March 11, 2000

Stephen Sondheim, left, at the dawn of his brilliant career, with the ''West Side Story'' gang during rehearsals in 1957. Now 70, he speaks of the musical theater that he has outlived. A report by Frank Rich in The Times Magazine.

If one-trick ponies dream, they dream of being Lipizzaners. But in the age of globalization, even dreams of white horses need their fine print scrutinized by lawyers. Both the European Union and the World Trade Organization have been drawn into a dispute over what exactly makes a horse an official descendant of those first bred in this mountain hamlet in 1580.

William C Rhoden Sports of The Times column scores National Collegiate Athletic Association for hounding St John's basketball player Erick Barkley into taking leave of absence from team; photo (M)

Nasdaq Index Inches Higher To Another Record Close The Nasdaq composite index eked out its second consecutive record close above the 5,000 level, despite losses in blue-chip stocks after another consumer products company, Dial, warned of disappointing earnings. The Nasdaq, which closed above 5,000 for the first time on Thursday, ended with a slim gain of 1.76 points, to 5,048.62. Other major gauges fell. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 81.91 points, or 0.82 percent, to 9,928.82. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 6.62 points, to 1,395.07. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 6.17 percent from 6.15 percent on Thursday. [Page C3.]

Edward E Crutchfield, battling cancer, says he will resign as First Union Corp chief executive, but remain chairman until at least end of 2001; G Kennedy Thompson, president, will succeed him (M)

Sen John McCain says he has no intention of endorsing Gov George W Bush until he carefully considers how best to advance his campaign goals; says neither does he contemplate an early summit meeting; declares 'I and my supporters both deserve a pause,' adding that 'The main idea is to go slow. There's a long time until November' (M)

New national survey finds that overwhelming majority of Americans think that creationism should be taught along with Darwin's theory of evolution in public schools; some scientists characterize seemingly contradictory findings as quixotic effort by public to accommodate incompatible world views; but in some ways, even as Americans argue over what students should be taught about human origins, poll offers encouragement to both sides in debate; survey's results are released by People for the American Way Foundation, liberal civil rights group that commissioned poll, which was conducted by DYG Inc; survey, in results emphasized by foundation, finds that 83 percent of Americans generally support teaching of evolution in public schools; also finds that 79 percent of Americans think creationism has a place in public school curriculum--though respondents often say topic should be discussed as a belief rather than a competing scientific theory (M)

New York City's interim schools chancellor Harold O Levy emerges as front-runner for permanent chancellor, and would have majority support on Board of Education if he wants the job; photo; education officials cite his ambitious agenda, setting tougher standards for superintendents, vowing quick removal of incompetent teachers and taking aim at unwieldy central bureaucracy; Levy would need blessing, or at least neutrality, of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who did not support interim appointment but has opened lines of communication(M)

Throughout San Rafael Swell, geological wonder of canyons, mesas and rock formations in eastern Utah, tire tracks lace ground that otherwise appears untouched since wind and water carved the landscape millions of years ago; while most drivers keep to the narrow roads that crisscross swell's 600,000 acres, increasing number of tracks from all-terrain vehicles are turning up in remote reaches of land that was once an ocean floor; environmentalist groups say these incursions are altering the geology, threatening fragile ecosystems and exposing evidence of ancient civilizations, like petroglyphs, to vandalism and ruin; Federal officials and environmental groups insist they are eager to protect swell from further damage, but they differ sharply over how, and their clashing strategies have become part of latest battle in long-running dispute over ways that public land of historical, geological and archeological significance outside national parks and forests should be managed by Bureau of Land Management; how the dispute is resolved could affect not only the San Rafael Swell but also hundreds of thousands of acres of public land in Arizona, California and Colorado, where similar struggles are under way; photo; map (L)

British Airways ousts chief executive Robert J Ayling amid growing expectations that it will post first-ever full-year loss as private company; Lord Marshall, chairman, will replace him on interim basis; stock rises sharply on news; photo (M)

St John's defeats Miami, 58-57, iÿ

Government officials and previously undisclosed documents show that senior Justice Dept officials twice urged Atty Gen Janet Reno to appoint independent counsel to investigate Vice Pres Al Gore for his role in political fund-raising and at one point came closer to persuading her that was previously known; not only did FBI dir, Louis J Freeh, and Reno's chief campaign finance prosecutor, Charles G La Bella, conclude that Reno was obligated to seek an independent counsel, but so did aides like Robert S Litt, highly influential political deputy at Justice Dept who was often said to have opposed such appointments; but Reno decided against them, relying on advice of career prosecutors, and ordered investigation of Gore closed in December, 1998; photo of Gore at Buddhist temple in California (L)