October 22, 1991

Long before dawn, commuters arrive at the dock in Weehawken, N.J., first one by one, then in briskly moving masses. Briefcases in hand, they board a blue and white ferry marked "Midtown." And for the next five minutes, until the Port Imperial ferry docks at West 38th Street in Manhattan, serenity seems to settle over the crowd. "Before the overwhelming assault on my senses, I just like to have a few Buddha-like moments," said one woman who sat on the upper deck, her eyes closed and her face lifted into a breeze rolling off the Hudson River.

Shift on Black College Aid Reversing the Administration's position on a major desegregation case, the President ordered the Solicitor General to support increased aid to black public colleges. Page B6. Houston Election Challenged The Justice Department has gone to court to block Houston City Council elections on Nov. 5, saying the districts are discriminatory. Page A16. 222 Boat People to Go Home Britain said it had persuaded Vietnam to let the authorities in Hong Kong fly 222 boat people back to Vietnam against their will. Page A8.

Four days after a female firefighter charged harassment by male colleagues at a tension-ridden Queens firehouse, officials yesterday granted transfers to five men and said more transfers would be coming. The five are among 21 male firefighters and officers -- all but two of the men assigned to Engine Company 274 in Flushing -- who have asked for new assignments, Fire Department officials said. While a department spokesman said that the woman's repeated complaints of harassment over the years "could be a contributing factor" in the desire for reassignment, others in the department and in the firefighters' union said it was the prime reason and that the men considered her too difficult to work with.

IMMUNOLOGISTS have accidentally uncovered a new and unexpected signaling system that the immune system uses to deliberately shut off certain disease-fighting cells. The discovery fills in a major gap in understanding the immune system and may lead to advances like a treatment for hay fever. The finding is that white blood cells need two separate signals before they will start an attack on invading viruses or bacteria. If the cells receive only one of the signals, they will take active steps to stand on the sidelines.

Montgomery Ward & Company wants to muscle its way back into the crowded catalogue business. The big Chicago retailer, which closed its unprofitable catalogue division in 1985, said yesterday that it was teaming with the Fingerhut Companies, a mail-order concern, to start a company to produce nearly a dozen separate catalogues a year.