October 16, 1992

METRO DIGEST NEW YORK CITY CARDINAL FALLS ILL AT CHARITY DINNER John Cardinal O'Connor, complaining of nausea and lightheadedness, was taken by ambulance last night from the archdiocese's annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria to St. Vincent's Hospital. The Cardinal, who never lost consciousness, was alert and listed in stable condition, but the cause of his condition was not immediately known, said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese. B3. 4 OFFICERS DISCIPLINED Four New York City police officers have been placed on modified duty and are expected to be charged with violating departmental regulations by failing to volunteer what they knew about the killing of two men -- one of them an off-duty Housing Authority police officer -- in Bayville, Queens, high-ranking police officials said yesterday. B3.

The format of the second Presidential debate last night may have resembled the sort of daytime talk shows where guests wax confessional and personal on all human idiosyncrasies. But when George Bush tried to press the character attack that his advisers see as his best hope to beat Bill Clinton, the audience swiftly cut him off. They wanted a sober, serious discussion of issues: infrastructure, keeping jobs in the United States, crime, gun control, health care and deficit reduction. They did not ask about foreign policy in the first 65 minutes of the debate. They did not want to know about Mr. Clinton's draft record, marital problems, travel schedule in Moscow or antiwar activities in Europe.

The State of New York has continued to refer patients to a problem-plagued group home for the mentally ill in Queens, even though state officials have begun proceedings to revoke the home's license for misappropriating $4 million in public money. In a report issued in June, authorities said the managers of the home, Hi-Li Manor in Far Rockaway, had spent the $4 million on furs, jewelry, cars and interest-free loans for themselves and relatives. At the same time, they said, residents of the 120-bed home had been poorly fed and forced to live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Companies I.B.M. reported a $2.8 billion quarterly loss, shocking Wall Street and sending its shares skidding $5.125 to $72.875 -- their lowest level in a decade. It had a huge charge for 20,000 workers who retired early, and lower results otherwise. [ Page D1. ] Apple, empowered by its Powerbook notebook computers, reported a 20 percent rise in quarterly earnings. [ D1. ]

Hours after Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato and State Attorney General Robert Abrams sparred sharply over ethics and tactics in the first debate of their Senate campaign, Mr. Abrams formally apologized last night for calling the Senator a "fascist" at a campaign rally last weekend. Mr. Abrams, who had earlier expressed regret for any offense the remark had caused the public but had repeatedly refused to apologize directly to the Senator, said he had now done so because the squabbling had obscured discussion of the candidates' differences on major issues. Senator D'Amato dismissed the apology as "not sincere" and "politically motivated."