October 20, 1992

Two 14-year-old girls walking across an intersection and a 16-year-old boy standing nearby were shot outside a Bronx high school yesterday afternoon by an assailant who blazed away with a rifle or a shotgun and fled on foot. The police said the girls, both honor students in the freshman class of a school with a reputation for weapons and violence, apparently were bystanders caught in a shooting that stemmed from an earlier dispute between the gunman and the boy, who was critcally wounded. Investigators said the boy knew and gave the police the name of the assailant, who was being sought last night.

MOST scientific names are dull and pedantic, and usually as impenetrable as the Latin in which Linnaeus named all species known to him. But recently a strange whimsy has started to creep in among the sesquipedalian prose of scientific journals. A few scientists are attaching catchy terms like "chaos" or "chaperone molecules" to the things they discover. The trend may represent a slap at tradition, or perhaps a shrewd sense that a popular name can win a theory more attention and financing.

There will be many winners come Election Day, but it is already clear who the big losers in politics are this year. They are the people who print the brochures, mail the fliers, take the polls and broadcast the spots for the candidates. Election Day is to this industry what Christmas is to retailing, and neither Democrats nor Republicans are buying big this season.

FRENCH divers have discovered a partly flooded cave filled with prehistoric rock paintings and engravings, a great underground amphitheater studded with running horses, bison and deer as well as images of human hands believed to have been drawn some 18,000 years ago. The cave lies deep inside a cliff on the edge of the Mediterranean. Its murals have surprised specialists because they include drawings of seals and penguins, the first images of such sea creatures ever found in Western Europe's prehistoric caves. Seals still exist here today but the penguins are an unusual souvenir from an era when much of Europe was under ice and the Mediterranean was a chilly region with a climate more like today's Scandinavia.

Mandela Admits Abuses The African National Congress admitted that it tortured dissidents during its years in exile. Page A7. Britain Softens on Mine Cuts Under pressure, Prime Minister John Major sharply reduced the number of coal mines to be closed. Page A9. 19 (Yep, 19) Candidates Jersey City voters have 19 choices for their next mayor. Some residents say that's too many. Page B10. Creatures at Play Scientists are learning to appreciate how important play is to animal development. Science Times, page C1.

The founder of the Green Party in Germany -- who stormed the corridors of mainstream politics with defiance and irreverence -- and her longtime companion were found dead in their house in a suburb of Bonn last night, the investigating prosecutor said. The prosecutor, Wolfgang Komp, said that the Green Party founder, Petra Kelly, 44 years old, and her companion, Gert Bastian, 69, both former members of Parliament, had been dead for some time. He said that identification was difficult because their bodies had decomposed.

The bond market fell sharply yesterday, as investors and dealers were said to be positioning themselves for the likelihood that Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas would win the Presidential election and would try to stimulate the economy with increases in Government spending. The plunge in the market suggests how difficult it may be for whoever wins the election to push through a program to reinvigorate the economy. The message from investors, traders and dealers is that bondholders will sell if a stimulus package is deemed too aggressive, pushing the Federal deficit much higher. And if they sell, they could force market interest rates higher and offset any benefits from the stimulus program. Persistent Selloff The market's selloff has been persistent since the first week of October, when investors and dealers were disappointed that the Federal Reserve chose not to lower short-term interest rates another notch after weak September employment figures were released on Oct. 2. The Fed's reluctance to move has had a significant impact on Treasury bills and intermediate-term notes.

The traditional American family has declined so far in New York City that married couples living with their own children now constitute only one in six households. The trend is neither new nor peculiar to New York. But a new analysis of the 1990 census has found that the typical family has been radically redefined.

Runette Giles has to get organized. America's manufacturing future may depend on it. It's not as if she is an unwilling worker. She plugs away steadily in the oppressive heat and humidity of Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.'s factory here, building components for electrical distribution equipment. But disorder is such a fact of her work life that it cuts into productivity, thwarting her own best efforts and threatening the plant's ability to compete with its global rivals.

MORGAN STANLEY STAYING IN NEW YORK The Morgan Stanley Group, the financial services company that had been considering moving its New York City headquarters and as many as 4,100 employees to Stamford, Conn., will remain in the city for at least 10 years, company officials said. The city and state have agreed to $40 million in tax credits and other incentives over the next decade to help keep the company in New York, the officials said. A1. REDEFINING THE FAMILY The traditional American family, a largely mythical political icon in the first place, has declined so far in New York City that married couples living with their own children now constitute only 1 in 6 households. The trend is neither new nor peculiar to New York. But a new analysis of the 1990 census has found that the typical family has been radically redefined. A1. THE EMBATTLED BOARD The squabbling on the Board of Education took two new twists: the majority faction acknowledged that it had sought advice from a political consultant, while the chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corporation warned that the infighting could affect how much money he will turn over to the schools. B3. In tight financial times, guidance counselors feel the pinch. B3. Seeking more black recruits, new Police Commissioner visits WLIB radio. B3. REGION NEW ATTACK ON CAR THEFT The New Jersey State Senate unanimously approved a five-bill package to treat automobile theft and the ramming of police cars as serious crimes rather than juvenile pranks. The legislation, aimed primarily at Newark, where car theft by teen-agers has been at epidemic proportions, imposes mandatory sentences for thefts and "joyriding" in stolen vehicles. B6. AN ADULT APPROACH TO LEARNING The poor economy has taken its toll on class rolls, but adult education programs -- with roots in the Americanization classes for immigrants 75 years ago -- remain popular. In the last decade, enrollment nationwide has doubled, to 15 million, with baby boomers and retired people signing up at colleges, public schools or independent programs for everything from acrylic folk art to yoga. B6. HIGH MARKS FOR METRO-NORTH Most commuters in central Westchester County are happy with the service on the Metro-North Commuter Railroad, according to a survey conducted by Assemblyman Peter M. Sullivan, who has long been a critic of the railroad. He said that 64 percent of those questioned rated the service "pretty good," and 31 percent rated it "excellent." B5. SENATE CANDIDATES WIN BACKING Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan endorsed his fellow Democrat, Robert Abrams, in the United States Senate race in New York. But the incumbent Republican, Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, was also endorsed by some Democrats. B10. ELECTING YET ANOTHER MAYOR Jersey City's voters will elect their fourth mayor in a year next month. To do so they will have to choose among 19 candidates, including two feuding brothers. B10. Our Towns by Andrew Malcolm B6 Chronicle B11

The last Presidential debate, the politicians and pundits said before it began, was President Bush's last best hope to shift the tone and the dynamics of the campaign. Do something different, they told Mr. Bush, or prepare to lose the Presidency on Nov. 3. He changed his ways for the better. There was no looking at his watch in last night's encounter in East Lansing, Mich., as there had been last week, and no suggestion of languor. His message was clear. He did his best to make voters think about character and trust, rather than blaming him for costing them their jobs, even invoking Horace Greeley to the effect that character counts most.

Derrick Forbes's first day at school was like a page torn from a journal of the old South. The afternoon he arrived here from Brooklyn two years ago, the lanky, soft-spoken soccer player waited downtown for a bus. When it arrived, Mr. Forbes said, a police officer blocked his way, forcing him to wait until all the whites had climbed on.