February 25, 2002

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column praises play in Olympic hockey tournament, saying great players raise each others' games to new level; particular note is made of gold medal game between United States and Canada, won by Canada, 5-2; photo (M)

United States wins unprecedented 34 medals at Winter Olympic Games, more medals than in last three games combined; Americans finish only one short of 35 medals won by top nation, Germany, which dominates biathlon, luge and bobsled events; American athletes grab medals throughout 16 days of events, buoyed by hometown crowd and familiarity of venues, by doing well relatively new extreme-sports and by benefiting from financial support of United States Olympic Committee; home advantage has helped raise medal count of many host nations in past olympics; chart (M)

Canada wins gold medal in hockey tournament, its first gold in 50 years, defeating United States, 5-2; US takes silver medal and Russia wins bronze; photo (M)

Mayor Michael R Bloomberg's proposal to end 5-cent redemption program for returned bottles and cans would inadvertently destroy livelihood of many poor and homeless people who spend their days collecting and redeeming cans and bottles, making $15 to $30 a night; under Bloomberg's plan, buyers would still pay extra nickel but city would keep deposit for itself, using redemption money to rebuild recycling program that mayor says has become economically untenable in tough times; big redemption centers and supermarket redemption machines would be eliminated; world of so-called redeemers was never deliberately created; New York State's 20-year-old bottle-deposit law was environmental legislation that only spilled over accidentally into odd economic niche; it created market for something that poor could easily and legally obtain, and that New York City in particular creates in vast abundance; mayor's proposal illuminates how intensely complicated and intertwined happenstance convergence of waste disposal, recycling and poverty have become; photos (M)

Medical team in Boston corrects deadly heart defect in fetus for first time in United States; surgeons at Brigham and Women's Hospital's Children's Hospital open fetus's pinched aortic valve during 23d week of pregnancy, preventing devastating disorder, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in which left ventricle stops growing and becomes scarred and useless; untreated, condition is fatal soon after birth; traditional treatment has involved three heart operations, with 30 percent death rate and with many survivors ultimately needing heart transplants; estimated 600 to 1,400 children a year are born in US with this syndrome; diagram showing procedure (M)

Music industry faces multiple challenges as it gathers in Los Angeles for Grammy awards; music sales are plummeting, performers are rebelling against business tactics of five major recording companies, and music being produced today is simply not as good as it used to be; critics say that industry should have been working sooner to prepare effective online distribution alternatives to CD's instead of pressing its lawsuit against various free services like Napster; four concerts to be held in Los Angeles on eve of awards ceremony will seek to raise $5 million for Recording Artists Coalition, which seeks nothing less than radical redefinition of way industry does business; photos (M)

Article on new wrinkle in downloading music from Internet, unknown to most music executives, whereby whole albums, including cover artwork and liner notes, can be quickly compressed into single zip file; photo (M)

Jay Parini, in article in series Writers on Writing, focuses on literary apprenticeship; notes that personal tutelage and mentoring have been replaced by university creative writing graduate programs; comments on his own mentors, Alastair Reid and Robert Penn Warren; photos (M)

Israeli government decides to keep Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat restricted to West Bank city of Ramallah, while loosening military cordon at his compound; says Arafat will need permission from Prime Min Ariel Sharon to leave Ramallah; Israel was expected to lift restrictions on Arafat altogether after Palestinian Authority complied with Israeli demand to detain Palestinians accused by Israel of assassinating Min Rehavam Zeevi in Oct; but hard-line members of Israel's cabinet oppose any concession beyond allowing Arafat to move more freely around Ramallah, noting that they are unsure whether arrests are real or whether Arafat would simply release suspects when pressure is off, as he has done in past; Arafat's lieutenants respond angrily, canceling security talks with Israelis; call 'continued siege' of Arafat a 'severe violation' of agreements between Palestinians and Israelis; photo (M)

Asbury Park (NJ) city government and developer Ocean Front Acquisitions agree to build around famed Stone Pony, club where Bruce Springsteen's career started, following intense campaign featuring rallies, petitions and other measures designed to save club; photo (M)

Pagan Outlaw Motorcycle Club invade Plainview, NY, catering hall, where Hells Angels are having convention; in ensuing clash, Angel member Raymond Dwyer opens fire wounding five people; Pagans member Robert Rutherford dies after being shot and stabbed; littany of charges are filed from rioting to gang assault and weapons possession; photo (M)

Inquiry into kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl could raise lid on ties between radical Islamic groups and Pakistan's main intelligence service; Gen Pervez Musharraf has vowed to prosecute everyone involved; Pakistani military and intelligence officials disclose that Pakistani intelligence officer known as Brigadier Abdullah played key role in nurturing Army of Muhammad, militant group, after its formation in 2000, and he helped facilitate frequent travels between Afghanistan and Pakistan of Ahmed Omar Sheikh, man thought to have enticed Pearl to meeting that led to his abduction on Jan 23 and brutal execution; Abdullah was among those pushed aside late last year in Musharraf's shake-up of country's secretive spy service; Sheikh told Pakistani court that he helped kidnap Pearl, but his statements raise as many questions as they answer; new disclosures of links between Sheikh and two recently dismissed spy agency officials only intensify suspicions about its role in Pearl case; photos (L)