November 19, 1996

Biosphere 2 project, which ended in failure, is being converted to controlled habitat for studying earth's response to global warming; Columbia University, which took over management in January, is starting to reveal just how badly things went awry when four men, four women and 4,000 species of plants and animals were sealed inside giant terrarium for two-year experiment that ended in 1989; photos; chart; would-be Eden became nightmare of failing crops and species, although survivors included millions of crazy ants, which killed off all the other ants, as well as crickets and grasshoppers; new director Dr William C Harris explains new goal, creating kind of atmosphere hell to mimic what could happen if earth is choked by high temperatures and carbon dioxide; Columbia is clearing out old growths and animals and creating new environment, at cost of about $40 million; site in Oracle, Arizona, is now open to public (M)

Dow Industrials Slip 1.12 As Profit Taking Halts Rally The Dow industrials fell 1.12 to 6,346.91, ending a string of 10 winning sessions and falling just shy of a ninth straight record. Broader measures also slipped, as investors secured profits made in the the stunning post-election rally that lifted the Dow 325 points, or 5.4 percent. The S.& P. 500-stock index fell 0.60 to 737.02, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 7.23 to 1,254.57. $(Page D10.$) Treasury prices eroded slightly, as a lack of economic data and auctions scheduled this week discouraged active buying. $(D21.$) Deutsche Telekom Comes to Market Buoyed by a six-month ad campaign, shares in Deutsche Telekom's initial stock offering surged in Frankfurt to 33.90 marks, up nearly 19 percent from the opening price in the first day of trading. The offering raised 20 billion German marks, or $13.3 billion. In New York, the company's American depository receipts were the day's most active issue and opened at $22, up from the offering price of $18.89. But they eased during the day, closing at $21.50. $(D5.$) Hewlett-Packard Earnings Off 4.4% Hewlett-Packard reported a 4.4 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings to $648 million after the market closed. The company also announced a new Government-approved encryption technology for secure data transmission over the Internet. $(D4.$) Lockheed Martin to Close 8 Plants Lockheed Martin plans to close eight plants in California, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania to cut operating costs following its $9.1 billion Loral acquisition. $(D2.$) For Gambling, a Possible Peak With seven of eight states voting down gambling proposals, critics and boosters alike agree that the gambling industry's great period of expansion appears to be over. $(A22.$) Kellogg to Buy Lender's Bagels Kellogg said it would buy Lender's Bagels from Kraft Foods for $455 million, expanding its presence in breakfast foods. $(D4.$) $1.5 Billion Pipeline Is Planned Chevron announced that it and other big Western oil companies had agreed with the Governments of Russia, Kazakstan and Oman to build a $1.5 billion pipeline to send oil from Kazakstan to the West. $(D8.$) U.S. Decision a Setback to RCN RCN Corporation, a fledgling media company that is challenging Time Warner and Nynex in the cable and telephone businesses, faces a murky future; the Government rejected a bid by MFS Communications, a sister company, to transmit video over telephone wires. $(D4.$) Europeans Avoiding Child Labor In Europe, the use of child labor, particularly in the making of Oriental rugs, has galvanized public attention -- Ikea was pilloried in Sweden. After consulting with child-labor experts, Veillon, one of Switzerland's largest mail order houses, has adopted a code of conduct to insure that it offers rugs made only by adults. $(D9.$) Big Bankruptcy in Japan One of Japan's flashiest real estate companies, Sueno Kosan, was forced into bankruptcy, with more than $6 billion in bad debts. $(D8.$) Canada-Chile Trade Pact Bypassing a deadlock in Washington over whether to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement to include Chile, Canada signed its own Chilean trade agreement. $(D8.$)

Clinton Administration officials disclose that, in closing days of Presidential campaign, White House was less than candid about Pres Clinton's meetings with member of Indonesia's powerful Riady family and emissary John Huang, who were targets of Republican attacks against Clinton's campaign finances; say as Clinton's comfortable lead in polls was eroding, his conversations with Riady and Huang were deliberately described vaguely as social calls; say deputy White House counsel Bruce Lindsey played crucial role in drafting Administration's answers to growing list of questions about ties between White House and Riady; say he ignored recommendations for fuller disclosure by two lawyers on White House team, created to handle such sensitive political inquiries; say Lindsey has played much larger role in White House as Clinton's alter ego; photos (M)

US stands defiantly alone in its opposition to second term for UN Sec Gen Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Security Council begins selection process; chief US delegate Madeleine K Albright says she intends to wield American veto in upcoming vote, even though 14 of 15 Council members back reappointment; has ruled out compromise that would allow Boutros-Ghali to remain for partial term of two or three years; US official says Boutros-Ghali is perceived in Congress as not having pursued reform of UN, and that Congress will not pay its dues while he is office (M)

Deliberations begin, Newark, in trial of John F Lonergan, third-ranking immigration official in New Jersey who is charged with falsifying documents that enabled aliens to enter country illegally (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)