June 4, 1998

Analysis finds that Manhattan Theater Club's decision, later reversed, to cancel Terrence McNally's play Corpus Christi reflects theater's dependence on image-conscious corporate sponsors who are anxious not to offend political and religious sensitivities; notes TWA's withdrawal of support for theater club's production of a play about a gay Jesus-like figure (M)

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column discusses performance of pitcher Orlando Hernandez, Cuban defector, in his initial start for New York Yankees in victory over Tampa Bay Devil Rays (M)

Japan's 'Big Bang' market liberalization, which began in April with lowering of barriers to foreign ownership, is bringing many American and European financial companies to Japan; international banks and money managers are staking their claims to $9 trillion in private savings up for grabs; Americans are redrawing rules of financial playing field in Japan and sending shock waves down halls of their Japanese counterparts; Japanese companies are concerned that they will lose control of their companies and financial industry will be controlled by foreigners; recent deals between Japanese institutions and foreign investment firms detailed; charts; drawing; photos (L)

THE UNIONS -- California dealt conservatives a blow by defeating a ballot initiative that would have required labor unions to obtain annual written permission from members before using dues for political purposes. Page A24. THE SCHOOLS -- After Californians overwhelmingly endorsed a proposition to end bilingual education, advocates of minority rights filed suit to keep the measure from taking effect. Page A25.

Elizabeth Kolbert Metro Matters column on why many New Yorkers will lament loss of X-rated shops, even people who neither patronize nor own them, nor even find them titillating; says it is hard for some to imagine sex shops being sloughed off without city also seeming less authentic--a sanitized, falsely sentimental image of its genuine self; says wholesome storefronts that increasingly set city's tone can be found in any mall across America, but only 42d Street had a Peepland ; photo (M)

Newburgh, NY, home to one of state's largest and most significant historic districts, will host symposium and house tour examining lineage of four leading 19th-century American architects and apostles of taste: Andrew Jackson Downing, Calvert Vaux, Frederick Clark Withers and Frederick Law Olmstead; photos (M)

Jockey Gary Stevens discusses his preparations for riding Victory Gallop in Belmont Stakes; photo (M)

Analysis of possible shift of strategy by Monica S Lewinsky's new lawyers, Plato Cacheris and Jacob A Stein, whose predecessor, William H Ginsburg, sought not only to head off her indictment but also to keep her from becoming witness against Pres Clinton; notes courtesy visit paid by Cacheris and Stein to office of independent counsel Kenneth W Starr; says any new thaw in frosty relations between prosecutors and Lewinsky's lawyers does not bode well for White House (M)

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, bowing to mounting political pressure, says he would agree to end discretionary parole for all violent felons; Gov George E Pataki has made issue one of his top election-year priorities; Silver ties his change of mind to major expansion of drug treatment programs as alternative to prison for nonviolent criminals, as well as mandatory schooling for inmates and increased supervision of former inmates after release; Silver concedes that change he is demanding would require vast expansion of state's drug treatment system, but he notes treatment is cheaper than imprisonment; Silver's bill also includes provision requiring that all people who are arrested, no matter how minor the charge, be held until their fingerprints can be checked through state computer to determine whether they are wanted for any crimes (M)

Last month, before his play 'Corpus Christi'' was canceled and then reinstated, the playwright Terrence McNally gave a luncheon speech to a theater group in Manhattan listing the nine things every playwright needed to know. ''Write plays that matter,'' he said, getting to No. 7 on the list he read to the New Dramatists on May 12. ''Raise the stakes. Shout, yell, holler, but make yourself heard. It's time for playwrights to reclaim the theater. We do that by speaking from the heart about the things that matter most to us. If a play isn't worth dying for, maybe it isn't worth writing.''

Advice on PC companion portable computing devices; new, bigger versions of devices, which are meant to synchronize data with primary computers through cable connections, offer large keyboards; are less expensive and use less power than notebook computers; tables; photos; drawing (M)

Food and Drug Administration authorizes Vaxgen Inc to conduct world's first full-scale test of vaccine to prevent infection with AIDS virus; experiment is to involve 5,000 uninfected volunteers in as many as 40 clinics in US and Canada and 2,500 volunteers in 16 clinics in Thailand over next four years; scientists are sharply divided over when and which experimental vaccines to approve for full-scale testing to determine safety and effectiveness; Vaxgen says its vaccine was safe in tests involving 1,200 uninfected volunteers beginning in March 1992 and induced production of antibodies in over 99 percent of vaccinated participants; major question new tests aim to answer is how effective experimental vaccine will be in protecting against development of HIV among people who are exposed to virus because of high-risk sexual practices or injection of drugs (M)