. 11)
 
Chart: "Who's Who"
Some of the venerable employees of the Vita Needle Company.
 
1. Mary Bianchi 76
2. Frederick Hartman 45, the company's president
3. Mason Hartman 72, his father, who keeps the company's books
4. Kay Whitcher 77
5. Joan Golley 63
6. Marilyn Devine 65
7. Marion Archibald 87
8. Ann Poulos 73
9. Ernie Garron 53
10. Al Goodrow 73
11. Alice Walker 79
12. Marsha Clifford 85
13. Florence Hollis 88
14. Jennifer Cushman 34
15. Eleanor Clark 82
16. Blake Harrison 41
17. Roland Hickok 75
18. Michael LaRosa 39
19. Jim Connolly 74
20. Rosa Finnegan 87
21. Helen Morrissey 75
22. William Bradley 86
23. Bill Ferson 79
24. Frank Fiorello 86
25. Tom Mann 84

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



632 of 633 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times

December 31, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

FILM REVIEW;
Joy of Good Old Love, Or at Least Lust

BYLINE: By STEPHEN HOLDEN 

SECTION: Section E; Page 8; Column 5; The Arts/Cultural Desk 

LENGTH: 553 words

Truman Capote, observing the 60-ish Katherine Anne Porter flirt with a handsome young man, is reported to have once remarked acidly that "the last thing that dies in a snake is the tail." Restated in a kinder way, our sexual urges may diminish with age, but they never completely vanish. Desire lives on in memory if not in action.
The notion that sexuality and the life force are synonymous lies at the heart of Heddy Honigmann's wise but lighthearted documentary, "O Amor Natural," which opens today at the Film Forum. In this meditation on desire, memory and age, the filmmaker invites randomly chosen older people in Rio de Janeiro to read aloud the erotic verses of the Brazilian poet, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, who died in 1987. The volume from which they read was published posthumously because Drummond worried that his language would be considered pornographic. But translated into movie subtitles, his rhapsodically sensual odes to lovemaking and female body parts, and his celebrations of his own anatomy ("a gentle leaping jaguar") are only slightly more explicit than the Song of Solomon. 
 Almost to a person, these impromptu readers, all in their 60's, 70's, and 80's, are not only unembarrassed but delighted by what they read, and many are stimulated to confide their own erotic histories. Interwoven among the interviews are shots of beautiful young people frisking on the beaches of Rio de Janiero.
A still vigorous, but sexually inactive 85-year-old man recalls his happy 50-year marriage to a woman who tolerated his numerous affairs because she never doubted his love. "Variety," he says without making excuses, was essential to his well-being. An 81-year-old woman who swam in the 1936 Olympics in Germany reads a poem about making love in a shower that evokes a mystical connection in her mind between sex and water. Recalling her sex life, a weather-beaten woman scoffs at "softy" lovemaking, declaring that she could only be satisfied by being taken violently, "because I am violent."
The filmmaker also interviews acquaintances of Drummond's, including a hat maker who supplied him with his Panama fedoras and remembers the poet as a rakishly elegant man who was quite vain. We hear Drummond's voice reciting his own verses from an album he recorded in 1972.
If the movie is groundbreaking in its focus on geriatric sexuality, its mostly upbeat picture of older people smiling contentedly as they dredge up ancient flings and quenched passions is a reassuringly sentimental portrait of old age. Most of the subjects look back on youth with a rosy benignity that is largely untainted by bitterness and regret. Late in the film, only one woman who had a very active sex life admits, on the verge of tears, that she was lying when she said she wasn't nostalgic.
A word of warning: "O Amor Natural" is likely to leave you itching to go out and make hay while the sun shines.

O AMOR NATURAL
 
Directed by Heddy Honigmann; in Portuguese, with English subtitles; director of photography, Jose Guerra; edited by Marc Nolens; produced by Pieter van Huystee; released by First Run Features and First Run/ Icarus Films. At the Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, South Village. Running time: 76 minutes. This film is not rated.

FEATURING: Residents of Rio de Janeiro.

LOAD-DATE: December 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Photo: Residents of Rio de Janeiro reading poetry and talking about their love lives in the film "O Amor Natural." (Film Forum)

TYPE: Review

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company



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The New York Times

December 31, 1997, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

A Conservative Group Sues on Medicare Rule

BYLINE: By ROBERT PEAR 

SECTION: Section A; Page 13; Column 1; National Desk 

LENGTH: 951 words

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Dec. 30

A new Federal law scheduled to take effect on Thursday has set off a dispute over the right of elderly people to choose their own health care and to negotiate fees with their doctors.
A conservative group that represents more than a half-million elderly people filed suit in Federal District Court here today to block the law, which was included in the balanced-budget bill signed last summer by President Clinton. 
 Republicans originally drafted the legislation to guarantee that doctors could sign private contracts with Medicare beneficiaries willing to pay more than the fees set by the Government. But in an effort to protect elderly people against price gouging by doctors, Democrats insisted that Congress impose many restrictions on the use of such private contracts.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, led by the United Seniors Association, contend that the law, rather than protecting elderly patients, severely limits their right to use their own money to buy more health care, or pay higher fees, than Medicare deems appropriate.
The lawsuit is the opening salvo in what promises to be a long-running battle in Federal courts and in Congress over the new law.
Sandra L. Butler, president of the association, asserted that the law would destroy "seniors' ability to pay the doctor of their choice, for services of their choice, without the interference of the Federal Government."
Medicare pays doctors according to a fee schedule and strictly limits their ability to charge higher fees even if Medicare patients are willing to pay more. Doctors say some patients are willing to pay two or three times the Medicare fee for the services of an eminent specialist.
Ms. Butler and many Republican members of Congress contend that Medicare beneficiaries need an unfettered right to sign private contracts with their doctors, even for services that would otherwise be covered by Medicare. They say such contracts will become increasingly important as the Government is tempted to control costs by rationing care.
But Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California, said that private contracts exposed patients to "extortion" by doctors. Sick patients, fighting for their lives, are in a weak bargaining position and have no realistic opportunity to negotiate the terms of contracts with their doctors, Mr. Stark said.
Medicare finances health care for 38 million people who are elderly or disabled. It has a pervasive influence on the practice of medicine, extending far beyond the elderly, because most doctors receive some payments from Medicare.
The new law, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, says that a doctor may enter a private contract with a Medicare beneficiary for a specific item or service only if the doctor signs an affidavit promising not to file any claims with Medicare for any services provided to any patients for two years.
In other words, a doctor who signs even one private contract must agree to stay completely out of the Medicare program for two years. Few doctors are willing to make such a financial sacrifice.
Influential Republicans, including Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Representative Dick Armey of Texas, are supporting bills to lift the restrictions on private contracts. At least 47 senators and 170 House members have endorsed the legislation.
Under current law, doctors can charge up to 15 percent more than the amounts listed in Medicare's fee schedule. Under private contracts, there would be no limit on what a doctor could charge a patient, and Medicare would not pay any of the doctor's bill.
The Clinton Administration and the American Association of Retired Persons are generally skeptical of private contracts, saying they expose elderly patients to price gouging. But the Administration has been extremely cautious in its public statements, basically defending the compromise struck in the new law.
The American Medical Association strongly supports the right of doctors to sign private contracts, but is not a party to the lawsuit. The A.M.A., like the plaintiffs, contends that doctors should be able to sign private contracts in a selective way, case by case and service by service.
Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare, said: "Beneficiaries have always been able to pay out of their own pockets for services not covered by Medicare without penalty to themselves or their physicians. The new Balanced Budget Act does not change that."
Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of the Health and Human Services, is the defendant in the lawsuit, which was assigned to Judge Thomas F. Hogan of Federal District Court.
The Administration insists that Medicare beneficiaries can use their own money to pay for goods and services that are not covered by Medicare, like hearing aids or routine physical examinations. Private contracts, it says, are needed only when a patient wants to pay a higher fee, or obtain more care, than Medicare deems appropriate.
Two of the plaintiffs, Peggy Sanborn and Toni Parsons of Florida, said they were particularly concerned that they would no longer be able to obtain certain laboratory tests used to screen people for cancer. Medicare pays for many such tests when the patient has symptoms of cancer, but not when the patient is healthy, they said.
Lawmakers said they had been inundated with letters expressing concern about the new law. Diane Archer, executive director of the Medicare Rights Center, a consumer group based in New York City, said the A.M.A. and the United Seniors Association had scared elderly people by disseminating inaccurate information about the new law.
      

LOAD-DATE: December 31, 1997

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company