Worried that their party has been outgunned in the political propaganda wars by conservative radio and television personalities , influential Democrats are scouring the nation for a liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh and the many others on the deep bench of Republican friends .

For years , Democrats have groused about their inability to balance what they see as the increasing influence over the electorate by advocates of Republican policies .

But they say their concerns have taken on a new urgency because of the rise to the top of the cable news ratings by the Fox News Channel , considered by many to have a conservative slant , and the loss of the Senate to the Republicans in November .

Some Democrats say the election outcome enhanced the influence of Fox News and personalities like Mr. Limbaugh .

The efforts among influential Democrats , particularly liberals , range from a grass-roots talent search for progressive radio hosts to the creation of research organizations to provide a Democratic spin for the news media , to nascent discussions by wealthy supporters about starting a cable network with a liberal bent .

People working on these projects acknowledged they were venturing into territory where liberals have failed and failed again , most notably with the short-lived radio programs of Mario M . Cuomo and Jim Hightower , not to mention Phil Donahue 's struggling liberal talk show on MSNBC .

However , they said , the recent Republican gains have perhaps set the backdrop for the emergence of an angry liberal who could claim the same outsider status that worked so well for Mr. Limbaugh in the early 1990 's .

The hurried efforts by Democrats to find more powerful media voices come after years of carping but little action .

`` If you start from the premise that the message was right , which we do , then the problem was that it was n't getting out to the people , `` said one official of the Democratic Party who spoke on condition that his name not be used .

With that sentiment , there is a sense within the leadership ranks that the party erred in not building a media support system after the 2000 presidential election , when it lost the media coordination of the Clinton White House .

`` Across the board , we need to muscle up , '' said John Podesta , the former White House chief of staff for Bill Clinton and now a law professor at Georgetown University .

`` That means from the Congressional operations to the party committees to the think-tank world to , most significantly , beefing up our capacity to communicate with the public in all forms of media , not just through obscure Internet Web sites but on television and radio . ''

For his part , Mr. Podesta is discussing with the Internet entrepreneur Steven T . Kirsch and others the creation of a liberal version of the Heritage Foundation , the conservative research group that , along with others of its kind , is credited with helping start the modern conservative movement .

The foundation is part of a circuit of influential conservative groups that are credited with helping to hone a singular message , bolstered each Wednesday at back-to-back meetings held by Grover Norquist , the head of Americans for Tax Reform , and the conservative activist Paul Weyrich .

Those meetings are monitored and at times attended by some conservative commentators , columnists and Internet writers .

Democrats have long claimed that the circuit has corralled conservative thinkers , and more important , conservative media , into a disciplined message of the week that gets repeated attention from Web sites like the Drudge Report , Mr. Limbaugh 's radio show , Fox News 's prime-time talk shows and the editorial pages of The Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal .

Mr. Kirsch , chief executive of the Propel Internet service and a Democratic fund-raiser , said the foundation he and Mr. Podesta envision would do the same for liberals .

`` During the last 10 years the opposition has become more organized and the liberals have n't adapted to counter it , `` Mr. Kirsch said .

`` We will have components that will include messaging , message delivery and coordination of progressive groups so progressives will speak with more of a unified voice . ''

Should the organizers succeed at starting a foundation , it would not have anywhere near the number of prominent , outright partisan media voices that its conservative counterparts do .

Democrats can point to a scant few .

Their most prominent television advocates , James Carville and Paul Begala on `` Crossfire '' and Bill Press on CNN 's `` Buchanan and Press , '' square off each day against conservative counterparts .

Mr. Donahue stands alone on MSNBC , but his program has struggled some against the far more watched Bill O'Reilly on Fox and Connie Chung on CNN .

Conservatives have Mr. Limbaugh , Sean Hannity , Michael Reagan and Neal Boortz , who collectively draw an audience of at least 30 million people per week with a strictly conservative message .

They are led , of course , by Mr. Limbaugh , with an estimated audience of up to 20 million people a week , and Mr. Hannity , with nearly 10 million .

Democrats , most recently Al Gore , have also complained that the Fox News Channel , overseen by the former Republican strategist Roger E . Ailes , slants its coverage against Democrats , a charge Mr. Ailes denies .

Its average nightly audience of about 1.3 million people is the largest in cable news .

In one of the more ambitious of the ideas circulating , a group of wealthy Democratic supporters is toying with the idea of starting a liberal cable network .

That endeavor would cost in the hundreds of millions and require the backing of a media company with enough leverage to force it onto the major cable systems .

Democratic officials said that they had discussed a similar idea with Haim Saban , a media mogul and party supporter , a couple of years ago , as Fox News began its ascent , but that he ultimately decided against it , in large part because of the odds against success .

Mr. Saban had no comment , but an associate played down the seriousness of the discussions .

Still , Rob Glaser , the founder and chief executive of RealNetworks , the Internet video service , said he believed there was room to create a progressive version of Fox News .

`` There is a hole in the market right now , '' Mr. Glaser said .

`` From my personal standpoint , holes in the market are opportunities . ''

Democrats said a far more readily achievable goal would be to foster national liberal radio personalities .

The task has fallen to a newly formed group , Democracy Radio Inc .

It is overseen by a former Democratic Congressional staffer , Tom Athens , with help from , among others , Paul W . Fiddick , the Clinton administration assistant secretary for agriculture and a co-founder of the Heritage Media Corporation .

`` We 're going to go out and identify talent and help them to create programming and actually connect them with local stations , `` Mr. Athens said .

`` We want to plant a thousand seeds and see how many flowers actually arise . ''

But if history is any guide , the soil may not be fertile .

Liberal radio programs have not worked very well in the past .

Liberals and conservatives said they believed this was in part because the most prominent liberal hosts have tended to present policy issues in all of their dry complexity while refraining from baring fangs against conservative opponents .

`` Most liberal talk shows are so , you know , milquetoast , who would want to listen to them .

`` said Harry Thomason , the Hollywood producer who is close to Bill Clinton .

`` Conservatives are all fire and brimstone . ''

Mr. Athens said his group would encourage its hosts to be more brazen and entertaining .

`` Progressives have this problem : They sound too erudite , it 's like eggheads talking at you , `` Mr. Athens said .

`` We believe that progressive talk radio can be every bit as successful as conservative talk radio if people present and format a show that people like . ''

Conservatives are skeptical that all of this planning will do the Democrats much good .

`` It 's not a matter of packaging or meetings , it 's a matter of ideas , `` Mr. Hannity said .

`` The public is n't interested in the kind of liberalism that the Democratic party has come to represent . ``

Robert Novak , the syndicated columnist and part of the conservative team on CNN 's `` Crossfire , '' said the Democrats were making too much about the efficacy of the conservative research organizations .

Mr. Novak said he sent a staff member to Mr. Norquist 's meetings .

But , he said , while the information shared at the meetings is `` helpful , it 's hardly a decisive factor `` in what he writes in his column or says on television .

Correction : January 4 , 2003 , Saturday An article on Wednesday about efforts by influential Democrats to counter conservative voices in the news media misidentified the network that broadcasts `` Buchanan and Press , '' with the conservative commentator Patrick J . Buchanan and Bill Press , a prominent advocate of Democratic positions .

It is MSNBC , not CNN .

Summary: Influential Democrats , worried that their party has been outgunned in political propaganda wars by conservative radio and television personalities , are scouring nation for a liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh and the many others on deep bench of Republican friends .

Summary: For years , Democrats have groused about their inability to balance what they see as increasing influence over electorate by advocates of Republican policies .

Summary: But they say their concerns have taken on new urgency because of rise to top of cable news ratings by Fox News Channel , considered by many to have conservative slant , and loss of Senate to Republicans in November .

Summary: Some Democrats say election outcome enhanced influence of Fox News and personalities like Limbaugh .

Summary: Photo .


Like so many others who have gone on to distinguished athletic careers from tiny Belle Glade , Fla . , Brad Banks grew up running in the area 's thick muck , eating sugar cane and chasing rabbits .

`` You 've got to be on your toes to catch those rabbits , `` said Banks , the Iowa quarterback , who has become one of the most celebrated players in college football in a single storybook season .

Banks visited his hometown on the northern edge of the Everglades shortly before Iowa assembled here for its game against Southern California in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night .

He reminisced about his childhood , about the way the burning sugar cane fields would flush out so many rabbits .

He could catch 30 on a good day , taking some home to eat , selling others for $ 3.50 each .

`` It was fun to remember how it used to be for me , '' Banks said .

`` It 's been a long ride , but it 's paying off right now . ``

Three Belle Glade natives are in the N.F.L. : Fred Taylor of Jacksonville , James Jackson of Cleveland and Johnny Rutledge of Arizona .

Banks intends to soon make it four .

He is coming off a regular season during which he led the country in passing efficiency .

He passed for 2,369 yards , with 25 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions -LRB- 2 of them off deflections -RRB- .

Tack on his five rushing touchdowns , and that gave him a team record for combined touchdowns .

`` He 's led our football team and he 's kept a very even , very stable demeanor through the good and the bad , `` Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said .

`` I think that 's something the players really respect in him . ``

Banks came into the season as a major question mark after playing sparingly in 2001 .

And in the Hawkeyes ' third game , when Iowa held a 24-7 halftime lead against Iowa State , he lost two fumbles as Iowa fell to its sole defeat , 36-31 .

`` That was like a wake-up call , '' Banks said .

`` It got me to focus a little more . ''

With concerns high , Banks , a senior , quickly turned the doubts into one long highlight reel .

Two of his best games came at Penn State , where he passed for 261 yards and 4 touchdowns , and at Michigan , where he passed for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns .

`` Penn State is not an easy venue , plus the game was on national television , '' Ferentz said .

`` We were n't quite sure how he 'd handle adversity , but he just took it and ran .

From then on , everything 's been pretty good . ``

Banks 's late heroics in a 31-28 victory over Purdue cemented his stature .

He took the Hawkeyes on an eight-play , 87-yard scoring drive that ended with 1 minute 7 seconds remaining in the game .

He began the drive with a 44-yard run on a quarterback draw , and he finished it with a 7-yard fourth-down touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Clark .

`` He did n't do anything or say anything different on that drive , `` Clark said .

`` I think that 's what made it so bizarre and so special .

With all the pressure on the line , we 're behind , the season 's on the ropes and everybody 's looking at him , he was just as mild-mannered as he was when he started the game . ``

Clark shook his head in wonder , still impressed by the memory .

`` That just shows what kind of special quarterback he is , '' he said .

When offensive tackle Robert Gallery described Banks as `` not a yell-and-scream guy , '' that was an understatement .

He often talks in one - or two-sentence clips with a soft , self-effacing style .

`` He never gets flustered in the huddle or screams at anybody , '' Gallery said .

`` I 'd call him the strong , silent type .

I just know he 's got everybody believing in him . ``

Banks said he simply treated games like practice .

`` Whatever you do on the practice field , you should be able to bring it over to the game , '' he said .

Iowa went 11-1 for the season , including 8-0 in the Big Ten to claim part of the conference championship with Ohio State .

And the individual honors came flooding to Banks .

The Associated Press named him the player of the year .

Banks also finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to Southern Cal 's Carson Palmer , his quarterbacking counterpart in Thursday night 's game .

Seeing him now , it is difficult to believe that he took such a circuitous route to stardom .

He began his college career at the Central Florida but encountered academic trouble .

That led him to Hinds Junior College in Mississippi , where there were plenty of occasions when he wondered if he had much of a future in the game .

In particular , Banks recalled missing part of a season with a bruised quadriceps .

`` I did a lot of praying and stayed hungry , '' he said .

He said he felt as if the door to success `` was closed a lot of times . ''

`` But I kept looking for that crack , because I knew I could explode through it , '' Banks said .

Arriving at Iowa last year , he found himself playing behind the senior Kyle McCann .

He stayed there for much of the season .

To Ferentz , Banks stands now as a great example of waiting for one 's turn , then taking advantage when the opportunity comes .

`` It still was a good year for me , '' Banks said of last season .

`` It prepared me for this year . ''

COLLEGE FOOTBALL .

Summary: Iowa University quarterback Brad Banks , who was Heisman Trophy candidate , took circuitous route to success , attending two colleges before Iowa and growing up in bucolic Belle Glade , Fla .

Summary: Photos .


To begin today 's final news conference before the big game , Susan Hamilton , the Gator Bowl chairwoman , gushed , `` Has this been a great week or what .

`` Then she expressed hope that the predicted heavy rain would not wash out the festivities before Wednesday 's meeting between Notre Dame and North Carolina State .

But her happy and hopeful words did not dispel an uneasy feeling in the room , particularly around the Fighting Irish delegation .

Kevin White , the Notre Dame athletic director , set his jaw , shook his head and refused to discuss the most contentious of several issues : the continuing investigation into the arrest and detention of a Notre Dame player .

Chad DeBolt , a senior safety , was held overnight in a local jail after he was arrested and charged with trespassing , the police said , when he refused to leave the Ocean Club in Jacksonville Beach early Friday morning .

At some point , DeBolt sustained substantial facial injuries , which were visible in a photograph taken at the Duval County Jail .

So far , there are more questions than answers about the incident .

How did those injuries occur .

When did they take place .

`` We 've just moved on , that 's all I can say , `` White said .

Is DeBolt , 22 , still with the team .

Will he play against the Wolfpack .

Does he have a lawyer representing him in this case .

What is his medical condition .

The mug shot showed swollen eyes and cuts around the mouth and nose .

White repeated his statement that Notre Dame has `` moved on '' and said he would have no further comment .

DeBolt has not been available for comment .

Police officials were just as limited in their revelations .

Greg Fields , public affairs officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff 's office , said an investigation is in progress to discover what took place between the time of DeBolt 's arrest and his release from the jail about 11 hours later .

`` They wo n't update it , `` Fields said when asked if there were developments to announce today .

`` They will come to a conclusion and release everything . ''

That was just one of three recent incidents that have jolted the Fighting Irish 10-2 -RRB- as they prepare to face the Wolfpack -LRB- 10-3 -RRB- .

The first was the announcement last week that Notre Dame would play without the seniors Jordan Black and Brennan Curtin , their first-string offensive tackles .

They were left home because of what was termed `` a university matter . ''

Another problem is the expected absence of Courtney Watson , a starting linebacker , who has not practiced this week because of a sprained knee and is doubtful for the game .

These issues follow a relatively good season under Tyrone Willingham , the first-year coach , that began with an 8-0 streak and ended with a 2-2 thud .

The final game was a 44-13 loss Nov . 30 at Southern California in which Notre Dame 's defense gave up a team-record 610 yards .

Today , Gerome Sapp , a senior strong safety , said : `` Nobody 's perfect .

We had a bad game .

We 'll admit to that . ``

That game was a good one for U.S.C. quarterback Carson Palmer , who threw for 425 yards and 4 touchdowns .

Palmer and others said it was the pivotal factor in his winning the Heisman Trophy two weeks later .

North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers , a junior , has completed 239 of 381 passes this season for 3,125 yards and 18 touchdowns .

He threw only 10 interceptions , but he will be working against a secondary -- led by cornerbacks Shane Walton and Vontez Duff -- that intercepted 21 passes for a Notre Dame team that scored 105 points off turnovers .

Rivers 's primary target is Jerricho Cotchery , who caught 57 passes for 1,065 yards and 6 touchdowns .

This will be Notre Dame 's first bowl appearance since a 41-9 loss to Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2000 season .

The Irish have lost their last five bowl games .

Their last postseason victory was over Texas A & M , 24-21 , in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 1993 season .

This will be the first time Notre Dame and N.C.

State have played .

The Wolfpack started the season 9-0 , then lost three games before closing with a victory over Florida State .

The North Carolina State running attack is led by the freshman tailback T . A . McLendon , who rushed for 1,083 yards and 16 touchdowns .

The Wolfpack has won three of its last four bowl games .

In today 's news conference , as is often the case when Notre Dame plays , there were humorous remarks about religious affiliation .

Coach Chuck Amato of N.C.

State , referring to the forecast for heavy rain , said : `` The priests and the nuns will have to take care of that rain .

The Baptists I brought with me ca n't handle that . ``

But Willingham disagreed in his reply .

`` I am from North Carolina , '' Willingham said , `` and I do know the impact of Southern Baptists . ''

On a more serious subject , Willingham was asked whether his players still have a bad taste in their mouths after the defeat at U.S.C.

`` If it 's still there , we 'd like to get it out , `` Willingham said .

`` But , sometimes , in four weeks , you can lose your taste buds . ''

COLLEGE FOOTBALL .

Summary: Notre Dame University prepares to face North Carolina State University in Gator Bowl and provides no answers about arrest of safety Chad DeBolt , who was charged with trespassing at nightclub .

Summary: Photo .


His shot has started to fall .

His defense has clamped down on two huge challenges in the post .

But as well as center Michael Doleac has been playing lately , he was not going to play along when Shandon Anderson fired an alley-oop pass to him during the Knicks ' victory over San Antonio on Monday night .

Doleac did not even raise his arms to try to dunk the ball that banged off the backboard .

Even his sudden success in the rotation has not made Doleac believe he is ready for such a play .

`` I told Shandon that if I had caught that and made it , that would 've been my first alley-oop ever -- high school , college , pro , ever in a game , `` Doleac said .

`` I 've done it in practice but never in a game . ``

Although Coach Don Chaney insisted he had seen Doleac and Anderson connect on the play in practice while toiling for the second unit , some Knicks joked with Anderson , saying , `` Know your personnel . ''

Before the last three games , Doleac had struggled to justify any playing time , failing to show more than a hint of the shooting touch that inspired the Knicks to sign him as a free agent in August .

He missed the first seven games of the season with a hamstring injury that affected him through most of the preseason .

In his first 17 games , he averaged 3.1 points -LRB- shooting 36.5 percent from the field -RRB- and 2.3 rebounds and played little defense .

But in Houston last Friday , when Kurt Thomas got into early foul trouble , Doleac stepped forward and helped the Knicks to victory with 15 points and 5 rebounds , shooting 6 of 9 and playing unexpectedly strong defense in 28 minutes against the Rockets ' 7-foot-6 Yao Ming .

Against San Antonio , Doleac helped counter the combination of Tim Duncan and David Robinson , scoring 16 points , shooting 8 of 11 and grabbing a season-high 8 rebounds in 33 minutes .

Doleac will be the first big man off the bench Wednesday night against Toronto because Clarence Weatherspoon was suspended for one game and fined $ 20,000 for fighting with San Antonio 's Kevin Willis .

`` He 's playing with a lot of confidence , `` Chaney said of Doleac .

`` Not just shooting , but with other things .

Naturally he struggled earlier , but his confidence level is there .

And I think guys are more comfortable with him now , too .

If he 's open , they 're not reluctant to give him the ball . ``

Perhaps they should be , at least when it comes to the lob above the rim .

But on firm ground about 15 feet from the basket , Doleac has suddenly regained his touch and the faith of his teammates .

`` I think the biggest thing is the way he 's shooting the ball , `` Latrell Sprewell said .

`` When you 're able to space the floor like that with a big guy and have him knock down perimeter shots , it stretches the defense . ``

Why has the ball suddenly begun to drop .

`` I have no idea , '' Doleac said .

What he does know is that it has been a hard adjustment to a new city and a new team while having little to show for his efforts .

Doleac , who entered the league as the 12th overall draft pick after helping Utah reach the N.C.A.A. championship game as a senior in 1998 , had four inconsistent seasons with Orlando and Cleveland before joining the Knicks .

`` It 's always tough to lose games and not play well , `` Doleac said .

`` I mean , you want to come out there and do well and contribute to the team and try and help the team win games .

When you 're not playing up to what you think you 're capable and losing games , it 's not much fun .

Obviously , if I knew what it was I would have done it a long time ago . ``

What may have turned his offense around has been the unexpected performance on defense .

At 6-11 and 262 pounds , he is able to provide the Knicks with as close as their roster gets to a true center 's size and style .

As much as he contributed on offense on Monday , he was just as good on defense .

`` I usually pass up the first shot I see and try to get a rebound first , or get a stop first , '' Doleac said .

`` A lot of times that will happen : my shot dictates my game .

So if I miss my shot , I 'm not doing anything to help the team -- so , you know , sit down .

I just need to get in the flow .

If I miss , it 's ` Come on , Mike . '

But if you 're defending and rebounding , who cares .

I 'm doing something to help . ``

Chaney recalled an incident a couple of weeks ago when Doleac said , `` I 'm thinking too much . ``

`` That comes with a guy who 's not familiar with what we 're doing , `` Chaney said .

`` The last couple of games , especially the Houston game , he did a great job of using his strength . ''

Chaney added , `` If you have size like that , it goes to waste if you do n't use it . ``

BASKETBALL .

Summary: New York Knicks center Michael Doleac gets 15 points and 5 rebounds in win against San Antonio Spurs , finally showing signs of improvement since his signing as free agent months ago .

Summary: Photo .


Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett today disputed the contention of university officials that he failed to file the proper paperwork to allow him to return to his hometown to attend the funeral of a boyhood friend .

Clarett said he filled out the paperwork Thursday , before the Buckeyes departed for their national title game matchup with Miami here in the Fiesta Bowl on Friday night .

The National Collegiate Athletic Association requires the form for an athlete to qualify for emergency money , as Clarett would have needed for a plane ticket to his home in Youngstown , Ohio .

`` They ca n't lie about that , `` Clarett , a freshman , said defiantly before a throng of reporters at Sun Devil Stadium on media day .

`` I wo n't sit here and let them lie about that . ``

On Monday , Clarett said university officials first ignored him , then gave him `` the runaround '' when he asked to fly home to attend services for Juaquin A . Bell , who was found fatally shot on Dec . 21 .

His funeral was Monday .

Ohio State 's athletic director , Andy Geiger , said that the university would have allowed Clarett to go home but that he had not filled out the proper form .

In a statement released tonight , Geiger said Clarett had not submitted the form , Free Application for Federal Student Aid , as of Monday .

He said the form , given to all Ohio State student athletes during orientation , requires information on family income from the previous tax year and must be filed annually .

`` Maurice may have begun the process , '' Geiger said , `` but at the time we had to make the decision , there was no indication of a Fafsa on file for Maurice .

We were therefore compelled to follow the N.C.A.A. rules as they apply to the situation . ``

At a news conference Monday , Clarett , who set freshman records at the university and helped power the Buckeyes to a 13-0 record , said Ohio State officials cared more about a football game than a loss of life .

Geiger disagreed .

`` We care deeply about all of our student athletes , and we did everything possible to assist Maurice Clarett in this time of his personal grief , '' Geiger said .

`` Unfortunately , given the circumstances , we had no choice other than to react in the manner in which we did . ''

Clarett said today that he had asked Coach Jim Tressel about going home and that Tressel had referred the matter to the athletic department 's compliance section , which reviews any financial aid or benefits given to student-athletes .

Clarett , 19 , said his mother , Michelle , filled out the form last week and submitted it to the university .

She declined to comment today .

Clarett did not hide being angry about missing the funeral .

He said he was most upset that Heather Lyke Catalano , Ohio State 's associate athletic director for compliance , did not contact him after he filed his paperwork .

`` The compliance lady said she 'd get back to me in my room , `` Clarett said .

`` She never called back in my room or on my cellphone .

That 's the real reason I was mad , because she did n't call me back . ``

Catalano said she could not comment .

COLLEGE FOOTBALL .

Summary: Ohio State University tailback Maurice Clarett denies failing to file paperwork required to qualify for emergency money to fly home for friend 's funeral , as university contends .


You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte And all the girls dreamed that they 'd be your partner They 'd be your partner , and . .

You 're so vain Vanity Tuna has been on the prowl again , a swinger on the football scene itching to wheel his imaginary six-shooter , wink and say , `` I 've still got it . ``

This time , Jerry Jones gave him his number .

But will Bill Parcells leave Dallas on hold to indulge in his own adversity cravings .

Was Dave Campo just another coach left to fear the dark-alley footsteps of the N.F.L. ` s salvage genius .

As they say in Tampa Bay , it 's never over until the house closing .

No one needs this twisted intrigue , but this time every year , the coaching purge commences , along with the hunt for Tuna , turning the league into a waiting room for the paranoid .

Who 's next to go .

Who knows .

For some , it 's best to pull the rip cord and escape this maddening line of work for a job field one notch -LRB- and only one notch -RRB- more forgiving .

College life looks good on Pete Carroll .

Standing on a practice field on Saturday beneath Windex-blue skies in Davie , Fla . , Carroll was wearing khaki pants and a U.S.C. hoodie -LRB- kid code for hooded sweatshirt -RRB- , looking more like a frat pledge than a 51-year-old coach during the countdown to the Orange Bowl tomorrow against Iowa .

`` He 's like a 20-year-old , `` said Southern Cal quarterback Carson Palmer , he of recent Heisman Trophy glory .

`` He is intense , really into it . ''

He 's all but jumping on couch cushions .

In his early days in New England , Carroll 's boyish exuberance was embraced after the exit of His Royal Tuna-ness , but soon the mocking of Opie Taylor began .

By the time Carroll 's winning average dipped to . 500 in Year 3 of living with Parcells 's ghost , his good nature had become a symbol of softness .

It was a rewind of the critique from his cameo as Jets coach in 1994 , and a repeat of what every man cursed as `` a player 's coach `` hears in the end .

`` If people would go back and monitor what has been said each year , '' Carroll noted , `` it 's almost canned . ``

Win and you 're a player 's coach .

Lose and you 've lost your team .

The same flip-flop in logic confronted Herman Edwards when the Jets were searching for crawl space at 2-5 .

Was his team adrift .

No , as it turns out .

While Edwards should n't dilute his quality image by banging the us-against-the-cynics drum -- after all , did he really expect a warm glass of milk at 1-4 .

-- he is among a growing number of coaches who resist publicly scolding or blaming players for his team 's predicament .

`` Times are changing , '' Carroll said .

`` Players want to know why , and in the old days , they did n't even think to ask why .

This is a good thing .

This is the evolution of a sport . ``

Player communication is in .

Humiliation is out .

Where does that leave Parcells .

Winners are in demand , no matter how combative .

Too often , nice guys have a smaller margin for error .

In his case , Carroll is better off for his dismissal .

Now , he can hug his players and guide them in life , slap hands with the fans and listen to his rock music , all without ridicule .

`` For the most part , I think there is an innocence in the following for college football that does n't exist in the N.F.L. , and that is refreshing , `` Carroll said .

`` There 's more tolerance . ``

He discovered this upon his arrival at Southern Cal .

Whether he was a retread or a faith healer , no one was quite sure when the Trojans started last season 1-4 , only to win five of their last seven games .

These days , there is little question : he has assembled a revival tent at Southern Cal .

Given control of the program -- a situation he never had in the N.F.L. -- Carroll took one year to restore Trojan lore during a 10-2 season that has unearthed the university 's legends .

Look , there 's O . J . Simpson .

On Saturday , he turned up for the first time since the glove did n't fit to watch the Trojans go through drills .

Posing for pictures with players , shaking hands with the curious , Simpson proved even a pariah can find sanctuary .

What would you expect in the peace , love and happiness world created by the coach who grooves .

Maybe Carroll is naïve , but he finds something romantic about college football .

`` The N.F.L. changed when guys started being paid so much money that the normal fan could n't relate , `` Carroll said .

`` College guys are n't getting that .

They 're going to school .

It 's like in the old days when guys worked in the factories and played football on Sunday . ``

The charm quotient in the modern N.F.L. depends on the finish .

One final weekend swayed the fate of nearly a dozen coaches .

If Tom Coughlin 's Jaguars had n't collapsed one last time on Sunday , would he still have a job .

If Butch Davis 's Browns had run dry on miracles , would he be employed .

`` There 's a seriousness that is out of balance in the N.F.L. , `` Carroll said .

`` It 's a wonderful game .

It 's too bad that the seriousness has to go so far . ``

The business of the N.F.L. creates a thin line between pink slip and contract extension , between a coach faced with Tuna rumors and one escaping into the playoffs .

Still , many are willing to loiter around the N.F.L. , hanging out in TV studios or as team assistants , waiting for their next chance at misery .

Carroll has chosen joy .

`` I would really like to grow old doing this , '' he said .

`` I 'm just going to keep having fun , enjoying my work and listening to my songs . ``

To be sure , Carroll is more Rolling Stones than Carly Simon .

Sports of The Times .

Summary: Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column discusses more forgiving and less serious environment surrounding college coaching , where former NFL coach Pete Carroll has found welcome refuge and success with Southern California University .

Summary: Photos .


CURTIS MARTIN may be the best running back in New York history .

He may also be one of the most underrated athletes ever to play in a city that encourages and even creates celebrities .

Martin does not make the gossip columns .

He does his running on stairwells and empty practice fields .

`` Curtis is under the radar , '' his coach , Herman Edwards , said as the Jets prepared to meet the Colts in the playoffs on Saturday .

Part of the problem is that Martin does not have any exotic mannerisms to inflame the multitudes .

He does not have a patented dance , nor has he produced an autograph-signing pen from his sock .

He neither taunts nor struts .

`` Some guys break off a run of 60 yards and they 're a hero , `` Edwards said .

`` But Curtis gets you 15 yards and people go , ' Hmpf . '

He 's like that old pair of shoes that you wear all the time , because they 're so comfortable . ``

Edwards compared his star back to the Colts ' star receiver , Marvin Harrison , who set a league record with 143 receptions this season .

`` They do n't have the dat-dat-dat ! `` Edwards said , mimicking the staccato theme music of televised sports shows .

`` Harrison plays in Indianapolis , '' Edwards noted , invoking stereotypical Midwest blandness .

`` But Curtis plays in New York , '' Edwards said , as if to wonder why the entire region is not obsessed with him .

Martin is the 14th-leading rusher ever , with eight straight 1,000-yard seasons , five of them with the Jets .

Why has New York not gone ga-ga over Martin .

In the late 50 's , before the Jerseyfication of New York football , Frank Gifford and Kyle Rote were the toast of P . J . Clarke 's and other Midtown oases .

Gifford remains the epitome of the New York running back : the fair-haired import from the University of Southern California , still fifth in Giants history with 3,609 yards and 34 touchdowns rushing , and second among receivers with 367 catches for 5,434 yards and 43 touchdowns .

Not only that , but Gifford also scored a touchdown on a runback and kicked 2 field goals and 10 extra points .

And to this day , Gifford says modestly that he might have been a decent defensive back if Rote had not been hurt and had to switch from rusher to receiver .

Since the Rote-Gifford days , the Jets have produced Matt Snell and Emerson Boozer of the Super Bowl III champions , along with Freeman McNeil , and in the swamplands the Giants have had little Joe Morris and Rodney Hampton and now the engaging Tiki Barber .

Meanwhile , Knicks fans loved or hated Patrick Ewing but never ignored him .

Lawrence Taylor transcended the Hudson River barrier .

Joe Namath , Reggie Jackson , Keith Hernandez , Derek Jeter , Mike Piazza and Mark Messier have all been princes of the city .

Plus , New York has a way of hyping very good players into cult status : John Starks , Lenny Dykstra , Paul O'Neill , to name three .

Curtis Martin , however , who actually does venture into the city for restaurants and jazz , does not attract crowds , partly because of his modest body language .

Another part of Martin 's relative obscurity comes from where he practices and plays .

The Islanders won four Stanley Cups a few yards from the Jets ' bunker , yet charismatic or quirky stars like Denis Potvin , Mike Bossy and Billy Smith remained essentially anonymous in the city .

The Devils won two Stanley Cups but are anonymous east of Hoboken .

The Nets were finalists last season but still can not sell out their arena , partly because of the absence of mass transportation .

And even though the Jets are trying to piggyback a new West Side stadium with a potential 2012 Summer Games boondoggle on the backs of the taxpayers , the Jets are essentially strangers in the big city .

Martin does his best to stay unnoticed .

When he reached 10,000 yards for his career this season , he let the Jets know that he did not want any celebration during the game .

And he does not indulge himself after touchdowns , either .

He and Harrison both hand the ball to the official and jog back to the sideline .

`` Most players in the league want to create more excitement , '' Edwards said .

`` That 's the way it is in our society . ``

Instead , Martin remains the private man who trained himself in a rural retreat in Pennsylvania before his senior season at Pittsburgh , who runs the stairs to his 35th-floor apartment in Florida , who gives away some of his salary to the needy , who has never forgotten the misery of his childhood in Pittsburgh , who says he avoids a social life because he will have time when his career is over .

Curtis Martin does not need the dat-dat-dat .

Sports of The Times .

Summary: George Vecsey Sports of The Times column discusses New York Jets running back Curtis Martin , who seems to fly under New York media radar and receives very little public attention , despite fact that he is 14th-leading rusher ever , playing in market that loves to create civic celebrities .

Summary: Photo .


Nine Northeastern states filed a legal challenge today in federal court here to new air-pollution rules for power plants and other industries , just hours after the Bush administration published those rules .

The states ' attorneys general said the rules , which were tentatively announced last month , constituted the most serious effort at rolling back the landmark Clean Air Act since it was enacted more than 30 years ago .

They said they wanted to make a strong , swift objection and filed their legal petition for review after seeing the new rules on a government Web site this morning .

The rules , published today in the Federal Register , concern a program known as New Source Review .

The changes would allow thousands of aging coal-fired power plants and other industrial sites to upgrade without having to install costly antipollution devices .

Eliot L . Spitzer , the New York attorney general and an organizer of the suit , said , `` The Bush administration has taken an action that will bring more acid rain , more smog , more asthma and more respiratory disease to millions of Americans . ''

The Environmental Protection Agency , which published the rules , defended them and said the administration followed proper procedures in issuing them administratively rather than seeking legislation .

`` We reaffirm that we strongly believe that these rules will be positive for the environment , '' Joe Martyak , a spokesman for the agency , said .

`` We feel strongly that at the end of the day , what we 've done is the right thing as well as a valid action .

To say this is gutting the Clean Air Act is absolutely incorrect .

It is strengthening these provisions . ``

The utility industry criticized the suit .

The Electric Reliability Coordinating Council issued a statement saying that `` the Northeast attorneys general reflect a minority opinion , '' shaped more by economic concerns than by environmental problems .

In addition to the published rules , the administration issued a new proposal that would expand an exemption allowing power plants and other industrial facilities to escape pollution controls .

The suit filed by the states did not address that proposal .

Their one-page petition , filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit , did not state the grounds for the challenge .

But legal advisers in the states said they would argue that the rules violated the Clean Air Act and that they could not be made without the consent of Congress .

The states ' legal action escalates a struggle between utilities and clean-air advocates that has been waged since the Clean Air Act was signed into law by President Richard M . Nixon .

Industries have complained most recently to the Bush administration that the current rules , begun under President Bill Clinton , were choking off new investments in power-generating plants and discouraging energy-saving efficiencies .

Because the administration had made its intentions clear when it announced the rules last month , the attorneys general had time to prepare their coordinated legal response .

Expecting that the administration would publish the rules during the holidays , when few people would be paying attention , the attorneys general signed their documents in advance and delivered them to Joseph Curran Jr . , the attorney general of Maryland , whose aides filed them in court here today .

`` We could have waited , '' said Peter Lehner , chief of the environmental protection bureau in Mr. Spitzer 's New York office .

`` But this is the first time there has been such a major retreat on clean air , and the states believed it was very important to respond aggressively and quickly . ''

Mr. Lehner said he expected other states to join the suit in the next month .

The nine that filed today were Connecticut , Maine , Maryland , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New York , Rhode Island and Vermont .

The filing puts Christie Whitman , the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency , in an awkward position .

As the governor of New Jersey , Mrs. Whitman had joined other states in seeking relief from Midwestern power plants whose smokestack pollution drifted eastward .

Now , as head of the agency promulgating the new rules , she is in the position of defending those rules .

Both Mr. Spitzer and Richard Blumenthal , attorney general of Connecticut , have said that the rules proposed today would undermine their hand in prosecuting and settling the dozens of enforcement cases that as governor Mrs. Whitman had joined in bringing .

`` They feel like they 've been sold out by her now that she 's gone to Washington , `` said John Walke , a clean air expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council .

In those enforcement cases , the states , the E.P.A. and environmental groups asked judges to order companies to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on pollution controls , based on the New Source Review program that the states says the environmental agency is now proposing to weaken .

Mrs. Whitman said in a recent interview that the new rules did nothing to compromise the enforcement suits .

`` Those are very important to me , '' she said .

`` Those cases are still going forward . ''

Industry groups , which had pushed for the rules that were published today , hailed them and attacked the attorneys general .

The National Association of Manufacturers said the rules would `` help further clean air and boost energy security '' and `` provide business planners with greater certainty as they work to increase production and limit air pollution in a cost-effective manner . '' .

Summary: Nine Northastern states file legal challenge to new air-pollution rules for power plants and other industries just hours after Bush administration publishes rules .

Summary: Say rules constitute most serious effort at rolling back landmark Clean Air Act since it was enacted more than 30 years ago .

Summary: Changes would allow thousands of aging coal-fired power plants and other industrial sites to upgrade without having to install costly anti-pollution devices .


Jose Hernandez had the best year of his 10-year career last season and can not find a team that will give him more than one year and $ 2 million .

The Mets , who need to fill a hole at third base , are among four teams that have been talking to Hernandez 's agent .

But like everyone else , they are trying to secure a player 's services at a bargain-basement rate .

Hernandez 's experience as a free agent has not been unique .

In recent weeks , agents have told of their clients ' receiving multiple offers , but the offers have been exactly the same or similar .

And all have been well below any market in recent years .

`` Years ago we called this collusion .

Now we call it coincidence , `` one agent said facetiously yesterday .

But he added : `` In this environment they have reason to say they have to show restraint .

We 've been hearing the same story from everyone . ``

Alan Nero , Hernandez 's agent , said all of the offers he had received were for one year in the range of $ 1.5 million to $ 2 million .

The last time he was a free agent , in 1999 , Hernandez signed a contract with Milwaukee that paid him $ 10 million for three years , plus the $ 25,000 bonus he earned for making the 2002 National League All-Star team .

`` What has happened , '' Nero said , `` is this market , from the players ' point of view , is very depressed .

Players have to decide whether they want to take massive paycuts or wait their turn .

In Jose 's case , he feels he 's coming off a career year , and he does n't feel he should have to take a paycut . ``

The Mets , San Francisco , Colorado and Cincinnati are the teams that have pursued Hernandez , 33 .

Steve Phillips , the Mets ' general manager , will not discuss negotiations with a particular player , but it is clear he wants to put together the left side of his infield as cheaply as possible .

He signed Rey Sanchez -- for a $ 1.3 million salary and the chance to earn $ 700,000 in bonuses based on playing time -- to keep shortstop warm for José Reyes .

He would like to get Hernandez for a similar total .

The Mets had Bill Mueller on their list of prospective third basemen , but he lost interest in them when Phillips would offer no more than one year .

A report circulated among general managers and agents yesterday that Mueller had agreed to a two-year , $ 4.5 million contract with Boston , but Mueller 's agent , Dave Meier , said they had no deal .

`` We 're talking to them , but we 're not there yet , `` he said .

Dan O'Dowd , the Rockies ' general manager , acknowledged that he had been talking with Nero about Hernandez .

Asked about the low , similar offers Hernandez received , O'Dowd said : `` I can only speak for ourselves .

We just do n't have a whole lot of money to work with . ``

Referring to circumstances clubs and free agents find themselves in , he added , `` We 're getting into the beginning of January and people do n't have jobs , and we have limited resources . ``

Agents believe the combination of the number of players still seeking jobs and the reduced amount of money available for payroll is the precise situation the clubs have strived to create .

With spring training about six weeks away , clubs feel , players will become uncomfortable with their unemployed status and accept the lower salaries the clubs want to pay them .

Ned Colletti , the Giants ' assistant general manager , declined to discuss any offer the Giants might have made to Hernandez .

`` We 're looking for someone who has some versatility , and Hernandez has as much versatility as anyone out there , `` Colletti said , but added : '' We have n't really had a conversation since before Christmas .

It 's been kind of quiet . ``

As the day progressed yesterday , Nero spoke with O'Dowd and learned that the interest in Hernandez had been reduced by one team .

`` It appears they 're going in another direction , `` Nero said of the Rockies .

Jim Bowden , the Cincinnati general manager , did not return a call to discuss the Reds ' degree of interest in Hernandez .

Phillips said Monday that patience was called for , and that he would not panic in his quest for a third baseman .

The interested clubs might think their slow pace could spur Hernandez to grab one of the low offers , but Nero said he did not expect his client to panic either .

`` At this point he 's not motivated to accept any of the offers that are out there , `` Nero said .

`` We 've decided we will be very patient .

We wo n't be rushing into something that is not quite acceptable .

Jose Hernandez has worked a long , long time to be where he is , and we 'd like him to be treated appropriately .

We 're going to continue to wait . ``

BASEBALL .

Summary: New York Mets pursue third baseman Jose Hernandez , along with three other teams , but he says he will wait for offer that is for more than one year .


There is a tradition among inmates serving long stretches in the nation 's houses of correction .

The new year is rung in with a little Dick Clark and a little jailhouse juice .

The homebrew is lovingly known as hooch in Sing Sing and called pruno in San Quentin , but the process by which it is made is the same .

It is a fortified wine concocted from a hodgepodge of ingredients including raisins , prunes -LRB- as in pruno -RRB- , milk or anything containing sugar that can be purloined from the mess hall and fermented into alcohol .

But the New Year 's tradition was broken this evening at the California State Prison Los Angeles County located high in the Mojave Desert about a 90-minute drive from Los Angeles .

The warden decided two months ago that fresh fruit should be banned from all lunch boxes that are delivered daily to the cells of its 4,000 inmates .

Without fruit , the thinking goes , there can be no wine .

It is the first prison in the California state prison to ban fruit from the cellblocks .

`` A good deal of the violence that goes on in these walls is alcohol related , '' said Lt . Ron Nipper , a spokesman for the prison .

`` So this is law enforcement 101 .

Cut your hair , behave yourself , keep your cell clean and no pruno . ``

Prison officials acknowledge that it is difficult to curtail pruno production entirely .

Sugar and water are all that is needed .

Sugar is broken down into ethyl alcohol in the presence of yeast , which floats about naturally in the air .

`` We do the best we can , '' Lieutenant Nipper said .

`` But you ca n't trust these guys .

Inmates working in the kitchen hide loose yeast in their shoes .

Everything has a price in here . ``

Humane and law-abiding citizens need not worry about an outbreak of scurvy among the incarcerated in Los Angeles County .

State guidelines require that prisoners receive 15 servings of fresh fruit each week .

Prisoners receive their fruit allotment at breakfast and dinner , which are served in the mess hall .

Box lunch is served in the cellblocks .

`` There is pruno in every prison , '' admits Margot Bach , a spokeswoman for the California Department of Correction .

`` We see an upswing around the holidays like Christmas and New Year 's .

Inmates are human beings after all .

They want to ring in the new year like everybody else .

It 's a pretty busy day for us . ``

Indeed .

This morning , a half-dozen correction officers swept through the beds of Cell Block A , ostensibly in search of pruno .

Though the blend is sealed in plastic bags , it is so rancid it can be detected with a simple sniff of the nostrils .

`` It 's a never ending battle of contraband , `` said Sgt . J . Ortiz .

It is estimated by prison officials that more than two million cocktails are confiscated each year in California 's 33 maximum security penal facilities , which house 160,000 people .

According to correction officers , amateur alcohol is more prevalent in California prisons than any other form of contraband .

Possession of alcohol is considered a misdemeanor behind bars , while possession of hard substances such as methamphetamines , opiates and marijuana are felonies .

This is a deterrent to the man with two strikes , who if caught with a marijuana cigarette , could find himself serving a life term .

Amenities that have been banned in California prisons over the past decade include weights , indoor smoking , conjugal visits for those serving life sentences and now pruno .

Keep this up , inmates say , and people will stop wanting to come .

`` Everybody wants to celebrate the New Year , '' said Paul Magnen , a soft-spoken and heavily tattooed man currently serving 50 years to life for the possession of narcotics , his third strike .

His previous two felonies , he said , were in connection with an armed robbery committed in 1980 .

`` God knows I could use a drink , '' he said glumly as he sat at a card table in Cell Block A .

`` I did what I did , but it does n't justify 50 years .

There 's not much to celebrate in here really .

One day is just like the next .

Nothing changes inside .

Except the day they take me out in a box . ``

The most famous recipe for jailhouse pruno comes from Jarvis Masters , a death row inmate at San Quentin who won a PEN award for his 1992 poem `` Recipe for Pruno . ''

Take orange peels , fruit cocktail and water and heat it for 15 minutes in your sink with hot water .

Keep mixture warm with towels for fermentation .

Leave hidden and undisturbed for two days .

Add sugar cubes and six teaspoons of ketchup .

Heat for 30 minutes .

Wrap and leave undisturbed for three more days .

Reheat daily for 15 minutes for three more days .

Skim and serve .

The poem ends , `` May God have mercy on your soul . '' .

Summary: Inmates in prisons across country continue their efforts to make jailhouse alcoholic brew .

Summary: Homebrew is lovingly known as hooch in Sing Sing and called pruno in San Quentin , but process by which it is made is same : it is fortified wine concocted from hodgepodge of ingredients , anything containing sugar that can be purloined from mess hall and fermented into alcohol .

Summary: Correction officers say amateur alcohol is more prevalent in California prisons than any other form of contraband .

Summary: Photos .


OUT of bed , you bourgeois slugs , for it 's New Year 's Day , and the Poetry Project 's Marathon Reading at St . Mark 's Church begins just about the time you are planning a late lunch .

Certainly you remember it , from the days when you hung out in the East Village and did not own a suit .

A fine counterculture event -LRB- oh , sorry , in those days , that would have been your culture -RRB- , featuring , over the years , poets and performers like Allen Ginsberg , Patti Smith , Gregory Corso , William S . Burroughs , John Cage and Lou Reed .

In the 1970 's , the reading began at 7 at night and ran until 3 or 4 in the morning .

Today , while artists like Ms. Smith , Eric Bogosian , Philip Glass and Taylor Meade are scheduled to perform , the reading is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and run till around midnight .

A bow to our more somber mood , says Ed Friedman , the artistic director of the Poetry Project and himself a poet .

Mr. Friedman , it does not seem irrelevant to note , is 52 .

And he has gone gray .

`` Everyone is working , '' he sighs .

`` And for a lot of people that are maybe over 35 -- well , put it this way : Getting people to come out and read at 3 a.m. is n't what it once was . ``

Can you be saying , Mr. Friedman , that Bohemia is n't what it used to be .

`` It 's harder , `` he says .

`` It 's harder than it used to be in the 1970 's .

Poets could pretty much support themselves with a part-time job .

And there was a lot more time to write .

Poets and pretty much everybody have to work much harder now , to assume the work of people who are fired .

It used to be you had time at your desk that you were n't doing anything , you could write a poem , call a friend , use the copy machine . ``

A nurturing spot for creative types , St . Mark 's Church , and if you doubt it , try to find a quiet spot to interview Mr. Friedman .

The sanctuary of the church has an exhibit of ceramic face masks , about to come down , and if you ask that the installation be delayed for 10 minutes while a photographer shoots , the ceramics artist , feeling particularly disenfranchised , sulks .

`` Yeah , I 'm just the artist , `` he says .

Discussion on the second-floor balcony is accompanied by the sounds of a piano tuner , and the ringing of the church bells , a few feet away .

It is a credit to Mr. Friedman , an easygoing , amusing man , that in this environment he can discuss Art .

Particularly as his poems are not the `` How do I love thee '' sort .

They are free form , often written as text , and may include references to the process of writing , so that if the poet coughs , the poem includes the words , `` big cough , '' or `` My throat is dry and full of mucus . ''

BLONGGGG ! -LRB- Short pause . -RRB-

BLONGGGG , BLONGGGG , BLONGGGG ! -LRB- That was a reference to the piano tuner , concentrating on the lower end of the keyboard .

He certainly is dedicated .

Does n't he ever go to the bathroom .

Moreover , if those bells peal one more time the reporter will leap over the balcony . -RRB-

`` I am isolated bourgeoisie / who would gladly write for the masses / if only I knew them as friends and co-workers , '' Mr. Friedman begins one poem .

`` We 'd talk about families and then make plans / to renovate the world that 's crushed us for generations . ``

A bit of poetic license there , perhaps , for the world , as Mr. Friedman tells it , did not , in the early days , crush him .

He grew up in Los Angeles , his father a doctor , his mother a bacteriologist turned sculptor .

There was a year and a half of pre-med at the University of California at San Diego , before graduating with a degree in poetry and literature .

His parents were not enchanted with his decision to be a poet , but it was the 60 's , Mr. Friedman says with a laugh , when there existed this strange idea that you could be what you wanted .

He came to New York in the fall of 1971 and was involved in poetry readings at St . Mark 's Church , at 131 East 10th Street , by January 1972 .

Now he earns $ 40,000 a year at the Poetry Project .

He is married to a painter who works in textile design , he has a 3-year-old son .

Things have not always been good .

More from his autobiographical poem , `` Isolated Bourgeoisie '' : `` The day is cold .

The sky is blue and cloud-strewn , / my wife is recovering from alcoholism , and / we 're going to Washington to protest even one more / cent being allocated for stupid B-1 bombers instead of schools . / Would you like to come .

I know there 's room on the / yellow bus we 're borrowing from the / neighborhood vehicle cooperative . ``

BLONGGG ! -LRB- The piano tuner . -RRB-

CLANG , CLANG , CLANG ! -LRB- The reverberating church bells .

Ears hurt .

Must get out .

How to ask the rude question .

-RRB- MR . FRIEDMAN , your nine volumes of poetry have been published in the smallest of the small press .

It would appear that you are not so successful .

`` Look at Allen Ginsberg , '' Mr. Friedman says .

`` Who published him .

City Lights , who did Gregory Corso , Lawrence Ferlinghetti .

It has n't been the major houses or major university press that has spawned influential work over the last hundred years . ``

But there was a point when Ginsberg was published by larger houses .

`` In the last 20 years of his life , '' Mr. Friedman says .

If that 's correct , should n't Mr. Friedman , by this time in his life , be getting published in the larger houses now , too .

`` Gee , I hope so , '' Mr. Friedman says .

Then grins .

-LRB- Nice guy .

Sweet . -RRB-

PUBLIC LIVES .

Summary: Public Lives profile of Ed Friedman , poet and artistic director of Poetry Project , which conducts annual marathon poetry reading on New Year 's Day at St Mark 's Church in East Village .

Summary: Photo .


As pinup calendars go , it has many of the standard features : models in black leather perched on beefy motorcycles .

But the men and women on display here are n't exactly firefighters , or the Girls of `` Baywatch , '' or any other known species of cheesecake or beefcake .

They 're librarians .

With eyeglasses here , gray hairs there , and in several portraits , a purple tote bag full of books tucked into a corner .

The 2003 calendar , titled `` Easy Readers @ Your Library , '' introduces the Librarians of Ocean County , who came up with the idea as an eye-grabbing way to help raise the library 's $ 1.6 million share of a $ 12.9 million expansion of the library system 's main building here .

For $ 10 -LRB- $ 15 with shipping and handling -RRB- , readers -- and nonreaders , for that matter -- can enjoy 12 months of their favorite local information specialists .

But there was another motive behind the move .

`` We wanted to show people we 've changed , `` said Nancy Dowd , the head of public relations for the library system , who snapped the photos with her Olympus C-3000 , a digital camera .

`` People 's ideas of librarians is conservative , and this just blew it out of the water . ``

Or as Miranda Sulikowski , 34 , who is Miss November , put it : `` Anyone who sees it , they 're going to say , ` wait a minute , they 're not old fuddy-duds . '

We 're on top of things . ``

On top of a red Harley-Davidson XL 1200 , in a black leather bustier , is the county 's library director , Elaine McConnell -LRB- Miss December -RRB- , who normally prefers Talbots ' fashions and turtlenecks .

Miss May is Heather Andolsen , a senior librarian , who sports a choker collar and tattoo .

Fourteen women and two men grace the pages -- some doubling up in the pictures -- and are often outfitted in do-rags , tassled gloves and sunglasses .

Reaction has been overwhelming .

`` Let us change the librarians ' image ! `` said a fax from one reference librarian in Elgin , Ill . , who heard about the calendar via a television broadcast .

He wanted three signed calendars .

Requests have come from as far away as Australia .

On the other hand , Ms. McConnell said , a patron vexed by other recent changes was not amused .

`` We knew your taste was in question when the coffee cart opened '' in what had been a books-only realm , he wrote in an anonymous e-mail message , `` and this confirmed it . ''

The idea for the calendar arose when the library tried to promote a raffle for a Harley motorcycle during the fall .

Various workers from the county 's 20 branches posed in promotional posters .

Later , the library director and Ms. Dowd got the idea to turn the posters into a calendar .

A thousand copies have been printed so far , and Ms. McConnell estimates about $ 3,000 worth have been sold .

There has not been much discussion of a possible 2004 Librarians of Ocean County calendar , but Ms. Sulikowski offered this possibility : `` Hard hats , tool belts and shorts . ''

Another librarian chimed in : `` I 'll do shorts .

That might get more sales . ``

Or as Becky Schoonmaker , who appears on the March page , put it , referring to her plans to wear skimpy cutoffs , `` Daisy Dukes , woo hoo ! '' .

Summary: Librarians in Ocean County , NJ , pose for calendar to dispel myths about their profession 's conservatism and to help raise money to expand library .

Summary: Photo .


Two counties in the Hudson Valley will begin enforcing new smoking restrictions in restaurants and workplaces on Wednesday .

The smoking bans enacted by Dutchess and Orange Counties are not as strict as the ones recently approved by New York City and Nassau County on Long Island , but they are causing a local furor all the same .

The new smoking law in New York City is to go into effect March 30 , and Nassau 's is to start March 1 .

Groups representing restaurants and bars in Orange and Dutchess Counties have already filed federal lawsuits against their Legislatures .

The suit filed by the Dutchess / Putnam County Restaurant and Tavern Association on Monday seeks to have the new law overturned and declared unconstitutional .

`` It is overly vague and overly broad , '' said the lawyer representing the group , Kevin T . Mulhearn .

`` Its enforcement applications do n't make sense . ``

The president of the association , Michael J . Leonard , who owns a restaurant in Wappingers Falls in Dutchess County , said he installed an exhaust system two years ago in his bar area , which is separate from the restaurant .

Under the new county law , smoking will be prohibited throughout his establishment , Greenbaum & Gilhooley 's .

`` It will be devastating to my business and to my smoking customers , '' he said .

`` It 's totally unjust . ``

The Dutchess law bans smoking in restaurants , both their bar areas and dining rooms , as well as in bingo halls , bowling alleys and work places .

Bars or taverns that make 60 percent or more of their gross income from selling alcohol are exempt .

Mr. Mulhearn said the 60 percent threshold would be difficult to pin down , noting that the amount of gross income from alcohol sales fluctuated from week to week and season to season .

The bill was the third anti-smoking proposal considered by the Dutchess County Legislature in the last few years , and squeaked by with a vote of 18 to 17 .

The county executive , William Steinhaus , publicly criticized the bill but did not sign or veto it , and allowed the bill to become law .

Bradford H . Kendall , chairman of the Dutchess County Legislature , said that lawmakers had `` acted within the bounds of good reason '' and that the county was likely to be judicious in enforcing the law at first , while businesses are deciding whether it applies to them .

In Orange County , the smoking restrictions allow smoking in the bar areas of restaurants if the bars have ventilation systems , but it outlaws smoking sections in restaurant dining rooms .

Until now , diners could smoke in designated areas if four feet of space or a six-foot partition separated smoking and nonsmoking sections .

The restrictions that take effect on New Year 's Day are in a sense warmups for the bans planned for New York City and Nassau .

The law Mayor Michael R . Bloomberg signed on Monday bans smoking in almost all bars and restaurants .

A 1995 city law had forbidden smoking in all restaurants with more than 35 seats , but it exempted stand-alone bars and the bar areas of restaurants .

The new law allows only a few exceptions : cigar bars , bars with no employees except the owners , nonprofit clubs with no employees , and some bars with enclosed smoking rooms .

Nassau 's ban covers all bars , restaurants , bowling alleys and bingo halls .

The only exceptions will be for businesses that derive 90 percent of their revenue from tobacco sales and for workplaces in private homes .

Westchester and Suffolk Counties are considering their own bans .

Summary: Smoking bans in restaurants and workplaces go into effect in Dutchess and Orange Counties , NY .

Summary: Although not as strict as New York City 's ban , they are causing local furor .

Summary: Groups representing restaurants and bars have filed federal suits to have laws overturned .


Clonaid , the company that says it has produced the first human clone , previously made astonishing claims that were not substantiated .

And the journalist whom Clonaid has appointed to authenticate its latest claim was once an intermediary between a couple who wanted cloning services and a scientist who wanted to provide them , the scientist says .

Clonaid was founded in 1997 by the leader of a religious sect that believes space travelers populated earth through cloning and that humanity 's mission is to clone .

When he formed the company , the leader , who calls himself Raël , had an express purpose in mind , Clonaid 's vice president , Thomas Kaenzig , said in an interview this week .

`` It was a project to create controversy , '' Mr. Kaenzig said .

`` That was his mission , to wake people up . ''

Though the company advertised a cloning service , it was hardly ready to provide it .

For three years , Clonaid `` was just a post office box in the Bahamas , '' Mr. Kaenzig said .

`` There was no research going on . ''

But by the spring of 2001 , Clonaid 's research director , Dr. Brigitte Boisselier , who is a chemist , a Raëlian bishop and now the company 's chief executive , had begun telling of a secret Clonaid laboratory in the United States .

`` She was very coy about it , '' said an official at the Food and Drug Administration , whose approval would have been required for any human-cloning work in the United States .

`` She said , ' I have a lab , but I wo n't tell you where it is . '

`` But the F.D.A. ' s office of criminal investigation soon found it , in a rented room at an abandoned high school in Nitro , W.Va.

The environment there was hardly ideal for research , said the official , who would speak only on the condition of anonymity .

Insects flew through the open windows , possibly from a nearby barn .

`` There was no place where sterile conditions could be had , '' the official said , and the researcher there was a graduate student who seemed woefully unprepared .

`` The lab notebooks were reviewed by our staff scientists , '' the F.D.A. official said .

`` They were inadequate '' to document scientific research .

The work under way was not even with human cells .

The graduate student had obtained cow ovaries from a slaughterhouse and was trying to extract eggs from them .

`` The notebooks had a sketchy page and a half : ' We went to the slaughterhouse and got some ovaries , ' '' the official reported .

But the equipment in the lab was state of the art , the official said .

It had been bought by a grieving father whose 10-month-old son had died of congenital heart disease and who wanted to clone him .

The father , Mark Hunt , a lawyer and former West Virginia state legislator , had obtained the equipment from a fertility lab that was going out of business .

Accounts of how much he paid vary , but Dr. Michael A . Guillen , the journalist appointed by Clonaid in the current case , said on an ABC News television program a year ago that Mr. Hunt had spent $ 200,000 .

After its inspection of the Clonaid lab , the F.D.A. official said , the agency reached an agreement with Mr. Hunt that he would not proceed any further in trying to have his dead son cloned in this country without F.D.A. permission .

Mr. Hunt , who did not return repeated telephone calls seeking comment , later sold the laboratory equipment in Nitro and shuttered the lab , the F.D.A. says .

He also publicly broke off from the Raëlians , saying they were too avidly seeking publicity .

The company then moved its operations out of the country , Mr. Kaenzig said .

He added that the company had begun by learning to create cow embryo clones and that by the fall of 2001 , it had created its first cloned human embryo .

Many learned of Mr. Hunt and his travails from Dr. Guillen , whose doctorate , from Cornell , is in theoretical physics , mathematics and astronomy .

On Sept . 7 , 2001 , when he was a science editor for ABC News , Dr. Guillen interviewed Mr. Hunt and his wife , Tracy , on `` 20/20 Downtown '' and showed a video of their baby , Andrew , who had died in 1999 .

Dr. Guillen did not describe the lab 's inadequacies on that program , but he did say that Dr. Boisselier was being investigated for fraud and reported that she had moved her cloning efforts out of the country .

-LRB- Citing confidentiality concerns , federal law enforcement authorities would not confirm or deny anything Dr. Guillen said about the investigation . -RRB-

Only seven months earlier , Dr. Guillen had reported that Clonaid was on the brink of success .

`` I met with Dr. Boisselier , who is the scientific director , and she told me that in two weeks they 're expecting to conceive the first human clone , implant it in a surrogate mother and hoping for a pregnancy in March , `` he reported on '' 20/20 `` on Feb . 16 , 2001 .

`` Ready or not , the technology is on its way . ''

Soon another scientist who was interested in cloning met the Hunts .

In an interview yesterday , that scientist , Dr. Panos Zavos , founder and director of the Andrology Institute of America , in Lexington , Ky . , said Dr. Guillen had told him that he could send the Hunts to talk to him , but that in return Dr. Guillen wanted exclusive rights to their story .

Dr. Zavos , who says his work on human cloning is taking place outside the country , ended up seeing the Hunts , but Dr. Guillen was unable to negotiate an exclusive agreement with him because he had already made an agreement with a documentary filmmaker , Peter Williams .

Dr. Guillen did not return repeated calls yesterday to his office and to his agent 's office .

Dr. Zavos said he had not cloned yet and had not taken any money from Mr. Hunt .

He said he wanted to get the technique to work first with cells taken from living people before trying it with stored frozen cells from the dead .

`` If this technology develops in the best scenario possible , '' Dr. Zavos said , `` if we take fresh tissue and it works , then it is something we can make available to him . ''

--- --- --- --- --- --- -- Court Petition Seeks a Guardian By The New York Times FORT LAUDERDALE , Fla . , Dec . 31 -- A Florida lawyer asked a court here today to appoint a legal guardian for the baby girl whom Clonaid claims to have produced .

The petitioner , Bernard F . Siegel , who practices in Coral Gables , has served on the board of a children 's rights organization .

But he said he was acting solely as a private citizen , asserting that if the baby exists , she is being exploited by Clonaid and may have birth defects .

Summary: Clonaid , company that says it has produced first human clone , previously made astonishing claims that were not substantiated .

Summary: Dr Michael A Guillen , journalist whom Clonaid has appointed to authenticate its latest claim , was once an intermediary between couple who wanted cloning services and scientist who wanted to provide them .

Summary: Clonaid was founded in 1997 by leader of religious sect that believes that space travelers populated earth through cloning and that humanity 's mission is to clone .


A host of new state laws take effect today , but New Yorkers may not notice many of them until income tax time in 2004 .

That is because many are tax cuts and credits , from a decrease in the so-called marriage penalty to an increase in the percentage of college expenses that can be deducted .

And under one of the highest-profile measures passed in Albany last year , starting today almost all health insurers in the state will be required to cover prescription contraceptives , osteoporosis screening and , beginning at age 40 , mammograms .

City dwellers , on the other hand , have a little time to prepare for their most hotly debated new law , a sweeping ban on indoor smoking .

Patrons will not actually have to stop puffing away in nearly all bars and clubs until the end of March , for example , although a provision that requires employers to change their written smoking policies in time to comply with the new regulations has already gone into effect .

One city law that takes effect today amends the national electrical code that the city adopted in 2001 to conform to the city 's specific needs .

But there are several other laws enacted in 2002 that will go into effect at various times over the next two months or so .

One , known as the living-wage law , requires that certain health - and day-care workers employed by companies with city contracts must receive at least $ 8.10 an hour with health coverage , or $ 9.60 an hour without coverage .

Another , the so-called predatory lending law , will bar the city from doing business with companies that issue loans to buyers who can not afford the terms or that buy such loans on the resale market .

Under another new law , people applying for a permit for a rifle or shotgun will be barred from obtaining one if they have been convicted of domestic violence , of assault within the last 10 years , or of any three misdemeanors .

People with certain outstanding orders of protection will also be barred .

Another measure forbids emergency shelters for victims of domestic violence to turn people away solely because they lack official documentation like a police report or an order of protection .

It also expands the definition of domestic violence victims to potentially include not just married people but also common-law and dating couples with access to each other 's residence .

Sidewalk newspaper dispensers will be subject to a host of new specifications , including size , appearance and placement .

A new law will expand the Veterans ' Advisory Board , which makes recommendations to the director of the Office of Veterans ' Affairs , to nine members from five , with five to be appointed by the mayor and four by the City Council speaker .

It also requires that they be veterans and that there be at least one representative from each borough .

Starting this year , the city will be required to use gender-neutral language in its documents .

Other new state laws include an increase in the standard deduction for married couples to $ 14,600 from $ 14,200 .

That brings spouses closer to the $ 15,000 deduction -LRB- $ 7,500 each -RRB- for unmarried couples .

The state 's Earned Income Tax Credit will rise to 30 percent from 27.5 percent of a filer 's federal allowance , and the college tuition tax deduction will be increased to a maximum of $ 7,500 .

Another measure cuts the gross receipts tax on natural gas and electricity , which will mean savings for industrial and residential users .

By July 1 , cigarettes sold in New York must meet new fire safety standards .

Other statewide measures will tighten security on debit card transactions , decrease to 7 from 10 acres the size of farmland parcels eligible for real property tax assessment and authorize some counties to give property tax breaks to volunteer firefighters and ambulance drivers .

Summary: Roundup of new laws in New York State that will take effect on Jan 1 .

Summary: Many will probably not be noticed until income tax time in 2004 because they are tax cuts and credits .


President Bush said today that he had directed the F.B.I. to issue the appeal for the public 's help in tracking down five men who the authorities believe may have illegally slipped into the United States last week .

Mr. Bush , speaking to reporters near his ranch in Crawford , Tex . , said that the electronic communication issued by the F.B.I. on Sunday to thousands of local police agencies was an effort to investigate aggressively any potential threat of a terrorist attack .

`` I have authorized the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the F.B.I. , to issue an all-points bulletin for five individuals who we believe have been smuggled into the country , '' Mr. Bush said .

`` We need to know why they have been smuggled into the country , what they 're doing in the country . ``

Later tonight , government officials said that the bureau was expanding its search .

The officials told The Associated Press that the government had identified several more men it feared might have used fake passports to get into the country around Christmas Eve .

The F.B.I. and Homeland Security officials were considering making the names and photos of about a half dozen more men public as early as Wednesday , the officials said .

The search for the men , based on vague information about their possible connection to terrorism , reflected the heightened level of concern about a New Year 's terrorist attack even as the authorities acknowledged that they had received no credible threats in recent days .

As a result , the officials said they had not elevated the threat alert level from its current Code Yellow status , which warns of an increased possibility of attack in the United States without any specific threat .

Mr. Bush 's comments demonstrated the precautionary nature of the all-points bulletin .

`` We do n't have any idea of what their intentions may be , but we are mindful that there are still some out there who would try to harm America and harm Americans , `` he said .

Concern about terrorism related to the New Year 's holiday has grown since the millennium celebrations in 2000 .

Security officials have planned measures to deter terrorism , but so far no specific threats related to any of the events have been received , officials said .

The F.B.I. has identified the original five men , cautioning that their names and ages might be false , as Abid Noraiz Ali , 25 .

Iftikhar Khozmai Ali , 21 .

Mustafa Khan Owasi , 33 .

Adil Pervez , 19 .

And Akbar Jamal , 28 .

Their nationalities are unknown .

THREATS AND RESPONSES : THE INVESTIGATION .

Summary: Pres Bush directs FBI to issue appeal for public 's help in tracking down five men who authorities believe may have illegally slipped into United States .


When Tao Wucheng , a delegate to the national Legislature this year , was asked to investigate allegations of fraud and corruption at a private clinic in this provincial capital , he viewed it mostly as a headache .

A much praised Communist Party official , he was living in a distant corner of the province , doing work on poverty relief .

Instead , the task proved life threatening .

On Sept . 29 , he staggered out of the Wuhan Medical Center of Tonji Hospital -- his face swollen and his bowels oozing blood from beatings that he says were ordered by the clinic 's owner and carried out by its security staff .

He spent the next month in a hospital .

When he contacted the local police to inquire about the assault that almost cost him his life , he learned that the investigation had been closed .

He is now suing the police to take action .

The entrepreneur who runs the clinic , Hang Yongming , did not answer repeated calls or questions faxed to him about the case .

While it is extraordinary that an official with national status could be treated this way -- Mr. Tao believes he is the first -- tales of businessmen and journalists being beaten have become routine fodder for the Chinese press .

Indeed , vigilante justice has become a serious problem for China 's leaders .

As China 's central government pledges to quell corruption and build the rule of law , those efforts are commonly stymied by a lack of cooperation at the local level .

Local law enforcement officials often have more loyalty to local interests than to professionalism or national authorities .

The police , prosecutors and judges all serve at the pleasure of local officials , who are often friends , and there is little possibility of disciplining them from above .

Likewise , central authorities -- even those from the National People 's Congress -- have little leverage to enforce the decisions they make .

Only if top leaders mandate action , as they did in the crackdown on the banned spiritual movement called Falun Gong , can they be assured of cooperation .

`` People have this image of the Chinese government and the Communist Party as a monolith and very powerful , '' said Kenneth Lieberthal , a political scientist at the University of Michigan .

`` But what power do bodies like the National People 's Congress really have down the hierarchy .

`` The answer is zilch .

They can carry out investigations , but they ca n't compel people to act . ``

In Mr. Tao 's case , demands from both national and provincial officials for a thorough investigation elicited only cursory responses in Wuhan .

Mr. Tao 's beating has so far gone unreported in the state press , even though it happened in a major city of five million people and to a man with national stature .

Mr. Tao , a former police officer who later became a businessman , gave up a comfortable life in Beijing and moved to his hometown in rural Hubei province in 1999 to work helping the poor .

News articles praising his spirit of sacrifice have been featured in official media from The People 's Daily to China Central Television .

Several years back , his record of good work got him appointed to China 's Legislature , the National People 's Congress .

With a reputation for fairness and honesty , political leaders in Beijing saw him as ideal to investigate the fraud allegations that pitted the Tonji Hospital against Mr. Hang , a local businessman with good political ties who opened the plush private clinic on the hospital grounds .

Mr. Tao , who also works as a part-time reporter for a government magazine , made an appointment to see Mr. Hang on Sept . 28 , identifying himself both as a People 's Congress delegate and a writer .

He interviewed both sides scrupulously , he recalled in an interview in December after he ended his hospital stay .

His investigation disclosed that the two sides signed a contract in 1995 and built a luxurious clinic , with a marble lobby , dotted by huge porcelain vases and potted palms .

But the relationship quickly turned sour .

The hospital said Mr. Hang failed to provide outside funds as he was legally obliged to do , and instead used the hospital 's own land as collateral for loans .

It said Mr. Hang exaggerated the amount of land the hospital owned in order to borrow more .

Once the hospital was opened , there were many complaints of accounting problems and suspect business practices , Mr. Tao learned .

Mr. Hang and his associates took costly trips that were charged to the hospital , the investigation found .

The price of new equipment was grossly exaggerated , as was the cost of medical tests .

No one could explain where the extra money went .

Doctors complained that they were forced to recruit patients who did not need treatment , under threat of having their salary docked .

`` The scheme was like a shell game , '' Mr. Tao concluded after interviewing all parties .

`` By the end of the first four-hour interview I knew enough to know he was a swindler , '' said Mr. Tao of Mr. Hang , who he said saw him to the door and offered him a payoff and a meal .

He refused .

When Mr. Hang offered to provide him with more materials the following day , however , Mr. Tao said he readily agreed , trying to be fair .

That next day , as he waited to be received , seven or eight men burst into the room and beat him , he said .

`` You 're up to no good -- Do you know where you are .

`` he recalled Mr. Hang saying as he looked on .

For eight hours Mr. Tao was a captive , kicked and hit , subjected to torture , denied food and drink or access to a phone .

He said most of his assailants appeared to be civilians but at least one had a police pass and a police uniform .

`` I was scared because they looked like members of a crime gang , '' said Mr. Tao .

At one point , when he was given permission to use the bathroom , Mr. Tao tried to escape through a ground floor window -- only to be caught and beaten some more .

By the time he was released , he said , `` my whole body was in pain . ''

His hand was so badly crushed that he still can not straighten one finger .

The head punches left him partly deaf for a time .

His intestines were bruised and he defecated blood .

The emotional trauma lingers on .

From his hospital bed , Mr. Tao reported his beating to National People 's Congress officials , as well as to the local police , and both initiated inquiries .

Mr. Hang told local investigators that Mr. Tao had sustained his injuries by jumping through a window , which was on the ground floor .

The inquiries were mysteriously dropped .

Although two security guards were detained , no further action was taken .

`` Hang thought he could use money to maintain his connections and ignore the law , '' said Mr. Tao .

`` And it worked . ''

A woman who answered the phone in Mr. Hang 's office and identified herself only as Ms. Xian said that he was not in Wuhan and that she had not been able to contact him .

In October , an police official from Wuhan called Mr. Tao by telephone to apologize but refused to identify himself , noting that one policeman had been detained for 10 days and another had been relieved of his duties .

`` This is a serious crime and they were treating it as if it 's an administrative misdemeanor , `` said Mr. Tao .

He has lodged a suit against the Wuhan police for `` administrative inaction , '' charging that they were negligent .

He is also preparing a $ 100,000 civil suit against Mr. Hang to cover his medical bill and mental suffering .

The party secretary of Hubei Province and other high officials `` have taken the case very seriously , but the officials below have deceived them , '' Mr. Tao said .

`` But I 'm confident the law will bring about justice . `` .

Summary: Vigilante justice has become serious problem for China 's leaders .

Summary: As China 's central government pledges to quell corruption and build rule of law , those efforts are commonly stymied by lack of cooperation at local level .

Summary: Police , prosecutors and judges all serve at pleasure of local officials , who are often friends , and there is little possibility of disciplining them from above .

Summary: Tao Wucheng , delegate to national Legislature , was beaten by thugs when trying to investigate allegations of fraud and corruption at private clinic .

Summary: When he contacted local police to inquire about assault , he learned that investigation had been closed .

Summary: Photos .


President Bush drew a sharp distinction today between the nuclear standoff with North Korea and his confrontation with Iraq , saying he was certain that weapons projects in North Korea could be stopped `` peacefully , through diplomacy . ''

He said that Saddam Hussein , on the other hand , `` has n't heard the message `` that he must disarm , or face military action .

Answering questions on his way into the only coffee shop in this one-stoplight town near his ranch , Mr. Bush issued no demands that North Korea halt the nuclear programs it has threatened to restart , and he did not mentioned the ouster today of the international inspectors who have monitored activity at the country 's primary nuclear site .

`` I believe this is not a military showdown , this is a diplomatic showdown , '' the president said , on his way to get a cheeseburger and to chat with his neighbors here .

But the president 's tone and his warnings changed noticeably when he turned to Iraq .

He cited Mr. Hussein 's effort to build a nuclear weapon in the early 1990 's and said that as of now `` we do n't know whether or not he has a nuclear weapon . ``

Assessing the nuclear capability of both North Korea and Iraq has been among the most difficult tasks facing Western intelligence agencies .

The Central Intelligence Agency and Britain 's intelligence service have publicly estimated it would take Iraq five years to develop such a weapon -- or a single year if Mr. Hussein was provided with fissile material .

North Korea already has two weapons , according to C.I.A. estimates , and could build five or six more in the next six months if it reprocessed its large stockpile of spent nuclear fuel into weapons-grade plutonium .

Adding to the pressure , North Korea took another step today toward removing its nuclear program from international controls by strongly suggesting it would withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty .

-LSB- Page A9 . -RSB-

The signals Mr. Bush sent with his comments were particularly significant because the administration has come under increasing criticism , from Democrats and some Republicans , for playing down the significance of North Korea 's actions while plowing forward in the confrontation with Iraq .

In The New York Times today , former Secretary of State Warren Christopher wrote that unless Mr. Bush had classified evidence of greater Iraqi military capability than was known to the public , `` the threats from North Korea and from international terrorism are more imminent than those posed by Iraq . ''

Mr. Bush took issue with that view today .

Asked whether the United States could afford the $ 50 billion to $ 60 billion it would cost to wage war with Iraq , an estimate his budget director offered on Monday , he said , `` an attack from Saddam Hussein or a surrogate of Saddam Hussein would cripple our economy . ''

He added , `` A Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is a threat to the security of the American people . ''

In contrast , he said nothing about his view of the threat posed by Kim Jong Il , the North Korean leader .

During his presidential campaign , Mr. Bush often cited the possibility of an attack by North Korea as a reason that the United States needed a missile defense system .

North Korea already has a significant arsenal of missiles that could reach South Korea , Japan and 100,000 American troops stationed in Asia .

Mr. Hussein is believed to possess only Scud missiles with far more limited range .

Nevertheless , Mr. Bush talked at some length today about his worry that Iraq could find a way to attack the United States , either directly or indirectly .

As he spoke , a crowd of Crawford residents and curious tourists gathered around the entrance of the coffee shop .

In his comments , Mr. Bush also addressed for the first time the F.B.I. alert issued two days ago , asking Americans to keep a lookout for five people , all of Arab descent , it is searching for in the United States .

Mr. Bush said he had authorized the F.B.I. to put out an all-points bulletin .

He did not refer to the men as terrorism suspects , but said , `` We need to know why they have been smuggled into the country . ''

Mr. Bush 's comments today about North Korea and Iraq seemed to suggest that he has concluded that Mr. Kim can be persuaded to reverse course under threat of economic pressure , a method that Mr. Bush says has failed with Iraq .

He twice noted that in a meeting at his ranch this fall with President Jiang Zemin of China , the two leaders promised to work in concert to deal with the North Korean government .

`` Right here in Crawford , we had a dialogue where we both committed ourselves to working in a way to convince Kim Jong Il that it 's not in his country 's interests to arm up with nuclear weapons , `` Mr. Bush said , standing in front of the coffee shop in a light windbreaker , after a morning of working around his ranch .

`` And I believe that can be resolved peacefully . ''

China has denounced North Korea 's actions , but it has stopped short of saying it will join in any economic sanctions against the country -- a critical omission , because China is one of the North 's most important trading partners .

In discussing Iraq , the president told reporters , `` I hope we 're not headed to war . ``

But he quickly added : `` We 've got a military presence there to remind Saddam Hussein , however , that when I say we will lead a coalition of the willing to disarm him if he chooses not to disarm , I mean it .

And we will continue to work to resolve the situation on the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful way . ``

In private , some of Mr. Bush 's aides offer a more explicit explanation of the difference in the administration 's approach to the two countries .

They argue that the North 's existing nuclear capability , and its ability to wreak enormous damage on Seoul with its conventional weapons , has led them to conclude that the United States has no viable military options , at least without risking the rekindling of the Korean War .

Mr. Hussein , they contend , is the more dangerous of the two men , seeking regional domination rather than just survival .

They say he must be confronted before he obtains the kinds of weapons of mass destruction that Mr. Kim already possesses .

One of Mr. Bush 's senior national security officials argued over the weekend , however , that the United States was not putting North Korea on the back burner while it dealt with Iraq , and did not need to do so .

`` We can handle both , '' the official said .

Mr. Christopher 's article today suggested that no president , even in a White House as disciplined as this one , could manage that feat .

`` Anyone who has worked at the highest levels of our government , '' he wrote , `` knows how difficult it is to engage the attention of the White House on anything other than the issue of the day . ''

THREATS AND RESPONSES : NUCLEAR STANDOFF .

Summary: Pres Bush makes sharp distinction between nuclear standoff with North Korea and his confrontation with Iraq , saying he is certain that weapons projects in North Korea can be stopped ` peacefully , through diplomacy , ' news conf , Crawford , Texas .

Summary: Asserts that Saddam Hussein , on other hand , ` has n't heard the message ' that he must disarm , or face military action .

Summary: Photo .