December 3, 2004

IN hot rodding, styles change as regularly as fashion in Milan. The latest look is back to basics, with designs straight out of the classic hot-rod era of the 40's and 50's. Making them easier to build is a very up-to-date innovation: the Internet. Page 8.

Colleges step up efforts to find students who are prone to self-injury and suicide and get them into treatment, sometimes forcing them to leave temporarily; suicide--second-biggest cause of death among college students--can be costly, injuring reputations and prompting litigation; suicide of student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000, and strings of suicides at New York University, George Washington University and University of Illinois, have drawn wide attention; Ann H Franke of United Educators, company that insures 1,200 universities, colleges and schools, says suicide prevention has risen in priority as claims have risen; study of suicides on college campuses in 1980's found rate of 7.5 per 100,000 students, about half the rate for young adults not in college, and representing about 1,100 suicides per year for entire college population; experts believe rate has remained at that level; efforts of various colleges to address problem described; photo (M)

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce says it will take a charge of 300 million Canadian dollars ($251 million) to cover costs of lawsuits related to dealings with Enron; graph (S)

New York Yankees may try to seek financial relief from $82 million they owe Jason Giambi in wake of newspaper report that he testified to grand jury that he illegally used steroids; Giambi joined team for $120 million three years ago, with promise of extraordinary production for next seven years; San Francisco Chronicle reports that Giambi's testimony in Dec 2003, given in secret before grand jury investigating Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, Giambi said he used steroids before and after joining Yankees; his batting average declined markedly last season after baseball began using random steroid testing for all players; he has repeatedly denied to reporters that he ever took steroids; Chronicle says he was told he would face perjury charges if he lied to grand jury, but would be granted immunity from prosecution if he testified truthfully; Yankees' immediate concern is whether they have enough evidence to act against him; they could try to terminate his contract or convert it to nonguaranteed deal by claiming he violated contract because of steroid use; photo (M)

Wal-Mart Stores is changing some selling strategies after poor showing over Thanksgiving weekend; will mark down two dozen of its most popular toys and electronics, run full-page ads in 15 major markets and 35 secondary markets and introduce seven 15-second television spots; will also run Internet 'circular' for first time, giving it flexibility to reduce prices again if competition gets too aggressive; Wal-Mart recorded only 0.7 percent sales increase for November among stores open at least a year, compared with its own projections of a 2 to 4 percent increase; Target, major competitor, was up 3.2 percent, in line with estimates; Thomson Financial index of overall retail sales rose 1.5 percent in November, missing 2.5 percent estimate and below last month's 4 percent; excluding Wal-Mart, index rose 2.8 percent; sales figures at other major retailers noted; graphs; photos (M)