Waving reams of fiscal data , a small man in a gray suit charged the barricades of Palestinian reform here today .

It may have looked like the arid presentation of an annual budget , to the legislature of the Palestinian Authority .

But it amounted to something more revolutionary .

First , because there was a 2003 budget proposal at all .

Second , because it was being disclosed publicly , in detail .

Third , and most striking , because it included seemingly bland provisions that if enacted would have major consequences for the conduct , not only of Palestinian governance , but also of the Palestinian uprising .

Take , for example , one apparent yawner : direct deposit of police salaries .

This measure would strip Palestinian security chiefs of the control they now have over their forces ' pay , which some have used to build unaccountable fiefs .

It would also twist shut what students of the Palestinian Authority say is a tap for financing some Palestinian militants .

The man in the gray suit , Salam Fayyad , has been praised by both American and Israeli officials since he was appointed to his post as Palestinian finance minister by Yasir Arafat in June .

That is something of a problem for the finance minister , a former official of the International Monetary Fund who was educated in Lebanon and Texas .

Palestinians consider the Bush administration biased in favor of Israel .

The 27-month-long conflict has made them suspicious if not contemptuous of any change -- and any Palestinian -- conforming to American and Israeli demands .

When these concerns about outside influence were mentioned to Mr. Fayyad after his presentation , he became so exercised that he dropped his black satchel and began jabbing the air with one index finger .

`` I 'm talking about public funds -- public money -- the people 's money ! `` he said in rapid-fire English .

`` We should manage the funds in an honest way .

Tell me if this is not inspired by the Palestinian people .

Tell me if the Palestinian people do not benefit from this . ``

Palestinian legislators , many of whom have chafed at corruption in the Palestinian Authority , said they expected the budget to pass within a month , and then for the real fight to begin : to enact its provisions against officeholders vested in the status quo .

`` Either he will submit to their demands , or resign , '' Jamal Shobaki , the chairman of the legislature 's economic committee , said of Mr. Fayyad , expressing what he called a common fear among reformers .

`` What we want is a third way -- that he neither submit , nor resign . ''

Mr. Fayyad , who is 50 , smiled when told of the comment , and said he knew a third way .

`` When you hit a wall , '' he said , `` you go through it . ''

Mr. Fayyad , who has presented Mr. Arafat with his budget , is careful to emphasize his loyalty to the Palestinian leader .

Yet his proposals , if enacted , would remove levers of patronage and contracting that Mr. Arafat has relied on for years to run the Palestinian Authority , the Palestine Liberation Organization , and his dominant faction , Al Fatah .

As a result , Israeli officials reacted to the proposed budget with skepticism , along with rare praise for a Palestinian minister .

`` Everything that Fayyad is trying to do is well appreciated and is the right thing , '' said Raanan Gissin , the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister , Ariel Sharon .

`` But it 's like full gas in neutral , as long as the money eventually reaches Arafat . ``

But Mr. Arafat appears to be somewhat boxed in by his finance minister .

It would be a serious blow to the Palestinian Authority 's remaining credibility abroad -- including in Europe , which has given the Palestinians considerable funds -- if Mr. Fayyad felt forced to resign .

Although he said he supported reform and democracy , Mr. Arafat did not speak about the budget as he addressed supporters here today , the anniversary of Al Fatah 's founding in 1965 .

A Western diplomat said Mr. Fayyad had `` thrown down a gauntlet in front of the security services , '' adding that this `` puts the authority in a very difficult position because of Fayyad 's international credibility . ``

In this diplomat 's appraisal , Mr. Fayyad appeared to be recruiting sidelined Palestinian institutions -- the budget , the legislature -- for wide-ranging reform , using the budget proposal to lend precision to popular but rather amorphous ideas for change .

No budget was issued for 2002 , and before that , the details of the budgets were not disclosed .

Mr. Fayyad made a point of posting his $ 1.28 billion proposal on a new Web site , which was also started today -LRB- www.mof.gov.ps -RRB- .

He said his budget assumed that the Palestinian economy would contract by about 7 percent next year .

He said the Palestinian G.D.P. now amounted to slightly under $ 2 billion .

While he referred to the devastating impact of Israel 's offensives into Palestinian areas , he spoke more about what Palestinians could do to take control of their fiscal destiny , peppering his presentation with words like `` transparency , '' `` audit , '' and , repeatedly , `` credibility . ''

Mr. Fayyad , who was raised in the West Bank town of Tulkarm , was for several years the representative of the I.M.F. to the Palestinian Authority , and he appears to have been storing up ideas of what he would do if he was in charge .

Among other changes , he said he would ensure compliance by all ministries with Palestinian laws about procurement .

He specifically referred to the purchasing body for the security services , which Palestinians call the Rock .

Experts say the Rock is used to generate kickbacks and patronage for security officials .

Mr. Fayyad called its relationship to the security agencies `` a clear violation of the law '' and said it `` should not , and will not , be allowed to continue . ''

The proposal would advance several efforts he has already undertaken , like putting auditors in all the ministries and consolidating multiple investment and commercial operations in one closely watched fund .

Mr. Fayyad , who has a doctorate from the University of Texas , served as a scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank in St . Louis and as an I.M.F. official in Washington .

He has little popular support , but he gained some credibility in August , when he found himself trapped by a renewed Israeli siege of Mr. Arafat 's compound .

The Israelis came in so swiftly , after back-to-back suicide bombings killed seven people besides the bombers , that he lost his cellphone and briefcase .

They were crushed by a tank inside the taxi in which he had arrived at the compound .

Before American pressure forced the Israelis to withdraw , Mr. Fayyad spent 10 days in the compound , sharing a small , airless bedroom with Mr. Arafat and two other officials .

At one point , he recalled , the Israelis demanded that everyone evacuate the compound , saying they were about to demolish it .

`` I thought to myself , ' This is it , ' '' he said .

Contrary to Palestinian rumor , Mr. Fayyad is not an American citizen .

Chain-smoking , as usual , in Mr. Arafat 's compound today , he said he knew some Palestinians viewed him as `` this guy who came from the I.M.F. ''

But he shrugged that off .

`` I know who I am , '' he said .

`` Our people deserve respect , and if I can contribute to that , what more can I ask for .

Summary: Salam Fayyad , Palestinian finance minister who has been praised by both American and Israeli officials since he was appointed by Yasir Arafat in June , presents 2003 budget proposal to legislature of Palestinian Authority .

Summary: Some of its seemingly bland provisions , if enacted , would bring greater accountability to Palestinian governance and , by seeing that money goes where it is supposed to go , cut of financing for some Palestinian militants .

Summary: Photo of Fayyad .


The nation 's Roman Catholic priests will not miss the year 2002 , their annus horribilis .

A year ago , few could have imagined the disrepute into which the priesthood would slip following hundreds of sexual abuse cases involving clergy and a clueless response by bishops who misidentified exactly whom they were supposed to be shepherding .

The anger was intense enough to destroy not just a few ecclesiastical careers but also the goodwill of parishioners and the public that priests used to take for granted .

Almost forgotten are my former colleagues , the hard-working core of priests who are not malefactors .

These men remain trapped in a system where they have next to nothing to say about the shape of Catholic leadership or its response to the crisis .

Little wonder that priests ' numbers are dwindling .

Their experience , their personal holiness and their spiritual insight often do n't seem to count .

The hierarchy seeks only their silence and deference .

As priests see one bishop after another imposed from above to put in place policies without input from the clergy or the laity , they become resigned , disgusted and just plain tired .

At the same time , a smaller group of clergy ambitious for higher office have long brought all their skills to the challenging task of pleasing their omnipotent superiors rather than responding to the promptings of their subordinates or of the laity .

In the more than two decades I spent as a priest -LRB- I left the clergy a decade ago over the issue of celibacy -RRB- , I had many opportunities to observe the ways priests are required to grovel to their superiors .

Once , back in the seminary , as a hundred or so of us stood around waiting for His Eminence the cardinal to appear for an event , a student approached one of the monsignors .

`` So , it seems the cardinal is late .

`` he asked .

`` Excuse me , young man , '' he was told , `` the cardinal is never late .

Everyone else is early . ``

Some years later , when I was head of the seminary 's student body , I found myself seated next to the archbishop at a dinner .

Our student council had recently completed a study of issues affecting seminary life and our future as priests and human beings .

I was eager to share its results with the authorities , and here I was , sitting at dinner next to Himself ! But as soon as I broached the topic , the cardinal silenced me .

I was not to approach him directly , he said , but only through the appropriate channels so that the chain of authority would be unbroken .

He had no desire to know firsthand what his future priests were thinking .

Bishops anointed `` by the favor of the Apostolic See , '' as the Vatican terms it , are deferred to not because of their competence or learning , but because of that favor .

This is true today , 40 years after the Second Vatican Council sought to encourage a more collegial style of leadership -- one seeking input from clergy and parishioners and even acknowledging the laity as part of the priesthood .

Accustomed to this deferential thinking , today 's mismanagers of the clerical abuse scandals do not see themselves as ill-intentioned .

Ignoring the victims of abuse grows out of an ideology that holds that clergy are different from ordinary people .

Accountability is for lesser mortals .

The culture of deference to the clerical mystique is deep-rooted .

A dozen years ago , I was at a conference for priests on preaching and worship in the context of Vatican II , and the curriculum was suspended one afternoon to make room for an impromptu address by the archbishop .

By the end of his hour-long monologue , he had effectively dismissed the newer approaches the faculty had been promoting .

Waxing eloquent on the unique power of priests to accomplish things that not even kings and queens could do , he reminded us that even God obeys the words of a priest when he consecrates the bread and wine at mass .

There was no rebuttal from the assembled priests .

The trouble with deference and silence , of course , is that they encourage ignorance and denial about issues that need to be addressed .

A few months ago , a group of New York clergy were told by a high-ranking official that he was open to discussing issues directly .

However , some of those present told me , it was stressed that this was to be a so-called Roman dialogue , which means : I 'll do the talking , you listen .

The seeds of the present crisis were really sown in 1968 , the year of the papal encyclical known as Humane Vitae , which began the undoing of Vatican II .

The encyclical reasserted the church 's opposition to artificial contraception and to the principle that church teaching grows and develops .

Catholics were not to decide for themselves , as a matter of conscience , whether to use contraception .

After the encyclical , thousands of priests remained silent about this teaching on birth control -- one that was out of sync with the life the faithful lived .

Many decided -LRB- as the laity had begun to do -RRB- that the church 's teaching was no real guide for their own sexual lives .

Many resigned and sought happiness elsewhere .

Others stayed but made their own decisions about licit and illicit sexual relationships -- and were silent about it .

Is it possible that this silence -- combined with a culture that already valued suppression -- fostered the idea among some bad priests that they could get away with predatory behavior .

Over the last year , however , the silence has been shattered by public outcry and the flock 's rediscovery of its voice .

What remains to be seen is whether these voices will be joined by others from within the clergy -- and if they will be allowed to influence the course of Catholic teaching and policy .

Paul E . Dinter , author of the forthcoming `` The Other Side of the Altar : One Man 's Life in the Catholic Priesthood , `` is development director of Care for the Homeless .

Summary: Op-Ed article by Paul E Dinter , former Catholic priest , comments on crisis enveloping church over child sexual abuse by some priests .

Summary: Says during his two decades as priest , he had many opportunities to observe ways priests are required to grovel to their superiors .

Summary: Argues that trouble with deference and silence is that they encourage ignorance and denial about issues that need to be addressed .


The fare on city-subsidized private express buses will rise to $ 4 a ride from $ 3 in April as part of a deal to preserve the service on weekends and holidays , Mayor Michael R . Bloomberg announced yesterday .

The city also won a 90-day reprieve from a Bronx bus company that had threatened to suspend express service on Jan . 10 , a situation that would have stranded 15,000 riders a day .

Mr. Bloomberg said the company , New York Bus Service , would keep its buses rolling while the city tried to get the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to take over the private lines .

The fare increase surprised some City Council officials , who had reached an agreement with the mayor in November to preserve the $ 3 fare .

The authority said `` complicated issues '' would have to be resolved before it would take over the private bus lines .

The city spends about $ 98 million a year subsidizing seven private bus companies that operate in areas not served by the authority .

Mayor Bloomberg said the authority , which runs its own express buses in addition to its regular city buses and the subways , is better suited to run all bus service in the city .

The mayor has spoken of trying to persuade the authority to take over the private bus lines for months , but yesterday he appeared to be jump-starting what is likely to be a set of complicated negotiations by giving himself 90 days to close a deal .

`` I would hope that 90 days is more than adequate , '' the mayor said .

Mr. Bloomberg said it does not make sense for the city to continue subsidizing the private bus companies , which depend on the subsidies to turn a profit .

`` The economics are such that you ca n't make enough money from the fares to cover all your costs and have a profit , `` the mayor said .

`` And when it comes to the city or the state subsidizing private companies , you then have an odd mixture of public-private divided authority and responsibility .

It has clearly not worked in this city to have the private bus companies provide service . ``

The sticking point in the negotiations to get the transportation authority to take over the bus lines is likely to be the amount of the city subsidy .

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that he hoped to negotiate a deal that would reduce the subsidies .

But the transportation agency , a state-controlled authority , did not appear eager to assume an additional liability of $ 98 million a year .

The authority is weighing a subway and bus fare increase to offset its own deficit .

`` The M.T.A. is always interested in improving transportation services in the region , '' said Tom Kelly , a spokesman for the authority .

`` There are complicated issues that must be resolved .

Any takeover would have to be done so that it would not add a further burden to our current customers . ``

Putting the seven bus companies under the control of the authority could yield administrative savings .

The top executives at the seven city-subsidized companies earn a total of more than $ 1.8 million a year , according to an article in Newsday in 2002 .

Under a takeover by the authority , most of those salaries could be dispensed with .

Transportation experts said the authority might be able to use its purchasing power to win better deals on expenses like gas and maintenance than small companies could .

The city has some assets it could use in the negotiations : it owns most of the 4,600 buses that the seven private companies use , and some of the bus depots as well .

City officials and officials for the authority declined to discuss what elements might be involved in a deal to get the authority to take over the bus lines .

Edward Arrigoni , the chairman of New York Bus Service , which serves the Bronx , said he had planned to suspend service on Jan . 10 if he could not reach an agreement with the city on covering drivers ' pensions .

He said that he had agreed to keep the buses rolling for 90 more days at the request of the mayor .

In the Bronx , many commuters expressed relief that the threatened shutdown had been avoided , at least for now .

`` It 's just a relief knowing they 'll be here , `` said Evelyn Sanchez , 47 , who was waiting for a bus yesterday in Co-op City .

`` It would 've messed up my life big time if they 'd have stopped running .

It may sound stupid saying it , but nobody seems to understand how important one little bus can be . ``

Daniesha Craig , 29 , who was standing next to her and was headed into Times Square for the New Year 's Eve festivities , said she would gladly pay more money to keep the buses running .

`` That money 's in my pocket now , `` she said .

`` I would have done almost anything to keep these buses going .

I use them like the subway : every day , two times a day .

I would 've been sunk if they had shut them down . ``

In November , as part of the budget negotiations , the City Council reached an agreement with the mayor to hold express bus fares steady at $ 3 .

The mayor said yesterday that the fare increase was needed to preserve weekend service on the express lines .

The higher $ 4 fares will be charged every day on all seven private bus lines , city officials said , even though two of the lines do not provide weekend service .

Fares could also go up in April for the authority 's express buses , officials said , as part of a proposed fare increase for subways , buses and express buses run by the authority .

Christopher Policano , a spokesman for the City Council , said : `` We 're glad that weekend service and New York Bus Service will continue .

But we have serious concerns about raising fares , as we are opposed to an overall M.T.A. fare increase .

We 're going to be fighting that fare hike , and , if we 're successful , discussing with the mayor ways of avoiding this particular fare hike . ``

Correction : January 3 , 2003 , Friday An article on Wednesday about plans to increase the fare on subsidized express buses included an erroneous figure provided by the city for the number of buses used by the seven private companies .

It is about 1,325 , not 4,600 .

Summary: Fare on city-subsidized private express buses will increase to $ 4 from $ 3 in April as part of deal to preserve service on weekends and holidays .

Summary: City also wins 90-day reprieve from New York Bus Service , Bronx company that had threatened to suspend express service , stranding 15,000 riders daily .

Summary: Mayor Bloomberg says company will keep buses moving while city tries to get MTA to take over private lines .

Summary: Photo .


We 're beginning the new year in a deep fix .

The Bush administration 's decision to refer North Korea 's revival of its nuclear-weapons program to the United Nations is a reasonable but transparent effort to sidetrack the issue in hopes of avoiding another military crisis on the eve of war with Iraq .

It is unlikely that the United Nations will take meaningful action in this situation , since no power other than the United States possesses the means to back up words with action .

Even if the administration 's strategy of isolating North Korea works , at best it would amount to a partial tightening of sanctions against a country whose economy is already moribund .

The only additional threat available is the denial of food aid for the people of North Korea , an act that would take the United States into new moral territory .

The administration now is in the awkward position of choosing to give war with Iraq priority over the most serious threat to stability in Asia since the last North Korean nuclear crisis a decade ago .

Moreover , the North Koreans are moving to develop their nuclear stockpile with such dispatch that the administration 's delaying tactics appear to have little chance to succeed .

With the last of the international inspectors ejected yesterday and the possibility of a mothballed plutonium reprocessing facility coming back on line in the next month or two , North Korea is giving itself the means to produce ever-greater numbers of nuclear weapons , and no subsequent agreement will be able to reverse that fact .

There is still a lingering hope that all this will turn out to have been an attempt by North Korea to get the Bush administration to make major concessions .

If that 's the case , either the United States or North Korea will have to give way .

Unfortunately neither of these scenarios looks likely .

And absent either outcome , North Korea is on course to becoming a nuclear power .

If the North Koreans are successful , the consequences will be severe .

North Korea already is in a position to provide nuclear technology to other states or to terrorist groups .

In any event , we should expect that it will continue to develop the ability to deliver nuclear weapons by ballistic missile .

And no long-term comfort can be found from the relatively limited capabilities of North Korea 's current missiles , which can still threaten our allies , including Japan .

What 's more , North Korean weapons engineers can gradually develop longer-range rockets and lighter warheads , giving the country true intercontinental ballistic-missile capability .

While it 's uncertain how far North Korea 's missiles will be able to travel , it is certain that the Bush administration now faces an immediate loss of credibility .

Its report on National Security Strategy , released in September , claims the right of pre-emption as a means to deal with the type of threat that Iraq is said to represent by virtue of its efforts to build weapons of mass destruction .

There is no sign , however , that the administration plans to use this doctrine against North Korea , which poses a danger to the vital interests of the United States by virtue of what it has already accomplished .

The administration 's special addendum to its National Security Strategy , the `` National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction , '' published in December , states on its opening page : `` We will not permit the world 's most dangerous regimes and terrorists to threaten us with the world 's most destructive weapons . ``

But there is no sign that this new unconditional doctrine will be directed against North Korea .

Another line in the addendum states that `` effective interdiction is a critical part '' of the American strategy to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles that deliver them .

But , again , the administration , after seizing a North Korean vessel in the act of smuggling North Korean ballistic missiles into Yemen , elected to release the ship and its cargo .

American officials cited reverence for international law , but such a justification , so unusual during the administration 's first weapons-proliferation case , takes the teeth out of its tough pre-emption policy .

With what lesson for North Korea .

So on the way to war with Iraq , the United States has been caught out by North Korea -- which apparently saw its opportunity in our distraction and seized it .

This drama is far from over , but with each day North Korea moves closer to its goal of either forcing the administration to negotiate or enhancing its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction .

Either way , the balance of power in the Far East is likely to be upset .

If the president negotiates , he will send a message that the key to respectful attention from his administration is blackmail .

If he ca n't stop North Korea from pursuing its nuclear ambitions , the only effective remedy would be military action .

War on the Korean peninsula is almost too horrible to contemplate , although the Clinton administration certainly confronted it when dealing with North Korea 's nuclear program in the early 1990 's .

-LRB- Then , as now , the North Koreans were preparing to begin a process that would give them enough plutonium to build nuclear weapons serially . -RRB-

If North Korea proceeds today , we would then be faced with a ruthless government in a position to increasingly threaten its region .

This threat could cause a number of states , including South Korea and possibly Japan , to question whether American security guarantees are still the most reliable means for their defense and survival .

One political reminder from this episode is the danger that can come from tough talk .

When using words as weapons , a leader must be prepared to back up his rhetoric with force .

The president 's nomination of North Korea as a member of the `` axis of evil '' in his last State of the Union message now looks like a bluff that is being called .

And the outcome of the administration 's diplomacy is that we are preparing to fight a war with a country that might eventually acquire nuclear weapons , while another country is closing in on the ability to go into mass production .

Like it or not , the administration needs to test the theory that North Korea is trying to force the United States into negotiations .

That would be bitter medicine for the administration to swallow , but in view of the alternatives it would be wise for the administration to reverse course and engage with North Korea .

However , if such a process does n't stop the North Korean nuclear enterprise , and quickly , then the administration must either accept a monumental blow to the security of the United States , or prepare for a second major military enterprise in Korea -- one that would take place simultaneously , or nearly so , with action against Iraq .

Leon Fuerth , national security advisor to Vice President Al Gore from 1993 to 2000 , teaches international relations at George Washington University .

Summary: Leon Fuerth Op-Ed article contends Bush administration 's decision to refer North Korea 's revival of its nuclear-weapons program to United Nations is reasonable but transparent effort to sidetrack issue in hopes of avoiding another military crisis on eve of war with Iraq .

Summary: Holds it is unlikely that UN will take meaningful action in this situation , since no power other than United States possesses means to back up words with action .


It 's Christmas all over again at Jets headquarters , where the gifts are rolling in from teams the Jets helped with their victory Sunday over the Green Bay Packers .

From the Cleveland Browns , who got into the playoffs as a wild card , Coach Herman Edwards received a bottle of Dom Pérignon and a congratulatory letter .

And Edwards does n't even drink .

There are flowers and fruit baskets from members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , who got a bye .

Edwards has also heard from friends in Philadelphia , where he spent most of his playing career .

The Eagles have the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs .

`` With our win , we helped a lot of people , '' Edwards said .

`` A lot of people stay in the sun , Philly 's headed home .

It 's all good for them . ``

Edwards and Dungy Reminisce Herman Edwards spoke with Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy , his friend and mentor , for about 20 minutes Monday night , the last time they will speak until they see each other at the Meadowlands on Saturday .

There was no pregame trash-talking -- that 's not their style -- but there was plenty of reminiscing .

`` We talked about how we started , when we were in Hawaii , how we first met , '' Edwards said .

`` There 's a lot of water under that bridge . ``

Edwards said the two also discussed Dungy 's firing by Tampa Bay last season .

Edwards spoke to Dungy last year when rumors he would lose his job began even as the Bucs were preparing to play Philadelphia in the playoffs .

`` We talked about how he was going to handle it , '' Edwards said .

`` I figured he was going to handle it that way , like a gentleman .

Then we had a good conversations at the White House , for the Martin Luther King celebration .

It was a funny period for me .

Denny Green had just gotten fired and Tony had just gotten fired .

I 'm looking at these guys who I 've looked up to and said , ` This is crazy . '

I was trying to convince Tony to go where he went .

` If you go to Indianapolis , you get an e-ticket . '

And the next thing was he was n't in the conference , so I do n't have to play him .

That 's a good thing . ``

Edwards remains disturbed by how Tampa Bay handled Dungy 's exit .

`` There 's a lot of times when coaches are going to be dismissed , you can wait until the season is over to do that , `` Edwards said .

`` Before you 're a coach , you 're still a man and your dignity is very , very important .

When you do n't show a man dignity , after he 's been there , that bothers me a little bit . ``

PRO FOOTBALL : NOTEBOOK .

Summary: New York Jets Notebook discusses New York Jets win over Green Bay Packers , which helped many other teams clinch playoff berths or home-field advantages .

Summary: Coach Herman Edwards and former mentor Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy reminisce as friends , not coaches who will oppose each other in playoff game .


The Rockefeller Group was most famous as the manager of Rockefeller Center , the landmark cluster of buildings that includes Radio City Music Hall in the heart of Midtown Manhattan .

That came to an end , though , in February 1997 , when investors led by Tishman Speyer Properties bought the complex from the group 's Japanese parent , Mitsubishi Estate .

But that did not mean the end of the Rockefeller Group -- it just moved a little to the west .

Not included in the sale were four skyscrapers on the west side of the Avenue of the Americas between 48th and 51st Streets , which the group managed and in which it held differing levels of ownership .

A surface parking lot at 745 Seventh Avenue .

And some land in New Jersey .

Since then , the parking lot has been turned into a one-million-square-foot headquarters for the Lehman Brothers investment banking company and the land in New Jersey has sprouted office buildings , stores and a distribution center .

In the last year , some of the New Jersey buildings have been sold , and building sites have been acquired in places like Northern California and eastern and central Florida .

And the company is in the middle of a new cycle of development .

`` We have taken advantage of a seller 's market to find outside investors to take our positions in several properties , `` said Jonathan D . Green , president and chief executive of the Rockefeller Group .

`` We have reaped the fruits of our developments and are about to start new buildings . ''

He said most of the new projects would be built for specific tenants , although he did not rule out building on speculation if market conditions were suitable .

He said the company was close to signing an agreement for an 800,000-square - foot distribution center in Central New Jersey .

One area the company is developing is in Florham Park , an area about 40 miles west of Manhattan that was once a playground of the rich , with grand houses and expansive estates .

Three of the New Jersey buildings were sold from this parcel to finance further development .

They were bought by Investcorp , which represents investors from the Middle East , for an undisclosed price .

The Rockefeller Group started the Florham Park project in 1997 by buying 140 acres in what had been a research park for the Exxon Corporation .

The property had an existing building , occupied by AT&T , and two more were built .

One was for AT&T Laboratories .

The other one was built on speculation and eventually was leased by Novartis , a pharmaceutical company .

`` We did that building without signing a tenant first , and Novartis came along in midconstruction , '' Mr. Green said .

He said there was enough land remaining on the parcel , which was once the estate of Florence and Hamilton Twombly -- hence the township name -- to build another 220,000-square - foot building .

The group formed a joint venture with the Gale Group of New Jersey in the autumn of 2000 to buy 473 acres in Florham Park , next to the 140-acre parcel , to be developed as an office park .

The site will support two million square feet of office space , although no projects are under way .

The group is also developing industrial property near Exit 8A of the New Jersey Turnpike , about 50 miles southwest of New York City , near Cranbury .

This has been a popular area for distribution centers because it is close to major markets .

And because it was farmland , there are few neighbors to complain about heavy truck traffic .

The first development in the group 's 150-acre foreign trade zone there was a 900,000-square - foot distribution center for Pearson Education , a publishing company that has a large textbook operation .

The distribution center has since been sold to a group of investors based in London , Mr. Green said , for a reported $ 68 million .

The site can support two million square feet of development , so if the agreement is signed for the 800,000-square - foot building , only about 200,000 square feet of development will remain .

The Rockefeller Group has another foreign trade zone in Mount Olive Township , in far western Morris County , that is nearing completion and will have 2.9 million square feet of space .

Room for one building remains .

The group sold land for 800,000 square feet of retail space on the south side of the tract to AIG Baker , a developer based in Alabama .

The center includes stores like Wal-Mart , Sam 's Club and Lowe 's .

The Rockefeller Group is placing much of its focus on the development of foreign trade zones , in which companies receive favorable import duty treatment until a product is sold in the United State or is re-exported .

It has bought land for such zones in West Palm Beach and Homestead , Fla . , and in suburban St . Louis .

`` Our strategy for the next few years is to do low-risk , build-to-suit projects mostly in suburban markets , '' Mr. Green said .

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE .

Summary: Rockefeller Group , which once ran Rockefeller Center , now has real estate operations across country and is in middle of new cycle of development .

Summary: Rockefeller Group 's New Jersey projects noted .

Summary: Jonathan D Green , president and chief exec of company , says most of new projects will be built for specific tenants , although he does not rule out building on speculation if market conditions are suitable .

Summary: Photo .


Agnes Eisenberger , a manager of classical musicians who was the president and owner of Colbert Artists Management , died on Thursday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan .

She was 79 and lived in New York City and Pawling , N.Y.

The cause was cancer , said Charlotte Schroeder , who succeeds Ms. Eisenberger as president of Colbert Artists .

Ms. Eisenberger worked with Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the soprano Joan Sutherland , the Juilliard String Quartet , the flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and the bass James Morris , among many others .

She was also the manager of the pianist Alfred Brendel , starting early in his career , and was instrumental in his success in the United States .

Ms. Eisenberger was born in Vienna to a musical family and came to the United States as a child .

She graduated from Adelphi University and in the early 1960 's began to work for Colbert Artists as an assistant to the company 's founders , Henry and Ann Colbert .

She became the owner and president after the retirement of Mrs. Colbert in 1991 .

-LRB- Mrs. Colbert died in 2001 . -RRB-

Ms. Eisenberger had recently completed `` Brahms 's Notebooks , `` a translation of a collection of poetry that Brahms admired , published in German in 1909 .

The book , with annotations and an introduction by Ms. Eisenberger , is to be issued by Pendragon Press in 2003 .

Her marriage to the violist Paul Doktor ended in divorce .

There are no immediate survivors .

Summary: Agnes Eisenberger , manager of classical musicians who was president and owner of Colbert Artists Management , dies at 79 .


Pushing in toward glittering window displays , holiday crowds are elbowing and gaping six-deep at intriguing depictions of what so far amount to nothing more than a shrewd bet on New York 's ability to prevail , not just survive .

`` Bad men knocked down the two big buildings and we ca n't put them back , but we 're trying to find something better , `` a mother gently explains to a child .

The lad stares through the window glass in confusion but obvious wonder , too .

The seasonal mechanical elves and snow scenes may be missing .

But look : there are delightfully glowing toy buildings , nine versions of them towering elegantly and defiantly enough above a miniature Manhattan to tease anyone with an imagination , particularly the city 's young at heart .

These are the worthy architect renderings of what might yet be in Lower Manhattan , on display just across the street from where the World Trade Center towers perished so woefully from the skyline .

What must yet be , to judge from the enthusiasm and considered comments of the public 's reaction as they crowd in daily , from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. , at the Winter Garden .

The glow and buzz to be witnessed at the displays signal an empowering by the people even beyond the thoughtful ideas of the architects .

This vital hubbub amid our dim solstice days stands as a fresh attraction in itself , so near yet so far from the elegiacal footprints of the obliterated towers .

`` It 's all bittersweet , `` a young woman says to a man equally touched and stricken as their faces glow with the idealized light of future possibilities .

He answers , `` The site is a graveyard , but these ideas can grow on us . ''

Amid the crowd , one theme is : Remember how we never appreciated the old towers until they fell .

Another is : Let 's show the world a tower at least as tall -LRB- although it might take a younger office generation to dare work that high again -RRB- .

Primal Stonehenge facets in the proposals honor the tragedy 's ineffability .

One would use glass structures to allow no shadow to fall each Sept . 11 on where the towers stood .

Another would create rectilinear groves of trees precisely in the towers ' final shadows .

Visitors parse and top the architects word for word , debating the poignancy of `` The Void '' in one rendering and `` The Sacred Precinct '' in another .

And let 's not forget `` The Stability System '' in a third , as if pre-9/11 security , like crushed city innocence , might ever be regained .

People have until Feb . 2 to jot down their honest reactions and advice for the next planning phase in the task of resurrection .

Daily throngs are serving notice the city will not tolerate this as a feel-good exercise .

We are on a serious search for some post-necrotic bulwark badly needed by New York .

There is imaginative energy and honest emotion at the windows .

Even Rudolph Giuliani 's curmudgeonly dismissal of the initial renderings seems forgivable , a healthy sign perhaps that the city is intent on regaining its old edge .

FRANCIS X . CLINES The City Life .

Summary: Francis X Clines Editorial Observer expresses belief , as New Yorkers gaze at architects ' renderings for future of Lower Manhattan , that city is determined to regain its health and its old edge .


The Zapatista rebels , after long silence , were stirring today , the eve of the ninth anniversary of their armed uprising against the Mexican government and its free trade accord with the United States .

The North American Free Trade Agreement eliminates tariffs on most agricultural goods on Jan . 1 .

Across Mexico , people fear that a flood of cheaper , government-subsidized American imports will ruin hundreds of thousands of Mexican farmers .

A national coalition of farm groups called off plans today to blockade the border with the United States after the secretary of the economy , Luis Ernesto Derbez , raised the possibility of renegotiating elements of the pact .

Mexican government officials in Tuxtla Gutiérrez , the capital of Chiapas , where the Zapatistas maintain their strongholds , said reports of planned rebel actions were rife .

They included threats to seize a tourist ranch outside the town of Ocosingo , the scene of the heaviest fighting between the group and the Mexican Army in January 1994 , said the American owners , Glen Wersch and Ellen Jones , in telephone interviews .

Officials from the American , British , German and Dutch Embassies in Mexico City have advised their guests to leave the site , Rancho Esmeralda , which lies a mile from both a Mexican Army base and a Zapatista community .

`` We 're about to have everything in the world taken away from us , `` Ms. Jones said .

`` The police are saying they ca n't come until our ranch is trespassed on .

There is no law here . ``

She said she and her husband were summoned to a meeting with their Zapatista neighbors 18 days ago and told that their ranch would fall `` under the authority of the Zapatistas , '' who wanted tourism banned in the area .

The Zapatistas , she said , demanded the title to the ranch , a popular destination for American and European travelers listed as one of the top 10 places to stay in Mexico by the Lonely Planet travel guide .

Mr. Wersch said he would sit tight .

`` We 'll be here tonight , `` he said .

`` I have n't seen any word from the army .

They have a front-row seat on the problem . ``

Other threats , unconfirmed , included plans to seize a bridge across the Usumacinta River .

The bridge , at Boca de Cerro , near the Chiapas-Tabasco state line , is the site of a proposed hydroelectric dam that , if built , would flood peasants ' farms and unexplored sites of Mayan ruins .

The Zapatistas also plan a march on the town hall in Ocosingo at dawn on New Year 's Day .

The Zapatista movement rose up on Jan . 1 , 1994 , and fought pitched battles with the Mexican Army before retreating into isolated communities in the mountains and jungles of Chiapas .

The group has said and done little since its leaders came to Mexico City last year seeking passage of an Indian rights law .

Though President Vicente Fox strongly backed the law , the Mexican Congress eventually passed a diluted version of the bill that satisfied few .

The group 's leader , who calls himself Subcommander Marcos , has alienated many of his supporters outside Chiapas by publishing a long and , in many eyes , bizarre attack on a Spanish judge , Baltasar Garzón .

The judge is best known for his legal pursuit of the Chilean dictator Gen . Augusto Pinochet , and for his drive on the Basque separatist group known as ETA .

Subcommander Marcos called Judge Garzón `` a grotesque clown '' in a letter published on the Internet and in a Mexico City newspaper , and ridiculed his attempts to prosecute members of ETA , which has carried out bombings and other attacks in the name of a Basque homeland for four decades .

The judge replied with a letter accusing the Zapatista leader of standing for `` false rebellion , violence , lies , ignorance . ''

What this spat has to do with the poverty of people in Chiapas remains obscure .

`` The Zapatistas have nothing to gain from picking so many fights , '' said Carlos Monsiváis , a Mexico City writer and historian sympathetic to the movement .

Summary: Zapatista rebels are stirring on eve of ninth anniversary of their armed uprising against Mexican government and its free-trade accord with United States .

Summary: North American Free Trade Agreement eliminates tariffs on most agricultural goods on Jan 1 .

Summary: Across Mexico , people fear that flood of cheaper , government-subsidized American exports will ruin hundreds of Mexican farmers .


An American soldier wounded in the head during a border patrol on Sunday was shot by a Pakistan border guard , and the United States responded by calling in a coalition plane that bombed the area , the United States military said today .

The Pakistani guard was part of a unit cooperating with American forces on border control .

It was not clear why he opened fire , but it appears he strayed over the border into Afghanistan .

When the American patrol ordered him to move back into Pakistan , he retreated with several others to the cover of a building and opened fire , grazing the American soldier 's head , said a statement from the press center at the United States air base at Bagram , north of Kabul .

The American patrol called in air cover after the shooting , and a coalition plane dropped a 500-pound bomb on the area , according to the statement .

`` We are working with the Pakistanis for an accurate battlefield damage assessment of the incident , '' the statement said .

There was no word from Pakistani officials about the incident .

The Pakistani news media reported that planes had dropped two bombs , one hitting a checkpoint and one damaging an abandoned religious school building in a place called Bormol .

There were no reported injuries .

The American soldier was evacuated and later flown to Germany for further treatment .

His condition was described as stable .

Afghan and United States military officials say there has been an increase in cross-border attacks by small groups intent on launching rockets at United States military positions along the border areas , and then retreating into Pakistan .

An American soldier was killed in a firefight 10 days ago in the same border area , near Shkin , in the eastern province of Paktika .

The American patrol fired back and thought they had killed one of the attackers .

Others fled over the border into Pakistan , an American military spokesman said the next day .

United States forces have mounted joint operations with Pakistani forces along the border , coordinating at times when suspects flee across it .

But there are frustrations among Pakistani officials in the border areas who have watched local tensions rise while the operations have produced little .

Pakistan has deployed its own forces to try to stem infiltration of armed groups either way , but they are not seen as particularly effective because of the strong anti-American and pro-Taliban feeling of the local population , which allows the armed groups free movement .

Several dozen low-level members of Al Qaeda are believed to be in South Waziristan , in Pakistan 's tribal territories , near where the border clashes have occurred , according to Pakistani officials .

But efforts to arrest them have been thwarted as local people have tipped them off before government forces move in , they said .

THREATS AND RESPONSES : BORDER INCIDENT .

Summary: American soldier on border patrol in Afghanistan is shot and wounded in head by Pakistani border guard .

Summary: United States responds by calling in coalition plane that bombs area .

Summary: It is not clear why Pakistani guard opened fire , but it appears he strayed over border into Afghanistan .

Summary: Map .


Richard Horner , a Broadway theater owner and producer who won a Tony Award for the 1974 revival of Eugene O'Neill 's `` Moon for the Misbegotten , '' died on Saturday at his home in Palm Springs , Calif .

He was 82 .

By himself and with his business partner Lester Osterman , Mr. Horner produced dozens of Broadway and Off Broadway shows during the 1960 's and 70 's , including `` Butley , '' Albert Innaurato 's `` Passione '' and `` The Crucifer of Blood , '' a Sherlock Holmes story adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's `` Sign of Four . ''

He was also a general manager for `` Da , '' the 1969 original production of `` 1776 '' and other shows .

`` A Moon for the Misbegotten '' won three Tony Awards in 1974 , including a special award presented to the producers .

Mr. Horner and Mr. Osterman 's Coronet Theater Corporation owned several Broadway theaters , including the 46th Street Theater -LRB- now the Richard Rodgers -RRB- , the Helen Hayes and the Morosco , which closed in 1981 .

During the 1980 's , Mr. Horner was the executive director of the American Shakespeare Company in Stratford , Conn . , and staged productions at Jones Beach Marine Theater .

Born in Portland , Ore . , he graduated from the University of Washington at Seattle and served in the Navy during World War II .

Mr. Horner is survived by his wife , the former actress Lynne Stuart .

Two sons , Lindsey Horner of New York City and Randall Horner of Portland , Ore .

Two daughters , Robin Horner of San Francisco and Anne Cameron of Albuquerque .

A sister , Joy Rich of Roseburg , Ore .

And three grandchildren .

Summary: Richard Horner , Broadway theater owner and producer , dies at 82 .


On one point , Michael Zeoli and local health officials agree : the large swimming pool in the side yard of Mr. Zeoli 's house on Victory Street here is most certainly not suitable for swimming -- at least not for humans .

Bullfrogs and snakes , on the other hand , seem to like it just fine .

What the officials and Mr. Zeoli disagree about is whether the fetid water in the 30-foot-long in-ground pool is a public health hazard , a sizable breeding ground for mosquitoes that could carry the potentially deadly West Nile virus .

After a standoff of many months , during which Mr. Zeoli refused to clean the pool , officials decided that enough was enough .

On Friday , Mr. Zeoli , 50 , was arrested and charged with violating the state 's public health code .

He surrendered to the Shelton police after they telephoned him to say that a warrant had been issued .

In doing so , he may have become the first person charged under laws that were tightened after the West Nile virus became a major public health concern in 1999 .

Capt . Joel Hurliman of the Shelton Police Department said it had never before arrested anyone on a charge of `` maintaining an in-ground pool containing stagnant water serving as a possible breeding ground for mosquitoes , '' as the charge was worded .

`` This is our first experience with this , '' Captain Hurliman said today .

`` It 's not like this was a plastic wading pool left in the yard and the water turned green .

This is an in-ground pool that has been like that for quite some time .

It has frogs in it . ``

The local health agency , the Naugatuck Valley Health District , obtained a a warrant in State Superior Court last week , and the police asked Mr. Zeoli to surrender .

After his arrest , he was released and ordered to appear in court on Jan . 13 .

If convicted , he could face up to 90 days in prison .

Mr. Zeoli did not respond to telephone messages left at his home today , and a knock on his door went unanswered .

But in an interview with The New Haven Register , which reported his arrest this morning , he denied that the pool posed a health risk .

He noted that there were a dozen insect-eating bullfrogs in the pool and said he used pesticide .

He said he could not afford to drain the pool for cleaning .

Health officials first ordered Mr. Zeoli to clean the pool last summer after complaints from neighbors .

Lenny Walker , 40 , who lives next door to Mr. Zeoli in a middle-class neighborhood of tidy single-family houses , said he had been complaining for years .

Mr. Walker , a mechanic for Sikorsky Aircraft , said his three children could not use their own pool in the summer because of the mosquitoes from next door .

`` There are trees growing out of the pool , '' Mr. Walker said .

`` There are snakes , frogs , ducks .

There 's millions of mosquitoes . ``

Mr. Walker rejected the theory that bullfrogs could control the mosquitoes .

`` That 's a hell of a job for a frog , `` he said .

`` That frog 's on overtime . ``

The pool is about 12 feet wide by 30 feet long and surrounded by a wooden deck covered in dead leaves and branches .

It appears to be four to seven feet deep .

The water , partly frozen , is black .

The plastic pool liner is torn in places and covered in mold .

Part of the pool 's frame appears to be collapsing .

Last winter , a neighbor 's dog walked onto the frozen water and nearly drowned after falling through the ice , Mr. Walker said .

While Mr. Zeoli 's house seems to be well-maintained , with Christmas lights twinkling out front , the rest of the property looks like a junkyard , with several rusted and apparently abandoned vehicles along with a couple of motorboats and other detritus .

On the street out front is a Dumpster filled with other refuse .

`` It 's definitely a case of blight , `` Mr. Walker said .

Summary: Police in Shelton , Conn , arrest Michael Zeoli , charging that his swimming pool is breeding ground for mosquitoes that can cause West Nile virus .

Summary: Health officials first ordered Zeoli to clean pool last summer after complaints from neighbors , but he did not comply .


The Giants ' kicking units are like an improvisational comedic troupe , the characters changing constantly .

Dan O'Leary , the long snapper , is out after tearing a thumb ligament , and Trey Junkin , a 41-year-old with 19 years of experience , is in just days before the playoff game Sunday against San Francisco .

Junkin will become the fifth -- or is he the 50th .

-- long snapper used by the Giants since the beginning of training camp .

He will snap on punts , and Coach Jim Fassel indicated yesterday that he would consider using Junkin on field goals and extra points as well .

Chris Bober , the center , has been snapping on field goals and extra points .

He had a poor snap on an extra point in Indianapolis and another on the game-winning field goal against Philadelphia .

On that play , Matt Allen dug out the low snap and set it in time for Matt Bryant to kick .

Junkin has played 281 regular-season games for Buffalo , Washington , the Raiders , Seattle and Arizona since beginning his career in 1983 .

`` I was with him Arizona , '' Fassel said .

`` I have a lot of faith in him .

We need a guy with experience to step in and help us right now . ``

Junkin follows O'Leary , who replaced Bob Jones after Jones snapped a ball over Allen 's head in a game against Houston , a mistake that cost the Giants a safety in a 2-point defeat .

The Giants have also used three holders in the regular season : Allen , Tom Rouen and Jesse Palmer before Allen got the job back .

Bryant became the kicker the day before the regular season after a knee injury sidelined Owen Pochman .

Confident 49er San Francisco center Jeremy Newberry produced the first bulletin board material for the playoff game .

Using colorful language , Newberry told reporters that the 49ers would clobber the Giants .

`` I 'm not worried about it , `` he said of the Giants ' potential reaction .

`` There 's nobody on this team that thinks anything different . ``

Newberry indicated that the reason he felt strongly was that all of the 49ers who had been nagged by injury would be in the lineup .

Nevertheless , the 49ers have more physical problems than the Giants .

Right guard Ron Stone is recovering from a sprained ankle , Terrell Owens did not play Monday because of a groin injury , and cornerback Jason Webster will probably be listed as questionable for the game because of an ankle injury .

Mike Rumph , a rookie , could replace Webster .

PRO FOOTBALL : NOTEBOOK .

Summary: New York Giants Notebook discusses Giants injured long-snapper Dan O'Leary , who will be replaced by Trey Junkin in playoff game .

Summary: San Francisco 49ers center Jeremy Newberry tells media team will rout Giants .


The machinists ' union at United Airlines said yesterday that it opposed the airline 's demand for short-term wage concessions because executives had not provided enough financial information for the union to make an informed decision and because the two sides had not engaged in back-and-forth negotiations .

The union also said that United needed to return to profitability by developing a comprehensive business plan rather than by asking its employees for piecemeal cuts .

The union , the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers , made its statements in a filing yesterday in a bankruptcy court in Chicago .

The union , which represents 35,000 workers at United , has refused to go along with a 13 percent wage cut sought by the airline , which has obtained tentative agreements on short-term concessions from its four other big unions .

United has asked the bankruptcy judge , Eugene R . Wedoff , to force the machinists to accept the cuts .

The airline , a unit of the UAL Corporation , is seeking concessions that would save it $ 70 million a month while it negotiates with its unions for longer-term cuts worth $ 2.4 billion a year from 2003 to 2008 .

The leaders of the Air Line Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants have approved their shares of the cuts , which amount to pay reductions of 29 percent and 9 percent respectively .

They would also forgo raises .

Members of those unions are voting on the proposed cuts through Jan . 8 .

United is also asking two smaller unions , representing meteorologists and flight dispatchers , to accept wage reductions of 13 percent .

The machinists , though , are the most militant of the airline 's unions .

In late November , when United was trying to wrest $ 5.2 billion in concessions from its unions to obtain a $ 1.8 billion federal loan guarantee , the machinists voted to reject their share of the cuts .

In its filing yesterday , the union said it `` has not yet had the opportunity to engage in bilateral negotiations with United and has not yet been provided with all of the financial information needed to evaluate United 's business plan , particularly as it relates to the I.A.M. members . ``

United has said that if it does not obtain the $ 70 million in monthly concessions from its unions , it will ask the court for the power to void its labor contracts .

In that case , United would have to prove that it had engaged in good-faith negotiations with its unions .

The filing by the machinists argues that the company has not been open in its talks .

United is also under pressure to show that the union contracts are deadweights on its day-to-day business operations .

The machinists ' filing said there was no proof of that .

The filing said that `` the evidence , if any , does not establish that the proposed reductions are necessary or even appropriate on an interim basis . ''

An airline spokesman , Rich Nelson , said the company had no comment on the filing .

United is expected to file a response by next Wednesday , and Judge Wedoff has said he will make a decision by Jan . 10 .

United is seeking the short-term concessions because it must meet monthly cash flow requirements set by its four lenders to maintain its access to financing .

The company said the concessions were needed before a mid-February deadline set by the lenders .

If the unions agreed to the cuts , United said it would have enough breathing room until May 1 to negotiate for long-term cuts .

The company 's chief financial officer , Jake Brace , said in court on Monday that United expected to have a net operating loss of $ 3.2 billion in 2002 , compared with a loss of $ 2.97 billion in 2001 .

Those figures , which are reported for income tax purposes and which take into account asset depreciation and other matters , are not the same as the net loss reported in financial statements .

United had a net loss of $ 2.1 billion in 2001 , the largest in airline history .

Correction : January 3 , 2003 , Friday Because of an editing error , an article in Business Day on Wednesday about opposition by the machinists ' union at United Airlines to a demand for short-term wage concessions referred incorrectly to the employees who rejected a previous request for cutbacks , in November .

They were the mechanics , who are part of the machinists ' union , not the union 's members over all .

Summary: Machinists ' union at United Airlines says it opposes airline 's demand for short-term wage concessions because executives have not provided enough financial information for union to maker informed decision and because two sides have not engaged in back-and-forth negotiations .

Summary: Union also says United needs to return to profitability by developing comprehensive business plan rather than by asking its employees for piecemeal cuts .


PricewaterhouseCoopers , the nation 's largest accounting firm , has taken a risky public stance in favor of better , more thorough and more detailed audits .

In recent advertisements , the firm has promised to take a tougher stance with clients and resign if it can not resolve concerns about a particular audit .

It is a gamble strongly favored by those who want accounting firms to be more aggressive with their corporate clients , to weed out fraud before investors suffer catastrophic losses .

And it distinguishes the firm from its three most important competitors among the largest accounting firms .

But it is still a gamble .

PricewaterhouseCoopers has begun to outline a yardstick by which its own performance will be judged , and if it falls short , the firm could find itself singled out for special criticism in a profession that came under heavy fire in 2002 .

`` The talk is great , and if they walk the talk , it will be a tremendous move that will clearly differentiate them from any of the other big firms , '' said Lynn Turner , the former chief accountant for the Securities and Exchange Commission .

`` It will be a tremendous gain for investors as well .

But let 's see the walk first . ``

The talk has been evident in recent full-page newspaper advertisements in which PricewaterhouseCoopers has stated its willingness `` to ask the tough questions and tackle the tough issues . ''

The firm further pledges , `` In any case where we can not resolve concerns about the quality of the information we are receiving or about the integrity of the management teams with whom we are working , we will resign . ''

But PricewaterhouseCoopers faces a significant challenge from continuing public scrutiny of its past work .

For instance , it approved financial disclosures at Tyco International despite the company 's use of `` aggressive accounting that , even when not erroneous , was undertaken with the purpose and effect of increasing reported results above what they would have been if more conservative accounting were used , '' according to a report filed by Tyco on Monday with the S.E.C.

Tyco also said it was reducing previously reported earnings by $ 382 million .

The approval of technically permissible -- but perhaps misleading -- `` aggressive accounting '' shows the difficulty the firm faces in bridging what John J . O'Connor , a vice chairman at PricewaterhouseCoopers , called the `` expectations gap '' between what investors want from audits and what auditors do .

Mr. O'Connor said the firm planned to close that gap .

`` We are looking at the type of qualitative reporting that we can do , '' he said , so that investors would be informed of just how aggressive or conservative the assumptions behind a company 's financial disclosures were .

For now , he said , `` we are clearly starting with the audit committees and management . ''

The firm has also put together ethical guidelines that , while not new , have not been codified before .

The code of conduct tells employees confronted with difficult judgment calls to consider , among other things , `` Does it feel right .

`` , `` How would it look in the newspapers .

`` and '' Can you sleep at night .

`` The questions illustrate that many of the decisions auditors are called on to make are not strictly dictated by the rules .

`` That 's the issue , `` said Charles A . Bowsher , a former comptroller general of the United States and head of the Public Oversight Board that used to supervise ethics and disciplinary issues for the accounting profession .

`` In each case , unfortunately , you 've got to look at the facts .

I 'm a great believer that if you have a client who 's pushing the envelope too far too many times -- and I believe that is how Arthur Andersen got into trouble -- then the auditor should resign from the account . ``

Mr. O'Connor says that if the firm 's accountants ask themselves these questions and are uncomfortable with the answers -- even if a client 's preferred accounting complies with generally accepted principles -- they should not sign off on the books .

In recent months the company has resigned from several clients , he added , but he would not identify them .

Auditors do not often resign .

According to Auditor-Trak , a service of Strafford Publications , an Atlanta-based publisher of legal and business information services and accounting industry data , 348 accounting firms resigned from clients in 2002 through Monday , with firms indicating in 59 cases that the reasons were concerns about independence or a company 's practices or concerns by a company about the auditor 's standards .

The four largest firms resigned from 80 clients , and PricewaterhouseCoopers accounted for 13 of those .

In 2001 , there were 286 resignations , 88 of them by the four largest firms and 22 by PricewaterhouseCoopers .

But the data may understate how often companies and auditors part ways over accounting disputes because it is in neither side 's interest to make such disagreements public .

Executives do not want their companies to suffer the increased scrutiny and decline in stock price that would probably follow an auditor 's resignation , and accounting firms do not want to attract the attention of lawyers looking for grounds for securities lawsuits .

If PricewaterhouseCoopers does provide audits that give more information to investors , Mr. Turner said , it may actually help shield the firm from such lawsuits .

`` The way an accounting firm has to manage its risk if it 's going to be successful -- and none of them have been in the last three or four years -- is you have to be sure that whoever you have out there on the audit team is identifying the problems , `` he said .

Finding the problems will be easier the more thorough the audit is , he added .

The other large accounting firms have responded to general criticism of the accounting profession with marketing campaigns of their own , but none have gone as far as PricewaterhouseCoopers and some oppose the firm 's proposals , Mr. Turner said .

`` Will PWC be able to bring the profession along .

`` he asked .

`` The proof is going to be in the pudding . '' .

Summary: PricewaterhouseCoopers , nation 's largest accounting firm , takes risky public stance in favor of better , more thorough and more detailed audits .

Summary: In recent advertisements , firm has promised to take tougher stance with clients and resign if it can not resolve concerns about particular audit .

Summary: It is gamble strongly favored by those who want accounting firms to be more aggressive with their corporate clients , to weed out fraud before investors suffer catastrophic losses .


Bill Parcells never coached a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and never took a dollar from the team .

He gave them nothing but agita when he suddenly backed out of a four-year deal last January .

`` We lost some credibility that we worked very hard to get , '' Tampa Bay 's general manager , Rich McKay , said at the time .

`` We 'll get it back . ``

Given Parcells 's lack of contribution to the Buccaneers , does the team deserve compensation if the Dallas Cowboys sign him , as is expected .

Or is Tampa Bay 's motivation solely revenge .

The Bucs think they are entitled to compensation , and have asked the National Football League office for just that .

The league will hold a hearing tomorrow , during which Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will determine the validity of the contract that Tampa Bay said Parcells signed and determine if his signing by Dallas constitutes damages .

Meanwhile , Dallas did not announce Parcells 's signing yesterday , and a Cowboys spokesman said nothing was expected today .

`` Later in the week , if anything , '' Rich Dalrymple , the team spokesman , said .

Parcells did not return a call seeking comment .

All contracts must be filed with the league , but Parcells 's never was .

This creates a murky situation , and sports lawyers interviewed yesterday had various opinions about what Tampa Bay deserved .

Alan Vickery , a lawyer at Boies , Schiller & Flexner in Manhattan , said , `` As a matter of contract law , Tampa Bay abandoned that contract by signing someone else . ''

When Parcells pulled out , Tampa Bay signed Oakland 's Jon Gruden , who led the Bucs to a 12-4 record -LRB- a three-victory improvement over last season -RRB- and the National Football Conference South title .

The price for Gruden was steep : four draft choices and $ 8 million over three years .

Kenneth Munoz , the former general counsel for Madison Square Garden , witnessed the argument for compensation from the management side after Pat Riley resigned as coach of the Knicks and Mike Keenan left the Rangers .

In both cases , the leagues ' commissioners ordered compensation .

`` If the facts are , indeed , that he signed an agreement with Tampa Bay for his exclusive head coaching services , then chose not to perform , then he goes to work for another employer , then Tampa Bay has a leg to stand on , '' said Munoz , now a lawyer in the Manhattan office of Sidley , Austin , Brown & Wood .

Paul C . Weiler , the Henry J . Friendly Professor of Law at Harvard Law School , compared the situation to that of a young player who signs a pro contract but decides to return to college without playing for that team .

`` If he decides to come back , he is not considered a free agent , '' Weiler said .

But this is a singular case , because Parcells never worked for Tampa Bay , and never earned a cent on a four-year contract that would have paid him $ 4.25 million or $ 6 million annually .

News reports on the salary varied .

The situation is vastly different from when Tagliabue awarded the New England Patriots four Jets draft choices for the Jets ' right to sign Parcells in 1997 .

Parcells was entering the final year of his contract and had just taken the Patriots to the Super Bowl but had a fractious relationship with Robert K . Kraft , the Patriots ' owner .

Tagliabue is the judge and jury in these disputes , and he does not rely on court precedent .

`` I suspect that he would look at the contract Parcells supposedly signed and the circumstances for why he did n't go to work for Tampa Bay , `` Gary Roberts , deputy dean of the Tulane Law School , said .

`` But you ca n't predict what the commissioner will do .

There are too many things we do n't know : the language of the contract , why he backed out , the relationship between Parcells and the team . ``

How much , if any , compensation , Tagliabue may award Tampa Bay is uncertain .

Roberts said a low-round draft pick might be appropriate .

Weiler suggested that if Parcells , in Tagliabue 's judgment , is more valuable now than he was to Tampa Bay last January , the compensation might be a little more generous .

Vickery said a court remedy might have meant awarding Tampa Bay the financial difference between what it paid to hire Gruden -LRB- $ 17.5 million over five years -RRB- if it was more than what Parcells would have received .

But Parcells 's contract was more lucrative .

Vickery added , `` Damages are mitigated by the fact that they hired someone else who did a good job . ''

If that becomes a factor in Tagliabue 's thinking , he will have to speculate on whether Parcells might have equaled Gruden 's success .

PRO FOOTBALL .

Summary: Tampa Bay Buccaneers file complaint with NFL , seeking damages if Dallas Cowboys hire Bill Parcells as coach , to make up for significant amount of time spent pursuing and signing Parcells to coaching contract , which he abruptly backed out of .


Latest fortune for Ying Liu , a Queens fortuneteller : You will be arrested , hauled into court and accused of making expensive predictions that did not come true .

The Buddha 's eye sees many things , according to Ms. Liu , 45 , who has been peddling her psychic powers to Chinese immigrants from a storefront in Flushing for several years .

She has predicted marriages , career advancements and births , and she has also made hypertension , cancer and other illnesses disappear , according to her advertisements .

Among her grander forecasts is that New York City will be the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics .

But it seems unlikely that Ms. Liu saw handcuffs in her future when she agreed to help Chung Chen Ling , 30 , who sought her supernatural services in June 2001 , according to court papers .

Ms. Liu told Mr. Chung that for a fee of $ 8,000 she would grant him the same psychic powers that she herself had found so useful , according to investigators , who said Ms. Liu 's case was among the more unusual ones to show up in the Queens courts .

Fortune-telling is illegal , according to the New York State penal code .

Under the law , a fortuneteller is defined as anyone who `` claims or pretends to tell fortunes , or holds himself out as being able , by claimed or pretended use of occult powers , to answer questions or give advice on personal matters or to exorcise , influence or affect evil spirits or curses . ''

The law does not apply to people who tell fortunes `` as part of a show or exhibition solely for the purposes of entertainment or amusement . ''

Mr. Chung paid the $ 8,000 fee and waited almost a year , according to prosecutors , who said they were looking into whether Ms. Liu left other victims with fortunes that were paid for but never came true .

The district attorney 's office says that even in a city where soothsayers abound , particularly in many immigrant neighborhoods , fortunetellers are seldom arrested .

`` Prosecutions for the crime of fortunetelling are not unheard of , but they are still exceedingly rare , '' said Patrick Clark , a spokesman for the Queens district attorney , Richard A . Brown .

It may well be that most of those who find themselves swindled out of promised rose gardens are reluctant to come forward .

But Mr. Chung , who lives on Long Island and visited Ms. Liu at her Flushing office , said that when he finally realized he had been had , he had to do something .

After more than 11 months , there was still nothing psychic about him , he said .

No special powers , no ability to predict the future , no Buddha 's eye .

So he went to the authorities , first to the state attorney general , who referred the case to the Economic Crimes Bureau of the district attorney 's office .

After an investigation into Mr. Chung 's lack of psychic powers , detectives arrested Ms. Liu on Dec . 20 and she was charged with grand larceny in the third degree -- in effect , stealing money from Mr. Chung by not delivering the promised goods , the psychic powers -- and fortunetelling .

She was arraigned on Dec . 21 and is due back in court on Monday .

If convicted , Ms. Liu could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison on the grand larceny charge and up to 90 days in jail on the fortunetelling charge .

Ms. Liu , who also runs a beauty salon in Flushing , refused to discuss the case yesterday .

She referred calls to her lawyer , who was out of town and could not be reached .

Last week , Ms. Liu told The World Journal , the Chinese-language daily newspaper , that she was innocent of the charges , and she has told reporters that she would hold a news conference to explain it all .

Summary: Queens fortuneteller Ying Liu is scheduled to appear in court on charges of larceny .

Summary: She promised Chung Chen Ling that for $ 8,000 she would grant him same psychic powers she has .


Stocks in the United States plunged in 2002 amid fears of war and terrorism , a weak economy , rising oil prices and dozens of corporate scandals .

It was the third consecutive annual decline , the first time that has happened in 60 years .

Making matters worse , the average stock fell further in 2002 than it had in either of the previous two years .

The Standard & Poor 's 500-stock index posted its worst year since 1974 .

Many big technology stocks slipped into the single digits , and some dropped to prices below $ 1 .

And Wall Street 's mood is bleak .

At the end of 2000 , most investors were optimistic that a return to quick gains could not be far off .

A year ago , many remained resolute , feeling that stocks and the United States economy had withstood the Sept . 11 attacks and were poised for recovery .

Now that optimism has disappeared almost entirely .

After two decades in which stocks suffered only brief and mild downturns -- interruptions in profitable years -- the depth of the bear market has shocked many investors , especially those who were not shareholders in the 1970 's , the last time stocks endured a prolonged setback .

But even longtime professional investors say they have been dismayed by how much stocks , which were mostly flat yesterday on the last day of the year , have fallen from their peak in March 2000 .

Since then , the Wilshire 5000 , the broadest market index , has dropped 43 percent , leaving investors $ 7.4 trillion poorer -- a potential loss in wealth of $ 26,000 for every American .

This year , the Wilshire dropped 22.1 percent .

The S . & P . 500 index dropped 23.4 percent .

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 16.8 percent , and the Nasdaq composite index -- most punished among the major gauges -- fell by 31.5 percent .

`` To my way of thinking , this bear market , traversing almost three years , is certainly worse than the 1973-74 break , '' said James M . Weiss , former chief investment officer of State Street Research .

Mr. Weiss , who now runs his own money management company , began working on Wall Street in 1972 .

`` We 're at a point of maximum frustration here , `` he said .

Hugh Mullin , co-manager of the $ 20 billion Putnam Growth and Income mutual fund , said , `` I think people are much more pessimistic than they have been in a long time . ''

Mr. Weiss said he thought the bear market could be divided into three phases .

The first , in 2000 , was a necessary correction to the bubble in technology stocks in the late 1990 's .

The second , he said , in 2001 , came as a result of the broader recession and profit slowdown .

At the end of 2001 , Mr. Weiss and many other professional investors were expecting that 2002 would be a positive year .

`` There was every reason to believe that the factors that led to the onset of the bear market had pretty much run their course by a year ago at this time , '' he said .

But the optimists did not anticipate the scandals that threw into question the integrity of many corporate financial statements .

`` We have concluded a three-phase bear market and we did n't need to have the third phase , `` Mr. Weiss remarked .

Enron had already collapsed and filed for bankruptcy protection by the beginning of 2002 .

But despite complaints from short sellers that corporations had used accounting gimmickry to inflate their profits , many investors thought the crisis at Enron was an isolated case .

Then , as the spring wore on , journalists , analysts and regulators began to question the accounting used by dozens of other companies , including General Electric , a market bellwether .

The crisis peaked in June , when WorldCom announced that it had inflated its cash flow by $ 3.9 billion , a figure that has since been raised to an estimate of $ 9 billion .

James Chanos , a hedge fund manager who played a major role in unearthing the overstated profits at Enron , said WorldCom 's announcement in June ensured that 2002 would be another losing year .

`` The scale of the fraud which was disclosed was so massive and so blatant that it really gave rise to the idea that one could n't even rely on cash flow statements anymore to ascertain corporate health , `` Mr. Chanos said .

`` Prior to WorldCom , I think Wall Street always felt that with enough due diligence in the cash flow statements and financial analysis , one could always be certain where the financial health of a company might lie .

Post-WorldCom , I think we all had to reassess that . ``

In the month after WorldCom 's disclosure , the S . & P . 500 dropped 195 points , or 20 percent , to 797.70 on July 23 , its third-lowest close of the year .

Over the next month , stocks rallied , but by then the economy -- which had showed strong momentum during the first part of the year -- slowed sharply , in part because the market 's plunge discouraged companies from raising capital for new investments .

Projections for corporate profits dropped quickly , and stocks followed .

On Oct . 9 , the S . & P . 500 fell to 776.76 , its lowest close of the year .

Since then , stocks have rallied , but only slightly .

And Charles L . Hill , the research director for Thomson First Call , which compiles analysts ' profit estimates , said he thought that 2003 could be another disappointing year .

In 2002 , Mr. Hill was prescient , repeatedly warning that estimates were too high and that investors would be disappointed if they expected that a big earnings recovery would support a rally .

Looking at forecasts for 2003 , he said earnings growth would once again be weaker than investors hoped .

Analysts are continuing to cut forecasts for the first half of this year , Mr. Hill said .

Six months ago , they expected that corporate profits would grow 25 percent , year over year , in the first quarter of 2003 .

Now , they have cut that forecast to 12 percent .

By the time quarterly earnings are announced in April , Mr. Hill said , growth could be as low as 5 percent .

Considering that profits fell 17 percent in 2001 and rose only 1.6 percent in 2002 , that level of recovery is anemic , he said .

`` A lot of talk at the beginning of the year was , ' We do n't have three years in a row of down markets , so the odds of having a down third year are minimal , ' `` he recalled .

`` But we 've never in our lifetime had a bubble as big as this one .

You should n't be surprised that we had three down years , and you should n't be surprised if it turns out to be four . ``

THE MARKETS : STOCKS .

Summary: US stocks plunge in 2002 amid fears of war and terrorism , weak economy , rising oil prices and dozens of corporate scandals .

Summary: It is third consecutive annual decline , first time that has happened in 60 years .

Summary: Making matters worse , average stock fell further in 2002 than it had in either of previous two years .

Summary: Standard & Poor 's 500-stock index posts its worst year since 1974 .

Summary: Wall Street 's mood is bleak .

Summary: Wilshire 5000 drops 22.1 percent , S & P 500 index drops 23.4 percent , Dow Jones industrial average finishes down 16.8 percent , and Nasdaq composite index falls by 31.5 percent .

Summary: Graphs .

Summary: Photo .


An influx of investment capital from both Arab and Israeli investors , in roughly equal proportion , has made the Middle East the second-largest source of foreign investment in United States commercial real estate this year after Europe , where changes in German pension fund laws contributed to a surge in investment in American properties .

Within the last year , seven apartment complexes in San Antonio and six more throughout Texas were purchased by Alon U.S.A. , based in Dallas , a subsidiary of the Alon Israel Oil Company , best known to American consumers for its Fina gasoline stations .

The company paid about $ 180 million to United Dominion Realty Trust for the complexes , which were built from 1983 to 1995 and range from 140 units to 596 .

Oil companies are major sources of the investment in American commercial real estate , as are wealthy families that have a long history of quietly investing in commercial real estate in the United States .

Increasingly , though , more money is coming from smaller investors and groups of investors .

That shift is a product of a decade or so of efforts by financial institutions and money managers to create investment vehicles that can be marketed in the Middle East , especially to observant Muslims .

Low borrowing costs and the poor performance of world stock markets have contributed to an increase in investment in American real estate from many parts of the world .

Australian and Canadian investors , in fact , each had greater increases than those from the Middle East or even Germany on a percentage basis last year , but from much smaller bases .

Real Capital Analytics , a research firm based in Manhattan that monitors property transfers in excess of $ 5 million , tracked almost $ 1.4 billion in commercial property sales to Middle Eastern investors in the last year , three times the $ 436 million tracked in 2001 .

The figure for this year , which was based on closed deals through November and those in contract , accounted for about 23 percent of foreign investment in commercial real estate .

`` These numbers are likely conservative because many foreign investors , particularly from the Middle East , operate quietly and confidentially , '' said Robert M . White , the president of Real Capital Analytics .

Manhattan and the Washington area , typically among the most popular markets for foreign investors because they are easy to enter and manage from a distance , appear on the list of properties that Middle Eastern buyers acquired in the last 12 months , but they do not dominate it .

The list includes St . Louis .

Kansas City , Mo .

Woodland Hills , Calif .

Boulder , Colo .

And Chicago .

The Kuwait Finance House closed on a $ 13.7 million purchase of an industrial park in Lebanon , Tenn .

Part of the reason these investors are spreading their money farther afield is the intense competition for premium office properties in Washington and New York , brokers and analysts said .

The bidding wars among German pension funds are playing no small part in that .

`` We have n't seen them very active as buyers in this market , `` said James S . Luck , a senior director of the real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield who handles investment sales in Washington and its suburbs .

Without the restrictions on their investments that pension fund managers face , Mr. Luck said , wealthy families and oil companies from the Middle East `` have the ability to go where they think the deals are . ''

`` They tend to be more entrepreneurial and opportunistic , '' Mr. Luck said .

`` They 're clearly looking for higher yields than the stuff the Germans and the pension funds are bidding on . ``

From Israel , the most active investor was Alon U.S.A.

Others that made the list from Real Capital Analytics were the Red Sea Group , a real estate investment company best known for hotel management and shopping mall development in Israel , and one listed as an `` unidentified Israeli family . ''

From the Arab countries , transactions that listed Investcorp as the buyer dominate the list .

Several major international financial institutions , including UBS and Citibank , manage money for Middle Eastern families or buy properties on their behalf as a nominee , as do specialty firms like the Carlyle Group and Investcorp , according to international real estate brokers , money managers and lawyers .

Investcorp , founded in 1982 , has offices in New York , London and Bahrain .

Its real estate team began operations about seven years ago and oversees a portfolio with a current value of about $ 2.2 billion , according to the firm .

Its clients , like those of the private banking divisions of multinational financial institutions and of the boutique investment firms , tend to be wealthy , private and secretive families .

But through new investment vehicles , smaller investors , doctors and lawyers as opposed to scions of royalty and oil magnates , have become a force in commercial real estate markets now , too .

`` A lot of these funds , the fund manager is a Western , United States company , '' said Michael J . T . McMillen , a lawyer with King & Spalding in New York whose practice concentrates on Islamic financing and project financing .

`` They 're looking at this area , the Middle East , as a new market , and these investors are trying to get into the United States , so it 's working very well . ``

Mr. McMillen , who has worked with institutions like HSBC Amanah Global Properties Income Fund and the Gulf Investment House of Kuwait , said Middle Eastern investors were starting to buy into offerings that require five to seven years to pay off as opposed to two - or three-year deals .

They are focusing on commercial buildings with a single tenant and a purchase price of $ 15 million to $ 20 million , he said .

Among the obstacles to selling investment vehicles to Muslim investors is the prohibition in Muslim law against paying or receiving interest .

This has been approached in a variety of ways to sell real estate investments , including the formation of a broad partnership known as a mudarabah , where some investors put in effort and others put in money .

Mr. McMillen said some funds are now working to sell debt as well as equity investments , a more difficult proposition where interest payments are forbidden by religious custom .

`` If we went to a bank in the Middle East that does n't pay its depositors , `` Mr. McMillen said , '' we could offer the bank the ability to pay investors 3 percent , keep 1 percent , and the cost of funds to U.S. developers would only be 4 percent . ``

He said that arrangements like the mudarabah have become particularly difficult to execute and potentially precarious since the advent of the USA Patriot Act .

The legislation , adopted after the terror attacks of Sept . 11 , lays strict controls on financial institutions .

The legislation is intended to spread regulation gradually across a wide swath of industries , and real estate companies are not considered first priorities .

Still , several big domestic commercial real estate investors , especially the more sophisticated pension funds , are beginning to examine their new responsibilities and are casting a warier eye on foreign investors , especially those from the Middle East .

Under the coming regulations , said J . William Codinha , a partner with Nixon Peabody in Boston who specializes in white-collar crime , `` they are n't going to be able to just take money in that is held in a trust .

They have to know who the beneficiaries of the trust are . ``

That could be a costly proposition , one that Mr. Codinha said he was trying to persuade clients to build into their transaction costs .

Michael D . Allison , the chairman of International Business Research , a corporate security and investigations firm in Princeton , N.J. , said such research on identifying investors and transaction partners could add $ 20,000 to $ 50,000 to the cost of a real estate deal .

`` For an investor in Minneapolis , it 's pretty easy to figure out what you need to know , `` Mr. Allison said .

`` Some guy coming at you from Lebanon , the resources available to you to unearth who the guy is and where the money is coming from is difficult , from the language issues to the paucity of information . ''

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE .

Summary: Influx of investment capital from both Arab and Israeli investors , in roughly equal proportion , makes Middle East second-largest source of foreign investment in United States commercial real estate this year after Europe , where changes in German pension fund laws contributed to surge in investment in American properties .

Summary: Within last year , seven apartment complexes in San Antonio and six more throughout Texas were purchased by Alon USA , based in Dallas , subsidiary of Alon Israel Oil Company .

Summary: Oil companies are major sources of investment in American commercial real estate .

Summary: Photo of San Antonio apartment complex .

Summary: Table shows leading sources of foreign investment in US commercial real estate .


Tom Daschle , the Senate Democratic leader , has told associates that he is likely to run for president in 2004 and will create a presidential exploratory committee sometime this month , Democrats close to Mr. Daschle said yesterday .

The move , after weeks of deliberations by Mr. Daschle , would sharply alter the dynamics of the increasingly crowded competition among Democrats to challenge President Bush .

Mr. Daschle is to return to his home in South Dakota this weekend to review his decision one more time with friends and advisers , his associates said .

But they said that over the last few days Mr. Daschle has expressed an increasingly strong desire to challenge Mr. Bush and has concluded that he needs to move quickly to catch up with Democratic rivals who have been lining up political supporters and financial backers for months .

Mr. Daschle would announce a decision sometime over the next few weeks and immediately begin traveling to primary states , his associates said .

The deliberation by Mr. Daschle , who turned 55 early last month and was elected to the Senate in 1986 , has been closely watched by many Democrats who described it as the last major outstanding question about the Democratic presidential field .

Mr. Daschle , as a face of the Democratic opposition , would presumably draw the support of experienced Democratic Party strategists and many of his fellow Democrats in the Senate who have worked closely with him over the years .

Mr. Daschle 's advisers said that should he run for president , he would be unlikely to seek re-election as a senator , though they said he had not reached a decision on that .

His term expires at the end of 2004 .

They said he would probably stay on for the time being as the Senate minority leader , though he was likely to step down as the demands of a presidential campaign intensified .

The prospective entry of Mr. Daschle would round out a field of Democratic candidates notable for being grounded inside Washington .

Indeed , inside the halls of Congress .

Mr. Daschle would be the fourth Democratic senator running for president in 2004 .

Another expected candidate is Representative Richard A . Gephardt of Missouri , the former House minority leader .

The only major Democratic candidate who would seem positioned to run the kind of successful outsider campaign run by Bill Clinton , who was governor of Arkansas , and George Bush , who was governor of Texas , is Gov . Howard Dean of Vermont .

In addition , the Rev . Al Sharpton of New York is also running for the nomination .

With the possible exception of Senator Joseph I . Lieberman of Connecticut , who ran for vice president with Al Gore in 2000 , Mr. Daschle is probably the best known of the Democratic candidates , party officials said yesterday .

That is not entirely a good thing .

It was under his watch last year that Democrats lost control of the Senate , turning Mr. Daschle from a majority leader into a minority leader .

The other major Democratic candidates are Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina .

Two other senators -- Joseph R . Biden Jr . of Delaware and Mr. Lieberman 's Connecticut colleague , Christopher J . Dodd -- have also said they might run .

Summary: Tom Daschle , Senate Democratic leader , tells associates that he is likely to run for president in 2004 and will create presidential exploratory committee .