Merry Christmas .

Get lost .

That , essentially , was the message Robert Pagein received from his employers -- make that former employers -- at Verizon Communications .

Mr. Pagein , who is married and has a year-old son , was a field technician who had worked for the phone company for four years .

One of the lures of the job was its stability .

The pay was n't great , but it was steady .

If you were disciplined you could pay your bills , take a vacation every year or so , and put a little aside .

That 's the way it works in theory .

In reality , Mr. Pagein was one of 2,400 Verizon workers in New York who were shown the door just a few days before Christmas .

Those workers formed the bulk of a pre-holiday wave of terminations that claimed the jobs of 3,500 Verizon employees in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states .

Mr. Pagein will not be destitute .

His wife is working and he has a college degree .

But the cold-blooded way in which he and his fellow workers were lopped off the employment rolls by Verizon , and the phenomenal gap that exists between the compensation available to the company 's ordinary workers and the fabulous , multimillion-dollar packages taken home by executives at the top of the Verizon pyramid , has shaken his faith in a system he believed in .

`` I 'm 36 years old and grew up in Lefrak City -LSB- Queens -RSB- , `` he said .

`` As a working-class guy I kind of accepted long ago that I was n't going to make a fortune or anything like that .

What I figured was that if I worked hard , if I became a cop or I joined the phone company or something like that , at least I would have a regular working-class or middle-class life .

At least you 'd make your 50 grand or 55 grand a year .

The government would take out your taxes , but you 'd have something left over . ``

Mr. Pagein 's comforting belief in a system that looks out for the ordinary worker evaporated with the arrival of his layoff notice .

As a not-so-merry Christmas and then a not-so-happy New Year approached , he found himself thinking more and more about the big bucks -- the tens of millions of dollars -- being pocketed by top Verizon executives like Ivan Seidenberg and Larry Babbio .

It 's one thing to acknowledge that there are inequities in the system , he said .

But it 's `` really tough '' to accept that you can be thrown out of work by executives who take extraordinary sums out of a company whether their business decisions are wise or not .

`` We were laid off , effective immediately , '' he said .

`` ` Merry Christmas , thanks for working at ground zero and breathing the dust .

They told us we were heroes and used the pictures of us at ground zero to sell themselves .

Now we 're out . ``

Last spring Verizon reported a first-quarter loss of $ 500 million .

The company attributed the loss to a tough economy and a $ 2.5 billion write-down for bad investments .

By the third quarter it was reporting earnings of $ 4.4 billion .

But officials said the layoffs , the first in the history of the New York telephone company , were inevitable because the economy is still in trouble and competition is increasing .

Company officials said the total compensation in 2001 for Mr. Seidenberg , Verizon 's chief executive , was $ 13.4 million , and for Mr. Babbio , $ 24 million .

Figures released by the Communication Workers of America , which represents the laid-off employees , showed that from 1997 through 2001 , Mr. Seidenberg collected more than $ 56 million in salary , bonuses and stock options , and that Mr. Babbio , the company 's vice chairman , collected more than $ 78 million .

Those numbers were on Mr. Pagein 's mind as he and his family spent Christmas at his grandmother 's home in Flushing .

`` I kind of Scrooged on the presents , '' he said , `` Everybody knew .

It was , like , ` Well , do n't expect Robert to bring anything because , you know , he just got laid off . '

`` He added : '' It 's tough to take .

These guys took their outrageous , outrageous bonuses and we 're out on the street .

I guess you do n't notice the inequities so much when you 're working because then , at least , you 've got something . ``

Mr. Pagein said he would go on unemployment for a while and use that time to look for a different career .

`` Part of the pain I 'm feeling right now has to do with some of the others who were fired . ``

he said .

`` Some of them were the only income earners in their family .

They seem shell shocked . ``

E-mail : bobherb@nytimes.com Maureen Dowd and Thomas L . Friedman are on vacation .

Summary: Bob Herbert Op-Ed column scores ` cold-blooded way ' in which Verizon terminated jobs of 2,400 workers in New York just a few days before Christmas .

Summary: Notes phenomenal gap that exists between compensation available to company 's ordinary workers and fabulous , multimillion-dollar packages taken by executives at top of Verizon pyramid .


At age 7 , Lennwood Pergerson decided that New York City was the place to be .

`` On Wednesdays , my mother and I would ride the wicker-seat trains into New York , '' he recalled .

`` We 'd go shopping and eat at the Port Authority when it was fabulous .

I could n't get over it . ``

More than 40 years later , Mr. Pergerson , 50 , is still in New York .

He still wants to live here , to thrive here .

Only now he spends his Wednesdays looking for a job and a place to live at the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service , one of the seven local charities supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund .

At 16 , while he was still in high school , Mr. Pergerson left the genteel Princeton , N.J. , suburb where he grew up and set out for the bright lights of the big city as the frontman for a bluesy rock ` n' roll band .

With his husky radio-ready basso , seasoned by years of hard living and hard partying , it is easy to imagine him belting out his signature song , `` Dark End of the Street . ''

The blues come easily to Mr. Pergerson .

With his stories of friends laid low by Vietnam , drug addiction and AIDS , Mr. Pergerson knows the blues all too well .

But with the highs and horrors of New York night life behind him , Mr. Pergerson , would rather sing the gospel of faith and redemption .

`` I 'm lucky , `` he said .

`` I lived a tragedy , but now I can see light . ''

Back in the 1970 's , when disco was the rhythm of the night , Mr. Pergerson , was , to use his favorite word , fabulous .

`` I was a bad boy , and a fun guy that did it to the max , '' he said .

`` But I was prosperous because I had to pay for all those outrageous clothes . ''

He toured as a roadie with the disco singer Gloria Gaynor for about a year .

And Mr. Pergerson often found himself in the center of all the decadent action .

`` In those years , we just did n't believe there could be anything more horrible than Vietnam , `` he recalled .

`` So the bar and after-hours scene was all about rampant drugs and sex , all in the name of the beat . ''

Until that beat started to falter .

In the late 1970 's and early 80 's , Mr. Pergerson said , he noticed that some people were starting to get sick .

The randomness of it all reminded him of the draft lotteries that were held on Saturdays back in his small suburb , and it seemed , as it did then , that it was only a matter of time before his number came up .

But while many in his circle of friends died of AIDS , Mr. Pergerson never got ill .

He was a disc jockey into the late 80 's .

After that , during the economic boom of the 90 's , he took up bartending , serving up a good time .

`` If someone was feeling down , I could make them feel all right , '' he recalled .

In the summer of 2000 , he was hired as a bartender and server at Pizzeria Uno at the South Street Seaport , just east of the World Trade Center .

He outpaced his younger colleagues , and in short order , he was doing all the big parties .

But as with with the Vietnam War and the emergence of AIDS , Sept . 11 changed everything .

All of a sudden , nobody was in the mood to party , certainly not within view of the devastation at ground zero .

Like so many other New Yorkers , Mr. Pergerson lost his job .

At first , he remained optimistic .

He did not worry because he had never had a problem finding steady work .

`` I 'm the comeback kid , `` he said .

`` I thought to myself , ' I 'll be getting a job .

I do n't need any assistance . '

`` But in a weak economy , even comeback kids can find themselves looking for help , and for work , without finding either .

He was out of work for six months when he turned to the Brooklyn Bureau 's Community Response Center last March .

There , he met an employment specialist , Sharon Greenberg .

`` Mr. Pergerson was always very upbeat and followed up on every lead , '' she said .

He was also trying to get assistance from FEMA .

He described that process as akin to `` digging a ditch in Bosnia and going through the long way just to get them to answer their phones . ''

Diana Naftal , a social worker at the Brooklyn Bureau , began helping him in his effort to get FEMA aid in mid-May .

`` Once I met Lennwood , I had an immediate bond with him , '' Ms. Naftal said .

`` I was impressed with his creativity and his drive .

He kept his expenses low and came to us for only basic needs . ``

After months of wrangling with FEMA representatives , Mr. Pergerson received rental assistance in June .

In addition , over the past year , the Brooklyn Bureau has tapped Neediest Cases to provide him $ 1,110 for emergency help with rent , utilities , food and transportation .

Mr. Pergerson is looking for a bartending job or work in the community development sector .

And he is looking for an apartment , because the Brooklyn building he lives in is being sold .

But in the meantime , he says , he has been fortunate to find a supportive team of advocates .

`` I remember my mother handing money to a stranger in the Port Authority when I was a little boy , '' he said .

`` People have been good to me , too , and have shown me that hope and help are right here in front of all of us . ''

HOW TO HELP Checks payable to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund should be sent to 4 Chase Metrotech Center , 7th Floor East , Lockbox 5193 , Brooklyn , N.Y. 11245 , or any of these organizations : BROOKLYN BUREAU OF COMMUNITY SERVICE 285 Schermerhorn Street , Brooklyn , N.Y. 11217 .

CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK 1011 First Avenue , New York , N.Y. 10022 .

CATHOLIC CHARITIES , DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN AND QUEENS 191 Joralemon Street , Brooklyn , N.Y. 11201 .

CHILDREN 'S AID SOCIETY 105 East 22d Street , New York , N.Y. 10010 .

COMMUNITY SERVICE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 105 East 22d Street , New York , N.Y. 10010 .

FEDERATION OF PROTESTANT WELFARE AGENCIES 281 Park Avenue South , New York , N.Y. 10010 .

UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK Church Street Station P.O. Box 4100 New York , N.Y. 10261-4100 Donations may be made with a credit card by phone at -LRB- 212 -RRB- 556-5851 -LRB- ext . 7 -RRB- or online , courtesy of CharityWave.com, an Internet donations service , at www.nytimesneediest.charitywave.com.

For instructions on how to donate stock to the fund , call -LRB- 212 -RRB- 556-1137 or fax -LRB- 212 -RRB- 556-4450 .

No agents or solicitors are authorized to seek contributions for The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund .

The Times pays the funds expenses , so all contributions go directly to the charities , which use them to provide services and cash assistance to the poor .

Contributions to the fund are deductible on federal , state and city income taxes to the extent permitted by law .

To delay may mean to forget .

Previously recorded : $ 5,912,644.29 Recorded yesterday : $ 537,979.38 Total : $ 6,450,623.67 Last year to date : $ 5,660,415.27 Correction : January 2 , 2003 , Thursday A chart yesterday with the article about The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund reversed the figures for the amounts collected so far this year and by this time last year .

Correct updated figures appear today , on Page B7 .

Summary: Lennwood Pergerson , who lost his job after Sept 11 , receives emergency rental assistance from Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service , which is supported by New York Times Neediest Cases Fund .

Summary: Photo .


When Herodotus Damianos bought a failed winery in this hamlet in 1994 and named it Duck Walk , it was meant as a tribute to the days when a duck in the Hamptons was more likely to be waddling on a farm than bathing in truffle oil at a local bistro .

Nine years later , Duck Walk Vineyards produces 25,000 cases of wine a year , turning grapes planted on more than 100 acres of vineyards into chardonnay , merlot , port and dessert wine .

Most bottles are sold in New York , and some have labels featuring flocks of white Peking ducks .

But if a California winery has its way , Dr. Damianos 's tribute to the days when Long Island duckling was a renowned culinary treat , like Maine lobster or Maryland crabs , could go the way of most East End duck farms themselves .

The California winery , called Duckhorn Wine Company , believes it owns the right to market wine under the duck name and label .

`` In the wine business today , the word ' duck ' and duck designs are associated in the minds of the consuming public with Duckhorn Vineyards , `` a lawyer for the California winery 's co-founder , Daniel Duckhorn , wrote to Duck Walk in August 2000 .

The letter laid the groundwork for what has become a bicoastal legal spar over the right to sell wine using animals commonly associated with stamps and bathtub toys .

`` Duckhorn is concerned about Duck Walk 's use of the Duck Walk mark and marks comprised of duck designs and the customer confusion it may cause with respect to Duckhorn 's trademarks and trade dress , `` the letter continued , '' and believes it is in the best interests of both companies to avoid any such confusion . ``

In 2001 , Duck Walk filed a pre-emptive complaint in United States District Court in Central Islip , asking a judge to declare it had every right to use the Duck Walk name and pictures of its web-footed mascot .

Duckhorn , based in Napa Valley , responded with a lawsuit claiming Duck Walk had intentionally and maliciously violated trademark law .

The case is still simmering in the Long Island court , and lawyers for both sides are marshalling evidence to bolster their cases .

This fall , things got so heated that a judge forbade both parties to speak with reporters .

But before that order was in place , Dr. Damianos , a retired internist who also owns Long Island 's largest vineyard , Pindar , on the North Fork , told Wine Spectator magazine that he thought customers would have no problem distinguishing between the two brands .

`` It 's not confusing , `` he said .

`` Our duck is cute .

Theirs is ugly . ``

Duck Walk 's array of labels includes a painting of a flock of Peking ducks , a Great Gatsby-esque couple in a convertible with a tiny silver duck affixed to the front , and a watercolor picture of daffodils , with no duck in sight .

Duckhorn 's array of labels includes a mallard sitting contently on a pond and , for its Paraduxx -LRB- `` pair of ducks '' -RRB- brand , two birds flying in harmony , their wings outstretched .

Duckhorn Wine Company is larger , producing about 56,000 cases of wine a year , according to court filings .

Its wines are more expensive , ranging from $ 22 to $ 90 .

Duck Walk 's wines range from about $ 8 to $ 25 .

This is not the first time Duckhorn Vineyards has gone after a wine with `` duck '' in its name .

When Cecchetti Sebastiani Cellar released a Smoking Duck brand of wine in 1999 , it also heard from Mr. Duckhorn .

He persuaded Don Sebastiani , chairman of the board , to rename the brand Smoking Loon .

Mr. Sebastiani also agreed to replace the label , which had featured two ducks on a pond , one savoring a cigar , with a more abstract , mosaic-like design .

And Duck Pond Cellars , a winery in Dundee , Ore . , reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with Duckhorn , Duck Pond 's marketing director said .

In fact , according to a transcript of an unsuccessful settlement conference in Central Islip last summer , Susan E . Hollander , a lawyer for Duckhorn , said , `` We have stopped every other winemaker in the market , or limited them in some way , that uses the word ' duck . '

`` But here on Long Island 's East End , where the peaceful seashores and sprawling potato fields of years past have been supplanted in the popular imagination by images of seaside mansions and suburban sprawl , the duck is a symbol of pride .

And the notion that a California company has dibs on its feathery , beady-eyed likeness has sparked outrage .

`` I just do n't see where this guy comes off , thinking he can eliminate the duck from the Long Island pedigree , `` said Michael Hollander , president of the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau .

`` It 's amazing that people can think that with all the duck farms we had , that ducks would n't be a part of our history , or a part of our belief , or a part of our culture . ``

To press that case , Mr. Hollander has instructed his staff members to gather evidence tracing the link between Long Island and its ducks -- from the 1870 's , when Peking ducks were brought here from China , to the 1950 's , when dozens of duck farms flourished , to the 1970 's , when soaring land prices and mounting concerns about waterways polluted by duck droppings conspired to close most farms .

Only a handful of duck farms remain here today .

But the duck lives on , through a 20-foot concrete statue in Flanders that is on the National Register of Historic Places , the Long Island Ducks minor league baseball team and John Duck Jr . ` s Restaurant in Southampton , which serves Long Island duckling with apple raisin stuffing , Duck Walk wine and fish caught aboard a boat called the Quack Quack .

Trademark disputes are not new to the wine business .

In one famous case , Kendall-Jackson Winery sued E . & J . Gallo Winery for copying the design of its Turning Leaf label .

It lost .

But just what is it about ducks and wine .

Certainly nothing having to do with aroma , say those who remember what it was actually like to drive through the Hamptons during the duck days .

`` When I was a kid in the car with my parents , '' recalled John B . Westerhoff Jr . , an owner of John Duck Jr . ` s Restaurant , '' we would hold our breath . `` .

Summary: California 's Duckhorn Wine Company is litigating against Long Island 's Duck Walk Vineyards over use of word ` duck , ' claiming it owns right to market wine under duck name and label .

Summary: In 2001 , Duck Walk filed pre-emptive complaint in federal court in Central Islip , NY , asking judge to declare it had right to use name and pictures of duck mascot .

Summary: Duckhorn cross-sued , claiming trademark violation .

Summary: In fall 2002 , gag order was imposed on both sides .

Summary: Details of suit noted .

Summary: Company profiles .

Summary: Photos .


Some people may be upset that retail sales failed to meet expectations during the holiday season .

Not Bill Talen .

For the last four years Mr. Talen , also known as Reverend Billy , has been performing from the theaters of Bleecker Street to the Starbucks on Astor Place , exhorting people to resist temptation -- the temptation to shop -- and to smite the demon of consumerism .

With the zeal of a street-corner preacher and the schmaltz of a street-corner Santa , Reverend Billy , 52 , will tell anyone willing to listen that people are walking willingly into the hellfires of consumption .

Shoppers have little regard for how or where or by whom the products they buy are made , he believes .

They have almost no resistance to the media messages that encourage them , around the clock , to want things and buy them .

He sees a population lost in consumption , the meaning of individual existence vanished in a fog of wanting , buying and owning too many things .

`` Consumerism is a dull way of life , '' he says .

`` We 're all sinners .

We 're all shoppers .

Let 's do what we can . ``

It 's an act , a kind of performance art , almost a form of religion .

He named it the Church of Stop Shopping .

As Reverend Billy , he wears a televangelist 's pompadour and a priest 's collar , and is often accompanied by his gospel choir when he strides into stores he considers objectionable or shows up at protests like the annual post-Thanksgiving Buy Nothing Day event on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan .

The choir , which is made up of volunteers , includes people like David Glover and his daughter , Zena , from Brooklyn .

There is also Beka Economopoulos , who once sang at the White House , and Meredith Manna , who came in courtesy of one of the keyboard players .

When they erupt in song , it is hard to ignore : `` Stop shopping ! Stop shopping ! We will never shop again ! '' Other performers preach the same gospel , with their own twists .

Ange Taggart , who lives in Nottingham , England , turns up in places like Troy , N.Y. , to go into a store , buy a lot of things , and then return them .

She recently filled a cart with Martha Stewart products at Kmart , then put them on the conveyor in a certain order , so that when she got her receipt , she said , the first letters on the itemized list spelled `` Martha Stewart 's hell . ``

There is also Andrew Lynn , who created Whirl-Mart last year .

He gets a group of people together , everyone with a shopping cart , and they stroll the aisles of Wal-Mart or Kmart , putting nothing in the carts .

When store managers tell him to take his protest elsewhere , he tells them : `` This is n't a protest .

We 're performing a consumption-awareness ritual . ``

There may be something to it , too .

Psychologists at the University of Rochester and at Knox College in Illinois have published studies concluding that people focused on `` extrinsic '' goals like money are more depressed than others and report more behavioral problems and physical discomfort .

Some economists have also addressed the phenomenon of rich people who feel poor .

Juliet B . Schor of Harvard University , the author of `` The Overspent American '' -LRB- Basic Books , 1998 -RRB- , says people are frustrated because they compare their lives with what they see on television .

Robert H . Frank of Cornell reached a similar conclusion in `` Luxury Fever : Why Money Fails to Satisfy in an Era of Excess '' -LRB- The Free Press , 1999 -RRB- .

It 's not that Reverend Billy thinks no one should ever buy anything .

On a recent afternoon , he himself was seen purchasing a ream of printer paper and a bottle of wine .

It is the futility of shopping he is trying to address -- the futility of leaning too heavily on the material at the expense of the spiritual and emotional .

That mission has given focus to his art , his politics and even his religion .

Raised by what he calls `` strict Dutch Calvinists '' in Rochester , Minn . , he made his way to New York in the early 1990 's .

He had his epiphany in 1999 , when protesters disrupted the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle .

He discovered the potential of drama to send a political message .

He discussed the revelation with a friend , Sidney Lanier , an Episcopal minister and cousin of Tennessee Williams who had used theater to evoke social reform themes in the 1960 's .

Mr. Talen soon realized that after years of producing Spalding Gray and others , he suddenly had an act of his own .

Mr. Lanier said he suggested a man of the cloth as a vehicle for Mr. Talen 's message .

`` I encouraged him , '' he said .

`` I said , you have a kind of Calvinist preacher in you that wants to come out . ''

Mr. Talen , even before he developed the character , said he admired the cadence and the poetry of good fire and brimstone .

Child labor , environmental damage and evidence of union busting by big retail chains , all to deliver low prices to consumers , provided plenty of material for any pulpit .

`` I sense right now that our lives are getting absurd , '' he said .

On a recent evangelical side trip , Mr. Talen ventured into the Kmart on Astor Place , where speakers blared Elvis and Tom Petty Christmas carols .

His own face blank , he began to look for smiley-faces , which he considers one of the most nefarious of marketing tools .

He found them on signs , on children 's pajamas , on stickers .

Few of the shoppers , however , were smiling , he noticed .

And that is part of the problem .

`` The smile has been so thoroughly appropriated by transnational capital , '' he said .

`` They discovered that smiling makes money . ''

When he left Kmart , he walked down Lafayette Street , bellowing now and then in character about how creeping consumerism threatens the fabric of society , in the form of chain stores , sweatshops and more .

But to the public , it mostly just means more stuff to buy at a good price .

Indeed , it is no surprise that Reverend Billy has not had much of an impact .

Even this year , considered to be a particularly disappointing Christmas shopping season , Americans are still expected to spend almost $ 1 trillion at stores , restaurants and auto dealers in the last three months of 2002 , up perhaps 3 to 4 percent from the year before .

`` They do n't care ! `` Reverend Billy shouted to no one in particular on a dark stretch of Lafayette Street , as people carrying shopping bags from J . Crew , Macy 's and the Gap poured into a nearby subway entrance .

`` They do care , '' a bearded man beside a scaffolding replied .

`` They just have a bad attitude . ''

`` Hallelujah ! '' Reverend Billy said .

He says that a lot .

The Reverend Billy made his first formal appearance at the Disney store in Times Square , circa 1998 .

He was driven away in a police car , his wrists still cuffed to a large statue of Mickey Mouse .

The store has since closed .

He has found other targets .

In general , he selects large global companies that he feels are inappropriately seizing control .

In 1999 , he zeroed in on Starbucks .

He was pleased to discover later that he had become the subject of a company memo .

`` Reverend Billy sits quietly at a table with devotees and then begins to chat up the customers , '' the memo , dated April 24 , 2000 , reads .

`` He works the crowd with an affirming theme but gradually turns on Starbucks .

Toward the end , he 's shouting . ``

And it adds : `` According to a store manager , he may stand on your tables . ''

Audrey Lincuff , a Starbucks spokeswoman , confirmed the authenticity of the memo -- and disputed the accuracy of Reverend Billy 's message , at least as it pertains to Starbucks .

`` We consider ourselves to be locally relevant where we do business , '' she said , `` and work very hard to weave ourselves into the fabric of the community by associating and working with nonprofit groups and other community groups . ''

The company 's goal , she added , is to `` connect with our customers not only on a business level but on things that are important to them in their lives . ''

Reverend Billy says he tries to remain relatively low key .

`` I 'm against a lot of political people who have become fundamentalists themselves , `` he said .

He does n't like the anti-fur people who ridicule pedestrians in fur coats or hats , for example .

He is a latte drinker , though he does n't order it at Starbucks .

He wants to help awaken desensitized shoppers , he says , because `` they are underestimating the complexity and beauty of life . ''

And besides , `` they are definitely underestimating the impact of shopping . '' .

Summary: Bill Talen , also known as Reverend Billy , is street preacher who exhorts people to resist temptation -- temptation to shop -- and to smite demon of consumerism .

Summary: He declares consumerism is ` dull way of life ' .

Summary: Photo of Talen preaching outside Plaza Hotel in Manhattan on Buy Nothing Day .


The Commerce Department ruled today that encircling dolphins with nets a mile wide to catch tuna does not significantly harm them , clearing the way for Mexico and other countries to market their tuna in the United States as dolphin-safe .

The decision drew an immediate protest from wildlife and environmental advocates , who said the ruling was at odds with the department 's own scientific findings and appeared to be little more than a political gift to Mexico .

They vowed to take the administration to court .

Tuna fishermen in Mexico , Colombia and Venezuela have fought for years to put a `` dolphin safe '' label on their exports to the United States , even though their use of nets to encircle schools of dolphins to catch tuna , which often swim just below the dolphins , has been abandoned by American tuna producers .

American consumers are familiar with the dolphin-safe label on cans of tuna from United States companies like StarKist and Bumble Bee .

Mexican and foreign exporters have been allowed to sell their tuna on American shelves but have largely stayed away , saying they need the dolphin-safe label to compete .

William T . Hogarth , the assistant administrator for fisheries of the Commerce Department 's National Marine Fisheries Service , said that the number of dolphin deaths had declined drastically in recent decades and that safeguards would ensure that the dolphins are not endangered in the quest for tuna .

`` You have to look at the big picture , '' Mr. Hogarth said in an interview .

`` I looked at all the scientific data .

I feel very comfortable with this decision . ``

Mr. Hogarth estimated that about 1,600 dolphins are killed each year by tuna fishermen , down from about 350,000 two decades ago .

Dolphin and yellowfin tuna tend to run together in the eastern Pacific , with the dolphins swimming near the surface to breathe .

Under the often criticized practice , fishermen in large vessels send helicopters aloft in search of dolphin schools , then deploy speedboats to encircle them and the tuna schools beneath with floating nets often more than a mile in length .

While the tuna are harvested , the dolphins are supposed to escape over the floating net .

The Commerce Department 's decision today said that fishermen using the practice can designate their product as dolphin-safe if no dolphins were injured or killed when the tuna were caught .

Under an arrangement first reached by the Clinton administration , observers from the fishermen 's countries will be posted on the vessels .

`` Dolphin-safe means that dolphins can be encircled or chased , but no dolphins can be killed or seriously injured in the set in which the tuna are harvested , '' Mr. Hogarth said .

Wildlife advocates voiced outrage at the decision , which they said would place huge new strains on two varieties -- the eastern spinner and the offshore spotted dolphin -- whose numbers have declined by as much as 70 percent in recent years .

`` This fishing method would allow harming and even killing thousands of dolphins each year in tuna nets , '' said Kitty Block , special counsel to the Humane Society of the United States .

`` For the first time in over a decade , dolphin-deadly tuna will be sold in the United States -- and what makes this so unconscionable is that this tuna will be misleadingly labeled dolphin-safe . ''

The wildlife advocates said the decision was at odds with a new study by the department 's own scientists .

In a report that was leaked to the news media earlier this month , scientists at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla , Calif . , found that depleted dolphin populations were not rebounding in the Pacific waters patrolled by Mexican , Colombian and Venezuelan tuna boats , and they cited the net-fishing procedure as a cause .

`` Despite considerable scientific effort by fishery scientists , there is little evidence of recovery , and concerns remain that the practice of chasing and encircling dolphins somehow is adversely affecting the ability of those depleted stocks to recover , '' the study said .

Asked about the study , Mr. Hogarth said it was not conclusive .

But David Phillips , director of the Earth Island Institute 's International Marine Mammal Project , said the Bush administration appeared eager to placate Mexico , which has had many requests to Washington pushed aside by other matters in recent years .

`` The State Department is saying , ' We promised the Mexicans we 're letting this tuna in , ' `` Mr. Phillips said .

He said his group would file an injunction against the administration within days .

The group has twice prevailed in lawsuits seeking to block a redefinition of dolphin - safe .

Editors ' Note : January 6 , 2003 , Monday An article on Wednesday reported a Commerce Department ruling that the nets used in catching tuna did not significantly harm dolphins -- a decision that cleared the way for Mexico and other countries to market tuna in the United States as dolphin-safe .

Environmental advocates were quoted as saying the ruling was at odds with the department 's own scientific findings and appeared little more than a political gift to Mexico .

The seafood industry 's response was omitted when the article was edited to its assigned space .

Industry representatives said environmentally responsible boat owners had reduced dolphin mortality .

`` They should be rewarded for that conservation effort by being given access to the United States market , '' said Justin LeBlanc , vice president for government relations at the National Fisheries Institute .

Summary: Commerce Dept rules that encircling dolphins with nets a mile wide to catch tuna does not significantly harm them , clearing way for Mexico and other countries to market their tuna in United States as dolphin-safe .

Summary: Decision draws immediate protest from wildlife and environmental advocates .


Efforts by water officials in Southern California failed today to reach a deal on water usage from the Colorado River before a midnight deadline .

As a result , the Bush administration said it would cut flows from the river to the state 's cities and farms beginning in January , making it the first time the federal government has imposed such a penalty .

Even as the board of one water agency , the Imperial Irrigation District , voted here to approve a revamped proposal , other water officials said they had given up on making the deadline .

The officials said that differences among them remained too great and that the Imperial proposal was unacceptable .

The deadline was part of an agreement reached two years ago among seven Western states , including California , that was meant to end fighting over water supplies from the Colorado River .

Under that agreement , the Imperial Irrigation District was to transfer 200,000 acre-feet of water it has been receiving each year from its farms to the San Diego County Water Authority .

Gale A . Norton , the secretary of the interior , said the transfer was considered crucial to the bigger agreement because it would have signaled the willingness of farmers in Southern California to share their water with the state 's fast-growing cities .

Currently , agricultural districts get most of the water that comes from the Colorado River , an imbalance that most water experts agree must change to address the state 's chronic water shortages .

The president of the largest urban water district , the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California , said last-minute demands included in the Imperial district 's proposal had essentially derailed the negotiations .

Invoking the memory of hurried decisions made during the recent energy crisis , the metropolitan district 's president , Ronald R . Gastelum , said water officials from other agencies would not be rushed .

`` The last time an 11th-hour proposal was hastily approved , circumstances led to an energy crisis , '' Mr. Gastelum wrote in a statement .

`` This will not be the case with water . ''

Mr. Gastelum estimated that financial demands included in the Imperial proposal , which included $ 200 million in state financing for environmental and other needs , would cost every household in the state about $ 30 .

The agency also had problems with provisions to allow Imperial to back out of the agreement in the first year if certain demands were not met .

`` It also allows Imperial to essentially kill any agreement reached after the federal deadline and prolongs the uncertainty of Colorado River supplies for urban Southern California through 2003 , '' Mr. Gastelum said .

`` Despite this setback , we hope Secretary Norton will continue to assist the parties in reaching a long-term solution . ''

Early this morning , Ms. Norton 's top water official , Bennett W . Raley , also indicated the talks were at a stalemate when he returned to Washington from Los Angeles .

Mr. Raley , an assistant secretary of the interior , had flown to California on Monday to join a last-minute flurry of negotiations , when they seemed to be making progress .

In a conference telephone call with reporters from Washington , Mr. Raley said the Bush administration would make good on its threat to cut surplus water flows from the Colorado River to Southern California .

In past years , the state has drawn as much as 800,000 acre-feet of extra water , enough to provide for about 1.6 million households .

The biggest loser will be the Metropolitan Water District , which has relied on the Colorado River for more than half of its water , but the Imperial Irrigation District also stands to loose about seven percent of its allotment .

Mr. Gastelum said the Metropolitan Water District , which serves 17 million people in six counties , had enough water on hand to meet demands across Southern California for the next two years and perhaps longer .

`` In the new year , the public will see a heightened focus on voluntary outdoor water conservation that will make even more water available for storage and use in dry years , '' he said .

At its meeting here in El Centro , the board of the Imperial Irrigation District voted 3 to 2 to approve the revamped agreement that had been drafted over the past several days by its lawyers .

On Dec . 9 , also by a 3-to-2 vote , the board had rejected an earlier version drafted in October with the cooperation of the other water agencies involved in the talks .

After the Dec . 9 vote , the board was criticized by other water agencies across the West for essentially derailing the larger seven-state agreement , and board member said they felt tremendous pressure from state and federal officials to change their minds .

One of the members , Bruce Kuhn , did change his vote today , but he did so knowing the revamped agreement was unacceptable to the other agencies .

`` If we approve this deal , we ca n't be accused of not approving this deal , `` Mr. Kuhn said before the vote today .

`` And if they kill it , so be it .

At least it wo n't be us who did it . `` .

Summary: Water officials in Southern California fail to reach deal on water usage from Colorado River before midnight deadline .

Summary: As result , Bush administration says it will cut flows from river to state 's cities and farms beginning in January , making it first time federal government has imposed such a penalty .


Sitting in front of a table laden with funeral programs , where the silenced faces form a tragic tableau , the mothers of murder victims do not cry in their support-group circle .

They argue , they yell , they preach .

`` 9/11 last year .

We have it going on every day , `` said Paula Drew-Williams , the facilitator of the weekly free-for-all at the offices of Save Our Sons and Daughters .

`` Look at how many babies we do n't have .

We had 9/11 before 9/11 .

Where 's the hoop-de-la .

`` Clementine Barfield , who founded the group , known as So Sad , after her son was killed in 1986 , interjected , '' There is no hoop-de-la if we do n't make it . ``

A newcomer to the group , Sharon Nowell Neal , said she was handing out a paper she had written about the violence to everyone she could think of .

`` When we 've had enough , then it will stop , `` said Ms. Neal , 46 , whose 9-month-old granddaughter , Tatijuana , and 3-year-old son , Nathan , were both killed , 15 years apart .

Ms. Drew-Williams said everyone in the circle had had enough , but Ms. Neal spat back , `` I 'm doing something with my enough . ``

The women of So Sad have had more than enough this year , as they saw the number of children 16 and under killed in Detroit jump to 25 from 19 in 2001 .

The 31 percent increase gives this city a child homicide rate of 9 per 100,000 , higher than Chicago , Los Angeles , Boston , San Diego or Miami .

Statistics for New York were not available this week .

Though violent crime over all has declined by about 4.5 percent in Detroit this year , and total homicides are down to 391 from 395 , fatal shootings of children increased to 17 from 11 .

And Detroit is not alone : New Orleans had 16 children killed this year , double last year 's 8 , giving it a child homicide rate of 13 per 100,000 .

In Washington , 12 children were killed this year , a rate of 11 per 100,000 .

`` It 's astounding , `` said Shikha Hamilton , president of the Detroit chapter of the Million Mom March , an antigun group that recently pressed the City Council to pass a law banning weapons in public buildings and persuaded The Detroit Free Press to stop accepting classified advertisements selling weapons .

`` My heart is broken every time . ''

The year of nightmares began here on Jan . 13 , when Jameise Scaife died three days after he was delivered by emergency Caesarean section after his pregnant mother jumped from a building set afire by an arsonist .

The last child killing was on Nov . 30 , when 16-year-old Mario Smith was fatally shot on his way home from work at Skateland .

In between , one 3-year-old was strangled by his mother and another was shot in the head by hers .

Teenagers were killed by their friends , toddlers were beaten to death by their guardians , and an infant died after a car crash caused by a criminal suspect fleeing the police .

Children were killed in carjackings and robberies , in gang disputes and at parties .

Two little girls were gunned down in their homes by AK-47s in separate shootings .

Six of the victims were 2 or younger , while 15 were under 12 .

A 26th child , 10-year-old Charmaine Wright , died of complications from injuries sustained when she was violently shaken as a baby , although prosecutors have not officially ruled the death a homicide .

`` It just seemed like it would never stop -- it got to the point where I did n't even want to look at the news anymore , `` said Harold Pollard , whose 7-year-old granddaughter , Ajanee , was killed on Feb . 25 in a drive-by shooting that also injured her mother and three siblings .

`` Their wounds are healing , you know , but they still go through missing their sister . ''

The Detroit Police Department and the Wayne County prosecutor 's office responded to the spate of killings with an intense investigative effort known as Project Destiny , named for 3-year-old Destinee Thomas , who was killed on March 23 .

Inspector Craig Schwartz , chief of the city 's homicide division , said that all but two of this year 's fatal shootings of children had been solved , compared with only 52 percent of homicides over all , and that as of Dec . 22 nonfatal shootings of children were down to 63 from 80 over the same period in 2001 .

He also pointed out that two of the teenage victims had been shot while committing crimes , and that a third had been involved in a shootout .

`` That 's not quite a victim in the pure sense of the word , `` Inspector Schwartz said .

`` As far as a preventive measure , these things are very hard to prevent .

Many of these things involve social issues that are n't the responsibility of the police department .

It becomes the responsibility of the entire community . ``

At So Sad , Ms. Barfield is bemused by the renewed attention on the crisis she has been living for more than a decade .

In 1986 , she said , 365 children were shot in Detroit , 43 of them fatally .

This year 's number pales compared with that .

Still , newcomers like Ms. Neal join the Monday night circle .

`` You can lose a spouse , get another spouse .

You can lose a sister and get another friend , `` Ms. Neal said plaintively .

`` When you lose a child , I do n't care if you have 13 of them , that is a void that will never be filled . ``

Ms. Drew-Williams softened and said , `` I wish I had never had any kids . ''

`` Same here , same here , '' said Shirley Adams , whose daughter was killed in 1999 .

`` It was just too much having that one murdered , '' Ms. Drew-Williams said .

Ms. Neal said : `` People ask me now , ' How many children do you have .

` I say I am the mother of three , but two are still living . ''

They argued over capital punishment and shared coping strategies , like Ms. Drew-Williams ` s annual party , complete with sheet cake , for her son , who was killed on his birthday .

Vickie Rose told about a dream she had recently in which her dead son called on the telephone , asking what Santa Claus had brought , what Mama was cooking for Christmas .

As they talked , the women turned to point at the pile of funeral programs , from which their sons and daughters stared back blankly .

A toddler in a jumper with a teddy bear .

A baby in a bathtub .

Sisters in braids .

A young man in a military uniform , another in a football jersey , a third dressed for a prom .

Then they stood up , closed the circle , and joined hands .

`` We have lost so many kids this year , '' Rose Hunter , whose niece was murdered in 2001 , said to start the closing prayer .

`` As we end this 2002 , we pray that next year , 2003 , we will not have a kid slaughtered , we will not have a kid hit by a car , we will not have a kid shot . '' .

Summary: Mothers of murder victims in Detroit have support group , Save Our Sons and Daughters , So Sad , which tries to call attention to victims .

Summary: Number of children 16 and under killed in Detroit jumps to 25 from 19 in 2001 , and city 's child homicide rate is 9 per 100,000 , higher than Chicago , Los Angeles , Boston , San Diego or Miami .

Summary: Photo .


North Korea strongly suggested today that it would withdraw from a treaty that prohibits it from making nuclear weapons , the latest in a series of fast-paced moves to remove its nuclear program from international controls .

`` North Korea is not currently able to meet its commitments under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons -- this is the fault of the United States , '' Pak Ui Chun , North Korea 's ambassador to Russia , said at a news conference in Moscow today .

On Monday , the North Korean Foreign Ministry accused the United States of `` ditching '' a special 1994 agreement that had kept North Korea bound to the treaty .

If North Korea abandons the treaty , which would take 90 days from a formal declaration , it would be under no obligation to allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency .

Last week , the North said that it would expel the inspectors , and today they were made to leave the country .

Without the inspectors , the outside world can now rely only on satellite photos and statements by North Korea to guess at what work is being done at the Yongbyon nuclear complex , 55 miles north of Pyongyang .

`` We were the eyes of the world , '' Melissa Fleming , a spokeswoman for the agency , said after the two inspectors , a Chinese woman and a Lebanese man , arrived in Beijing .

`` Now we virtually have no possibility to monitor North Korea 's nuclear activities nor to provide any assurances to the international community that they are not producing a nuclear weapon . ``

Shortly after South Koreans elected the liberal candidate in the Dec . 19 presidential election , the North Koreans disabled cameras and broke seals that for almost a decade had restricted their access to facilities capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium .

Nuclear technicians quickly started work on reopening two facilities : a small reactor and a fuel reprocessing plant .

Outside experts estimate that the plant is capable of producing enough plutonium for five bombs by late spring .

`` I do n't know what is worse : pulling out of the NPT or starting to reprocess , `` Victor D . Cha , a Korea expert at Georgetown University , said today .

`` They may have chosen a totally new strategy : to acquire some form of nuclear deterrent as quickly as possibly , and then try negotiation from a position of strength . ''

In Moscow , the North Korean ambassador charged today that the Bush administration , which has labeled North Korea , along with Iran and Iraq , as part of an `` axis of evil , '' had `` threatened us with a pre-emptive nuclear strike . ''

`` In these circumstances , we also can not fulfill the nonproliferation treaty , the basic clause of which is the obligation of nuclear states not to use the nuclear weapon against states which do not possess it , '' he said .

The North Korean ambassador recalled that in 1993 the North announced plans to pull out of the treaty .

But , the next year , the signing of an agreement with the United States prompted the country to suspend its official withdrawal .

Under the agreement , the United States and South Korea agreed to build two light-water power reactors in North Korea .

It is harder to make a nuclear bomb with this technology .

This year , however , the Bush administration confronted the North Koreans with evidence that they had secretly continued work on their nuclear weapons program despite that agreement .

Tensions have escalated since , and the United States has met resistance from some Asian allies as it tries to contain the North .

Last weekend , Bush administration officials floated the idea of `` tailored containment '' against North Korea , or a ring of economic sanctions by its neighbors .

But today , South Korea 's President-elect , Roh Moo Hyun , told reporters that he opposed the policy .

`` I am skeptical whether so-called ' tailored containment ' reportedly being considered by the United States is an effective means to control or impose a surrender on North Korea , `` said Mr. Roh , who takes office Feb . 25 .

`` I doubt if the policy would work in controlling North Korea .

`` Success or failure of a U.S. policy toward North Korea is n't too big a deal to the American people , but it is a life-or-death matter for South Koreans , `` Mr. Roh said at his transition committee office .

`` Therefore , any U.S. move should fully consider South Korea 's opinion . ``

On Monday , South Korea 's president , Kim Dae Jung , also expressed opposition , noting that four decades of economic sanctions have failed to bring down the Communist government in Cuba .

As a measure of South Korea 's commitment to economic engagement with North Korea , Kim Yoon Kyu , president of Hyundai Asan Company , left here Monday for a five-day visit to North Korea , where he will discuss a groundbreaking date for a huge South Korean-financed industrial park at Kaesong and an inauguration date for overland bus service across the demilitarized zone to the Mount Kumgang tourism resort , owned by Hyundai .

On Monday , the Bush administration seemed to back away from the sanctions idea .

`` I do n't think anybody has suggested at this point imposing sanctions , `` the State Department spokesman , Philip Reeker , said at a news briefing .

`` The secretary has not asked any nation to take economic action against this desperately poor country , North Korea . ''

With nervousness gradually spreading to markets here , South Korea 's stock market fell 4.5 percent on Monday , its largest single-day drop in a decade .

Tonight , in what could reflect Mr. Roh 's calming influence , turnout for an anti-American rally was far below the one million figure originally cited by organizers .

Although the rally overlapped with New Year 's Eve festivities that traditionally bring at least 100,000 people into downtown Seoul , only about 20,000 are believed to have attended the rally .

South Korea 's protest movement was fueled by the court martial acquittal in late November of two American soldiers of charges arising from a traffic accident that killed two teenage girls .

President Bush has apologized several times for the incident , most recently in a telephone conversation with Mr. Kim on Dec . 13 , when he conveyed his `` deep , personal sadness and regret '' over the deaths .

South Korean protests have prompted talk in the United States -- in Congress and on newspaper op-ed pages -- that the alliance should be reviewed , and if South Korea , a democracy , does not want the 37,000 American troops stationed here , it may be time to start withdrawals .

During the fall presidential campaign , Mr. Roh said he wanted the American troops to stay here , distancing himself from statements he made a decade ago when he wanted the Americans to go home .

But on Monday , Mr. Roh brought up the possibility of American troop withdrawals during a meeting with South Korea 's top military command .

`` I hear such talks coming out again these days , '' he told the generals .

`` I wanted to ask whether you have a long-term plan on how the South Korean military could make up for a possible reduction . ''

THREATS AND RESPONSES : WEAPONS .

Summary: North Korea strongly suggests that it will withdraw from treaty that prohibits it from making nuclear weapons , latest in series of fast-paced moves to remove its nuclear program from international controls .

Summary: North Korean ambassador , in Moscow , charges that Bush administration has ` threatened us with a pre-emptive nuclear strike ' .

Summary: South Korea opposes pressuring North .

Summary: Anti-American demonstration is held in Seoul .

Summary: Photo .


Roberto Colaninno , the Italian entrepreneur who engineered the hostile takeover of Telecom Italia four years ago , has proposed to Fiat 's creditor banks an ambitious $ 8 billion plan to rescue the Fiat group , people involved in developing the plan said today .

While the proposal is still only in its broad outlines , it calls for a group of investors led by Mr. Colaninno to put $ 2.5 billion to $ 3 billion into Fiat , with the company raising an additional $ 4 billion through divestitures .

The plan also envisions a swap with General Motors , which owns 20 percent of the Fiat auto division , under which G . M . would be released from a requirement that it acquire the 80 percent it does not own , in exchange for G.M. ` s joining a capital increase at Fiat Auto .

If the Colaninno group is successful -- and that is far from certain at this very early stage -- it would effectively mean that the Agnellis , for more than a century the uncrowned industrial monarchs of Italy , would at best have to share control of the Fiat conglomerate with other Italian investors , most notably Mr. Colaninno .

The proposal , which was first reported on Monday on the Web site of the Italian daily La Repubblica , has been outlined to Fiat 's major creditor banks , which concluded a $ 3 billion convertible loan arrangement with Fiat in May , and to the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , the people involved in developing the plan said .

The government was involved in recent talks with Fiat and its labor unions to soften the impact of layoffs of more than 8,000 workers as Fiat 's auto unit tries an overhaul .

Fiat , the largest private employer in Italy , has been struggling to return its auto division to profitability .

Fiat expects automobiles to generate a $ 1.23 billion operating loss for 2002 .

On Monday , Mr. Berlusconi alluded to the plan at a year-end news conference , telling reporters that `` there are groups of entrepreneurs who have shown interest . ''

Suggesting that General Motors has sought a way out of its obligation to Fiat Auto , Mr. Berlusconi said , `` With the decline in General Motors ' interest , the government hopes for an interest from Italian companies . ``

In March 2000 , Fiat swapped 20 percent of Fiat Auto for a 6 percent stake in G . M . , and Fiat has the option to require General Motors to acquire the remaining 80 percent , starting in 2004 .

The people involved with the plan said Mr. Colaninno and his advisers had not yet approached General Motors .

It is also unclear what the reaction of the Agnelli family , Fiat 's biggest shareholder , would be .

Fiat , and Mr. Colaninno , former chief executive of Olivetti , have declined to comment on reports of the plan .

But one Fiat executive said , `` Ultimately , it is all feasible . ''

He added , `` There is one clear point : Colaninno has the money . ''

Last year , Pirelli , the Italian tire and cable company , teamed up with an investment firm controlled by the Benetton clothing family to buy 23 percent of Olivetti for $ 6 billion , giving the consortium effective control of Telecom Italia , where Olivetti owned 54 percent .

The change in ownership forced out Mr. Colaninno , who had become chief executive of both Olivetti and Telecom Italia after leading an investor group that paid $ 30 billion to gain control of Telecom Italia in May 1999 .

The size of Mr. Colaninno 's capital gain was never disclosed , but it was considerable .

A rescue plan would come at a time when Fiat is particularly vulnerable .

Its shares have sunk to their lowest level in nearly two decades because of its financial troubles .

Last week , Moody 's Investors service cut the rating on $ 15 billion of Fiat debt to junk status .

The banks , thanks to their $ 3 billion financing package , `` own Fiat , de facto , '' one person involved with the plan said , adding that `` they are tantamount to being the biggest shareholders . ''

The four largest creditor banks are IntesaBci , Unicredito Italiano , Capitalia and Sanpaolo IMI .

`` The banks have a problem , '' this person added .

`` We say it is better for everybody if Fiat puts money into the business . ''

Fiat 's chairman , Paolo Fresco , attended a board meeting in Milan today of the investment bank Mediobanca , a meeting that was also attended by Mr. Colaninno , also a director of Mediobanca .

But the people involved in the plan said other matters , not Fiat , were on the agenda .

Earlier this month , Mr. Fresco won a temporary lease on life when the Fiat board thwarted an effort to unseat him .

But increasing financial troubles at Fiat and its auto unit are maintaining pressure for change .

Under the proposal , Mr. Colaninno and a group of fellow investors would take the banks ' liabilities into a new company .

Additional money , roughly $ 4 billion , would be raised by Fiat in a sale of assets .

Mr. Fresco has already said he plans to sell other assets , but those sales have been going more slowly than expected .

Earlier this month , Fiat raised more than $ 1.6 billion by selling its stake in General Motors and several lesser assets .

The people said that General Motors would be offered a release from the purchase requirement in exchange for a participation in the capital increase for Fiat Auto .

In all , the fresh capital for Fiat would total roughly $ 8 billion .

It is unclear how G . M . would react to such a proposal .

In October , G . M . ` s chief financial officer , John M . Devine , an outspoken critic of the requirement , called a put option , , told analysts on a conference call , '' If there 's a change in control of Fiat S.p.A. , then the put is automatically eliminated . `` .

Summary: Roberto Colaninno , Italian entrepreneur , proposes to creditor banks ambitious $ 8 billion plan to rescue Fiat group .

Summary: Proposal , in its broad outlines , calls for groups of investors led by Colannino to put $ 2.5 billion to $ 3 billion into Fiat , with company raising additional $ 4 billion through divestitures .

Summary: Colaninno photo .


IN the movies , school principals are generally portrayed in two distinct categories .

There is the baseball-bat-toting disciplinarian , evoked by Morgan Freeman -LRB- playing the real-life New Jersey high school principal Joe Clark -RRB- in the 1989 movie `` Lean on Me . ''

And there is the buffoon forever running a step behind his students , epitomized by the fictional Ed Rooney -LRB- played by the character actor Jeffrey Jones -RRB- as he pursues the chronic truant Ferris Bueller .

But the job has always been far less colorful than Hollywood would lead us to believe .

And it has never been harder on the people in it , a circumstance that helps explain a national shortage that has left some states struggling to find a permanent principal for one of every five schools .

In December , the New York City schools chancellor , Joel I . Klein , followed the lead of educators in Boston , Providence and elsewhere by announcing a corporate-style principal training and incentive program .

Those New York City principals who agree to work in failing schools for three years could earn $ 75,000 in bonus pay , while a farm team of rookie principals is to be developed partly by having them shadow veterans in a leadership academy .

Anyone considering such work would do well to consult a recent graduate of a similar program , someone like Teri Schrader , who is in her second year as principal of the Francis W . Parker Charter Essential School in Devens , Mass . , northwest of Boston .

Depending on the time of day , Ms. Schrader can be rallying her 350 middle - and high-school students before do-or-die standardized tests , combing Massachusetts ' liability codes to assess Parker 's potential exposure in a given case , or buttonholing politicians in an effort to extend the life of her experimental seven-year-old public school , which has an annual budget of nearly $ 2 million .

`` I 'm constantly likening it to being a theater director , `` said Ms. Schrader , 42 , who as a drama teacher previously directed perhaps 60 productions at schools in Hartford and suburban Massachusetts .

`` You 're utterly accountable , but you 're not the one on stage .

It 's really like directing theater surrounded by a ring of fire . ``

In the summer of 2000 , after nearly two decades teaching drama and art , most recently at Parker , Ms. Schrader decided to enroll in what her family refers to as `` principal college . ''

She chose the Greater Boston Principal Residency Network , a part-time one-year training program based partly at Northeastern University .

The program follows a medical school `` residency '' model by placing 10 aspiring principals each year in a mentoring relationship with a veteran principal .

Working under those veterans , the rookies gain hands -on experience and are eventually expected to graduate to their own principalships .

During her apprenticeship , Ms. Schrader , shadowing the principal at Parker , Greg Sinner , embarked on a daunting project : deciding how much the school 's teachers and other employees , 62 staff members in all , would be paid .

As a charter school exempt from union rules , Parker had no compensation policy during its first five years , and that meant that some junior members of the staff were paid more than veterans .

The arguments were bitter , as some veterans argued for a traditional `` step system '' in which salaries would rise in automatic increments .

Others wanted raises tied exclusively to teachers ' performance .

Ms. Schrader was inclined to agree with the latter , until her mentor , Mr. Sinner , who had spent 30 years as a principal in Illinois , talked her down .

He explained that far more seasoned administrators than she had failed in other districts to define how a teacher 's performance would be judged -- no one at Parker , for example , wanted to link teacher pay to students ' test scores -- and that a fair system linking wages to the subtle work of instruction would most likely be elusive .

`` He was the oldest person in the room , '' Ms. Schrader said of Mr. Sinner , then in his 60 's .

`` He was really good at asking big questions . ''

In the end , a committee led by Ms. Schrader and counseled by Mr. Sinner forged a compromise : it created three experience-based categories of teacher salaries , and , within each level , a range of increases to be awarded by the principal , partly on the basis of observation in the classroom .

`` The conversations where I have been able to inform these teachers of their adjustments , '' Ms. Schrader wrote in a paper to her colleagues in the principal training program , `` have been among the most joyous and unforgettable of my career . ''

At the end of that school year , when Mr. Sinner retired , the job of principal was Ms. Schrader 's .

In the 18 months since , she has had few school days that have lasted less than 12 hours .

`` I think outsiders function on a movie model of what a school principal is , '' she said .

`` I do n't think people have a clue how much you love your kids and how hard the work is . ``

LESSONS E-mail : jacques@nytimes.com .

Summary: Jacques Steinberg Lessons column describes job of school principal , position that is part cheerleader , part theater director , very hard work , and , lately , difficult to fill in numerous school districts .

Summary: Drawing .


Hundreds of Pennsylvania doctors who were threatening to stop work or cut back on services because of the high cost of medical malpractice insurance appeared last night to have decided to stay at their posts after state officials promised to try to reduce , at least temporarily , their expenses .

`` We 've averted a major crisis , `` said Andrew Wigglesworth , the president of the Delaware Valley Health Care Council , an association of 150 hospitals and health care organizations in Pennsylvania , New Jersey and Delaware .

Twenty-two hospitals in and around Philadelphia had signaled their intention to stop many optional or elective procedures and to limit emergency room operations , Mr. Wigglesworth said .

Many doctors in Philadelphia as well as in Scranton , in northeastern Pennsylvania , and in Chambersburg and other central Pennsylvania towns were also threatening to reduce their practices or quit medicine entirely .

Other doctors said they were considering leaving the state , as many already have .

But many changed their minds after Gov . - elect Ed Rendell promised to urge the Legislature to take steps that would reduce insurance costs for those in the riskiest fields , including obstetrics and neurosurgery , by up to 40 percent , and significantly reduce coverage costs for all doctors .

Nearly two weeks ago , doctors at the Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington , an affluent suburb on the northern edge of Philadelphia , announced that they were shutting down their trauma center because doctors either could not find professional insurance or were unwilling to pay premiums that were running as high as $ 150,000 a year .

Another trauma center at a hospital in Scranton had already closed because of insurance problems .

Soon doctors across the state were warning that they would curtail services .

They set a deadline of Jan . 1 , when the insurance for about 60 percent of the state 's roughly 35,000 doctors comes up for renewal .

The spreading protests caught the attention of Mr. Rendell , who met with doctors at Abington and began working on a response .

`` I think he heard a lot more than he was aware of , '' said Dr. Arthur M . Frankel , a general surgeon who attended the meeting .

On Monday afternoon , Governor-elect Rendell , joined by Gov . Mark Schweiker , announced his plan .

It would provide free , for the coming year , half the $ 1 million in coverage required to maintain a medical license in Pennsylvania for doctors in obstetrics , neurosurgery , orthopedic surgery and general surgery .

All four categories require among the highest insurance premiums .

Doctors currently buy this coverage from a state fund after buying the first $ 500,000 , usually at somewhat higher prices , from commercial insurers .

Others doctors would get coverage from the fund at half of what they usually pay .

Mr. Rendell said he would also ask the Legislature to approve a grant of $ 18 million to $ 22 million to the state 's trauma centers to help them pay for insurance and other expenses .

He also proposed requiring anyone bringing a malpractice lawsuit to obtain certification from another doctor that the lawsuit was not frivolous .

To pay for the shortfall to the state insurance fund , Mr. Rendell proposed taking the money from health insurers in the state .

At the same time , he urged the health insurers to follow the lead of Independence Blue Shield in raising the amount they pay doctors for their work .

The doctors have complained that as insurance costs have been rising , payments for their work from the federal government and private insurers has been declining .

James Mead , the chief executive of Capital Blue Cross , another health insurer , told The Associated Press that he was `` disappointed and troubled '' by Mr. Rendell 's plan to take money from his industry to ease the burden on doctors .

Dr. Andrew Star , the managing physician of the Orthopedic Specialty Center in Willow Grove , Pa . , said the average cost of coverage for the 12 surgeons in his group had jumped from $ 85,000 last year to $ 150,000 this year , including the payment to the state fund .

Rather than pay the higher price , he said , they had begun cutting back on their work , and some in the group were considering retirement .

Others were looking for jobs in states where insurance costs less .

Dr. Star 's group was the first to pull out of the Abington Trauma Center At 6:30 a.m. yesterday , he and the other doctors met to discuss Mr. Rendell 's proposal .

They could not come to a conclusion , but Dr. Star said he was optimistic .

`` We want to go back to work , '' he said .

`` We 're talking to our business advisers .

We hope we can work it out . `` .

Summary: Hundreds of Pennsylvania doctors who were threatening to stop work or cut back on services because of high cost of medical malpractice insurance appear to have decided to stay at their posts after state officials promise to try to reduce , at least temporarily , their expenses .


Forty years ago , a team of French archaeologists decided that the best way to save the Baphuon temple was to destroy it .

They began to take apart the fragile temple block by block , keeping meticulous records of their work , planning to put it back together again as a more stable structure .

Then came war .

As the Communist Khmer Rouge approached , the restorers fled the Angkor temple complex in 1972 .

In the chaos that followed , all their written records were destroyed .

When they returned in 1995 , all they found was 300,000 heavy stone blocks strewn among the trees -- the biggest jigsaw puzzle in the world .

It is a puzzle without a key , but it does have a solution .

Block by block , layer by layer , the Baphuon temple is rising again as one of the towering monuments of Angkor .

When it was built in the 11th century , the multi-tiered sandstone pyramid was the most impressive building of its day -- `` a truly astonishing spectacle , '' according to a 13th-century Chinese traveler , Zhou Daguan .

Like the other Angkor temples , Baphuon was consumed by the jungle after the great empire fell 500 years ago , and it was only in the last century that French archaeologists began tinkering with it .

But the Baphuon , clumsily built on sand with a poor drainage system , was teetering and collapsing in chunks , too unstable to repair like its neighbors , Bayon , Angkor Wat and others .

The solution : anastylosis , the sort of disassembly ambitious mechanics sometimes do with car engines .

Work began in the 1960 's .

Half the temple was in pieces when it was abandoned , scattered across 25 acres of land like shredded documents .

`` So we have a puzzle , but we are missing the map of the puzzle , '' said Pascal Royère , an architect who heads a team of 200 working for the École Française d' Extrême-Orient , a cultural organization with financing from the French government .

Philippe Peycam , executive director of the Center for Khmer Studies here , said : `` It 's really crazy , this temple , so complex and baroque .

It 's a nightmare to restore . ``

The French team was confronted with a variety of challenges that included the reconstruction of a reclining Buddha that was added in the 16th century and the reinforcement of the structure with a concrete core that was begun in the 1960 's and is now considered outmoded .

But the most fascinating challenge came in the puzzle pieces themselves .

Worn by centuries of sun , monsoon and jungle growth , the stones of Baphuon were chipped and roughened , each slightly different from all the others .

Without mortar to cushion the construction , each block must be returned to nestle precisely among those beside , above and below it .

`` One place for one block , one block for one place , '' Mr. Royère said .

`` That 's the rule . ``

Like any jigsaw puzzle , there is no forcing a piece into a place that is almost right , but not quite .

`` You 'll laugh , but if you are off by ten millimeters here , 20 meters farther along , everything is wrong , `` Mr. Royère said .

`` It happens regularly , but when it happens you know right away .

That 's the difficulty and also the insurance against mistakes .

The monument corrects itself . ``

Apart from the temple 's own dynamic , the restorers had three things to guide them .

Jacques Dumarcay , the French architect who had worked on the Baphuon project in the 1960 's , had since retired but was able to offer some institutional memory .

The second guide was a cache in Paris of almost 1,000 photographs the French had taken of the temple over the years .

Their chief value was to show which sections had already collapsed before the temple was dismantled , saving the workers from fruitless searches for missing stones .

Third was the remaining half of Baphuon , which was to be dismantled after the first half was rebuilt .

By studying this second half , Mr. Royère 's team created stylized drawings of the carved profiles of the blocks in each row of each tier of the temple .

Early on , an attempt was made to computerize these shapes and create a reconstruction model .

But given the eroded shapes of the stones , the computer 's generalized solutions were of little use .

`` So we looked for a more simple solution , which was the man-made solution , '' he said .

In other words , memorization .

There are about 500 different shapes , Mr. Royère said , but by now nobody needs to refer to the drawings .

Each team knows just what shapes it is looking for .

`` We have people who walk around all day , '' he said .

About 70 percent of the blocks have now been identified , and Mr. Royère said he was confident that none were missing .

At times , as with any puzzle , some small sections are fitted together on their own , and the woods are dotted with what look like mini-temples awaiting their moment to be put in place .

`` This is not a high-tech project , '' Mr. Royère said .

`` It 's just a question of paying attention to what you do , and do n't sleep . ``

Siem Reap Journal .

Summary: Team of French archaeologists work at piece-by-piece reconstruction of ancient Baphuon temple in Siem Reap , Cambodia .

Summary: Experts were restoring temple in 1972 , but fled Angkor temple complex when Communist Khmer Rouge approached .


As labor dynasties go , few can rival the Hogans of Chicago .

William T . Hogan Jr . took the helm of Local 714 of the Teamsters in 1990 , after his father had run the local for half a century .

Now his son Robert heads the local .

William Hogan said his life was so steeped in the union that he carried Teamster picket signs as an 8-year-old and wrote school papers on James R . Hoffa , the onetime Teamster leader .

`` My whole life has been the Teamsters , '' he said .

But a union oversight board expelled him from the Teamsters on charges that he negotiated a sweetheart deal with contractors .

And in a move that Mr. Hogan likened to deportation to Siberia , all members of the union have been barred from having contact with him .

The only times he can even see relatives who are Teamsters are at occasional family events , like Thanksgiving dinner .

Even then , relatives are prohibited from discussing union business with him .

Any Teamster who violates the sanctions runs the risk of suspension or expulsion .

The oversight board -- a panel the union created to help settle a federal lawsuit intended to end the Teamsters ' history of corruption -- has expelled or forced out about 300 Teamsters and has banned members from associating with them .

Of all those expelled , Mr. Hogan is putting up the biggest fight against the restrictions , asking a federal judge to overrule the board and mounting a public relations battle .

`` I have some very good friends that I can not call on the phone , that I can not be with , '' Mr. Hogan said .

`` I have to keep reminding myself I 'm an American citizen .

I did n't realize that anyone could give away my rights like that . ``

The oversight board that expelled Mr. Hogan last May ruled unanimously that he had betrayed the union 's interests by trying to cut a sweetheart deal in Las Vegas with a temporary services company that employed one of his brothers .

The deal , which union officials blocked before it was signed , would have given convention hall jobs to nonunion workers at 60 percent of the union pay rate .

The board said Mr. Hogan had insinuated himself into Las Vegas , even though it was far from his Chicago base , largely to help his brother 's company .

The oversight board , known as the Independent Review Board , is the most intensive watchdog in the labor world .

It was created as part of a consent decree that the Teamsters signed in 1989 to settle a federal antiracketeering lawsuit , which asserted that the Mafia controlled the union , which has 1.4 million members .

The oversight efforts have largely purged the union of criminal elements , but the consent decree 's rules still apply , including the provision that says Teamsters can not associate with any expelled member , except for family-related contacts .

`` The consent decree is quite clear , with that big catchall phrase saying no Teamster can associate with any person enjoined from participating in union affairs , '' said Patrick J . Szymanski , the union 's general counsel .

Edwin H . Stier , director of the Teamsters ' internal anticorruption efforts , defended the ban on fraternization , saying it was needed to reform a culture of a union long dominated by organized crime .

But , while not directly addressing Mr. Hogan 's case , Mr. Stier said the ban was especially important for Teamsters expelled for being involved in organized crime , but he said the ban might eventually be eased for others .

`` To keep organized crime from penetrating into the union , a flat prohibition against associating with those people is important , '' Mr. Stier said .

`` That ban should be established permanently .

`` As for people who were thrown out for non-organized-crime activity , that 's more debatable .

That ban should be kept at least short-term because it 's important for reforming the culture of a union that was long dominated by racketeers . ``

Whether some Teamsters clandestinely socialize with Mr. Hogan is unclear , but Mr. Hogan , 60 , said his son Robert fears trouble if they play golf together .

Old Teamster friends say they cross the street when they see him .

Teamster buddies say they are too nervous to invite him to weddings .

And he quit Local 714 's softball team because team members said they could be punished for playing with him .

The effective banishment has enraged Mr. Hogan 's many friends .

`` I 've known Bill Hogan for more than 20 years , `` said Pete LaRocco , a Local 714 shop steward .

`` And if I see him at Woodfield Mall or a gas station and I approach him or anything like that , I worry I can lose my job .

I do n't see how anything like that can happen in America . ``

Mr. Hogan has asked the judge who oversees the consent decree , Loretta A . Preska of Federal District Court in Manhattan , to overturn his expulsion and to ease the restrictions on associating with union members .

Asserting that the expulsion was misguided , Mr. Hogan insisted that his negotiating efforts in Las Vegas were not a sweetheart deal , but rather innocent speech protected by the First Amendment .

He also argued that the ban on socializing with Teamsters violated his First Amendment right to freedom of association .

But Charles Carberry , the chief prosecutor for the Independent Review Board , said the restrictions did not violate the Constitution .

`` The First Amendment is not involved because this is not government action , '' Mr. Carberry said , citing several judicial decisions .

`` It comes into play only when there is government restriction of speech .

Here , the Independent Review Board is standing in the shoes of the union so it 's a restriction by the union , not by the government . ``

A white-haired , gregarious man , Mr. Hogan can easily be mistaken for a corporate executive in his work for Chicago civic committees , but when he is in internal union battles , his venom and foul language show there is some street fighter in him .

Years ago , Mr. Hogan uttered his most-remembered line , `` I am living proof that nepotism works . ''

In an interview in his lawyer 's office , he said : `` Yes , I once said that .

Nepotism can work , and at times it does n't work .

And in this case it did work .

My reputation speaks for itself .

My dad retired , I took over the local and it continued to grow .

It was n't because I was Hogan 's kid .

It was because I had some ability . ``

Mr. Hogan 's arguments get support from a man he long detested , Ron Carey , the Teamsters ' former president , who was expelled for breaching his fiduciary duties by failing to stop aides from diverting union money to aid his re-election campaign .

Mr. Carey 's lawyer , Mark Hulkower , said the courts should narrow the restrictions on socializing .

`` The associational ban against Ron Carey is absolutely ridiculous , '' Mr. Hulkower said .

`` The ban clearly was designed to prevent union members from associating with members of organized crime , but when it applies to officials like Ron Carey it makes no sense whatsoever . ''

In 1996 , Mr. Hogan was to be James P . Hoffa 's running mate when he challenged Mr. Carey , then the Teamster president .

But Mr. Hogan withdrew from the race when investigators from the Independent Review Board moved to place Local 714 , which represents movie truck drivers and workers at Chicago 's convention center , into trusteeship , saying the local was rife with nepotism and favoritism .

Investigators found that 28 Hogan family members or relatives had ties to the local .

Mr. Hogan also stepped down from the local 's helm and the presidency of the joint council of all Chicago Teamster locals .

When the two-year trusteeship of Local 714 ended in 1998 , his son Robert was elected the local 's principal officer .

Robert appointed his father as the local 's organizing director .

Recently several friends organized a fund-raiser to help Mr. Hogan pay his legal bills , but Teamsters were warned not to attend .

`` It hurts , '' said Robert Hogan .

`` Here 's my father , fighting for his life .

And there is a fund-raiser , and I ca n't be with him . `` .

Summary: William T Hogan Jr , longtime Teamster official , is fighting ouster from union by oversight board that accused him of negotiating sweetheart deal with contractors .

Summary: Is angry that all members of union , even relatives , have been barred from having contact .

Summary: Photos .


In the days before 9/11 , New Yorkers were regularly treated to fierce legal battles between Mayor Rudolph W . Giuliani and groups that claimed that he was suppressing their First Amendment rights .

The range of such controversies was considerable , and involved groups like the Ku Klux Klan , the Brooklyn Museum of Art and New York magazine .

Now , the Bloomberg administration is preparing to defend one of the last remaining cases from that era , a trial stemming from Mr. Giuliani 's decision in 1998 to fire a police officer and two firefighters who wore blackface during a Labor Day parade in Queens .

All three men have sued , saying the city violated their rights to free speech .

To prepare for that trial , which is scheduled to start next week in Federal District Court in Manhattan , Mr. Giuliani has given a 137-page deposition in which he defends the city 's decision to fire the men .

In it , Mr. Giuliani , who is expected to be called as a witness in court , comes across as most New Yorkers recall him before the terrorist attacks brought out a gentler side : candid , blunt , outspoken and combative .

`` My opinion as mayor of the city , '' he declares , `` was that police officers and firefighters engaging in this kind of conduct disgrace the uniform , and make it impossible for them in the future to function in a fair and impartial way . ''

At another juncture , the former mayor seems to almost take over the deposition , reading at length from a document to support his position until one of the firefighters ' lawyers asks him to stop editorializing .

`` I 'm testifying , `` the mayor retorts , continuing to read from the document , a transcript shows .

A deposition is a traditional part of a civil suit in which lawyers are allowed , before trial , to question witnesses under oath .

A copy of Mr. Giuliani 's deposition was obtained from the New York Civil Liberties Union , which represents the officer who was fired , Joseph Locurto .

The civil liberties union contends in its suit that Mr. Giuliani directed the officer 's firing in violation of his rights .

`` You ca n't fire someone simply in retaliation for the content of their speech , `` Christopher Dunn , associate legal director of the group , said yesterday .

`` It 's our contention that that 's exactly why they fired him . ``

Mr. Dunn indicated in pretrial hearings that he might challenge the former mayor 's credibility on his reasons for firing the officer .

`` We dispute his contention that he was concerned about the racial sensitivity of a police officer , '' he said yesterday , `` in light of his long history of supporting racially insensitive actions by the Police Department . ''

Mr. Dunn acknowledged that Mr. Giuliani 's image had changed since the attacks , but he cited his `` legacy of hostility to the First Amendment . ''

The city maintains that the firings of the men were permissible because their conduct would prove disruptive .

A lawyer for the city , Jonathan Pines , said through a spokesman , `` We feel very confident in the strength of this case , and expect to prevail in court . ''

A representative of Mr. Giuliani , Daniel S . Connolly , said he would not comment before trial .

The 1998 Labor Day float , titled `` Black to the Future : 2098 , '' was part of the annual parade sponsored by the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Corps .

One participant , a firefighter , re-enacted the killing of James Byrd Jr . , a black man who was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas the previous June .

Mayor Giuliani condemned the incident and said of Officer Locurto at the time , `` The only way this guy gets back on the police force is if the Supreme Court of the United States tells us to put him back . ''

The officer , then an off-duty 30-year-old patrolman , admitted participating in the float , and apologized publicly for what he called `` a big mistake . ''

The two firefighters -- Jonathan Walters and Robert Steiner -- denied any racist intent .

In the deposition , which was taken last April , Mr. Giuliani said he believed that officers or firefighters who participated in such a `` vicious display of racism '' would become a serious liability to the city .

He also said that despite his assertions that the men should be fired , had new evidence turned up , the police and fire commissioners `` would have been perfectly free to disagree and not fire them . ''

At one point , Mr. Giuliani was asked whether controversy over the police response to that summer 's so-called Million Youth March in Harlem , influenced his response to Officer Locurto 's act .

`` None , absolutely none , '' Mr. Giuliani said .

Summary: Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is expected to be called as witness in suit stemming from firings of firefighters Jonathan Walters and Robert Steiner and police officer Joseph Locurto , who wore blackface on float in Labor Day parade in Queens .


The rapper known as 50 Cent and four other men were arrested on weapons charges in Midtown early yesterday after police officers found two loaded guns in the car they were in , the authorities said .

The rapper , whose real name is Curtis Jackson , was a passenger in a Jeep Grand Cherokee that officers pulled over about 2 a.m. after they saw it parked in a no-standing zone at 34th Street and 11th Avenue near the Copacabana night club , the police said .

Inside the car , which had heavily tinted windows , officers found a . 25 caliber handgun on the floor , the police said .

A search also turned up a . 45 caliber handgun under the front passenger seat , they said .

Three of the men in the car were wearing bulletproof vests , and one man was sitting on a fourth vest .

Mr. Jackson , who was not wearing a bulletproof vest , was in the rear passenger side , the police said .

The five men were each charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon , a police official said .

Mr. Jackson 's lawyer , Charles Pringle , did not immediately respond to phone messages .

The police briefly considered Mr. Jackson a potential target for violence last year after the Oct . 30 murder of Jam Master Jay , the popular D.J. for the pioneering rap group Run-DMC .

One initial theory in that case was that the murder stemmed from a grudge against Mr. Jackson , who was a protégé of Jam Master Jay and had used his music to criticize gangster rap .

The police said that Mr. Jackson spent about eight months in prison in 1994 and 1995 after being arrested twice on drug charges .

Summary: Police arrest rapper Curtis Jackson , known as 50 Cent , and four other men in Midtown Manhattan after finding two loaded guns in car .


Responding to intelligence information from federal authorities about a possible terrorist attack on New York Harbor , the United States Coast Guard closed the Port of New York to pleasure craft yesterday and , along with the New York Police Department , increased harbor patrols .

Several senior law enforcement officials in New York played down the significance of the threat , which came amid heightened security for the New Year 's Eve celebration in Times Square .

One official said the action was taken out of an `` abundance of caution , '' and another described the intelligence information as `` nonspecific , uncorroborated and of unknown reliability . ''

Mayor Michael R . Bloomberg , speaking at a news conference in Times Square yesterday afternoon to discuss the New Year 's Eve festivities there , said in response to a question that the actions were simply prudent in an age of increased risk .

`` I can tell you that there are no credible threats that we know of to our security here , '' he said .

`` But New York and the N.Y.P.D. is in the business of prevention , and we take all the appropriate precautions that we should when you have large numbers of people get together . ''

Police Commissioner Raymond W . Kelly , who appeared with Mr. Bloomberg in Times Square , said that the Coast Guard had restricted pleasure craft from coming into the harbor at 3:30 p.m. , and Coast Guard officials said the ban would continue until 8 a.m. today .

Mr. Kelly said that along with the Coast Guard , the Police Department 's Harbor Unit would increase its patrols .

An advisory from the New York State Office of Public Security on the threat said that the United States Department of Homeland Security had advised law enforcement authorities in New York of possible attacks at unspecified times on Dec . 31 in the vicinity of the harbor .

The advisory said that the source that provided the information indicated that eight potential diversionary attacks would precede the harbor attack .

`` These diversionary attacks are alleged to occur at cities located throughout New York State , '' said the advisory , which noted that the credibility of the threats was undetermined .

The advisory came as the police and federal authorities in New York City were searching for 19 men who entered the country illegally a week ago , amid concern that , because most are from Pakistan and Persian Gulf states , they might possibly be part of a terrorist plot .

But one senior law enforcement official said the authorities had no information to connect the men to the harbor threat .

The men came from the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Karachi through London with forged European Union passports and crossed the border from Canada into New York State , officials said .

The authorities learned about them during an investigation into a passport-fraud ring that operated in New York , Canada and Pakistan .

On Sunday , the F.B.I. released photographs of five of the men , and names and dates of birth for them that they said might be fake .

Members of the F.B.I. - N.Y.P.D.

Joint Terrorist Task Force and Immigration and Naturalization Service agents conducted raids in Brooklyn and Queens and elsewhere on Monday , and questioned at least six men , who were later released , officials said .

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday cited the reports of the men crossing the border , saying they underscored her concern that there should be a specific office in the new Homeland Security Department devoted to the northern border .

`` It is clear that we have just not paid the kind of attention or put enough resources into this , '' she said , adding that she would reintroduce a bill that would create a northern border security office in the new department .

Summary: US Coast Guard closes Port of New York to pleasure craft and increases harbor patrols in response to intelligence from federal authorities about possible attack on New York Harbor .

Summary: Law enforcement officials play down significance of threat , describing intelligence as nonspecific and uncorroborated .


The troops begin massing on the periphery shortly before midnight .

They arrive under police escort , armed with backpack blowers and mechanical brooms .

As the carousers head homeward , the battalion moves in -- shock troops engaged in the surgical roundup of an estimated 25 tons of New Year 's Eve trash .

In New York City , where the extraordinary is always morphing into ordinary , even the annual Times Square confetti removal operation has become mundane -- the rough equivalent , in apartment dwellers ' terms , of vacuuming post-party potato chips off the living room rug or swabbing up spilled Champagne .

`` This is not a big deal , '' said John J . Doherty , who came out of retirement last year to become commissioner of the Department of Sanitation , where he had worked for 38 years .

`` I mean , we 've been doing this for years and years and years .

So it 's pretty routine . ``

Sure , the tonnage waxes and wanes .

Way back when , Times Square would be littered with broken glass , back when no one much cared what anyone carried in .

But since the city began limiting what revelers could bring with them , the quantity of New Year 's Eve trash has dropped , to 25 tons one year ago , from 50 in 2000 .

Nearly all of it is paper .

This year , the city added another security precaution : litter baskets were removed , since they are potential hiding places for explosives .

-LRB- The Police Department also enlisted Sanitation Department welders to seal manhole covers , Mr. Doherty said , declining to speculate on why . -RRB-

The plan of attack : send in a small crew to `` preclean '' the area on the afternoon of New Year 's Eve .

The main 60-member crew follows , with police escort , around 11 p.m.

As soon as the crowds disperse , around 1 a.m. , the workers fan out with street sweepers , blowers , shovels and brooms .

The hours are grim , but the pay is not bad .

Crew members earn time and a half , Mr. Doherty said .

`` Some of them do it because they like the money , '' he said .

`` Some of the young guys do it because they like to be there .

And some do it because they have to . ``

By 6 a.m. , the bulk of the cleanup is done , the trash carted away in collection trucks .

Later , as confetti drifts off building ledges and into the streets , day-shift workers sweep it up .

The entire operation , including 78 workers over three shifts , costs the city $ 22,000 .

`` Where will I be .

`` Mr. Doherty said when asked yesterday .

`` I 'll probably be asleep , actually . `` .

Summary: Job of cleaning up Times Square after New Year 's Eve celebration , which has become fairly routine , described .