January 4, 2002

John Tierney The Big City column contends that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's reconfiguration of offices in City Hall to form cubicles may look open but in fact assures that there will be fewer leaks to press because of lack of privacy (M)

New York City transit officials announce that subway line partially destroyed by Sept 11 terror attack will reopen more than one year earlier than anticipated, albeit without ambitious and costly rerouting that was part of original plan; two of three stations will reopen, but one directly under World Trade Center will be demolished and any reconstruction will be part of larger plans for redevelopment of site; rebuilding is expected to be paid for with insurance money and money from Federal Emergency Management Agency; photo of station showing extensive damage after terror attacks (M)

Lawrence H Summers, president of Harvard University, meets and mends fences with Cornel West, senior black professor, apparently ending dispute that threatened to cost university its team of celebrated African-American scholars; several members of Harvard's Afro-American Studies department had threatened to move to Princeton University after what they saw as snubs by Summers and absense of strong statement of his commitment to affirmative action; professors feel Summers insulted West by raising questions about his pursuit of scholarship, grade inflation in his classes and his making rap CD; Summers issues staement expressing his commitment to diversity at Harvard and to strength of Afro-American Studies department; some members of department cringe at how what was bidding war with Princeton over star professors became internationally reported account of racial tension; photo (M)

Isle of Gigha, which its 110 residents bought for $5.8 million in Oct, is leading way to land reform in Scotland; half of Scottish land is in private hands, belonging to just 350 lairds, in feudal system set up in 12th century; residents of Gigha got most of money from National Lottery-financed Scottish Land Fund, and benefited from benevolent laird who turned down several higher bids in belief that islanders should have chance to run their island; members of Scottish Parliament, legislature created in 1999, has set land reform as its principal early objective; photos; map (M)

European Central Bank leaves monetary policy unchanged even though economic outlook for first half of 2002 remains bleak; prospects remain dim despite mostly smooth and successful introduction of new euro coins and bills to replace national currencies in 12 countries this week; central bank president Wim Duisenberg predicts growth in euro zone will be stagnant for next few months (M)

Moves by Fox News and CNN in hiring of on-air personalities seem to indicate that their battle is entering new phase, which may result in both networks pushing to broaden their audiences by bringing in different personalities with different points of view; Fox News boasts that its ratings are now virtually equal to CNN's; CNN counters that it attracts many more individual viewers, though they spend less time watching; CNN executives have become more aggressive in noting differences between two networks, not only in political bent, but especially in business terms; CNN vice president Mark Harrad cites data from Competitive Media Reports showing that from January through September, CNN, with advertising revenue of $206 million, enjoyed sizable edge over Fox News of more than $100 million; Fox News chairman Roger Ailes dismisses CNN's claims of business superiority; photo (M)

Volkswagen Microbus cherished by hippies chugging to rock concerts is no longer in production in Brazil, its last manufacturing site; Bentley Motors, Volkswagen's subsidiary across Atlantic, produces custom model as gift to Queen Elizabeth II for her golden jubilee; photos (M)

Mori Building Co president Minoru Mori is constructing $2.1 billion office, residential and cultural complex in downtown Tokyo, risking billions despite Japan's recession; Mori is calculating that companies and their workers want downtown locations; Mori maintains that new generation of Japanese professionals is trading its fathers' commuting patterns for downtown living in high-rise condominiums; predicts that as Japan continues to open to foreign investment, foreign and Japanese companies will want offices in his modern towers; says city's changing demographics seem bound to make residential high-rise popular; with baby boomers' children setting off on their own, fastest-growing segment of population are couples without children; government predicts that from 1995 to 2015 their ranks will increase by more than 40 percent; map; graph; photos (M)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg envisions mixed use of World Trade Center site--combination of memorial, office space and perhaps retail space; John C Whitehead, chairman of Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corp, supports mayor's idea, indicating that there is developing consensus against building giant office towers (M)

Former Pres Bill Clinton's chocolate labrador retriever Buddy dies after being struck by car outside home in Chappaqua, NY; photo (M)

South Korea's semiconductor manufacturers are still slashing funds for upgrading factories amid rising optimism about Korean economy; Korea Semiconductor Industry Association says Samsung Electronics, Hynix Semiconductor and number of smaller companies will spend $3.5 billion on factories this year, down 9.3 percent from 2001; Federation of Korea Industries survey shows business confidence at its highest level in seven months (S)

Muslims in India are once again buying American products now that Taliban regime in Afghanistan has fallen; Muslim leaders in India called for boycott of American products after aerial strikes on Afghanistan began in October; Zameer Pasha, owner of store in Bangalore, India, comments; photo (M)