July 12, 1994

Teamsters Chief Cleared Ron Carey, who became head of the teamsters union on a pledge to uproot corruption, was cleared of allegations of ties to organized crime. Page B2. U.S. Challenge to Germany President Clinton urged Germany to join in a partnership to integrate the former Communist nations of Eastern Europe with the West. Page A7. AIDS Test Royalties Revised The royalties on the AIDS blood test will be reapportioned in favor of the French co-discoverers, a Federal official said. Science Times, page C10. Vexing Search for a Gene The gene for the hereditary form of breast cancer has proven surprisingly elusive. Science Times, page C1. Dollar Continues Its Slide The dollar fell against the mark and yen as the White House took no major steps to brake its descent. Page D1. A2 Arts

Gregory Morris had wanted a bicycle. He wanted it so badly that he and his friends went hunting for one last summer in Prospect Park. When Allyn Winslow, a 42-year-old drama teacher, rode by on his blue mountain bike, Gregory handed his .22-caliber revolver to a friend and shouted "Get him! Get him!" The friend shot Mr. Winslow in the back, but the dying man managed to pedal away. In losing out on the bicycle, the young Mr. Morris got a legal break.

MY TATE of Richmond is thinking about something no 23-year-old should have to consider: getting rid of her healthy young breasts. Already her family has suffered enough misery to satisfy Sophocles. Her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39 and died of it eight years later, her body a brutal tapestry of surgical scars and radiation burns. In 1989, Ms. Tate's aunt, Mary Jo Ellis Kahn, also learned she had breast cancer, at age 39. As Ms. Kahn was in the hospital having her mastectomy, Ms. Tate's mother, Judi Ellis, discovered that she, too, had breast cancer, at age 41. Both women went through months of harsh chemotherapy, which was enough to persuade Ms. Tate's other two maternal aunts, Charlynn Ross and Lauran Ellis, to have prophylactic mastectomies in their mid-30's.

Nothing about the last 18 months of the health care struggle has been easy, least of all for a public trying to make sense of it all. But Congress is now leaving the rapids of health care and heading for the falls. The next five weeks, leading up to what Democratic leaders hope will be a vote on a health care law, will test Congress, the White House, the two parties and the masses of organized interest groups in ways they have never been tested before.

If some of Wall Street's financial engineers have their way, an exotic corporate financing tool known as targeted stock will be coming soon to a company near you. When it does, some experts advise, run for the hills.