April 28, 1999

About New York column on drawings of Miro Stefanovic being exhibited at ABC No Rio cultural center on Lower East Side of Manhattan; editorial cartoons he did for publications in his native Yugoslavia reflected religious, ethnic and political divisions that racked country; Stefanovic, denied visa to leave Belgrade to attend exhibition, discusses his being caught up in political struggle; drawing (M)

Florida Gov Jeb Bush and leaders in Legislature, in move that critics say will cause exodus from struggling inner-city schools but that advocates believe will save them, agree on plan to let children in state's lowest-rated schools attend private schools with state-paid tuition; plan will make Florida only state to pay for vouchers for students to attend private schools, including religious schools; plan, which would also pay for children in failing schools to attend higher-rated public schools, will assign every public school grade, A to F, based on scores on new standardized tests (M)

Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani, reacting to charges from Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew that he is being 'reckless' and 'destructive' in attacking school system, says he is trying to save system, not destroy it; says he does not regret his remarks that school system is 'dysfunctional' and 'should be blown up'; says he was using common expression that had been used by late Board of Education pres Robert F Wagner Jr; defends his plan to dismantle board and establish experimental program of school vouchers for 3,000 children; photo (M)

Homes Wired to Internet Now Seeking More Speed Much hyped and long delayed, high-speed Internet access is finally coming to the home, with research firms predicting that 10 million to 16 million households will sign up by 2002. Such fast connections over phone and cable lines will become widely available during the next year, at a cost of $40 to $200 a month plus installation. The experience of the early users offers a glimpse at the Internet's next frontier, where waiting is rare, dialing in is unnecessary, and local communications monopolies are vying for customers. [Page A1.] Microsoft will announce today that it is joining the research coalition that is leading the development of the next-generation Internet -- a network that can move data at speeds 1,000 times faster than the fastest lines now used by corporations and universities. [C2.] New Advertising Council President The Advertising Council, the nonprofit organization that has coordinated public service campaigns for Madison Avenue since 1942, is naming Peggy Conlon as president. Ms. Conlon, 48, is the first president to come from the media industry. Since 1992, she has been vice president and group publisher for the Broadcasting & Cable Group at Cahners Business Information. Stuart Elliott: Advertising. [C10.] Dow and S.& P. 500 at New Highs Stock prices were mixed as investors took profits in bellwether technology and Internet issues, but the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index set records. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 113.12 points, or 1.1 percent, to 10,831.71, while the S.& P. 500-stock index edged up 2.76 points, or two-tenths of a percent, to 1,362.80. The Nasdaq composite index fell 49.64 points, or 1.9 percent, to 2,602.41. [C12.] Chernobyl Virus Proves Destructive Proving more destructive than expected, the ''Chernobyl'' virus disabled hundreds of thousands of computers around the world, but the United States was hit far less. [C4.] House Passes Satellite TV Measure The House of Representatives approved legislation rewriting the rules for the satellite television industry, permitting companies to broadcast local television programs and long distance signals that have until recently been either restricted or more costly. [C9.] Telecom Italia Rebuffs Olivetti Telecom Italia took new steps to thwart its unwanted suitor, Olivetti, formally rejecting its $65 billion offer and selling control of a pay-television subsidiary. [C4.] Profit Falls 30% at Walt Disney Walt Disney said that its second-quarter profit fell 30 percent because of higher programming costs and lower ratings at ABC and because of weaker sales of home videos and merchandising. Shares of Disney fell $2.50, to $32.50. Meanwhile, first-quarter profit from operations at Viacom increased 44 percent, led by advertising revenue at the company's cable television networks, including MTV and Nickelodeon. [C10.] Profit Triples at America Online Earnings for America Online tripled in the third quarter as the company, the nation's largest on-line service, added 1.8 million new customers, helping it beat estimates by Wall Street analysts. [C11.] Icahn Abandons RJR Proxy Fight Carl C. Icahn withdrew his slate of nominees for election to the board of RJR Nabisco Holdings and will not pursue a proxy fight, paving the way for the planned spinoff of the company's United States tobacco operations. [C12.]

US Government officials say Wen Ho Lee, scientist suspected of spying for China, improperly transferred huge amounts of secret data from computer system at Los Alamos, NM, weapons laboratory, compromising virtually every nuclear weapon in US arsenal; say Lee transferred files to widely accessible computer network at lab, where they were stored under other file names; say he transferred most of secret data in 1994 and 1995; say there is evidence that files were accessed by someone after they were placed in unclassified network; say investigation is continuing, and they do not know whether data transferred by Lee was obtained by another country; Lee has not been charged with any crime; photos (M)