December 26, 2002

Ohio State University coach Jim Tressel prepares to take team to Fiesta Bowl, where it will face Miami University in college championship game; photos (M)

Fertility rates in many European countries have plummeted over last decades, shifting one-child families close to statistical norm; World Health Orgn figures show Europe to be continent with lowest fertility rate; no West European country has total fertility rate of 2.1--marker that demographers say means exact replenishment of population; in United States rate is 2.0, which demographers attribute to greater immigration; trend in Europe has been evident for many years, but its slow-building consequences are now coming into starker relief; more West European countries are taking new steps to address specter of sharply winnowed and less competitive work forces, surfeits of retirees and pension systems that will need to be cut back deeply; fertility rates are starkest in East European countries, but trend hit Western Europe earlier, and has had more time to produce hand-wringing and soul-searching; among reasons for trend are that people are studying longer and marrying later, that contraception and abortion are readily available, that divorce is more common and that would-be parents' attachments to leisure time, conveniences and indulgences do not easily accommodate multiple children--or sometimes, any children at all; photo; graphs (L)

Enron Inquiry Expands To Accounting Basics Broadening the inquiry into Enron's collapse, federal investigators who have been examining the esoteric details of off-the-books partnership schemes are now looking at such basics as whether the company misled investors about the value of hard assets like pipelines and power plants, according to people involved in the case. The new line of inquiry represents a focus on the sort of run-of-the-mill accounting issues that have been raised in numerous corporate fraud cases in the past. Under examination, these people said, is whether Enron carried assets on its books for billions of dollars more than their actual worth. [Page A1.]

Drug companies and doctors fight Bush administration plan to restrict gifts and other rewards that pharmaceutical manufacturers give doctors and insurers to encourage prescribing of particular drugs; Dept of Health and Human Services says many gifts and gratuities look like illegal kickbacks, and consumer groups including AARP voice support for restrictions; they are outnumbered by drug makers, doctors and health maintenance organizations that have flooded government with letters criticizing proposal; drug makers acknowledge that they routinely make payments to insurance plans to increase use of their products, to expand their market share, to be added to lists of recommended drugs or to reward doctors and pharmacists for switching patients from one brand of drug to another; insurers, doctors and drug makers say such payments are so embedded in structure of health care industry that Bush administration plan would be profoundly disruptive; doctors say drug companies are major source of money for their professional education programs; administration says it is considering these comments and expects to issue final guidelines in few months (M)

NCAA decides to switch from leather to synthetic basketballs for its women's and men's tournaments; People for Ethical Treatment of Animals lauds decision; photos (M)