February 22, 2002

When the millions of students who are set to graduate from college this spring started out in the late 1990's, the stock market was on a bull run and the dot-com frenzy was in full swing. At colleges across the country, career-services offices fashioned makeshift interview booths to accommodate the companies on a hiring binge. Fresh-faced 22-year-olds commanded signing bonuses of $10,000 or more. People with bachelor's degrees in engineering or computer science often had a dozen job offers, some with six-figure salaries. Liberal arts majors found plenty of opportunities, too, working for Internet companies and consulting and financial firms.

In an extraordinary expression of frustration over questionable judging, leaders of the Russian Olympic delegation threatened today to pull their team out of the Salt Lake Games and future Olympics over the treatment of their athletes in three sports here. Speaking at an hourlong news conference, the Russians said they had grown distressed with what they described as a pattern of disrespect and unfairness directed at their athletes in pairs figure skating, a hockey game with the Czech Republic and today's women's cross-country skiing race in which the Russian team was disqualified over an alleged violation involving an athlete's blood content. As a result, they pressed their case in a meeting today with Dr. Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president.

Officials Say Recession Has Most Likely Ended Economists and government officials said that the recession had almost certainly come to an end but that it remained unclear how strong and sustained the recovery would be. White House officials said the economy was growing at a modest but accelerating rate and credited the tax cut President Bush signed into law last year for minimizing the depth and duration of the downturn. [Page A23.] Computer Associates Shares Slide Shares of Computer Associates International skidded for a second day on reports that federal regulators and prosecutors are investigating its accounting practices. The company also tapped a line of credit that comes due in 2003 to repay shorter-term bank lines of credit and prevent a shortage of cash. Shares of Computer Associates dropped $2.01, or 9.6 percent, to $18.90. In the last month, the shares have lost half their value. [C2.]

Article in series Watching Movies With... presents actress Nicole Kidman's views on Stanley Kubrick's 1980 movie The Shining; Kidman also comments on working with Kubrick on 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut; photos (L)

After each of Canada's eight straight losses to the United States women's ice hockey team since the fall, the Canadian captain, Cassie Campbell, felt sick and tired. That had to stop.