October 4, 1993

In a mayoral contest that most experts say is now too close to call, one sure bet is that most black votes will go to David N. Dinkins. But many black ministers, politicians and neighborhood leaders contend that the Mayor's support among black voters is neither as monolithic nor as enthusiastic as it once was, suggesting that more black people than usual might decide not to vote at all. To be sure, recent opinion polls show the Mayor drawing support from about 90 percent of black people. It is not considered likely that black Democrats would switch to vote for Rudolph W. Giuliani. But some who have informally canvassed black voters suggest there is nonetheless disappointment with Mr. Dinkins and his nearly four years in office.

A series of violent kidnappings by Chinatown street criminals in recent weeks appears to be a brutal side effect of turmoil within the Fuk Ching, the gang most deeply involved in smuggling illegal immigrants from China, experts on Asian organized crime and law-enforcement officials say. After the arrests of the gang's leaders in a Federal crackdown in late August, a leadership vacuum has allowed independent groups in the Fujianese community to take over criminal activities once controlled by the Fuk Ching, the officials say.

When the Upper Deck Company emerged from nowhere in 1989 with an expensive, premium-quality baseball card that made the other companies' products look like 1950's throwbacks, it jolted a complacent industry accustomed to producing traditional cardboard pictures of ballplayers. "They're the pulse of the hobby," said Doug Kale, editor of Sports Card Trader, a publication whose readers named Upper Deck the card of the year.

AIDS TESTING GROWS COMMON ON CAMPUS Ten or 20 years ago, contraception and the prevention of treatable sexually transmitted diseases were the biggest issues facing sexually active students. Now, confronting AIDS has become the latest rite of passage, and more and more college students are rolling up their sleeves to take an AIDS test. A1. NEW YORK CITY FOR DINKINS, SIGNS OF WEAKENED SUPPORT In a mayoral contest that most experts say is now too close to call, one sure bet is that most black votes will go to David N. Dinkins. But many black ministers, politicians and neighborhood leaders contend that the Mayor's support among black voters is neither as monolithic nor as enthusiastic as it once was, suggesting that more black people than usual might decide not to vote at all. A1.

Elizabeth Rockett, a New York University senior, has gone to the health center on the bustling campus for the usual rites of passage for a modern female student, like getting birth control pills and gynecological care. Then, two weeks ago, she called there for something that reflects her generation's new approach to sex and mortality: a referral for an AIDS test. "I had to work up my courage," Ms. Rockett said of her decision to have the blood test, which detects antibodies to H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. It was a relief but not a surprise to learn that her test was negative. Her fiance had already tested negative. 'Something You Should Know' "It seemed like something you should know," said Ms. Rockett, 24, a politics major who plans to marry in December. "I would just hate for them two years later to say, 'You're pregnant and you have H.I.V.' Do you want to enter a marriage like that?"