June 2, 1998

Like, where to fit it all? The creation of the American Museum of Natural History's new biodiversity exhibit was an adventure in itself. Page 4.

The Sprint Corporation, the No. 3 long-distance telephone carrier, plans to announce today its long-awaited strategy for competing in local communications markets, executives close to the company said yesterday. The strategy is based on an ambitious plan to deliver high-speed access to cyberspace, the executives said.

Most Europeans still think of themselves as French, German, Italian, British or whatever first and Europeans second. Even the weather reports on the nightly television news in any country seldom report what is happening just across the border. So building a truly European public television station was a mighty challenge for Arte, a Franco-German cultural broadcasting channel based in this European city, when it started up six years ago. Arte now transmits cultural and public affairs programming in French and German by satellite to 50 million homes from North Africa and Israel to Scandinavia. The programming is produced by the French, German, Belgian, Swiss, Spanish, Austrian and Polish partners.

Hideo Nomo is looking for work. Brian Bohanon would rather start than relieve. And a certain hyperactive young left-hander named Bill Pulsipher is chafing at Norfolk over the chance to pitch in the major leagues again. All of which means Dave Mlicki may be looking over his shoulder right now.

Goldman, Sachs Considers Selling Shares to Public Jon S. Corzine, senior partner at Goldman, Sachs & Company, told employees that management was considering options for the firm's future, including taking the Wall Street firm public. Goldman, Sachs's partners have pondered going public several times before, but the changes now sweeping the financial-services industry have made the current discussion more urgent. [Page D7.]

The invitations surprised Bobbye Sloan. Her husband wanted her to come into the locker room after his team, the Utah Jazz, won the Western Conference finals. He wanted her to ride the team bus back to the hotel. In 35 years of marriage to Jerry Sloan, and to basketball, she had never felt so included, not in victory or in defeat. She thought to herself, do I know this man?

As a devastating disease infects the pristine rivers of Montana, questions arise about whether human efforts to improve on nature are to blame. Page 10.

IT is difficult to know for sure, but there may be more kinds of creatures living on earth now than ever before in the planet's 4.6-billion-year history. Or at least there were that many before human beings appeared very late in the game and began changing the rules. At first, life consisted of microscopic, single-cell balls, rods and filaments. For perhaps three billion years, these blue, green, purple and white microbes were all the life there was, all the decoration available to a wet, stark and rocky world. Not until about 600 million years ago, after the earth emerged from its deepest ice age ever, did bigger species evolve. Then life's variety exploded.

Scientist and economists look at the reasons for caring about a decrease in biodiversity - and what we're willing to pay to preserve it. Pages 6 and 7.

One of the most heralded investment bets of the last year -- Warren E. Buffett's purchase of almost 130 million ounces of silver -- appears to be a money loser, at least for now. The price of silver in the last week has dropped close to $5 an ounce, finally bringing it significantly below the average price of Mr. Buffett's silver purchases. By one calculation, he now has a paper loss of at least $14.1 million, a 2.1 percent decline in the value of his entire silver investment. In the 1997 annual report for Berkshire Hathaway Inc., his investment vehicle, he said he had a profit of $97.4 million on his silver investment as of the end of last year.

In the largest deal ever in the pharmaceuticals industry, the American Home Products Corporation announced yesterday that it would acquire the Monsanto Company for $34.4 billion in stock. The combined company will be the nation's top seller of prescription drugs and a world leader in insecticides and other agricultural products. Its brands include such household names as Advil painkiller, Centrum vitamins and Nutrasweet sugar substitute.

No Upturn for Russia Despite President Clinton's efforts to end Russia's financial crisis by supporting more international aid, its stock market fell by more than 10 percent and there were other signs of economic strain. Page A10. Ruling on Election Law The Supreme Court yesterday opened the door to lawsuits against the Federal Election Commission by voters over its enforcement of certain disclosure rules. Page A18.