August 13, 2001

Popularity of Latino radio has soared in New York City in recent years, delighting owners of stations and making celebrities of talent on shows, but has brought increased scrutiny and heightened awareness of content and influence of programming; Marta Garcia, chairwoman of National Hispanic Media Coalition, says success has ended what used to be license for shows to do as they pleased, since they assumed they could get away with anything in belief that no one was really paying attention; coalition, which monitors inclusion and image of Latinos in media, is challenging federal license of WSKO-FM in New York City over racy content of talk show El Vacilon de le Manana; says show is not only crass and insulting, but violates FCC's regulations against indecency; Joseph A Garcia, executive vice president of Spanish Broadcasting System that owns station, defends program; says it is controversial in way Howard Stern is and that if it is successful it is because audience likes it; popularity of Spanish radio in recent years attests to rapid growth of Spanish-language radio audience as both city's and country's Hispanic population has exploded; photo (M)

Anthony Tommasini reviews Seattle Opera's new production of Wagner's Ring cycle, directed by Stephen Wadworth; photos (M)

Number of people on public assistance in Connecticut has been cut by more than half in six years since state began one of nation's more aggressive welfare reform efforts; state uses new financial incentive for those who find work and short but flexible time limits to achieve what even its critics regard as something of a success; over last six years, welfare experiment in Connecticut, and in many other states, has been blessed by booming economy, growing state budget surplus and steady flow of federal welfare dollars; question now is whether success in moving people off rolls can be sustained when economy weakens and federal money for long-term welfare recipients begins to dry up; graph (M)

State officials from both parties are expressing grave doubts about federal legislation on patients' rights, especially bill passed by House, saying it would override state laws that provide greater protection to millions of consumers; Congress is writing first comprehensive federal standard for health insurance with Pres Bush's intensive participation, but how to mesh federal and state roles remains big political, legal and technical challenge that could determine ultimate success of any new federal law; has been debating legislation over past six years to regulate managed care, and most states have since adopted laws to do so; 40 states have laws that guarantee patients independent medical review if they are denied care by health insurance plans; 10 have passed laws giving patients right to sue for damages caused by delay or denial of care (M)

Research paper by three Yale scholars says university, which celebrates its 'long history of activism in the face of slavery,' in fact relied on slave-trading money for its first scholarships, endowed professorship and library endowment; says it honored slave traders when choosing figures to chisel as 'Worthies' on tower at center of campus; Yale officials defend university, noting that few institutions or individuals remained untainted by slavery before Emancipation; school's official response does not address charge in research paper that long after Emancipation, between 1930's and 1970's, Yale chose to name its most prominent buildings after slave traders or defenders of slavery; scholars who wrote report, all doctoral candidates at Yale, are Antony Dugdale, J J Fueser and J Celso de Castro Alves; photos (M)