December 10, 2001

Ironwrokers, firefighters face extra physical and psychological challenges working overnight shift to clear debris from underground levels of collapsed World Trade Center towers; have removed estimated half of rubble, or about 600,000 tons of steel and debris, but count their success not in metal or tonnage, but in number of bodies recovered; for them, work remains recovery operation and will be to end, despite pressure from contractors in charge and decrees from City Hall; photos (M)

New York State Gov George Pataki, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg fly to Jerusalem; visit site where 2 suicide bombers took 11 lives and visit those wounded in attack; vow that Israel and US will fight together in war against terrorism; photo (M)

Painkiller Trouble Spot The maker of the painkiller OxyContin did not heed warnings that a clinic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., was an apparent hotbed of abuse, according to some pharmacists and a law enforcement official. PAGE A16

Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column discusses scene at Citizens Budget Commission conference in Rockland County, NY; notes there are conflicting thoughts concerning New York City's budget with some feeling that budget is in dire straits while others contend situation is not so bad (M)

Elvis Mitchell Critic's Notebook on quirky independent productions of Handmade Films, company George Harrison founded in late 1970's to make kind of movies he enjoyed; photos (M)

Anna Kisselgoff reviews dance work by Judith Jamison and Wynton Marsalis, commissioned by 2002 Winter Olympics as tribute to late track star Florence Griffith Joyner; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater presents premiere; photo (M)

Even though many coaches, journalists and fans disagree, Nebraska finished No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series ahead of Colorado and Oregon, putting the Cornhuskers in the Rose Bowl. SportsMonday, Page D1. NEBRASKA (11-1) Eric Crouch has the Heisman Trophy, but the Cornhuskers were beaten by Colorado.

Footlights column; Philadelphia Orchestra to perform in new home, Verizon Hall; Naumberg Foundation to mark 75th anniversary with gala concert featuring; Japan Society to be honored by International Assn of Art Critics/USA for show Yes, Yoko Ono; Hanukkah memorah to be lighted in ceremony at Metropolitan Museum; photos (S)

Warner Music Group provides test of new management structure of parent, AOL Time Warner, in which Robert W Pittman, chief operating officer, will be trying to get all its operating units to work more closely together so that company can deliver 'synergies' it has touted to investors; Pittman believes that Warner Music's future lies in exploiting assets of Time Warner's far-flung movie, television, Internet and magazine divisions to propel it back to success it enjoyed before 1990's erosion of its dominance of music business; Roger Ames, chief executive of Warner Music Group, comments; photos; tables (M)

Executives of Hewlett-Packard will intensify efforts to sell proposed merger with Compaq Computers to institutional investors, who hold 57 percent of its Hewlett shares, and rebut assertions of Hewlett and Packard families and David and Lucille Packard Foundation that deal is not in company's best interest; families and foundation together control 18 percent of shares; Institutional Shareholder Services, which has been hired by several Hewlett-Packard and Compaq shareholders for advise on vote, plans to hold off on recommendation until companies file proxy statement, including full rationale and complete details, with Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2002; photo (M)

Defeat in jihad against US has been bitter blow in Swat Valley near Pesahawar, Pakistan, where villagers say between 10,000 and 15,000 of their men joined Taliban forces in neighboring Afghanistan, and that 2,000 to 3,000 have not returned; has roused angry voices among Pashtun tribesmen who volunteered to fight with Taliban, and bitter grief among families; many blame militant leaders, saying they sent valley's sons to their deaths, then did nothing to help families left behind; photo (M)

Opposition by David and Lucile Packard Foundation, largest shareholder of Hewlett-Packard Co, and company's heirs to planned acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp is severe blow to chief executive Carleton S Fiorina, her plans for company and her career; largest merger in computer history, facing unified opposition from two oldest sons of founders, is in danger of becoming humbling rebuff for nation's most prominent woman executive who assumed job two years ago with goal of revitalizing corporate icon with rich past yet uncertain future; heirs fear her plans for company's future are too risky; many analysts predict deal will fall through; Fiorina who has championed it as bold step company needs to become more competitive, hints she will probably leave; says if shareholders take unusual step of vetoeing merger, move would 'say a lot' about board and management, but expresses confidence deal will go through (M)