July 27, 1994

Gary Sinise steps onto the patio of a restaurant near Beverly Hills and stops at one table to shake hands with an old friend. Then at another table. And finally a third. He's wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, a sports jacket and small granny glasses with purple lenses. Other people on the patio glance up quizzically and seem to be whispering, 'Who is this familiar-looking guy?' Mr. Sinise removes his glasses, sets them on the table and smiles faintly.

The faculty, with one professor for every eight students, offers unparalleled access to eager young scholars. The research facilities include everything from a 24-inch refracting telescope to a library with three-quarters of a million volumes. And when collegians need a break, there is always the option of a game of squash or a stroll around the 325 lushly planted acres. Swarthmore is one of a handful of colleges that offer a superb liberal arts curriculum to a bright and diverse student body. "It's the Lexus of higher education," William Spock, Swarthmore's vice president for finance, says with pride.

The ease with which President Clinton, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussein of Jordan got along these last two days was palpable. They wore their respect for one another on their sleeves, bantering freely, shaking hands with real warmth and clearly enjoying doing business as equals. And that could be really dangerous -- especially for Yasir Arafat.

By the time the Federal Communications Commission's first auction of the public airwaves adjourned for the day today, bids had more than doubled from Monday's surprisingly steep opening round and were still climbing. "It's a slugfest," said David H. Brock of Metrocall, a paging company in Alexandria, Va., that was not participating in the bidding. The sale covered 10 nationwide licenses, which are expected to be used for advanced two-way paging services. "From what I've seen so far, several companies must have budgeted $150 million, $200 million for this auction," Mr. Brock said.

Despite a 40 percent drop in net earnings and flat revenue in its second quarter, RJR Nabisco reported continued expansion in its international tobacco business and strong performance by its food business yesterday, prompting speculation anew on the likelihood of separating the tobacco and food operations. Earnings were $46 million, or 1 cent a share, down from $77 million, or 6 cents a share, in the second quarter last year for RJR Nabisco, the makers of Winston cigarettes, Oreo cookies, Life Savers and Planters nuts.