February 23, 1992

When J. Carter Brown surprised almost everyone last month and announced his resignation as director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, he brought to a close a chapter in the evolution not only of his own institution but of all American museums. Such was the impact of his tenure that before Mr. Brown assumed his post in 1969, the image of an art museum was one thing, and today it is something else. Although he was hardly alone in reshaping that image, his contribution was vital. The quiet gallery that he took over has become a strutting giant on the international stage, a purveyor of major traveling exhibitions and a center for the study of the visual arts. With its glamorous addition designed by the architect I. M. Pei that doubled the institution's physical size, and its wide array of educational and scholarly programs, the gallery is an exemplar of what museums aspired to become during the expansionist 1970's and 80's. And the brilliant and energetic Mr. Brown has come to epitomize the museum director.

Pierre Toussaint has been dead 139 years. But the way he lived his life is now the subject of a heated debate among American Catholics that reveals much about the modern-day church's complicated and sometimes awkward relations with its black parishioners. For Pierre Toussaint was born, and chose to stay, a slave. At a time when slaves were rebelling in his native Haiti he was accompanying his owners to New York, where they lost their fortune but not his loyalty. By day Toussaint the coiffeur would earn money powdering and pomading the heads of New York society. By night, he would don his crimson uniform and return to wait on his invalid owner, quietly supporting her household.

In a disclosure that runs counter to the Pentagon image of a war that was run with extraordinary precision, a new Defense Department report says a failure to communicate target restrictions in the Persian Gulf air war resulted in heavier damage than was intended to Iraq's civilian infrastructure. The breakdown in communicating the targeting guidelines to tactical air units led to greater damage than planned to Iraq's electrical generating plants and is one of a number of problems that are coming to light a year after the decisive victory over Iraqi forces. The report, which was commissioned by Congress and is circulating in the Pentagon in draft form, is the Defense Department's most comprehensive effort to assess the military lessons of the war.

A few weeks ago, giving the toast at an annual Sony reception here, Norio Ohga almost sounded like a man who had forsaken electronics for the glitter of Hollywood. The 62-year-old president of the Sony Corporation talked for 15 minutes without once mentioning the Walkman, the video camcorder, or any of the other gadgetry that propelled his company to huge profitability and tremendous growth in the 1980's. He made only a cursory mention of his pet technological project, Sony's billion-dollar bet on high-definition television. What he did talk about were Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment -- once better known as Columbia Pictures and CBS Records.

WHEN Josman left her three young daughters in Guyana in 1989 to move to New York, chicken there cost $25 a pound and unemployment was high. She said she felt that her family's future was in America. Her plan was that of thousands of Guyanese women who before her had journeyed north with big dreams but few skills. She would find a job as a live-in housekeeper with a family willing to sponsor her so that she could become a legal permanent resident of the United States. She would then be entitled to a "green card," the alien-registration card, now actually pink, that is an immigrant's passport to a new life in the United States.

JUST 15 months after buying his six-bedroom house in Port Washington, Andrew Ormont has gone back to his broker to refinance his mortgage. Not only will his monthly payments be $230 less than under the old mortgate, but he also plans to receive cash for the equity the house has already earned him. "To me it's a win-win situation," said Mr. Ormont, 36 years old, the father of two and the chief executive of a fetal-testing center in Mineola. He said he and his wife, Barbara, decided late last year to refinance, after reading about declining mortgage rates. "You have to be crazy to see the rates dropping and not realize that your rate could drop, too," said Mr. Ormont.

SUSAN WEST recently inherited an eight-room co-op in a prewar building in the Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan. On Jan. 1, she put the apartment up for sale for almost $875,000. She then received seven bids and in three weeks sold it for close to her asking price. "We really wanted to sell it quickly, but I was surprised that it happened this fast," said Ms. West, a book editor. "I think it happened because it is a very good apartment, and I think it was priced right."

Although half the states in the country have laws limiting or banning credit card fees for late payments, for annual renewals and for exceeding credit limits, banks have largely charged the fees anyway. They argue that they are governed only by the laws in the states where their credit card operations are based -- not where the customers live. Now, that argument is being challenged in more than a dozen lawsuits in four states. Their aim is to see that the laws in the states where the customers live are enforced, and more suits are expected.

On Jan. 1, a new disclosure law took effect in New York State requiring real estate agents and brokers to state explicitly at the outset of most negotiations whether they work for the buyer, seller, landlord or tenant. On Wednesday, the William B. May Company, a brokerage firm, will sponsor a seminar to explain the complex law, its requirements and the potential consequences of not complying. "It's for anyone planning to be involved in a real estate transaction," said Roberta L. Faulstick, a senior vice president of the company.

Laura D. Blackburne, the chairwoman of New York City's Housing Authority, resigned under pressure yesterday after a week of mounting criticism of her spending practices, including the hundreds of thousands of dollars she spent on office furnishings and business trips. At a hastily arranged news conference at City Hall yesterday afternoon, Mayor David N. Dinkins said that Ms. Blackburne, 53 years old, submitted a letter of resignation yesterday and that he had accepted it.

Diminish that good old American spunk, enervate the spirit and weaken the muscles, and you are left with a United States hockey team too tired and unskilled to win an Olympic medal of any element or alloy. "They don't play hockey," Czechoslovakia's goaltender, Petr Briza, said. "They just hurry around."

In the first detailed Congressional response to the Bush Administration's military plans for the rest of the decade, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is proposing to cut $48 billion to $121 billion more than the White House by 1997, reductions he says would still leave the United States a superpower. Representative Les Aspin, the Wisconsin Democrat who is chairman of the House military panel, said in an interview that within two years he might be willing to consider cutting the Navy's force of 12 aircraft carriers to 8, cutting the Air Force's 15 tactical air wings roughly in half and slashing the Navy fleet from its current level of 450 ships to 290.