December 4, 1996

New Jersey Education Department is set to rate public schools on attendance, teacher-student ratios, per-pupil costs and student achievement (NJ Daily Briefing) (S)ï

Independent commision appointed by Congress will report that Federal Government has overstated inflation rate by 1.1 percentage points, costing it billions of dollars in Social Security and other benefits, and will call on Congress and Clinton Administration to solve problem; report on Consmer Price Index will stop short of advocating specific plan for dealing with predictable political opposition to any step to rein in benefits; will specifically recommend that Congress and Administration take variety of technical steps to revise index, which is used to calculate cost of living increases; effect of proposed changes on economy, and on efforts to balance Federal budget, discussed; graphs; chart (M)

Plan for Sidewalk Structures Seeking esthetic order on streets, Mayor Giuliani said newsstands and bus shelters would be refurbished and public toilets installed. Page B1. Ich Bin Ein Dominicano For some political candidates in New York, the Caribbean is competing with Europe as a regular campaign stop. Page B1. Airline Merger Talks Seen Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines are discussing a possible merger, according to people close to the talks. Page D1.

McDonnell Douglas Corp and Boeing Co say they will enter strategic alliance to collaborate on the development of future wide-body aircraft; first projects are two stretch versions of the Boeing 747 jet; alliance is seen as beneficial to both companies, with McDonnell Douglas facing declining market share and Boeing facing shortage of engineers amid record orders (M)

Age of the mutant martini arrives; basic gin-with-vermouth now suffers additions like sake, cucumber, cranberry juice and chocolate, with Mercury restaurant in Miami listing 29 varieties; photos; drink is popularly used as sophisticated prop, and even size has grown; several recipes listed (M)