May 17, 2005

LONGTIME students of Phil Jacksonian philosophy say Cleveland is too much of a basketball backwater for someone as deep and debonair as the renowned Zen Coach. It is routinely dismissed from serious contention in the current Jackson sweepstakes as an intellectual washout and industrial wasteland, but Dean Williams believes otherwise, and he ought to know. ''I think Phil would find this to be a very comfortable place, culturally and spiritually,'' Williams said yesterday in a telephone interview from the office of his company, which underwrites workers compensation.

The streets around Public School 15 in Red Hook are usually empty in the afternoon. This is not a bad thing, not like years ago when parents refused to let their children spend much time in broken-down playgrounds for fear they would be caught in the cross-fire. Definitely not like 1992, when Patrick F. Daly, the school's principal, was shot dead in the nearby housing projects as he went looking for a stray student. Today, the Brooklyn school, which now carries his name, also honors his commitment to young lives. Every day, several hundred children stay for several hours after school for art classes, homework help and sports, much as they do in 79 other schools that joined with local groups to establish vibrant community centers as part of the city's Beacon Schools Initiative.

Kuwait Recognizes Political Rights for Women Legislators raised their hands to vote, and women applauded as Kuwait's Parliament passed a law granting full political rights to women, opening the way for them to vote and run for office in parliamentary and local elections for the first time in the country's history. The measure passed 35 to 23. PAGE A9 Largest Union Is Seeking New A.F.L.-C.I.O. Chief The leader of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s largest union, the Service Employees International Union, asked labor leaders to help him oust the federation's president, John J. Sweeney, and warned that his union would leave the federation if Mr. Sweeney was re-elected. The union leader, Andrew L. Stern, said he would back the president of Unite Here's hotel and restaurant division, John Wilhelm, if he challenged Mr. Sweeney. PAGE A12 3 Years Old, and Expelled A lot of 3-year-olds are just out of diapers and still taking a daily nap, but they are old enough to be expelled, the first national study of prekindergarten expulsion rates has found. PAGE A12 Filibuster Talks Break Down Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, broke off talks with his Republican counterpart on efforts to head off a Senate showdown on filibusters over judicial nominations, saying he could not consent to Republican demands. PAGE A15 The Spoils of War A Moscow museum's exhibition of ancient artworks seized by Soviet troops from the ruins of Berlin shows how the dark legacies of World War II continue to divide Russia and Germany. THE ARTS, PAGE E1 Concerns Over Heart Drug The wide use of a drug for heart patients -- most of it paid for by Medicare -- has raised concerns that have prompted its maker, Johnson & Johnson, to call for a new study of its benefits and the risks of frequent use. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1 France Is, or Isn't, on Holiday The French government decided to sacrifice the day after Pentecost Sunday as a paid holiday to raise money for the elderly, but confusion reigned as half the country, it seemed, stayed home. PAGE A4 Mets' Matsui Feels Pressure Kazuo Matsui, one of Japan's biggest baseball stars before joining the Mets a year and a half ago, is now fighting to keep his job with them. SPORTSTUESDAY, PAGE D1

Analysis of some legal issues in $604 million damage award against Morgan Stanley in lawsuit brought by Ronald O Perelman over 1998 deal to sell Coleman Co to Sunbeam; discusses Judge Elizabeth T Maass's decision not to grant Morgan Stanley's new counsel a continuance after Kirkland & Ellis withdrew and her decision to reverse burden of proof in case in Perelman's favor; photo (M)

Scientists report that breast cancer patients who follow diets low in fat may reduce chance that their tumors will return; say this is first large, rigorous study to show that diet could have impact on any cancer; Dr Rowan T Chlebowski, study's principal investigator, describes data at meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology; he and independent experts at meeting and elsewhere say study's findings, which are only marginally statistically significant, must be confirmed before recommending that women with breast cancer follow such a diet; in study, 9.8 percent of women assigned to low-fat diet had recurrences over five years, while 12.4 percent of women who maintained their usual diet had their cancer return; chart (M)

Suffolk County, which was the first county in the state to approve a smoking ban in restaurants two years ago, made history again yesterday when a new law took effect making it the first county in the state to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products to 19 from 18. The new law, which was passed in an 18-to-0 vote by county legislators last December and signed by Steve Levy, the county executive, on Jan. 31, took effect with little fanfare. The county's Department of Health Services had mistakenly notified about 2,200 storeowners that enforcement would begin on May 1, leading many stores to start limiting sales of the products two weeks before the actual start date. But officials nonetheless heralded yesterday as a milestone.

Evolutionary scientists have never had difficulty explaining the male orgasm, closely tied as it is to reproduction. But the Darwinian logic behind the female orgasm has remained elusive. Women can have sexual intercourse and even become pregnant -- doing their part for the perpetuation of the species -- without experiencing orgasm. So what is its evolutionary purpose?

Iraq's new Shiite majority government, seeking to ease tensions with dispossessed Sunni minority, orders army to stop raiding mosques, arresting clerics and 'terrifying worshipers'; order comes less than day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit, during which she appealed to Shiite leaders to reach out to Sunni Arabs, in hope of weakening Sunni support for insurgency; American officials say some insurgent groups may be ready to turn toward peace, if they can be convinced that Sunni Arabs can take part in Iraq's nascent democracy, beginning with full role in drafting new constitution; ban on raids of mosques is announced by new defense minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi, Sunni Arab who fled Saddam Hussein's repression in 1990 for England; Sunni intermediaries wanted that post to go to Sunni with closer links to period of Sunni minority rule that ended with Hussein's overthrow; Dulaimi says order extends to college campuses and Christian churches, and to Shiite as well as Sunni religious sites; photo (M)

A O Scott Critic's Notebook column on makeup of jury for annual Palme d'Or award at Cannes International Film Festival; some directors first judge films in satellite programs like Un Certain Regard and Directors' Fortnight, while others vault directly to main competition and return year after year; photos (M)

Clothing manufacturers charge in lawsuits that department stores are claiming excess deductions on payments for clothes they ordered; among them is Ben Elias Industries, which is suing Dillard's department store; stores argue that deductions, which are made for variety of reasons, from bad shipping labels to sluggish sales that forced them to mark down products, are merely part of standard negotiations between wholesalers and merchants; federal government is investigating deductions claimed by Saks Fifth Avenue, whose parent, Saks Inc, has admitted that it 'overcollected' money from its suppliers; Saks names Kevin Wills chief accounting officer to succeed Donald E Wright, who was asked to resign after internal inquiry into vendor allowances; photos; graph (M)

Natrecor, drug approved in 1991 as treatment for heart failure in emergency rooms, is now widely used as 'tuneup' for heart patients, who receive regular infusions, sometimes weekly or more often, over several months in outpatient clinics run by hospitals, medical centers and cardiologists; many doctors say treatments help patients, but FDA has not found adequate evidence to approve Natrecor's use in this manner; Medicare is paying for treatments, nevertheless, and drug is generating brisk sales for manufacturer, Scios unit of Johnson & Johnson; some heart doctors are concerned about studies linking Natrecor to kidney problems and other potentially fatal effects; photos; graph (M)

Each of the last three days in Oakland, Bernie Williams spent a quiet, uneventful nine innings in the Yankees' dugout, taking it all in. Jason Giambi had to play, Manager Joe Torre told him, and Tino Martinez was hitting too many home runs to sit. And the Yankees were winning with their newfangled lineup, one that did not include Williams. This was O.K. with Williams, and with Torre, who is not sure Williams, one of his favorites, can be an everyday player anymore at 36. Williams always could pick his spots, and Monday night he came through in a big one.