April 10, 2000

Second of four articles in series, Rampage Killers, explores how relatives, colleagues and officials frequently overlook warning signs that precede most rampage killings; examination of 100 rampage murders disputes notion that killers just 'snap'; finds most of killers spiraled down long slow slide, mentally and emotionally; most of them spent months plotting their attacks and accumulating weapons, talking openly of their plans for bloodshed; in cases where families or friends tried to find help, they were rebuffed by police, school administrators or mental health workers; this suggests that many rampage killings could be prevented if people understood more about mental illness and connected clues; detailed description of several rampage killers: Jamie Rouse, who killed teachers and students at his Giles County, Tenn, high school; Sylvia Segrist, who opened fire at Philadelphia shopping mall, killing three people and injuring seven; Jeffrey Wade Wallace, who killed one person and injured three others at Key West, Fla, bar where he once worked; Joseph Brooks Jr, who killed his psychiatrist and several members of his therapy group in Southland, Mich, then killed himself; James Flood Davis, who killed bosses who had fired him, as well as co-workers at warehouse in Asheville, NC; Kip Kinkel, 15, who killed his parents, then went to his school in Springfield, Ore, and shot 24 people, killing two students; Sgt William Kreutzer Jr, who opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Bragg, NC, wounding 18 of them and killing one officer; photos; chart (L)

Interview with Esther Dyson, who defends her record as interim chairwoman of Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers; critics charge her lack of diplomacy has contributed to Icann's rocky start; photo (M)

Moves by ABC News president David Westin stir controversy as he faces increasing pressure to make ABC news coverage distinctive; he says he spurs producers to try new techniques to hold and expand audience, and make it younger; holds standard journalistic lines should not be crossed; photos (M)

Carol Shields article in series Writers on Writing discusses her reluctance to borrow from real lives of others in her fiction; photo (M)

Incentive pay plans for teachers, such as the one Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani is proposing in New York, have a long history in US and Britain, and there is not a lot in that history to recommend them; Giuliani's plan would reward individual teachers with bonuses based on their students' test scores; Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival in Senate race, says she would support merit pay plans tht reward entire schools, rather than singling out individual teachers, and that idea has support of some unions (M)

Many states are enjoying biggest of six consecutive years of rising revenues, inspiring inventive new ways to spend money and wave upon wave of tax reductions; Stephen Moore, economist, notes that even Republican governors are proposing budget increases of 8 percent a year; states are collecting revenues from taxes on surging industries, fully employed work forces, stock market gains and, in case of Michigan and several other states, windfall from settlement of suit against tobacco industry; by law, states must erase one year's deficit next year with spending cuts or tax increases; public policy analysts say states are not setting aside enough rainy day funds to weather recessions; Democratic leaders in states, most of which have Republican governors, say big beneficiaries of prosperity's bounty are businesses and the rich; examination of Gov John Engler's big plans for Michigan's surplus; photo (M)

Joseph Chiseri, high-ranking official with New York State Department of Health, is dismissed for belatedly reporting to his superiors that he was offered cash by Lawrence Friedman, who had applications before department to expand his adult day-care operations; Friedman, who owns nursing home and other health-care businesses in Brooklyn, was indicted in December on charges of using his adult day care centers to bilk $62 million from Medicaid (M)

Mel Stottlemyre, New York Yankees' pitching coach, reveals that he has cancer of bone marrow, or multiple myeloma; expects to continue working as he undergoes chemotherapy; photo (M)

Oxford English Dictionary's new electronic version is first phase of $55 million, 10-year overhaul that will add more than 600,000 new words to 20-volume work and revise 19th-century entries for many old ones; editors hope format will reach many more users, with most logging on through libraries and universities; photos (M)

Matchmakers say romance is hard to find in Silicon Valley, and dating scene there is worse than anywhere else in country; area has 36 percent more men than women, and includes some of best educated, highest paid workers in world; still, single women in search of smart, successful men find it hard to link up with anyone there; Julie Paiva, head of meeting service, says Silicon Valley men work long hours, have stress and incredible competitive pressures in their work; men who are looking for date complain they are outnumbered, and women complain that men never come out of their cubicles; everybody complains about being unhappy with situation; photo (M)

Wide range of news and information organizations are distributing wares on portable electronic devices; media groups involved, still trying to make Internet ventures profitable, are hesitant to predict how these services will pay for themselves; popularity of cellular phones and personal organizers is soaring just as new technologies arrive to transform them into mini-printing presses; table of companies in field; drawings; photos (M)

Last week's short-term battering of technology stocks and financial distress signals from e-commerce retailers indicate many Internet retailers are in trouble and will not be able to make secondary stock offerings to raise more cash; so-called e-tailing stocks, as sector, are now off 60 to 90 percent from fall highs; drop means companies that went public with explicit plan of losing money for years while building brands and systems cannot use stock offerings to raise expected second and third installments of cash; some companies are cutting spending, while others seek private financing (M)