November 9, 1991

A group of human judges chosen to represent the Boston man-in-the-street engaged in a three-hour battle of wits with a handful of computer programs today. The idea was to answer what many scientists and philosophers believe will become the central question of the information age: Can machines think? It was hard to tell -- harder than one might have, pardon the expression, thought.

With the nation's economy apparently stalled, Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have in recent weeks rushed to advance rival proposals that they say would revive the economy. Several of the plans involve a tax cut, primarily for the middle class, to stimulate spending, but lawmakers in both parties say there is only a remote possibility that any tax cut plan could be approved before the end of the year.

The first new terminal for Kennedy International Airport in nearly 30 years has been proposed by a consortium of three of the biggest international airlines, Lufthansa German Airlines, Japan Air Lines and Air France, airline and airport officials said yesterday. The expansion comes as Kennedy is trying to maintain its pre-eminence as the country's largest international gateway at a time when rivals like Newark International Airport have taken away some traffic and when domestic airlines have added international flights at their own hubs.

Childhood ended for Jamal Davis on Thursday. It stopped abruptly for Mack George and Sharaz Hayes, too. Troy Frazier rushed to the bathroom to hide his tears. Teen-age life will go on for each of them, and for tens of thousands of other youngsters -- black, white and Hispanic -- in schoolyards and classrooms across the country. But it will go on with a difference because Magic has "the virus."

Most heterosexuals who carry the AIDS virus do not learn of it until severely ill. Page 32. Although Magic Johnson has no AIDS symptoms, drug treatment is planned. Page 33.