William C Rhoden's Sports of The Times column on University of Minnesota's basketball coach Clem Haskins, who has taken team to its first Big Ten title since 1982 and to its first NCAA Final Four berth; Haskins comments on his team's success (L)

Haskins Sees Own Image On the Court

Article in series, Jackie Robinson: A Baseball Celebration, focuses on Clyde Sukeforth, who managed Jackie Robinson in his first major league game as a Brooklyn Dodger in 1947; Sukeforth, 95, recalls integration of major league baseball; photos (L)

The Days That Brought the Barrier Down

 FYI   2    MAKING IT WORK   3  Treasures of the homeless: for those who have nothing, a small memento can mean everything.    NEW YORKERS & CO.   4  A new credit union eases money woes in Washington Heights.

ALSO INSIDE

Cooperator magazine to sponsor annual Co-op and Condo Expo, New York City; plans seminars on rent regulation, water metering, other housing issues (S)

Talks on Water Meters And Rent Regulation

Auto makers display several new products at New York International Auto Show, New York City, aimed specifically or largely at NY area; photo (M)

Auto Makers Practice a New York Accent

Concerns that Internet is anarchic, menacing labyrinth where perverts and paranoids hide discussed in aftermath of mass suicide by Heaven's Gate cultists; photos of sinister Web pages; rumors about UFO hiding behind comet Hale-Bopp have festered on Web for months, and Heaven's Gate added to group hallucination, spreading ideology that combined Christianity and gnosticism with scenarios that could have come from watching too many X-Files reruns while reading Weekly World News; public worries about pornography and child abuse promoted through Internet also discussed (M)

Old View of Internet: Nerds. New View: Nuts.

Gail Maeder, thin as a sapling, grew up in Sag Harbor, L.I. She went to Suffolk Community College. She loved animals, especially cats. She did not like to use paper towels because she equated that with killing trees. And she would have turned 27 this August if she had not joined what her parents called ''the U.F.O. cult.''    ''We kept hoping that someday she would just appear at the front door and we could throw our arms around her and tell her how much we loved her,'' said her father, Robert Maeder, in his Sag Harbor home.  

Time of Puzzled Heartbreak Binds Relatives

 Arab Killed in West Bank  A Palestinian student was slain during clashes in the West Bank with Israeli soldiers. Page 10.    Top Cats in College  The Arizona and Kentucky Wildcats are in the N.C.A.A. finals. SportsSunday, section 8.(Some copies went to press before the games ended.)  

INSIDE

AIDS groups have built what amounts to $300 million infrastructure in New York City to house, serve and treat people with disease; most real estate projects involve renovation of existing buildings, but some include new construction; photos (L)

Building Blocks In the Battle On AIDS

Some economists are studying psychological roots of irrational investor behavior, challenging traditional view that investors are rational and markets efficient; overconfidence of investors that they or professional money managers can outperform markets through active trading cited as example of irrationality; photo; drawings (L)3

Why Both Bulls and Bears Can Act So Bird-Brained

Law enforcement officials describe discovery of bodies of 39 members of Heaven's Gate cult, who committed suicide in rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif; say scene was both surreal and serene; bodies were neatly laid out on cots or beds, with rolls of quarters or $5 bills stuffed into black patch pockets of black tunic-style shirts; flight-bags packed with belongings were laid out beside them; former cult members and other who knew them best say they are not shocked by their final fate; photos (M)

In Serene Setting in California, A Suicide Investigation Unfolds

Michelle Krebs article assesses Chevrolet Malibu sedan; table; photo (M)

A Car for the People Who Aren't Car People

Ada Louise Huxtable article on growing American acceptance of architecture and environment as packaging or playacting; cites preference for surrogate experience and synthetic settings as improvement on reality; photos (L)

Living With the Fake, and Liking It

Thirteen months after deregulation of telephone in name of free-market benefits for consumers, public might soon see first tangible result of competition, in form of higher bills; experts say higher rates may be unavoidable first step toward competition aimed at bringing lower prices in long run; seeming paradox arises from rules for fully competitive communications market, in which Federal and state regulators must first strip away subsidies that for decades have allowed millions of Americans to obtain local service for less than it costs telephone companies to provide it; Federal Communications Commission is weighing proposals that could increase phone bills anywhere from $1.50 to $6 per month; even if Federal Government stops short of imposing new charges, state regulators might eventually have little choice but to let local companies lift their rates (M)

RISING PHONE BILLS ARE LIKELY RESULT OF DEREGULATION

Comparator Systems, Centennial Technologies and Bre-X Minerals cited as examples of companies with minimal value that persuaded bull market investors they were worth billion or more dollars; graph (M)

Psst! Have I Got a Tip For You

As baseball begins season of tribute to late Jackie Robinson and his entry into major leagues in 1947, many in sport express concern that game is disconnected from black athletes he paved way for and black fans who watched them; American blacks are currently outnumbered by Latin Americans at major league level, and Little League officials say more than 90 percent of organization's 7,000 leagues are mostly in white suburban areas; once fertile sources of young black players, such as Los Angeles, have begun to dry up; evidence suggests that while black Americans may no longer be disenfranchised by baseball, they are increasingly disinclined to play sport; photos; charts (M)

Fewer Blacks Follow Robinson's Baseball Lead

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, is set to build $9 million freshman dormitory financed by alumnus Vincent A Stabile; photo (S)

For Pratt Institute, a New Dormitory

Meteoric rise in stock prices and growing size of stock option awards has delivered stunning windfall to top corporate executives almost regardless of individual performance; top executives again got double-digit compensation increases in 1996, often approching 20 percent or more, at time when corporate profits rose 11 percent; many companies, faced with shareholder pressure, keep salary rises minimal and reward executives with other kinds of pay tied to performance measures; graphs; table (L)3

New Road to Riches Is Paved With Options

Trial of Timothy J McVeigh, suspect in 1995 bombing of Federal office building in Oklahoma City that claimed 168 lives, is set to begin in Denver; Federal prosecutors are expected to portray defendant as disillusioned former Army sergeant who plotted to strike back at Government following deaths by fire of 80 people at Branch Davidian compound in Waco Texas in 1993; pretrial motions suggest defense may seek to put prosecution on trial, arguing that Government, which was both victim and investigator, knew bombing was imminent, did little to prevent it and continues to conceal what it knows to cover up own ineptitude (M)

After 2 Years, Bombing Trial Is Set to Begin

Heaven's Gate millenialist cult, whose members committed mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif, is notable mostly for its violent end, but group's peculiar beliefs, that civilization was doomed and that salvation by flying saucers awaited fortunate few, can be counted as one more element in ever-expanding universe of contemporary American spirituality; academic specialists say US, where belief in God remains vastly popular and religious freedom is guaranteed, is becoming spiritual marketplace, where various Christian denominations, together with all world's major faiths and countless minor ones, meet and jostle for followers and influence (M)

Land of Religious Freedom Has Universe of Spirituality

Yawning gap between Kremlin's preoccupations and those of ordinary Russians discussed; Pres Boris Yeltsin devotes weekly radio address to defending his performance at Helsinki summit while, on next day, millions of workers and pensioners demonstrate about nonpayment of salaries; photo; rule of fear and silence has been toppled, but citizens are far from trusting Government, and Russian society does not provide much of a forum for people to discuss their views (M)

What's on Russia's Mind?

Robert Lipsyte column on Carla Fine, author of new book, No Time to Say Goodbye, which describes how she has survived 1989 suicide of her husband, Dr Harry Reiss (M)

For Survivors of Suicide, Questions and Lies

In a year when average workers got 3.3 percent raises and profits climbed 11 percent, pay of many chief executives rose 20 percent or more. The main reason: Bigger grants of stock options to chief executives like these three.    Money & Business, Section 3.  

The Executive Pay Escalator

University of Kentucky's basketball team defeats team from University of Minnesota, 78-69, to advance to final round of NCAA Basketball Tournament; Kentucky will play University of Arizona; photo (L)

Wildcats Are In: Arizona Will Face Kentucky

First Wednesday of Month Club meets at Bridge Cafe, NYC, to celebrate its 11th anniversary; its eight active members, who were in their mid 20's when club was founded, vote club out of existence; photos (M)

Nothing Lasts Forever

Lee Dong-min, known professionally as Cha Eun-woo (차은우), is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Astro, and debuted as a solo artist with the extended play (EP) Entity in 2024. Cha made his acting debut in the film My Brilliant Life in 2014 and is known for his lead roles in Gangnam Beauty (2018), Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung (2019), True Beauty (2020–2021), Island (2022–2023), A Good Day to Be a Dog (2023–2024), and Wonderful World (2024).

March 30, 1997

Headlines from March 30, 1997

Haskins Sees Own Image On the Court

The Days That Brought the Barrier Down

ALSO INSIDE

Talks on Water Meters And Rent Regulation

Auto Makers Practice a New York Accent

Billboard 200

The Untouchable

Pop

Unchained Melody/The Early Years

Spice

Pieces Of You

Notable Births

Historical Context for March 30, 1997