June 28, 1993

The high meadows of the Blue Mountains are full of wild strawberries this month, and the bear grass sprouts smell especially sweet. But these sublimities are mere background to a rush of people crawling along the forest floor in search of mushrooms, the latest and, pound for pound, perhaps most lucrative cash crop to come out of the national forests. Using pocket knives as their only tools, the pickers are stuffing bags with morels, chanterelles, boletus and the gold nugget of wild mushrooms, matsutakes, which sell for up to $70 a pound in Asian retail markets.

When Ron Carey became president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters last year, he was regarded as the living representation of reform. After decades of control by organized crime at the teamsters, it was goodbye to corruption, Mr. Carey vowed. But Federal investigators say Mr. Carey has yet to meet the high standard he set for himself as the first democratically elected head of the 1.4 million-member union.

Argentina takes a step on Monday that no other Latin American country has done: It is selling control of its state oil company, YPF S.A., to local and international investors. The planned sale of nearly $2.5 billion in YPF stock after the close of trading on Monday is perhaps the most graphic illustration of the change in political and economic orientation for Argentina under President Carlos Saul Menem and, by extension, for much of the continent as it emerges from almost two decades of high inflation, protected markets, weak growth and negative industrial investment.

The Economy When Ron Carey became president of the Teamsters, he was seen as the living representation of reform. Now, Federal investigators say he has impeded efforts to purge the union of organized crime and his in-house reforms are half-hearted. [ Page A1. ] Personal bankruptcy filings have been markedly lower in recent months than they were a year earlier, possibly reversing a trend of the last decade. [ D1. ]

Ronald Prince has lived a gay life since his mid-teens. Now 43, he readily recalls moments when he hid his homosexuality rather than face public ridicule. "In high school, when students would poke fun at 'faggots' or 'sissies,' I wouldn't speak up," he said. "I'd go along with the crowd." The facade he kept up included disguising what he considered potentially effeminate mannerisms.

Federal law-enforcement authorities in New York concluded that Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the radical Egyptian cleric, knew details of the plot to detonate bombs across the city and assassinate several officials but were waved off of arresting him at the last minute by the Clinton Administration, Government officials said today. The officials described the decision -- debated in a series of meetings last Tuesday -- as a hairline call ultimately decided by Attorney General Janet Reno on legal and tactical grounds, including Mr. Abdel Rahman's usefulness as a powerful lens through which authorities examined the murky and violent world of Islamic extremism. Evidence Called 'Fuzzy' Moreover, as they considered preparing an arrest complaint, the officials concluded that some of the evidence against the sheik was "fuzzy," as one put it, although investigators were convinced -- on the basis of electronic monitoring -- that he knew about the plot. Their information was less clear about his precise role and how directly he was involved in specific actions, like selecting targets.

So many delicious chances had drifted away, so many seemingly insurmountable leads had dissipated on this road trip that the Yankees never felt safe. So when Harold Baines hit a harmless two-out grounder to second that suddenly nicked a clump of dirt and rolled up Pat Kelly's arm with the tying run buzzing home from third in the eighth inning today, the Yankees gasped. Not again. Please, not this again. Their gasps never turned to groans. Instead, they turned to glee when Kelly deftly fielded the tricky grounder that Steve Howe induced and completed the difficult play to maintain the one-run lead. Then the Yankees exhibited some muscle in the ninth inning, blasting the Baltimore bullpen for three runs on Danny Tartabull's monstrous two-run homer and Don Mattingly's double to escape from Camden Yards with a 9-5 victory. Orioles Cooled Off They could not wait to gloat, and then leave. Fast.

Haiti Talks Under Way United Nations diplomats began talks in New York with Haiti's military leader and its exiled President, hoping to restore him to power. Page A3. Tokyo Sends a Message Japan's leading parties did poorly in Tokyo elections, which were seen as a referendum on the country's national political scandal. Page A3. Rare Latin American Oil Sale Argentina is taking a step no other Latin American country has tried: selling control of its state oil company to stock-market investors. Page D1. Popular New State Park In the four weeks since Riverbank State Park opened atop a sewage treatment plant in Harlem, people have been using it in droves. Page B1. Embarrassment of Losses Mets pitcher Anthony Young's 24th consecutive loss set a major league record. SportsMonday, page C1.

The people asked the silliest of questions. "Don't you want the record, Anthony?" they asked, wide-eyed, as they hovered over his table. "Wouldn't it be nice to have it? To be in the record books?"

Federal investigators have determined that the Pentagon misled Congress about the cost and the necessity of many weapons built in the 1980's to counter the forces of the Soviet Union. Eight reports from a three-year study by the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, show a pattern of exaggeration and deception by military leaders. The reports, which are scheduled to be discussed this week in a Senate hearing, found that the Pentagon understated the cost of nuclear missiles, overstated the radar-evading ability of new nuclear bombers and exaggerated the threat posed by Soviet defenses.

Almost everybody likes the idea of clean, quiet electric cars, but at today's relatively high prices -- from the mid-$20,000's for a small car to $100,000 for a mini-van -- almost nobody buys them. So they remain impossible to mass-produce, which means that prices stay high. Now, a new analysis has concluded that the impasse could be broken if Federal and state governments would commit themselves to large-scale purchases of the vehicles, an idea that some Federal officials cautiously agree has merit.

White House officials said today that their only regret about the missile attack on the Iraqi intelligence headquarters was that there was no CNN crew there to broadcast the event live so it could be watched in the Sudan, Iran and other countries suspected of involvement in terrorism. Administration officials said they had no conclusive evidence that the Sudanese or Iranian intelligence services were involved with the Muslims recently arrested in the New York area and accused of plotting to bomb the United Nations and other sites.