February 21, 1995

Twenty-five years after coming to the United States from Taiwan, David Chiang had all the trappings of the American dream: a job as a jet engine engineer, three happy children and a home in the suburbs with a station wagon in the driveway. But for all his achievements, he felt as if he was in a rut -- one of hundreds of engineers at General Electric Aircraft Engines vying for the few promotions that would pop up every now and then.

There has been a recurring scene in the long career of Stanley Sporkin, in which somebody very powerful is sputtering in outraged disbelief at what Mr. Sporkin has done. Over the years the cast of characters has varied from giant corporations like Lockheed and Exxon to powerful Government actors like the White House and State Department. Their protests generally come down to this: "Now see here! This is not the way things are done! You don't understand! You simply cannot do this!"

Vice President Al Gore told labor leaders today that President Clinton would soon issue an executive order whose goal is to stop Government agencies from contracting to make purchases from companies that permanently replace workers on strike. But the order would not be an outright ban on such contracts. Mr. Gore's announcement, made behind closed doors at the winter meeting of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s executive council, was quickly made public by a labor federation spokesman and Administration officials. The Vice President's appearance was part of a Democratic effort to improve relations with organized labor.

IN a major peace dividend, the Navy has agreed to let civilian scientists use its multibillion-dollar fleet of nuclear attack submarines on a regular basis to study the Arctic Ocean, a vast body of water whose riddles have long eluded scientific scrutiny. Experts say detailed knowledge of polar ice and the Arctic depths is vital for understanding such things as climate change. For instance, such research could reveal if the predicted warming of the earth is under way and starting to melt the Arctic icecap, an icy wilderness considered one of the most sensitive and reliable indicators of global temperature change.

Jeanine Ferris Pirro has been District Attorney of Westchester County for just over a year, but already the stage seems too small to contain her. "Wouldn't you love to be Marcia Clark today?" she says to one of her bureau chiefs, Barbara DiTata, on a day of important arguments in the O.J. Simpson trial.