New York Mets roster meets for first time at spring training, where new coach Willie Randolph explains rationale behind some of his new rules; photos (M)

Randolph Makes Most of His First Full Day

There has been sharp decline in viewership, and therefore ratings, of recent awards ceremonies, including Golden Globes and Grammys and Academy Awards, which will air on February 27; factors contributing to decline include dearth of big stars in presentations and sheer number of awards shows; graph (M)

The Loser Is: Ratings for Awards

Sidney Crosby is one of NHL's top prospects, playing for Rimouski Oceanic of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and waiting for NHL to resolve its labor dispute; photos (M)

Contemplating a North Star Until the N.H.L. Gets Its Bearings

Joyce Purnick column on New York City's efforts to win 2012 Summer Olympics, promoted at press conference by officials who are unlikely to be in office in 2012 and by NYC2012 bid committee; discusses politics of selection by International Olympic Committee (M)

Metro Matters; Where Hosts Are Voted Off Olympic Island

America's medical and drug industries are following lead of other industries and exporting jobs to countries like India and China, where costs for everything from labor to rent are lower; life sciences industry, with its largely white-collar work force and heavy reliance on scientific innovation, was long thought to be less vulnerable to outsourcing trend; industry analysts say many companies face mounting pressures to control drug prices and cut development costs; outsourcing of some life sciences jobs seen as evidence that American biotechnology companies are building global connections that help make them more competitive around world; less than 6 percent of those companies employed contract workers abroad in 2002, but percentage is growing; photo (M)

Medical Companies Joining Offshore Trend

MTV opens its first local music channel in Sandton, South Africa, bringing one of world's best-known consumer brands to one of few remaining untouched markets; opening belatedly offers viewers in sub-Saharan Africa chance to watch local artists showcased in music-video format; also gives African musicians chance at global exposure; photos; chart (M)

Africa, and Its Artists, Belatedly Get Their MTV

Advertising embedded in online news is raising questions about ethics of keyword advertising online; Forbes.com ended experiment two months ago with such keyword ads, citing unease among its reporters; New York Post is considering adopting practice for its site (M)

Ads Embedded in Online News Raise Questions

Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith, forthcoming memoir by sociologist and therapist Martha Beck, stirs debate and criticism both for its depiction of sacred Mormon ceremonies and for author's effort to tie her sexual abuse to what she says were mental disturbances suffered by her father, Hugh Nibley, because of his role as Mormon Church's 'chief apologist'; Beck accuses Nibley, professor emeritus of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University and leading authority on Mormon teaching, of sexually abusing her as child; Mormon Church condemns book; photo (M)

A Mormon Daughter's Book Stirs a Storm

Nicolai Ouroussoff reviews exhibition of nearly two decades of contemporary landscape design on view at Museum of Modern Art; photo (M)

Confronting Blight With Hope

Hollywood costume designer Colleen Atwood, known for mastery of garb for every imaginable form, has sunny modern home in Pacific Palisades that is filled with tactile sensations of swaths of fabric; photos (M)

A Costume Drama in Modern Dress

New York Atty Gen Eliot Spitzer breaks with tradition and endorses Fernando Ferrer for mayor of New York City before primary, unusual move for statewide politician; move is boost to Ferrer campaign from one of state's most popular politicians; analysts say endorsement should help him with white and Jewish voters; Spitzer is possible candidate for governor in 2006 and should get boost from Hispanic voters, even if Ferrer loses; other mayoral candidates comment; photo (M)

Spitzer Makes an Unusually Early Endorsement of Ferrer for Mayor

New York State division of cemeteries spends much of its time trying to sort out ownership of graves in Jewish cemeteries; burial societies that bought blocks of plots and sold them to congregation members have dwindled, leaving incomplete or missing records of plot's owners; some plots were sold to more than one person; article cites case of Amalie Kleinman, who found another woman buried in plot next to her late husband; both families claim ownership of grave, but neither can find deed; photo (M)

Taking Confusion to the Grave

At Home With interview with Lauren Bacall, now 80, in her memento-filled apartment in New York; her new book And Then Some is sequel to 1978 memoir By Myself; photos (M)

To Have and Have Not

Palm Springs is setting for 2,500 Alexander houses, named for father and son who built them in moderately priced developments in 1950's and 1960's; values are skyrocketing as homes are purchased and restored to midcentury feel by Hollywood weekenders like television executive Maria Grasso; photos (M)

Desert Cool, Hot From the 50's

Former Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder says she will challenge Manhattan Dist Atty Robert M Morgenthau in Democratic primary; Morgenthau has not faced primary opponent for 20 of the 30 years he has held that office; in heavily Democratic Manhattan, winning primary means winning the election; experts note that Snyder has not yet formally announced her candidacy, and that getting on primary ballot in New York City is daunting feat for challenger; say they see no groundswell of voter dissatisfacion with Morgenthau's long regime; but Morgenthau is taking challenge seriously; he and Snyder are already campaigning, courting politicians and gathering endorsements; his message is stay the course; her message is time for a change; photo (M)

First Real Challenge in 20 Years for Manhattan District Attorney

 MTV Goes to Africa  MTV opened its first local music channel in Africa this week, a step touted by the singer Lebo Mathosa, above, at an MTV event in Johannesburg. The presence could offer greater exposure for African artists.   THE ARTS, PAGE E1    Hope Dims After Iran Quake  Rescue efforts continued in central Iran, but there was little hope that many more earthquake survivors would be found under the heavy debris. Reports of the number of dead were conflicting, but Iran's interior minister said the toll would probably reach 500.   PAGE A3    Canada Rejects Missile Shield  Canada has refused to take part in an America missile defense system despite lobbying by President Bush, United States officials said. The long-awaited decision was a symbolic setback for the president as he tried to heal rifts with allies over the invasion of Iraq.   PAGE A6    Bush Faulted on School Law  A bipartisan panel of lawmakers has found after a yearlong study that the No Child Left Behind law is a flawed, convoluted and unconstitutional initiative that has usurped state and local control of public schools.   PAGE A18    Palestinian Cabinet Endorsed  The Fatah movement loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas gave him a lift by endorsing a new cabinet of technocrats, legislators said.   PAGE A3  

INSIDE

Law enforcement officials say Monmouth County, NJ, prosecutor John A Kaye was cautioned in December not to take any actions that might tip off targets of FBI sting operation earlier in month; Kaye's investigators interviewed at least 2 of 11 current or former officeholders who were arrested on bribery charges on Feb 22 on orders of US Atty Christopher J Christie; lawyer for Keyport Mayor John Merla, one of officials arrested, says that Merla was asked specifically about contractor and informer who was at heart of federal investigation; officials say Kaye's interceding compromised their investigations; Kaye claims he did not know of federal investigation, but federal officials say he was told months ago; photo (M)

Monmouth Prosecutor's Actions Hurt F.B.I. Inquiry, Officials Say

Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina discusses safe return of his mother Maura Villarreal, who was kidnapped and held for more than five months in Venezuela; photos (M)

Urbina's Ordeal Played Out Far From the Field

New York City officials hold star-studded events to impress International Olympic Committee in hopes of securing right to host 2012 Olympics; photos (M)

Olympics in New York: Lights Out, Charm On

David Pogue State of the Art column explains effect of higher number of megapixels on images produced by digital cameras; compares eight-megapixel models by several manufacturers; photos; chart; drawing (M)

The Big Picture: Megapixel Race at Milestone 8

Recently disclosed privacy breach at data collection company ChoicePoint, in which con artists gained access to Social Security numbers, addresses and other personal data of nearly 145,000 people, has exposed shortcomings of laws governing data-mining industry and consumer privacy; Nigerian man in Los Angeles has been sentenced to 16 months in California state prison for his role in fraud after pleading no contest to single count of unlawful use of personal information; bigger effect of breach may be its exposure of patchwork of sometimes conflicting state and federal rules that govern consumer privacy and commercial data vendors; state and federal regulators and lawmakers have started calling for updating of those rules, which never envisioned power of gatherers to amass and distribute vast digital dossiers on ordinary citizens; critics say current laws, in focusing too closely on industry-specific uses of information rather than on protecting privacy of individuals in databases, have failed to keep pace with emergence of such data miners; photos (M)

Breach Points Up Flaws in Privacy Laws

Proliferation of surveillance cameras in everyday life and Webcams at home computers has elevated concerns about privacy; as many as 13 percent of American homes have Webcam attached to computer, each with Internet address; unless cameras have been concealed behind software firewalls, their addresses make them specifically searchable and identifiable; while some Webcam images are designed to be shown on Internet, search for specific video camera signatures allows users to skip Web site and view camera image outside its intended context; photos (M)

On the Net, Unseen Eyes

*Artificial Life Inc of Hong Kong has come up with virtual girlfriend named Vivienne that can be reached on cellphone for monthly fee of $6; Vivienne is at leading edge of wave of services that companies are developing to take advantage of much faster data transmission rates made possible by 3G technology; photos (M)

Sad, Lonely? For a Good Time, Call Vivienne*

 Wal-Mart Ordered to Pay Ex-Employee $7.5 Million  A federal jury found that Wal-Mart Stores discriminated against a disabled Long Island man who briefly held a job at its store in Centereach, N.Y., and ordered the company to pay him $7.5 million in damages.     The plaintiff, who has cerebral palsy, applied for a job in the Wal-Mart pharmacy department in the summer of 2002 and said he quit not long after he was reassigned to other responsibilities, including collecting garbage and shopping carts from the parking lot. [C3.]    Facing intense opposition, a large real estate developer has dropped its plans to include a Wal-Mart store in a Queens shopping complex, thwarting the company's plan to open its first store in New York City. [A1.]    Medco to Buy Specialty Drug Firm  Medco Health Solutions, the big pharmacy benefits manager, agreed to purchase Accredo Health, a fast-growing distributor of expensive specialty drugs for high-risk patients. The price was $2.2 billion in cash and Medco stock. With the purchase, Medco said it would have $4.2 billion in specialty drug revenue. [C5.]    Medical Work Is Moving Offshore  The shifting of employment to countries like India and China is spreading to America's medical and drug industries. [A1.]    Indian businesses are growing as drug makers send clinical trial work there. [C4.]    More Fannie Mae Problems Found  Fannie Mae said that its primary regulator had discovered a host of new potential accounting violations. [C8.]    Cablevision Has Loss for Quarter  Cablevision Systems reported that its quarterly losses widened, but its number of customers increased, and the share price rose. [C15.]    With its founder poised to emerge from prison next month, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia reported steep losses for last year. [C7.]    New Concerns on Japan's Economy  A steep drop in Japan's trade surplus, combined with rising oil prices, raised concerns that its economic slump could continue. [C4.]    Stock Market Shows Gains  The Dow Jones industrials average rose 62.59 points, to 10,673.79. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 6.64 points, to 1,190.80. The Nasdaq composite index added 0.93 point, to 2,031.25. [C9.]    The dollar rebounded slightly after plunging on Tuesday. [C8.]    Crude oil prices fell but remained above the $51-a-barrel level. [C8.]    Rosen to Lead Economic Council  President Bush named Harvey S. Rosen, an economist on leave from Princeton University, to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Mr. Rosen will replace N. Gregory Mankiw, who resigned last week after two stormy years and returned to Harvard University. But White House officials indicated that Mr. Rosen would serve only as interim chairman. [A18.]    Increases in health spending will outstrip the growth of the economy over the next 10 years, the Bush administration said. [A20.]    He Talks Like an Economist  Habits of mind that made Lawrence H. Summers a good economist help explain why he is embroiled in controversy as president of Harvard. Virginia Postrel: Economic Scene. [C2.]    Finding Financing on the Web  VFinance.com seeks to find ways for entrepreneurs to match their ideas and business plans with investors. Small Business. [C7.]  

BUSINESS DIGEST

Pres Bush says he and leaders of Germany, Britain and France have discussed negotiating tactics to try to get Iran to give up its suspected nuclear weapons program, but he gives no sign that United States would directly join in talks, as Europeans want; national security adviser Stephen J Hadley says Bush might consider offering incentives to Iran, tactic favored by Europeans but rejected by Bush administration as recently as two weeks ago; Bush, at joint news conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder in Mainz, seeks to soothe growing fears in Europe that Iran would become next battleground for US; calls that idea 'ridiculous' but then adds that 'all options are on the table'; Bush's discussions with Schroder on Iran come at crucial time, with European officials saying that negotiations at International Atomic Energy Agency are at impasse and will fail without Americans at the table; photo (M)

BUSH MAY WEIGH USING INCENTIVES TO DISSUADE IRAN

Coşkun Kırca was a Turkish diplomat, journalist and politician. He served as the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1995. He was at first a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP), then of the Republican Reliance Party (CGP), then of the True Path Party (DYP).

February 24, 2005

Headlines from February 24, 2005

Randolph Makes Most of His First Full Day

The Loser Is: Ratings for Awards

Contemplating a North Star Until the N.H.L. Gets Its Bearings

Metro Matters; Where Hosts Are Voted Off Olympic Island

Medical Companies Joining Offshore Trend

Billboard 200

Seventeen Days

The Documentary

American Idiot

Gemini

Totally Country Vol. 4

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for February 24, 2005