Ben Ratliff column on neo-swing movement in pop music, which began in California with bands playing 40's jump-blues music; photo (M)

It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

The World Trade Organization ruled yesterday that the United States was wrong to prohibit shrimp imports from countries that fail to protect sea turtles from deadly entrapment in shrimp-boat trawl nets.    The decision by a three-member panel in Geneva was the latest sign that when free trade conflicts with environmental protection, the international trade body is unlikely to swerve from its central mission.  

Free Trade Victory Is Sea Turtles' Loss

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses Jeff Ruland being named Iona College basketball coach; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; The Coach Who Came To Stay

Seattle Mariners defeat New York Yankees, 8-0; photo (M)

Yank Slide Continues; Rivera Goes On the D.L.

Bell Atlantic Corp takes big step toward being allowed to sell full range of communications services as Justice Department's antitrust chief Joel I Klein and New York State Public Service Commission Chairman John F O'Mara give conditional support to company's plan to sell long distance service (M)

Bell Atlantic Wins Backing To Add Service

 ODD COUPLE AT THE TOP -- The two executives who will run the new financial colossus to be made up of Citicorp and the Travelers Group could hardly be more different. Page D1.

Big and Bigger

Dow Jones industrial average climbs 49.82, to close at record 9,033.23; on New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumber advancers by 1,727 to 1,318; Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is down 1.32 points, to 1,121.38; Nasdaq composite index falls 26.26 points, to 1,829.14; graphs; charts (L)

Dow Closes Above 9,000 For First Time

 Tammy Wynette Dead at 55  Rising from beautician to country star, she co-wrote and sang ''Stand by Your Man.'' A blood clot was suspected in her death. Page A24.    More Gay Troops Discharged  The military is discharging 67 percent more gay and lesbian troops  than before the ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy, a report says. Page A23.

INSIDE

Literary festivals that bring together writers and readers are popping up in astonishing profusion around country, often drawing record crowds, even at a time of severe structural crisis in book publishing industry; first North Carolina Literary Festival is at Chapel Hill, drawing more than 100 writers, including John Grisham, Derek Walcott, Rita Dove, Allan Gurganus, Reynolds Price and Lee Smith; some of new festivals are Texas Book Festival and Arizona Book Festival, while some of bigger, established festivals are Miami Book Fair and Los Angeles Times Festival of Books; photos (L)

Where Books Are a Success Story; Festivals Booming Amid Publishing Gloom

Citicorp and Travelers Group are betting on successful use of their political muscle and sheer weight of marketplace to break down longstanding Federal barriers against combinations between banks and insurers that stand in way of announced their merger; analysts warn failure of Congress to set clear ground rules, whether or not merger is allowed to proceed, will hurt American financial services business in efforts to compete worldwide; failure of recent efforts by Congress to amend 1933 Glass-Steagall Act--which bans combinations between banks, insurers and stock brokerages--noted (M)

Financial Services Heavyweights Try Do-It-Yourself Deregulation

Kathy Saumier, more than a year after being dismissed from her job by Landis Plastics amid charges of sexual harassment tied to her union organizing efforts, goes back to work at plastics factory in Solvay, NY, with little band of union supporters outside to applaud her; she says she will continue her efforts to unionize workers; photo (M)

Union Organizer's Warm and Chilly Reinstatement

Clyde Haberman NYC column discusses efforts by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to do away with Independent Budget Office, which is charged under 1989 City Charter revision with keeping tabs on how city spends its money (M)

Once Again, The Mayor Hogs the Ball

Concerned computer industry executives have approached Justice Department with wide-ranging set of 10 proposed remedies that they believe would help rein in monopoly power of Microsoft Corp; proposals, contained in document that is circulating among industry executives, include forcing Microsoft to separate its applications businesses from its operating system business and establishing monitoring system to track Microsoft's business practices; Microsoft officials dismiss proposals, saying that they had responded to many of the points previously; Justice Department believes it has enough evidence to bring new antitrust case and Goverment lawyers are raising threat of expanded case as they prepare to confront Microsoft at the bargaining table (L)

Plans Offered To Cut Power Of Microsoft

New Jersey Nets defeat Charlotte Hornets, 125-115; photo (M)

Cassell, the Talk of the Game, Burns Hornets for 35 Points

Atlanta public schools and other school districts nationwide have eliminated recess in elementary schools as waste of time that would be better spent on academics, while others have turned to socialized recess in which children are required to participate in structured monitored activities; trend has provoked alarm, even indignation, among authorities on child development who insist that free time and unstructured play are vital for intellectual and emotional growth as well as skills of negotiating and cooperating; educators cite panoply of reasons, besides academic pressures, why recess is being abolished--such as fear of lawsuits if children become injured, concern about possibility of unsavory adults lurking on fringes of playgrounds and shortage of teachers and volunteers willing to supervise children; photo (M)

Many Schools Putting an End to Child's Play

Interview with Dr James D Watson, renowned molecular biologist and co-discoverer, with Francis Crick, of structure of DNA; he has built up Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory into one of world's leading centers of molecular biology, and he was central figure in shaping of human genome project, ambitious program of deciphering all three billion letters of human DNA by 2005; Watson is working on second volume of his autobiography, which promises to be as candid as the first; photo (L)

Scientist at Work: James D. Watson; Impresario of the Genome Looks Back With Candor

Profile of Citicorp chairman John S Reed and Travelers Group chairman Sanford I Weill, who will be co-chairmen of merged company called Citigroup Inc; says two men who will run huge financial powerhouse could hardly be more different; Reed and Weill comment; drawings; chart; photos (L)

SHAPING A COLOSSUS: THE CHIEFS -- The Odd Couple; Success to Hinge On How Intellect And Savvy Mix

 Citicorp and Travelers Plan Biggest Merger Ever  Citicorp and Travelers Group, two of America's biggest companies, agreed to a $70 billion merger, the largest in history.    The deal, which would create the world's largest financial services concern, is remarkable for its brashness. Given the nation's ample regulatory curbs on how actively banks can sell insurance and the law separating commercial and investment banking, the proposed merger challenges regulators and lawmakers to end these restrictions, scuttle the deal or force the merged company to scale back. [Page A1.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Article discusses difficult 16th green at Augusta National as final preparations begin for Masters; drawing (M)

THE 62D MASTERS: The Nightmare Green; The Putts on Augusta's 16th Can Add Up in a Hurry

Transportation Sec Rodney E Slater, in significant departure from Government's 20-year policy of supporting airline deregulation, says Government will levy fines if necessary to stop major airlines from driving out new carriers through use of unfair practices, like flooding market with cheap seats on competitive routes; cites instances in some markets in which fares have risen triple to quadruple those on competitive routes; says there is growing concern that major carriers are willing to lose considerable sums in short run to drive out competition; proposes new guidelines to detect and curb unfair exclusionary practices, including three patterns of behavior that would trigger action; small airlines hail announcement, but big carriers say complying with policy would be impossible since they will need information about small carriers that they they are not allowed to ask for (M)

U.S. SEEKS TO CURB UNFAIR PRACTICES OF MAJOR AIRLINES

Scientists re-examine some of their most basic assumptions about how universe is made as they debate what happens to information sucked into black holes in space; are confronted with so-called 'information paradox,' which seems to hint at flaw in at least one of two theories that lie at foundation of physics--quantum mechanics, which holds that no bit of information can ever disappear, and general relativity, which holds that anything that slips into a black hole, including information, can never be recovered; John P Preskill and Kip S Thorne of California Institute of Technology and Stephen W Hawking of Cambridge University have a wager on matter, Thorne and Hawkins betting that the information is lost and Preskill betting that it is not; photo of Thorne and Presskill (M)

Physical Laws Collide In a Black Hole Bet

Charles Wadsworth leads Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concert of French works at Alice Tully Hall; Bernard Holland review; photo of Wadsoworth with Beverly Hoch and Christopheren Nomura (M)

Whimsy and Charm, Courtesy of the French

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 9,000 for the first time yesterday, propelled by news of the biggest corporate merger in history. The average climbed 49.82 points, to 9,033.23.      Business Day, page D1.

Dow Passes 9,000

Federico F. Pena, the Secretary of Energy and a former Transportation Secretary, said he would resign in June because the demands of being a Cabinet secretary put too much strain on his family.      Article, page A22.

Energy Head to Resign

Gramophone, which bills itself as world's longest-surviving record review magazine, celebrates its 75th birthday in London; 50th birthday salute to Andrew Lloyd Webber is planned for April 7 at Royal Albert Hall in London; photo; James Cameron, director of Titanic, reaches agreement with 20th Century Fox and Paramount, which jointly financed film, that will give him about $100 million; Mike van Diem, Dutch director of movie Character, wins top prize at Paris film festival; photo (M)

Footlights

Alexander A. Schomburg, born Alejandro Schomburg y Rosa, was a Puerto Rican commercial artist and comic-book artist and painter whose career lasted over 70 years.

April 7, 1998

Headlines from April 7, 1998

It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

Free Trade Victory Is Sea Turtles' Loss

Sports of The Times; The Coach Who Came To Stay

Yank Slide Continues; Rivera Goes On the D.L.

Bell Atlantic Wins Backing To Add Service

Billboard 200

Titanic

Let's Talk About Love

Life Or Death

Van Halen 3

Ray Of Light

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for April 7, 1998