New York City Buildings Department's superintedents from city's five boroughs will attend panel discussion sponsored by New York Chapter of American Institute of Architects; topics will include housing and zoning problems in the boroughs (S)

Buildings Issues In the 5 Boroughs

Rick Marin describes scene at Commune, currently fashionable night spot in Flatiron district of Manhattan; photos (M)

When a Happening Place Happens to You

 Gem Link in Sierra Leone  Sierra Leone officials say documents show that a wanted rebel leader was using the diamond trade to pay for his rebellion.   PAGE 14

INSIDE

First-quarter 2000 corporate earnings rise 20 percent from 1999, but some accounting professionals express concern about balance sheets obscuring actual profits from corporations' continuing operations; chart and drawing (M)

Levitating Earnings: An Act, Or a Fact?

Internet is quietly transforming Japan, making celebrities out of on-line farmers like Rei Kimura, empowering women, changing way people apply for jobs and schools, and chipping away at traditional behavior patterns; country has voracious appetite for cruising cyberspace using mobile terminals, and may be next year be world's largest Internet user; Internet has given voice to groups with little influence, allowing farmers like Kimura to escape huge bureaucratic distribution system that sucks up their profits; photo; map; working mothers are setting up joint business ventures, small companies are decreasing reliance on corporate customers, and employees are able to seek new opportunities without asking permission of bosses (M)

Rising Internet Use Quietly Transforms Way Japanese Live

Scientists studying human sense of smell say that it sounds smart to control odor in cars by minimizing smell of what goes into them, but eliminating odors may cause more trouble than it solves; if a new-car smell is too weak, other, less-pleasant odors could seem overwhelming during honeymoon period when an owner is getting accustomed to new car (M)

The Mysterious Human Sense of Smell: So Primitive and So Powerful

Comment on 'expert noses' who work for auto supply company in Netherlands whose job it is to sniff pastic to keep foul smells from becoming part of a new car experience; photos (S)

Sniffing Car Parts: Yes, the Job Stinks

Florida Marlins defeat New York Mets, 7-6; Mets give outfielder Rickey Henderson his unconditional release; photo (M)

With Patience Long Gone, Mets Release Henderson

Jon Pareles article on 18-year-old pop singer Britney Spears; says she is growing up slowly and carefully; photos (M)

Britney Grows Up, Very Carefully

Two side-by-side food shops in Chelsea share a name -- Manganaro's -- but the relatives who run them have been sparring in court for years. With other reports from Times Square, the Lower East Side, Lower Manhattan, the Upper East Side, SoHo, West Farms, Ozone Park, Forest Hills and Park Slope.    PAGES 18-20  

Food Fight

Gov Gray Davis proposes to offer California public school teachers exemption from state income tax; budget proposal would amount to income tax cut of $1,350 for average experienced teacher, who earns about $50,000; estimated annual cost to state would be $545 million out of $90 billion budget; Davis would also spend $500 million a year to reward teachers whose schools show improvement according to new academic performance index; he says intent is to show that teaching is most important profession in year 2000, but he has also been criticized for not moving swiftly enough in booming economy to address severe education problems in state that once led nation (M)

TEACHERS OFFERED A TAX EXEMPTION

Article on New Jersey Devils' Captain Scott Stevens as team prepares to meet Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of Eastern Conference finals; photo (M)

The Devils' Captain Leads by Example

Herbert Muschamp article expresses misgivings about proposal by New York City Department of Planning to overhaul city's zoning laws; says proposal is tantamount to architectural manifesto by administration of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in which architecture comes under attack by combination of real estate and politics; drawings (L)

Reaching For Power Over Streets And Sky

Child-centered issues and politicking are now at center stage in presidential race, with candidates sometimes behaving as if they are auditioning for role of Santa Claus; politicians have always kissed babies, but it was Bill Clinton who built whole re-election campaign around children and empathy for working parents; photos of master at work (M)

The Nation: The Children's Hour; Hugging and Kissing Your Way Into the White House

Six European entrepeneurs discuss transition from Old World to modern economy; they are Martin A Schoeller, Simon Worth, Leendert Bikker, Sylvain Forestier, Nico Willaert and Christian Hunt; photos, graph (L)

On the Continent, on the Cusp

Avalon Bay Communities will begin construction of Avalon Riverview, consisting of 372 rental apartments, in the fall in Long Island City, Queens; construction costs are estimated at $100 million; drawing (M)

A Second Building For Queens West

Article on molecular farming or biopharming, production of drugs in genetically altered plants, which may represent next wave in agricultural biotechnology; new ventures include ToBio, formed by Virginia tobacco farmers like Joe Williams to grow drugs in cooperation with CropTech Corp; chief executive Christopher Cook notes finding medical use for tobacco could bring turnaround for much-maligned plant; photos; downside is that drugs might end up in food supply if crops or seeds are misrouted or if pollen fertilizes nearby food crop; about twenty companies worldwide are working on producing pharmaceuticals in plants, with handful of drugs in trials; proponents see much cheaper production and lower drug prices; regulators say some safeguards are already in place; recent FDA hearings noted (M)

New Ventures Aim to Put Farms In Vanguard of Drug Production

Vatican discloses so-called 'third secret' of Fatima, which for decades has made shrine in Portugal center of conspiracy and doomsday cults; describes secret as vision of 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II; Cardinal Angelo Sodano explains that concealed portion of prophecies supposedly revealed to three shepherd children in 1917 by apparition of Virgin was vision of attempt to kill a pope; offers interpretation to 600,000 pilgrims gather in Fatima as pope beatifies two of children and thanks Virgin for saving his life in 1981; Mehmet Ali Agca, Turkish gunman, told prosecutors that attack was linked to Fatima secret; announcement aims to end fevered speculation by Fatima fanatics who have also held hunger strikes; pope has always credited Fatima Virgin with saving his life, and had bullet placed in gold crown of statue at shrine; Vatican says pope learned secret after his elevation in 1978 but did not announce it because he was personally involved; photos of three shepherd children and of pope with 93-year-old nun who believers say was main recipient of prophecies (M)

Vatican Discloses the 'Third Secret' of Fatima

Market Watch column on jitters in the bond market; chart (M)

In Bonds, Worrywarts or the Wise?

US labor unions mount biggest lobbying campaign ever to defeat Clinton administration's effort to normalize commerce with China; unions counter intense business lobbying with dozens of meetings and rallies, intense pressure on lawmakers back in districts and letter-writing campaign in lead-up to House vote; AFL-CIO president John J Sweeney sets individual meetings with House members; extremely close vote expected (M)

U.S. LABOR LEADERS PUSH HARD TO KILL CHINA TRADE BILL

Conscience-driven Western peacekeeping efforts collide once again with unconscionable behavior of thugs with guns, this time in Sierra Leone; photo; mess in West Africa is also reminder that trying to do good is not so much futile as exceptionally complicated, requiring shrewd planning and not wishful thinking (M)

The World: Rule of Force; In Africa, a Lesson in How Not to Keep the Peace

Article on rising noise levels in gentrified Manhattan neighborhoods, never before meant for residents, as bars and trendy restaurants create traffic jams and lure street crowds; focuses on efforts of locals to force establishments to tone down noise and make neighborhoods more livable; photos (L)

The Sound and the Fury

Profile of Nadja Swarovski, fifth-generation member of family business, Swarovski Creative Services Center, Austrian crystal maker that provides crystal to outfits created by prominent fashion designers; photos (L)

She's Intent On Romancing The Crystal

Article discusses New York Knickerbockers loss to Miami Heat in Game 3 of Eastern semifinals; photo (M)

Knicks Cannot Afford to Dwell on Game 3

New Orleans endures yearly Formosan termite swarm season, when millions of writhing white bugs descend in dense humidity to devour wood of precious old buildings and ancient live oak trees; creatures out of 1950's horror film have devastated French Quarter, ground zero in federal government's $15-million campaign to thwart world's most destructive termites; photos; Formosans, probably arriving on infested ships in 1940's, have spread through 11 states, causing estimated $1 billion a year in damage, $300 million of it in greater New Orleans; 80 percent of city's historic buildings are affected and almost every house (M)

A Plague in New Orleans, With Jaws of Steel

Keizō Obuchi  was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000.

May 14, 2000

Headlines from May 14, 2000

Buildings Issues In the 5 Boroughs

When a Happening Place Happens to You

INSIDE

Levitating Earnings: An Act, Or a Fact?

Rising Internet Use Quietly Transforms Way Japanese Live

Billboard 200

No Strings Attached

The Heat

My Name Is Joe

Unleash The Dragon

Skull & Bones

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for May 14, 2000