July 8, 1995

Following their thrust into national politics, religious conservatives are creating their own legal organizations to combat what they see as a broad assault on religious liberties. More than half a dozen religious liberty law firms, some founded in the 1990's, are waging battles in courts, schools and city halls to carve out a greater public space for religious activity -- be it for student Bible clubs in schools, for the display of crosses in public parks or prayers at graduation ceremonies.

At first glance Aleksandr Korotkov seems like the happiest man in Russia. Packed tightly into a black leather jumpsuit and dancing as if a disco beat had taken hold of his soul, once a week he becomes an openly gay man in a society that has never had much use for openness or for homosexuality. Mr. Korotkov, who is 27, earns enough as a graphics designer to live here in a comfortable apartment. He owns a car, and every Saturday he spends $30 for the privilege of entering Mayak, this city's most fashionable gay nightclub.

Almost six months ago, prosecutors began the O. J. Simpson murder trial by trying to knock the defendant off his pedestal. That effort was an implicit acknowledgment that before a jury would consider what prosecutors called the "mountain of evidence" against Mr. Simpson, they had to drain the deep reservoir of good will he had created for himself on the football field and on the screen. To most legal experts, the prosecution has produced the mountain it promised, built of DNA evidence and bloody shoe prints, hairs and shirt fibers, carpet threads and reams of testimony. But as the state concluded its case on Thursday, there were questions as to whether that mountain was big enough, partly, the experts said, because the reservoir of good will still looked intact, even replenished.

A Role for Wild Fires A year ago wild fires ravaged the West; now the Clinton Administration is endorsing using such fires as a land management tool. Page 6. China Arrests Dissident Harry Wu, a Chinese-American who has alleged rights violations in China, was arrested in Wuhan and formally charged with spying. Page 2. Sampras and Becker in Final The Wimbledon final is set: Pete Sampras (no surprise) against Boris Becker (big surprise). Page 27.

Convinced that it cannot survive on its own in a medical marketplace racked by budget cuts and dominated by managed care, Presbyterian Hospital, one of the city's leading academic hospitals, is actively looking to merge with another medical center. Executives at Presbyterian, the hospital at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, have begun discussions with two other leading centers, the New York Hospital and New York University Hospital, and hope to cement a partnership within a year, said Dr. William Speck, President of Presbyterian.