Article on stretch clothing for men made of cotton Lycra blend; drawing (M)

Lycra's New Reach: Et Tu, J. Crew?

New class of aftermarket super sports utility vehicles, some with as much as 485 horsepower, finds eager buyers among professional athletes; photos (M)

Garages Make Supersized S.U.V.'s Even Bigger for Superrich M.V.P.'s

New trade pact between US and Vietnam rescinds US embargo that blocked trade for 19 years; lower American tariffs on Vietnamese goods will increase demand for them and, consequently, production; article focuses on impact of new paradigm on Vietnam's fishing and shipbuilding industries and on Anthony D Salzman, American expatriate who imports Caterpillar industrial engines into Vietnam; photos; charts; graphs (M)

Clearing the Decks for a Trade Pact's Riches

Pres Clinton visits Nigeria in bid to boost nation's transition to civilian rule; meets with Pres Olusegun Obasanjo; speaks to National Assembly; urges Obasanjo to press other oil producers to increase output and cut prices; Obasanjo pledges to seek lower, or at least more stable, prices at Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries summit meeting; Clinton plans to announce series of new aid packages for Nigeria; says he will urge European nations to reschedule their loans to Nigeria and eventually forgive debt if nation stays on reform path; map; photos (M)

CLINTON IN NIGERIA TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR CIVILIAN RULE

Article recounts efforts of Pfizer Inc to sell its antibiotic drug Zithromax; using Max, zebra mascot Pfizer devised to help promote drug, Zithromax has rapidly become billion-dollar drug, and has encroached on sales of rival Amoxicillin; last year, after federal officials said that other antibiotics were both cheaper and more successful at treating children's ear infections, Pfizer stepped up its advertising and promotion of Zithromax; Pfizer outspends all other drug manufacturers in consumer advertising; photos; graph (M)

What's Black And White And Sells Medicine?

I TEACH a course in comedy at New York University, so you would not think this would come as a surprise. But an odyssey through the comedy clubs of New York's suburbs has convinced me that comedy in Hawthorne and Levittown and Southbury is different from what it is in Manhattan, despite the leveling influence of television.

 In the suburbs, comedy is gentler, less raunchy, not as hip. But that doesn't mean it is less funny. And for comedians, it can also be more rewarding, in money and in respect from the audience, though it doesn't provide the same showcase comedians find in New York.

Hear the One About Suburban Comedy?

Andrew Jacobs Coping column on death of Peter Chow, Hong Kong immigrant who, with his wife, Mimi, ran Chow and Lam Laundry on Manhattan's East 10th Street; drawing (M)

A Patient Life of Sacrifice, Touching Many

Guidebook for walking tours of lower Manhattan to be published by New York Landmarks Conservancy (S)

POSTINGS: A Guidebook of Lower Manhattan; Walking Tours Of Downtown

Article on September issue of W magazine featuring nattily-attired journalists; photos (M)

Ready for a Natty Newshound?

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, definitive event on the car show circuit, celebrates 50th anniversary; photo (M)

The Super Bowl Of Shows Turns 50

Students and fans are praying before high school football games around South, trend likely to grow as word catches on; school officials, responding to Supreme Court ban on officially-sanctioned student-led prayer, carefully stay out of way of grass-roots efforts to restore prayer to its traditional position before kickoff; photos (M)

South's Football Fans Still Stand Up and Pray

Article describes dog days of August, when New York City streets are devoid of New Yorkers; some locals say it is golden time, when restaurants and parks are uncrowded and there are plenty of parking spaces; drawing (M)

Manhattan, the Deserted Isle

Consumer frustration with phone directory assistance is mounting, in part because of increased complexity of system, but Federal Communications Commission is getting few complaints; hundreds of companies around nation are now providing service, with varying degrees of accuracy and efficiency; photo (M)

What City, Please? Vexation in Dialing Can Start With 411

Article discusses pressures felt by college football quarterbacks as season approaches; some comment; photo (M)

No Matter The School, Quarterbacks Share Hot Seat

More than 2,000 applications pour in for 68 new low-cost apartments in South Bronx; unlike other low-cost housing, which is usually drab, new Intervale Avenue Apartments have facade of muted shades of blue, yellow and burnt orange; photo (M)

POSTINGS: 68 Low-Cost Apartments in the South Bronx; A 7-Story Building, in Blue, Yellow and Orange

Article on Venus Williams preparing for US Open tennis championships; photo(M)

Venus Williams Comes Into Her Own

Gov George W Bush, who won over some Hispanic voters from Democrats in Texas gubernatorial race, is now courting Hispanics nationwide; critics charge Bush, despite his more moderate rhetoric, has done too little to ease plight of poor Hispanics; Bush's efforts, while in sharp contrast with those of national Republicans, follow path taken by other Texas governors; photo (M)/

Hispanics Give Attentive Bush Mixed Reviews

As Israel and the Palestinians circle each other in a wary and increasingly fractious quest for a final peace agreement, the spotlight only rarely settles these days on a small, wizened, straggly bearded man in a wheelchair whose antagonism to Israel could one day unsettle or even destroy any deal that establishes a Palestinian state pledged to coexistence with Israel.      At first glance, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, seems an improbable enemy for a peace that would aim at resolving one of the world's most protracted and bitter conflicts. Until he speaks, sketching a future of unremitting warfare until Israel is wiped from the map, there is little about him to suggest that he leads an organization that the United States lists as one of the world's most dangerous, if currently quiescent, terror groups.   

As Mideast Talks of Peace, Soft Voice Urges War

 United Settles With Pilots  After months of disruptions and more than 20,000 canceled flights, United Airlines reached a tentative agreement with its pilots.   PAGE 26    New Prison Is Questioned  A proposed $335 million prison in California has galvanized groups that want the state to re-examine its policies on incarceration.   PAGE 16    Revelations About Nixon  A new biography says President Richard M. Nixon medicated himself with a mood-altering prescription drug in the White House.   PAGE 26    Being Rauschenberg  An iconoclastic artist has become an American institution, which in turn has made him very wealthy and very much in demand.   ARTS & LEISURE    Ignorance by Design  In ''Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms,'' Diane Ravitch argues that educators watered down the curriculum for women, immigrants and minorities -- the groups that would have gained most from intellectual challenge.   BOOK REVIEW    Alone at the Top  Sanford I. Weill became king of Citigroup by vanquishing enemies and allies alike. Is there anything left for him to conquer?   MAGAZINE    The Drug Juggernaut  Pfizer's steamroller marketing tactics turn its drugs into blockbusters, but regulators, some doctors and others say patients' interests may be getting flattened.   MONEY & BUSINESS    Kings of College Football  Quarterbacks like Virginia Tech's Michael Vick are on the spot as this season kicks off.   SPORTSSUNDAY    Still the One (and Only)  Cynthia Cooper celebrating after the Houston Comets beat the Liberty, 79-73, in overtime to win their fourth W.N.B.A. title. The Comets have won the title each year since the league was founded.   SPORTSSUNDAY  

INSIDE

Hot new colorful clothing offered by Gap noted; photos (M)

Hot Colors Blooming In the Dust Of Khakis

Night Out With column follows rock singer Joan Jett to New York Liberty basketball game at Madison Square Garden; photo (M)

A NIGHT OUT WITH: Joan Jett; Hoop Fan's Jumpin' Anthem Is 'Give Me Liberty, or Else'

Houston Comets win WNBA championship; defeat New York Liberty, 79-73, to win series, 2-0; photo (M)

Liberty Plays The Foil Again As Comets Win Fourth Crown

Sen Joseph I Lieberman's Senate record, which he has called 'pro-business, pro-trade and pro-economic growth,' discussed in light of decidedly populist note he has sounded as Democratic candidate for vice president; record constrasts sharply with own speech at nominating convention and with Vice Pres Al Gore's attacks on big business; Lieberman is closely allied with insurance, health care and high technology industries; graphs and tables of his Senate campaign contributors; photo (M)8

As a Senator, Lieberman Is Proudly Pro-Business

Congress has approved measure to exempt religious institutions from land-use rules that excessively burden religious exercise, and Pres Clinton is expected to sign measure next month; this will open for new debate some of most vexatious issues in land-use regulation: do zoning and landmarks laws pose special hardships for religious institutions, are land-use objections sometimes raised by opponents whose true motive is bigotry, do communities have right to ask religious institutions to abide by same land-use rules that apply to everyone else; such questions typically come to fore when congregation seeks to tear down or alter designated landmark, or build new structure that requires zoning variance or other land-use reviews; recent cases cited and explored; photos; map (L)

God, Caesar and Zoning

Arizona Diamondbacks defeat New York Mets, 5-1; photo (M)

August 27, 2000

Headlines from August 27, 2000

Lycra's New Reach: Et Tu, J. Crew?

Garages Make Supersized S.U.V.'s Even Bigger for Superrich M.V.P.'s

Clearing the Decks for a Trade Pact's Riches

CLINTON IN NIGERIA TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR CIVILIAN RULE

What's Black And White And Sells Medicine?

Billboard 200

Country Grammar

Oops!...I Did It Again

Now 4

The Marshall Mathers LP

No Strings Attached

Historical Context for August 27, 2000