June 6, 1985

THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1985 International Arms aid for Jordan is being weighed by the Reagan Administration, according to State and Defense Department officials. They said the Administration was nearing a decision to ask Congress to provide Amman with $300 million in additional military credits that would allow it to order F-20 fighter planes and two advanced antiaircraft defense systems. [Page A1, Column 6.] The Senate compromised on arms by adopting, 90 to 5, a resolution calling on President Reagan to continue to adhere to the 1979 strategic arms limitation treaty with the Soviet Union. But the resolution also seemed to support a measured effort by the Administration to respond to any Soviet violations of the pact. [A1:3.]

When Peter Shapiro graduated from Harvard, with honors, in 1974, he shunned the career paths pursued by many of his friends and headed home to New Jersey. His aim, his friends said, was to pursue a driving political ambition he did little to hide, to someday become a national political leader. And so, at the age of 23, he successfully ran for the State Assembly from a working-class district. On Tuesday, the 33-year-old Mr. Shapiro, who has held a political office ever since, went some distance in achieving his long-term goal when he defeated more seasoned politicians to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and the right to challenge Governor Kean in November.

Submarine experts said today that as a result of the Walker family spy case, the Navy might have to rebuild portions of the undersea network of sound detectors that are a crucial early warning system against a Soviet nuclear attack. Some experts, including former Navy officers, said replacing the Sound Surveillance System, called Sosus, was potentially one of the most difficult and costly measures needed to restore confidence in the American submarine fleet's command of the seas, if the allegations of a 20-year spy network prove true. The Navy has not completed its appraisal of what steps might be needed to compensate for security breaches that may have resulted. Experts interviewed today stressed that it was too early to be sure what countermeasures would be required.

Wang Laboratories, the computer company, said yesterday that it would dismiss 1,600 employees because of weak sales and would report a loss for the current quarter. The loss would be the first in the company's 34-year history. The 5 percent work force reduction, from 32,000 people, is only the second instance of layoffs at Wang. In the 1974-75 recession, about 200 people were dismissed.

Scientists said today that they had discovered how some tampons caused the rare but sometimes fatal toxic shock syndrome in menstruating women. The researchers expressed hope that the discovery would lead to the production of generally safer tampons. The scientists, led by Dr. Edward H. Kass at the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, found that two fibers contained in some tampons - polyester foam and polyacrylate rayon - have a powerful ability to absorb magnesium. Such a concentration of magnesium can enhance production of a bacterial toxin, TSST-1, for toxic shock syndrome toxin 1, that causes toxic shock syndrome.