January 26, 2001

Some people who live in Southwick, Mass, have to contend with ambiguity that arises from the Notch, pocket of land where Connecticut borders Massachusetts on three sides; originally created in 1642 by surveying blunder, confusion exists because some residents have property that overlaps both states and must get some services from Connecticut and others from Massachusetts; in egregious example of problems caused, Janice and Thomas Carr watched their camper burn down because Granby, Conn, firefighters refused to fight fire when they saw camper was parked on Massachussetts portion of their property; photo; map (M)

Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani proposes $39.32 billion budget plan for New York City; $12.19 billion is earmarked for school system, including pension and debt costs; budget proposal includes $405 million in tax cuts, which, when proposed in past years, have not received legislative approval; $103 million for weekend and expanded summer school classes is proposed; police programs are given $110 million; plan draws mixed reviews from candidates vying to fill job after Giuliani's present term expires; City Council Speaker Peter Vallone and other council members chide mayor for including spending cuts for city agencies; Giuliani dismisses criticism that his budget will leave city in financial bind for next mayor; photo; chart showing highlights of proposed budget (M)

Buenos Aires stock market has begun year by soaring 26 percent, easily beating every other stock exchanges in world; impressive rise has led some investors to say that Argentina might be poised to return to days of early 1990's when, with government carrying out sweeping privatization and deregulation program, country was darling of investors seeking emerging markets; other analysts caution that rise could be just another speculative bubble that will burst unless Argentine economy begins to grow quickly after shrinking for two years; graph (M)

Four men who had sentences commuted by Pres Bill Clinton in his final days in office had conspired to defraud government out of funds in form of Pell Grants for indigent students at Brooklyn seminary; in truth, there was no school and there were no students, and money went to seven men and religious community of New Square, in Rockland County, NY; four who had sentences commuted are Kalman Stern, David Goldstein, Jacob Elbaum, and Benjamin Berger; Chaim Berger is fighting extradition in Israel and whereabouts of two others, Nathan Adler and Avrum David Friesel, is unknown; critics of commutation say it was politically motivated to benefit Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had courted support in Hasidic community during her Senate campaign (M)

Russia may force management reshuffle at NTV, country's biggest independent television station; NTV's biggest creditor, state-controlled gas company, Gazprom, says it has become largest shareholder in network after winning court order freezing portion of NTV's shares; NTV says legal precautions it has taken will block reshuffle (S)

Andre Agassi defeats Patrick Rafter, advancing to final of Australian Open tennis tournament; photo (M)

New International Accounting Standards Board is appointed, with mission of producing coordinated acounting standards within few years; board will be led by Sir David Tweedie, who formerly directed Accounting Standards Board in Britain; Sir David expresses hope that several major standards will be agreed upon within three years and will be accepted by accounting regulators in leading countries; to extent that identical accounting standards are accepted in major countries, this would reduce costs for multinational companies in complying with varying rules, and make it easier for investors to compare companies in different countries; Paul A Volcker headed committee that appointed 14 members to new board (M)

Wall Street investment banks with big financial stakes in success of energy deregulation are playing important behind-the-scenes roles as officials in California struggle to fix state's troubled electric power system; Goldman, Sachs, which has energy trading operations and has longstanding banking relationship with state's largest utility, seeks to become state's financial adviser on crisis; Credit Suisse First Boston, whose clients include independent power companies that sell electricity in California, has been retained by Benjamin Hertzberg, speaker of state Assembly, to help draw up legislation intended, in part, to make sure such companies are paid $12 billion they are owed by California utilities; Robert E Rubin, chairman of executive committee of Citigroup Inc, acting in private capacity, is advising Gov Gray Davis on strategies for dealing with state's energy crisis (M)

Promise and tensions in relationship between Republican Party and gay voters discussed; while some gay Republicans emphasize inclusive language of Pres George W Bush and hope his administration will include gays, other equal-rights advocates are already bitterly denouncing new administration for early moves they view as alarming, especially atty gen nomination of of John Ashcroft, who has said he views homosexuality as a sin; photo of former Sen Alan K Simpson, master of ceremonies at inaugural breakfast of Republican Unity Coalition, new group that includes gay men and lesbians (L)

Federal Reserve chmn Alan Greenspan gives his blessing to substantial tax cut, but warns that it should not be so big that it would plunge government back into deficit if federal budget surplus fails to materialize as projected, Senate Budget Committee hearing; contends improvements in economy's long-term potential and swelling surplus projections have 'reshaped the choices and opportunities before us' to permit combination of debt reduction and tax cuts; says that economy has all but stopped growing; photo (L)

China's battle with Falun Gong, banned spiritual movement, discussed; Chinese government's 18-month campaign has failed to eliminate group, or even reliably identify its millions of quietly devoted followers who make it so resilient; brazen expressions of dissent are mounting; silent majority in Falun Gong do not demonstrate; yet they form an enormous reservoir of believers who may someday be driven to act; they provide one another with emotional and sometimes financial support--as they do those members who have been jailed or lost jobs; photo (L)

Power struggle ensues over next president of Hunter College; Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov George Pataki's choice is Jennifer J Raab, chairwoman of city's Landmarks Preservation Commission; university chancellor Martin Goldstein favors someone with managerial, academic and fund-raising experience and names Jo Ann M Gora, provost of Old Dominion in Virginia, as his candidate; photo (M)