November 20, 1996

Advice on preparing young children for formal dining on Thanksgiving, when they may confront unfamiliar concepts like dress clothing, tablecloths, napkins, fine china and creamed onions (S)

CIA fears that is every agent who went through its spy school in last three years, as well as techniques they were taught, have been betrayed to Russians by Harold J Nicholson, agent arrested for selling secrets to Moscow; Nicholson taught at agency's Williamsburg, Va, training school between 1994 and first half of 1996; his disclosures have damaged immediate prospects of many of agency's newest spies, who would normally be working undercover as State Department diplomats overseas; many may now be forced to work at desk jobs, either at CIA headquarters or in obscure and out-of-the-way foreign capitals, processing information instead of gathering it (M)

Battered women in New York City obtain divorces on their own through Pro Se Divorce Workshop, a project sponsored by Lawyers Committee Against Domestic Violence; they do all of paper and leg work themselves, save money in legal and bureaucratic costs and, in the process, seize control of their own lives; photo (M)

Obstruction Charge For Ex-Texaco Official The former Texaco executive who recorded senior company officers belittling minority groups and planning the destruction of documents that were demanded in a discrimination lawsuit was charged with obstruction of justice. Those tapes set off a furor over the company's relations with minorities, and led to Texaco's record settlement of the bias suit last week. Richard A. Lundwall, who until August was a senior finance executive at Texaco, had given the tapes to plaintiffs' lawyers in the suit. Mr. Lundwall was the first Texaco executive to be charged in the case. $(Page A1.$) Housing Starts Drop 5.1% Housing starts fell by 5.1 percent in October, the second consecutive month of diminished activity. The drop, which surprised analysts, raised questions about whether economic growth might be faltering. $(D2.$) I.B.M. Up Again, Fueling Market The Dow industrials surged 50.69 to 6,397.60, the ninth new high in 10 sessions, as money managers scurried to add I.B.M. shares to their portfolios. I.B.M. jumped 7 3/8, to 154 1/8, and other leading technology stocks also rose steeply. Broader measures gained, as well, with the Nasdaq composite rising 8.05, to 1,262.62. $(D6.$) Treasury prices advanced, pushing the yield on the long bond down to 6.43 percent. $(D16.$) G.M.'s New Models in Demand General Motors has some popular new models this fall, but under its manufacturing schedule the new cars and mini-vans are arriving in dealerships in a trickle, not a flood, to the consternation of analysts and dealers. $(D3.$) Investment Adviser in Guilty Plea Teresa V. Fernandez, an investment adviser working from her home in Tenafly, N.J., pleaded guilty to fraud; prosecutors said she had stolen more than $65 million from clients. The S.E.C. also filed a complaint. $(D3.$) Utility Turns to Power Marketer Seeking big cost cuts, Oglethorpe Power, a big Georgia utility, is turning to an outside power-marketing company, LG & E Energy, to supply half its electricity needs. $(D2.$) Intel and E.P.A. in Novel Plan The Environmental Protection Agency granted a huge Intel chip-making plant in Arizona extraordinary operating flexibility; in exchange Intel pledged to do better than the law requires in controlling pollution. $(A18.$) Three Retailers Exceed Forecasts Dayton Hudson's third-quarter earnings more than doubled, and two other retail groups, Limited Inc. and Ann Taylor, also turned in better-than-expected earnings, on strong demand for new women's fashions. $(D16.$) Plan for Crash Notification Seven major airlines in the United States and the State Department signed an agreement to provide speedier notification for the families of those killed or injured in international air disasters. $(A1.$) Robert Citron Is Sentenced Robert Citron, the former treasurer of Orange County, Calif., was sentenced to one year in jail and fined $100,000 for his role in the county's bankruptcy. In addition, he must do 1,000 hours of community service and faces five years of probation once he leaves jail. $(D2.$) Sumitomo Loses $1.9 Billion Sumitomo announced a $1.9 billion loss for the first six months of its fiscal year, its first loss in its 77-year history, as $2.6 billion in losses from unauthorized copper trading more than offset gains elsewhere. $(D4.$)

Clinton Administration drastically scales back plans to dispatch up to 4,000 troops to Central Africa, sending at most 800 to help with relief efforts, citing relatively peaceful homecoming of more than half-million Rwandan refugees; will still participate in Canadian-led, multinational operation authorized by United Nations Security Council to help return Rwandan refugees from neighboring Zaire, but it no longer plans to send ground troops to Zaire (M)

Article on fattening of Americans, many of whom appear to have had their fill of fat-free foods; NPD Group survey finds nation is high on restaurant junk food, feasting on more french fries, hamburgers and chicken nuggets than last year; researcher Harry Balzer asks who is eating all those hamburgers, nearly six million more than last year, if Americans are as concerned about health and nutrition as they claim; survey relies on meal-by-meal diaries, mailed in daily to avoid revision by guilty parties; popular fantasy that low-fat cookies are healthful also noted (M)

Institute for Women's Policy Research reports that New Jersey women earn higher salaries than women in most other states, and are more likely to rise to management positions (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

State Department and seven leading US airlines reach agreement to provide speedier notification of American victims' families in event of air disasters abroad; memorandum of agreement finally puts in force provision of 1990 Federal law calling on nation's airlines to provide State Department with list of passengers' names within three hours of crash; long-delayed accord follows pressure from groups representing crash victims' families; could soon be superseded by more demanding Federal rule recently proposed by Transportation Department; parties to agreement are American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, TWA and USAir (M)

Ocean County grand jury that indicted Lakewood auto junkyard last year for fouling wetlands and groundwater with motor oil and gasoline found that real culprit in case was State Department of Environmental Protection; grand jury criticizes department for lax enforcement against Tilton Used Auto Parts and for failing to regulate state's 200 junkyards (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Joel Proyect, a respected and selfless lawyer in Sullivan County, NY, until he was convicted to growing his own marijuana, is released to a halfway house after serving three years and four months in Federal prison; jail term, suspension of his license to practice law and seizure of his property have become a case study of how inflexible Federal mandatory sentencing can deal stiff punishment for relatively minor offenses (M)

Law enforcement officials widen search for Nicholas L Bissell Jr, convicted former New Jersey prosecutor who disappeared from home detention; win right to seize four properties that he posted as bond, including his mother's condominium; US Attorney Faith S Hochberg doubts that short handwritten message Bissell left was suicide note and suggests that he carefully planned his flight (M)

New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman signs into law bill that bans health insurance companies from denying access to or setting higher rates for individuals who are genetically predisposed to certain diseases; bill also prohibits employers from using or requiring genetic tests in workplace (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)