August 15, 1994

President Kim Young Sam of South Korea today formally offered to supply North Korea with modern nuclear power plants if the North will open its nuclear program to international inspections. The offer of light-water reactors, made in a modestly conciliatory speech this morning, came two days after the United States and North Korea agreed on measures to settle the nuclear issue, and could be a major step toward realizing that goal.

When Ronald Ward moved his family into the Howard Houses in Brownsville, Brooklyn, more than 30 years ago, the public housing project had no swimming pool, no playgrounds and no handball courts. And for years the park that now occupies a spot in the middle of the complex was nothing more than a patch of dirt. But despite the addition of these amenities to the 14-building project over the years, the quality of life there has declined considerably, residents say. And that is because it has been invaded by a small-scale, but very destructive drug trade.

Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is a man in the difficult position of trying to tiptoe as close as possible to a line he cannot see and must not cross. Mr. Greenspan wants the economy to grow as near as possible at the level that economists call its maximum sustainable capacity -- that is, the greatest growth that does not produce inflationary pressure as factories pile on overtime and bid up the prices of raw material.

They saved their best for last, but it wasn't quite enough to dispel all thoughts that the world has moved closer to the United States. Not that much closer. Probably not close enough be a serious threat at Atlanta in 1996. Just small steps in the right direction. Throughout the world basketball championships, which concluded here today with a 137-91 United States thrashing of Russia at the Skydome in the gold-medal game, there were signs. Maybe the best was the gleam in Sergei Belov's eyes when Russia's coach said of the National Basketball Association millionaires: "They are human. Top-notch professionals, but definitely human."

BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO RESEARCH ALLEY Since 1876, when Thomas Edison opened the Menlo Park laboratory where he invented the electric light and the phonograph, the marriage between science and business has found a home in New Jersey. For all the continuing breakthroughs by the 125,000 scientists and engineers working in the state, though, one question stands out: where are dynamic new enterprises growing up locally to take advantage of the inventions born in New Jersey labs? At least one group -- the David Sarnoff Research Center in Princeton -- is trying to fill the void. A1. WOODSTOCK '94 WINDS TO A MUDDY CLOSE The 25th anniversary Woodstock celebration wound down in a sea of mud and trash amid evidence of anarchy. Security deteriorated, and emergency medical workers compared the scene at times to a war zone. But the promoters pronounced the event a huge success. A1.