August 19, 1996

USA Today, famous for boiling even important news down to quick bites, is changing its approach in effort to win day-to-day loyalty of regular readers; millions read it each week, but they are not the same millions from week to week, and advertisers cannot be sure who is seeing their messages at any given time, or where the readers live; to change this, USA Today has published string of long investigative articles that gained national attention; they also caused confusion at the hundreds of newspapers around country that imitated USA Today's former style of souped up color graphics, huge weather maps and near synopses of news stories; photo (M)

Joyce Purnick column contends that Congress, in passing its new welfare bill, abandoned New Deal's guarantee of cash assistance to nation's poorest children and cut welfare budget so deeply that even Republican advocates of welfare reform voiced serious reservations; maintains that Congress found $250 million for 'abstinence education,' and it promises $400 million in bonuses to states that do best at reducing their rates of illegitimate births; notes that these sections of welfare bill are starting to worry social workers and welfare administrators, who contend that Washington is aiming to legislate morality and sexual conduct (M)

Princeton Township wants to buy farm for youth soccer league, but some residents oppose plan (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

New York Times celebrates centennial of acquisition by Adolph S Ochs and the publication of his editorial credo to give the news concisely, clearly, promptly and impartially; content of first edition described; photo (M)

Fifty seventh-grade girls have enrolled in Young Women's Leadership School in East Harlem, which will be first single-sex public school in New York City in decade and one of only three in US; new school, which has been criticized by civil rights advocates who contend that it discriminates against boys and segregates girls, recently cleared important hurdle when Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew signaled that he would not block its opening; some girls who will attend new school comment; their photos (M)