April 4, 1993

THE Final Four. It's so big now. Dean Smith can remember when he couldn't give away his two competitor's tickets in 1952, but now it's an annual convention of biggies. No underdogs, no outsiders, no Sycamores need apply. These were the big boys assembled here last evening: four teams that had all been rated the best team in the country at some point during the season. Now it will be either Michigan or North Carolina, and the first impulse is to say that Michigan has tremendous energy coming out of its 81-78 escape over Kentucky in overtime last night, but as Smith said, "It's a good thing we have the rest day in between."

WHAT REMAINS AND OTHER STORIES By Christa Wolf. Translated by Heike Schwarzbauer and Rick Takvorian. 295 pp. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $25. THE AUTHOR'S DIMENSION Selected Essays. By Christa Wolf. Introduction by Grace Paley. Edited by Alexander Stephan. Translated by Jan Van Heurck. 336 pp. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $27.50.

For four years Lilia Telberg complained to her doctors about unrelenting fatigue. Her blood count was low, and her blood pressure was high. But no matter how many times she returned and no matter how many tests she took, they could find nothing wrong.

There is no receptionist at the front desk of the Riverside County Planning Department. A revolving sign assures visitors that "someone will be with you in a few moments." Another notes that the agency is closed every other Friday. Just beyond is a cavernous open area filled with empty desks. One of the fastest growing counties in California -- its rate of growth was 10 percent in 1989 and 6.4 percent in 1992 -- Riverside is a typical example of an area that has grown to depend on real estate impact fees to pay for vital services and develop infrastructure. When times were good, the fees helped municipalities and counties grow by making development pay for its effect on the community, like the need for more or wider roads, sewers, schools, parks, fire protection and other services.

Four towers designed by Cesar Pelli anchor a major development on a vast waterfront site in New York. It sounds like Battery Park City, but the description could apply to the Queens West project in Hunters Point. Cesar Pelli and Associates of New Haven is to work with Frank Williams and Associates of Manhattan on four apartment buildings, with about 1,500 units, as part of the first stage of Queens West. The goal is "fine architecture that's affordable for middle-income New Yorkers," said Herbert J. Sturz, president of the Trotwood Corporation.