November 9, 2004

The City University of New York is starting a $1.2 billion fund-raising campaign, reflecting both the new economics of public universities, which have faced shrinking public support, and the belief that CUNY has emerged from the troubled days in the late 1990's, when Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and other critics charged that it was a third-rate university filled with students who could not read or write. ''We couldn't have done this campaign five or six or seven years ago,'' said Matthew Goldstein, CUNY's chancellor. ''People would have laughed at us.''

Federal Judge James Robertson, Washington, DC, rules that Pres Bush has overstepped his constitutional bounds and improperly brushed aside Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees as war criminals at Guantanamo Bay; ruling abruptly halts trial of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, one of hundreds of detainees in custody, and throws into doubt future of proceedings devised by administration to deal with suspected terrorists; says Hamdan must be brought before court-martial, where different rules of evidence apply, and honor Geneva Conventions, which call for treatment as prisoner of war; administration says it will seek emergency stay and quick appeal; ruling and its timing have theatrical effect on courtroom where proceedings were under way, when presiding officer Col Peter S Brownback III is handed note by Marine sergeant and immediately calls recess; Neal Katyal, one of Hamdan's lawyers, tells puzzled courtroom audience 'we won,' and Justice Dept lawyer Mark Corallo issues statement critical of decision (M)

NFL agrees to air NFC games on Fox and AFC games on CBS through 2011 season, but has yet to resolve prime-time and cable packages; signs five-year contract with DirecTV for Sunday Ticket package; Thursday and Saturday night broadcasts of eight games at end of season will come out of Fox and CBS packages; NFL will negotiate to move one Sunday game to Monday night; photo (M)

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses many injuries suffered by New York Giants and New York Jets players; Giants lose defensive ends Michael Strahan and Keith Washington for rest of season; Jets quarterback Chad Pennington will likely be out for month with injured shoulder (M),

Scientists at University of Chicago's Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes, known as Flash center, describe newly published computer simulation-based theory of how supernovas explode; astronomers use Type 1a supernovas as markers in universe to enable them to assess elusive dark energy, which many experts hold is pulling apart space; this use of supernovas has made knowledge about their existence and demise essential to understanding future of universe; supernovas can either burn like flame or explode and current hypothesis presented by Flash center asserts that explosive supernovas begin with internal deflagration that eventually encases supernova and triggers build up of energy and eventual explosion; other theories about supernovas described; photo; drawing (L)