February 27, 1996

They called it the failure of success. As medical scientists got better and better at treating people with fatal diseases -- but not curing them -- the nation would be burdened with an accumulation of elderly people who were living longer and longer but were crippled with pain and riddled with disabilities. It was a notion that called into question what medicine had wrought. But, to nearly everyone's surprise, the predicted pandemic of pain and disability has not materialized. Instead, new information, some not yet published, on studies involving people at all socioeconomic levels show that not only are Americans living longer, but they are developing less chronic disease and disability. And the reasons may have as much to do with changing social circumstances, including events that occur in the first few decades of life, as they have to do with medical advances in treating diseases.

HERE is a sampling of knee slappers to jump-start your day: "Got to go now!"

Responding to Israeli rage and grief over the deadliest day of suicide bombing the country has known, Prime Minister Shimon Peres vowed today to wage a "methodical and incessant" war against the militant Islamic movement Hamas. While reiterating in a speech to Parliament that "we will not halt the peace process," Mr. Peres joined in an outpouring of frustration and anger against Hamas and Palestinians in general over the first major terror attack in six months.

A former Newark police officer who stole $180 from the purse of a 17-year-old after she was stopped for driving with a broken headlight was sentenced yesterday to two years' probation. The officer, Kyle Brown, who was dismissed on Feb. 1, was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, said Ray Weiss, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's office. The girl had left her purse in her car when she was stopped at a checkpoint in August 1994. TERRY PRISTIN

New York State will start distributing a list of the 10 parents who owe the most money in child-support payments in hopes of putting more pressure on delinquent parents, Gov. George E. Pataki said. The list is the latest state effort to get parents to pay what they owe in child support. The Governor also announced that New York had collected nearly $2 million in support payments since it began suspending the driver's licenses of chronic nonpayers.

Having restored itself to profitability by cutting 135,000 jobs in the United States over the last decade, I.B.M. has decided to improve the lot of its 110,000 remaining employees by increasing their bonuses and merit pay by an average of 8 percent this year. The increase, which was outlined in an internal memo to employees on Feb. 6, will vary for employees depending on their performance and perceived value to the International Business Machines Corporation. Indeed, the memo warns that some may get only a 2 percent raise while others will get more than 10 percent.

'Killing Fields' Actor Slain

Shoppers flock to the four L.L. Bean stores in Japan for the latest in rugged American fashions. And with each sale of a parka or pair of boots, the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company chalks up another import. Japan's L.L. Bean shops were opened by Matsushita, the giant maker of Panasonic electronics products, as part of its five-year program, begun in 1988, to voluntarily reduce its contribution to the country's huge trade surplus. Besides Bean gear, Matsushita also imports Famous Grouse Scotch, Schweppes beverage concentrate and other products completely unrelated to the electronics business to pad its imports.

Denouncing the downing of two private American planes by Cuba as "a flagrant violation of international law," President Clinton today suspended all air charter travel between the United States and the island and pledged to reach agreement with Congress on a pending bill to tighten economic sanctions. Mr. Clinton also asked Congress to approve legislation to use several million dollars of the $100 million in frozen Cuban assets in this country to compensate the families of the four anti-Castro Cuban-Americans presumed killed when their Cessnas were wiped out of the sky by missiles on Saturday.

HERE in the sharply defined hills and steep canyons of Southern California, the nation's biggest and boldest attempt to reconcile urban development with the natural landscape is approaching a make-or-break point.

The long, rancorous search for a new president for Kean College ended yesterday when the board of trustees chose Ronald L. Applbaum for the post. Dr. Applbaum is currently president of Westfield State College in Massachusetts. A group of faculty members and community leaders wanted the job to go to Henry Ross, the interim president, but his opponents said he exacerbated racial tensions at Kean. Mr. Ross angered some African-Americans when he wrote a letter last December criticizing remarks by Prof. Leonard Jeffries, the former chairman of black studies at City College of New York, just before Dr. Jeffries was scheduled to speak at Kean. Dr. Ross withdrew his candidacy last week.

Patrick J. Buchanan has widened his attacks to tap into resentment not only of the Government, but also corporations, unions and the party he wants to represent. Page A18.