December 1, 1996

Article in series, Rushing Away From Taxes: The Capital Gains Bypass; Federal tax on profits from sale of stock, land or other assets--known as capital gains tax--is becoming largely academic to nation's wealthiest taxpayers; even as growing number of Americans with more modest incomes are paying capital gains taxes because of their growing mutual-fund profits, wealthy taxpayers can take advantage of growing arsenal of Wall Street techniques to avoid taxes on their investment gains; some wealthy investors and entrepreneurs who have avoided paying capital gains taxes are Eli Broad, William Simon, and Ronald Lauder; graph; photos (M)

Anthony E Pratt, British law clerk who invented classic board game Clue, died in obscurity near Birmingham in 1994; he was 90; his death did not become general knowledge until after Waddington's, company that first published game in 1948, issued public appeal to find its creator; ceremonies were being planned to commemorate impending 150-millionth worldwide sale of game, known in Britain as Cluedo; photos (M)

Trent Lott faces no opposition to re-election as majority leader on Dec 3, but it is unclear whether he will succeed as leader of Senate; 105th Congress poses special problems that may not be easily managed by someone with his experience; problem has as much to do with changing nature of Senate as it does with Lott, who was House leader and ally of Speaker Newt Gingrich before coming to Senate in 1989; after retirements and 1996 elections, Senate is distinctly more conservative body, changed more than increase from 53 to 55 Republicans would suggest; with retirements of senators who worked across party lines, Senate has become polarized along an even more important axis than ideology: willingness to work with opponents to reach compromise (M)

Affirmative Action Jumble The passage of a California ballot initiative on Election Day left opponents of affirmative action jubilant, but a judge's ruling has replaced that glow with confusion. Page 34. Serbia's New Power Broker An opposition leader is emerging as the power broker in Yugoslavia, playing Kennedy to President Slobodan Milosevic's Nixon. Page 18. Florida State Wins Florida State defeated Florida, 24-21, in a battle for state bragging rights and the No. 1 spot in college football's national rankings. SportsSunday, section 8.

Floyd Norris column urges change in 'circuit-breaker' rules in securities trading, which currently call for shutting down trading at all American exchanges if the Dow industrials were to fall 250 points, a figure set in 1988; favors a shift to a percentage figure; notes opposition to change from New York Stock Exchange; graph (M)