June 11, 1998

Strike by 3,400 UAW workers at General Motors Corp metal stamping factory in Flint, Mich, has closed seven assembly plants from Kansas to Canada and part of three other plants, idling more than 18,000 workers by GM's count; 5,000 workers at second parts-making factory in Flint are expected to decide whether to strike over what they call unmet job security demands; auto analysts say strike in Flint, Mich, will ripple across North America within days, quickly shutting most of 22 assembly plants not yet affected by metal-stamping plant strike, causing hundreds of temporary layoffs at independent parts supply companies and depleting dealer inventories of cars and trucks; economists say combined work stoppage could trim nation's production of goods and services by $6 billion, on yearly basis, if settlement is not reached before end of month; chart; photo (M)

Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani, wielding rarely used line-item veto power of his office, cuts over $196 million from city budget; asserts that money represents reckless spending of confused City Council; Speaker Peter F Vallone predicts that Council will override Giuliani's vetoes; dispute between Giuliani and City Council centers on $34 billion budget that Council passed unilaterally; act of defiant independence marks first time since City Charter was revised in 1989 that city leaders have not adopted budget in consensus; Giuliani photo (M)

Scientists have broken code of tuberculosis bacterium, germ that kills more people in world than any other infectious agent; advance, published in June 11 journal Nature, is likely to open up new approaches for developing drugs and vaccines against microbe, and to reinvigorate research efforts in what has been difficult and slow-moving field; it is work of team lead by Dr Stewart T Cole of Pasteur Institute in Paris and Dr Bart G Barrell, DNA sequencer at Sanger Center near Cambridge, England (M)

Chrysler Corp and General Motors Corp, in one of first attempts by major companies to counter high air fares charged by major carriers, are near agreement to pay monthly fee for five years to Pro Air, start-up airline based in Detroit, in exchange for unlimited passage on carrier for their employees; deal will help Pro Air compete against Northwest Airlines, dominant carrier in Detroit; and it will save Chrysler and GM as much as $3 million and $6 million, respectively (M)

Actress Gong Li gets France's highest arts award, rite, Hong Kong; American Ballet Theater star Vladimir Malakhov to appear with Stuttgart Ballet at Lincoln Center Festival '98; Solomon R Guggenheim Museum plans art exhibition marking 100th anniversary of birth of Peggy Guggenheim, champion of contemporary art; Mathew Brady, 19th-century American photographer, will be focus of major exhibition at International Center of Photography Midtown; Jewish Museum plans major exhibition devoted to George Segal, Pop artist known for evocative sculptures of everyday people in urban environments; photos (M)

Computer industry with lots of money is getting its way in Congress; number 1 issue on computer industry's agenda is Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, bill approved today by finance subcommittee of House Commerce Committee; identical legislation has already passed in the Senate; bill would prevent investors and their lawyers from filing class-action securities fraud cases in state courts; instead, these suits would have to be brought in Federal court under strict rules imposed by Congress in 1995 to discourage 'meritless' lawsuits; partly through Technology Network, coalition of 140 California companies, computer industry has provided substantial campaign contributions to politicians; in 1995 and 1996, industry gave $4 million to Congressional candidates; computer companies and their executives have given more than $1.2 million in last 18 months; leading recipients of such contributions are Sens Alfonse M D'Amato and Christopher J Dodd; chart; photos (M)

Harlem United Show House provides showcase for 24 interior designers, most of them black; photos (M)

Poundbury, planned community taking shape in Dorchester, Eng, in accordance with architectural vision of Prince Charles, is gaining favor with many Britons who once derided it; first 142 homes have been built, all of period design, with stores and offices within walking distance; overall design is Leon Krier, champion of traditional town planning; map; photo (M)

Greenspan Finds Economy Is Extraordinarily Sound Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, declared the economy to be in extraordinarily good shape and signaled that he saw no immediate need to strike against inflation by raising interest rates. His testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress was sprinkled with caveats about how the combination of low unemployment and strong growth could eventually force the Fed to raise rates. But for now price pressures are subdued and Asia's crisis is taking some of the steam out of the American economy. [Page A1.]

Wisconsin Supreme Court, in most significant legal decision yet on growing use of school vouchers, rules that City of Milwaukee can spend taxpayer money to send pupils to parochial or other religious schools; says Milwaukee Parental Choice Program does not violate state's existing ban on spending state money for religious seminaries or First Amendment's separation of church and state; says program has secular purpose and will not have primary effect of advancing religion; civil libertarians and teachers' unions say they will appeal decision to US Supreme Court (M)

Eye and vision problems are among most frequently reported health-related complaints of ever-growing number of computer users; Occupational Safety and Health Administration weighs incorporating computer-related vision issues into ergonomic guidelines it develops; advice on ways to reduce eyestrain at computer; photos; drawing (M)

Eleanore L Walker, juror in murder trial of Darrel K Harris, was last person to change her vote before jury unanimously sentenced Harris to death for killing three people during 1996 robbery of Brooklyn social club; Walker describes jury deliberations as four days of anguish, of fierce arguments and finger pointing, and more than 20 votes until decision was reached; says decision might have been different had Harris testified during sentencing phase; Walker traces her change of heart to religious epiphany; says she turned to Bible and read that 'wicked must be destroyed' and she saw this as sign of how she must vote; photo (M)