February 12, 1997

2 CALDORS TO CLOSE -- A Caldor store in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn will close, in a blow to local redevelopment efforts. Metro Business, B6. GIULIANI AIDE DEPARTS -- The architect of Mayor Giuliani's workfare policies is leaving to design similar programs around the country. B3. SEEKING SUPERINTENDENTS -- New York expects several vacancies for school superintendent posts. B4. SCHOOL VOUCHERS -- A New Jersey district approves a tuition program that would allow students to attend private and parochial schools. B5.

Dr Stephen W Hawking concedes defeat, 'on technicality' in bet with Profs John P Preskill and Kip S Thorne, fellow leaders in study of relativity as applied to cosmology, that naked singularity cannot exist; singularities are mathematical points at which space and time are infinitely distorted and matter infinitely dense and are thought to be concealed in black holes; naked singularity would be one not concealed by black-hole shell and visible to observers; Hawking responds to supercomputer calculations by Dr Matthew Choptuik, who found there could be special circumstances in which naked singularity might be created from collapsing black hole; photo (M)

Time Warner Reports Profit And Seeks to Cut Debt Load Time Warner reported a 79 percent rise in profit, and said it was determined to improve cash flow in an effort to pay off its $18 billion in debt. The company posted net income of $59 million, or a loss of 3 cents a share after the payment of preferred dividends for the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $33 million, or 1 cent a share, a year earlier. Perhaps the news that heartened Wall Street most was the appointment of several prominent new board members. $(Page D6.$)

A day after the State Board of Regents dismissed 18 of Adelphi University's 19 trustees, the trustees won a temporary court order blocking their removal. But the Regents said they would appeal, and insisted that the trustees they had appointed on Monday were still in charge of the Long Island university. For their part, the lawyer for the 18 ousted trustees said they were in charge.

Two weeks ago, David N. Dinkins roiled the mayoral campaign in New York City by suggesting that he might enter the race to unseat Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. But associates of Mr. Dinkins now say that while the former Mayor has enjoyed shaking up what some feel had become a desultory race, he has decided not to run, and would instead lend his support to one of the Democrats who have already declared their interest in running for mayor.

Campaign finance reform, described as major priority by both Republicans and Democrats after charges of widespread abuses last year, is losing its urgency in Congress; Sen John McCain, Republican co-sponsor of bill endorsed by Pres Clinton, has so far lined up support of only one other Republican; Republican Congressional leaders reject Clinton's bid to seek bipartisan solutions to reform issue; leaders of both parties seem to be stalling on bill, co-sponsored by Democratic Sen Russell Feingold, which would erode edge current law gives incumbents; photo (M)

Chevron Corp's $700 million investment in Tengiz oilfields of former Soviet republic of Kazakstan, derided as foolish by other major producers, is finally paying off and is forcing many skeptics to swallow words and competitors to follow lead into former Soviet lands; company is expected to report profit of $80 million from Tengiz oilfields in 1996, up from $1 million in 1995; map; chart (Market Place) (M)

Number of Amercan companies expressing alarm over surging dollar has been surprisingly small, compared with 12 years ago when many manufacturers warned that businesses would be severely injured by influx of cheap imports; many have been insulated from effects by expanded production overseas, decade of aggressive cost-cutting and active hedging of currencies; officials at Boeing Co, General Electric and Intel Corp have dismissed worries about dollar; even Caterpillar Tractor, which led complaints in mid-1980's, has been quiet, as have machine-tool makers which were nearly driven out of business by low-priced Japanese imports; currency continues surge, despite statement by Treas Sec Robert E Rubin that it has corrected itself after hitting record low against yen nearly two years ago; graph (M)

Rwandan Hutu refugees and few hundred hastily recruited European and African mercenaries form backbone of Zairian Government force fighting Zairian rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda; Zaire's own soldiers, who left trail of looting, rape and death as they fled Rwandan border zone in Nov when uprising began against Pres Mobutu Sese Seko, remain virtually useless in combat and are mostly left to guard Kisangani, rebel's next strategic target; city, twice sacked by unpaid Zairian troops in this decade, is wary; Yugoslavian Serbs train Zairian forces and supply arms in defiance of international embargo; map; photo (M)

Newark Police Dir Joseph J Santiago says police have been responding faster to high-priority crimes since he became director in July (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Interview with Arrigo Cipriani, owner of Harry Cipriani, the Manhattan restaurant that is a sister to famed Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy; photo (L)

Gubernatorial election is nine months away, but Gov Christine Todd Whitman seems to be stumping hard, making seven stops in Morris, Sussex and Warren Counties on Feb 11 (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)