December 29, 2002

William Hamilton describes Urban Loft Party he gave in his one-bedroom apartment based on book Cocktail Parties With a Twist by Alexandra and Eliot Angle; photos; drawing (M)

Penelope Green article describes holiday reunion party she gave based on book Katie Brown Entertains: 16 Menus, 16 Occasions, 16 Tables; photos; drawing (M)

Corporate executives and board members continue to cash in stock options they were awarded as part of their pay, making millions of dollars even while their companies have most much of their value; compensation experts say sales suggest that measures enacted by Congress and New York Stock Exchange will not end entrenched disconnect between pay and performance; says reining in stock options -- chief culprit -- will fall to corporate boards, only a few of which have adopted rules to prevent executives from turning quick profits on temporary jumps in stock prices; table shows insider stock sales for 2002 at companies in bottom fifth of Standard & Poor's 500-stock index (L)

A title and a byline were omitted last Sunday on a column about people who hate the frustrations of their jobs, but would never willingly give the jobs up. The column was Life's Work, by Lisa Belkin.

Senior US officials say Saudi Arabia has given them assurances that kingdom will make its airspace, air bases and important operations center at Prince Sultan Air Base outside Riyadh available to US in event of war with Iraq; are confident that Saudis will ultimately allow attack missions, which are more politically sensitive, to be flown from their soil; Saudis remain publicly noncommittal; uncertainty about Saudi cooperation led Pentagon to build alternative air command post in Qatar, where overall American command for Iraqi operations will be headquartered (M)