June 21, 2000

Article on Vivendi SA's acquisition of Seagram Co focuses on enormous challenge facing new company as both sides try to merge their vastly different businesses and cultures into global force the combines European business sensibility with American popular culture; after acquisition is formally announced, investors worry about companies' ability to create seamless worldwide telecommunications and entertainment giant managed by a French company; shares of Vivendi decline 8.7 percent, while Seagram's shares fall about 9 percent; photo (M)

Vocational schools and programs in New York and nationwide are struggling to survive; are rushing to reinvent themselves in changed marketplace after years of fiscal neglect and amid immense pressure to raise academic standards and prepare students for college; schools in almost every state are in some phase of transition, either because of pressure to adapt to new demands or because educators have seized moment as opportunity to turn them around; conditions run wide gamut, from programs that are dying and fading to schools in state of confusion to some that have begun to thrive as they redefine missions; photos; charts (M)

Exhibition at Time and Space Limited, Hudson, NY, arts center, offers unusually intimate and powerful view of Sing Sing's death row; includes mug shots of 130 of 614 people executed at prison, 1891-1963; photos (M)

Steven Madden, designer who is chairman and chief executive of popular women's shoe company, Steve Madden Ltd, is arrested on charges of securities fraud, including accusations involving initial public offering of his own company; in separate indictments, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan charge Madden with securities fraud, conspiracy and money laundering saying he participated in more than 20 fraudulent initial offerings of stock dating back to 1993, when his company went public; in related civil lawsuit, Securities and Exchange Commission says that stock frauds generated about $7 million in profits for Madden and others; commission is seeking to bar Madden from serving as officer or director of any publicly traded copmany; Madden's arrest casts cloud over his fast-growing company; photo (M)

Older workers are thriving in tight job market; older workers bring years of experience and connections to the table, and they often surprise their new bosses by showing nearly as much vigor as their younger colleagues; Census Bureau figures show number of 20-to-34-year-olds in US has declined by 6 million the last decade while number of people over 50 has increased by 12 million; says in next decade, number of people over 50 will increase by 21 million more, while number of 20-to-34-year-olds will increase by only 4 million; increasing number of companies are adjusting to changing dynamics of job market by dipping deeper into over-50 pool of talent; Hank Merrill and Hershel Sarbin, who have chosen to work instead of taking retirement, comment; graph; photos (M)