January 10, 1998

Judge Garland E Burrell Jr orders mental evaluation of Theodore J Kaczynski, defendant in Unabom case, and threatens to send him to a psychiatric institution for observation if he does not cooperate; schedules competency hearing on Jan 22 (M)

Falling bricks from construction scaffolding critically injures 16-year-old Yanahan Zhao outside elementary school in Borough Park, Brooklyn; investigators say unsafe construction methods appear to have caused accident; Board of Education immediately bars company, Epso Construction, from working at any New York City public schools; launches probe (M)

Francis L Lawrence, president of Rutgers University, stresses importance of academics but says improving sports program remains a top priority because it will increase alumni and legislative financial support; winless football season has prompted Gov Christine Todd Whitman to urge him to name Robert E Mulcahy 3d, president of New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, to head school's long-troubled athletic program; state legislators from both parties second idea, believing like Whitman that successful sports programs will draw more attention and dollars to university; however, team's sad performance has also galvanized school's faculty, who have long criticized Lawrence for investing too heavily in sports at expense of academics (M)

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani signs into law City Council bill that bans all gender-related price discrimination in New York City retail establishments; new law forbids merchants to post prices that distinguish between male and female customers; existing law requires that retail establishments post all prices for general basic services; photos (M)

Brent Jones, star tight end on San Francisco 49ers, pulls calf muscle during team practice; his status for upcoming National Football Conference title game with Green Bay Packers is still undetermined (M)

The strong economy generated 370,000 new jobs last month. With December's gains, a record 64.1 percent of all Americans are working. Business Day, page D1.

Stock prices fall in US on fears over how deeply the economy will be hurt by Asia's festering financial crisis; Dow Jones industrial average falls 222.20 points, or 2.9 percent, and broader measures record equally large declines; in bond market, however, short-term interest rates plunge on belief that Asian situation will slow growth in US enough to force Federal Reserve to lower its interest-rate target; graphs (M)

Clinton Administration will suspend construction of logging roads in back country of most national forests, a major environmental step that would effectively preclude loggying on some of nation's most rugged and pristine public lands; Vice Pres Al Gore has pushed for such a moratorium; Forest Service will then convene panel of scientists and draft new rules on road building that could fundamentally affect way big publicly owned forests are managed; timber industry and its allies in Congress may challenge proposal on ground that it alters forest management plans without full public disclosure; photo (M)

Nation's employers added 370,000 new jobs to their payrolls in Dec 1997, as economy continues to grow; Labor Department says employment reached record levels at year's end; puts job growth for year at 3.2 million, coupled with low unemployment rate of only 4.9 percent on average for all of 1997--lowest level since 1973; graphs on employment and unemployment (M)

US Healthcare unit of Aetna Inc will eliminate coverage for advanced fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization; says women were joining its plans because they knew the advanced treatments were available; Aetna has been under pressure from Wall Street investors to reduce costs and increase profits; decision is criticized by doctors and advocates of infertility patients, who say many couples are already struggling to cover costs of such treatments out of their own pockets; photo (M)

Profile of James P Rubin, chief spokesman for State Department and right-hand man to Sec Madelein K Albright, in light of his engagement to Christiane Amanpour of CNN, one of the world's best-known reporters; photos (M)

Popularity of newspapers like Shopping Guide and Fine Goods Shopping Guide attests to growth of consumer culture in China, at least among its younger generation; department stores and boutiques in Beijing carry brands like Benetton, Nautica and Sony, and ads on television and in magazines and some newspapers extol the world goods and gadgets; even People's Daily, Community Party mouthpiece, now reports on world of finance, shopping, society and culture; photo (M)