March 12, 2003

Villanova University defeats Connecticut University, 52-48, to win women's Big East Conference tournament championship and end Connecticut's 70-game winning streak and nine-year reign as conference titleholders; photos (M)

ImClone Systems founder-former chief executive Samuel D Waksal agrees to settle civil complaint by securities regulators who contend that he not only tried to sell ImClone shares improperly but also arranged to profit from stock's decline; agrees to pay $800,000 fine; new charge included in settlement with Securities and Exchange Commission, which calls it 'partial resolution' of case, accuses Waksal of purchasing 210 put options on ImClone stock in Swiss brokerage account on Dec 28, 2001; Waksal, with purchase, bet that ImClone's share price would drop as low as $50 within next month; netted $130,000 by selling options as price of ImClone plummeted few days later; did not disclose activity to other shareholders or SEC; Helen Glotzer, assistant regional director of SEC's New York branch, says Waksal tried to profit from bad news at company; Waksal's attorney Lewis R Liman comments; photo (Market Place column) (M)

Joseph F Rice, leading class-action lawyer, has agreed to accept $20 million fee from ABB as part of proposed settlement for bankruptcy of Combustion Engineering, owned by ABB, that faces 220,000 claims from people who say they were injured by asbestos in their boilers; Rice has agreed to accept fee in addition to fees that he will collect from clients for settling their claims against company; legal ethicists say payment raises serious ethical concerns because he is effect being paid by both sides in dispute, and several class-action lawyers criticize payment; Rice says he does not believe that fee is conflict of interest; settlement calls for people who develop asbestos-related disease because of their exposure to boilers will receive fixed payout from trust being created by companies and will not be allowed to sue ABB or Combustion Engineering; photo (M)

New York Rangers trade right wing Radek Dvorak and defenseman Cory Cross to Edmonton Oilers for forward Anson Carter on day of trade deadline; photo (M)

Nokia Warns on 1st-Quarter Ear

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Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column contends that many NCAA athletes are only motivated to impress professional leagues with performance and that academic or even moral integrity become unimportant, as is case in instances of athletes betting on own teams; photo (M)

Anthony Tommasini reviews Meteropolitan Opera's first Otello of season, 1994 production by Elijah Moshinsky; Valery Gergiev conducts; photo of Vladimir Galouzine in title role (M)

Corus Group will close plants in Britain after its Dutch unit vetoes $830 million sale of some aluminum businesses to Pechiney of France; supervisory board of Corus blocks aluminum sale after Dutch workers demand job reductions in Britain and increased investment in Netherlands; Corus's board says it will take Dutch board to court to challenge move, raising prospect of internal legal battle over right to sell assets; graph (S)

Ten executives of SK Group are indicted on charges of illegally manipulating value of stocks and inflating profits in effort to reinforce founding family's control of group; titular chairman Son Kil Seung and Chey Tae Won, chairman and chief executive, are among those indicted; Chey, son of man who built group and nephew of founder, was arrested Feb 22 along with aide Kim Chang Keun; both men remain in custody; Son and seven other executives charged have not been detained; photo (M)

Restaurants of dubious legality, where food is cooked in apartments and backyards, abound across United Stats; these underground restaurants range from upscale to gritty, and are born from youthful idealism, ethnic tradition or economic necessity; they lack certification from any government agency and are, strictly speaking, against the law; Mamasan's Bistro in San Francisco cited; photos (M)

Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and Kroller-Muller Museum neaer Arnhem mount major exhibitions on occasion of 150th anniversary of Van Gogh's birth on March 30; photos (M)