March 5, 1997

Lord's Resistance Army, Ugandan rebel group, has stepped up violent campaign to overthrow Pres Yoweri Museveni, who vowed year ago to wipe rebels out; rebels' war consists mainly of killing civilians, sowing terror in countryside and making it appear to Ugandans and outside world that central Government cannot control nation; rebels have killed at least 400 people in districts of Kitgum and Gulu since Jan; Western diplomats say rebels have little popular support and survive mostly on charity of Sudan, where their leader Joseph Kony holds court; map; photo (M)

Many railroad experts, with Conrail, CSX and rival Norfolk Southern Corp negotiating more or less equitable division of Conrail in the East, see creation of transcontinental railroads as next step in merger process that has swept rail industry since deregulation in 1980; if all goes as planned, there will soon be two major railroads in the West, Burlington Northern and Union Pacific, and two in the East, CSX and Norfolk Southern; map (L)

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING: New Study on a Fuel Additive**Campaign by Oxy-Busters, begun in 1992, to have New Jersey get rid of additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, intended to reduce carbon monoxide in car emissions and improve air quality, continues (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Representative Robert E Andrews of Haddon Heights broadens his support in northern New Jersey as his gubernatorial campaign receives endorsement from another Democratic Congressman, Robert Menendez of Union City (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

ON PAY RAISES -- Legislative leaders have begun discussing a proposal to give legislators, the governor and other state officials pay increases tied to the inflation rate. B2. EXTENDING A TAX -- Agreement has been reached in Albany to extend a tax surcharge that Mayor Giuliani depends on to balance the city's budget. B3. CALL FOR DEPORTATION -- The mother of a rabbinical student killed in a shooting on the Brooklyn Bridge asked why one of the men involved in the crime had not been deported despite the fact that he is in the country illegally. B3. FAMILY FEUD -- Charges of religious persecution at the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel have spilled into a Federal courtroom. B8.

Top Congressional Republicans step up pressure to force investigations of Clinton-Gore campaign fund-raising; House Speaker Newt Gingrich calls fund-raising by Democrats 'scandal bigger than Watergate'; Senate majority leader Trent Lott calls for appointment of independent counsel to investigate fund-raising by Clinton campaign, especially Vice Pres Gore's calls of solicitation from his office; Senate Judiciary Committee chmn Orrin G Hatch says he will ask his committee's other Republicans to join him in formal request for independent counsel; photo (M)

Top White House aides used separate computers, telephones and fax machines to conduct Government business and run Pres Clinton's re-election campaign; half of equipment was paid for by Government, and half was paid for by Clinton campaign; these are parallel universes that White House aides lived in last year as they ran Clinton Presidential campaign largely from within White House while trying to obey laws separating government from politics (M)

First of two articles, Talking Around Death, focuses on Joan Siff and traumatic decisions she had to make after her 91-year-old father, Martin Isaacs, went into coma, and they had never discussed dying; photos (M)

Moderate earnings growth--in the 6 to 10 percent range for Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks--is key to many positive forecasts for the markets this year; but if earnings begin to disappoint, it could make it more difficult for Dow Jones industrial average and other key indexes to push well beyond levels they have already reached this year; Dow falls 66.20 points, closing at 6,852.72, down nearly 215 points in two weeks since it set its closing high of 7,067.46 on Feb 18; S&P 500 loses 4.36 points, to close at 790.95, while Nasdaq composite index gains 6.19 points, to 1,317.37, as technology issues rebound; recent decline in shares of AT&T Corp and McDonald's Corp discussed (L)

Nutritionists fear McDonald's widely publicized plan to sharply cut price of Big Mac hamburger, when sold with french fries and soda, will increase American intake of fat and saturated fat; meal contains about 75% of recommended daily allowance of fat (M)

Target Stores will open new, 125,000-square-foot store, its first in New Jersey, in Edison (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

About New York column discusses complaint filed by New York Civil Liberties Union and local chapter of National Organization for Women against Young Women's Leadership School, all-girls public school in East Harlem; complaint contends that single sex schools have no place in public education and divert attention from improving urban education for all (M)