March 28, 2000

Detroit Red Wings defeat New York Rangers, 6-0; photo (M)

Thousands of disabled farmers nationwide have triumphed over physical adversities, achievement made possible by technological advances and changed nature of industry, which now relies more on brain power and computer skills than brute strength; experiences of Ackley, Iowa, livestock farmer Darwin Hoffmeister discussed; he has managed to maintain livelihood by modifying machinery and buildings, after losing four fingers and use of left arm in combine accident five years ago; photo (M)

Market Place column on OPEC meeting in Vienna on whether to increase oil production and lower prices focuses on US economic situation now and 20 years ago when similar situation occurred; says in 1980, inflation was widely feared in developed world, and it was believed that oil prices were sure to rise for years to come; then, widespread efforts at energy conservation were having effect, and oil companies were intensifying their search for new oil fields; now all those factors have changed; complacency has replaced urgency on Main Street, in US Congress and in executive suites of major oil companies; all expect prices to fall, and therefore see little need for action; oil is less important to economic growth in information age than it once was, and inflation has declined sharply; chart; photo (M)

Legal showdown begins that could determine whether some of biotechnology industry's most lucrative drugs will be vulnerable to lower-priced competition; on one side is Transkaryotic Therapies Inc, tiny company with technology that could allow it to circumvent patents on drugs produced by genetic engineering; in partnership with Aventis, big European drug company, Transkaryotic wants to sell its own version of Amgen Inc's Epogen, used to prevent anemia during dialysis; Epogen is biotechnology industry's best-selling drug, with worldwide sales of about $4 billion; Amgen has filed patent infringement lawsuit to protect its product; trial in US District Court in Boston, Mass, comes at time of growing controversy over biotechnology patents; issues in this case are different from recent furor over whether human genome data should be patented; case could touch on just how far patents can extend to cover substance found in nature; graph; chart; photo (M)

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses parity in college basketball; cites North Carolina and Wisconsin reaching Final Four of NCAA basketball tournament; photo (M)