September 10, 1996

Kurdish faction allied with Iraqi Government captures Sulaimaniya, city in northern Iraq, after it is virtually abandoned by defenders and residents; thousands of refugees flee, many to Iran; victory leaves forces of Kurdistan Democratic Party in control of all big cities in Iraq's Kurdish region; photo; map (M)

Ecologists are studying new growth one year after 5,500 acres of Long Island pine barrens burned; most striking observation made by scientists has been their conclusion that severity of fire was, at least in part, result of Long Island's past success in putting out and preventing fires in pine barrens; because there had been so few small fires over last 60 years, debris piled up under dwarf pines, providing huge amount of tinder that would otherwise not be available; moreover, lack of fires meant that forest was filled with older trees near end of their life span and thus less able to recover from blaze; photo; chart; map (M)

Robert S Golabek is killed when his 71 Piper Cherokee single engine airplane crashes near Sunrise Mountain in Stokes State Forest in Sandyston Township (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Deciphering Welfare Now that the states have the vastly expanded power over welfare they said they wanted, they are complaining that the new legislation is confusing and are asking Federal officials for advice. Page A16. Primaries Today in New York New York State is holding primaries today for several posts, with hotly contested elections for Surrogate jobs in Brooklyn and Manhattan and local seats in Congress. Page B3. Father of Bluegrass Is Dead Bill Monroe, the mandolin player and tenor who helped lay the foundation for one of American music's most durable idioms, died in Springfield, Tenn. He was 84. Page D22.

Clyde Haberman column notes 25th anniversary of inmate uprising at Attica State Prison in upstate New York and subsequent quelling of riots by state police; discusses lessons that have been learned, or should have been learned, in regard to conditions that led to riot (M)

Critics assail system unique to New Jersey in which small group of accountants controls annual audits of all of state's towns and counties, using arcane rules laid out in books and loose-leaf notebooks stored in their offices and passed on to a select few; say audit reports, for which many municipalities pay fees twice those by cities of similar size in nearby states, give so little useful information that taxpayers, and even local officials, have little hope of learning how towns spend money; accountants have quashed legislative efforts for major change, but as towns come under pressure to account for use of taxpayer funds because of reductions in state aid, increasing number of state officials say they want accounting rules changed to those used in 33 other states (M)

Unidentified good Samaritan dies while trying to rescue woman caught in riptide in ocean in Seaside Park, NJ (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Deal Is Struck on Plan To Reduce Fees by S.E.C. Congressional negotiators agreed on a plan to cut fees charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission, settling one of the issues that has stalled a bill to reduce regulation of the financial markets, a Congressional official said. Representative Thomas Bliley, the Virginia Republican who heads the House Commerce Committee, and Senator Ernest Hollings, the South Carolina Democrat, agreed to cut S.E.C. filing fees by $850 million over 10 years, the official said. $(Page D8.$) Danka to Buy Kodak Unit Eastman Kodak and Danka Business Systems said that Danka would buy the sales, marketing and equipment service operations of Kodak's office copier business for $684 million in cash. $(D4.$) PC's on the Front Burner Infinia is a new brand of personal computers, not toasters, but Toshiba, which is introducing the machines, wants to market them like home appliances. $(D5.$) Settlement in Manipulation Case The S.E.C. filed a stock manipulation case against the former chief of a now-defunct penny-stock firm. The S.E.C. also contended that the broker's father benefited from stock sales during periods when the shares were being manipulated. Both men settled the charges without admitting any wrongdoing. Floyd Norris: Market Place. $(D10.$) I.B.M. in Banking Project I.B.M. and a group of big banks said they were forming a venture that the banks hope will improve their ability to offer services through home computers and other devices. $(D2.$) G.A.O. Report Supports Rubin Months after Republican leaders accused the Clinton Administration of ''raiding'' Government funds as it tried to outmaneuver Congress during the budget showdown, the General Accounting Office has concluded that Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin acted legally. $(D4.$) Broderbund Earnings to Drop The shares of Broderbund Software plunged after the company said it expected disappointing earnings, partly because of a drop in sales of the video game Myst. $(D5.$) Consumer Debt Grows Again Consumer credit continued to grow in July as credit card use outpaced borrowing for automobiles. $(D2.$) Restaurant Group's Shares Drop The shares of Daka International, which runs the Fuddrucker and Champps restaurant chains, plunged 35 percent after the company posted falling earnings and said it was renegotiating a deal with Kmart to operate 1,850 restaurants in its stores. $(D8.$) Campaigns Aimed at Men As more men begin to follow fashion, retailers are moving to exploit that growing interest with sales pitches for fall 1996. Campaigns for higher-priced apparel at stores like Bergdorf Goodman seek to create a hip image. Stuart Elliott: Advertising. $(D9.$) Small designers are setting out to prove that they, not just the big names, have a niche in New York's fashion world. $(B6.$) New Jersey Accounting Criticized Critics say an accounting system used in New Jersey, in which a small group of accountants has controlled the annual audits of all the towns and counties, using antiquated and arcane rules passed on to a select few, is not serving the state well. $(A1.$)

Across the country, Democrats are trying to tar their Republican opponents by linking them with Newt Gingrich and his opposition to raising the minimum wage, his support for cuts in Medicare spending and his efforts to lift environmental regulations. But yesterday, Representative Gary A. Franks of Connecticut did something that few of his Republican colleagues in the Northeast are doing: he had the House Speaker campaign for him.

NASA officials are weighing wide assortment of ideas for revamping and accelerating current plans for exploring Mars; focus is on how and when to secure what scientists covet most: a sample of Martian rock and soil, preferably from relatively warm, wet place where microbes might have arisen long ago; drawings illustrate one proposal for landing a solar-powered wheeled, roving vehicle on Mars that would pick up rock samples, and then return to Earth (M)

New York City Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew says he is willing to consider plan, first advanced by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, to transfer 1,000 failing students from city's public schools to Catholic schools, provided no tax money is involved; 1,000 students would be volunteers, selected from those whose academic performance ranks in bottom five percent citywide; Catholic schools would receive tuition for each student, ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 per year; transfer is endorsed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, graduate of City's Catholic schools who has long urged public schools to follow Catholic model of discipline and rigor; move by Crew comes as school system is struggling to absorb 91,000 students more than it has space to accommodate (M)

Despite widespread publicity surrounding passage by 24 states and Federal Government of three-strikes laws in past three years, statutes have rarely been used and have had little effect on crime rates; major exception is California, where at least 16,707 people have been sentenced under new state law, and where state officials say crime rate has dropped as result; in at least six states that have three-strikes laws, which often mandate life sentences for criminals who have committed three felonies, no one has yet been convicted, and in five others there have been three or fewer convictions; only nine criminals have been sentenced under Federal law; law enforcement officials attribute low conviction rate to fact that states that passed them already had legislation requiring enhanced penalties for habitual, or repeat, felons; James Austin, executive vice president of National Council on Crime and Delinquency, comments (M)