July 24, 1999

First, parents were able to find out their child's sex. Now technology is giving them the choice. A mother of two boys explores the options for science, and for herself. A report by Lisa Belkin, in the Magazine.

William C Rhoden, in Sports of The Times, comments on New York Mets' acquisition of pitcher Kenny Rogers; photo of Mets' manager Bobby Valentine (M)

Caryn James Critic's Notebook column on report that John F Kennedy's plane was missing; says stunned response was intensified by our attachment to celebrity; holds Kennedy was part of constellation of the famous whom the media have made familiar; when one of those stars falls out of place something seems off kilter in the world (M)

Seven-member board that administers huge Government program to stimulate economic development to upper Manhattan and South Bronx votes to spend nearly $35 million on loans, grants and investments for 13 projects, more than total amount committed since program, New York Empowerment Zone, began in 1994; program had been criticized as stagnant, jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars of urban-renewal dollars for two of city's poorest areas; Deputy Mayor rudy Washington praises move (M)

New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq market are moving quickly to convert from nonprofit institutions to for-profit corporations; Richard A Grasso, chairman and chief executive of Big Board, says it could be ready to sell shares to public as early as mid-November; proponents of the plan say conversions could produce healthier, better-financed, more adaptable American markets for investors and entrepreneurs; sudden rush to become public companies leaves unanswered for now some crucial questions about how to regulate these markets and still foster competition and innovation; Grasso portrait (M)