Justice Department reportedly leans toward challenging plan by American Sky Broadcasting, joint venture of MCI Communications Corp and News Corp, to sell satellite television license to Primestar Partners LP; deal would cut number of direct-broadcast players from four to three (M)

U.S. May Fight Satellite-TV License Sale

Federal prosecutors probe decision by Metropolitan Transportation Authority in May 1997 to award Silverite Construction a $97 million contract to repair Queens-Midtown Tunnel one day after donors connected to company's owner, Angelo J Silveri, contributed a total of $100,000 to state Republicans; MTA originally concluded that company and its partner were not qualified for contract (M)

U.S. Lawyers Are Examining Tunnel Deal

Boston Celtics defeat New Jersey Nets, 82-76, and Jayson Williams, league's second-leading rebounder this season, suffers broken thumb and will miss Nets' remaining 11 games of regular season; photo (M)

A Fracture Sidelines Williams For Season

The North Carolina players stared inside their lockers at pictures of the Alamodome all season. The Stanford players signed a poster before the season to affirm their goal of waltzing here. The Kentucky players remembered the sting of succumbing in the national championship game last season. The Utah players figured they would be watching the Final Four on television.    But, regardless of whether they used motivational techniques, all four schools felt fortunate to play in college basketball's marquee show on Saturday. Kentucky meets Stanford in the first game (5:42 P.M., CBS), with North Carolina opposing Utah in the second matchup before an anticipated crowd of 40,000.  

The Tar Heels Are Favored, But It's No Slam Dunk

Analysis of Wayne Gretzky's veiled threat to leave New York Rangers unless owners acquire new cast of high-salaried veterans through free agency or through trades; says Gretzky wants his name on Stanley Cup again before he retires from sport; photo (M)

Gretzky Drops Hint That Future Is Now

Haitian-American youth in New York and across the country acclaim Nelus Wyclef Jean, Haitian-American hip-hop singer, as a symbol of acceptance; his appeal crosses ethnic lines, reaching young African-Americans, proving that Haitians too can fit it, be cool and win respect of their non-Haitian peers; photos (M)

Hip-Hop Idol Is the Pride Of a People; Young Haitian-Americans Get Help Against Stigma

NCAA final four will play at Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex; first game is between Stanford and Kentucky, followed by Utah-North Carolina game; photo (M)

Carolina's Favored, But It's No Slam Dunk

Analysts say Viagra, Pifizer Inc's new pill to treat impotence, could soar to annual sales of several billion dollars in year or two; some warn of possibly disappointing sales if many users have exaggerated expectations (M)

Impotence Drug Expected to Be A Popular Pill

Leading senators agree to drive up price of pack of cigarettes by $1.10 over next five years, almost doubling price cigarette manufacturers accepted in settlement they reached last June with state attorneys general; Treasury Dept estimates that price increase, coupled with limiting tobacco advertising and outlawing most cigarette vending machines, would result in 40 percent reduction by 2003 in number of teen-agers who smoke; biggest stumbling block is how much authority to give Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products; J Phil Carlton, lawyer for tobacco industry, claims legislation now under consideration would bankrupt industry; tobacco companies are such pariahs in public's eye that few lawmakers can afford to vote for bill that industry endorses, so tobacco's complaint may improve prosects for legislation (M)

Senators Agree On Forcing Up Cigarette Price

 Stocks Fall for Third Day On Fears of Weaker Profits  Rising concern about weaker corporate profits pushed major stock market indexes lower for the third consecutive day. An early rally on a stronger dollar, rising oil prices and higher Treasury bond prices faded, and selling undermined a broad array of stocks.  

BUSINESS DIGEST

First of five funerals is held for students and teacher murdered at their school in Jonesboro, Ark; five where shot down at lunchtime in schoolyard by 11-year-old classmate, Andrew Golden, and his 13-year-old friend, Mitchell Johnson, who opened fire with powerful hunting rifles and handguns from copse of trees; two boys are being held in juvenile detention wing of local jail; they are charged with five counts of murder and 10 counts of battery; classmates say shooting spree was prompted when Mitchell was spurned by girl he liked; two suspects are so young that under Arkansas law, if they are convicted they could only be incarcerated until 18th birthdays; photos (M)

Arkansas City Begins Burying Its Young Dead

Judge Susan Webber Wright has come under intense scrutiny as she prepares to decides whether first legal case brought against sitting President should go to trial; despite what some see as signs of skittishness, such as her asking for extra security, friends say she is fully prepared to preside over trial of Paula Jones's suit against Pres Clinton, should that occur; some local lawyers in Little Rock claim she is fair, and also bold enough to dismiss case if her reading of law tells her that would be right call; she is generally regarded as tough, smart and extremely conservative in her rulings; even her critics say they believe she is scrupulously fair; photo (M)

Presiding Over the President: Judge Wright's Big Moment

A hospital worker who told investigators he was acting out of mercy has confessed to killing 40 to 50 unconscious patients since 1989 at a hospital in Glendale, Calif., the authorities said last night.    Efren Saldivar, a respiratory care therapist at Glendale Adventist Medical Center confessed to the Glendale police earlier this month that he caused the deaths of dozens of patients, state and local officials said.  

Confession to Dozens Of Killings for Mercy

South African Pres Nelson Mandela, meeting with Pres Clinton in Cape Town, says United States, as leader of world, should reach out to its enemies and seek talk of peace; Mandela praises some Clinton policies but stoutly defends South Africa's right to remain friendly with nations US considers rogues, like Libya, Iran and Cuba; Mandela gives Clinton emotion-drenched tour of Robben Island, where he spent 18 years as political prisoner, confined to tiny cell and forced to do backbreaking labor; Clinton notes that Mandela emerged from that confinement not in anger, but in hope and determination to put things right; Mandela expresses reservations about African trade bill passed by House of Representatives that would require African nations to privatize their economies and liberalize their political systems in order to attain free access to American markets; photos; map (M)

From Mandela, a Gentle Admonishment

Sister Mary Dowd, who teaches women on welfare in Brooklyn how to become home health aides, is among the nuns praying for survival of Nothing Sacred, a television series about an inner-city parish; ABC has removed show from its schedule because of poor ratings; Catholic League has campaigned against show; photo (M)

About New York; Nuns Pray A TV Parish Won't Perish

President Boris N. Yeltsin picked a little-known technocrat, only 35 years old, as Russia's Prime Minister and said he would disband Parliament if it rejected the nomination.  

For Russian Premier, A Youthful Neophyte

The script was written earlier this week, when the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's women's basketball tournament was determined. The underdogs Arkansas and North Carolina State, who rode a string of improbable upsets to reach the national semifinals, inevitably fell tonight to the traditional powerhouses Tennessee and Louisiana Tech.    The results were as predictable as they were lopsided, with Tennessee routing Arkansas, 86-58, while Louisiana Tech rolled over North Carolina State by 84-65. The victories set up a clash of the titans in Sunday's championship game here at Kemper Arena.  

The Routs Over, Tennessee Will Play La. Tech for Title

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co chief executive Samir G Gibara holds innovative products will enable company to grow at twice tire industry's slow growth pace; predicts company will pass Bridgestone Corp and Michelin to become world's largest tire maker within five years; graphs; photo (M)

A Road Warrior of Innovators; Tires a Slow-Growth Industry? Don't Tell Goodyear's Chief

Results of final four games in NCAA women's basketball tournament; Louisiana Tech defeats North Carolina State, 84 to 65, and Tennessee defeats Arkansas, 86-58; photo (M)

Former Mayor David N Dinkins accuses Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani of seeking to 'reap short-term political benefits' by moving to settle a lawsuit with Hasidic residents over 1991 violence in Crown Heights section of Brooklyn and apologizing on behalf of city for its handling of the violence; calls plaintiffs' claims baseless and accuses Giuliani administration of pandering to those bringing the suit; Bruce Teitelbaum, Giuliani's adviser on Jewish affairs, says Dinkins is trying to run away from state report criticizing him for failing to exercise leadership and restore order and put down a riot (M)

Dinkins Faults Giuliani on Crown Heights Lawsuit

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column on Chamique Holdsclaw of University of Tennessee, winner of women's college basketball player of the year award; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Broadway Awaits A Star

Analysis of Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani's sarcastic response to final report of task force he created to examine relations between New York City's residents and Police Dept following beating and torture of Abner Louima in Brooklyn police station house; says Giuliani's dismissive attitude leaves open question of whether he ever intended to take panel's findings seriously, once he was re-elected; says even his supporters on panel could not mask their disappointment; photo (M)

Giuliani Sneers, and Even Friends Bridle

Copyright pirates are selling video compact disks of latest Hollywood movies unchecked all over China as authorities have essentially given up efforts to enforce 1995 intellectual property rights accord with United States; new technology has swept nation with remarkable speed, making enforcement difficult; American officials, apparently unaware that problem has become so serious, have not pressed issue; disks are smuggled into China from Macau, which has no copyright law; photos (L)

China Turns Blind Eye to Pirated Disks

 Yeltsin Picks Young Premier  President Boris N. Yeltsin named Sergei Kiriyenko, a little-known 35-year-old technocrat, as Russia's new Prime Minister and warned that he would disband Parliament if it rejected the nomination. Page A3.

INSIDE

Food and Drug Administration approves first pill for male impotence, prescription drug Viagra made by Pfizer Inc; pill is taken hour before intercourse and is found in studies to help 70 to 80 percent of impotent men; it acts on normal physiological system in penis and elicits erection when man is sexually stimulated; it has no effect if he is not; Pfizer says 30 million American men are afflicted with impotence; study in Massachusetts found half of all men between ages of 40 and 70 have problems getting or maintaining erection; Dr Ridwan Shabsigh, urologist, says more than 90 percent of impotent men fail to seek treatment because they are embarrassed or convinced that their problem cannot be resolved; diagram (M)

HUGE MARKET SEEN

Lance Richard Thomas Morris is an Australian cricketer who represents the Australia national cricket team in ODI cricket. A right-arm fast bowler, Morris plays for Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers. He is regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in Australia.

March 28, 1998

Headlines from March 28, 1998

U.S. May Fight Satellite-TV License Sale

U.S. Lawyers Are Examining Tunnel Deal

A Fracture Sidelines Williams For Season

The Tar Heels Are Favored, But It's No Slam Dunk

Gretzky Drops Hint That Future Is Now

Billboard 200

Titanic

Ray Of Light

Let's Talk About Love

Pilgrim

Savage Garden

Notable Births

Historical Context for March 28, 1998