July 21, 1997

SURVIVAL TACTICS -- Underachieving students at a Brooklyn high school, survivors of the urban wilderness, are beginning to hone their skills in the natural wilderness as well. It's all part of an expedition run by Outward Bound. B3. JUST WHOSE BEACH IS IT? -- A Stamford lawyer (and jogger) takes on Greenwich, Conn., in a crusade to gain public access to its beaches, and residents raise their voices and money in response. B4. LILCO'S LONG ROAD -- The state's takeover of the Long Island Lighting Company had its roots in the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and the subsequent debacle of the Shoreham nuclear plant. B4.

David Friedland, former New Jersey state senator who faked his death in 1985 scuba-diving accident in effort to avoid arrest on fraud charges, is freed from Florida halfway house; was captured in 1988 and pleaded guilty to looting Teamsters Union pension funds (NJ Daily Briefing) (S)

Shares of Rupert Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting Group fall in response to resignation in June of Sam Chisholm, its chief executive, and David Chance, his top aide, and the decision by British regulators to forbid B Sky B from offering consumer digital broadcasting television; company's new and relatively inexperienced management team, headed by Mark Booth and Murdoch's 29-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, must regain momentum company has enjoyed since going public in late 1994; photo; graph (M)

First Union Corp reportedly agrees to buy Signet Banking Corp for $3.3 billion and plans to close enough branches and eliminate enough jobs to cut 50 percent of Signet's costs; deal would make First Union the dominant bank in Virginia; analysts say price appears high--more than 3.5 times Signet's book value--but might make sense because of potential cost savings and high price of First Union stock that will be exchanged for Signet shares (M)

Private investors and New York State officials weigh redeveloping Coney Island section of Brooklyn; Bruce C Ratner proposes $100 million private investment in new multiplex theater and virtual-reality amusement park linked to decade-old plan for amateur sports center to be built with money from state bonds; Empire State Development Corp chairman, Charles A Gargano, says state is committed to redevelopment of area; calls Ratner's involvement major boost; pledges state help with transportation and other infrastructure improvements; map; diagram; photos (M)