January 3, 1996

Breaking ranks with their House counterparts, Republicans in the Senate agreed today to briefly reopen Government offices while Congress and President Clinton continue talks on balancing the Federal budget. The House would have to reverse itself and follow suit before a reopening could actually occur, an unlikely prospect that Mr. Clinton invoked tonight as he and senior Congressional leaders held a lengthy and unusually private negotiating session at the White House.

Marty Shih is the kind of person who has earned Asian-Americans the widespread characterization as the model minority. Born in Taiwan, he arrived in the United States in 1978 with $500 to his name and began selling flowers on downtown streets here. Eighteen years later, through grit, hard work and ingenuity, he has built his company, the Asian Business Connection, into a telemarketing giant that in 1994 sold $40 million in products to Asian-Americans.

A small group of workers at the Fulton Fish Market staged a wildcat strike early yesterday, disrupting the flow of seafood in a protest over the Giuliani administration's decision to oust two companies suspected of having connections with organized crime. The walkout, which a lawyer for the two ousted companies said would continue today, forced buyers for retail stores and restaurants to load thousands of pounds of salmon, swordfish, lobsters and mussels into their own vans.

Contenders for the White House in 1996 have already spent at least $60 million in by far the costliest run-up to a Presidential campaign in history, and one of the most energetic. Their television commercials have flickered for months in battleground states. In Iowa alone, candidates have collectively devoted a record 379 days to courting supporters. But the competitors' industriousness and huge investments have done little to change the Presidential sweepstakes. President Clinton is unchallenged for his party's nomination, just as he was one year ago. Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, the majority leader, still holds a commanding lead over his Republican rivals, who now number eight.

In a new set of dietary recommendations, the Federal Government acknowledged for the first time today that consuming some alcohol can be healthful. And for the first time, the Government also endorsed the healthfulness of a vegetarian diet, urged people to exercise and warned them not to gain weight as they age.