February 24, 1991

THREE years ago, Madeline Isnardi said, her left wrist "blew up like a balloon." "It was so painful that I couldn't even move it," Mrs. Isnardi said. A customer-service representative for New York Telephone in Hicksville, she answers calls that come in every six seconds and enters data on customer accounts into her computer. Except for an hour's lunch break and two 15-minute breaks, that is generally her daily routine.

The aim of the ground offensive that the United States and its allies launched today is to rapidly encircle the Iraq Army in southern Iraq and in Kuwait, while continuing to subject Iraqi forces to a withering bombardment from the air, Pentagon officials have said in recent days. The American war plan calls for a swift penetration into Iraq by American armored Army divisions and helicopter assault units to cut off the Republican Guard forces in southern Iraq and the other Iraqi forces in Kuwait. The guard troops and weapons are considered the core of Iraqi military strength.

AS Hartford struggles with problems linked to business downturns and growing poverty, the local private colleges are making new commitments to help. Students are working in soup kitchens and shelters for the homeless, while professors are providing assistance to public school teachers. "The ivory tower concept of education is out the window," said Elizabeth McDaniel, assistant vice president for academic and campus affairs at the University of Hartford.

Following is a transcript of the statement made by President Bush tonight at the White House:

Just hours before American and allied ground forces roared into Kuwait and Iraq, the last official word from Baghdad was a stinging attack on Pres Bush's ultimatum by a member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle. The official, Izzat Ibrahim, who is Mr. Hussein's second in command, was quoted as saying that the only way to stop the war was for Washington to accept the last-ditch Soviet-Iraqi peace plan. And just after dawn today, with word from Saudi Arabia that American troops had raced six miles into enemy territory, the only official sounds emanating from Iraq were radio broadcasts of the Koran and other religious programming. Article, Page 19.