May 28, 2003

Amanda Uhry, founder of Manhattan Private School Advisors, is one of growing corps of consultants who are paid to guide parents through shoals of New York City private school admissions, especially for kindergarten-and-under set where competition is most intense; photo; profession, which is not licensed, could only flourish in New York City, where ambitious affluent parents begin plotting path to Harvard before their children are born; prices range from modest $85 annual membership in Parents League, Upper East Side institution since 1913, to advisers who charge $300 an hour or package of services for $3,000; Uhry's advice to clients on behaviour during nursery school tours explained (M)

Heizo Takenaka, Japan's top financial regulator and point man for banking reform in cabinet of Prime Min Junichiro Koizumi is preparing to return to academia as early as September in expectation that he may be forced out of government; Takenaka's departure, which is not certain, would be major blow for those who hope Japan can finally overhaul its financial sector and kick-start its sagging economy; photo (M)

NextWave Telecom is nearing agreement to sell nearly fifth of its radio spectrum licenses to Cingular Wireless in deal that will allow NextWave to start paying off some of its billions of dollars of debt; deal will transfer roughly 20 percent of NextWave's spectrum licenses to Cingular for $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in cash; Cingular, third-largest wireless carrier in revenue after Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless, needs additional spectrum to fill gaps in its nationwide network; deal between NextWave and Cingular does not involve spectrum licenses for New York City, where Cingular needs access to more airwaves to transmit calls (M)

New York City Comptroller William C Thompson Jr charges Mayor Michael Bloomberg favors Manahattan over other boroughs in budget decisions, citing administration's proposal to reduce garbage collection in outer boroughs; comes after year of generally cordial relations between Thompson and Bloomberg; testifying before City Council, Thompson cites other proposals that he says create inequities between Manhattan and other boroughs, generating speculation that he might challenge Bloomberg in 2005 mayoral race (M)

Salmon farming industry has recently come under fire for polluting oceans, endangering dwindling stocks of wild salmon and failing to tell shoppers that they use artificial colors to make fish red; industry officials say some problems have been dealt with while others are exaggerated; several ongoing lawsuits discussed; photos (L)