February 25, 1992

In a surprising and unusual decision, an arbitrator today awarded Advanced Micro Devices Inc. the rights necessary to continue producing its own version of the Intel Corporation's 386 microprocessor, perhaps the most profitable computer chip ever developed. The decision by the arbitrator, who found that Intel had breached a contract between the two companies, could help Advanced Micro attract more orders for its 386 chip and defend itself from a pending Intel copyright suit.

NEW YORK CITY EX-GOTTI JUROR IS INDICTED The foreman of the jury that acquitted the reputed Mafia leader John Gotti in his 1987 Federal racketeering trial was indicted on charges that he conspired with the mob to sell his vote and influence the jury for $60,000. And at Mr. Gotti's current Federal racketeering trial in Brooklyn, a reputed member of the Gambino crime family said on a tape recording that any Gambino member caught dealing in drugs would be killed for fear he might turn informer. A1 and B4. SHARPTON'S ASSAILANT CONVICTED A Brooklyn man was convicted of first-degree assault in the stabbing attack on the Rev. Al Sharpton early last year as Mr. Sharpton was preparing to lead a protest march. B3. HOUSING CHIEF'S FIRST DAY The new chairwoman of New York City's Housing Authority, Sally Hernandez-Pinero, said she planned to adopt strict new spending guidelines at the agency, which has come under sharp criticism for lavish spending. B3. MAN KILLS A CHILD, THEN HIMSELF A 31-year-old Brooklyn man sprayed his former girlfriend's apartment with semiautomatic weapon fire, killing her 9-month-old son and then wounding her and their 6-year-old daughter, the police said. The man then pointed the weapon at his own chest and killed himself. B3. NEW RULES ON CUNY STUDENT GROUPS The trustees of the City University of New York tightened their grip on campus organizations, canceling an 85-cent-a-student activity fee that provided money for a citywide student government group. B2. Foundation grants encourage students to aid their communities. B3. REGION THE FIRST VETO TEST In a vote that could set up the first test of the Republicans' veto-proof control of the New Jersey Legislature, both chambers passed a bill that would postpone this year's school elections for three weeks. Angry Democrats immediately asked Gov. Florio to use his veto for the first time in the 205th Legislature to quash the legislation. B6. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT They have not been able to produce a budget on time in seven years, but Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders in Albany said they might get the job done early this year. B6. HOUSING PLAN FOR WESTCHESTER The Westchester County Executive, Andrew P. O'Rourke, unveiled an ambitious program for creating 5,000 units of permanent affordable housing over five years. B5. THE POWER OF THE FAX Using the advanced facsimile machine's ability to send the same message to dozens of other machines automatically, the Rutgers University News Service has developed a state-of-the-art, on-top-of-the-news supply of quotable experts ready to meet a reporter's most urgent need, an authority to quote, and to soothe a skeptical editor's doubts. B6. 2 Cornell students charged with spreading computer virus. B6. Leona Helmsley loses appeal in tax case. B6. Our Towns B4

The White House issued a new policy on biotechnology products today, saying that genetically engineered products are not dangerous in themselves and should not get too much scrutiny from Federal regulators. The new statement is intended to spur the biotechnology industry and keep Federal regulators from singling out its products, including medicines, pesticides and crops, for extra regulatory procedures. It would put the stamp of policy on practices that have been evolving in the Federal agencies for years, assuring that fewer and fewer biotechnology companies need special approval to release new organisms in the world.

JAPAN has equaled or surpassed the United States as the world's top patron of industrial research and development, according to a growing number of science analysts. If so, Japan has a powerful weapon in the trade wars of the 1990's and beyond as it uses research discoveries to launch a new wave of innovative goods and services. The analysts take issue with the Federal Government's Japan-watchers, who calculate that the United States still leads in research spending by business, while acknowledging that America's edge in this area is eroding.

The Digital Equipment Corporation, whose last big overhaul of its computer designs helped turn an $800 million company into a $14 billion one, plans to try again on Tuesday by introducing what it bills as the technology to carry it through to the next century. With its hardware sales shrinking and profits scarce, the long-term prospects of Digital rely heavily on its new Alpha line of products, beginning with the ultra-fast microprocessor it will initially display.

The foreman of the anonymous jury that acquitted the reputed Mafia leader John Gotti in his 1987 Federal racketeering trial was indicted yesterday on charges that he conspired with the mob to sell his vote and influence the jury for $60,000. The indictment held no new formal charges against Mr. Gotti, the flamboyant, 51-year-old reputed leader of the Gambino crime family, the largest underworld group in the nation. Mr. Gotti has been acquitted in repeated state and Federal cases in recent years and is now on trial in Brooklyn on murder, loan sharking, tax fraud and other Federal racketeering charges.

Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d today laid out the Bush Administration's conditions for granting loan guarantees to Israel. In his first public description of the terms, he said Washington would back $10 billion in loans over five years only if Israel agreed to freeze all construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

A Congressional research agency has criticized Oregon's novel effort to ration health care by ranking all services according to their costs and benefits. The agency, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, said in a confidential draft of a report to be issued this spring that the rankings were largely subjective and would deprive some low-income people of Medicaid services to which they are now entitled.

Mayor David N. Dinkins yesterday escalated his attack on prosecutors' demand to review reams of financial records from his 1989 mayoral campaign, calling it "improper." But he stressed that he would cooperate with prosecutors, even as he repeated his complaint that they were "fishing" for purported wrongdoing that, he said, did not occur.

The General Motors Corporation announced today the first stage of its plan to close 21 plants over several years, identifying 12 plants to be closed in the United States and Canada within three years, affecting 16,300 workers. It also detailed a sweeping reorganization of its troubled North American operations. The company, the world's largest auto maker, had announced in December that it would begin to overhaul its operations to restore its profitability. Its reorganization plan represents an attempt to unscramble a previous restructuring in the 1980's, which had sought to increase efficiency and reduce costs, with mixed success.

Dinkins Strikes Back As he moved City Hall to Brooklyn, the Mayor stepped up his attack on efforts by prosecutors to scrutinize his 1989 campaign records. Page B1. Japan's Gain in Research Japan has equaled or surpassed the United States in industrial research and development, American science analysts say. Science Times, page C1. Justice Stevens Has Cancer Justice John Paul Stevens has prostate cancer but is expected to recover and is continuing to work. Page A14. The Most Dangerous Game It may be a game, but mah-jongg is a seen as a vice that the Shanghai authorities want to stamp out. Page A8.

When Carmen D. Rivera, who has AIDS, needed a prescription filled recently, she had to wait five days. The drug she wanted, DDI, is commonly used by AIDS patients, but she could not find a pharmacist near her home in Rockland County, N.Y., who carried it. Some had not even heard of it. Ms. Rivera, who is 36 years old, also has no doctor to call her own. Few in her area specialize in H.I.V.-related illnesses and even fewer accept Medicaid patients. Her most consistent care has been on an emergency basis: she has been hospitalized six times in the last 10 months. "Having to tell a new doctor you have AIDS is hard," she said. "You shouldn't have to go through this every time."