August 17, 1994

As the owner of the Continental Windshield Repair Company in Baton Rouge, La., Marilyn U. Moore would hardly seem qualified to become a communications entrepreneur. But that didn't stop her from bidding a hefty $600,000 recently for a handful of licenses to provide interactive television service over the airwaves. "I believe that interactive television is the wave of the future," said Ms. Moore, who along with hundreds of other people packed into a Washington hotel ballroom three weeks ago and took an entrepreneurial leap of faith that if the Government was holding an auction then there must be something valuable for sale.

JEANE KIRKPATRICK says she has been a feminist all her life. If most people would not readily define her that way, it does not surprise her. "Most people don't really know me at all, if I may say so," she says, sitting at her desk at the American Enterprise Institute, with its arresting view of the Jefferson Memorial. "I mean, most people don't know much about what I think about most anything, beyond some very narrow issues."

Heralded as the wave of the future just a few months ago, electronic fare cards have not caught on with New York City subway riders as quickly as transit officials had hoped. With sales lagging, transit officials have resorted to special discounts, promotions and a radio advertising blitz in recent days to persuade more New Yorkers to try the new Metrocards. Subway officials have even tried handing out the cards free.

Conventional wisdom, and the lucre of those in the business, suggest that the biggest game in town here is property, lots of it, pumping its value to levels beyond even Tokyo's galactic heights, building office and apartment towers with a frenzy. But Gordon Wu, from his office 64 floors above a skyline of mirrored stalagmites, dismisses the way of his fellow tycoons here. "That's for every Tom, Dick, Harry and Trump," he said. "I want to go into infrastructure."

TAX DISPARITY FOR BLACKS IN SUBURBIA During the 1980's, increasing numbers of blacks attained that most potent symbol of the American dream: a home in the suburbs. But in many suburban areas, a census analysis suggests, black homeowners are paying higher property taxes than whites on homes of similar value. A1. SUBWAY RIDERS ARE STICKING WITH TOKENS Heralded as the wave of the future, electronic fare cards have not caught on with New York City subway riders as quickly as transit officials had hoped. Despite special promotions and discounts, many riders appear to be sticking stubbornly with tokens, either out of convenience or from a nostalgic attachment to something they view as a part of New York. A1.