March 16, 1995

The School Door as Turnstile Across the country, especially in poor areas, schools are struggling with student turnover rates of up to 90 percent. The impact is troubling for both school and student. Page B1. New Plan on Public Stations In a compromise, the two radio stations owned by New York City, but not its television station, might remain commercial free. Page C15. Fury in a Courtroom F. Lee Bailey, a lawyer for O. J. Simpson, and the prosecutor Marcia Clark tangled and traded recriminations in court about a potential witness. Page A18. Arts Festival Debate Lincoln Center is feeling the strain as it debates plans for its riskiest venture yet: a new international arts festival, to open in 1996. Page C15.

A gang that sold heroin round the clock here, 50 feet from an elementary school, was dismantled yesterday, Federal authorities said. In announcing the arrests of four suspects, United States Attorney Faith S. Hochberg said, "This drug gang operated more efficiently than any fast-food store." Four other people remain at large, she said.

Donald J. Trump, facing a March 31 deadline for a $60 million payment to regain control of a hotel that bears his name, got permission from the Casino Control Commission yesterday to use his management-services agreement at another Trump business as collateral for a loan.

Emergency Medical Service personnel made a long series of blunders in treating a pregnant Queens woman last year, from failing to take her vital signs to failing to note that she was bleeding, and wasted crucial minutes as her baby bled to death, according to a city investigators' report issued yesterday. The report by the Department of Investigation dealt with an incident on Feb. 13, 1994, that drew widespread attention when the woman and her family charged that an E.M.S. ambulance crew had wasted valuable time arguing with them over which hospital she should be taken to.

It is March, and Marie Pompeo-Melone, the nurse at Public School 8, is still registering new students -- 25 in the first eight days of the month alone. The students keep coming, but the seams of the school do not burst because others are leaving just as fast. In 1993, the school had a mobility rate of 89 percent, according to the State Education Department, meaning that 89 percent of the children spent part of the year elsewhere. Ms. Pompeo-Melone's file cabinets are crammed with their transfer papers, and her head swims with their faces and names.