December 15, 2002

Southern California University quarterback Carson Palmer is awarded Heisman Trophy; it is first time since 1981 that trophy goes to west coast player; photos (M)

Article on Ashtanga yoga, which has become trend among fashionistas; describes workshop conducted by Indian guru Sri K Pattabhi Jois in lower Manhattan; photos (M)

Calls for overhaul of Chapter 11 of bankruptcy code rise as more and more companies use it to hold off creditors while they reorganize to survive; several big companies have emerged from bankruptcy only to file again, and bankruptcies are frequently drawn out, with detriment to company's brand value and relations with suppliers; one problem is that Chapter 11 does not prevent various stakeholders and hired-hand advisers from pursuing their own interests at expense of company's value, lengthening process in the bargain; growing number of experts want courts to move cases along more quickly; others say bankruptcy should be replaced by new system in which auctions would be used to assess and parcel out quickly the valuable parts of a company; photos (L)

National Governors Assn warns that most states are grappling with biggest budget deficits since World War II, as consequence of slow economy, with unemployment up to 6 percent and big capital gains of flush 1990's evaporating, leading to plunging revenues; effects of national slump have tumbled to biggest cities and smallest towns and places in between, like Corvallis, Oregon, where abstractions of daunting budget numbers have become personal and concrete; photos; map (L)

ugly echoes: a sanitized past comes back to haunt tren