January 24, 2002

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column recalls time when boxing was more legitimate sport than it is now, before it was stained by Mike Tyson's temperamental outbursts and sexual hijinks; says sports itself has become as small as its contenders; photo (M)

Pres Bush says he will seek $48 billion in added spending on military next year, speech; cites need to continue fight against terrorism and protect United States from future attacks; Budget Dir Mitchell E Daniels Jr says Bush seeks $38 billion more than $328 billion Congress authorized for current fiscal year, 11.6 percent rise, and another $10 billion reserve fund that he could draw on if needed to pay operational costs of war; Congress opens budget debate with Congressional Budget Office report showing projected surplus for next decade has dwindled to $1.6 trillion from $5.6 trillion a year ago and $3.4 trillion last summer; office says government will run deficit this year and next even if Congress does not increase spending or cut taxes; sees no realistic hope of paying off national debt within this decade; report renews partisan debate over tax cut Bush pushed through Congress last year; administration forecasts deficit of $106 billion this year and $80 billion next year; say Bush's budget will call for doubling spending on domestic security to over $25 billion and spending $90 billion in current fiscal year and $75 billion next year for economic recovery package built around tax cuts for individuals and businesses; Senate Democrats and Republicans begin negotiating to revive economic stimulus package, but talks bog down over procedure; graphs of shrinking surplus; photos (M)

The tunes on your hard drive don't have to stay trapped in a beige box. A little tinkering makes your computer just another input device for your stereo. Basics, Page 5.

New York Knickerbockers defeat Toronto Raptors, 96-92; photo (M)

Rep James C Greenwood, whose House subcommittee probes Enron Corp collapse, says up to 80 people who worked at Arthur Andersen's Houston office were told to destroy documents related to Enron; questions Andersen's efforts to blame rogue employees for episode; Congressional investigators make public memo David B Duncan, Andersen's lead partner on Enron account, wrote last Oct noting he warned Enron chief accounting officer Rick Causey that way in which Enron was about to disclose huge losses from controversial deals was misleading and possibly illegal; Andersen calls memo routine; again holds it did not sanction destruction of documents ordered by Duncan and and other Houston partners; Duncan's lawyer says he will invoke Fifth Amendment at subcommittee hearing unless granted immunity (M)

Fighting robots spawn several television programs, BattleBots, Robotica and Robot Wars, as well as almost 60 live competitions; making robots that fight is irresistable to their builders, some of whom claim it has educational component; provides guilt-free violence that plays on love-hate relationship consumers have with technology; photos (M)

Outlook for AFC championship game pitting Pittsburgh Steelers against New England Patriots; describes wind currents at Steelers' new stadium Heinz Field, which plays havoc with place-kicking attempts; photo; chart compares field goals throughout league with Heinz Field averages (M)

Article discusses recent surge in openings of nightclubs in Chisinau, capital of Moldova; scene at SoHo, club which opened last month, described; photo (M)

Siemens AG earned 538 million euros ($477 million) in three months ended in December compared with 1 billion euro profit in quarter year earlier; chief executive Heinrich von Pierer; photo (S)

Congress appears reluctant to impose stricter standards on accounting profession, industry that is among its largest political patrons, despite public and presidential expressions of outrage over failure of auditors to warn investors of financial conditions of Enron Corp before they lost tens of billions of dollars; Sens Christopher J Dodd and Jon S Corzine and Rep Edward J Markey, all Democrats, announce their intent to introduce legislation imposing new restrictions on accountants; no Republicans have said they are willing to be cosponsors of measures, and Bush administration officials, who continue to embrace broad deregulatory agenda, have been critical of enlarging role of government in overseeing accounting industry; Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Harvey L Pitt says his agency should not extend its regulatory reach in overseeing accounting profession, and should rely instead on officials from corporate world to monitor auditors; Sen Paul S Sarbanes, who heads banking committee, says it will be difficult to adopt significant legislation, particularly in view of current deregulatory climate in Washington and influence of accounting industry; accounting firms contributed more than $53 million since 1990 to Congressional and presidential candidates; more than $14 million of those contributions came in 2000; Sen Joseph I Lieberman is heading Senate hearings; photo (M)

Home theater, composed of television, speakers, receiver, video player and recorder and comfortable seating from which to enjoy it, becomes full-blown marketing concept; prices range from as low as $1,000 for simple setup to $35,000 and up for elaborate systems that closely replicate theater experience; explosion in sales of DVD's is main catalyst for home theater craze; drawing; photos (M)

Morale and occupancy are low at Enron Corp's headquarters in Houston; about 4,000 employees of original 7,000 people work at headquarters, entire floors have been decimated and whole floors are practically deserted; Enron is being carved up; its accounting is being scrutinzed by litigants and its corridors are being prowled by FBI agents, photographing documents and hoping to prevent important information from reaching shredding machines; 19th and 20th floors, which once housed accounting offices and even some employees from Arthur Andersen working on internal auditing, are under guard; stairway access is sealed; photo (M)