Floyd Norris comment on whether Congress will let accounting fiction obscure pension reality; says much of corporate American wants to make its pension deficits appear smaller than they really are, and politicians appear to be tempted to comply; says Bush administration is seeking to shed some light on situation and get away from some of worst accounting gimmicks that have risen in past years; holds Bush plan unfortunately will take years to phase in, meaning fictions will continue longer than they should; cites Treas Under Sec Peter R Fisher's testimony at House hearing that lawmakers were upset that figures Fisher wants to provide would make pension plans look worse than they now appear; says not addressing problem now will make it worse in future; photo (M)

Will Congress Let Accounting Fiction Obscure Pension Reality?

Photo of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in movie Bad Boys II

The Good Guys Are Bad Boys

Article on traveling Bronx River, which begins in Westchester County and flows 23 miles going through Bronx into East River, by canoe with New York City Parks Comr Adrian Benepe to see results of recent years of extensive cleanup; city has spent $60 million from various government sources on cultivating native vegetation and carting away garbage, including abandoned cars and flotsam and jetsam of generations of neglect; photos; map (L)

In City Thrum, Splash of a Paddle; Revived Bronx River, Still a Bit Scrappy, Offers Repose

Alessandra Stanley reviews two TV shows: Anatomy of a Scene: The Secret Lives of Dentists, Sundance Channel documentary about making of Alan Rudolph movie, and latest segment of HBO's Project Greenlight, behind-the-scenes look at young people making their first studio film; photos (M)

Where Has Escapism Gone?

US women's national team draws difficult group for first round of World Cup; will open against Sweden, then face Nigeria and then North Korea; photo (M)

U.S. Women In Hard Group In World Cup

World Business Briefing: Croatia: Refiner So

World Business Briefing | Europe: Croatia: Refiner Sold

Petroleos Mexicanos opens bidding for contracts to drill for natural gas in northern Burgos Basin; Mexican government hopes to double output from Burgos by 2006, increase of 1 billion cubic feet per day, to meet Mexico's need for natural gas, which is growing at about 9 percent per year (S)

World Business Briefing | Americas: Mexico: Natural Gas Bidding

Anthony Tommasini reviews Kirov Opera production of Rimsky-Korsakov opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Feveronia, part of Lincoln Center Festival; photos (M)

Casting New Spell Over Russian Tale

Article on trip in 1980's Volkswagen Vanagon Syncro camper through backcountry of Hollister Hills in central California; photos (M)

Drawn to a 1980's Camper With the Soul of an S.U.V.

New York Yankees defeat Cleveland Indians, 5-4; photos (M)

Matsui Is Only Relief the Yankees Need

Securities and Exchange Commission begins formal investigation of American Stock Exchange concerning way it has regulated its options trading floor; disclosure is made by NASD, which owns American Stock Exchange, in its annual report; probe appears to concern whether American Exchange has lived up to promises made by it and other options exchanges in 2000, when SEC concluded that exchanges had not done enough to assure customers were not harmed by violations of investor-protection rules; American Exchange spokesman Robert Rendine declines comment as does SEC spokesman (M)

S.E.C. Inquiry Into Amex's Procedures On Options

GQ magazine publisher Ron Galotti abruptly resigns; Peter King Hunsinger, president of Conde Nast Bridal Group, to succeed him; executives say leaders of Conde Nast grew uncomfortable with Galotti's harsh management style and Conde Nast president-chief executive Steven T Florio asked Galotti to resign; photo (M)

Harsh Style Runs Course And GQ Publisher Is Ousted

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is promoting change to City Charter to permit nonpartisan elections, says adoption of proposal, if approved by voters, should not take place until after his campaign for second term, thus assuring voters that he would not gain by its adoption; issue has been debated over past year, but now that Bloomberg has inserted himself into fray, it sets stage for accelerated and possibly more heated discussion; Bloomberg has hinted he might spend his own money to promote proposal (M)

Mayor Details Plan to Revise City Elections

Nokia reports 29 percent drop in net profit in second quarter and says revenue could fall further in third quarter; net profit was 624 million euros ($718 million); unit sales were up 14 percent from year ago, but in value, sales were up 1 percent, to 7.02 billion euros from year earlier; chairman-chief executive Jorma Ollila comments; graph (M)

Profit Falls 28% at Nokia; Slower Sales Are Forecast

Russia's Prime Min Mikhail M Kasyanov seeks to calm anxiety in his country's business community by publicly stating that Russia will not review origins of fortunes made in its much-questioned privatization program; Kasyanov is first senior official to publicly address issue of whether government will seek to wrest fortunes from rich Russians who made their money in lawless program of state-asset sales in mid-1990's; fear of property repatriation has consumed Russian elite for last two weeks since arrest of ally of Mikhail B Khodorkovsky, powerful tycoon on charges that he violated 1994 privatization contract; people and companies affiliated with Khodorkovsky have been targets of flurry of criminal probles in last two weeks since his associate Platon Lebedev was charged with not making required investment in fertilizer company he bought from state nine years ago; authorities have begun at least four other criminal investigations into people and companies in Khodorkovsky's circle; photo (M)

Russia Says It Won't Seek Origins of Elite's Wealth

 Vote on Head Start Delayed  Facing possible defeat, House Republicans postponed a vote on redesigning Head Start, the preschool program for the poor. Democrats, whose opposition is unanimous, hailed the postponement.   PAGE A11

INSIDE

 Profit Drops 30% at G.M. As Sales Fall Amid Price War  General Motors reported a 30 percent decline in second-quarter net profit, in large part because of falling vehicle sales in North America coupled with a price war that continues to escalate.    But the company was upbeat about the outlook for the second half of the year, in contrast to a gloomier picture offered by the Ford Motor Company. [Page C2.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

National Bureau of Economic Research says recession that began in March 2001 ended in November 2001; economists say announcement is not surprise, and politicians say it offers little comfort to millions of Americans without jobs; Rep Pete Stark says we have declared victory over recession, and we are still laying off couple hundred thousand workers each month; Joint Congressional Economic Committee says jobs have not followed economic growth, because of increases in workers' productivity; Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Banc of America Capital Management, says unemployment rate is unlikely to fall until economy expands at annual rate of 3.5 percent or 4 percent, sort of pace attained in only two quarters since recovery supposedly began; J P Morgan Chase economist James E Glassman says economy has been largely stagnant because of series of shocks, including bursting of stock market bubble; graphs (M)

Recession Is Over; Jobs Aren't Trickling Down

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wants to offer New York City voters the option in November to eliminate party labels from future municipal elections. But he says that if voters decide to make the change, it should not take place until the 2009 elections, after his re-election campaign.    In a letter to the chairman of his Charter Revision Commission, which was read last night at a public hearing in Queens, Mr. Bloomberg urged the panel to move swiftly on his proposal to change the city's voting system -- a plan that has drawn fire from various political corners, especially among Democrats.  

Mayor Pushes to Bar Parties From Ballot

Teachers across New York State continue to critique and denounce Regents physics exam given in June, which thousands of students failed, but officials in Albany defend it as technically flawless; principals and superintendents in several Long Island districts say they will no longer administer Regents physics exam and are discussing plans to draw up alternative for Nassau County schools, while New York State Assn of School Superintendents is urging college admissions officers to disregard its results; photos (M)

Outcry Over Regents Physics Test, But Officials in Albany Won't Budge

World Business Briefing | Asia: Hong Kong: Better Rating Sought

Clyde Haberman NYC column hails discounts, long championed by groups like Straphangers Campaign, that are available to frequent MetroCard users; says no one is happy base fare is $2, but average ride, with discounts is actually about $1.30, below old $1.50 fare; wonders if fare increases should come more frequently and in smaller increments (M)

Subway Fare: Bottom Line On Jump to $2

Alan Foley, CIA expert on weapons of mass destruction, tells Senate in closed-door hearing that he was asked by Bob Joseph, director for nonproliferation at National Security Council, whether Pres Bush's State of Union address could include reference to Iraq's seeking uranium from Niger; says that when he told Joseph that CIA was not certain about credibility of evidence, Joseph asked if speech could instead include reference to British intelligence reports on same matter; Foley's testimony about his conversations with Joseph tracks with version of events described by other CIA officials, but it conflicts with version provided by White House; officials there say Joseph does not recall Foley's raising any concerns about credibility of information to be included in speech; conflicting recollections of Foley-Joseph conversations are at heart of feud between CIA and White House over who is responsible for Bush's reference to disputed intelligence in one of his most important public speeches before war with Iraq (M)

New Details Emerge On Uranium Claim And Bush's Speech

Microsoft Corp reports 11 percent gain in revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, surpassing Wall Street's expectations; profits were slightly below analysts' expectations; revenue was $8.07 billion, increase from $7.25 billion year earlier; net income was $1.92 billion, up from $1.53 billion year ago; chief financial officer John Connors comments (M)

Microsoft Exceeds Forecast for Sales, But Not for Profit

Eight years of Stephanie Ramos's life offer glimpse into unevenness and unpredictability of care for New York's severely disabled foster children; her 28-pound body was found in plastic bag in garbage truck in Bronx, discarded by foster mother who tells police she panicked when girl died; her life began same way: wrapped in plastic bag days after her birth and discarded by her parents; her grim end occurred despite intense intervention from state; in some areas she received extraordinary services: driven to school by ambulance every day, watched over by her own private nurse; but care was marred by inexplicable oversights and lapses; she lived in three foster homes in 8 years; law enforcement officials describe home of final foster mother, Renee Johnson, as filthy and unsanitary; say gastrointestinal feeding tube that kept child alive was caked with grime; advocates for disabled children point to lotterylike nature of foster care system, where child's care depends on diligence of agency they are placed with and foster care worker to whom they are temporarily assigned; say problem is exacerbated in case of multiple-needs children who require so many extras; Johnson is being held in $50,000 bail on variety of charges until autopsy is complete; Stephanie's doctors say child, who was blind and suffered from cerebral plasy as well as diabetes, could have died from complications at any moment (L)

July 18, 2003

Headlines from July 18, 2003

Will Congress Let Accounting Fiction Obscure Pension Reality?

The Good Guys Are Bad Boys

In City Thrum, Splash of a Paddle; Revived Bronx River, Still a Bit Scrappy, Offers Repose

Where Has Escapism Gone?

U.S. Women In Hard Group In World Cup

Billboard 200

Chapter II

Dangerously In Love

Dance With My Father

Hotel Paper

Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Historical Context for July 18, 2003