June 14, 1995

HANAN FAREED BARRETT knew she would raise a few eyebrows when she had her wedding invitations engraved with the message "Adults Only." But don't get her wrong. Mrs. Barrett says she loves children. Even has two grandchildren of her own. (They weren't invited to the wedding, either.)

The Bosnian Serbs released another group of United Nations troops today as a large Bosnian Government force was reported massing in the Visoko area northwest of Sarajevo. Anticipation was growing that the Bosnian Government force, estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000 troops, would soon attempt to break the 38-month siege of Sarajevo. A United Nations officer warned that such an offensive could cause thousands of casualties.

On the Senate floor, lawmakers sparred into the night over legislation aimed at overhauling the communications industry and promoting the so-called information superhighway. But the action today was far more intense in the anteroom just outside the chamber's door, where Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, wading through dozens of lobbyists, found himself collared by William Signer, who wanted to talk about burglar alarms.

The political director of the state National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is stepping down after five years. The director, Walter Fields, plans to focus on partisan politics, completing his doctorate degree in political science and expanding his business, Fields Communications, a public affairs and government relations firm.

JEREMY DOROSIN, of Walnut Creek, Calif., says all he wanted in the beginning was a decent cup of coffee. Now, he says, he just wants what he considers decency. Contending that a Starbucks coffee store in Berkeley, Calif., sold him two defective espresso machines and then failed to make proper amends, Mr. Dorosin has, in a monthlong public campaign for reparation, spent more than $10,000 on newspaper advertisements and a toll-free telephone number, soliciting other dissatisfied customers. The four advertisements, in regional editions of The Wall Street Journal, have generated a wellspring of support and become a public relations problem for the Starbucks Coffee Company, the nation's largest chain of coffee stores.

The Postmaster General yesterday declared New York City's postal service the most improved. Of course, there was much room for improvement. The city ranked worst last year. Today's worst? San Juan, followed by Westchester County. Article, page B1.

Your mind clouds over. You feel your head, heavy, gently sinking onto your desk. Or a nauseating drumbeat bores into your skull, and your nostrils suddenly fill with the plastic odor of -- is it Band-Aids? Or, if you are one of the worst hit, an invisible hand grabs your lungs and the world goes black. That is how employees describe the strange spells that sometimes strike them at an East Side office building used by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The air in the building, they say, is so bad that workers often step outside -- not to smoke, as many office workers do these days, but simply to breathe.

N.H.L. PLAYOFFS The Devils won the Eastern Conference title, 4-2 and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals against Detroit. Game 1 is on Saturday. Page B11. Shying from a Trade Dispute The head of the World Trade Organization wants to avoid having to rule on a trade dispute between the United States and Japan. Page D1. Senate Backs TV Chip A nervous Senate supports a provision to require makers of television sets to include a computer chip to block violent programs. Page B6.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and the leaders of the City Council agreed last night on a $31.1 billion budget for New York City that would include the largest cut in spending since World War II and reduce a wide range of services affecting most New Yorkers in ways large and small. The agreement would leave intact most of the Mayor's spending cuts and political priorities, reducing spending on welfare and Medicaid, extracting concessions from the unions and cutting the budgets of almost every agency except the Police and Fire Departments.

GIULIANI AND COUNCIL AGREE ON BUDGET Mayor Giuliani and the leaders of the City Council agreed on a $31.1 billion budget for New York City that would for a second year reduce the size of municipal government and cut spending on a wide range of services, affecting most New Yorkers in ways large and small. [ Page A1. ]

Shortly after he became the 46th Governor of Texas earlier this year, George W. Bush ran into the state's chief fiscal officer, John Sharp. How should the Governor address him, Mr. Bush asked politely: Mr. Sharp or Mr. Comptroller? What did Mr. Bush's predecessor, Ann W. Richards, call him? "She called me Darlin'," Mr. Sharp informed the new Governor.

The rally at the State House yesterday was one of the biggest this year, with more than 500 state workers chanting, "No justice, No peace" and "Whitman's got to go." The rally was called by the Communications Workers of America, the largest state workers' union. They are unhappy with contract negotiations and with Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's legal attempts to prevent a strike vote.