May 18, 1993

In towns across England, U S West and other American telephone companies have been getting a sneak preview for the past several years of their industry's rapid convergence with the entertainment business -- and they very much like what they see. Just how much was clear in U S West's decision, confirmed by the companies in New York today, to invest in Time Warner's cable and film operations. The deal brings together for the first time on a large scale in the United States two industries that have been feeling each other out in what amounts to a huge test market here in Britain. A Less-Regulated Environment "The decision to do the Time Warner deal had as a fundamental basis an understanding of these converging businesses," said Dick Callahan, the president of U S West International, which offers both phone and cable television service in Britain. "It would have been very difficult to make the kind of deal we made -- and certainly the size of deal we made -- without the base of history and experience we have gained in the U.K."

In spite of expectations of reduced earnings for doctors and restrictions on professional autonomy under the health-care changes expected to be proposed by the Clinton Administration, people are applying to medical school in record numbers. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, applications for the 1993-94 school year are at an all-time high. Final tabulations of applications for next year will exceed the record of 42,621 set in 1974-75, the association says. There are now 16,500 places available.

Companies Two former Manufacturers Hanover vice presidents were indicted and charged with using improper influence and inside knowledge to buy Colombian Government debt at a discount and reap hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal profit. The indictment revealed the existence of an investigation into the largely unregulated foreign debt market by the Manhattan District Attorney and the Federal Reserve. [ Page D1. ] Time Warner's chairman, Gerald M. Levin, has reassured both Wall Street and his own managers of his ability to bring together an unwieldy group of egos allied in the merger of Time and Warner Communications in the six months since the death of Steven J. Ross, his predecessor. [ D1. ]

Reacting to protests about the burning of toxic chemical wastes in Ohio, Arkansas and over a dozen other states, the Clinton Administration plans to bar the development of new hazardous waste incinerators for 18 months. The policy, developed under Carol M. Browner, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, calls for freezing the capacity of the nation's hazardous waste incinerators, forbidding them to burn more than the current level of roughly three million tons of chemical byproducts a year, E.P.A. officials said today. Major Issue in Ohio There are 184 hazardous waste incinerators in the United States. Under the order, no new ones could be built unless old ones were closed. This would probably result in a temporary halt in the development and construction of new incinerators, the officials said, giving the agency more time to develop tougher health, safety and environmental requirements for existing plants.

In the nearly five months since he took over as chairman of Time Warner, after the death of Steven J. Ross, Gerald M. Levin has quietly wooed the support of two key constituencies: Wall Street and his own managers. He has brought together an unwieldy group of egos, allied in the merger of Time and Warner, and, in an era of technological chaos, has, for better or worse, charted an aggressive path to the future. The biggest commitment to that vision was the deal formally announced yesterday under which U S West, one of the seven regional Bell operating companies, will invest $2.5 billion in Time Warner to bring programming to subscribers over a cable superhighway.