February 4, 1997

Recent suggestion by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, that public school students could benefit from private school education, is on verge of becoming reality as at least 1,000 students stand poised to enter private schools in fall '97 on scholarships raised from private sources; actual program will differ from that envisioned by Mayor because of possible church-state conflict; participating students will not necessarily be drawn from among lowest-performing 5 percent in city, since compiling list would involve Board of Education, presenting constitutional challenge; School Choice Scholarships, private foundation created to administer program, will give special priority to applicants from city's 200 lowest-performing elementary schools, based on public information about reading and math scores (M)

Defense lawyers for Jesse Timmendequas, who is accused of murder-rape of Megan Kanka, files appeal of decision to allow man with close ties to US Representative Richard A Zimmer to remain in jury pool (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

New Jersey Assembly's Law and Public Safety Committee approves plan to require people who commit most serious offenses to serve 85 percent of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Transistor has shrunk drastically in size in the 50 years since its invention, and scientists are now striving to create transistor that works by virtue of the movement of a single electron, the subatomic particle that is a building block of matter and fundamental unit of electricity; feat of creating a transistor operated by single electron has recently been achieved in the laboratory; but translating this into commercial products is daunting, and could take decades to achieve, if ever; experts are confident that transistors will continue to shrink in the near future; diagrams; photo (L)

Article profiles career of Charles B Wang, chairman and chief executive of Computer Associates; he discusses current problems that are facing company and his plan to deal with them; photo (L)

TENSIONS IN NEWARK -- 18 months after it began, the state takeover of Newark schools has left behind an increasingly divided system. B2. RACING FOR LYME VACCINE -- Two drug companies are racing to get Federal approval to market a vaccine for Lyme disease and will seek approval from the F.D.A. B4. FAREWELL WHITE PLAINS -- Andrew P. O'Rourke is leaving his job as Westchester County Executive after 14 years. B4. FIGHTING BACK -- A judge has ruled that a man who was falsely accused of his son's death can sue the New York City Medical Examiner, which never told the authorities that the boy died of natural causes. B3. STATE VS. CITY -- A housing program that has long built homes for the poor in New York City is being redirected upstate by the Pataki administration. Metro Business, B6. WEB CONSOLIDATION -- The creator of a popular on-line guide to New York City is being taken over by a company largely owned by America Online. Metro Business, B6.

Sgt Maj Brenda L Hoster, 22-year Army veteran, accuses former boss, Sgt Maj Gene C McKinney, Army's top-ranking enlisted soldier and member of commission charged with reviewing Army's sexual harassment policies, of sexually assaulting her in hotel room during official trip to Hawaii in April '95; says incident was relayed to superiors at Pentagon after she overcame initial fears of reporting it, but that no action was taken; 39-year-old Army journalist and public affairs specialist says she reluctantly decided to leave Army in August for good of organization and because she feared no one would believe her if she pressed case; says she decided to come forward after McKinney was appointed as member of sexual harassment panel; she describes '95 incident in interview and sworn statement; McKinney denies allegations; Army grants his request to be excused from review panel until matter is resolved; photos (M)

Albright and Her Heritage Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright has learned that her grandparents may have been Jewish and that three of them may have died in the Holocaust. Page A13. The Coaching Circle The Jets remained in coaching limbo, but the New England Patriots formally ended the Bill Parcells era by naming a new coach, Pete Carroll (yes, an ex-Jets coach). Page B9. A Teacher of Actors Dies Sanford Meisner, whose acting students included Gregory Peck, Joanne Woodward, Robert Duvall and Grace Kelly, was 91. Page A21.

Future of approximately 1,800 surplus chimpanzees, formerly involved in American biomedical research but no longer used in experiments, is at center of mounting political and ethical dispute; debate over where they will live, who will care for them and what experiments will be performed on their bodies extends from top levels of National Institutes of Health to Congress, which is being lobbied with proposals for legislation; surplus stems partly from successful drive by health institutes to breed chimps for AIDS research, as well as from cultural change, in which their use in experiments has been more troubling to more and more people, including scientists, because of similarity to humans; some health researchers comment; 50- to 60-year life span of chimpanzees noted; photos (M)

Delphi Interior and Lighting Systemsto shut down next year (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Dr Beverly Hall, state-appointed superintendent and her advisory board, after 18 months of operating Newark's school district, are viewed by increasing number of parents and teachers as occupying army whose promises of liberating Newark district have turned sour (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Family of Dr Martin Luther King Jr seeks trial for his convicted assassin James Earl Ray, who is dying in prison from cirrhosis of liver; wants Ray tried, as he has begged for almost three decades since confessing to killing, pleading guilty and later recanting; says even though trial may never answer many questions surrounding assassination, it may air any new information, and is in interests of truth and justice; some of King's oldest friends and associates have long supported Ray's crusade for trial, never believing he acted alone; Ray, small-time criminal, was escapee from Missouri prison at time of assassination in 1968; was known for bungling some of his petty crimes; photo (M)