May 15, 1994

Theirs is the emigre story with a post-cold war postscript. They came for freedom -- to think and write and speak. Some were visiting, but became stranded when things back home in Eastern Europe turned nasty. Others came for good, assuming they would never look back. Time passed and they became Americans and New Yorkers. They found work in universities, theaters, journals. They made the leap, painful as it was, to writing in English. Their children grew up here, listening to Pearl Jam.

WHEN Karl Lagerfeld and Gianni Versace made separate appearances on the PBS talk show "Charlie Rose," neither evoked the time-honored image of the couturier to describe his role. There was no rapturous talk of fondling fabrics or precision cutting. Instead, in defining themselves as designers, both chose imagery from the very medium that was beaming them to Mr. Rose's culture-minded viewers. Mr. Versace said his greatest asset was "a fast vision of work, like an antenna." He continued, "You know, I love to live in an airport, to see what happens around me, not in an ivory tower."

The residents of the pleasant middle-class neighborhood of Kyodo never imagined themselves as firebrands. But when they heard that the Government planned to improve the old commuter rail line crossing the area's narrow streets with a multibillion-dollar elevated railway, they did something extraordinary: They demanded to know why. Traditionally, the Government bureaucracy has made such judgments in secret, and the people have simply had to endure them, with few means of taking part in the process or shaping the outcome. But faced with the destruction of their neighborhood's quiet charm, a group of Kyodo residents wanted to know why this plan had been chosen over less disruptive alternatives, like tunneling.

AS the weather grows warmer, more drivers will be rolling up their windows and turning on their air-conditioners. Some will be disappointed when nothing but accelerated warm air flows from the vents. In the past, repairing an auto air-conditioner was often easy. A technician would pump in new refrigerant to replace any that leaked away in the winter, and check for leaks.

U.S. May Arm Cambodia The United States and Australia are considering a request by King Norodom Sihanouk to supply arms to Cambodia after recent victories by the Khmer Rouge rebels. Page 20. Warning on Racial Hatred Gen. Colin L. Powell told Howard University's graduating class that blacks could not afford "a detour into the swamp of hatred." Page 28. Two Who Diverged The death of a suspect in police custody on Staten Island involved two men who came from the same place but who were on opposite sides of the world of drugs. Page 33. Knicks' Harper Suspended Derek Harper was banned for two playoff games for fighting with the Bulls' Jo Jo English, who will miss one game. SportsSunday, section 8.