May 9, 1995

Kevorkian Assists in Suicide After the Supreme Court refused to consider his appeal of a ruling that assisting in a suicide is a crime, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was present as a minister ended his life. Page A20. Earliest Weaving Very early evidence of cloth shows that, contrary to what many believed, humans learned to weave long before they settled down to agriculture. Page C1. Big Night for 2 Artists A Picasso portrait brought a staggering $29.1 million and a record for Matisse was set at $18.5 million as an intense week of Impressionist and modern art sales began. Page C11. New Zealand Leads, 2-0 Black Magic defeated Dennis Conner's Young America by the widest margin for a challenger since the 1871 America's Cup. Page B11. They Got the Wrong Man After its police officers detained an executive, confusing him for a suspect because he was black, Metro-North apologized. Page B1. Miss Desmond's Revenge "Sunset Boulevard" was nominated for 11 Tonys, winning two in categories with no competition. Page C11.

Insurance executives said yesterday that up to 40 percent of all personal injury claims growing out of auto accidents were fraudulent. In testimony before the Senate Insurance Committee, they also said that many physicians were inflating their bills by performing unnecessary tests on accident victims.

J. R. Rosskamp had planned to spend two weeks in Germany this summer, visiting art museums in Berlin and friends in Munich. But as the dollar continued to fall against the mark, losing nearly 14 percent of its value since December, she recently decided to visit Australia or New Zealand instead. "It's the off-season Down Under," said Ms. Rosskamp, an international business consultant from Hollywood, Fla., "and even though it's a lot farther away, I can still get better package deals there than for what I'd spend on hotels, food and other expenses in Europe."

Lawsuit Liability Bill Is Set Back in Senate Senate Republicans failed again to act on a measure intended to reduce the number of civil lawsuits, even though Majority Leader Bob Dole had scaled back the proposal to attract needed votes. The Senate now plans to take a scalpel to the bill this morning to pare it back even further. The measure that is expected to emerge would set limits on damages awarded only in lawsuits involving faulty products. A1. U.S. Bancorp to Buy West One U.S. Bancorp said it would acquire West One Bancorp of Idaho in a $1.6 billion deal that will create a banking powerhouse in the Pacific Northwest. The merger will mean the elimination of 1,100 jobs, or 7.5 percent of the banks' combined work forces. D2. Falling Dollar Deters Foreign Travel The falling dollar has forced many Americans to drop Germany and other costly European destinations -- now even more costly than they had been -- from summer plans. Many are booking trips elsewhere. A1. The dollar dropped broadly after the U.S. and Japan failed to reach an accord on opening the Japanese auto market. D20. Sherwin-Williams in Hostile Bid Sherwin-Williams began a hostile tender offer of $19.50 a share, or $320 million, for the Grow Group, topping a bid of $18.10 a share, or $290 million, from Imperial Chemicals Industries of Britain. Grow had accepted Imperial's offer last week. D9. New York City Losing Jobs New York City's economy has lost about 9,000 jobs over the last nine months, including a slowdown in employment growth on Wall Street, advertising and the law, the State Comptroller said. B2. Potential Risk in Electric Cars Electric cars are being promoted to improve public health by limiting smog, but a new study indicates that the production of the cars' batteries may create a new health risk. A1. King Stock Up on Buyout Report Shares of King World Productions jumped nearly 5 percent after Turner Broadcasting was reported to have discussed buying the company for $1.6 billion in stock. D6. No. 2 at A.F.L.-C.I.O. to Retire The secretary-treasurer of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. has decided to retire, even though he was considered a leading candidate to succeed Lane Kirkland as president. Thomas Donahue's retirement almost certainly means a knockdown battle over the labor federation's leadership. A14. Drug Makers and University in Deal Chiron, Ciba-Geigy and New York University have agreed to collaborate on the development of a new approach for the optical mapping and sequencing of genes. D8. Chiron reported a first-quarter loss of $385.8 million, reflecting additional costs associated with its partnership with Ciba-Geigy. D8. Taco Bell Giveaway Draws Millions Taco Bell gave away an estimated 8 million reduced-fat tacos and burritos in a promotion of its new menu. The one-day campaign, believed the largest restaurant giveaway ever, is expected to cost the company up to $16 million in labor, food and advertising costs. D2. Looking Back With Alaska Air Commercials for Alaska Airlines are re-creating a world in which milk is still delivered, women wear white gloves, "all the paper boys are named Rusty," and everyone smiles. Stuart Elliott: Advertising. D7. Supply Problem Trips STB Stock STB Systems has the problem of too much demand for its product. The stock of the producer of graphic adapters for computers fell $4, to $7.25, after saying it was unable to obtain some components it needed, while others arrived so late that shipments were delayed. Floyd Norris: Market Place. D10.

IN the physics of human emotions, love may be thought of as the strong force, binding together friends, family and couples with the tight, private energy of an atom's core. But the emotion most akin to gravity, the sensation that keeps the affairs of humanity on track as surely as the Earth wheels around the Sun, is empathy: the power to recognize the plight of another and to take on that burden as though it were built to order. After the fists of hell had punched a hole through the center of Oklahoma City, the city recovered its wits with a thousand acts of empathy and compassion. Empathy allows one to sit in a movie theater and blubber over a death that never happened to a character who never lived; it keeps charities breathing, if sometimes wheezily; and it is the reason why, if you stand in the middle of a sidewalk with a map in hand, looking bewildered, someone is bound to ask if you are lost. The human race without empathy would be like February without May, or Manhattan without Central Park.