April 21, 1994

For the second time in recent months, Khalid Abdul Muhammad of the Nation of Islam delivered a fiery speech at Howard University about the plight of blacks and the sins of whites, particularly Jews, while the audience of 1,500 cheered wildly. But when someone asked during the rally on Tuesday how many in the audience were Howard students, no more than 50 hands were raised. The moment crystallized the problem that Howard University faces: how to deal with a small but vocal group of students who have transformed the image of the 126-year-old university.

Second Lieut. Laura Ashley Piper could have been a walking billboard for military recruitment. Fluent in Russian and German, a champion rugby player, she was a 25-year-old Air Force officer on the fast track who jumped at a challenge the way children jump at ice cream. Col. Jerald L. Thompson, 48, of the Army spoke 10 dialects of Arabic and had received dozens of medals for battlefield heroics in a career dating from the Vietnam War. But most of all, friends recalled his stoutness of heart, like the compassion he showed to a young American soldier in the Persian Gulf war whose gun accidentally discharged and killed a fellow soldier.

It will cost an extra $200 a month, but Kipp and Andrea Good are going to buy a house anyway, even though the recent spike in interest rates has made their move to the Westchester suburbs of New York City more expensive. There are a lot of Americans out there like the Goods, who have been caught as long-term interest rates have shot up more than a percentage point since February. But economists reckon that most consumers will, as the Goods have done, shrug off the higher rates that have sent the stock and bond markets into a tailspin.

The former President remained in critical condition, battling a swelling in the brain, a potentially fatal complication of the stroke he suffered on Monday. The condition, cerebral edema, can put pressure on the brain stem and compromise many of the body's vital functions. Article, page A12.

In a wide-ranging speech on religion and politics, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said last night that civic tolerance must include acceptance of people's right to express religious views, whether liberal or conservative -- including opposition to gay marchers in the St. Patrick's Day parade. The thought was part of a highly personal address, delivered at a memorial for the late Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, in which the Mayor discussed the importance of religious values and, in particular, how Roman Catholicism had provided the moral structure for his life.