Thirty years ago the Soviets lost the race to the moon. They might have won -- if only they had acted like good Communists. A report by Bill Keller, in The Times Magazine.

COMING ON SUNDAY: ECLIPSED

Robert DeSena is concerned that Albanian students at two high schools in northeast Bronx refuse to sit down with Council for Unity, an organization he heads that seeks to ease simmering tensions between blacks and whites, Bloods and Crips, Latin Kings and Albanians, and other groups that have had history of antagonism; fights can be ignited by such things as Albanians wearing black and red colors of Albanian flag, which the Bloods claim as their own colors; Albanians say they like to keep to themselves, but are not members of a gang and do not see why they should have to sit down with street gangs; photos (M)

Empty Seat Hinders Talks to Keep Peace in Bronx; Albanian Teen-Agers Resist Joining Group That Eases Gang and Ethnic Tensions

San Antonio Spurs defeat New York Knickerbockers, 78-77, to win National Basketball Association championship, 4 games to 1; diagram; photos (M)

KNICKS' MAGIC RIDE IS OVER

Presidential aides and advisers say that Pres Clinton is angered and hurt by Vice Pres Al Gore's conspicuous efforts to distance himself from Clinton's behavior in Monica Lewinsky scandal; say Gore's words have created a friction that never before existed between the two; say that Clinton considers Gore's repeated condemnations of his actions and false statements arising from his relationship with Lewinsky to be acts of ingratitude bordering on disloyalty; photo (L)

Aides Say Clinton Is Angered As Gore Tries to Break Away

Different ways small companies meet the challenge of fast-growing communications technology is discussed in terms of the decisions made by three leading developers of next generation of Internet switching equipment; of the three firms, Nexabit Networks Inc has announced it will be acquired by Lucent Technologies Inc, Juniper Networks Inc has chosen to go forward with initial public stock offering, giving the company a market value of almost $5 billion and Avici Systems Inc has broken off marketing partnership with Nortel Networks Corp, Canada, one of Lucent's main rivals, with an eye toward a future initial public offering (M)

3 Companies And 3 Angles On Changing Small to Big

Sources say assets that Lockheed Martin Corp plans to sell are worth about $1 billion; aim of sale is to winnow out noncore businesses and, perhaps, make stock that has fallen more than 30 percent during the year more attractive; detailed account of just what assets could be up for sale was presented to Lockheed board but company declines details (M)

Lockheed Sale Of Assets Put At $1 Billion

Profiles of Rev Peter Jacobs, 73, and Msgr Emilio Colagiovanni, 79, two priests who got mixed up in Martin Frankel insurance scandal; together, they provided clerical cloak of respectability for Frankel, who authorities suspect embezzled more than $300 million from insurers across United States; both men insist they were duped by Frankel, who has disappeared and is wanted by FBI; priests say they knew Frankel as David Rosse, middle-aged tycoon who claimed descent from biblical King David and said he was eager to give at least $50 million to church; they supported St Francis of Assisi Foundation, charity Frankel set up and then tried to use to buy several American companies; he named Jacobs president of foundation; Colagiovanni, who had his own foundation, says he went step further, giving Frankel's charity power to move funds in and out of Vatican bank account of Colagiovanni's foundation; photo of letter from 'Rosse' to Colagiovanni (L)

How 2 Priests Got Mixed Up In a Huge Insurance Scandal

Opposition politicians in Yugoslavia are unable to seize the day and undertake united effort to oust Pres Slobodan Milosevic, even though 70 percent of Serbs blame Milosevic for mess country is in; opposition leaders, united in their eagerness to dump dictator and end Serbia's isolation as international pariah, remain hobbled by their competing egos; Vuk Draskovic, only figure with sizable national following, his own television station and populist razzle-dazzle to lure large number of Serbs into streets, shows haughty disdain for a fractured opposition movement that desperately needs him (M)

Opposition's Egos Get in Way Of United Push to Oust Milosevic

Interior Department lists Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village on National Register of Historic Places because it was there that the gay civil-rights movement began after gay patrons of the bar fought back when the police raided it on July 28, 1969; designation reflects growing trend in landmarks movement to commemorate places that may not have any conventional architectural distinction but that are rich in cultural associations; photo; map (M)

Stonewall, Gay Bar That Made History, Is Made a Landmark

Profile of J C Penney Co under leadership of chief executive James E Oesterreicher and his efforts to turnaround the retailer's disappointing performance; since Oesterreicher took over four years ago, his efforts have been on store remodeling, push onto the Internet and further emphasis on in-house brands; while these move helped move Penney's stock up by 10 percent, it has hovered at this level ever since; many former employees and other industry experts think Wall Street's optimism is premature; note that core of Penney's business--the retail chain, which accounts for 50 percent of annual revenues--is as troubled as ever; behind Penney's many shortcomings is problem of more and better competition; Penney can no longer make the claim of being a major player in serving mass over class; for two years Penney's sales in stores opened at least a year has increased less than 2 percent, while the industry in general has experienced a robust growth; photos; graphs on sales and stock performance (L)

Can J.C. Penney Evolve?; One Minor Problem: Darwin Doesn't Take Rain Checks

 Nasdaq and S.& P. Decline; Dow Jones Rises 17 Points  The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 1.34 points, to 2,552.65, as trading was slow and investors awaited the meeting Tuesday and Wednesday of the Federal Open Market Committee. Investors expect the Federal Reserve's policy-making panel to raise short-term interest rates a quarter percentage point to head off inflation.    The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 0.47 point, to 1,315.31, while the Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.73 points, to 10,552.56. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond declined to 6.15 percent from 6.16 percent on Thursday. [Page C3.]    Economy Growing at a 4.3% Rate  Torrid consumer spending helped the gross domestic product -- the nation's output of goods and services -- grow at a brisk annual rate of 4.3 percent in the first quarter of the year, the Commerce Department reported. [C4.]    Priests Say They Were Duped  In Rome, two priests, the Rev. Peter Jacobs, 73, an American, and Monsignor Emilio Colagiovanni, 79, a scholarly Italian, provided a clerical cloak of respectability for a money manager who authorities suspect embezzled more than $300 million from American insurance companies. Both men insist they were duped by Martin R. Frankel, who disappeared last month and is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [A1.]    Campbell Earnings to Fall Short  Campbell Soup said that earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter would fall 8 cents to 10 cents a share below analysts' forecasts of 38 cents a share and that it planned to reorganize its soup operations. Mark M. Leckie, the president of the company's domestic soup division, will leave the company. He will be succeeded at the new North American division by F. Martin Thrasher, now the company's president of European and Canadian operations. [C4.]    Nissan's Western-Style Meeting  In Japan, where annual shareholders' meetings, are traditionally closed affairs, Nissan Motor moved to Western-style openness, allowing news coverage. But the reward for the troubled company's president, Yoshikazu Hanawa, left, was a scolding gadfly shareholder who identified himself only as Mr. Tamura and demanded his resignation, saying, ''You've made mistake after mistake.'' Next Tuesday, 1,374 companies, or 88 percent of Japan's listed companies, are to hold their meetings. [C2.]    Latin-European Trade Meeting Set  Seeking to increase trade and gain a counterweight to American global economic dominance, leaders of Latin America and Europe, the world's second-  and third-largest trading blocs, are to meet in Rio de Janeiro this weekend and early next week. Their summit meeting, their first, has already proved contentious on several basic issues, notably French insistence that farm products be excluded from any free-trade pact. [C2.]    In Indonesia, a Step Toward Health  In Indonesia, the agreement this week between PT Astra International and its creditors on how the big company, which assembles Toyota utility vehicles and Honda motorcycles, will pay back more than $1 billion in debt is being heralded as evidence that the nation is on the mend. But Indonesia is by no means well. [C2.]    BBC's New Head Stirs Controversy  The British Broadcasting Corporation stirred passionate debate by appointing as its new head Greg Dyke, a millionaire Labor Party supporter associated with ''Baywatch'' and a puppet called Roland Rat. He has been head of Pearson Television, but the Conservative opposition focused on his Labor ties. [A3.]    Covance and Parexel Halt Merger  Covance and Parexel International, two drug-development companies, called off their planned merger, originally valued at more than $600 million. [C3.]    

BUSINESS DIGEST

Time Warner Books and Viacom's Simon & Schuster are in serious talks to form joint venture for their book operations covering such aspects as warehousing, marketing and sales; venture would reduce operating costs and provide combined companies with more leverage in negotiating terms with giant retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com; combined operations would have had $900 million in sales last year, making them No.3 three publisher behind HarperCollins (M)

Time Warner-Viacom Book Deal Said to Be Near

William C Rhoden Sport of The Times column on New York Knickerbocker's success in lockout-shortened season, despite loss to San Antonio Spurs in championship series; photo (M)

Long Road For a Short, Wild Season

COPSHOT, nonprofit organization, grants $10,000 reward to man who provided information that led to capture and conviction of three men who shot at police officers during a robbery in Brooklyn in March 1996, when the man was homeless and panhandling at the scene; Police Department originally recommended against the reward because the man gave the information to pursuing officers instead of using the special telephone number set up for the COPSHOT program (M)

About New York; Virtue's Nice, But a Reward Is More Help

Government officials say that FBI is proposing to create division devoted solely to rooting out spies, part of Government-wide review of counterintelligence following suspicions that China tried for two decades to steal nuclear secrets; after the cold war and breakup of Soviet Union, American intelligence agencies increasingly focused on fighting terrorism, believing that espionage would become less of a threat; FBI Dir Louis J Freeh proposes splitting national security division into two divisions, one to fight terrorism and other to root out spies; officials say Atty Gen Janet Reno has approved request and forwarded it to White House; Government-wide review also includes Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency and is expected to lead to overhaul of all counterintelligence efforts (M)

F.B.I. IS PROPOSING A SPECIAL DIVISION FOR HUNTING SPIES

Justice Barry A Cozier upholds and even extends State Legislature's repeal of New York City's tax on commuters who live in state, ruling that city can no longer collect tax from residents of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey or any other state; ruling deals blow to city's $35 billion budget, which stands to lose $360 million a year in commuter tax revenue; Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani and City Council Speaker Peter F Vallone, who sued state in attempt to overturn repeal, say they will appeal (M)

Judge Upholds and Extends Commuter Tax Repeal

San Antonio Spurs defeat New York Knicks, 78-77, to win their first NBA championship, Madison Square Garden; photos; Spurs' star Tim Duncan is named series' most valuable player; photo (M)

Spurs Win Title as Knicks' Dream Ends

Profile of Robert E Riccobono, whom Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew fired as superintendent of school District 19 in East New York section of Brooklyn after test scores in his district fell; four other superintendents were removed, and four were placed on probation; Riccobono says he is shocked, believing that district was making strides that were recognized; in aftermath of Crew's overhaul, firing of Riccobono is telling reminder of difficulty of improving city's worst school districts; he was regarded as superintendent who had taken steps to upgrade curriculum and teacher training in his district; map (M)

For Educator Fired by Crew, Small Gains Were Not Enough

Bronze horse is unveiled at Tallix Foundry in Beacon, NY, in full 24-foot height envisioned by Leonardo da Vinci when he conceived the statue; will be sent to Milan and erected there on Sept 10, 500th ananiversary of the day the French army occupied city's ducal polace and used Leonardo's clay prototype of the horse for crossbow practice; $6 million project was initiated by Charles C Dent, late airline pilot, art collector and amateur sculptor; Nina Akamu, sculptor who built model for the horse using Leonardo's drawings, say it is not a recreation of his work, but rather 'a tribute, an homage, a synthesis'; photos (M)

Ages Late, Bronze Horse By Leonardo Comes to Life

 Poor and Toothless  Even though poor Americans, particularly children, are covered by Medicaid for dental care, they are not getting it.   PAGE A8    Stonewall a U.S. Landmark  The site of the Village bar where gay patrons resisted a 1969 police raid has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.   PAGE B1  

INSIDE

Carlyle Group Inc, private equity firm in the United States, and group of mostly French investors reach an agreement with Socpresse, owner of Le Figaro, France's largest daily newspaper, to take 4.9 percent in Figaro Holding, country's largest print media company; agreement could bring investment group a 40 percent stake in Le Figaro (S)

Investors to Get 40% of French Daily

Thrashers, and N.H.L., Seem Cool to Olympics

Correction of June 21 article about country music Fan Fair in Nashville; country star who did not attend is Reba McEntire

Corrections

Sal F Albanese will begin television commercials to alert New Yorkers of his plans to run for Democratic nomination for mayor in 2001...Democrats seem to have settled on Eva Moskowitz as their candidate for City Council in Manhattan's Fourth District; there is no consensus on Republican side...State Sen John J Marchi will seek re-election from his Staten Island district in 2000, his 24th campaign; photo (M)

June 26, 1999

Headlines from June 26, 1999

COMING ON SUNDAY: ECLIPSED

Empty Seat Hinders Talks to Keep Peace in Bronx; Albanian Teen-Agers Resist Joining Group That Eases Gang and Ethnic Tensions

KNICKS' MAGIC RIDE IS OVER

Aides Say Clinton Is Angered As Gore Tries to Break Away

3 Companies And 3 Angles On Changing Small to Big

Billboard 200

Millennium

Ricky Martin

Californication

...Baby One More Time

Venni Vetti Vecci

Historical Context for June 26, 1999