November 11, 1996

Relatives and friends of people who died in July explosion of Trans World Airlines flight 800 are upset over Pierre Salinger's promotion of debunked theory of conspiracy to cover up crash cause; Salinger has few details to back claim that Navy missile accidentally downed plane and conspiracy would have to involve hundreds of people (M)

Pres Clinton is set to sign parks bill that includes $17.5 million to help New York and New Jersey buy and protect Sterling Forest, 17,500-acre woodland (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Ocean City, NJ, City Council to weigh proposal for $4-per-night tax on all tourist rentals (NJ Daily Briefing) (S)

Life on college campuses once focused on mingling at the student union. But as computers have proliferated in classrooms and dormitory rooms, E-mail has become a favored means of communication, and the melting-pot aspect of campus life has given way to a sort of electronic isolation. On some of the nation's campuses, the number of E-mail messages processed each day is in the hundreds of thousands. Article, page A12.

Harmony prevailing between Republicans and Democrats since November 5 elections begins to break down as Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, openly disagrees with Pres Clinton and House Democratic majority leader, Richard Gephardt, on campaign financing and Medicare; Lott accuses Clinton of being irresponsible on Medicare, misleading the American people by sleight of hand and demagoguery; says long-term problems with Medicare should be dealt with first by Administration, not by bipartisan panel as Clinton suggests; Clinton and Gephardt say Medicare's looming financial problems can be dealt with in short term with minor adjustments, such as cutting payments to doctors and hospitals; Lott voices little enthusiasm for legislation to overhaul election campaign financing, introduced by Republican Sen John McCain and Democratic Sen Russell Feingold (M)