December 12, 1994

Reported violent crime on college campuses in the region increased by 10 to 20 percent in 1993 from 1992, according to the F.B.I.'s index crime statistics. The Federal Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act, which took effect in 1992, requires colleges and universities that receive Federal funds to make public their security policies and the number of reported on-campus crimes. Reported property crimes, which vastly outnumber violent crimes, declined in 1993. Making intercampus comparisons is difficult, as statistics are affected by several factors: the characteristics of the surrounding community, accessibility of the campus to visitors, enrollment, and so on. But the large state university campuses in the area had similar crime rates in 1993.

Federal officials said today that a mail bomb that killed a prominent advertising executive here on Saturday was sent by the same man who has mounted a string of similar attacks since 1978, striking targets across the corporate and academic landscape in one of the most notorious unsolved crime sprees in the nation's recent history. The death of the executive in this wealthy suburb about 15 miles from New York City deepened the mystery of the bomber. The suspect, described as an anarchist with a mastery of explosives and a grudge against the influence of technology in society, has long eluded a team of Federal investigators that has roamed from Connecticut to California trying to track him down.

While the Federal Reserve is clearly determined to raise short-term interest rates further, comments by the central bank's top two officials suggest that it may not act at the next meeting of its policy-making committee on Dec. 20, preferring to wait until January or early February. The delay seems likely because top Fed officials made clear last week that they wanted to weigh information on the economy's health that would not be available until January. Fed officials also expressed little concern that any tax cuts would widen the budget deficit and feed inflation next year.

WHEN the Giants were in their seven-game losing streak, they were going nowhere. But with a four-game winning streak, they're going to Philadelphia. If the Giants extend the Eagles' losing streak to six next Sunday, they would be assured of finishing ahead of the Eagles in each team's struggle to qualify for the Super Bowl XXIX playoffs, along with the Vikings, Bears, Lions, Packers and the Cardinals.

The shift to a Republican-controlled Congress in January is likely to make it more difficult for the Securities and Exchange Commission to expand its regulatory activities and for investors to pursue claims of fraud against the securities industry. In interviews last week, more than a dozen legislators, staff aides, industry executives and regulators agreed that an expanded S.E.C. budget to provide for more examiners to oversee mutual funds and investment advisers and to upgrade consumer education would collide with Republican concerns that the agency is already too intrusive and creates unnecessary expenses for the industry.