March 22, 2000

Federal laws protect job seekers against most sweeping forms of discrimination, but these measures miss some types of bias and do not apply to companies with fewer than 15 employees; to fill in the gaps, each state has passed its own laws governing hiring practices; some states are more interventionist than others; for example, five states have laws protecting people who have had tests to determine their likelihood of developing life-threatening diseases; map (M)

R W Apple Jr comments on fabulous array of sweet nursery puddings to be found in England; recipes; photos (L)

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, seeking to trump plan by interim schools chancellor Harold O Levy and teachers union to give every summer school teacher cash bonus, proposes alternative that would give most effective teachers hefty reward, enough to almost double their summer salaries but give others no bonus at all; under Giuliani's plan, ten percent of summer school teachers whose classes showed most improvements in their districts would receive $4,000 bonuses at end of session; photo (M)

Article discusses how term limits, which prohibit elected officials from serving more than eight years on City Council or in citywide office, have dissolved alliances and friendships overnight; several of next year's races are growing especially bitter; many politicians are faced with either running for office or getting out of politics and some, because they are committed to elective office, are finding themselves running against people who have been their close associates; photo (M)

Food and Drug Administration announces that Rezulin, diabetes drug linked to liver failure, will be removed from market immediately; drug, which is manufactured by Parke-Davis, has been linked to 90 cases of liver failure, resulting in 63 deaths and necessitating 10 liver transplants since its introduction in March 1997; about 500,000 Americans are taking drug; FDA urges them to seek other treatments, including two recently approved safer drugs, Actos, marketed by Eli Lilly & Co and Takeda Chemical Industries, and Avandia, made by SmithKline Beecham PLC (M)