March 19, 1999

Giuliani administration, after repeated efforts to persuade Federal Government to strictly limit building on marshes around New York City's upstate reservoirs, reverses itself, arguing wetlands need no special protection; city's new position echoes views of Republican officials from rural communities around reservoirs and pits city officials against private environmental groups and Federal Environmental Protection Agency, which say that special restrictions are needed because wetlands help to purify city's water; some environmental groups and Democratic city officials accuse Giuliani of putting his possible race for Senate, and need for Republican support outside city, ahead of his responsibility to protect water supply (M)

Clinton Administration, with Kosovo talks at a dead end, and Yugoslav leaders more recalcitrant than ever, is publicly pushing threat of air strikes, but officials say they have no option but diplomacy, at least for another week; Administration's policy of using threat of air strikes to force Pres Slobodan Milosevic to sign peace agreement has failed so far; peace talks conclude in Paris with ethnic Albanians signing an agreement on autonomy, but Serbs still refusing to accept it (M)

New Government report on antidepressants offers some conclusions that may surprise Prozac Nation, even if they are no surprise to researchers: Prozac and other drugs of its generation are not any better--or any worse--than older compounds in treating depression; report also sounds note of caution for physicians who prescribe new antidepressants for children, and for patients who are only mildly depressed: there has not been enough research to establish whether drug are effective in either case; psychiatrists who specialize in treating depression say report, by Agency for Health Care Policy and Research of Dept of Health and Human Services, will help put to rest assertions that new drugs make older antidepressants obsolete, and skepticism of those who insist that older drugs remain 'gold standard' for treating severe depression (L)

Assessment of Bill Clinton's Presidency as blazing and bewildering political career of Clinton enters its twilight; more and more, Pres Clinton looks and sounds like 'yesterday's man,' spending large measures of his precious final days in office revisiting scenes of yesterday's glories and trying to forget pain of humiliating impeachment battle he survived; he is seen clinging to his last hours on stage, as spotlight shifts to rising careers of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice Pres Al Gore; photo of Clinton (M)

St. John's reached the final of the South Regional of the men's national basketball tournament last night with a convincing 76-62 victory over Maryland. The Red Storm can get to the Final Four for the first time since 1985 by beating Ohio State tomorrow. Ohio State beat Auburn, 72-64. Gonzaga, seeded 10th in the West Regional, continued its stunning run through the tournament by defeating Florida, 73-72, in the final seconds. A small school in Spokane, Wash., Gonzaga is one of several upstart teams to knock off the big schools in what has been a tournament of upsets. Connecticut, which defeated Iowa, 78-68, will be Gonzaga's opponent in the regional final.