August 22, 1994

When Federal mediators succeeded last week in setting the stage for resumption of talks in the baseball strike, with owners at the bargaining table, one baseball person remarked that there might be light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel, though, may be miles longer than he thinks. The return to the bargaining table for the first time since the first day of the strike, Aug. 12, could lead to positive developments, but neither side is predicting that, and at least one owner yesterday foresaw the potential for relations to deteriorate from their already low level.

J. Morton Davis, a wealthy investment banker, had put both his money and his mouth firmly behind Richard M. Rosenbaum's gubernatorial campaign until his phone rang a few weeks ago. It was Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, calling to plead for George E. Pataki, the Republican candidate he has led -- sometimes literally by the hand -- through the 1994 campaign. A few days later, Mr. Davis, who had already contributed $6,000 to Mr. Rosenbaum, sent Mr. Pataki a check for $25,000.

Rarely has the House of Representatives been more ready for a recess. Capitol Hill has become an edgy, unhappy place in recent weeks, and the reasons run deeper than the grueling fight over the crime bill, the long delay of the August break or the immensity of the health care challenge. Many lawmakers say it has simply become one of the most partisan sessions they can remember. Yes, there are moments of bipartisan cooperation, like the hunt of the "mainstream coalition" for a health care compromise in the Senate, or the moderate Republicans' efforts in the House on the deal for a crime bill.

The Chrysler Corporation recently rolled out a new compact sedan, the Cirrus, aimed at value-conscious import buyers. Chrysler promises that the car will offer plenty for the money, which means it better offer an awful lot: The base price is an eye-popping $17,970. Perhaps the most astonishing thing about the price is that it makes the Cirrus one of the cheapest competitors in its segment, which includes the Honda Accord and Nissan Altima.

AFTER THE PEACE: D'AMATO VS. CUOMO After years of enjoying a seeming non-aggression pact with Mario M. Cuomo, Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato has helped George E. Pataki become a competitive challenger to New York's third-term Democratic Governor. Mr. D'Amato, who had little to do with the 1986 or 1990 gubernatorial campaigns, said in an interview last week that his active participation in this year's race was motivated purely by a desire to improve state government.

In an unusual effort to enlist big business in the economic development of New York City, a prominent group of executives is trying to raise $100 million in private funds to invest in such diverse projects as a new Central Park restaurant, expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and keeping the Yankees in the Bronx. The New York City Partnership, whose members include the top executives of more than 150 of the city's largest companies, said those companies and many wealthy individuals would be asked to donate $1 million each to the fund, which would be operated with no intent to turn a profit.

As the N.A.A.C.P. sought to put its financial and administrative house in order after the abrupt dismissal on Saturday night of its executive director, the Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the ousted leader today called his dismissal a "crucifixion" and hinted he might sue the civil rights organization. Appearing at a Baltimore church today with Louis Farrakhan, the minister of the National of Islam, and several other leaders of militant black groups, Mr. Chavis sounded alternately conciliatory and angry over the decision of the board to end his contract after a stormy 16-month tenure. Using religious metaphors, Mr. Chavis suggested that he intends to remain active in the civil rights struggle.

The three men made no effort to disguise their faces, showed little concern that the woman's cries for help might be heard by passers-by, and raped her only 200 yards from a police station, near Prospect Park in Brooklyn last May. But the rapists' nerve had limits. One by one, the victim told police, each man paused, reached into a pocket, tore open a small plastic wrapper and put on a condom. Even at their most brazen, investigators said, the attackers could not shed the fear of contracting AIDS. In what might be an unforeseen consequence of sex education, rapists are increasingly wearing condoms. Five years ago investigators would have been surprised by a victim's statement that her assailant used a condom. Today detectives, prosecutors and counselors say that it is no longer unusual.

When the giant flea market outside the Rose Bowl opens at dawn, bargain hunters from Thailand and Japan are the first on the field. Pockets bulging with wads of $100 bills and carting big empty suitcases strapped to luggage dollies, they load up on American artifacts like weathered leather jackets and rock-and-roll memorabilia. But the real quarry is used jeans -- especially Levis -- which can fetch as much as several thousand dollars back home.

Bobbie Sylvester had been a home economics teacher in Salt Lake City until she decided to become a travel agent 20 years ago. "My best day as a home economics teacher wasn't as good as my worst day as a travel agent," she used to boast. But now, with people and businesses pinching their travel pennies and with a big decline in the percentage of agency revenue from airline commissions -- the agents' traditional bread and butter -- hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the nation's 32,500 travel agencies are struggling to survive.

With no letup in the flood of refugees from Cuba, the Clinton Administration angrily accused the Castro Government of orchestrating the exodus and warned that further steps, including a blockade, would be considered unless meaningful steps were taken toward democracy. Article, page A10.

Responding to mounting protests by neighborhood groups in New York City over the placement of social-service programs, the New York State Office of Mental Health has decided to allow greater community say in the development of large residences for the mentally ill. The new policy requires for the first time that city and state lawmakers be notified within five days when a nonprofit agency signs a contract for a site in their districts, and requires a 75-day period for public comment. State officials and representatives from the nonprofit agency must also attend any public meetings to discuss a project, and the Office of Mental Health must explain why it chose to accept or reject the site.