December 1, 1992

SCIENTISTS' understanding of what causes the Earth's great ice ages has been confronted by a major challenge: a record of ancient temperatures that seems directly contradictory to established theory. The record comes from a deep crack in the Earth in Nevada, called Devils Hole, and consists of a core drilled from layers of minerals deposited on the walls of the crack over the last 560,000 years. A pattern of isotopes in the Devils Hole core yields both the date each deposit was laid down and the temperature at the time. Scientists analyzing the record found to their great surprise that the succession of cold periods differed significantly from the accepted chronology of ice ages, as reconstructed from records in sediments on the sea floor.

Victoria Keyes, a nurse at Children's Hospital here, pays a check-cashing store roughly $13 every two weeks to cash her paycheck of about $500. A bank would charge far less, but there is not one within walking distance of her house in the poor Washington neighborhood of Anacostia. Miss Keyes, who makes $24,000 a year, closed her last checking account because her bank started requiring minimum monthly balances in lieu of service fees -- neither of which she could afford, she said. Turning Away From Banks Miss Keyes knows by experience what consumer groups have come to conclude: the deregulation of financial services in the 1980's has made banking services unavailable or beyond the financial reach of many low-income people. Many have turned instead to cash-checking outlets that consumer-rights groups and state regulators accuse of widespread price gouging.

In a highly unusual deal certain to be closely watched in the television industry, ABC announced yesterday that it had formed a partnership with the creators of the hit comedy series "Home Improvement" that would guarantee the show three more years on the network and set up a profit-sharing arrangement between ABC and the show's creators for two future comedy series. In contrast, almost all prime-time shows are renewed on a year-by-year basis, depending on their success in the ratings.

Open economic warfare broke out between New York and New Jersey today after Gov. Jim Florio announced a statewide program under which New Jersey would take partial ownership of commercial buildings in exchange for helping to pay for outfitting the buildings and moving tenants into them. Vincent Tese, New York State's director of economic development, said New York would retaliate by starting, within two weeks, a marketing program aimed specifically at persuading New Jersey companies to move across the Hudson. He had previously threatened to begin such a program in response to New Jersey's growing aggressiveness in wooing New York businesses.

The Economy The Commerce Department imposed temporary import taxes on steel from France, Italy, Germany, South Korea and eight other countries, saying they had given their domestic producers deals that provided an unfair advantage in the United States. [ Page D1. ] The nation's merchandise trade deficit widened sharply in the third quarter. [ D2. ] Prices paid to farmers fell. [ D13. ]

In appearances before Federal and state judges today, Arthur D. Seale was sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping, extortion and murder of Sidney J. Reso, a senior Exxon official. "What you have done is thoroughly evil," said Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. of United States District Court in Trenton. "Your actions were not for any cause. They were not rash or impulsive. They were cold-blooded and calculated. To the extent you seek mercy you will be given the same you gave your innocent victim -- none."

LATEST SALVO IN ECONOMIC WAR Open economic warfare broke out between New York and New Jersey after Governor Florio announced a program under which New Jersey would take partial ownership of commercial buildings in exchange for helping to pay for outfitting the buildings and moving tenants into them. New York's plans to retaliate with a marketing program aimed at persuading New Jersey companies to move across the Hudson would mean the collapse of a so-called non-aggression pact signed in October 1991 by New York State, New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut. A1. NEW YORK CITY FERNANDEZ FACES BOARD'S DEFIANCE

Just as the telephone industry seemed to have ended nearly a decade of bickering over the best way to modernize phone lines with new technology, a new split threatens to thwart its efforts once again. Threatened by looming competition from cable television companies and specialized fiber-optic carriers, the telephone companies had counted on a new digital technology to expand the capacity of their aging copper wires. But the companies have not been able to decide how fast to modernize, how much to charge for new services and, most important, how to choose technical standards that would allow customers using different brands of equipment to communicate with each other.

After months of civic tumult on issues of race, fear and anger that may well affect its outcome, next year's New York City mayoral race is all but officially under way, and the three candidates who have declared their intentions are busy planning their campaigns and raising pots of money to prove it. Just a year ago, a range of politicians considered Mayor David N. Dinkins gravely wounded, buffeted by severe fiscal problems and his own missteps. But he has rebounded in the polls in recent months, and last night he celebrated his improved fortunes -- and the challenges still ahead -- with a $1,000-a-plate dinner at the Sheraton New York, presided over by one of the country's favorite funny men and his occasional weekend host, Bill Cosby, and featuring a laser show with smoke machines and beams of light that spelled his name as the ballroom erupted in cheers.

Lowering the dollar's value against other major currencies was supposed to be a simple way for the industrialized nations to even out global trade imbalances. In theory, American exports would be cheaper while imports became more expensive and less attractive to Americans: think cheap Levis in Berlin and unaffordable BMW's in Boston. Then think again.

New York City's Fire Commissioner, Carlos M. Rivera, who said last Wednesday that he would retire next month, announced yesterday that he had changed his mind and would remain in his post. Mr. Rivera, who had cited "family reasons and health considerations" in announcing his resignation, said yesterday that he had reversed his decision after talking further with his family. But mayoral aides, union leaders and other officials suggested other factors that might have led to his sudden change of heart.

American steelmakers won the first round today in their struggle for tougher protection from imports, as the Commerce Department imposed temporary import taxes on steel from 12 countries. The action came as the department determined that France, Italy, Germany, South Korea and eight other countries had given their domestic steel producers a range of special loans and other financial deals that provided them an unfair advantage in the United States steel market.