October 28, 1994

This summer, the number of inmates in America's prisons topped one million for the first time, the Justice Department said today, releasing a survey that reflected decades of demands for tougher punishments. The survey, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, found that 1,012,851 men and women were in state and Federal prisons on June 30. The bureau said the country's prison population grew by nearly 40,000 inmates in the first six months of this year, equivalent to 1,500 new prisoners a week. This figure does not include inmates in local jails, like Rikers Island in New York. In 1992, the last time they were counted, 445,000 people were in local jails.

William F. Meyer Jr. drew his last breaths with his head encased in a plastic bag. It was an inelegant but expedient way to end his life instead of succumbing slowly to the cancer that had begun in his colon and spread to his lungs. "I happily decided that it was more kind and thoughtful of me to terminate my life before I reached a decadent condition of helplessness," the 88-year-old Mr. Meyer wrote in a letter that he had photocopied, addressed, stamped and left to be mailed to some 80 friends and relatives.

President Clinton made a one-day venture into shuttle diplomacy today in hopes of speeding the way toward an Israeli-Syrian peace. He said he won some private assurances from President Hafez al-Assad of Syria that could speed the peace talks but did not get from the Syrian leader a message that aides had hoped might soothe an anxious Israeli public. Instead, as Mr. Clinton became the first American President in 20 years to visit Damascus, the Syrian capital, Mr. Assad used a joint appearance with Mr. Clinton to question why Israelis should fear for their security if they were to surrender the Golan Heights and to ask why anyone should expect him to visit Israel as a show of good will.

A vengeful cop guns down a drug dealer for selling coma-inducing heroin to his cousin. It turns out, however, that the cousin got the drugs from someone else, and the police officer had killed the wrong person. Facing arrest, the cop shoots himself. Drugs, violence, sidestepping the law, suicide. Given headlines this year, you might think this is another horror story from the New York City Police Department. Actually, it is taken from a recent episode of a new Fox show, "New York Undercover," one of three network series focusing on New York City police. The other two are NBC's "Law and Order," in its fifth season, and ABC's "N.Y.P.D. Blue," which made its debut a year ago.

PATAKI FOCUSES ON ENDORSEMENT'S PRICE State Senator George E. Pataki's campaign allies suggested that they would use Mayor Guiliani's endorsement of Governor Cuomo to their advantage by telling voters outside the city that Mr. Cuomo would have to pay Mr. Giuliani back with fiscal help to the city. A1. Most of the Cuomo campaign operatives are longtime Cuomo aides and friends. B5.