Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses familiar position of Lenny Cooke, high school basketball talent who entered draft one year ago instead of going to college, only to wind up in limbo of United States Basketball League; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; So Many Lennys Trying To Make It

Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights has 10-acre English-style heather garden designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr and John Charles Olmsted that has recently been restored; city has poured $20 million in improvements into park, turning what had become menacing jungle into beckoning garden; photos (L)

Park Gets a New Point of View

Pro golfer Hal Sutton and his caddy Freddie Burns, preparing for Buick Classic, have weathered ups and downs while working together over past 25 years, and depend on each other as team; photo (M)

Carrying a Player's Bag, And His Spirits as Well

Oracle Corp increases its hostile bid for PeopleSoft by more than $1 billion in new effort to pressure PeopleSoft's board to consider its offer; also files suit against PeopleSoft and J D Edwards, software maker that PeopleSoft recently agreed to acquire; says suit is in response to their collective efforts to eliminate PeopleSoft shareholders' ability to accept Oracle's tender offer; state of Connecticut files lawsuit against Oracle, alleging company's proposed takeover of PeopleSoft violates state's antitrust laws and would damage its economy; state is two weeks from its planned first phase of $100 million computer system based on PeopleSoft software; Oracle raises value of its bid for PeopleSoft to $6.3 billion; original offer was valued at $5.1 billion; PeopleSoft says its board will meet to review new offer; Oracle's chief executive Lawrence J Ellison and chief executive Craig Conway comment; graph; photo (M)

Oracle's Campaign to Take Over PeopleSoft Heats Up

Photo of pioneering black baseball player Larry Doby, who has died at age 79

Larry Doby Dies at 79

British authorities name Barbara Cassani to lead London's bid to be host of 2012 Summer Olympic Games; London is competing with other cities including New York, Paris and Moscow to be host of games; International Olympic Committee is to choose city by July 2005; photo (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Olympic Executive Named

Some American units in Iraq will be replaced by troops of more than a dozen nations starting in August, U.S. officials said. Page A13.

New Allies Expected in Iraq

Organizers of Republican National Convention, after reaching out to some of wealthiest New Yorkers, say they have raised nearly all money they need to stage event; New York City Host Committee has received financial commitments for about $60 million of the $64 million it agreed to raise toward convention's total estimated cost of $91 million; convention is scheduled to be held at Madison Square Garden from Aug 28 to Sept 2, 2004; New York City Mayor Michael R Bloomberg has pledged $5 million of his personal funds; other major contributors include David Rockefeller, Jonathan M Tisch of Loews Hotels, Sanford I Weill of Citigroup, Henry M Paulson Jr of Goldman Sachs and real estate developer William C Rudin; several of the financiers are Democrats or have given to both Democratic and Republican causes, but hold any partisanship is trumped by convention's benefit to city; some groups believe new campaign finance law banning soft money contributions applies to convention host committees; Federal Election Commission is expected to issue ruling this summer, though few in either party believe it will rule against convention financing; chart of some items in Republican convention budget; photos of major donors (M)

G.O.P. Quick to Get Big Donors to Cover Cost of Convention

Steady improvement in New York City golf courses draws more golfers, many from suburbs, for whom round of golf on city course is relatively reasonable; Parks Comr Adrian Benepe comments; photo of golfers in action at Clearview Golf Course, near Throgs Neck Bridge (M)

Daring to Drive in the City (Putt, Too); Playing Through the Distractions, Suburbanites Discover No-Wait Golfing

Dispute arises over costs and approach in redevelopment of New York's Lincoln Center; Lehrer McGovern Bovis head Peter Lehrer, who resigned last week as chairman of project, says Lincoln Center has made redevelopment too complicated and cumbersome; says about $19 million has been spent for planning with very little to show; Lincoln Center president Reynold Levy, in response to Lehrer, says he is satisfied with project's progress and its use of resources; photo (M)

Costs and Approach Disputed in Lincoln Center Redevelopment

Airbus Industrie says at Paris Air Show that it has reached agreement with Korean Air Lines to deliver five A380 airplanes that have at least 500 seats; agreement and 21-plane order from Emirates Airlines that Airbus completed on June 16 bring number of A380's ordered so far to 129, including 13 orders that are not yet final; A380 is still three years away from entering service, and Airbus does not even have prototype to show yet; Boeing Co decided not to develop such aircraft, forecasting that only about 320 would be sold over next two decades; photo (M)

Airbus Hopes Orders Prove Boeing Wrong About Big Jet

Brazil's central bank reduces its so-called Selic overnight interest rate to 26 percent from 26.5 percent, saying it is convinced that inflation, which has been running at fastest rate in seven years, is beginning to slow (S)

World Business Briefing | Americas: Brazil: Rate Cut

David Pogue State of the Art column examines format battle in DVD industry; early on, DVD's were playback-only and format was devised by DVD Forum, consortium of 230 electronics makers; but when recordable DVD's were introduced, eight companies, including Sony, broke away because of what they perceived as technical limitations and devised rival, but incompatible, format; Sony remained member of both groups, and developed recorder capable of burning both formats; photo; drawing (M)

Recording, In Flavors Of DVD

 Italy Shields Berlusconi  The Italian Parliament granted Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity from prosecution while he remains in office.   PAGE A11    Tension in a Michigan Town  Some 250 police officers patrolled Benton Harbor, Mich., where violence erupted after a motorcyclist died in a police chase.   PAGE A16

INSIDE

Critic's Notebook by Herbert Muschamp appraises Richard Meier's residential buildings in West Village, two glass towers facing each other; photos (M)

Blond Ambition On Red Brick

 House Votes to Eliminate The Federal Estate Tax  The House voted to eliminate the federal estate tax, the third time in a month that Republicans have approved a large tax-cut bill over objections from Democrats that the government is being deprived of its lifeblood.    Republicans said the measure would keep family businesses from dissolving to pay the tax upon an owner's death. But Democrats said that only a few thousand of the very richest estates had to pay the tax. [Page A18.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Tim Montgomery, current world record holder in 100-meter race, prepares for US track and field championships and world championships after year of pressure, changes and scrutiny; photo (M)

The World's Fastest Man Is Knocked Off Stride

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Insurer Selects Chief

Bishop Thomas J O'Brien of Phoenix Diocese resigns, succumbing to turmoil over sexual abuse crisis in church and more personal disgrace of his arrest in fatal hit-and-run accident; was known for decades as self-effacing builder of schools and advocate for poor, but also recently acknowledged having protected priests from numerous complaints of sexual abuses; friends and associates describe him as having fallen into deep despair under strain; Vatican names Archbishop Michael J Sheehan as interim administrator of diocese; Sheehan took over Santa Fe Archdiocese decade ago and has settled 200 sexual abuse claims against priests and established zero-tolerance policy for clerical misconduct; photo (M)

'Unraveled' by Sex Abuse Crisis In Diocese, Phoenix Bishop Quits

Newly elected Liberal government in Quebec is taking steps that signal profound change in province's business climate; Liberals have fired Claude Blanchet, chairman of Societe Generale de Financement du Quebec--and husband of former finance minister of Parti Quebecois, and Maurice Prud'homme, president of Investissement Quebec, that were kingpins in panoply of institutions that for decades stage-managed province's economic development; these agencies had intervened with equity investments, tax breaks and subsidies to foster chosen clusters of industries and to defend French-speaking business community against gravitational pull of Toronto; Liberals are signaling that such activism is out, along with defeated separatists of Parti Quebecois (M)

Quebec Pulls Back Business Supports

Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet is acquitted by Paris court of charges he helped French bank Credit Lyonnais manipulate its accounts before it collapsed in early 1990's, when he was director of French treasury; verdict clears way for Trichet to become next president of European Central Bank; French Finance Ministry says France will reaffirm Trichet's candidacy at meeting of European government leaders in Salonika, Greece, that is scheduled to begin June 26; photo (M)

Banker Cleared, Easing Way to Head European Bank

United States military officials say they have captured Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's closest confidante and fourth on list of 55 most-wanted members of his government; officials say little has been learned from Mahmoud in early stages of his interrogation, but believe he almost certainly knows fate of Hussein and has information about Iraq's weapons programs; in Baghdad, angry demonstration by former Iraqi Army officers demanding back wage payments turns violent, with two Iraqis killed in confrontation with American troops; in separate incident, two American soldiers are shot and one of them killed in drive-by shooting in southern Baghdad; American troops near Tikrit arrest about 50 members of Hussein's special security forces and Special Republican Guard, seizing more than $8.5 million in cash and other valuables; photos (M)

HUSSEIN'S TOP AIDE HAS BEEN CAUGHT, U.S. OFFICIALS SAY

Digital Cinema Laboratory, part of University of Southern California's Entertainment Technology Center, is conducting testing to determine specifications for digital equipment and software to be used by motion picture industry instead of film; experts use both scientific and subjective methods to assess quality of images; advantages over film-based system include lower cost to studios, lack of wear, and easier storage, but theater costs are increased because digital projectors are much more expensive than conventional ones and require expensive auxiliary equipment; photos (M)

Among Film's Ghosts, Its Future

Joyce Purnick comments on Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton's acknowledgment that it was difficult to relive marital embarrassments in her book Living History; says that if famous, powerful woman had cheated on her husband, it is doubtful if he would have to write tell-most book to 'to make himself acceptable to the public' (M)

Metro Matters; Mrs. Clinton Is Forgiven, But for a Price

New York Yankees manager Joe Torre tells reporters he would like owner George Steinbrenner to give players more credit when they win games, and trust his decision-making more as well (M)

June 19, 2003

Headlines from June 19, 2003

Sports of The Times; So Many Lennys Trying To Make It

Park Gets a New Point of View

Carrying a Player's Bag, And His Spirits as Well

Oracle's Campaign to Take Over PeopleSoft Heats Up

Larry Doby Dies at 79

Billboard 200

St. Anger

0304

Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Fallen

2 Fast 2 Furious

Historical Context for June 19, 2003