March 7, 1991

Concrete-colored patches of paint on sidewalks around the Bronx County Building are eroding to reveal a red-stenciled imperative. Like stigmata, two words have materialized beneath the camouflage: "Simon Resign." That most pedestrians step over the words without pausing is no reflection on their historical significance in the annals of corruption. On Monday, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by Stanley Simon, the former Bronx Borough President, to overturn his conviction on extortion and other charges in the Wedtech case. His Queens counterpart, Donald R. Manes, escaped extortion charges in the Parking Violations Bureau investigation by stabbing himself to death five years ago next week.

Indian Government Falls Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar resigned after the collapse of the coalition that had allowed his small party to govern for five months. Page A3. Head of World Bank Leaving Barber Conable is expected to be succeeded at the bank, which dispenses aid to poor nations, by Lewis Preston, formerly of J.P. Morgan. Page D1. Pretty Shoes, Painful Feet A survey found that 88 percent of women wore shoes at least a size small. Not surprisingly, 80 percent had foot problems. Health, page B11.

Moving to stifle the worst uprising he has faced, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq today put internal security in the hands of a trusted cousin who oversaw Kuwait's occupation and reportedly used chemical weapons against restive Kurds in 1988. Arab diplomats here say Mr. Hussein, who also ordered road blocks around the capital and gave cash bonuses to loyalist troops, might be expanding an internal crackdown by remaining units of the Republican Guards routed in the Persian Gulf war.

This suburb of 8,000 prides itself on its sense of family and on its local heroes, like the astronaut Wally Schirra, for whom a small park near the heart of town is dedicated. This week Maj. Marie T. Rossi joined those heroes. In the space of a few days, Major Rossi, an Army helicopter pilot, personalized the Persian Gulf war for people both here and across the country in a way that left many with a deep sense of loss.

In a rare disclosure, a Rochester doctor has told how he prescribed the barbiturates that a 45-year-old female patient needed to kill herself after she refused treatment for a severe form of leukemia. In a report in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Timothy E. Quill described how he agonized over what to do when his patient rejected the arduous treatment that would have given her a one-in-four chance of survival, and how he helped her when she said she wanted to end her life.