BUSINESS DIGEST: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1988

LEAD: Presidential contenders in both parties are bringing in reinforcements for their final political offensives before Iowa's important caucuses on Feb. 8.

Reinforcements Reach Iowa For Final Push on Caucuses

LEAD: Less than two weeks before the presidential election scheduled by Haiti's army-dominated Government, the four leading candidates have carried out their threat to call a boycott and the field is dominated by seven former associates of the deposed Duvalier dictatorship.

TOP CONTENDERS IN HAITI DECLARE BOYCOTT OF VOTE

LEAD: Bolstered by a strengthening dollar and by takeover speculation in the drug sector, the stock market moved higher again yesterday, although its sharp early gains were eaten away by late-afternoon profit taking.

Dow Gains 16.25 More, To 2,031.50

LEAD: The General Motors Corporation showed off its technological visions of the future yesterday, even though some of its high-tech efforts have been less than wildly popular with consumers.

G.M.'s High-Tech Visions of Sales

LEAD: A second flaw in the redesigned shuttle booster rocket has been discovered by engineers from the space agency and Morton Thiokol Inc. Their further examination of last month's test firing showed that hot gases reached an O ring seal in a critical rocket joint.

NEW FLAW IS FOUND AFTER TEST FIRING OF SHUTTLE ROCKET

LEAD: Robert F. Wagner Jr., his authority as president of New York City's Board of Education imperiled, resolved a sensitive political stalemate over the choice of a new schools chancellor last week with a threat to resign, city and education officials said yesterday.

Threat by Wagner to Resign Resolved Schools Stalemate

LEAD: From Maine to California, from Detroit to New Orleans, Governor Cuomo traveled the country 27 times last year, mostly to sound the impassioned theme that has become his trademark: Ronald Reagan is wrong. More money and programs are needed to help the poor and others who do not share in the American dream.

Cuomo Years: The Words vs. the Deeds

LEAD: ASK a few friends whether they prefer yams or sweet potatoes and you'll get quite an earful. Of course yams are better, they'll tell you. They're richer, moister, smoother and sweeter. It's a fact, they'll say, that the paler sweet potatoes just can't compare. They know, because they've tried them both in a variety of ways: mashed, souffled, candied and just plain roasted.

The Versatile Sweet Potato (Or Is It Actually a Yam?)

LEAD: Carl C. Icahn, the Wall Street financier who is the largest Texaco shareholder, has made good his promise to offer an alternative to the company's plan to emerge from Federal bankruptcy protection.

Icahn Gives Court Plan On Texaco

LEAD: C. Edward Acker's days as chairman and chief executive of the Pan Am Corporation appear numbered.

Chairman Would Go In Pan Am-Union Deal

LEAD: Exposure to radon, the odorless radioactive gas that seeps into buildings from underground rocks, appears to be responsible for about 13,000 lung cancer deaths annually, according to new data compiled by the National Academy of Sciences.

13,000 Deaths a Year Indicated By Science Academy Radon Study

LEAD: President Jose Sarney today named an economist and longtime Government official, Mailson Ferreira da Nobrega, as Brazil's new Finance Minister, succeeding Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, who resigned last month in a clash over economic policy.

BRAZIL NAMES NEW FINANCE MINISTER

LEAD: Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward said yesterday that New York City officers needed more training in subduing violent people without using guns and in ''overcoming a mindset'' that makes them reluctant to retreat.

Ward Calls for Increased Training To Reduce Use of Guns by Police

LEAD: You know how it is in these parts: you step into a shop and all of a sudden the shopkeeper is your newest best friend. Everybody has a story like that. Everybody has at least one warm song for every three tunes of rudeness, or should. In any event, Pasquale Ursitti answered the door.

About New York; A Father and Son And a Shop On Lafayette St.

LEAD: Saudi Arabia rescinded a sweeping package of income taxes on foreigners today following protests from foreign workers and Saudi businessmen. The taxes had been instituted by royal decree only a few days ago.

SAUDIS CANCEL TAX AFTER COMPLAINTS

LEAD: The dollar's value rose dramatically in heavy trading yesterday, bolstered by a growing belief that, for now, Washington and other governments are committed to preventing its further decline.

DOLLAR RISES AGAIN AS CENTRAL BANKS CONTINUE SUPPORT

LEAD: In 1912, when Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount Pictures, exhibited the first full-length feature film in the United States at the Lyceum Theater in New York, he charged $1 for admission.

EVEN AT $7, FANS WANT THE HIT FILMS

LEAD: Sugary snacks, soft drinks and french fries are still high on the list of America's favored foods, a nationwide New York Times telephone survey has found. Despite recommendations to decrease sodium, sugar and cholesterol in the diet, and despite greater consumer awareness, the diets of Americans of all age groups are not significantly more nutritious.

Eating Right? Not In America

LEAD:  Ending a Schools Stalemate  The president of the New York City Board of Education ended a stalemate over a new schools chancellor by threatening to quit, city and education officials said. Page B1.  East Bloc's Shadow Society  Across Eastern Europe, a shadow society has sprung up outside the control of the ruling

INSIDE

LEAD: THERE aren't many French restaurants in the United States where a couple wearing Bermuda shorts, T-shirts and Mickey Mouse ears would be tolerated, much less welcomed. But Chefs de France is no ordinary French restaurant. In this extravaganza at the futuristic Epcot Center at Disney World in Orlando,

With a Gallic Touch: 3 French Chefs At Epcot

LEAD: Despite a potential for conflict because of their differing missions, educators and law-enforcement officials said today that they had found a basis for working cooperatively to try to drive drugs out of New Jersey's schools.

Jersey Schools Join With Police To Fight Drugs

LEAD: THE dramatic nutrition revolution that was going to change the way Americans eat is not happening, judging by a recent nationwide telephone survey conducted by The New York Times.

What Americans Really Eat: Nutrition Can Wait

LEAD: The officials of 23 companies - the majority of all the concerns involved in the removal and disposal of asbestos materials in the New York metropolitan region - were arrested yesterday and charged with bribing a Federal environmental protection inspector to overlook violations of Federal rules and regulations.

25 Charged In Bribes Tied To Asbestos

LEAD: Because of the snow, alternate-side parking rules are suspended in New York City today. Other regulations remain in effect.

January 6, 1988

Headlines from January 6, 1988

BUSINESS DIGEST: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1988

Reinforcements Reach Iowa For Final Push on Caucuses

TOP CONTENDERS IN HAITI DECLARE BOYCOTT OF VOTE

Dow Gains 16.25 More, To 2,031.50

G.M.'s High-Tech Visions of Sales

Billboard 200

Dirty Dancing

Faith

Bad

Tiffany

Whitesnake

Historical Context for January 6, 1988