February 11, 2002

Rubin's Enron Phone Call Was Sign of His Hybrid Role When Robert E. Rubin called the Treasury Department last fall to see if there was anything the Bush administration could do to save Enron, a client of his current employer, Citigroup, he spoke as a banker. But he also spoke as a former Treasury secretary concerned about the risks to the nation's markets. Mr. Rubin's call inadvertently gave comfort to the White House and some conservative commentators, who gleefully tagged it as evidence that it was a prominent Democrat who backed a government rescue -- not Republicans who received the bulk of Enron's generous campaign contributions. [Section A.]

Baltimore Museum of Art schedules exhibit of works by British artist Joseph Mallord William Turner; photo (S)

Kenneth L Lay, former chairman of Enron, is expected to exercise his Fifth Amendment right and refuse to answer questions about company's collapse when he appears before Congress on Feb 12; his decision not to testify follows hostile questioning last week of Jeffrey K Skilling, his successor as Enron's chief executive; chairman of committee investigating Enron said after Skilling appeared that he might be in jeopardy of perjury charges; Lay backed out of earlier appearances before two committees, saying he feared hearings would become too 'prosecutorial'; Congressional investigators suggest Lay was daunted by release on Feb 2 of report by special committee of Enron's board saying he failed to properly oversee company and 'bears significant responsibility' for deals that helped bring company down; lawmakers issued subpoenas after Lay refused to appear voluntarily and he is still expected to appear on Feb 12 (M)

Fritz Strobl of Austria wins gold medal in men's downhill ski race; Norway's Lasse Kjus wins silver and Austrian Stephan Eberharter takes bronze; photos (M)

Sean Combs has been known to offer wildly ostentatious animal pelts on his runways, although they were strictly for show; in stores, he traffics in jeans, denim work jackets and other components of urban regalia. Or at least that's what Mr. Combs used to do. At his show on Saturday night, Mr. Combs immersed himself in another world. The models wore three-piece suits, cashmere car coats and military greatcoats. The clothes were smart and martini-ready. Article, Page B6.

Former Treasury Sec Robert E Rubin has returned to private sector but continues to be commanding public figure; he is top adviser at Citigroup even as he maintains role as globe-traveling statesman; he runs nonstop tutorial on economic policy, coaching Sen Tom Daschle and other Democratic leaders on ways to debunk Bush military spending and tax cuts; Bush administration officials view him as nagging antagonist, preaching 90's virtues of budget discipline and low interest rates when they are fighting war and recession; photo (M)

The Mammogram Debate The effectiveness of mammograms is now at the center of an unusually public and perplexing scientific debate. How this came to be is a story of science, politics and the business of medicine. PAGE A11 Global Crossing Riches Even as the government looks for evidence of accounting fraud at Global Crossing, some executives were legally able to walk away with fortunes. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1

Harvey Araton news analysis proclaims every participant in 2002 Winter Games, regardless of sport, is an athlete in true sense; photo (M)

Alan Horn and Barry Meyer, who head Warner Brothers film division of AOL Time Warner, are turning studio into movie-franchise factory, treating films no longer as mere movies but as brands; will focus on sequels to and spinoffs of studio's most successful efforts, wringing more profits and extending concept's shelf life through television spinoffs, product tie-ins, movie soundtracks, promotional Web sites and other multimedia means; some Hollywood producers wonder if Warner movies might devolve into two-hour-long commercials; photos (M)

Analysts are dismayed at how Global Crossing executives were able to walk away from company's collapse with huge personal fortunes; founder, Gary Winnick, sold 25 percent of his shares for $734 million; remaining 75 percent of his holdings is worth $5 million at current price of 7 cents a share; observers equate Global Crossing situation to Enron's, where top management prospers handsomely while small investors, employees who hold company stock and creditors suffer severe losses; Global Crossing executives have not been accused of wrongdoing, but one analyst says outcome raises serious questions about corporate management; SEC and FBI are investigating whether Global Crossing artificially inflated its revenue or engaged in other practices that enriched executives but crippled company; photo (M)

Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Yugoslavia who goes on trial Feb 12, is first head of state ever to be tried for war crimes; is essentially accused of leading genocidal, criminal enterprise to 'cleanse' land he believed belonged to ethnic Serbs of other ethnic groups in three wars in Croatia, Kosovo and Bosnia; he proclaims his innocence, saying he wanted only to keep Yugoslavia whole; even those who loathe Milosevic worry that proceedings may look like victors' justice, and wonder whether prosecutor Carla Del Ponte can deliver evidence that draws direct line between Milosevic and bodies that have been uncovered in mass graves in Bosnia and elsewhere; trial is expected to last two years; beyond trial itself is question of what it means for people of what was once much larger Yugoslavia; photos; timeline; map (L)

Explosion of rural drugs and crime overwhelms local law enforcement agencies in small towns; upsurge is being felt across nation, even as drug use in most cities has been declining; in many small towns, drug dealers are getting rich with flourishing business in crack, methamphetamine, marijuana and OxyContin; nationwide, rate of arrests in drug crimes has fallen 11.2 percent in cities over last five years, but risen 10.5 percent in rural areas; Charlie Brown Jr of Drug Enforcement Administration cites combination of poverty and local sheriffs and small-town police chiefs with limited resources; photos; chart showng rural drug-related homicides (L)