April 9, 2000

Penelope Green comment on various meanings of being blond; photos; quotes Natalia Ilyin's book Blond Like Me (M)

Growing number of companies are offering employees use of outside medical information services to help them navigate through mass of medical information available today, from advertisements for prescription medicine to pitches for doctors and hospitals in magazines, books, television and online; companies believe employees will get better care and may be less inclined to proceed with treatments deemed not appropriate; employers that offer added advice are also trying to prepare employees for eventual shift toward system of vouchers for medical care; in such system, employees would receive set amount of money, rather than promise of benefits, to cover health care needs, and they would need advice on selecting best care to manage for themselves; typically, medical advice services do not give advice, but do send most up-to-date medical and practical information; photo (M)

New York parents must make nail-biting decisions on how much freedom to give their children during each stage of their growing up; New York Times poll asks parents thoughout city how they deal with such tricky questions as when to let child cross street alone, when it is safe for child to ride subway by himself or herself and when to permit child to be out alone at night; photos; charts; poll results (L)

Rick Marin comment on new movie version of American Psycho; recalls furor when book was published ten years ago, when author Bret Easton Ellis was 26; photos (M)

Clinton administration opposes World Bank proposal that would increase exports from world's poorest and most indebted nations for fear it would inflame sentiments in Congress against Pres Clinton's efforts to win passage of African trade bill and to give China permanent normal trading status; propsal pressed by World Bank and International Monetary Fund would allow poorest nations in world to sell goods to United States and other Western nations without facing any tariffs or import quotas; this would go far beyond administration's efforts to get Congress to forgive their debts as they undergo economic reform (M)