January 29, 1995

WHEN JENNIFER LAWSON, the head of programming at the Public Broadcasting Service, announced PBS's spring television schedule at a news conference in Los Angeles this month, "Peggy Noonan on Values," a new series whose host made her name as a speechwriter for Presidents Reagan and Bush, was in the spotlight. The unveiling of the series was, if nothing else, well timed: with the new Republican Congress threatening to eliminate Government money for public television, PBS seemed to find in Ms. Noonan the "anti-Moyers," a host that even Speaker Newt Gingrich could like. But judging by questions fired by the television critics at the conference, some suspected that the PBS executives had caved in. Was the conservative Ms. Noonan being served up as an offering to the hostile Republicans? And what were her qualifications as a PBS host and values authority? As the questions flew, Ms. Lawson once again found herself in the position of having to defend the sometimes curious choices of her programming group.

IF you shoot a man enough times, he's sure to fall down. The tricky part is aiming the shots in a way that will knock him down without killing him. Wall Street now believes that with six shots the Fed has succeeded in slowing the economy. Everyone knows the Fed will fire its seventh shot this week, although there is a debate over whether it will choose to fire even more shots and over the severity of the wounds that will be inflicted.

Brown Loans Detailed Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown gained at least $400,000 from the sale of his stake in a company, and Congressional investigators are focusing on a $78,000 loan forgiven by a former business partner. Page 21. Hanoi Files Reopened A new book based on Vietnamese military archives asserts that Hanoi withheld considerable information on American prisoners of war for decades. Page 8. New Hope Against AIDS Even though results are preliminary, a new class of drugs is showing itself highly effective against AIDS, at least in the short term. Page 24.

The latest round of trade negotiations between the United States and China broke down in Beijing today, and the United States Trade Representative, Mickey Kantor, threatened to impose steep tariffs on Chinese goods if an agreement was not reached by next Saturday. The United States is demanding that China crack down immediately on the pirating of copyrighted American computer software, movies and music, and that it stop Chinese businesses from putting phony American labels on consumer products.

One factor may determine whether the Super Bowl becomes a 49er rout or a Charger upset: big plays. A special look at the big-play picture, strategy and some little things that also count. SportsSunday, section 8.