February 8, 2005

Big sport utility vehicle sales continued to grow last year as buyers sought smaller-size models, but sales of larger SUV's appear to have reached plateau; Ford Motor Co analysts say that for first time in decade, sales growth of full-size pickup trucks outpaced growth of SUV's over all; Ward's AutoInfoBank data show sales of full-size pickups rose 6.6 percent last year from 2003, compared with overall SUV sales growth of 4.3 percent; graphs; photo (M)

Michiko Kakutani reviews book The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib, edited by Karen J Greenberg and Joshua L Dratel; photos; says compendium of government memos and reports blows apart Bush administration's claim that abuse of prisoners in Iraq was confined to few soldiers acting on their own (M)

Disclosure that Morgan Stanley's chief executive Philip J Purcell was awarded $22 million in total compensation last year highlights questions about his strategy and performance; Scott Sipprelle, hedge fund investor and former Morgan Stanley employee, who wrote letter to Morgan Stanley board this month proposing firm sell or spin off its lagging units, criticizes Purcell's compensation; says company's stock fell 4 percent in value last year and yet Purcell's pay was increased by 57 percent; photo (M)

Star-nosed mole, which is native to Eastern United States wetlands areas, uses unusually shaped nose to facilitate fastest eating ever measured in mammal; nose is covered by 25,000 sensory receptors and contains 100,000 large nerve fibers, which communicate directly with dedicated portion of mole's brain to identify surroundings; Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Dr Kenneth C Catania leads research on mole behavior and anatomy published in journal Nature; graph; photos (M)

Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that spending by residents of New York City rose 4.3 percent, while inflation went up 5.5 percent between 2000 and 2003; says expenditures went up less than inflation because New Yorkers allocated large percentage of those expenditures to necessities; pattern is opposite of nation where spending went up faster than inflation; is first time imbalance has occured in New York region in decade; New Yorkers spent more on essentials than other cities in nation; rental prices in region rose 8.1 percent in city, 4.1 percent elsewhere; food rose 9.3 percent compared to 2.7 nationally; spending on clothing in city, and on charity, declined; drawing (M)