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several hundred students stormed a building in leipzig to prevent chancellor_gerhard_schr_der from signing an official application for the city to hold the 2012 olympic_games . the students were part of a group of 4 , 000 protesters shouting , ''first education , then games ! '' the signing ceremony was moved to a nearby hotel . students all over germany have been on strike for more than a month against proposed cuts in university financing . victor_homola ( nyt )	has a location of germany
the heirs of joe tom meador , the united_states_army lieutenant who stole a collection of medieval treasures from quedlinburg in central germany in the final days of world_war_ii , must pay estate tax on the objects they acquired at his death in 1980 , according to a memorandum of the internal_revenue_service just made public . the next step in the case will be for the i.r.s . to determine the value of the gold , silver and jewel encrusted artworks as of 1980 , a sum which art experts have said may exceed 100 million . the i.r.s . could also assess interest and penalties for failure to report and pay an estate tax liability . randal mathis , the lawyer who represents jack meador and jane meador cook , the brother and sister of joe tom meador , said yesterday , " if the i.r.s . makes such a valuation , we could n't pay it and would have no choice but to challenge it in court . " the dealings of the meador family are also under study by the federal_bureau_of_investigation , holding out the possibility of criminal_prosecution for possession of stolen property or transporting it across state or international borders . the final agreement between the government of germany and the meador family to permit the return of the treasures to germany is expected to be signed by all parties before the end of january .	has a location of germany
lead despite dissatisfaction in washington and london over bonn 's dovish new stance on disarmament , foreign_minister hans_dietrich_genscher insisted today that his talks in washington had been ' 'very amicable'' and that the americans had recognized west_germany 's ' 'special right'' to speak its mind . despite dissatisfaction in washington and london over bonn 's dovish new stance on disarmament , foreign_minister hans_dietrich_genscher insisted today that his talks in washington had been ' 'very amicable'' and that the americans had recognized west_germany 's ' 'special right'' to speak its mind . speaking at a news conference with defense minister gerhard_stoltenberg after the two returned from washington , mr . genscher also said he would next take bonn 's new disarmament stance to its european partners , where he said the german position had ' 'very wide support . '' the contrast between reports that bush administration officials had been furious with bonn 's shift and mr . genscher 's benign portrayal of the meetings seemed to suggest that the foreign_minister was not entirely displeased with the opposition . bonn 's sudden request for ' 'speedy'' talks with moscow on short range nuclear_weapons , despite the objections of washington and london , had been widely viewed among diplomats and commentators as a political maneuver by chancellor helmut_kohl to shore up his crumbling political support and by mr . genscher to use the turmoil to advance his dovish agenda . an enhanced image some diplomats said they suspected that mr . genscher went to washington fully aware that his position would be rejected , but that he also knew this would enhance his domestic image as a proud german standing up to the english speaking nuclear powers . mr . genscher repeatedly stressed that washington acknowledged west_germany 's ''tremendously important position in this dialogue'' and its ' 'special right to speak out on these questions because of the number of short range rockets stationed on its soil . '' he refused to discuss what he called the government 's new military stance , saying he could not do so until mr . kohl formally presents it in a package of new policies this thursday . the position paper , which was hammered out by the coalition partners on thursday , has been published and extensively discussed in the german press . what brought the allies to loggerheads was bonn 's call for negotiations with moscow on short range nuclear_arms . washington and london , and less openly france , have opposed negotiations on these weapons out of fear that this would foment pressures for total denuclearization in europe , which would enhance moscow 's predominance in conventional_arms . baker reported 'livid' diplomatic sources reported that secretary of state james a . baker 3d was ''livid'' with the envoys , especially with mr . genscher . mr . stoltenberg is a close ally of mr . kohl and evidently went along to show that the position also had the chancellor 's backing . the diplomats said the americans felt bonn had violated an understanding reached last week in brussels , when the americans agreed not to press for a west_german decision on modernizing short range weapons on the assumption that bonn would not push for talks on them with the russians . british officials said prime_minister margaret_thatcher intends to make her opposition equally clear when she meets with mr . kohl this sunday . despite the insistence in bonn that the new german position was unanimously supported within the ruling coalition , there were indications that mr . kohl was seeking to back away from a confrontation . the chancellor announced he would telephone mr . bush on wednesday and insisted that the new position was ''not anti american . '' mr . kohl also said that west_germany had a right to ''give its opinion , '' while the chief expert on defense in his christian_democratic_union , volker ruhe , said the position paper was simply a ' 'starting position which certainly can be negotiated . '' the opposition social democrats welcomed the new move . hans jochen vogel , the socialists' chairman , declared that ''on the question of missiles , there is now a new national consensus of the government and the opposition . ''	has a location of germany
when president_clinton nominated richard c . holbrooke to be ambassador to germany last summer on the same day he named former vice_president walter f . mondale ambassador to japan , some german officials who knew that mr . holbrooke was an asia expert wondered whether they had won second prize . they wonder no longer . mr . holbrooke , 52 , has been an instant success in this crucial american diplomatic post . " i have never seen such an excellent relationship with an ambassador develop in such a short time as with richard holbrooke , " said joachim bitterlich , foreign_policy adviser to chancellor helmut_kohl , who will be in washington this weekend . mr . holbrooke will be in washington this week to help the white_house and the state_department prepare for the visit . what mr . bitterlich and other germans say they like best is the new ambassador 's informal and frank style . " we can talk openly with each other about the way we see things we do n't have to play diplomatic games with him , " mr . bitterlich said . 'the unvarnished truth' " tell me what 's wrong with the relationship , " the new ambassador would tell him and other german officials at dinner parties , not even pretending to make small talk . " tell me what you 'd like to see fixed . " dr . beate lindemann , an officer of an organization called the atlantic bridge , which cultivates german american cultural and political ties , said " at this point in our history , we needed somebody we could talk the unvarnished truth with . dick holbrooke was exactly the right man at the right time . " on a table in the parlor of the big official american residence on the rhine is a picture of mr . holbrooke 's grandfather , a jewish businessman in hamburg , wearing the prussian spiked helmet and the iron cross he won as a german soldier in world_war i . " i show it to german visitors as a symbol of what they lost , " the ambassador said . his grandfather left germany with mr . holbrooke 's mother in 1933 . today his mother , trudi moos kearl , lives in new york city . mr . holbrooke was a foreign_service_officer until 1972 in vietnam , washington , paris and morocco . and he was assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific affairs from 1977 to 1981 before he came here , he was a managing director of the lehman_brothers investment_bank in new york . the ambassadorial residence in bonn has ample evidence of his interests in other parts of the world . it is filled with thai , cambodian and vietnamese antique sculptures . bonn , a small university town that will cease to be the seat of government at the end of the century , is a place with few of the distractions and none of the glamour of paris or london . for a divorced man like mr . holbrooke , there was not a lot else to do after he got here last september but talk politics , cultivate contacts , and help shape american policy toward such an important european ally . getting close to movers and shakers is something mr . holbrooke does very well , and his barely rudimentary german was no handicap . he brought in an old friend and mentor , fritz stern , seth low professor of history at columbia_university , as an adviser to help him through his first few months , and was soon entertaining mr . kohl at home . mr . stern returned to columbia on jan . 15 but is continuing to work as a consultant to the embassy . after his frank talks with german officials , one thing mr . holbrooke thought needed to be fixed was the impression some germans and other europeans had that the clinton_administration did not think relations with europe were as important as they were in the cold_war . " europe has lost none repeat none of its importance to the united_states , " he said in a speech in potsdam soon after presenting his credentials in october . mr . clinton made that clear himself during his trip to europe this month . but he will not make his first official visit to germany until july . mr . holbrooke pointed out to old friends in washington like mr . clinton 's national_security adviser , anthony_lake , and his chief adviser on russia , deputy_secretary_of_state designate strobe_talbott , that an earlier idea of having the president come here in june , right after attending the 50th_anniversary of the allied landings in normandy , would not be such a good idea . since world_war_ii , the bedrock of the american relationship with germany has been security , with more than 250 , 000 american_troops here at the end of the cold_war . now , mr . holbrooke believes , his task is to make sure that the relationship remains strong on a new basis of commercial and cultural ties . " the overarching goal , " he said in an interview one recent weekend , " is to use 1994 to create the foundations for a bilateral_relationship which is no longer so dependent on the american military presence . " to do that , in frankfurt , ambassador holbrooke persuaded the united_states_information_agency and the commerce_department to open a business information center on jan . 18 . partners , yes , and rivals too mr . holbrooke said he would also like to reopen the closed american consulate in dusseldorf , an important german business center , as a commercial office under a commerce_department officer . not all his subordinates appreciated his insistence on forcing the far flung bureaucracies to cooperate more closely . nor , mr . holbrooke concedes , are german american relations without frictions . the united_states remains irritated by the extensive trade and political ties between germany and iran despite what washington sees as iranian support for international_terrorism . " in asia , we have common human_rights and political views , but we are destined to be political and economic rivals , " he said . " we accept this . " it also seems clear that this old asia hand has no regrets about having taken on a new challenge in europe . " germany is the key player in moving the cold_war alliance into a new post cold_war phase , " he said , " and clinton and kohl are at the heart of it . "	has a location of germany
researchers of infrared networking would like to bounce data off your nose . or your desk . or the coffee machine . their goal is to use beams of infrared light , reflecting from all surfaces in a room , to create high speed information networks . while local networks using radio waves , like apple 's airport system , have been getting the attention , scientists working on infrared say that in the long run , light might be a better and faster alternative . ''radio cannot compete with this performance , '' said dr . mohsen kavehrad , a professor of electrical_engineering at pennsylvania_state_university . dr . kavehrad and a colleague , dr . svetla jivkova , have been researching a system that sends pencil thin infrared beams bouncing around a room , connecting computers to one another and to a central transmitter and receiver that is wired to a larger network . the researchers said the technology could transmit two gigabits a second , or about a thousand times as much data as a cable_modem , with few transmission errors . anyone who has used a remote_control to change the channel has seen infrared in action . the technology is also used in laptop computers and palm type devices for wireless communication over short distances . but these links work best when the transmitter is pointed at the receiver , something that would not be practical when linking an entire office or offering network access in a public place like an airport or a restaurant . one way around the problem is to bounce wide infrared beams off the ceiling , scattering the reflections around the room . this allows receivers to be pointed in any direction . while some networking products already use this approach , dr . kavehrad said the scattered beams created something similar to an echo , causing data loss and limiting the network 's speed . the penn_state researchers think they have solved the echo problem by using a holographic filter to produce thin beams that create a large grid as they reflect around the room . the university is seeking a patent on the technology . ''it 's a really cheap and easy way of producing these multiple beams , '' he said . ''having the pencil beams allows you to send the signals very fast , and not relying on just one of them allows you to move around , and you can do this whole thing at low power levels . '' researchers at the university of kassel and at the university of siegen , both in germany , have approached the problem differently , focusing on improving the receiver 's ability to separate signals from echoes and interference . the researchers say the resulting network would be fast enough to allow everyone in a meeting to receive and transmit video streams on their laptops simultaneously for videoconferencing . providing enough bandwidth for activities like videoconferencing is one area where infrared has an advantage the radio spectrum is tightly_regulated so only certain frequencies can be used for data transmission . manufacturers can push into higher frequencies in search of free space , but at the same time , the components needed become more expensive . infrared has no such problems , because its frequencies , which are just below visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum , are unregulated . and because infrared transmissions do not penetrate walls , there is no chance of interference or overlap in neighboring rooms . that also can be a security advantage radio frequency networks open the possibility of eavesdropping , perhaps by someone sitting in the parking_lot with a laptop and an antenna . but infrared 's inability to pass through walls and other objects may also be its downfall . the technology requires at least one receiver and transmitter in each room to be connected to a wired network . this makes it an unlikely choice for , say , someone wanting to stay online wirelessly while moving a laptop among different rooms . and forget about going online from the backyard via infrared the beams need surfaces , particularly ceilings , to bounce from . joseph m . kahn , a professor of electrical_engineering and computer sciences at the university of california at berkeley , said the first users of new networking equipment have been companies and schools , and ''they do n't want to put an access point in each room . '' dr . kahn , who did research on infrared networking for much of the last decade , said he had based some of his work on research by dr . kavehrad . in a report , he and his colleagues demonstrated about a year ago that an infrared network could handle a separate video stream for every passenger on a jetliner . but he said he had moved on to other things . ''it has some technical advantages , '' he said , ''but it just has n't taken off commercially , and i see no signs that that 's going to change , unfortunately . '' in addition , he said , companies are investing more money in radio research , limiting advancements in infrared . meanwhile , radio based networking is entering the mainstream . much of the focus is on a standard known as 802 . 11b or wi_fi , the technology used in apple 's airport and other low cost networking products . starbucks is putting wi_fi into its stores , allowing customers to surf while sipping . one thing that might give a lift to infrared would be research demonstrating that the radio energy used in mobile_phones and other devices is actually hazardous to human health , dr . kahn said . studies so far have been inconclusive , and there is only a slim chance that something more definitive will appear , he said . at the low level of energy needed for networking , researchers say , infrared beams cannot hurt the eyes or anything else . dr . kavehrad said that he was concerned about the long term effects of bathing people in radio waves and that infrared light offered a safer alternative . ''we 've lived under god given sunlight for zillions of years , '' he said . what's next	has a location of germany
lead secretary of state james a . baker 3d said today that he was confident that differences with west_germany over the upgrading of a battlefield missile would be resolved by the time nato leaders meet in may . secretary of state james a . baker 3d said today that he was confident that differences with west_germany over the upgrading of a battlefield missile would be resolved by the time nato leaders meet in may . talking to reporters on his air_force jet as he flew home after a quick visit to all members of the north_atlantic_treaty_organization , mr . baker said , ''i really disagree with this idea that there is somehow a major rift'' between the united_states and west_germany . ''do i think we can get there by the may summit ? '' he asked rhetorically . ''yes , indeed , i do . '' the united_states is pressing ahead with plans for the new version of the lance missile , which can be fitted with nuclear_warheads , but bonn has said it wants to hold off a formal decision until after 1990 , when elections are to be held in west_germany . mr . baker said , ''we do need to balance the needs of the europeans and their political concerns against the needs that we have to assure the congress that if they fund this program it will go forward . '' he said he had ' 'very good meetings'' with both chancellor helmut_kohl and foreign_minister hans_dietrich_genscher . feelings on stock sale on another matter , mr . baker was asked for his feelings about being made to sell chemical_bank stock in his blind_trust to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest , even though he had formally removed himself from any decision making related to his financial holdings both as secretary of the treasury and as secretary of state . mr . baker replied ''what was my reaction ? my reaction was that my grandfather is probably turning over in his grave . '' mr . baker 's grandfather , james a . baker , founded a texas bank that was ultimately sold in several stages to chemical banking corporation , a bank_holding_company . asked whether in retrospect he thought he should have gone out of his way to call the attention of the senate committees that confirmed him both as secretary of the treasury and secretary of state to his substantial holdings in bank stocks , mr . baker said ''i have always sought and relied upon the advice of career ethics attorneys at the department of treasury and the office of government ethics . i did so in this case . contrary to suggestions in some news reports that i have not made disclosures in 1985 , i made disclosures to the senate_finance_committee and foreign_affairs committee . i relied on the advice of career ethics attorneys , advice that was specifically sought and relied upon . '' question on scowcroft 's role reporters aboard the plane were also told that news reports suggesting that mr . baker was losing power to the president 's national_security adviser , brent_scowcroft , were ''ludicrous . '' they were told that the idea for mr . scowcroft to preside over the interagency discussions at the cabinet level was mr . baker 's . having spent four and a half years as white_house_chief_of_staff at the start of the reagan_administration , mr . baker was said to feel it was important for someone to coordinate interagency foreign_policy discussions without the president having to head the meeting . mr . baker 's predecessor , george p . shultz , did not share this view and would not attend any formal high level interagency foreign_policy discussion in the white_house that was not presided over by the president . mr . shultz would insist that the meeting be described as informal and take place in the office of the security adviser . ''what happened under the prior regime was that they would have those meetings , but they had to hold them in the national_security adviser 's office , '' reporters were told today . ''that is just too much form . it is not substance . '' the reporters were told that mr . baker ''has a 35 year relationship and friendship'' with president_bush and has been an acquaintance of mr . scowcroft since they both took part in president_ford 's 1976 election campaign .	has a location of germany
lead the west_german parliament today formally endorsed the government 's decision to support soviet and american efforts to eliminate medium_range land based missiles from europe , though chancellor helmut_kohl came under fire from both left and right . the west_german parliament today formally endorsed the government 's decision to support soviet and american efforts to eliminate medium_range land based missiles from europe , though chancellor helmut_kohl came under fire from both left and right . the vote in the parliament was 232 to 189 in favor of the proposal , fashioned earlier in the week by mr . kohl 's center right coalition after weeks of bitter internal wrangling . the government agreed to support soviet american negotiations in geneva to eliminate all shorter and intermediate_range missiles from europe in a plan that has been dubbed the ' 'double zero'' option . at the same time , mr . kohl declared that bonn would insist on keeping its 72 aging pershing 1a missiles out of the soviet american talks . the missiles , with a range of 450 miles , are owned by the west_german air_force , but their nuclear_warheads are controlled by the united_states . a face saving move while eliminating medium_range_missiles , or those with a range of more than 600 miles , was never in dispute in bonn , the more recent soviet proposal to dismantle also the shorter range weapons , or those with a range of 300 to 600 miles , was strongly opposed by mr . kohl and other conservative members of his government . they argued that this would leave operative only battlefield nuclear_weapons with a range restricted , in effect , to west_german soil . the government 's insistence on maintaining its pershing 1a 's was widely seen as something of a face saving device by mr . kohl to screen his turnaround on the more substantive issue of the ' 'double zero . '' a motion by the opposition social_democratic_party against keeping the pershings was defeated 239 to 163 . willy brandt , the party 's chairman and a former chancellor , argued that bonn should back the superpowers' plan ''without ifs or buts . '' mr . brandt also charged that the government 's long dispute over its position had damaged its prestige . little enthusiasm for plan on the right , the sense that bonn had been pressed into acceptance of the ' 'double zero'' was expressed by an editorial in the conservative frankfurter_allgemeine_zeitung ''if government policy speeches are supposed to reflect the facts , the chancellor could have kept it short today he only needed to say that he had been raped , which happens a lot in politics . and to be quite clear in this case , the victim should have explained that it happened with his consent . '' in his speech , mr . kohl spoke with little enthusiasm about the ' 'double zero'' plan . the proposal , he said , contained a ' 'very serious disadvantage for us germans'' that the soviet_union had a ''crushing superiority'' in tactical nuclear weapons and ''clear superiority'' in conventional forces . that was why his government had been unable to accept the ' 'double zero'' proposal unconditionally , mr . kohl said . the united_states and other allies in the north_atlantic_treaty_organization have supported bonn on the issue of keeping the pershing 1a 's out of the geneva talks . the soviet side , however , has insisted on counting the warheads as american weapons and , thus , subject to the proposed cuts . reagan hails bonn 's decision venice , june 4 ( special to the new york times ) president_reagan today praised west_german support for a united_states soviet proposal to eliminate a class of nuclear_missiles from europe , and american officials described the action as a ' 'major step forward . '' ''the decision sets the stage for establishing a common nato position at the coming foreign ministers meeting in reykjavik , '' mr . reagan said in a statement , referring to talks in iceland that secretary of state george p . shultz is to attend . white_house officials said that the west_german decision removed the remaining hitch to a unified position among the allies on an arms control treaty , and that the american bargaining position could now be made final in discussions involving nato countries' foreign and defense ministers . ''it 's a major step forward , although the president has yet to discuss it here , '' said the white_house spokesman , marlin fitzwater .	has a location of germany
to the editor my favorite touch in the design of the west_german president 's living room has to be the mushroom_cloud shaped lamps and table . the interior decorator clearly had a splendid sense of humor . jon feldman brooklyn hotel armageddon	has a location of germany
lead the messages in dispute were secretly exchanged 17 years ago between henry a . kissinger , president_nixon 's national_security adviser , and kenneth rush , the united_states ambassador to west_germany . the messages in dispute were secretly exchanged 17 years ago between henry a . kissinger , president_nixon 's national_security adviser , and kenneth rush , the united_states ambassador to west_germany . they concerned talks that mr . rush held in 1971 with the soviet ambassadors in east_berlin and bonn about a nascent four power agreement on easing tensions in berlin . on white_house instructions , mr . rush sent the messages through a secretive ''back channel'' to keep the state_department in the dark about the highly sensitive , ultimately successful berlin talks , at which he was the chief american negotiator . eleven years later , when mr . rush retired as ambassador , he dutifully deposited the 59 documents , mostly his messages to mr . kissinger , at the state_department . then , two years ago , he began a quest to have the documents declassified for possible publication . after all , he noted , the material was known not only to the russians , but ''the full substance'' of the talks had been disclosed by mr . kissinger in his book ''white_house years . '' but the national_security_council and state_department refused to release the documents to mr . rush . so yesterday , mr . rush , who once taught law to richard_nixon at duke_university , resorted to his first profession and filed suit in the federal court in washington to have the cables declassified and given to him . washington talk briefing	has a location of germany
the united_states was reported today to have decided to step up its criticism of germany for its restrictions on the church of scientology . the report , which appeared in the monday issue of the washington_post , said the state_department 's heightened criticism would appear wednesday in its annual survey of human_rights conditions around the world . it is to criticize germany for what the post said an administration official called ''a campaign of harassment and intimidation'' against the church . senior american officials directly involved in the vetting and approval of the human_rights reports said tonight that they were unaware of any major ''ratcheting up of the criticism of germany about the treatment of the scientologists , '' as one of them put it . the section of the report dealing with germany has not been the topic of a senior level or interagency meeting , which is common with controversial reports , especially since this one would run counter to the united_states' close relationship with an important ally . an official who said he had not seen the draft report itself added that it had not ''been worked at the senior level . '' . nicholas_burns , the state_department spokesman , said tonight that the united_states had criticized germany since 1992 over its treatment of scientology as a cult , rather than a religion , and that those criticisms have been reflected in the human_rights reports each year . but the criticisms ''have not been overly harsh , '' he said . the state_department has also reacted critically to charges from hollywood personalities , including some scientologists , that german discrimination in civil_service employment and other areas against scientologists are comparable to actions taken against jews in the early years of the nazi_regime . pointing out that the dachau concentration camp was opened in the first year of the hitler regime , mr . burns has called the scientologists 's comparison ''outrageous'' and ''ahistorical , '' and did so again tonight . he said the germans had done much to teach their population and their children about the evils of nazism . mr . burns said he has been attacked in a flurry of letters from scientologists for his remarks , and has responded by telling scientologists that the united_states_government would seek to defend their rights , but not their arguments and fallacious historical comparisons . united_states officials have complained that german actions that encouraged boycotts of scientologists had infringed on the rights of such american members of the church as the actor tom_cruise and the jazz pianist chick corea . the official cited in the post 's account was reported to have said the united_states was stressing the importance of religious_freedom and was urging germany through diplomatic channels ''not to prosecute prople for wrong thinking'' but had been rebuffed . a german diplomat was reported in the post as having said in response to the impending criticism ''we wo n't change our policy , no matter what you say . you are a big country . you can afford to have militias and cults . we ca n't . '' the diplomat added that germany had a great sensitivity to the dangers of ''extremism'' because of its nazi past and was therefore obliged to limit the activities of groups perceived as threats to national well being . scientology , which was founded by the science_fiction writer l . ron hubbard and finds its philosophy in his texts , has long been regarded as a cult by more mainstream religions . mr . hubbard envisioned a world without insanity , criminals or war , while the church 's opponents charged that it simply sought to enrich itself with the assets gained from gullible adherents .	has a location of germany
tens of thousands of students marched through central bonn today , blowing whistles and blasting trumpets in a demonstration that crowned weeks of protests and years of discontent over the underfinancing and overcrowding of germany 's colleges and universities . thousands more boycotted classes across the country . the protests were the biggest displays of student anger in germany for more than two decades . but , while a previous generation 's protests focused on such political themes as the american presence in vietnam , the huge turnout today reflected student annoyance at overcrowded lecture halls , libraries without books , long waits for access to computers and suggestions that tuition fees be introduced in germany 's state financed universities similar to those in the united_states . germany 's 230 colleges and universities were intended to accommodate some 950 , 000 students but , over the last 20 years , the number of students has risen to 1.8 million , many of them spending much longer than is usual in the united_states to complete their studies . at the same time , spending reductions have cut teaching staff , leaving lecture halls bulging with students who say they sometimes wait for years to meet with professors . one protester today , barbara muller of cologne , said some seminars were so crowded that she started lining up for a seat at 4 a.m . ''and i still did n't get a place . '' the protests today , after demonstrations and strikes by students in other cities in recent weeks , were the latest reflection of a broader crisis in germany europe 's biggest economy as it struggles to pare away a padded welfare_state to meet the challenges of economic globalization and european plans for a single_currency based on fiscal_restraint . the students , from 40 universities , converged on bonn in a cavalcade of buses and four special trains . one small group bicycled the 400 miles from berlin . there were as many as 40 , 000 protesters , according to estimates by the police and organizers of the march . students at 50 universities and colleges boycotted classes today to back the protest . many carried banners urging the government to spend money on higher_education rather than on a projected european warplane , the eurofighter , for which germany has committed 13 billion . ''for a billion_marks , 6.5 eurofighters or 6 , 481 smart students which do we need more in the future ? '' a banner said . student leaders maintain that universities are underfinanced by as much as 3 billion a year . the complaints have drawn broad support from professors , lecturers and politicians . chancellor helmut_kohl , who said he sympathized with the students , blamed mismanagement by germany 's 16 federal states , most of which are run by the opposition social democrats , for the crisis an assertion denied by the social democrat leader oskar_lafontaine . the question of introducing tuition fees raised by some state legislators has drawn criticism from students that universities will become elite establishments for the rich . the federal education minister , jurgen ruttgers , said on television today that the government wanted ''people to be able to study in germany , whether they are rich or poor . '' that was met with some skepticism . ''ruttgers hypocrite , '' a marchers' banner replied . a new law , currently before parliament but not yet approved , seeks to streamline education by making universities compete for state financing , reducing the time it takes to get degrees and introducing a credits system . it does not provide specifically for the introduction of tuition fees , but mr kohl 's government has refused to rule out the idea as the students demanded today . many academics maintain , though , that the proposed law does not address the basic issue . ''we in germany are faced with a question , and it 's a value judgment , '' said klaus borchard , vice_chancellor of the university here . ''what price do we set for the education of our young people ? ''	has a location of germany
lead this week 's summit conference between president_bush and president mikhail s . gorbachev of the soviet_union , the first such meeting of the post cold_war era , promises to be different from any other . this week 's summit conference between president_bush and president mikhail s . gorbachev of the soviet_union , the first such meeting of the post cold_war era , promises to be different from any other . different , first of all , because the shape of the new europe , not arms control agreements or ideological argument , will be its principal focus . that difference flows from others for the first time , a soviet leader approaches the bargaining table from a position of real weakness at home , with some western analysts doubting his ability to last another year and others , more confident of his survival , doubtful about his long term ability to lead . for the first time as well , the two superpowers find their status in doubt . though arms control details and discussions have dominated the preliminary negotiations for this second encounter between mr . bush and mr . gorbachev , this is misleading . broad agreement will no doubt be reached to reduce strategic arms , though by less than the 50 per cent originally sought , and on chemical_weapons , two items from the old east west agenda . the new realities but the success of the meeting will better be measured by the degree to which the leaders come to grips with the new power realities forced on them by a year of constant change . both sides appear to understand this as they ponder the consequences of a moribund warsaw_pact , a north_atlantic_treaty_organization that has lost its main mission , a united germany and a disintegrating soviet_bloc . making sense , and stability , of it all is a challenge worthy of metternich . ''the fundamental issues at the summit are not going to be arms control , '' brent_scowcroft , the national_security adviser , said today on the abc_news program ''this week . '' ''the fundamental issues are remaking a political map of germany and also secondarily what 's going on in the soviet_union . '' on the nbc_news program ''meet the press , '' aleksandr n . yakovlev , a major adviser to mr . gorbachev , emphasized the same issues and added , ''we should expect this meeting will be much more significant than the previous ones . '' staving off armageddon arms control , as a leading european diplomat put it the other day , matters most when there is no chance of basic political change . ''you nibble away at the edges , hoping to reduce the possibilities that the underlying hostilities will lead to armageddon . '' but now there is basic political change aplenty , notably in the troubled soviet_union and in germany , which seems to be re emerging as europe 's largest , richest and most powerful land , undoing the balance of power that once existed between nato and the warsaw_pact . indeed , political and economic imperatives may accomplish what arms control has not and perhaps will not . the 380 , 000 soviet_troops now in east_germany are highly unlikely to stay there very long they may be bargained out , but if they are not , at least some of them will probably have to leave because the soviet_union cannot maintain them or does not think the effort worthwhile . the process might already have begun , except that the kremlin has no housing or jobs to give returning soldiers . as they approach this week 's discussions , mr . gorbachev and mr . bush still control the bulk of the world 's nuclear_weapons more than 95 per cent , by most calculations . but in their different ways , they have lost control over other matters . the soviet leader will leave a capital gripped by panic buying , with political power dubious and fragmented , with a sullen almost rebellious populace , with part of an old bloc gone and other parts yearning to leave . except in the military sphere , the soviet_union has lost its place at the head of the list of nations . no such crises confront mr . bush , but he is struggling to redefine and to hold together the nato alliance that has provided the united_states its principal entree into europe since world_war_ii , at a time when europe seems to stand on the verge of its greatest postwar strength and cohesion . other longstanding american alliances , facing greatly lessened threats from the communist world , are losing their muscle tone . mr . bush must deal with economic challenges to american leadership from japan and from a reinvigorated europe , anchored by a germany moving rapidly toward unification . an unprecedented weakness these fresh realities will shape the negotiating positions here . mr . gorbachev , who has achieved so much despite a position of weakness , is now trying to avoid allowing a unified germany to become a full nato member . from the soviet viewpoint , that would in effect undo the results of world_war_ii , because moscow saw the partition of germany as one of the chief benefits of its hard won victory . mr . bush , arguing from a much stronger position , must try to persuade the soviets to accept german membership in nato , the chosen american vehicle for ''the new architecture of europe , '' because only nato , not the european_community or the nascent conference on security and cooperation in europe , would allow the united_states a significant role in european decision making . the president is not without weapons in this endeavor . his west_german allies have already offered a wide range of economic inducements to the soviets , largely involving the direct payment of marks . if some compromise on lithuania and the other baltic_states , a ticklish subject that mr . bush has promised to raise at the meeting , can be reached in coming weeks , the united_states would be in a position to offer trade concessions , such as most favored nation status , and other economic assistance . the president 's blueprint in an interview last week with the bbc , mr . bush set his own agenda for this week . he said he was looking for answers to such questions as these ''how does post german_unification europe look ? who will be calling the shots ? what is the role of the united_states in terms of stability ? '' what he meant , of course , was not that mr . gorbachev could supply the answers at this meeting , but that mr . gorbachev 's attitudes would be a major factor in the direction that american policy ultimately takes . much may turn on the answer to a pair of decisions . mr . gorbachev said this week that he would never let nato , with germany a member , play the leading role in building a new european security order , as mr . bush wants it to . the president will therefore have to decide how deeply committed his counterpart is to that view , and , if he concludes that mr . gorbachev will not budge , he will have to decide how far the west , which holds most of the cards , should push the soviets on the status of germany at the risk of generating lasting resentment in moscow that might undermine the europe everyone is working so hard to construct . toward the summit	has a location of germany
lead a group of 19 soviet missile specialists and officials arrived today to verify compliance with the superpowers' treaty to scrap their land based intermediate_range nuclear_missiles . a group of 19 soviet missile specialists and officials arrived today to verify compliance with the superpowers' treaty to scrap their land based intermediate_range nuclear_missiles . another group of soviet specialists arrived in the united_states last week , while american inspectors went to the soviet_union . the soviets who arrived in frankfurt will carry out inspections of six missile sites in west_germany . vladimir a . akimenkov , head of one team , said ''our team has arrived today to conduct inspection outlined by the i.n.f . treaty .	has a location of germany
lead the warsaw_pact has proposed negotiations that could lead to the elimination of the battlefield nuclear_missiles deployed in central_europe and along the border between the germanys . the warsaw_pact has proposed negotiations that could lead to the elimination of the battlefield nuclear_missiles deployed in central_europe and along the border between the germanys . the suggestion came in a letter that erich_honecker , the east_german leader , wrote to chancellor helmut_kohl of west_germany on dec . 16 . its contents were disclosed by the east_german press agency , adn , on monday and given front page coverage today in neues deutschland , the communist_party daily . however , the united_states quickly rejected the warsaw_pact proposal . charles e . redman , the state_department spokesman , said in washington , ''as a matter of policy , the united_states opposes any nuclear_weapon free zone in the nato treaty area . '' he said the suggestion was a ''new version'' of a longstanding warsaw_pact proposal to establish a nuclear free zone in europe . in his letter , mr . honecker , according to the text released by adn , said that the warsaw_pact would refrain from modernizing its short range nuclear systems , which have a range of 300 miles or less , if the north_atlantic_treaty_organization agreed not to update its arsenal of such weapons . the missiles are sometimes referred to as battlefield or tactical systems . ''if you were prepared to forgo modernization in this area , '' mr . honecker wrote , according to the press agency , ' 'steps could be taken on the basis of equality and equal security to remove imbalances through disarmament leading to further zero solutions . '' intermediate forces accord under an agreement signed by president_reagan and mikhail s . gorbachev in washington last month , the united_states and the soviet_union embraced so called ''zero solutions'' for their medium and shorter_range_missiles , which have a range of 300 to 3 , 400 miles . the pact will also lead to the destruction of 72 pershing 1a missiles operated by the west_german air_force and their warheads , which are under american control . the warsaw_pact countries have traditionally proposed a ban on all nuclear_weapons in europe , a suggestion rejected by the western allies because of perceived soviet_bloc advantages in conventional forces . but the latest proposal is the first specific one dealing with battlefield nuclear_missiles with ranges of less than 300 miles since last month 's accord . there has been considerable concern within nato that mr . gorbachev might eventually propose the abolition of the tactical systems as well , a proposition that could generate a split between west_germany and its principal european allies . threat to german soil conservatives within chancellor kohl 's christian democratic_party , as well as foreign_minister hans_dietrich_genscher of the free democrats , have been pressing for sharp reductions in the battlefield systems , contending that they uniquely threaten german soil . but britain and france , supported by the reagan_administration , have strongly opposed moving on the short range issue before strategic , conventional and chemical_weapons are addressed . in both paris and london , officials cite the danger of setting off a chain of events that could lead to the ' 'denuclearization'' of europe , making a conventional war more imaginable . in washington , mr . redman said that creating a nuclear free zone would undercut nato 's military_strategy to defend europe . nato has refused to rule out using nuclear_weapons first in response to a soviet conventional attack . playing the german card after the washington accord , some western diplomats had predicted that mr . gorbachev might declare a pause in his blitz of disarmament proposals , in part to avoid stirring opposition to the treaty in the united_states_senate , which will begin consideration of it later this month . by having mr . honecker launch the idea of a ''third zero solution , '' moscow appears to be aiming at the sensitive west_german public without formally putting the proposal on the table . alfred dregger , the christian democrats' parliamentary floor leader , today welcomed mr . honecker 's letter , saying that it supported the party 's position that the tactical systems should be considered in the context of the ' 'disarmament process . '' a spokesman for mr . kohl said that the government was studying the letter . the soviet_union and its allies have overwhelming superiority over nato in the category of short range missiles , with some 1 , 400 weapons confronting 88 lance missiles , which are due to be modernized under a decision by the western alliance in 1983 . there have been rumblings of opposition to the lance modernization decison within the christian democratic_party , and mr . kohl 's preference has been to defer talking about it . russians to visit nevada test site las_vegas , nev . ( ap ) soviet scientists will visit the nevada test site from jan . 26 to 29 as part of a process to work out verification methods on nuclear_testing . american scientists will visit a site at semipalatinsk , in soviet central asia , from monday to thursday . united_states officials have said that the openness of that visit will determine how much the soviet scientists will be allowed to see in nevada . the exchanges are intended to familiarize american and soviet scientists with each other 's secret testing grounds and serve as a prelude to visits later this year during tests . details of the visits , announced in november , were made public monday . they would allow each side to try out equipment they believe could be used to verify the size of future tests and adherence to a test ban . talks in geneva produced partial test ban treaties in 1974 and 1976 , but neither treaty was ratified by the senate , in part because of concerns over verification . each side agreed to adhere to the terms of the treaties . twenty soviet scientists will spend three nights at mercury , a town 65 miles northwest of las_vegas that serves as the hub for testing activity at the 1 , 350 square_mile desert site . they will see a vertical shaft that is being drilled for a weapons test as well as a smaller , adjacent shaft for seismic monitoring equipment . but they will not visit tunnels where tests are conducted .	has a location of germany
lead president_bush today hailed the soviet_union 's decision to accept a united germany as a member of nato , describing it as an act of statesmanship . he said the move resulted , at least in part , from measures adopted by the alliance at its meeting in london 10 days ago . president_bush today hailed the soviet_union 's decision to accept a united germany as a member of nato , describing it as an act of statesmanship . he said the move resulted , at least in part , from measures adopted by the alliance at its meeting in london 10 days ago . ''we think this solution is in the best interests of all the countries of europe , including the soviet_union , '' he said in a written statement . but officials of the bush_administration and others in washington were keenly_aware of the symbolism in the fact that the agreement was worked out by chancellor helmut_kohl and president mikhail s . gorbachev at a meeting in the caucusus , albeit along lines that the united_states had strongly endorsed , with mr . bush more than 5 , 000 miles away . not only were mr . bush , secretary of state james a . baker 3d and other american policy_makers remote from the scene of the action mr . baker , at least , was taken completely by surprise , learning of today 's developments from news accounts when his plane stopped for refueling at shannon airport in ireland . for weeks , he and his staff had said they expected no break in the german impasse until the fall . a more felicitous forum a senior figure in the administration , who spoke on condition of anonymity , conceded that ''it would have been much nicer if the deal gorbachev and kohl seem to have struck could have been announced when all the major powers were represented , but that does n't change the fact that we got what we wanted a unified germany in nato . '' representative lee h . hamilton of indiana , a major democratic spokesman on foreign_affairs , said ''this makes it clearer than ever that the germans are leading western policy toward the soviet_union . i 'm not saying that it 's george_bush 's fault , and i 'm not saying that we have become a non power . ''but this is an example of the new multi polar world that 's going to make us learn a new meaning for the word 'consult . ' these days it does n't mean us going to europe and telling them what to do . the constraints are largely economic . we have n't solved our fiscal problems , we need to borrow money , and you ca n't say to your creditors , 'this is what you 're going to do . ' '' with the decline of the warsaw_pact and the approach of reunification , germany appears poised to become an even greater economic power than it already is , and japan , a world economic power , is starting to flex its political muscles , too . quayle is upbeat at a luncheon with reporters and editors of the new york times , vice_president dan_quayle emphasized the positive , asserting that president_bush had been ''way out front'' on the german question and declaring that ' 'relations are at an all time high between germany and the united_states . '' while few diplomats or analysts would question either assertion , the new closeness of the two nations has given mr . kohl a more or less free hand to set the timetable and some of the terms for german_unification , and granted him a much larger role among world leaders . ''the transformation is quite phenomenal , '' said a republican senator who asked not to be quoted by name . ''kohl used to come here as a kind of supplicant , but now he comes into a room up here and senior people defer to him . he 's polite and good humored , of course , but he dominates conversations . '' german_unification was to have taken place on the terms worked out in the ''two plus four'' negotiations , involving the two germanys plus the allied powers of world_war_ii the united_states , the soviet_union , britain and france . that arrangement was to have constituted moscow 's veto , or washington 's , if the pace seemed too fast or the conditions too onerous . but mr . gorbachev said today that four power rights would lapse when germany was reunited , and many diplomats here said the two plus four talks had been rendered all but moot . ''not even a fig_leaf is left'' to conceal the idea that west_germany has essentially negotiated its own terms , a west european ambassador here said . zbigniew_brzezinski , who served as national_security adviser under president_carter , said that while ''this is clearly the final act of soviet accommodation to the new realities , '' mr . gorbachev ' 'may be giving ground so that he can partly recoup later'' by insisting that all foreign troops , not just soviet ones , leave the soil of germany . ''my instinct is that precisely that question will arise , certainly before 1995 , '' mr . brzezinski said . there is now broad support in washington for the idea that the united_states must push hard for the rapid integration of europe in economic , political , military and other spheres to make germany 's triumphs europe 's triumphs and avoid any backlash against german economic power . under prime_minister margaret_thatcher , britain has resisted an accelerated timetable for european_integration , with foreign_secretary douglas_hurd restating british reservations about a single_currency and a central_european bank only last weekend . that could mean a further loosening of the old special relationship between london and washington in the coming months . ''this is an alliance victory , '' the west european ambassador said . ''it is a bush victory . the united_states must not lose its nerve now , with these signs of german strength , and pause to reconsider things . it must play the game to the end , not back off , and not give anyone any reason to suspect that this is a german soviet deal of which the united_states secretly disapproves . ''	has a location of germany
lead mikhail_baryshnikov , american_ballet_theater 's artistic director , has invited oliver matz , a principal_dancer with the deutsche staatsoper ballet in east_berlin to appear as a guest artist with the company this season . mikhail_baryshnikov , american_ballet_theater 's artistic director , has invited oliver matz , a principal_dancer with the deutsche staatsoper ballet in east_berlin to appear as a guest artist with the company this season . mr . matz 's performances with susan jaffe on the evenings of may 13 and 14 in ''don_quixote'' at the metropolitan_opera_house are to mark the first time a dancer from east_germany has been seen in new york with an american company . mr . matz won a gold_medal at the 1986 international ballet competition in jackson , miss . born in rostock , east_germany , he studied at the state ballet school in east_berlin and joined the deutsche staatsoper ballet in 1980 .	has a location of germany
''we are going to start by demolishing the british embassy , '' said ulrich lissek , pointing to a squat building opposite his office . ''then we 're going to take over the headquarters of the christian democratic_party over there . and that will be just the start of our radical project . '' mr . lissek may sound like a holdover from some 1960 's revolutionary movement , but he is in fact the chief spokesman for deutsche_telekom , the now privatized german telecommunications company that is in the vanguard of an unlikely plan to transform bonn 's culture from bureaucratic stodginess to silicon_valley sprightliness . as the german_government departs for berlin this month after a 50 year sojourn on the rhine , ''boomtown bonn'' sounds like an unlikely slogan . but it is the one making the rounds here as telekom and its various subsidiaries buy up great swaths of real_estate , computer company start_ups multiply , and an internet banking group thrives . contrary to all predictions on ''black thursday'' the day in june 1991 when parliament voted to move the german capital back to berlin bonn is prospering . unemployment in the region is 7 percent , far lower than the 16 percent in berlin , real_estate prices are rising , and only 1.5 percent of office space is vacant , compared with more than 10 percent in the new capital . ''the period of angst is over , '' said barbel dieckmann , the mayor . ''we were a successful capital and we would have liked to remain the capital , but now we feel berlin has many reasons to envy us . '' bonn , a city of 330 , 000 people , is still a genteel place where the whiff of capitalist enterprise is scarcely overwhelming . but the city 's attempted makeover appears genuine and has wide implications for germany . the country is trying to make a painful shift from a highly regulated society where the state accounts for close to 50 percent of economic activity to a nimbler , more entrepreneurial system better able to create jobs . bonn 's ability to shift from ponderous , state heavy predictability to a place on germany 's telecommunications and information_technology frontier may provide a measure of how far a culture that is still generally risk averse may be altered . with over four million germans jobless , over 10 percent of the workforce , chancellor_gerhard_schroder believes it 's time for a germany burdened by by a graying population and soaring youth unemployment to rethink itself . ''enough of the nanny state , '' economics minister werner muller said last month . mr . lissek of telekom agrees . ''we want to engineer a vast shift from the functionary 's culture , which does not prize the client , to being the most customer friendly company in the world , '' he said . ''there is a culture of envy here that makes wealth somehow shameful . we want to make wealth respectable . '' these aims are evident in the vast modern atrium of telekom 's new bonn headquarters , where the price of the company 's stock in frankfurt , new york and tokyo flashes on one side and an ''online screen'' offers travel and shopping services on the other . for what was until 1993 a staid state owned corporation , this is a revolution indeed . across the road , on land where the british embassy now stands , telekom is planning a 550 million building for about 5 , 000 employees . its mobile_phone unit has bought up an old cement factory on the banks of the rhine and is planning another huge development there . in the wake of the giant , hundreds of small bonn computer companies are springing up , full of germans talking a remarkably glib line in ''interfacing , '' ' 'stock options , '' ''the telebonn concept'' and ''silicon_valley type models . '' a new bonn based online banking service , bank 24 , hired over 1 , 000 people last year . dressed in a three piece suit , stefan huthmacher , the chief executive of a software and consultant company called comma soft , scarcely looks like a denizen of palo_alto . but as he shows a visitor the ''japanese meditation room , '' complete with screens and prints , where employees are encouraged to seek inspiration , he explains that the west_coast has been a model to him . ''we have to develop the garage start up mentality among students in germany , '' he said . ''one of our problems is that we persisted too long with classical heavy industries , and did not adapt our education system fast enough to new technologies . '' to illustrate his point , mr . huthmacher , a 44 year old former university physicist , said that his company had possible openings for 100 people , but cannot find qualified people to fill the jobs . ''it 's a huge problem to find people , '' he said , ''because german universities still fail to teach the right disciplines . we sell knowledge . in an industrial area like the ruhr , that is still a hard concept to accept . '' the company , which develops networking systems for large companies or public entities based on microsoft software , already has 125 employees and is planning to go public soon . it recently applied for permission to put up a building a process that can take years in germany and saw in the city administration 's acceptance within weeks a sign that bonn is really changing . ''we are going to re educate our population to look forward , '' said michael swoboda , the president of the bonn chamber of commerce . ''we believe at least 250 , 000 jobs will be created in telecommunications and information_technology in germany in the next five years , and we plan to get a big chunk of them . '' daniel riek , 25 , has already created 16 jobs in two years at his start up company id pro , a software consultant firm . a former student of bonn university , he illustrates the crossover from university to technology and business that the city now hopes to nurture . of about 1 . 5 billion that bonn received as compensation for the move of the capital to berlin , the largest part has been spent on a new science and telecommunications research center called caesar . ''germany 's problems are simple , '' mr . riek said . ''we suffer from what i call a 'digital gap , ' and we do n't understand service . teachers in general know little about computing , and business client relationships are about confrontation rather than cooperation . my hope is that bonn can offer some new models . '' ms . dieckmann , the mayor , said she was confident of the city 's success . but in good german fashion bonn is also hedging its bets . various united_nations agencies have been lured to the town . six ministries are remaining . one or two federal authorities including the anti trust commission are actually moving from berlin to bonn to provide a counterweight to the departure of over 15 , 000 civil_servants . ''we even hope some spies will remain , '' she said . ''after all , we are going to be a telecommunications capital , and i 've been told that industrial espionage is very much the wave of the future . ''	has a location of germany
a meeting of more than 130 nations aimed at helping to prevent catastrophic changes in the world 's climate seems unlikely to produce substantial progress toward limiting carbon_dioxide_emissions , which scientists say are the main cause of global_warming . the conference , which opened here on tuesday , has the modest goal of starting up a negotiating process to set limits on emissions . but the nations taking part have broken into feuding blocs , unable to agree even on procedural issues . angela_merkel , the german environment minister and chairman of the conference , tried today in behind the scenes negotiations to smooth over differences before senior government leaders begin arriving on wednesday for the final days of the conference . but her pleas for new limits on emissions have met with strong resistance . " i am saddened that many countries do not want to go as far as the european_union in reducing greenhouse_gases , " mrs . merkel told a television interviewer friday night . in a speech opening the 11 day conference , which is sponsored by the united_nations , mrs . merkel urged delegates to take new steps to curb carbon_dioxide_emissions . " if we do n't take action , we must expect grave and irreversible consequences , " mrs . merkel said . " a rise in sea levels , a shift in climate and vegetation zones and a deterioration in food production and the world nutrition situation are only a few examples . " " if we wait until observable climate changes have begun , we will be stuck with them for decades , " she warned . " if we are serious about long term change , we will not be able to avoid radical changes in our patterns of consumption and production and in our lifestyle . " at the earth summit conference in rio de janeiro in 1992 , industrialized_countries agreed to reduce carbon_dioxide_emissions to 1990 levels by 2000 . not only are some industrialized_countries unwilling to accept further targets , but there is growing evidence that they will not be able to reach those adopted in rio . the european_union supports germany 's position in favor of setting new targets for reducing climate altering emissions . its strongest allies are small island nations , whose leaders say that rising sea levels threaten their countries with physical extinction . a representative of the island states , maumoon abdul gayoom , president of the maldive islands , an indian_ocean nation whose highest point is 10 feet above sea_level , made an impassioned plea to the conference delegates . " each tick of the clock could be time lost in saving some 30 small island nations from drowning in a sea of rising tides , " mr . gayoom said . " the meager resources of the small , island , developing states , whose narrow based economies are pressed to alleviate hunger , poverty and illiteracy , cannot be set aside for rectifying the mistakes of powerful and affluent nations . " an unusual coalition has emerged to oppose curbs on carbon_dioxide_emissions . the main members are oil producing states led by saudi_arabia and kuwait , which fear lost revenue if oil consumption is cut russia and china , which fear that their drive for rapid industrialization will be slowed , and five developed nations the united_states , canada , australia , new zealand and japan . oil producing nations insist that all decisions at the conference be made by consensus , giving them an effective veto . european_countries want decisions to be made by a two thirds or three quarters majority .	has a location of germany
lead prime_minister hans_modrow today presented for the first time an east_german program for the reunification of germany , which he said should be neutral . prime_minister hans_modrow today presented for the first time an east_german program for the reunification of germany , which he said should be neutral . the plan , which the prime_minister put forward as his personal concept , followed his meeting in moscow on tuesday with president mikhail s . gorbachev , during which the soviet leader for the first time appeared to give his cautious blessing to discussion of reunification . mr . modrow 's concept foresaw the process of reunification as advancing in slow stages , during which both german nations would cease to be members of military pacts and become neutral . kohl rejects terms chancellor helmut_kohl of west_germany quickly rejected mr . modrow 's proposal for a neutral german state , saying a reunited germany could not afford to be isolated in the center of europe . the plan also runs counter to washington 's stand , which specifies that in exercising their right of self_determination , germans remain firmly tied to the west through membership in the north_atlantic_treaty_organization . secretary of state james a . baker 3d presented that view when he visited here in december . chancellor kohl emphasized west_germany 's continuing links to the west in presenting a_10 point reunification proposal last year . discussion after elections in dismissing mr . modrow 's vision and agenda , mr . kohl declared at a news conference in bonn today that he would discuss reunification only with the east_german government that is to be selected in march elections and that military neutrality was inappropriate . ''such a proposal contradicts the logic of the pan_european process of unification , '' he said , adding that a single germany at the core of the continent could not afford to be isolated . on wednesday , west_germany 's foreign_minister , hans_dietrich_genscher , had similarly insisted that a reunited germany should remain a nato member . but he suggested that the alliance 's military structure would be limited to only that territory that constitutes the present west_germany . mr . genscher is scheduled to fly to washington on friday for talks with secretary of state baker . mr . modrow 's vision implicitly rejected such ideas . in announcing his concept at a news conference , he said ''in logic and sense , the process of german_reunification is closely linked with the construction of the all european house and european confederation . in this all european house there must be no place for a policy of force . '' alluding to the image of a common european house that had first been projected last year by mr . gorbachev , mr . modrow said ''it must be founded on the idea that already in the stage of confederation , both german states will step by step detach themselves from their obligations of alliance toward third countries and attain a state of military neutrality . the border between the german_democratic_republic and the german federal_republic will then have ceased to be the dividing line of the two military groupings , with all the consequences that derive from this . '' mr . modrow specified four stages leading to reunification and stressed that he was offering his concept for discussion without any timetable . in the first stage , a treaty of cooperation and good neighborliness would be concluded , with provisions for the melding of the economies , currencies , transport , and judicial systems of both germanys . the second phase of the plan would be the establishment of a confederation with common institutions , such as a joint parliamentary committee and joint executive organs in specified areas . the last two stages the next step in the modrow concept would be the transfer of some sovereign rights of the two republics to institutions of the confederation . mr . modrow described the final stage as ''formation of a unified german state in the form of a german federation or german union through elections in both parts of the confederation , the convening of a unified parliament , which will decide on a unified constitution and unified government with its seat in berlin . '' mr . modrow presented his proposal under the motto ''for germany , united fatherland . '' that is a line from the national_anthem . until the overthrow of the old regime last october , this line was the reason why the anthem could only be played or hummed rather than sung . under the former leaders , walter ulbricht and erich_honecker , it was the official line that the division into two states had become permanent and reunification was ruled out . the prime_minister set several conditions that he said would have to be fulfilled on the way to unity . they specified that both states must maintain their respective obligations to other countries or blocs without any interference by either in the affairs of the other . this was a clear reference to the ever increasing political activities of west_german parties in the present struggle in east_germany leading up to this country 's first free elections march 18 . the other putative parties in east_germany have not yet formally stated their views on reunification . another condition set by the prime_minister was ' 'maintenance of the interests and rights'' of the four major victor powers of world_war_ii , which have residual rights in both germanys . they are the united_states , britain , france and the soviet_union . ''the four powers should declare their intention to settle finally all questions arising from world_war_ii and the postwar period after the formation of a unified german state , including the presence of foreign troops on german soil and membership in military alliances , '' mr . modrow declared . he said military neutrality of both nations as federation approached was another condition . replying to questions , he said that although his concept was in keeping with mr . gorbachev 's ideas expressed during his moscow visit and had been discussed with the soviet leader , he had not put it to him for approval . public pressure growing a western diplomat said it was likely that the prime_minister had told mr . gorbachev that growing public pressure in east_germany for reunification made necessary a statement that put his government on record as favoring it , but only on the conditions that would preclude nato 's gaining a vital military asset . the soviet_union bases more than 350 , 000 troops in east_germany . even under partial soviet withdrawals , which began last year , nato specialists are reported to foresee that that figure will not significantly decrease by the end of this year . mr . modrow stressed that unity should be achieved only under conditions that would still all possible fears among germany 's neighbors . ''germany shall again become a united fatherland for all citizens of the german nation , '' he said . ''so that never again danger for the lives and property of its neighbors shall emanate from it , a sense of responsibility , prudence and comprehension for what is feasible and what is bearable for europe are required . '' upheaval in the east	has a location of germany
lead paul h . nitze , the reagan_administration 's top arms control adviser , said today that president_bush was making a serious mistake in refusing to open talks with the soviet_union on short range nuclear_missiles in europe . paul h . nitze , the reagan_administration 's top arms control adviser , said today that president_bush was making a serious mistake in refusing to open talks with the soviet_union on short range nuclear_missiles in europe . in an interview a day after he left office , mr . nitze made it clear that he strongly disagreed with the bush_administration on an issue that has become a matter of sharp dispute within the western alliance . he said he warned secretary of state james a . baker 3d this year that the two pronged american approach of insisting on the development of a new generation of short range nuclear_weapons while opposing talks on the weapons , as advocated by bonn , could not be sustained within nato and would create a crisis in west_germany . in the west 's interest moreover , the veteran negotiator said he believed that negotiations on reducing short range nuclear_weapons those with ranges of less than 300 miles would be in the military interest of the west because they would provide an opportunity to eliminate a large soviet advantage . mr . nitze said the administration approach was ''politically impossible for much of europe . '' ''i cannot think of a german who would agree to that , '' he said . ''many of the allies think it is a crazy proposition . '' west_german proponents of talks on short range missiles say there is no reason to refuse such talks , on weapons primarily based on or aimed at german territory , when the alliance was willing to negotiate the elimination of medium and shorter_range_missiles . a top arms control adviser to president_reagan and secretary of stategeorge p . shultz , the 82 year old mr . nitze was often used as an emissary to north_atlantic_treaty_organization nations on critical arms issues during the reagan_administration . mr . nitze has served in a variety of national_security posts , including navy secretary and deputy_secretary_of_defense . in the early part of the reagan_administration , mr . nitze was the chief negotiator of the treaty to ban intermediate_range nuclear forces in europe . turns down a bush offer he ended his government service after turning down an offer from the bush_administration to serve as ambassador_at_large emeritus , saying that the position would have left him without any clearly delineated responsibilities . in an interview today and a discussion on monday evening in his library at his homuse in washington , mr . nitze said he has recently been studying ways to end acid_rain . mr . nitze said the bush_administration was positioning itself to the right of the reagan_administration in its policy toward moscow to demonstrate that it ''is not really a follow on to the reagan_administration . '' he said it was missing opportunities to improve american soviet relations . he said many of the appointments made by the bush_administration had links to former secretary of state henry a . kissinger , who was critical of the arms control approach taken by mr . shultz . mr . nitze said the administration had let its strategic review carry on so long that it risked losing momentum toward new arms agreements . in a response to questions , he offered a highly critical assessment of mr . baker 's management style , which he said sought to restrict important deliberations with a small group of advisers , excluding many career state_department officials . critical of baker appointments he said mr . baker had failed to name some experienced foreign service officiers , like rozanne l . ridgway , the assistant secretary of state for european and canadian affairs , to influential positions . ''personnel wise , it was a black mark on one 's record to have worked closely with the reagan_administration , '' mr . nitze said . regarding short range missiles , mr . nitze said he had counseled the reagan and bush administrations to open talks on those weapons . he said the administration officials ' 'should go to the germans and say we are not against negotiating reductions on these weapons'' while securing assurances from bonn that such talks would not result in the total elimination of the weapons . mr . nitze said the west should try to negotiate equal ceilings at a low level of about 200 to 300 warheads on each side , a limit that would require huge reductions on the soviet side . nato has 88 lance missile launchers in europe . each launcher is capable of firing numerous nuclear_armed or conventionally armed missiles . the exact number is classified . according to nato , the soviet_bloc has about 1 , 480 short range missile launchers that can be used to fire nuclear tipped as well as chemically armed and conventionally armed missiles . nato has not publicly said how many nuclear tipped short range missiles it believes soviet_bloc nations have and estimates vary . one estimate , mr . nitze said , is that the soviet_bloc has about 3 , 000 nuclear tipped short range missiles . mr . nitze said the united_states should also try to negotiate with moscow for the withdrawal of nuclear_artillery pieces . such an agreement would have clear military benefit for the west , he argued . not only would it eliminate soviet advantages in these categories of weapons , but it would enable washington to gather support for deploying a limited number of new , enhanced successors to the aging lance . unless the united_states adopts such an approach he said , ''the political situation in germany will further deteriorate , '' making it difficult for the germans to form a coalition_government that nato could work with . other arms control matters on other arms control matters , mr . nitze said the united_states should try to negotiate a ban with moscow on all nuclear_weapons at sea except for submarine launched ballistic_missiles . he said it was a mistake for the american_navy to phase out three short range nuclear_missiles for ocean combat without trying to secure soviet concession in return . mr . nitze said washington should try to negotiate a ban on the deployment of anti satellite weapons . the pentagon is advocating the development of several new types of such weapons . he also said the administration should consider ways to improve the american position in the strategic arms talks . mr . nitze said the united_states should consider proposing a further limit , possibly a ceiling on warheads carried by multiple_warhead_missiles . looking back on his days in mr . baker 's state_department , he said the secretary 's approach of relegating key decisions to a tight circle of aides was an ''impossible'' way to run the agency . ''it means that you ca n't deal with many issues , '' he said .	has a location of germany
lead the bush_administration today rebuffed a sudden request from west_germany to open negotiations soon with the soviet_union on reducing battlefield nuclear_weapons in europe . the bush_administration today rebuffed a sudden request from west_germany to open negotiations soon with the soviet_union on reducing battlefield nuclear_weapons in europe . in strongly worded remarks during a midday speech , secretary of defense dick_cheney described the idea of such negotiations as a ' 'dangerous trap'' that would strip the north_atlantic_treaty_organization of its nuclear_deterrent . two west_german cabinet members , foreign_minister hans_dietrich_genscher and defense minister gerhard_stoltenberg , flew in from bonn this morning to present their proposal to secretary of state james a . baker 3d , mr . cheney and brent_scowcroft , the national_security adviser , during a four hour meeting at the state_department . the west germans left tonight . as expected , the administration turned down their request to open talks with moscow on reducing short range nuclear_missiles and artillery guns that fire nuclear tipped shells . officials said they viewed the appeal as a political initiative by the beleaguered government of chancellor helmut_kohl to win more popular support by playing to west_germany 's anti nuclear sentiments . mr . kohl 's governing coalition has been shaken by defeats in local and state elections . ''what we have here is grandstanding by a panic stricken government , '' an american official declared . ''the kohl government needed something that would give it the image of being in control on a major issue . '' the united_states has long insisted that nato 's short range nuclear_weapons , which are almost all based on west_german soil , not be considered a subject for east west negotiations until the soviet_bloc 's great superiority in conventional weapons has been eliminated . secretary cheney left the session with the germans to deliver a previously scheduled address to a conference on nato at the national_defense_university , and then returned to the state_department to rejoin the talks . he used the break to denounce the idea of negotiations with the kremlin on short range missiles . ''we must not fall into this dangerous trap , '' he said . ''one of the kremlin 's primary goals remains the denuclearization of europe . given this goal , and the perilous circumstances that could follow in its train if it 's achieved , the alliance must maintain the will to resist the call . '' the timing is unsettling the adminstration was not ready to accept the west_german proposal , and was somewhat unhappy at the suddenness with which it was delivered . but it also wanted to avoid an irreparable rift with the kohl government , which it does not want to see fall and be replaced by an anti nuclear coalition of social democrats and greens . secretary of state baker issued a statement after today 's discussions that attempted to play down the differences between the two countries . neither mr . baker nor his west_german visitors would meet with american reporters for questions . the west_german officials issued no statement . ''we had useful and friendly discussions'' on the subject of short range nuclear_missiles in europe , mr . baker 's statement said . ''they explained their positions . we explained ours . as a result , we understand their position better and they understand ours better . we will continue our discussions in an effort to reach an agreement within the alliance . '' remarks by baker aide earlier in the day , margaret d . tutwiler , the state_department spokeswoman , said , ''secretary baker has said that we think it would be a mistake to engage in arms control negotiations on s.n.f . , '' or short range nuclear forces ) . administration officials said they and other nato allies will have further discussions with bonn on this issue in the coming weeks , in the hope of finding a way to resolve their differences , or fashion some cosmetic compromise , in time for a nato_summit meeting in brussels in late may . state_department officials said , however , that it appears increasingly likely that the 16 member alliance will not be able to reach an understanding on the future of its short range missiles . ''frankly , unless the germans back down , my guess is that the issue will be put aside by nato , while everyone lets the atmosphere cool down , '' a state_department official said . ''this is no way to do business . ''	has a location of germany
born 24 years ago in what was then communist east_berlin , oliver blasing was standing on a street crossing just east of the brandenburg_gate on tuesday , cheering president_clinton . mr . blasing had taken a day off from his studies at western berlin 's technical university , and braved a beating summer sun to listen to a speech by mr . clinton on his first visit to berlin . and yet somehow , mr . blasing said afterward , it was all so familiar . he said that seven years earlier , in june 1987 , he had stood on the very same spot waiting for another american president to speak . mr . blasing , then a young east_german army recruit , had defied the orders of the communist leadership and , together with about 300 other east_germans , gathered on the eastern side of the gate to hear president_reagan , the nemesis of the communist world , while he addressed berliners from a podium that had been set up on the western side of the gate , facing east . mr . blasing recalled how frustrated communist police officials set up huge loudspeakers , blaring march tunes , to drown out the voice of mr . reagan as he appealed to the soviet leader , mikhail s . gorbachev " mr . gorbachev , open this gate ! mr . gorbachev , tear down this wall ! " mr . blasing glanced toward mr . clinton 's platform , and the opened gate behind it , that was once barred by the berlin_wall . " never in my life , " he said , " did i think it would happen . " now , he said , he had returned " to see another american president live . " " i like him , " he said of mr . clinton . " let 's hope he can just continue what his predecessors started . " many berliners who sized up mr . clinton as he spent a hectic 24 hours in their city on tuesday came away liking him the natural manners , the youthful freshness . " somehow he 's friendlier than reagan , " said klaus diekmann , a 43 year old tax official who turned out for the brandenburg_gate event . " more youthful , less threatening . " eastern berliners especially , accustomed for decades to the gerontocracy of communist rule , appeared particularly struck , at times even unsettled , by mr . clinton 's boyishness . at the same time , many berliners expressed a sense that the world mr . clinton governed in had grown more complicated , lacking the old simple delineations like the berlin_wall . " he 's very sympathetic , very natural , " said annamarie mothsche , a schoolteacher in her 40 's from eastern berlin . " you know , we are used to a very different idea of politicians . very stiff , and dignified . " " but somehow , " she continued , " you think to yourself , can he ever achieve what he wants ? " uwe zimmermann , a 39 year old insurance salesman , said approvingly that mr . clinton " sort of reminds you of kennedy , " and that he admired the president 's exhortation to german youth for civil courage , against racism and religious hatred . but mr . zimmermann added critically that mr . clinton had been " very vague . " " i think a lot of people thought he 'd be more specific , " mr . zimmermann went on . peter schneider , a well known berlin writer , said " for berliners , it 's always fun to have an american president here . and surely they enjoyed it . " " but of course the historic role is different , " said mr . schneider , the author of a best selling book about the wall . " the wall is torn down , unification is taking place . " throughout berlin , remarkable symbols of reunification abound , and nowhere are they more evident than around the brandenburg_gate . the subway stop on pariser_platz , in front of the gate , is open again , and several stops up the line is potsdamer platz , where bulldozers are shaping what will soon be , arguably , europe 's biggest construction site , to revive what used to be the bustling crossroads of the city in its old imperial days , but was long cut in half by the wall . but there are also the signs of malaise . a wave of violence against foreigners has not stopped . a deep economic divide splits east and west , driving many eastern berliners to vote again in recent elections for the old communists . the booing and hissing that met chancellor helmut_kohl as he introduced mr . clinton testifed to the political discord . thus , many berliners met with skepticism the urgings of the president for a broader role for reunited germany on the world stage . the political_scientist arnulf baring of berlin 's free_university cautioned that the germans are too caught up in the ragged struggle to unify the nation politically , economically and psychologically to heed mr . clinton 's call . " clinton is urging the germans to take the peoples of east and central_europe under their wing , " mr . baring said . " but this does not fit the present frame of mind . "	has a location of germany
lead the soviet_union proposed unexpectedly today that an international endorsement of german unity include provisions for a staged withdrawal of all foreign troops from a united germany and strict limits on its military . the soviet_union proposed unexpectedly today that an international endorsement of german unity include provisions for a staged withdrawal of all foreign troops from a united germany and strict limits on its military . the proposals , introduced by foreign_minister eduard a . shevardnadze at today 's second ministerial session of the ''two plus four'' talks on german unity , were promptly rejected by the other participants the united_states , britain , france and the two germanys as an unwarranted restriction on the sovereignty of a future germany . at a concluding news conference , secretary of state james a . baker 3d said the soviet plan would ' 'restrict german sovereignty and would do so for some years . '' mr . baker also rejected a related soviet proposal that all foreign troops be withdrawn from berlin within six months of the city 's unification , noting that this would leave the city ringed with the 300 , 000 soviet_troops that are expected to remain for some time in the eastern part of a united germany . no significant progress apart from mr . shevardnadze 's surprise proposals , the six ministers apparently failed to make significant progress in their effort to negotiate an end to the allied rights over germany left over from world_war_ii . the session ended with what mr . baker described as a tentative agreement ''on the interim outline of the elements of a final settlement . '' the ministers also agreed to have experts prepare a list of remaining ''areas of concern'' and to propose appropriate forums for their resolution . much of the session was reportedly dominated by debate over mr . shevardnadze 's proposals . members of the western delegations speculated that the soviets had undertaken the initiative in part for domestic consumption , noting that a congress of the russian_republic 's communist_party was in progress , and that today was the 49th anniversary of nazi_germany 's invasion of the soviet_union . participants at the talks noted that mr . shevardnadze also stressed in his comments that the soviet_union was eager to reach agreement in time for an all european conference , scheduled for november , so it can endorse the outcome of the two plus four talks . the summit meeting of the conference on security and cooperation in europe could clear the way for all german elections in december , the date bonn is increasingly working toward . the west_german foreign_minister , hans_dietrich_genscher , said at the news conference that he had informed his colleagues ''about the wish of the germans to vote in a united voting area in december . '' disavows obstructionism mr . shevardnadze took pains at the news conference to stress that moscow was not seeking to block progress toward unity . ''i want to emphasize something very important , that we expect to have a final agreement that will resolve all aspects all of german unity by the end of this year , '' he said . despite such assurances and the suspicion that mr . shevardnadze was at least partly playing to a domestic audience , the soviet position underscored the difficulties remaining in reconciling moscow with the loss of its most important military and economic ally , east_germany . much of the real negotiating in the two plus four process has taken place between mr . shevardnadze and mr . genscher , who have held 10 meetings in recent months . beyond mr . shevardnadze 's specific proposals lay differences in the basic approach to the two plus four talks . foremost is moscow 's continuing insistence that the wartime allies set a transitional period after german unity during which they would retain some of their rights . the soviets have also sought to include substantive security issues , like the size of the future german_army , the alliance to which it would belong , or the withdrawal of allied forces , into a two plus four final settlement . the soviet concern apparently is that without these conditions , moscow would lose any leverage over a united germany . other forums favored the western allies have countered that all such security issues may be debated in the two plus four forum , but that they must be resolved only in other international negotiations , such as the vienna talks on conventional arm reductions , where germany would not be singled out for continuing special treatment . the allies have also argued that a united germany 's choice of alliance must ultimately be made by the germans , and that the task of the two plus four talks is only to end all vestigial allied rights and responsibilities over either germany or berlin . in his package proposal , mr . shevardnadze said the final document should include measures to limit the size of the future german_army and to shape it in such a way that it would be ''incapable of offensive operations . '' he also proposed that germany would remain bound for five years by all international treaties signed by west and east_germany , including those involving the warsaw_pact and nato . the proposal echoed earlier soviet demands to keep germany in both alliances , an idea rejected by the west . to renounce all rights the western outline of a draft settlement , as presented by mr . baker at the news conference , took an entirely different approach . it called on the four powers to renounce all their ' 'remaining rights and responsibilities , '' including those over berlin , and to codify the achievement of ''full and complete sovereignty'' by a united germany . mr . baker also vented unusually direct irritation with moscow . ''we are trying for our part to meet moscow 's appropriate security concerns , '' he said . ''but i have to say it is incumbent on the soviets to understand the concerns of the german states and of others in europe and in the united_states as well . ''	has a location of germany
perhaps fittingly , germany 's first real scare about year 2000 computer crashes came on a friday the 13th . it was march 1998 , and most people here were greeting warnings about year 2000 failures with a lack of interest . it seemed like a trivial problem , a matter of making sure that computer clocks would not misread the year 2000 as 1900 . then came the test at the hanover city power company , organized by a confident data processing manager in the spirit of public education , with local media invited to watch . at first , everything seemed fine . but within a few minutes after ' 'midnight , '' the computer began spewing out thousands of error messages . then it froze up entirely , and the monitors went blank . hanover did not go dark . but for a few minutes , it was impossible to monitor the electric grid or to trace equipment breakdowns . it took seven months to eradicate all the problems . ''i really thought it would be fine , '' said jurgen rehmer , the blue jeans clad manager who arranged the event . ''we had made a lot of changes already , and i was quite certain that a full system test would n't present any great difficulty . '' mr . rehmer 's test was a watershed . it disrupted a widespread complacency about year 2000 problems , and marked the first time that a german power company had issued a warning . at the time it occurred , the german_government had yet to make its first assessment of the year 2000 problem . surveys by insurance_companies showed that the vast majority of companies had not even begun to look at their systems . ''the european view is that anglo american countries are in kind of a hysterical mode , '' said peter eibert , the year 2000 coordinator at ford_motor_company of europe , based in cologne . today , germany and many of europe 's most advanced countries are racing to make up for lost time . corporations are pouring billions of dollars into reprogramming their computers . government agencies have set up hot lines . industry associations are holding countless conferences , often invoking the image of a ticking time bomb . and they are making headway . most experts are increasingly confident that europe is not likely to see catastrophic failures . a year 2000 trial involving europe 's major banks went very smoothly . airlines and airports , which recognized the danger long ago , say they are ready . nevertheless , many smaller companies and public institutions are running out of time . in a recent survey , the german council of trade and industry found that only 45 percent of companies were properly prepared . hermes , an insurance_company in hamburg , estimates that 60 percent of german companies still had not started a comprehensive program by last fall . ''we believe there will be a substantially higher rate of bankruptcies in the year 2000 , '' said walter schmitt jamin , a managing director of hermes . a doubling of the usual bankruptcy rate , slightly less than one percent of companies each year , is entirely possible , he added . the readiness varies considerably across western_europe . in britain , the netherlands and much of scandinavia , governments and corporations jumped on the problem two years ago . in germany and france , government and business leaders were until recently more lackadaisical . poorer countries like italy , spain and portugal are struggling . the formerly communist nations of central_europe and russia are much more seriously behind . lot , the polish national_airline , announced recently that it would cancel about 70 flights on new year 's eve out of concern about year 2000 breakdowns . the russian government recently reported that only one third of the country 's banks were ready . western_european countries are well prepared in comparison . but they also have more to worry about . the 15 nations of the european_union , 11 of which have now adopted the euro as a single_currency , is an increasingly unified economy linked by dense information networks . there is a boom in the construction of cross_border fiber_optic networks . power companies buy and sell electricity over electronic_trading systems . car manufacturers order from suppliers over computer networks . yet when car manufacturers sent the worldwide suppliers detailed year 2000 questionnaires in early 1997 , most of the responses provided little in the way of useful information . that became a source of growing anxiety here in germany over the next year . executives at general_motors' opel subsidiary were startled to discover that industrial robots they bought in 1997 still had year 2000 glitches . by august 1998 , opel had decided to start sending its own year 2000 assessors on personal visits to key suppliers . ''the key was to ask questions that indicated whether the suppliers knew what they were talking about , '' said roger aze , opel 's year 2000 coordinator . ''do you have a person in charge of y2k ? do you have a program and a schedule ? '' in the last several months , opel started sending technical experts to its most critical suppliers the ones whose own assembly lines are linked directly by computer network to those of opel and that deliver on a ''just in time'' basis . but mr . aze is still bracing for things outside their control power disruptions or problems further down the supply chains . power remains one of the biggest concerns . ''the energy_industry had overslept , '' mr . rehmer said bluntly . indeed , it was n't until july 1998 four months after hanover 's surprising test failure that the german association of electric_utilities advised members to ''start now ! '' on year 2000 preparation . today , year 2000 experts in germany say severe disruptions are unlikely but cannot be ruled out . as a result , many big industrial manufacturers are scaling back production to insulate themselves for a shock of an abrupt power disruption . basf ag , the chemical conglomerate based in ludwigshafen , has decided to shut a number of its systems on new year 's eve so it can get by on the electricity from its own on site power plant . indeed , so many manufacturers are reducing their power consumption on new year 's eve that the utility industry has begun to worry about disruptions caused by an abrupt plunge in demand . one key difference between european_countries on year 2000 issues is the degree to which governments became involved . in britain , prime_minister tony_blair has built up a huge program to promote awareness and point companies toward solutions . besides drumming up publicity , the government fielded several thousand ''bug busters'' to get out the word . the netherlands started a similar program , known as the dutch millennium platform , headed by jan timmer , the former chairman of philips_electronics n.v . mr . timmer irked business groups by exhorting them to act , but most now experts rank the netherlands alongside the united_states and britain as among the best prepared countries . by contrast , german leaders did not show much interest in the subject until a few months ago . the government issued a tepid report one year ago and a more thorough one this spring , and it only recently set up an internet site devoted to the issue . local_governments have largely been quiet on the matter . in march , the german weekly news_magazine focus published a survey indicating that most german cities had not yet prepared themselves for problems . according to the survey , carried out with the german conference of cities , half the cities had yet to test their hospitals , and one third had not tested their mass transit systems . the hospitals have had a rude_awakening . andreas tecklenberg , director of a 260 bed hospital in the north german town of eutin , was dismayed when only 6 out of 150 manufacturers gave him useful answers when he sent them queries about year 2000 problems . since then , he has started to get better information . at the moment , he estimates , about one third of the hospital 's systems are ''green'' or ready about one third are yellow , and one third still red . ''the devices will have to be watched , '' dr . tecklenberg said . ''but fortunately , we can have people take over if equipment goes wrong . '' at the german heart center in berlin , which specializes in heart surgery , administrators are avoiding elective_surgery between christmas and january 3 . it has also imposed a ban on holidays for most of the medical and technical staff on new year 's eve . ''if you look at this from the american standpoint , we all started late here , '' acknowledged marcus werner , who coordinates the center 's year 2000 planning . mr . werner started his preparations in october and said he was now reasonably confident about the hospital 's medical equipment . but like so many others , he worries about power . the hospital shares a back up generator with the university of berlin , but he is still worried about the software that will have to ration the relatively scarce electricity . ''what it comes down to is things you basically have no control over , '' he said . counting to 2000 articles throughout 1999 will examine efforts worldwide to prepare computers for the year 2000 .	has a location of germany
in the spring of 1913 , an aspiring young artist and german nationalist named adolf_hitler arrived in munich . for the next 20 years , he made the city his headquarters , the fertile ground where he nurtured nazism . germany in the 1990 's is more willing to confront its nazi past than it has been before , and in the latest reflection of this attitude , the stadtmuseum here has presented an ambitiously introspective exhibition called " munich capital of the movement . " through art and artifacts , it describes munich 's contributions to the rise of nazism . exhibitions that trace a city or town 's history through the prewar and war_years have been held in many parts of germany . this one is especially important because munich was at the center of the nazi movement . many people have tried to repress this chapter of their local history for two generations . curators at the stadtmuseum assembled about 2 , 000 items for display , including photographs , posters , documents and other traditional political artifacts , but at several points the exhibition breaks with chronology to portray the support that ordinary people gave the nazis in munich . trying to crush some art part of the exhibition is about hitler 's efforts to crush " degenerate art " and exalt traditional styles he preferred . several paintings that hitler especially admired hang on one wall . they include a stern looking nude posed against floral wallpaper by adolf ziegler , whose works are described in the catalogue as " among the favorite and most widely reproduced items of nazi art . " on the wall facing these paintings hang several works chosen to show the kind of art the nazis abhorred . among them are a sarcastic portrayal of high society dancers by max beckmann , a moody portrait of a card player by ernst ludwig kirchner and a colorful but imprecise harbor view by lovis corinth . one hall is devoted to hitler 's rise through munich society and includes the guest book of a prominent local family open to the page where hitler signed as a party guest . at another point , visitors can peer into a full scale model of a kitchen in a middle_class munich apartment of the 1930 's . the family has jumped up from breakfast to watch a nazi march on the street below , visible as a giant photo through the kitchen window . this exhibition is not the only indication that germans are ready to explore the nazi period more deeply . last year , after years of delay , a museum and study center finally opened in a villa in the wannsee section of berlin , where the annihilation of european jews was planned . a memorial to german jews is to be built near the brandenburg_gate , although suggestions that the country needs a full scale holocaust museum have met a mixed response . success and failure bavaria has always been germany 's most conservative region , and munich , its capital , was the scene of great political upheaval when hitler lived here . many of hitler 's closest collaborators were from munich or other parts of bavaria , among them rudolf hess , heinrich himmler and hermann goring . in 1933 , the year he took power , hitler officially declared munich the capital of german art , and two years later he went a step further and christened it the capital of the movement . finding artifacts for the exhibition , especially ones that showed the private side of munich 's support for the nazis , was difficult . the museum advertised in local newspapers and received a wave of donations , many from people who were evidently relieved to be rid of a document or other item they had been hiding for years . some items could not be found . for example , the nazis sponsored a 100 piece symphony_orchestra whose members wore uniforms designed from a sketch by hitler . curators searched widely for one of the uniforms , but without success . it was certainly no coincidence that hitler built his first concentration_camp , dachau , on the outskirts of munich . the part of the exhibition devoted to the evil perpetrated there is perhaps its most powerful . it includes thousands of death certificates , each carefully noting relevant details , including cause of death ( " severe chest hemorrhage due to bullet wound " ) . artifacts from the death camp at auschwitz are also included to remind visitors of the results of nazism . a chest of confiscated menorahs and silverware has the same purpose . several small anti nazi groups formed in munich in the 1920 's and 30 's and were brutally_suppressed . the exhibition also has a place for these groups , among them the white rose , which was founded by two local students , brother and sister , who were arrested and executed . the role of the ordinary the focus of the exhibition , however , is the reaction of ordinary people to the rise of nazism . " we in germany have given a lot of attention to the perpetrators and the victims , " said brigitte schutz , the curator who organized the exhibition . " i wanted to move beyond that , to show how normal people participated in the system in so many small ways . it became an accepted part of daily life . " " another purpose of any exhibition about the third reich at this moment in germany is to open the eyes of young people who go around calling themselves neo_nazis , " miss schutz said . " so much is tolerated in modern germany that just about the only way you can still shock people is to use nazi symbols or slogans . most kids do this for the shock value , without having any idea of what nazism really was . you hope that exhibitions like this might teach them something . " the exhibition will be dismantled after it closes on march 27 , and the artifacts , most of them on loan , will be returned to their owners . a program of films , speeches , discussions and readings will continue through may . the long range wolfgang till , the director of the stadtmuseum , said that he would like to build a permanent collection of nazi items associated with munich , but that donations would be needed . " for example , hitler used to support himself by coloring pictures of an old courtyard in munich , and when those pictures come onto the market , they go for about 50 , 000 marks , " mr . till said , or about 35 , 000 . " i think this museum should have one , but i could n't see going to the city and asking them to allocate money for it . " smaller nazi artifacts , many of them of uncertain authenticity , are available at many shops and flea markets in germany . legal restrictions on such sales are vague and rarely enforced . a munich auction house recently offered an extraordinary collection of personal items identified with the nazi inner circle . a champagne glass from hitler 's personal service , adorned with a swastika and the initials " ah , " went for 600 , a matching silver tumbler brought 1 , 100 , and an autographed edition of " mein kampf " went for 20 , 000 . but many of the most remarkable items went unsold . among them were hitler 's initialed silver smoking set , a swastika carpet that once hung on a wall at party headquarters in munich and a toilet kit that belonged to eva braun , hitler 's mistress . " the theme is so taboo , and research into it is so stigmatized , that people do n't want to be known as having any of the artifacts , " miss schutz said . " no museum has a serious collection . many of the pieces we have in this exhibition belong to private collectors . most of them do n't want to be identified . they are a strange group . even after talking with many of them , i still could n't tell you if they are simply collectors or if they have some political sympathy for these ideas . but as long as there are no central or official collections of this material , museums are going to have to deal with these people . "	has a location of germany
lead experts describe the hair raising incident at an east_german nuclear_energy plant like this 11 of the 12 cooling pumps of a nuclear_reactor were knocked out by fire and power failure , and workers scrambled to work a last remaining pump . without that pump , the core of the reactor would overheat , begin to melt down and set in motion a near unstoppable process . experts describe the hair raising incident at an east_german nuclear_energy plant like this 11 of the 12 cooling pumps of a nuclear_reactor were knocked out by fire and power failure , and workers scrambled to work a last remaining pump . without that pump , the core of the reactor would overheat , begin to melt down and set in motion a near unstoppable process . the nearby town of greifswald would be in radioactive peril . the pump , which was connected to another power source , got started just in time to prevent disaster . that incident occurred in 1975 , and was revealed only this year , when the east_german office for atomic safety informed its counterpart in bonn . it is now regarded as the most dangerous known near disaster in eastern_europe 's nuclear history . although the problem was caused by a design fault in the soviet made plant , experts say , the soviet_union never warned other countries that were building or operating similar reactors that they too were at risk . but this was apparently not the only nuclear secret that the soviets kept from their comrades in the eastern_bloc . nuclear experts from east_germany , czechoslovakia and hungary have asserted that moscow often withheld information needed for the safe operation of the soviet built plants . distrust of soviet components the eastern_european scientists have startled their western colleagues in recent months with an outpouring of frustration and anger about the soviet supervisors of the plants . they cited squabbles over who ran the plants and over permission to run tests . arguments arose over computer data that moscow refused to release . and they said there were disagreements over the quality of soviet made materials . ''we never trusted the russian components , and we tested each one , '' said jiri becvar , head of nuclear_technology at the ministry of fuel and energy in prague . ''when we corrected them , it caused complications with the russian supervisors . '' in the last two decades , as the soviet_union built 23 nuclear plants across eastern_europe , specialists from the region say , there was virtually no useful exchange of information on incidents or on experiments and operating experiences , something that is considered vital in the west . rather , when they persisted in asking questions , their soviet overseers ''would intimidate you and ask , 'are you a friend of the soviet_union ? ' '' an east_german scientist said . to work at the potentially most dangerous industrial plant in operation , another physicist said , ''being a loyal member of the communist_party was more important than technical competence . '' reactors' poor workmanship although they were speaking of the past , several of the scientists asked to have their names withheld because , they said , their plants still have close dealings with the soviets and depend for information and services on moscow . soviet supervisors continue to work at the plants , and by contract only they can authorize important changes . moscow continues to provide the plants with nuclear_fuel , collects the spent fuel and stores that and other highly radioactive waste back home . the criticism of moscow comes as alarm has grown in the west about the safety of more than half of the soviet designed atomic_energy plants in eastern_europe . they are the first generation of pressurized water reactors , which are based on a principle different from the soviet_union 's ill fated chernobyl plant . but analysts said they were comparable to the chernobyl type plants in poor workmanship and management . a multimillion_dollar safety study of the east_german reactors has been ordered and financed by the west_german government . but officials in bonn have already said east_germany is almost certain to close down all five of its nuclear_reactors four at greifswald and one at rheinsberg . the reactors' safety standards are likely to be unacceptable under west_german nuclear regulations , which will apply after july 1 , when the two germanys unite economically . in contrast to the past , government officials in bonn noted , soviet specialists have cooperated with the west_german experts to prepare the new greifswald study . but until this year , they said , east_germany 's nuclear_reactors had been among the most hermetically closed of the communist world . essential data withheld as greifswald experts , now training in west_germany , tell it , they were sometimes treated as unwelcome snoopers by their soviet supervisors . to operate a reactor safely , one needs computer codes , a specialist said , but moscow regarded those as secret . when the east_germans requested data to calculate certain actions of the system or to judge material fatigue , moscow might give a limited answer or none at all , the experts said . ''a western utility would not accept it if a builder would not provide such essential data , '' said anselm schaefer at the west_german institute for reactor safety in garching , who worked with east_german colleagues on the greifswald study . 'they just lied to us' the director general of the greifswald station , reiner lehmann , told nucleonics weekly that quality was ''always a problem'' and that he ''had to reject defective components and materials'' from the soviet_union . the newsletter reported that when east_germans found the steam generator tubes were corroding , they asked the soviets if they had the same problem . the answer was no , but the east_germans got angry when they found out later that such problems were generic and existed elsewhere . ''they just lied to us , '' an official said . in czechoslovakia , plant operators have also complained about lack of information , shoddy components and secrecy . in prague , officials at the ministry of fuel and energy said they were better off than east_germans and bulgarians because in the last decade , czechoslovak industry began building many of its own reactor components and performing its own tests . similar accounts have come from hungarian and bulgarian specialists who have recently sought closer links with the paris based nuclear energy agency , which is run by the industrialized_nations . eastern and western_european experts agree that since the chernobyl disaster , soviet nuclear experts have become more open . ''it is better , but we still have a long way to go , '' a french official said .	has a location of germany
germany 's newly elected government today backed away from a threat to press nato to renounce a central tenet of its strategy and to pledge never to be the first to use nuclear_weapons . after meeting at the pentagon with defense secretary william s . cohen , the german defense minister , rudolf_scharping , said ''there is no intention in my government to question any core element of nato strategy , including the fact that nuclear forces play a fundamental political role . '' american officials said they were alarmed when the new german foreign_minister , joschka_fischer , a member of the environmentalist green_party , suggested in a magazine interview published this week that germany would press nato to renounce the possible first use of nuclear_arms . mr . cohen publicly rebuffed the german proposal . welcoming mr . scharping 's remarks today , mr . cohen said nato 's nuclear policy should remain unchanged . ''based on my conversations with minister scharping , '' mr . cohen said , ''i think that we have a meeting of the minds that the strategic concept is critical for nato 's security , that the strategic concept as far as the nuclear component should not be altered . '' the united_states is firmly opposed to any change in the doctrine allowing nato to make first use of nuclear_weapons in a war , arguing that it proved an effective deterrent during the cold_war and remains one today against small , nonnuclear nations that might develop chemical or biological_weapons . ''we believe it continues to serve a vital security purpose for the nato organization and should not be changed , '' mr . cohen said , standing next to mr . scharping at the news conference at the defense_department . the public debate within germany in recent days over nuclear_strategy suggests new rifts in the government coalition between the social democrats and the greens . in a coalition accord reached last month , the two parties agreed that nato should renounce the possible first use of nuclear_weapons , a clear concession to the greens . but it had been unclear to american officials whether gerhard_schroder , the social democrat who is the new chancellor , had accepted the declaration as an empty concession to the greens or would in fact move to question one of the central tenets of nato doctrine . mr . scharping , a social democrat on his first visit to washington as defense minister , said the new german_government had no intention of creating a rift with nato by acting unilaterally on the issue . ''nato is the most successful alliance we have ever seen in history so the main goal of our government in germany is to strengthen nato and its cohesion and to make nato able to face the challenges for the next century , '' he said . still , he said that his government ''is following the vision of a nuclear_weapons free world'' and that ''the necessity to use them may be extremely remote as it is written down in the actual nato strategy . ''	has a location of germany
lead the reunification of germany is inevitable , deputy_secretary_of_state lawrence s . eagleburger said in an interview published today . the reunification of germany is inevitable , deputy_secretary_of_state lawrence s . eagleburger said in an interview published today . ''for me it goes without question that germany will be reunited , '' mr . eagleburger , the state_department 's second ranking official , told the magazine der_spiegel . ''this process is now inevitable , but i just cannot tell you how long it will take . '' mr . eagleburger , who is deputy to secretary of state james a . baker 3d , is an associate and longtime colleague of former secretary of state , henry a . kissinger . he said in the interview that the united_states did not share the concern of some europeans about the prospect of a powerful unified germany re emerging in the center of europe . ''the united_states is the country in which worries about a reunification of germany are at their smallest , '' he said . mr . eagleburger said that washington welcomed the changes in eastern_europe as something it had long been seeking , but that it was too soon to judge whether the cold_war was over . asked if he thought the changes were irreversible , he replied ''every change of this type can be reversed if you have enough tanks and bayonets and are prepared to use them . '' but he added that he saw no one in eastern_europe who was prepared to use force to this extent to prevent change . clamor in the east	has a location of germany
lead a group of west_german computer hobbyists broke into an international computer network of the national_aeronautics_and_space_administration and rummaged freely among the data for at least three months before they were discovered , computer enthusiasts and network users said today . a group of west_german computer hobbyists broke into an international computer network of the national_aeronautics_and_space_administration and rummaged freely among the data for at least three months before they were discovered , computer enthusiasts and network users said today . an organization in hamburg , west_germany , called the chaos computer club , which claimed only to be speaking for an anonymous group that broke into the network , said the illicit users managed to install a clandestine program a ''trojan_horse'' enabling them to bypass security procedures and gain entry to 135 computers on the network . the network is called the space physics analysis network , and is chiefly designed to provide authorized scientists and organizations with access to nasa data . the security system in the network was supplied by an american company , the digital_equipment corp . users said the network was widely used by scientists in the united_states , britain , west_germany , japan and other countries , and did not carry classified_information . in washington , the space agency said in a statement that the network enabled communication among researchers involved in postflight data analysis . it said it knew of no classified_information available through the network . 'provide easy access' ''the purpose of the network is to provide easy access for appropriate individuals to nasa unclassified data , '' it said . ''any individual or organization engaged in nasa related research can apply for access . '' the network reportedly has about 1 , 600 subscribers , with more than 4 , 000 authorized users . european users of the network said that unauthorized access always carried the danger that data would be altered , though no tampering had been discovered . a chaos club spokesman , wau holland , denied that any data had been changed . this , he said , went against ''hacker ethics . '' ''hacker'' is a term for amateur computer enthusiasts . west_german television said computer piracy carries a penalty of three years in prison in west_germany . as of this evening , the government had not said what steps it was taking . telex to news organizations in a telex to news organizations , the chaos club said the ''trojan_horse'' was spotted by a user in august , and the infiltrating group then decided to go public because ''they feared that they had entered the dangerous field of industry espionage , economic crime , east west conflict , comecon embargoes and the legitimate security interests of high tech institutions . '' a spokesman for the west_german branch of digital , harald karcher , said he could not confirm the break in . but he said he was ''aware'' of a problem with the security system , and ''within the next weeks all the firms using the system will have them replaced with an improved version'' at digital 's expense . in the meantime , he added , digital is working with clients to check security and access systems . the illegal access to the network was first spotted by a systems manager for a user organization , the european molecular biology laboratory in heidelberg , who then alerted other users through the network . the west_german television_program ''panorama'' reported today that once the hackers gained access , they managed to open files labeled ''shuttle c study contracts , '' ' 'system security study'' and ''booster_rocket incidents . '' panorama showed 200 printouts it said the hackers had made from the nasa computers . in recent years there have been several incidents in which computer hobbyists gained illegal access to computer systems , leading to calls for stronger laws on ''computer piracy'' and increased efforts by computer companies to foil intruders . ''the best solution to this problem is to try to learn from the hackers , '' said lennard philipson , director of the european molecular biology laboratory .	has a location of germany
lead leaders of the two germanys said today that the summit meeting had improved conditions for the unification of their countries and praised washington 's readiness to expand trade with the soviets . leaders of the two germanys said today that the summit meeting had improved conditions for the unification of their countries and praised washington 's readiness to expand trade with the soviets . chancellor helmut_kohl of west_germany said the meeting between president_bush and president mikhail s . gorbachev of the soviet_union ''has further improved the international conditions for the unity process between the germanys . '' his foreign_minister , hans_dietrich_genscher , and prime_minister lothar de maiziere of east_germany said they saw the summit conference as improving conditions for german unity and disarmament . ''the resolution of the uttermost aspects of german unity requires new and far reaching progress in the c.s.c.e . process , in disarmament , and in the overall cooperation between west and east , especially in the area of economics , '' mr . kohl said in a statement . 'a great success' the c.s.c.e. , the 35 nation conference on security and cooperation in europe , deals with military security , economic cooperation and human_rights . mr . kohl said that progress in reducing strategic nuclear_weapons , the beginning of a worldwide ban on chemical_weapons and the ending of nuclear_testing were equally important . in addition , the chancellor said united_states readiness to expand trade with the soviets was of ''psychological importance to promote the reform politics of president gorbachev . '' in an interview with west_german government television , mr . genscher called the summit talks ''a great success with its positive aspects that will also have positive results on the developments in europe . '' he added , ''and that means also for the europeans and the unification of germany , because relations of the two superpowers with each other have fundamentally improved . '' 'the deciding message' mr . de maiziere , also interviewed by west_german television , said the summit meeting showed that the superpowers were rethinking their approach to security . ''the deciding message that i think i heard is that in the area of stabilizing security they are having new and very different ideas , '' mr . de maiziere said of mr . bush and mr . gorbachev . ''they are trying not to define the security theme militarily not end it with rocket counting but with considerations of economic ties , with cultural ties , '' mr . de maiziere said . summit in washington	has a location of germany
history repeats itself . haunted by that prophecy , marc grellert , a professor at darmstadt technical university in germany , started a project that is bringing back to virtual life german synagogues that were destroyed during world_war_ii . the project serves not only as ''a memorial to german history , '' mr . grellert said by telephone from darmstadt , which is near frankfurt , but also to ''admonish'' germany for erasing from the historical record sacred buildings that once contributed to the country 's culture . since 1996 , the project 's recreated synagogues have been prominently displayed on the web_site of the university 's architecture department . visitors to the site ( www . cad . architektur . tu darmstadt . de ) can view three dimensional images of the synagogues and read about the architectural and cultural history of each . three frankfurt synagogues , situated about 20 miles from darmstadt , have been completed and are displayed on the web . mr . grellert said his class planned to add sketches of 15 more synagogues by the year 2000 to commemorate kristallnacht , the outburst of anti semitic violence that presaged the holocaust . mr . grellert wants the class to concentrate on rebuilding synagogues destroyed in such large cities as berlin , dresden , dusseldorf and hamburg . he said that way he hoped to draw more attention to the exhibits . mr . grellert said an arson attack by neo_nazis on one of the few remaining synagogues in the german city of lubeck in 1994 was a catalyst for setting up the site . as a frightening reminder of the past persecution of jews , mr . grellert said , it was an impetus for the university 's pilot cad ( computer aided design ) architecture project to reconstruct on the web several german synagogues that could have remained buried in the rubble of history . mr . grellert said he discovered that there was a startling lack of information available in books and records about the architecture of german synagogues . few buildings in germany escaped destruction during world_war_ii , but synagogues were made targets by the nazis , who left no trace of their existence , mr . grellert explained . expanding beyond germany 's borders , during kristallnacht , or ''night of broken glass , '' in november 1938 , nazis set fire to more than 35 synagogues in bohemia and moravia , now part of the czech_republic . twenty five german synagogues were destroyed after world_war_ii in arson or bomb attacks . markers at the original sites of many synagogues are the only signs of their existence , mr . grellert said . under the guidance of prof . manfred koob , the project 's director and chairman of darmstadt university 's cad department , the synagogues were reconstructed from preserved blueprints and photos and from the recollections of people who once worshipped in the buildings . but the virtual reconstruction of the main synagogue , just outside frankfurt , was not easy . few pictures of the exterior existed there was only one photograph of the interior and one floor plan . it is particularly critical to record these memories while they are still vivid for holocaust survivors , who are advancing in age , mr . grellert said . the judengasse museum in frankfurt had preserved some models , which helped the students construct the synagogues' facades . in 1995 , using cad software , mr . grellert built a town planning model of eastern frankfurt , placing the synagogues at the sites where each once stood . in 1995 , a seminar class of eight students and seven professors began the project using the speedikon cad program on unix computers to build two dimensional computer drawings , which provided the framework for ground plans . though cad software programs render highly detailed , three dimensional images , the user first has to put the structural models into the program . these models are constructed by compiling detailed information about the building 's architecture . though he is not jewish , as a student of architecture , mr . grellert ''wanted to show the contribution of the jewish_community to german society . '' since the exhibition serves , in this sense , as a tribute to the contribution of german jews to the country 's architecture , the project 's organizers said they will not accept money for their project from german jewish organizations . the project 's expenses to date have come to about 75 , 000 , mr . grellert estimated , which includes stipends for the university 's staff , and hardware and software expenses . the german_government has provided nominal financing for the project . the university has received financial support from the judengasse museum in frankfurt as well . the judengasse museum also displayed the images in its september 1996 exhibition ''fragments and reconstruction . '' each synagogue was selected for its distinctive architecture , mr . grellert said . the borneplatz synagogue , burned down by the nazis on nov . 10 , 1938 , was known as the ' 'red synagogue at borneplatz'' because of the color of the sandstone used in its construction in 1882 . the synagogue once stood as one of four synagogues silhouetting frankfurt . the exterior shape of the synagogue was influenced by italian renaissance architecture . an orthodox synagogue , it was built so men could enter through a door close to the tower on the southern facade , while women entered through an additional building to the north . a gas station and a flower market now stand on the site . the facade of the main synagogue , the first one to be virtually created , was originally constructed with red stone from a nearby river region . the oriental and gothic architecture reflected the bold self confidence of the jewish_community of the 19th_century . mr . koob emphasized the importance of remembering the past . ''perhaps it has become more important again , to cultivate the common spiritual site and to preserve it , '' he said . by reaching out to a wider audience than the history books have , mr . koob said the digital processing of information aids ''the transmission of the cultural knowledge of humankind'' to a third generation . historical preservation via the internet is making history more accessible . ''when you do things in print and video , you have to sell the information in a package , a unit , '' said michael declun , creator of cybrary of the holocaust , a web_site he began in 1995 to provide links to information about the holocaust . cybrary of the holocaust reaches more than 30 , 000 people a month ( www . remember . org ) . darmstadt university 's progress on the 15 additional synagogues will be updated on its web_site . the project also includes an online video that simulates a walk through the frankfurt synagogues .	has a location of germany
the office of bavaria 's million member committee of catholics was a bit more frantic today than its director , elke hummeler , would have liked . but the office was only a pale reflection of the upheaval into which this tradition rich state has been thrown by a court decision that many bavarians consider sacrilegious and hateful . germany 's highest court decided this month that the bavarian law requiring a crucifix to be hung in each of the state 's 40 , 000 classrooms was unconstitutional . " because attending school is a general obligation , crosses in classrooms mean that the state confronts pupils with this symbol during their lessons , leaving them no alternative to learning 'under the cross , ' " the constitutional court ruled in a 5 3 decision . " as a result , the presence of crosses in classrooms differs from the normal presence of various religious symbols in other areas of daily life . " many people here , supported by like minded citizens across germany , are demanding to know why one of their most cherished symbols is being banished from schools . " when i first heard the news , i was completely confused , " mrs . hummeler said as she juggled phones and set fax machines . " i did n't think german judges could even consider doing such a thing . the cross is a symbol of the values we love most and want to transmit to our children . it 's almost unthinkable that it can be taken away from us like this . " mrs . hummeler is helping to organize a protest in munich at which she hopes 20 , 000 people will turn out . senior religious leaders and politicians from the christian_social_union , the heavily catholic party that dominates bavarian politics , are expected to attend . the party chairman , finance_minister_theo_waigel , has already declared himself " horrified and astonished " by the decision . chancellor helmut_kohl also criticized it . " the crucifix as a symbol of christian belief harms no one , " mr . kohl said in a statement . " after this century 's bitter experience with anti christian ideologies and their awful and inhuman effects , we feel a special obligation to pass these values on to future generations . " educational policy in germany , like most domestic policy , is shaped principally by the states . bavaria , which with 11 million inhabitants is germany 's second most populous state , is the only one that requires religious symbols in classrooms . other states ban them or leave the decision to local communities . politicians from germany 's left oriented social_democratic and green parties welcomed the court 's decision . a senior social democrat , herta daubler gmelin , accused critics of resorting to " demagogic populism and intentional falsehoods . " the head of the german teachers' union , richard sigel , said the decision " fits with the times . " " ties that bind us to the christian religion are not as strong as they once were , " mr . sigel said . a constitutional court judge who voted with the majority , johann friedrich henschel , suggested in an interview that the court had been influenced by the growing number of non christians entering german schools . " how would a practicing christian in a class with something like 80 percent muslims feel if the majority suddenly decided to hang a verse from the koran on the wall ? " judge henschel asked . many prominent bavarians have gone beyond protest and are urging that the ruling be ignored . governor edmund_stoiber said he would not order the removal of crucifixes " for the time being , " and asserted that he was under no obligation to remove them in schools where parents unanimously opposed such action . friedrich cardinal wetter of munich , the bavarian capital , said parents alone should have the power to decide whether crucifixes should hang in classrooms . " we guarantee tolerance for people who think differently from us , and we demand in return that same tolerance , " cardinal wetter told pilgrims in the bavarian town of altotting last week . he declared , " insist on your right and you will not err . " the court decision was on a case brought 10 years ago by ernst seler , a bavarian artist and composer who did not want to send his three children to schools where the " image of a bleeding , half naked male corpse " was displayed . a local court and then a bavarian appeals court rejected his suit , ruling that the crucifix was a valuable symbol of " the general christian occidental tradition . " mr . seler is a follower of the philosopher rudolf steiner ( 1861 1925 ) , whose school of " anthroposophy " deals with knowledge produced by the spiritual side of man . mr . seler said that after years of abuse and anonymous death threats , he felt " tremendous relief and joy " at his victory .	has a location of germany
members of a jewish soccer team , practicing in a deserted suburban sports field , were attacked by a gang of hooded and masked youths on wednesday evening in what authorities are calling the first organized assault on jews since the recent sharp increase in anti semitic attacks in france . the attackers some shouting ' 'death to jews'' wielded sticks , metal bars and , in one case , a heavy ball used for p tanque , a kind of bowling , as they swarmed onto the playing field . most of the soccer players , ages 16 to 18 , were able to run from the field unhurt . but three received minor_injuries and one was taken to a hospital for stitches after being pummeled and hit in the head with the p tanque ball . ''the really disturbing part of this is that it was premeditated , '' said patrick gaubert , leader of a human_rights group called league against racism . ''until now , most of the attacks have sprung up on the street . but here , there seems to have been an element of planning . these kids are there every wednesday night and the attackers knew it . '' mr . gaubert , who has met with the families of the victims , has filed a complaint with the local public prosecutor to highlight the need , he said , for arrests before the unrest that has gripped this country claims its first victim . ''the authorities must do their jobs before things get out of hand , '' he said . ''people are excited . the parents are very upset , and it 's important they feel their concerns are being addressed . '' france , which has the largest muslim and jewish populations of any country in europe , has had a sharp increase in anti semitic attacks in recent months , especially since israel began its military offensive in the west_bank two weeks ago . the attack on the soccer players in bondy , a working_class suburb north of paris , has left the community stunned . ''for us , this is the first time that anything like this has happened here , '' said gilbert roger , the mayor of bondy . ''today , i went out walking and talking to all the shopkeepers and , believe me , it 's all anyone is talking about , and we are appalled . '' the most seriously injured youngster told agence_france_presse that he had been looking the other way when the attackers invaded the field and so was taken by surprise when he was hit in the back . ''i found myself on the ground , and there were several of them beating me , '' he said . ''they were screaming at me ' 'dirty jew . ' '' mr . roger said the attackers appeared to have planned things carefully . the attack took place after 9 p.m. , when a nearby police post closes . after the assailants took over control of the field , they rifled through the belongings of the soccer players , stealing anything of value , including several cellular_phones , the mayor said . ''this was an anti semitic incident , but they were opportunists too , '' mr . roger said . ''they took what they could . '' while some of the attacks in france have been in places with large muslim populations , others have been in areas that have had problems with skinheads . commentators have linked the increase in attacks to the conflict between the israelis and the palestinians . the police said after a recent series of arrests that most of the people involved had been in trouble before . the police have stepped up patrols at potential targets , including synagogues , schools and community centers , and more than 40 arrests have been made . but the arrest numbers seem paltry to many french jews .	has a location of france
lead le quarterback backpedaled , turned and tried to hand off le ballon to un running , unaware that le cornerback was coming fast . ''attention au blitz , '' part of the crowd screamed , but it was too late and le quarterback was flat on the ground , sacke . le quarterback backpedaled , turned and tried to hand off le ballon to un running , unaware that le cornerback was coming fast . ''attention au blitz , '' part of the crowd screamed , but it was too late and le quarterback was flat on the ground , sacke . football is making inroads in france and in much of the rest of western_europe . as proof , the paris castors , or beavers , routed the paris jets , 75 0 , today in casque d'or vi , or what was billed as le super_bowl francais . while it was not exactly super bowl xxi in pasadena , calif . , it was by far the biggest event in the short life of football americain in france . some of the razzle dazzle along the sidelines ( or lignes de touches ) was familiar to those who saw the national_football_league title game in january . there were majorettes here , too , and a musical salute and a cheering squad known as les pom pom girls . however , the crowd at jean bouin stadium in paris was somewhat smaller , 2 , 500 or 3 , 000 instead of the 101 , 000 who filled the rose bowl . tickets cost 50 francs ( about 8 ) instead of the face price of 75 in california . not much prize money nor did the winners' prize money total in the millions . the castors , the favorites after they beat the blue angels of joinville le_point in the semifinals , won 20 , 000 francs worth of football equipment . the jets , who beat the argonauts of aix_en_provence to enter the championship game , went home empty handed and humiliated . they could console themselves though , in thinking that the game had been another step forward in the growth of the sport across europe . starting early in this decade , leagues have been formed and are expanding in england , italy , finland , the netherlands , belgium , west_germany and france . in england , where the london ravens were the sole team in 1983 , there are more than 200 registered football teams , 146 of them in the senior , or adult , category . the organizers of the 29 team french championship league hope for the same surge of interest to lift their sport from the status of a curiosity . as a help , the united_states embassy and the national_football_league players association combined to provide a weeklong visit by harry carson , the giants' all pro inside linebacker , and brian sipe , the former quarterback for the cleveland_browns and new jersey generals of the united states football league . limit on foreign players both men have been interviewed extensively by french magazines and television , which this year began showing n.f.l . games in edited , week old film but did show the n.f.l . super_bowl live for the first time . french teams are limited to five foreign players , with no more than two allowed on the field , or le terrain , at the same time . to help further the development of french players , foreigners are banned as quarterbacks , as they are in many other european leagues . this rule inspires long debate over a fine point if a foreigner is a running back , can he legally throw an option pass ? ''we 're still feeling our way with many of the rules , trying to get people to understand and agree on them , '' said stephane wephre , the president and starting center of the jets . like most of the others on the field today , wephre had no football experience until a few years ago . he was recruited by an english friend at the s.t.c . corporation , where he works as an engineer in fiber_optics . at 187 pounds and 5 feet 11 inches , wephre is standard size for a french lineman , although some defensive linemen go up to 6 feet 3 inches and 220 pounds . but he finds pass blocking easier than serving as president of his team . predicting a bright future ''on the field , we have no problems , '' he said proudly . ''we were formed in 1984 , played our first games in 1985 and won the casque d'or that same year . we slipped a little last year , losing in the quarterfinals , but here we are again . '' he spoke before the blowout on the field . still , he predicted a shiny future for the game , especially if it catches on with school children , to whom football is usually just the european name for soccer . football	has a location of france
it certainly seemed to be an englishman 's sort of afternoon as the dark clouds hung low and the spectators kept their overcoats buttoned and their umbrellas at the ready . but it turned out to be ideal argentine weather instead , as guillermo coria put an end to an unlikely and deeply diverting run by tim_henman of britain with a 3 6 , 6 4 , 6 0 , 7 5 victory in the semifinals at the french open . for coria 's pains and henman caused him plenty with his risky , net rushing style he earned a place in his first grand_slam final . and whoever wins sunday at roland_garros , argentina will be the winner , because coria 's opponent will be his countryman gaston gaudio . even in the heady days when guillermo vilas and jos luis clerc were whipping ground strokes heavy on topspin and machismo , argentina never put two players in the same major final . but argentine tennis is much more than a two man show in this era , as the unseeded , 25 year old gaudio proved with his 6 3 , 7 6 ( 5 ) , 6 0 victory in friday 's first semifinal over yet another argentine , eighth_seeded david nalbandian . nalbandian was not at his best after straining a rib in his quarterfinal victory over gustavo kuerten , but even at his best , nalbandian would have had difficulty overcoming gaudio 's consistent forehand and beautiful one handed backhand . gaudio still had to overcome a 1 5 deficit to win the second set , and when it ended , he sat in his chair at the side of the court and sobbed into a towel , his mind flooded with memories . ''all those practices , all those sacrifices , all the people who helped me , it was all playing like a movie in my head , '' he said . now argentine tennis will have its hollywood ending , and vilas , who won here in 1977 , will finally have his successor . ''this final is going to be something historic , '' coria , who is seeded third , said . ''the truth is that argentine tennis deserves this . we 've been fighting and working hard , and it 's been difficult because we 're often far from home . '' though an all argentine final is a first in a major tournament , it fits neatly into the modern tennis continuum . since 1994 , there have been three all spanish men 's finals at roland_garros , and all williams or all belgian finals have been the rule of late in the women 's game at grand_slam events . this year , the nationalities have changed . on saturday , anastasiya myskina and elena_dementieva will play the sport 's first all russian grand_slam final . the next day , coria and gaudio will renew their occasionally testy rivalry , which boiled over in hamburg , germany , last year when they exchanged harsh words and according to some reports shoved each other in the locker_room after gaudio said coria taunted him on court during his three set victory . ''yeah , but we talk about it , and that 's it , '' gaudio said . ''it 's over . everything is clear now . '' it is also clear that coria deserves to be the favorite . since losing last year in the french open semifinals to martin verkerk , coria has won 37 of 38 matches on clay . ninth seeded henman played superb tennis in the early going , attacking the net selectively and effectively and hitting bold winners with his forehand from the baseline . after henman broke coria 's serve to take a 5 3 lead in the first set , coria broke his racket on the clay , receiving a warning for racket abuse . henman then coolly served out the set . henman took a_4 2 lead in the second set before coria began producing more depth with his strokes and henman 's level began to sink . henman 's forehands began to fly and coria 's passing shots regularly found the inside of the lines . he won 13 games in a row , taking a 3 0 lead in the fourth set before henman shifted the momentum by winning five consecutive games . but when the time came to serve out the set at 5 4 , he was unable to convert , double faulting at 15 15 , then losing the next two points . as the set wore on , the 29 year old henman began to look leg weary . the match ended with a backhand long . unlike gaudio , coria kept his composure in victory . ''it 's been my dream to win roland_garros , '' he said , ''not to get to the final of roland_garros . '' it turned out to be argentina 's day , despite the very english weather and the very english ending . does n't henman always lose in the semifinals at wimbledon , too ? match points martina_navratilova 's bid to win the women 's doubles title here at age 47 ended in the semifinals friday , when she and lisa raymond were beaten by svetlana kuznetsova and yelena likhovtseva of russia , 6 2 , 6 4 . kuznetsova was navratilova 's regular partner last year . . . . there is one american still in contention in paris . alex kuznetsov , a 17 year old who was born in ukraine but now lives in richboro , pa . , will face gael monfils of france in the boys' singles final on sunday . tennis	has a location of france
brides_les_bains , france , feb . 4 the residents of brides_les_bains might be excused a certain cynicism about the 1992 winter_games . the small resort_town poured 13 million into renovations , which included a new tramway plus a revitalized casino and city hall . the investment drew the town 's treasury close to bankruptcy and has meant nothing but inconvenience . as the olympics approach , quaint brides_les_bains has been dissected by a quarter mile chain link security fence that prevents inhabitants and tourists from crossing the street into the main downtown district . the residential section of the village and the casino are off limits to everybody but the international athletes and official delegation members who are housed there . " i am angry , " said jacqueline raffaud , who runs the hotel le centre and has few tables to wait these days . " i ca n't cross the street anymore . " the streets were virtually empty today , but there was still hope among residents that the proximity of the olympics would translate into revenue . " it is not so terrible now , " said sandra marzolf , a hair stylist at christiff 's in brides_les_bains . " and the improvements and publicity will help us for the next 10 or 20 years . " albertville '92	has a location of france
major_league_soccer seems to have two developments working for it and two working against it as the league 's third season gets under way . the two positives are its expansion from 10 teams to 12 with the addition of franchises in chicago and miami and a vast improvement in its television coverage , most notably in abc 's coverage , which will increase from 1 game to 12 . the two negatives are the 15 percent drop in attendance it absorbed in its second season , and the world_cup that will take place in france in the midst of this season . but the m.l.s . hopes a bit of reverse psychology will turn at least one of those negatives into a positive . instead of worrying about being overwhelmed by the world_cup tournament , the league will try to capitalize on it by staging at least two ' 'doubleheaders , '' showing a world_cup match on a stadium screen before an m.l.s . game . it is a daring move because audiences will be drawn to making comparisons between world_cup games and the league 's own games , which will inevitably be below world_cup standards . but it will also draw attention to m.l.s . players who are competing in the world_cup , particularly the americans . the americans' performance in the world_cup will have an impact on the league , one way or another . a quick exit by the americans will mean they will be available to their m.l.s . teams more quickly . but a poor performance by them could also be viewed as a letdown , much in the same way the performance by the united_states men 's hockey team was in the winter_olympics . on the other hand , if the americans advance to the second round , as they did in 1994 , it will help the sport gain credibility with mainstream american fans . the league 's new television contract should help in that regard , too . the 12 games being telecast by abc include two playoff_games and the championship game on oct . 25 , m.l.s . cup '98 . espn and espn2 will televise 29 games plus the playoffs and univision , the spanish network , will televise 20 games plus the playoffs . the league has made other changes in response to last season 's drop in attendance . last season , the league scheduled 149 of its 160 games on friday , saturday and sunday , thinking it would capitalize on strong weekend attendance numbers from the first season . instead , it seemed like too much of a good thing . this season the emphasis will be on saturday , with 92 of its 192 games being played then , and a return to more midweek games . the tinkering seems to be working . season_ticket sales by the original 10 teams are up by an average of about 5 percent from last season , although that figure still lags about 10 percent behind 1996 . and , the three weakest teams are showing dramatic improvement . tampa 's season_ticket sales are up by 200 percent , colorado 's are up 135 percent , and dallas 's are up 140 percent . each team is allowed five foreigners , an increase from four the first year , when 90 percent of all the foreign players were signed from south_america and the caribbean . of the 50 foreigners the league has signed this year , 12 are european . sunil gulati , the deputy commissioner in charge of signing players for the single entity league , said last week that the league set aside some of the 1 . 6 million that has been allotted for each team in hope of signing world_cup players . the metrostars , for example , hope to sign someone the caliber of roberto donadoni , who returned to a.c . milan . ''we can wait until after the world_cup if we get a name player like roberto donadoni , '' said charlie stillitano , the vice_president and general_manager of the metrostars . one of the first big name players expected to join the league after the world_cup is germany 's jurgen_klinsmann , a charismatic striker . several of the most popular players in the league 's first two seasons have changed teams . colombia 's carlos valderrama went to miami from tampa_bay , mexico 's jorge campos left los_angeles for chicago and alexi_lalas of the new england revolution has joined the metrostars . the strongest team in the league continues to be d.c . united , the champion in the league 's first two years . the metrostars , who missed the playoffs last year , are expected to have more stability and continuity with alfonso mondelo as the coach . soccer	has a location of france
and would n't it be a treat if those games turned out as successfully as these ? for all the anxieties associated with organizing winter_games spread across 600 square miles of mountainous terrain and holding a 16 day party for a reconfigured world , the albertville olympics worked . the glorious french_alps became a warm and welcoming maitre d' in sight , sound and emotion . so often , the french get a bad rap beyond their borders . maybe in paris , the reputation is justified . not here . there was not a hint of haughtiness in the haut savoie . as the games unfolded , the organizers and their volunteer staff of thousands could not have been friendlier or more accommodating . for that , they deserved to celebrate themselves . " we delivered what we promised , " jean_claude_killy , the 1968 olympic ski champion who served as co president of the 1992 winter_games organizing_committee , said today in a final news conference . he was ebullient , proud , even jocular , admitting that " we still have not found our colombian athletes . " colombia became the running joke of these games . that country 's athletes were on the entry lists but never appeared to compete . anyway , 2 , 174 athletes did compete , a record for the winter_games , and so did 64 countries . that was a record , too . in the grandest way , friendliness and accommodation became the themes of these games . with the recent melting away of political philosophies that used athletes as propaganda tools , the albertville olympics became the first devoid of any major " us versus them " mentality . there were new divisions , like separate teams from slovenia , croatia and yugoslavia and something called a unified team , a combination of athletes from five former soviet republics , and separate teams from three other former soviet republics , independent estonia , latvia and lithuania . not that it all made much of a difference in practice . the unified team finished second in the overall medal standing , with 23 to germany 's 26 , and the independents won none . nor did yugoslavia or any of its former republics . a world turned upside down more change was evident at the micro level . vyacheslav tretiak , a goalie for the soviet_union through four olympics , 1972 1984 , watched ray leblanc of the united_states playing well in goal one night and turned to edwin moses , the american hurdler . " that 's my boy , " said tretiak , now a goalie coach for the chicago blackhawks leblanc is a minor_leaguer in the chicago system . germany 's success 10 gold medals , 10 silver , 6 bronze was another reflection of new relationships . the team arrived at the games as a nervous mix of athletes from vastly different political systems and made the best of it . in 1988 , with nearly twice as many athletes , east_germany and west_germany had a combined total of 33 medals . in their new forms , germany and the unified team kept touch with tradition as two of the leading medal_winners . the united_states held the same place it did four years ago , fifth , but with more medals , 11 , compared with the 6 it garnered in 1988 in calgary , alberta . but four of those 11 medals came in sports that were not on the 1988 program , which means the 10 million more in financial support that american athletes training for albertville had over their counterparts preparing for calgary produced exactly one more medal . at least no american athletes embarrassed themselves , as several did at the summer games in south_korea in 1988 , when several swimmers were caught shoplifting . this time the bad behavior came from a coach . dave peterson , who led the hockey team to a fourth place finish , refused to shake hands with the swedish coach and one of his assistants after the teams tied , 3 3 . if the medal chart reflected disappointments , like switzerland 's drop to 3 medals from 15 in calgary , it also showed other countries filling the breech . norway jumped from 5 to 20 , with 9 golds , and 9 over all in cross_country_skiing events . austria increased from 10 to 21 , dominating alpine ski events with 8 medals . as the host country , france won more medals , 9 , than any previous host since the united_states won 12 medals at the 1980 lake placid games . and over all , 20 countries won medals , 2 more than in calgary . the games also produced a snowfall of poignant moments . cbs_sports always made sure nancy_kerrigan 's mother had a monitor to watch her daugher skate . brenda kerrigan is nearly blind and must sit with her nose to the screen . the night her daughter won the bronze_medal , she was at rinkside , cheering , in front of her set . when dan_jansen finished his 500 meter speed_skating race , albeit in a time that won him only fourth place , his mother , gerry jensen , looked as if she were finally drained of tension . four years before in the same event , on the same day his sister died of cancer , jansen had fallen . and there on the podium stood viktor petrenko , the new men 's champion in figure_skating , an athlete from ukraine , a former soviet_republic that is part of the commonwealth_of_independent_states . as a flag bearing the olympic rings was raised and the olympic anthem was played , as agreed upon last month by officials of the unified team , his face was blank . " if it had been his flag and anthem , " said paul wylie of denver , the silver medalist , " he 'd have bawled . " the sadness of russia was evident elsewhere . athletes were selling their training suits and competition uniforms , some bearing the cyrillic letters " cccp " that stood for u.s.s.r . and as their events ended , they left their olympic villages immediately , rather than spend more hard_currency , so precious now in all the republics . but then there was the french hockey team , whose practice the day after the team clinched a place in the medal round was canceled because of too much celebrating the night before . in the end , the french had much to celebrate , and not just the hockey players . by any measure , the albertville olympics , a risky gamble for their disparate nature , were a resounding triumph . they brought the savoy region the new roads it needed . they brought alpine resort owners exposure of inestimable value through worldwide television . and for 16 days , at least , they brought a fast changing world together in the harmonious spirit of competition . albertville	has a location of france
the teammates of s bastien grosjean and arnaud cl_ment were shaking champagne bottles and chasing after them , and though grosjean and cl_ment did their best to dodge on the red clay at roland_garros , they were not quite quick enough to avoid a drenching . but they were certainly quick enough to beat the americans , quick moving and quick thinking , and because of their resourcefulness and the opposition 's youthfulness , the french davis_cup squad is back in the final for the third time in four years after its 3 2 victory . grosjean gave the french all they required in today 's first reverse singles match with a 6 4 , 3 6 , 6 4 , 6 4 victory over andy_roddick . while there was no fifth rubber match full of jaw locking import , there was still typically baroque davis_cup drama , and much of it came in saturday 's doubles match . the united_states' crossgenerational doubles team of todd_martin and james blake overcame a disastrous start to defeat france 's crossgenerational doubles team of fabrice santoro and micha l llodra in five rollicking sets . that victory brought the americans within range at 1 2 , but grosjean , whose combativeness and character have occasionally been questioned , held them off today . already the defending champion in the davis_cup , tennis 's premier team event , france will next play host to russia , which advanced today by defeating argentina in moscow , 3 1 . the french are expected to hold the final indoors in late november in paris , although marseille is a possibility . early in today 's match , it looked as if grosjean might need lots of help when he rolled his right ankle leading by one set and trailing by 1 4 , 15 15 in the second . grosjean tumbled to the court , but part of the reason he fell was that he felt the ankle hyperextending . his fall may have saved him serious damage . it also threw off roddick 's concentration and caused him to miss a forehand into the open court . after grosjean received treatment and had his ankle taped , he still managed to hold serve . though he lost the second set , he gradually resumed piling up momentum and flashy winners against roddick , with whom he occasionally trains near their homes in boca raton , fla . when it ended , with the last of many overhit forehands by roddick , grosjean arched his back and shrieked with joy at the overcast sky , while roddick slumped forward on the opposite baseline . ''he just stayed there mentally the whole time , '' roddick said . blake later beat cl_ment in straight sets in a meaningless final match . but by then , cl_ment had already taken part in his team 's latest victory lap . watching it all was yannick noah , who was the inspirational captain behind france 's victory over the united_states in the 1991 final . a back problem nearly kept grosjean out of this semifinal , but the french captain , guy_forget , decided to take the risk . there must have been relief as well as delight in their extended embrace today after grosjean had played a cool and confident final set . it was not without controversy . with roddick serving at 2 2 and deuce in the fourth set , he fired what he thought was an ace , only to see grosjean with his hand raised to announce that he was not ready . the chair umpire andreas egli called for roddick to serve again . roddick was not happy his captain , patrick mcenroe , was not happy . a frustrated roddick proceeded to lose the next two points and his serve on a forehand winner and a double fault . that was all the lead grosjean required , and on the changeover mcenroe did a brief impression of his older brother when he was slapped with a warning for unsportsmanlike behavior after using an expletive while complaining to egli . roddick , a_20 year old power server , did not always look ready this week . he had six aces today to the much smaller grosjean 's seven , and a minor injury was part of the explanation for roddick 's difficulties , as has often been the case in his short career . he was treated for a sore lower back twice during the match . ''going into the match it was something i knew i had to deal with , '' roddick said . ''it was tough . i do n't think i served my best today . '' roddick has all the power and endorsement deals that any young tennis star could require , but he is still lacking in understanding of how best to benefit from his power . in all , it has been a sobering season after his freshman joy ride in 2001 . ''i 'm just learning , '' he said . ''this year has been a learning experience after another . i 'd like to think these experiences will make me stronger . '' tennis	has a location of france
to enforce its new law banning religious symbols from public schools , the ministry of national education has decided to get tough . this week it held formal disciplinary hearings and began expelling students who violated the law . the goal was to get rid of those defined as hopeless cases before the 10 day all saints school vacation that ends with a national holiday honoring all of catholicism 's saints . the french government sees no contradiction or irony here . nine female muslim students who have refused to remove their islamic head coverings have been thrown out of schools across france . after the all saints break , dozens of cases that are pending will be reviewed . ''the phase of dialogue and consultation is over , '' said an official at the ministry , who refused to allow her name to be used . ''it was an unbearable situation for the teachers and the pupils . it was a crazy situation . the law has to be respected at some point . '' since school started a month ago , students who have refused to remove what school administrators define as conspicuous religious symbols have been quarantined in study halls or libraries and not allowed to attend class . the banned symbols include anything that can be construed as an islamic veil ( head_scarf , bandanna , beret ) , a jewish skullcap , a large christian cross and a sikh turban . officially the law is aimed at enforcing france 's republican ideal of secularism . unofficially it is aimed at stopping female muslim public_school students from swathing themselves in scarves or even long veils . there have been odd , unintended_consequences . despite the 1905 law separating church and state in france , public schools have been allowed to keep chaplains , most of them catechism teaching and catholic , on their staffs as long as they were not paid by the state . in 1960 a law set up a formal process to create new chaplain posts and allowed existing ones to continue . but this fall some teachers at the dumont d'urville high_school in the southern city of toulon objected to what they said was a double_standard muslim girls had to doff their scarves , but the rev . antoine galand , the school 's catholic chaplain , could wear his priestly garb . so father galand was barred from the school and may return only if he removes his collar and cassock and dons a business suit . ''we regret this interpretation of secularism , because it 's not what the law says , '' said the rev . charles mallard , the priest responsible for youth instruction in the catholic diocese of toulon . ''but it 's not worth fighting over an article of clothing , knowing that in catholicism , 'the cowl does n't make the monk . ''' he added that even in secular france it was considered ''normal'' to have catholic chaplains in public schools . cennet doganay , a 15 year old muslim of turkish origin from strasbourg , showed up on the first day of school in a large beret . the school administrator told her that the beret was a religious symbol , refused to admit her to class and advised her to take a correspondence course from home , ms . doganay said . she refused . she asked her parents to help her shave off her hair , returned to school in the beret and when she was required to remove it , she revealed her bald head in protest . since there is nothing particularly religious about baldness , she is going to school again . ''they drove me crazy and tried to brainwash me so much that i got fed up and i did it i shaved my hair off , '' she said . ''now i feel alone i feel like a monster . it 's like being naked on the street . '' france 's sikh community , meanwhile , challenged the new law in court after the louise michel school in the parisian suburb of bobigny barred three male sikh students from classes because they were wearing turbans . the three boys were at first put into a separate room where they could not attend class and then banished from school without having the chance to defend their case at a formal school hearing , antoine beauquier , one of the boys' lawyers , said . ''for the moment we are in this no man 's land of no law , '' mr . beauquier said . ''these three kids , who are good students with no problems , have had no access to classes . the effects are terrible . '' confusing matters , he added , some sikh boys in other schools have been allowed to attend school wearing a hairnet or a small piece of fabric on their heads . in a letter to president jacques_chirac nearly a year ago , the sikh community argued that the turban should be allowed because it is a cultural , not a religious , symbol . under the new law , expelled students have the right to appeal to their local school boards . if they are under 16 , the legal age for quitting school , they have a stark choice they must be schooled at home or by correspondence or find a private_school . france has only one muslim high_school . in an interview with france inter radio on tuesday , education minister fran_ois fillon said he was pleased with the way things were going . he said that at the start of the school year there were 600 cases of students refusing to remove their religious symbols most of them muslim girls in scarves but that most had agreed to do so after a ' 'dialogue . '' a number of opponents of the law criticize the ' 'dialogue'' process as nothing more than pressure to break the will of students . ''it 's a machine that destroys the individual in the name of a fundamentalist secularism , '' said dr . thomas milcent , a strasbourg physician and convert to islam who heads a muslim lobbying group . ''some girls have been treated with cruelty , kept in isolation for days . this is extremism . ''	has a location of france
and now for the bandanna ban . the proposed french law prohibiting the wearing of religious symbols in public schools was initially interpreted to include islamic head_scarves , jewish skullcaps and large christian crosses . those were the three items singled out last month in a speech by president jacques_chirac and in a report by a blue ribbon commission on religion and the state . then the issue of the turbans worn by sikhs was raised , as france 's tiny sikh community protested that its boys would quit school before removing their turbans . on tuesday , luc ferry , the minister of national education , went even further than mr . chirac , telling the national_assembly 's legal affairs committee that any girl 's bandanna that is considered a religious sign ( as opposed to a fashion statement , presumably ) will now be banned . during the two hour debate on the proposed ban , lawmakers wanted to know why the draft law was worded to ban ''ostensibly'' religious symbols and not everything that is ''visibly'' religious . mr . ferry explained that the wording afforded the state the ability to broadly interpret what constitutes a religious symbol and prevent the possible subversion of the law . that 's where the bandanna came in . ''if we had chosen the word 'visible , ' we could have seen the appearance of other signs , '' mr . ferry said . for that reason , he explained , ''the bandanna , if it is presented by young girls as a religious sign , will be forbidden . '' mr . ferry did not define what constituted a religious bandanna , how teachers would decide what was an ''ostensible'' sign of religion or how the new law would be enforced . asked to define a bandanna , an official assigned to deal with press inquiries in the ministry , who spoke on the condition of anonymity , said ''there is no definition . it will be left to the discretion of the heads of schools . '' the respected french larousse dictionary defines a bandanna as ''a small cotton square of lively colors , usually worn as a scarf . '' when one deputy asked about beards , mr . ferry said that even they might be a no no , reuters reported . ''as soon as it becomes a religious sign , it would fall under this law , '' mr . ferry was quoted as saying . beards are required for sikhs some muslim and jewish men grow beards as a display of religious commitment . by contrast , the turban of the sikhs , if it were to remain ' 'discreet , '' would be allowed , he said . the law banning religious symbols in schools was intended to help enforce adherence to strict secularism in the public_domain and to prevent more muslim girls from wearing veils to school . but the move has set off angry denunciations of france for violating religious_freedom , and counterclaims by the french government that it is deeply misunderstood . it has split the muslim population in france , with some saying the move is anti islamic , and others insisting that muslim women must obey the laws of the country where they live . many french school administrators oppose the law , arguing that it is impossible to enforce and will only create more divisiveness . for them , the bandanna ban was the last straw . ''i think it 's truly ridiculous , '' said g rard aschieri , secretary general of the union representing nearly 50 percent of the country 's unionized education personnel , in a telephone interview . ''we have gotten into this logic , and i do n't know where it 's going to lead us . '' many prominent muslims around the world have voiced their opposition , including shirin ebadi , the iranian human_rights lawyer who recently won the nobel_peace_prize . even pope_john_paul_ii has weighed in . he told vatican diplomats last week , without specifically mentioning france , that religious_freedom in europe was endangered by people seeking to ban religion from the public sphere . that prompted bernard stasi , who led the french commission proposing the ban , to dare to criticize the pope . ''i regret that the sovereign pontiff is misinformed , '' mr . stasi said in a statement in le_monde that appeared on tuesday . mr . ferry blamed tension between jews and muslims for recent anti semitic attacks in france , and said he wanted to calm things down . ''i tell representatives of islam , 'do you want your children to fight at school ? ' '' he said to the deputies . asked about the bandanna ban , catherine colonna , mr . chirac 's spokeswoman , said , ''the future law must not allow people to bypass it the way certain individuals and groups already seem certain to do . '' indeed , in an interview in tuesday 's issue of the popular tabloid le parisien , mohamed bechary , president of the national federation of muslims of france , urged female students to circumvent the law . ''who will define what is ostensible and what is not ? '' he asked , adding that he recommended ''the discreet wearing of the scarf be it a bandanna , a cap or a hat . '' other leaders of local muslim communities in france have also advised female students to find ways around the ban by wearing a head covering that could be interpreted as a fashion statement rather than a symbol of islam . as fashion , bandannas in france have tended to follow the american lead . traditionally red and white or blue and white print and a symbol of the american west , they became an accessory among rap musicians and in inner city street culture . although some ready to wear designers have used bandannas in their shows over the years , such common street fashion has not been on display in the current haute_couture shows in paris . the long haired fashion_designer john galliano , however , wears a signature bandanna tied pirate style at the back of his neck .	has a location of france
on her way to the french open , maria sharapova had to make an important decision face her fear of needles and receive a painful shot in her injured , inflamed shoulder , or take time off and skip one of the biggest tournaments of the year . there was never any doubt what she would choose , sharapova said . one cortisone shot and nearly two months later , she walked onto the red clay courts at roland_garros , sore shoulder and all , and played her first round match . in her second tournament since returning from her injury , sharapova beat emilie loit , 6 3 , 7 6 ( 4 ) . ''as long as the doctors give me an o.k. , as long as i can play through the little aches and pains that i get from time on , then i 'm o.k. , i 'm willing to do it , '' she said . ''i take the good with the bad . '' on another rainy day , the second seeded sharapova was one of nine russian women to win their matches wednesday . with success like that , the american men playing at the french open should have asked them for their secrets . never before have american men fared this miserably on the red clay at roland_garros . all nine in the draw lost in the first round . eight were beaten on tuesday , including no . 3 andy_roddick and no . 8 james blake . on wednesday , robby ginepri was their final hope . he could not redeem them , losing to diego hartfield , 6 4 , 1 6 , 5 7 , 6 4 , 6 2 . this is the first time in the open era , which began in 1968 , that all the american men entered in a major tournament lost in the first round . ''i do n't know if it 's because they are not willing to grind for the points , '' said meilen tu , one of the five american women still in the singles draw . ''i do n't know if they 're trying to finish the points too quickly . '' she added , ''you 've got to be ready to hit one more ball . '' ginepri suggested that the americans hold a camp before next year 's clay_court season in which they could be tutored by one of the better clay_court players . but the americans will not give up . though they expect pain and disappointment , ginepri said , they will still come to paris , if only to hope for a breakthrough . on the women 's side , four americans , including venus_williams , showed that they could win here . williams made it to the third round in a tight match against her countrywoman ashley harkleroad , 6 1 , 7 6 ( 8 ) , though not without a struggle . williams took control of the match early and was leading by 5 1 in the second set when the mistakes flooded in . suddenly , the score was 5 5 , with the schoolchildren filling the stands wildly cheering every point . ''i really just got overconfident , '' williams said . ''i was just feeling like i could n't lose , and then it was even . so it was definitely a mistake that i 've made before , not often . '' williams fended off five set points to finally win . one of her serves was clocked at 128 miles an hour , setting the record for the fastest women 's serve in a grand_slam event . elsewhere , the no . 1 seeds , roger_federer and justin henin , advanced to capture some attention . still , the day belonged to the russian women . third seeded svetlana kuznetsova , no . 9 anna chakvetadze and no . 10 dinara safina won their matches . but anastasia myskina , who started the wave of russian women 's success in 2004 , got only a quick taste of roland_garros before being sent home . when myskina won the french open in 2004 , she became the first russian woman to win a grand_slam_singles title . the russians have won three titles since , and they continue to occupy many places in the top 10 . myskina returned wednesday , despite missing five months after foot surgery in january . she was in search of the magic that made her a champion three years ago . instead , it was a bittersweet return . it took 55 minutes for her to lose to meghan shaughnessy , 6 1 , 6 0 . myskina , 25 , said she knew she was not going to win a title here , considering the operation that left her left big toe painful and swollen . she did not , however , expect the comeback to be so physically and mentally jolting . now she realizes that the doctors may be right she may never play again , at least at a top level . ''you remember how you used to run or you used to play , and now it 's completely different story , '' she said . ''it 's difficult not to be sad right now , you know , to say like everything is fine . '' it is painful to push off of her left foot , but also to walk normally because of the inflammation . ''you can see that i 'm moving like a big cow now , '' she said . but if her tennis career is waning , or over , myskina said she was not devastated . during her time off , she stayed at home in moscow and realized what life was like without tennis . it was not so bad . myskina said she had a soccer show on television and was providing commentary on tennis tournaments . she continued to practice her tennis game . she described it as ''a great life . '' ''really , i do n't know why i 'm here , '' she said , giggling at the end of her postmatch news conference , which might have been her final one . tennis	has a location of france
lead when some schoolteachers called recently for simplifying the rules of french spelling , french writers and intellectuals quickly condemned the teachers as traitors out to sabotage the hallowed language of voltaire , balzac and proust . when some schoolteachers called recently for simplifying the rules of french spelling , french writers and intellectuals quickly condemned the teachers as traitors out to sabotage the hallowed language of voltaire , balzac and proust . in the teachers' view , the simplification is needed because students spend too many hours memorizing the rules of spelling when those hours might be devoted to studying math or science to help france keep up with west_germany , japan and the united_states . but french literary figures have treated the proposal , which would include removing many circumflex accents , as an assault on the ramparts of linguistic purity . ''it would be a disaster , '' said the novelist francoise sagan . ''french is a superb language with greek and latin roots that should not be debased . it would be extraordinary folly and stupidity . '' ''it 's none of their business to change the rules of spelling , '' said jean dutourd , an author and member of the french academy , the venerable institute of writers that since 1635 has sought to insure proper french grammar and spelling . ''their business is to teach . the french_language has worked spendidly for 400 years . why do they want to change it now ? '' one 'n' or two ? two 'l 's' or one ? the teachers say that the language might work well for illustrious writers and intellectuals , but that it is hell for harried students straining to remember that ''rationnel'' has two ''n 's'' while ''rationalite'' has just one , that ''imbecile'' has one ''l , '' but ''imbecillite'' has two . when the national association of primary_school teachers conducted a poll asking members whether they thought spelling needed to be simplified , the answer was an overwhelming ''oui , '' by a vote of 1 , 035 to 107 . ''it seems that half the time , french people have a dictionary in their hand looking to see how this word or that is spelled , '' said jacques leconte , the retired schoolteacher who conducted the survey . ''keeping french spelling straight may be hard for our students , but it is even harder for foreigners . '' among the challenges is to remember which words add ' 's'' and which add ''x'' in the plural . why does ' 'sou , '' meaning cent , become ' 'sous'' in the plural , while ''chou , '' meaning cabbage , becomes ''choux'' ? 'pedants of the 17th_century' in reporting his survey results , mr . leconte quoted with relish the author paul valery , who said french spelling was ''unhappily fixed , in all its ignorance and absurdity , by pedants of the 17th_century and has not stopped exasperating the foreigner since that time . '' in past centuries , only a small number of french students reached high_school , and with backgrounds in latin , the students absorbed spelling more readily than today . spelling has become a problem , teachers say , because today everyone reaches high_school and students spend more time watching television than learning latin . schoolteachers say one reason that change is needed is that the tens of millions of people in central and north_africa who learn french have a hard time with french spelling because their native languages do not have greek or latin roots . the teachers , many of them left leaning , are also concerned that spelling has become a handy tool for separating the classes . valery made the same point ''the person who writes something the way it is pronounced is , in france , considered inferior to the person who writes something the way it is n't pronounced . '' as usual , it 's political as is so often the case in france , the dispute has become a political issue dividing left and right . the teachers , many of them socialists , are the main force for change , while conservatives have swiftly reacted against it . le_figaro , the right leaning daily newspaper , ran a story lambasting the proposals for simplifying the language , quoting members of the french academy as saying such changes would ' 'massacre'' their beloved french . but le_monde , a left of center daily , said phasing out several dozen illogical spellings ''would be a benefit for everyone . '' le_monde asked why ''homme , '' meaning man , was spelled with two ' 'm 's , '' while a word from the same latin root , ''bonhomie , '' meaning good nature , had only one . the teachers' call for change is by no means the first such proposal . in 1953 , officials from french speaking countries at the united_nations educational , scientific and cultural organization called unanimously for a simplification of french . in 1960 , members of the french academy of sciences called for changes in ''complications that are contrary to good sense , '' but that appeal was to no avail . the specter of the dictee critics of change talk as if the nation would be thrown into anarchy because schoolchildren might learn to spell words one way while their parents continued to spell them another . the french do not seem capable of taking the spelling dispute lightly in part because so many of them lost so much sleep over spelling when they were young . spelling is so important that each year there is a nationally_televised spelling bee , with one contest for students and one for adults . in grade school , an examination called the dictee , where students write out letter for letter , accent for accent , an essay read by a teacher , is of paramount importance . grades are reduced for each forgotten accent , for each double consonant left single . advocates of change note that there have been recent moves to simplify spelling in portugal , spain and the netherlands , with no hand to hand combat over the changes . the government is wary the government , its hands full with strikes and complaints over why students ca n't read , is treading gingerly . education minister lionel_jospin , showing sympathy for the teachers , told a member of the french senate , ''one understands why people ask about the complexity of spelling , since the logic is not always evident . '' but not wanting to stir a storm , he has decided not to name a commission of deep thinkers to study the scheme . ''french is an essential part of our cultural patrimony , '' mr . jospin said , echoing the stalwarts of the french academy . ''i do not wish , in the area of spelling , to substitute a logic that may be debatable and strongly contested for the natural and contradictory peculiarities of tradition and of life . ''	has a location of france
manchester united suspended eric cantona , the striker who was last season 's premier_league player of the year , yesterday for kicking and punching a fan during a match on wednesday . france also dropped cantona , its captain , from the national team . cantona jumped into the stands at crystal_palace and aimed a two footed kick at a spectator who had been taunting him . cantona then punched the fan , matthew simmons , before being restrained by officials and teammates . simmons has been banned from the stadium . the club also fined cantona the maximum sum permissible under his contract , reportedly 32 , 000 . cantona will miss 16 league games as united currently second in the premier_league standing tries to retain the league title it has won for the past two seasons . the suspension comes amid speculation that cantona may be transferred to the italian club inter_milan . ( ap ) sports people soccer	has a location of france
there 's a whole lot of french going on in the city and , for anyone trying to keep track of it all , there is a web_site new york city francophone . an exhaustive electronic clearinghouse of things french in the five boroughs , the site invites you to ''cliquez vous'' around an array of french_language activities in ''la grosse pomme . '' new york city francophone is the brainchild of thomas c . spear , associate professor french at lehman_college and the graduate school of the city_university of new york . ''i started it years ago to make available to students and faculty in the community everything there is to know about french_language movies and readings in new york , '' said mr . spear , who back in the ink and paper days of the mid 80 's would hand out a photocopied guide to his students . new york francophone went on line in 1993 , though the current web_site , which mr . spear said was continually growing , was put up in 1996 . these days , mr . spear said , he tries to emphasize non european french speaking communities . ''most of the people who speak french in new york are not from france , '' he said . ''they are from africa , haiti and other parts of the caribbean . so this site is a means for us at cuny , n.y.u . and columbia to link our efforts in non european french activites , such as meetings , conferences , movies and readings . we are moving the focus of paris as the center of the world to paris as one center of the world . '' but there is plenty of french from france information as well . ''we are closely linked to the french embassy , '' mr . spear said . ''i like the french , too . '' what you see not much visually , but lots and lots of information , in a mix of french and english . categories include associations organismes , now playing in nyc evenements actuels and contacts echanges a i'etranger . there is also information on french_language bookstores , libraries , radio , television and theater . listed in the now playing section are events like ''hommage au senegal , '' a cultural celebration ''marseiles et la provence a new york , '' a film series at the french institute , and a french and english production of a eugene ionesco play ''la cantatrice chauve'' ( ''the bald soprano'' ) , by the ubu repertory_theater . links seemingly_endless . you can check out everything from the french departments at city_university , new york_university and columbia to radio tele to the afrique noire art bookstore . what you get a rather plain looking , academic web_site that can open doors to colorful corners of the city . new york city francophone http_www . lehman . cuny . edu depts langlit french nycfranc . html neighborhood report new york on line	has a location of france
the ceremony , the speeches and the throng of photographers at the net are usually reserved for the final of the french open , but rafael nadal of spain received the full treatment monday after winning his first round match . the victory was his 54th in a row on clay , which broke his tie with guillermo vilas and gave him the record for the longest such streak in the open era . vilas , seldom one to miss a tennis occasion , was there in the stands at the philippe chatrier court , where nadal beat robin soderling of sweden , 6 2 , 7 5 , 6 1 , but not without some difficulty . vilas then walked onto the court with christian b mes , president of the french tennis federation , to present the 19 year old nadal with a glass encased cross section of a clay_court , showing the crushed red brick on top of the layers of sand and gravel . it was an appropriate gift , but in truth , there was a shortage of the red stuff monday , the second day of the tournament . the wind whipped through the stadium throughout the match , sending waves of reddish grit into the chilly air and forcing fans and even the players , at times , to twist away . at one point in the second set , soderling even stuck his face inside the collar of his shirt as he prepared to receive nadal 's serve . a concerned nadal asked the chair umpire if it would be possible to put a little more clay on the baseline to improve the footing . he had a 5 4 lead in the second set at the time . his request could not be granted , and he ended up losing his serve in the next game , shanking ground strokes and hitting other shots too short in the court . soderling quickly helped restore order by losing the 5 5 game at love . it was not spectacular , but it was more than enough . ''one of the worst days to play on clay , because it was not a clay_court , '' nadal said . ''it was a hardcourt today . '' it will still count as a clay_court match , however , and nadal now stands alone in the record book , an unusual place to be with a grand_slam_tournament just beginning . ''obviously , the record is something just extra , '' said nadal , the defending french open champion . ''it 's something you want . you want to go for it , but the first round in a grand_slam_tournament is always difficult . the first round in i think any tournament is difficult , but in a grand_slam there 's a little bit more pressure . ''i 'm very happy , because i started playing very well in spite of the conditions . it was very difficult one of the most difficult matches i have played . '' there was no fanfare or ceremony when vilas established his mark in 1977 . in fact , he said , he was not even aware he held the clay_court record until nadal 's victories started piling up . he said he knew of his open era record for consecutive victories , regardless of surface ( 46 ) , and of his record for tournaments won in a year ( 16 ) , both also accomplished in 1977 . ''i 'm not sad to lose the minor record , '' vilas said , ''but i 'll be mad if he breaks the others . '' nadal 's streak began in april 2005 , with the first round in monte_carlo . since then , he has captured nine clay_court titles , a no . 2 ranking and plenty of respect from his peers and elders . ''it 's a pleasure to see him fighting , '' vilas said . ''he will inspire a new generation of players . i think bjorn_borg and myself , we made every player train harder and prepare physically to endure long matches , and i think we changed the game . this guy is going to tell the guys to get tougher in their head . that 's the way he is . i think that 's the message he puts through when he plays . '' nadal has even been sending that message to the man at the top of the rankings , roger_federer . he has beaten him four times in a row , most recently in an epic final this month in rome . nadal saved two match points in that match , and on monday , he counted that victory and his five set victory over guillermo coria in the rome final in 2005 as the most difficult moments of his streak . the last man to beat nadal on clay , igor andreev of russia , is not even in this tournament he withdrew with an injury . ''you ca n't be a little better than the field you have to be so far above and beyond , '' james blake of the united_states said of the streak by nadal . ''there 's so many days you come out and you 're not a hundred percent . you 're 95 percent . you 're 98 percent . he 's been able to win every one of those . '' blake , who has beaten nadal twice on hardcourts in the last year , won his first round match monday , 6 0 , 6 4 , 7 6 ( 3 ) over paradorn srichaphan of thailand . but the next round represents a big step up for the eighth_seeded blake he faces nicol s almagro , an explosive 20 year old from spain who has had his best results on clay . nadal will take on the unseeded kevin kim of the united_states in the next round . robby ginepri of the united_states , seeded 17th , was close to elimination against another spaniard , albert monta s . he has been enduring a nightmarish season after his run to the united_states open semifinals last year . ginepri was down two sets to one and 0 3 in the fourth when play was suspended until tuesday because of rain . for the united_states women , ashley harkleroad and venus_williams secured their spots in the second round . williams , seeded 11th , advanced with a 6 4 , 6 3 victory over sybille bammer of austria , despite 33 unforced_errors . ''i do n't like to see myself floating randomly outside the top 10 , '' she said . ''it 's not where i belong . '' no . 2 kim_clijsters of belgium moved on to the second round with a 6 0 , 7 6 ( 4 ) victory over the flat hitting virginie razzano of france . alicia molik of australia , a former top 10 player , defeated antonella serra zanetti of italy , 7 5 , 7 6 ( 3 ) . it was her first victory of the year after missing much of the last two seasons because of an inner ear infection that affected her balance .	has a location of france
the headmistress stood at the front of the room on the first day of school and told her 10 10th graders to write legibly , refrain from idle chatter and avoid crazy stunts that could cause accidents . but this was no ordinary school opening . the students are taking part in a historic if uneasy educational experiment the opening of lyc e averro s , the first muslim high_school in france . the goal of the school is to provide muslims with an alternative to public_school education , like those that french catholics , protestants and jews have long enjoyed . the challenge for france is to preserve the country 's secular identity as codified under a century old law on the separation of church and state , meet the demands of its second largest religious community and discourage religious and ethnic separatism all at the same time . the class 's six boys were dressed in unremarkable casual clothing . but the four girls had covered their hair and necks with well secured scarves , a practice normally banned in public schools . they hid the shape of their bodies under dark colored knee length coats and pants . sylvie taleb , the headmistress , her hair and neck swathed in a pale scarf trimmed in pearls , is also a pioneer of sorts . a french born convert to islam and an expert on flaubert , she assumed the new post after teaching french at a local catholic_school for 17 years . she never wore a scarf on the job before . ''children , students , you have answered our calls ! '' the 43 year old ms . taleb exclaimed in her first words of welcome , adding , ''may god help us and guide us in this enterprise . '' no social issue is more pressing for france 's center right government than the integration of the country 's muslims into the fabric of french society . prime_minister jean_pierre_raffarin has warned that france might have to pass a new law imposing secular rule , and president jacques_chirac has formed a commission to make recommendations on the issue of the nation 's secular identity by the end of the year . the creation of muslim schools financed and monitored by the state like other private religious schools is intended to provide muslim youth with the same core education that celebrates the republic 's values as public schools . but there are concerns that it could contribute to the isolation and even radicalization of muslim students as well . ''the problem is not that there are muslim high_schools , it is that there are fundamentalist groups on the edges , '' said jacqueline costa lascoux , a specialist on french secularism and a member of the commission . ''they recruit among the most intelligent students , the ones with the best grades . '' she says any muslim school has to be monitored to ensure that there is no corporal punishment , which she said is allowed in certain koranic schools that freedom of conscience is respected and that there is no ' 'denunciation or even censorship'' of subjects for religious reasons . the high_school in lille , named after a 12th_century spanish arabian philosopher , consists of three unadorned classrooms and a science laboratory so far unequipped on the third floor of al imane mosque , a nondescript brick building in a working_class neighborhood of lille . tuition is 1 , 100 a year . the idea for the school dates back to 1994 , when the mosque began educating 19 muslim high_school girls after they were expelled from public_school for refusing to remove their scarves . as an act of defiance against the state , the mosque set up its own unofficial high_school , asked for volunteer teachers from the community and helped the girls finish their education . the problem was , and is , that no clear regulation on veiling in public schools has ever existed . a ruling in 1989 by france 's council of state declared that religious symbols could not be worn in public schools if they ''constitute an act of intimidation , provocation , proselytizing or propaganda , '' threaten health , security or the freedom of others or ' 'disturb order . '' the ruling was modified three years later to state that the wearing of scarves was valid as long as it was not ''aggressive or proselytizing . '' but it has been left to the discretion of individual schools to decide , and most ban the scarves . indeed , one student at averro s , a 16 year old of moroccan origin who wore a lavender scarf and identified herself only as samira , said she had changed schools over the issue . ''i wore my veil on the way to school only until i got to the gates , '' she said . ''now i do n't have to take it off . now i can be myself without anyone stopping me . the fact that i can wear my veil makes a difference . and it 's part of my personality . '' complicating_matters is that a private religious school in france is an odd construction . almost all of the country 's 9 , 000 private schools , a vast majority of them catholic , are not financed independently but receive about 80 percent of their money from the state . about 20 percent of the country 's student population is currently enrolled in private religious schools . the schools must conform to strict rules , including the use of the same core_curriculum , safety regulations and qualifications for teachers and administrators as any public_school . they are allowed to teach religious subjects only as electives . prayer must be optional . if they meet those requirements , they are eligible for state aid after five years . french officials have expressed anxiety although very privately that the lille mosque is affiliated with the powerful union of islamic organizations in france , which preaches a strict conservative interpretation of islam that emphasizes personal purification and grass roots proselytizing , especially among poor muslim youth , and aims at having an impact on every aspect of a muslim 's life . the group is said to derive its inspiration from the banned fundamentalist islamic brotherhood in egypt , which calls for the imposition of islamic rule via islamic_law and political action . the french organization has encouraged its daughters to test the limits of restrictions on scarves in school by partly covering their heads with bandanas or ribbons . indeed , makhlouf mameche , the associate head of the school and a history and geography teacher , said the veiling of girls at school could be a first step toward persuading the state to loosen its overall bias against head coverings . ''veils are not an obstacle to integration , '' he said . ''accept them . that 's what true democracy is . '' at averro s , school and mosque officials emphasized that the school would uphold the strict french rule on secular teaching and follow the national_curriculum . courses in arabic , islamic culture and history will be offered as electives . koranic studies will be taught for only one hour a week . a female physical_education teacher will conduct coeducational gym classes . there is no requirement that the students be muslim though all of them now are or that the girls go to school veiled . ''the lyc e averro s is not a religious school , '' said amar lasfar , the director of the mosque , who also runs a travel_agency that arranges trips to north_africa and pilgrimages to mecca . ''it 's a general education high_school , except that it exists in a muslim culture and with a muslim sensibility . i do n't see any risk of deviance or of community isolation . '' he called the opening of the school ''a great day for secularism'' and ''a great day for islam in france . ''	has a location of france
lead harry carson , the giants' linebacker , and brian sipe , the former cleveland_browns' quarterback , have been selected by the national_football_league players association and the united_states_information_agency to represent the united_states as ambassadors of good will at the french equivalent of the super harry carson , the giants' linebacker , and brian sipe , the former cleveland_browns' quarterback , have been selected by the national_football_league players association and the united_states_information_agency to represent the united_states as ambassadors of good will at the french equivalent of the super_bowl . the game , for the casque d'or , or gold cup , will be played june 21 at the stade jean bouin in paris . there are 35 teams in france that play american style football , and two of them will meet for the casque d'or . bill peters , a u.s.i.a . spokesman , said the french teams are in what he called a developmental stage . carson and sipe will participate in the u.s.i.a . 's sports america program , which tries to produce good will toward the united_states through sports . they will meet with people from the french teams to explain how football is organized in the united_states and will participate in clinics with youngsters . sports people	has a location of france
tim montgomery had been predicting this moment for much of the last two seasons the end of the maurice greene era and the start of his own . how odd then that when his brash words and enormous talent finally translated into the fastest time in the 100 meters , it seemed to catch him by surprise . when montgomery , the compact 27 year old from gaffney , s.c. , crossed the finish line first today under a pale blue sky in half full charlety stadium , he did not even glance at the clock positioned to his left on the infield . instead , he twisted instinctively to the right , windmilling his arms with pleasure to the crowd at having outsprinted dwain chambers of britain in this otherwise understated i.a.a.f . grand_prix final . ''my goal today was to show everyone by how far i could beat dwain , '' montgomery said . it was not until his coach , trevor graham , chased him down well past the finish line and wrapped him in his arms that montgomery realized he had shown everybody much more . the time on the clock was 9 . 78 seconds one hundredth of a second better than greene 's three year old world record . ''the day was perfect , that 's all i can say the whole race , the whole day , '' montgomery said . ''to break a world record , the race must be perfect , and that 's what happened . '' the conditions were certainly ideal on this mild , gorgeous afternoon . montgomery had a following wind of exactly two meters a second the maximum allowed if a time is to be ratified as a record . a breath of wind more and the celebration would have been much less boisterous . his start was also right on the edge of legal . his reaction time out of the blocks was 104 thousandths of a second , four thousandths of a second above the minimum . but if montgomery came blasting out of the start , he still had 100 meters to run , and though he clearly had command at the midway mark , he did not ease off . wary of chambers , he accelerated smoothly and ruthlessly and never let up until he was well clear of the finish . chambers had to settle for second place , in 9 . 87 seconds , a record for a european . the american jon drummond was third in 9 . 97 . watching from the stands was greene , who was entered and contractually obliged to run in the race but who was allowed to withdraw by the international association of athletics federations after complaining of fatigue and poor form . ''when i saw tim 's time , i said 'oh man ! what was the wind ? ' '' greene said . but the wind was not quite fast enough to save greene 's record or his hard won status as the sprinter to beat . after winning the 100 at the last three world_championships and the last olympics , he has slumped badly this season . chambers has done most of the damage to his aura , beating him five times in six races . but montgomery has remained greene 's primary and most openly antagonistic rival . the two have been exchanging glares and bulletin_board material throughout the season , with montgomery predicting as early as march that greene 's record was ripe for the picking and saying he was ' 'ready to do something that no human has ever done before . '' greene responded by beating him convincingly in the semifinals of the 100 at the united_states championships in june , staring him down with 10 meters to go and shouting , ''this is not a game ! this is real ! '' but the margin was much closer in the final , and last month , at the prestigious one night meet in zurich , montgomery finally beat greene on a big stage . today , he improved on that . greene said ''of course , i would love to be out there . but i only want to be out there if i 'm in 100 percent form , and i 'm not . '' surprisingly , there were no barbs from either man today . ''he ran a very great race it 's all you can say , '' greene said . ''he 's very talented . he 's been gaining confidence and getting better and better . '' when montgomery was asked whether he still considered greene the best 100 meter_runner in history , there was a long pause and lots of chuckling in a room full of reporters . surely , the voluble montgomery would seize his opportunity to gloat . he declined . ''one performance does n't make anyone , '' he said . ''he has proven in major championships that he can overcome anything , and it 's time for me to prove it . i proved it today , but in my mind he 's still greater , by paper . '' but by any measure , montgomery is now faster . he has seen the 100 meter record fall from painfully close range . he ran in the race in lausanne , switzerland , in 1994 when leroy burrell broke the record . he was in the stadium in atlanta two years later when donovan bailey broke it during the olympic 100 meter final . he was in the race in athens when greene broke bailey 's record . but montgomery has long believed his time would come , becoming convinced in 1997 when he broke 10 seconds on six occasions . ''i did not train more than three times a week , so i knew when i got into a program where i was training six times a week and putting in the work that something big was going to happen , '' he said . for the last three years , montgomery has trained with graham in raleigh , n.c . graham also coaches marion_jones , the world 's dominant female sprinter , who often dominates any news conference she attends . she spent most of her time listening today after she and montgomery clinched overall grand_prix titles . ''when you 're able to see something that has never happened before , you are in awe , and that 's pretty much how i am right now , '' she said . track and field	has a location of france
it made page 1 of the nation 's most prestigious newspaper . it plunged spectators clustered around television screens in homes and boulevard cafes into grief and immense gallic shrugs . but , ultimately , said one french student who watched his national team 's exit from the world_cup on his computer screen here today , it was ''the story of a death foretold . '' france , the world soccer champion , had lost 2 0 to lowly denmark . france , the team held in thrall by the star player zinedine zidane , was out . its performance did not even carry it from the first round or notch up a single goal in three games against senegal , uruguay and the danes . ''we would like to have thought that the first two results were aberrations , '' said olivier helias bean , the computer watching , 25 year old student . ''but that was really too difficult to believe . '' it was all , of course , so different from that night in 1998 in the huge stade de france when , with soccer 's hyperbole , a new nation seemed to be rising on the roars that celebrated france 's 3 0 victory over brazil . today was a day for national mourning and national blame . it was suffused with the kind of introspection that illuminates the hold that world class soccer has on those nations that raise their teams as their champions in a joust of nations . ''world_cup france eliminated , '' said the prestigious afternoon newspaper le_monde across page 1 . it called the french team ''champions of missed opportunities . '' glum and accusing this morning , the watchers drifted on . ''i was disgusted , '' said juliette vibes , a 16 year old high_school student . ''the team was too old . there were no good players . '' in 1998 , a million people stormed the champs_lys_es to celebrate france 's first world_cup championship . ''black and white , muslim and christian , arab and asian , the people of paris trooped down the avenue as they had during victory parades after world wars i and ii , '' craig r . whitney of the new york times wrote at the time . not today . among the thousands gathered in front of a huge television screen in central paris , there was a howl of disbelief , then a glum silence . for the losers , there was no forgiveness . ''they deserved it they played badly , '' said christoph charre , a night watchman who rose early to watch the game . marie louise vanharen , a 29 year old doctoral_student , said that because the team had not changed tactics since 1998 , ''everyone knew the french game . '' ''they 're overpaid , '' snapped anne_marie durville , a 45 year old homemaker . ''they were in so many advertisements and getting paid for so much publicity , and now it 's boomeranged on them . '' lucien partry , an 80 year old retiree , concurred . ''they had been in the media so much they thought they were invulnerable . '' ''these blas golden boys no longer had the will , without which even the most simple task is impossible , '' le_monde said . some even tied the defeat to the political rise of the far right national front . ''for france there has been the national front and now defeat in the world_cup , '' said emmanuelle juran , a 22 year old student . ''this is a time of shame . ''	has a location of france
lead about 60 masked_gunmen burst into a vacation camp on this island today and held tourists at gunpoint while they set off explosives to destroy vacation homes . about 60 masked_gunmen burst into a vacation camp on this island today and held tourists at gunpoint while they set off explosives to destroy vacation homes . the police said about 15 tourists , most of them germans , were seized by the raiders and taken into a restaurant , where they were gagged and bound and held for more than two hours . the gunmen , suspected of belonging to the corsican national liberation front , set off explosives that destroyed two thirds of the 60 or so bungalows in the camp , near bastia in the north . there were no casualties .	has a location of france
to the sports editor one of my problems with the cbs coverage of the olympics is the time spent on commercials . richard sandomir reports 10 1 2 minutes of commercials per hour ( " when the time is right , so is cbs , " the times , feb . 15 ) . i timed the commercials on monday , feb . 17 , with the following results during the live hockey game between 2 and 5 p.m. , i recorded 36 minutes , or 12 minutes per hour , of commercials . during the evening primetime i recorded 19 minutes of commercials between 8 and 9 p.m. , 17 minutes between 9 and 10 p.m. , and 15 1 2 minutes between 10 and 11 p.m . if this is n't enough to drive anyone to pbs , what is ? bernard kleinman brooklyn	has a location of france
the world_cup final today between france and italy may be zin dine zidane 's last game . then again , it may not be . zidane , a 34 year old midfielder for france , has had a renaissance of sorts during the monthlong tournament in germany . he had long said he would retire after the world_cup . but there is a possibility he could soon join his compatriot youri djorkaeff in the midfield for the new york red_bulls of major_league_soccer , according to several people involved in soccer in the new york area who were granted anonymity because of their unofficial relationship to the club . zidane 's contract with real_madrid has expired , so he would not cost m.l.s . a transfer fee . by contrast , ronaldo , a brazilian striker who was zidane 's teammate in spain , was reportedly offered a_10 year , 120 million deal by the red_bulls and could command a transfer fee of more than 50 million . zidane , with his skill , tactical sense and field vision , could easily play several more years in a less stressful environment in the united_states , if he can be lured out of retirement by the red_bulls . eric tosi , a red_bulls spokesman , said by telephone from texas that the club had no comment on any player or front office transactions . the red_bulls ( 2 6 8 ) , who are in last place in the eastern conference , lost by 2 1 to f.c . dallas last night in frisco , tex . dominic oduro and david wagenfuhr scored first half goals for dallas , and mike magee narrowed the gap in the 80th minute for the red_bulls . red_bull , the austrian based maker of a popular energy drink , purchased the club in march and changed the name from the metrostars . last week , djorkaeff received permission to return to france to attend to family business , but he was shown on television sitting in the stands on july 1 during france 's victory over brazil in the quarterfinals . djorkaeff was a teammate of zidane 's when france won the 1998 world_cup . ''no doubt youri 's mother is sick , but it 's not far fetched to think that youri went there to talk to zidane , '' shep messing , a television analyst for espn and the red_bulls , said yesterday in a telephone interview from houston . ''why would n't he come to new york to play for a year ? will he ? i really do n't know . '' germany wins third place game capping its jubilant world_cup run in style , host germany defeated portugal by 3 1 yesterday on two sensational goals by bastian schweinsteiger . he also set up another , when his free kick was deflected in for an own goal by armando petit of portugal . portugal added a late goal when nuno gomes headed in a cross from lu s figo , who came in as a second half substitute . winning the third place medal was an unexpected achievement for the young german team behind their innovative coach , j rgen klinsmann , and gave the home fans one last chance to party . the germans savored the celebration that followed , locking arms , waving_flags and smiling beneath the popping lights of camera flashes and fireworks . the sellout_crowd of 52 , 000 serenaded the team for 20 minutes in stuttgart 's gottlieb daimler stadium . ''these are special moments , '' klinsmann said . ''we told the players to soak them up . '' ( ap ) rooney barred striker wayne rooney was suspended yesterday for two competitive international matches and fined 4 , 085 by a fifa disciplinary panel , which reviewed his ejection from england 's quarterfinal loss to portugal . two argentine players were suspended for being in a skirmish after their quarterfinal loss to germany . leandro cufre was barred for four matches and fined 8 , 170 for kicking germany defender per mertesacker , and maxi rodr_guez was suspended for two matches and fined 4 , 085 for throwing punches . ( ap ) soccer notebook correction july 20 , 2006 , thursday a sports article on july 9 about the possibility that zin dine zidane , the french soccer star , would join the new york red_bulls of major_league_soccer next season referred incorrectly to his availability . to obtain zidane , the red_bulls would indeed have to pay a transfer fee because he has one year left on his contract with real_madrid it has not expired .	has a location of france
like so many other sigh filled days and nights of the past two years , this one ended for pete_sampras earlier than he expected as he walked off the court once again searching for his gilded game . at the very least , he had hoped to find some confidence in a warm up tournament for the united_states open . but sampras left himself with a long week of practice . paul henri mathieu of france , 20 years old and ranked no . 85 , defeated sampras in a spirited 2 hour 20 minute first round match , 6 3 , 6 7 ( 7 ) , 6 4 , at the td waterhouse cup ( formerly the hamlet cup ) at the hamlet golf and country club . ''i wanted to do more here , i needed some confidence , i needed some matches , '' sampras said heavily , before repeating his refrain ''i 'm not panicking here . i lost to someone who was playing really well , as well as he could play . i wish i had done a little bit better here . '' sampras , who turned 31 a week ago , has not won a tournament in 33 attempts , dating to his record breaking 13th grand_slam title , at wimbledon in 2000 . and yet , his eyes brightened at the prospect of returning to the place where he is a four time champion , even if he is seeded a career low 17th at the united_states open . ''but you have to remember who i am and where i 'm playing next week , '' he said . ''i know i 've had a pretty disappointing year , and it is the u.s . open , that 's where i shine , and that 's where i hope i shine . i know i 've done well there , but it 's a long run . i hope i can get myself going and get myself in contention there . i 'm a little discouraged , but you got to look at the big picture . '' for mathieu , the picture is unfolding in front of him . with blistering service returns , brazen passing shots and unfailing confidence , mathieu did what he was unable to do in june dismantle a legend . he won the first two sets against andre_agassi in the round of 16 at the french open this season , but agassi responded by winning the last three sets , 6 3 , 6 3 , 6 3 . this time , mathieu would not give in . ''this is the biggest win of my career , '' he said . ''i had the same feeling i had against agassi in the french open . you see them on tv but you try not to be in awe of them . '' mathieu was anything but awestruck in his backward baseball_cap , shouting ''come on ! '' rallying cries with his french accent that sounded like the world 's no . 1 player , lleyton_hewitt of australia . mathieu punctuated a fierce first set by ripping a backhand down the line . in the second set , sampras fought off four break points in the seventh game and two match points in the tie_breaker . in the seventh game of the third set , mathieu fended off three break points . after a linesman called sampras 's next shot out , sampras yelled in frustration because he said he knew his shank shot spun in , and the chair umpire overruled . mathieu walked over to the chair umpire and said ''you know why you do that ? because he 's pete_sampras . '' afterward , sampras smiled and said , ''it 's about time , if my reputation does n't help out there when it comes to line calls , i do n't know what would . '' last year , sampras got to the final here before losing to tommy haas , and defeated patrick_rafter , agassi and marat_safin at the united_states open before losing to hewitt in the final . this season , he has reached only one final losing to andy_roddick in houston this past april . ''i just need one close match to get through and all of a sudden things can explode , '' sampras said . ''i know i can turn it around very quickly . i 've been patient all year working hard , doing all the things i should be doing to break through and win some titles here . the most frustrating part of the year is that i have nothing to show for it . '' tennis	has a location of france
as anyone who has embarked on a long distance home renovation will testify , such projects are prone to delays , disappointments and sometimes disaster . ''my friends warned me 'you are a fool . he does n't speak english and your french is appalling . it will take three years , ''' said susan jacobs , a new york based advertising sales executive . she wanted to employ a local builder to add two rooms , totaling 70 square meters , or 750 square_feet , a covered patio and a swimming pool to her vacation home in the dordogne region of southwest france . to her friends' surprise , and surpassing even ms . jacobs 's most optimistic expectations , the story of her addition is the stuff of householder dreams and she credits dominique legoux . in october , nine months after the start of construction , ms . jacobs bustled about her new master bedroom suite sitting room , planning a dinner party to celebrate the unprecedented success of her transatlantic building adventure . ''you can be on the spot and all hell can happen . i 've been 3 , 000 miles away and it 's been heaven , '' she explained . ''dominique did exactly what he said he would do and in less than nine months . '' ms . jacobs is no newcomer to the dordogne , having owned her house called ''la boite d'allumettes , '' because it is as small as a matchbox for the last 20 years . and experience might have given weight to the warning . she described her original purchase of some dilapidated agricultural out buildings as ''a hen house and a pig singeing operation with a terracotta domed oven , where the animals were prepared into hams , sausages and tripe . '' she added , ''i bought the footprint of the building , most of which was torn down , salvaging some tiles , some stone and the fireplace . '' as a stipulation of the sale , the owner , an english artist living in the large house across the road , would build a two floor , two bedroom house for ms . jacobs . ''it took two years and doing it nearly killed him off . we had the most frightful fight , '' she said . ''he was going through a divorce and he walked off the job without finishing it completely . '' a few years ago , she decided to add to the one hectare , or two and a half acre , property and began negotiations with a neighboring farmer . negotiations stalled , but re opened with alacrity when she returned a year later . ''my maid was almost gray with worry , '' ms . jacobs said . ''the farmer had put in for building permission to construct an old ladies' home right where the pool is today . i was in a state of shock . we negotiated for the whole month i was here . i finally got the two hectares , plus written in the deed that no building would take place in the farmer 's fields for 12 , 000 . he was thrilled , and actually so was i . '' in august 2005 , the plans drawn up by french architect were approved during her summer vacation visit and she began to look for a builder . and through friends of friends , ms . jacobs discovered mr . legoux . the builder and his craftsmen had come to the rescue of the owners of a beautiful chartreuse , or small manor , built in 1823 on the ruins of a small 12th_century chateau near brantome , france . the first contractor had left the house ''with only half a roof after 18 months of work and looking worse than when we bought it , '' said sally ridley day , the owner . ''we were on the verge of selling up when we met dominique through the real_estate agent . '' impressed by his work for the ridley days , ms . jacobs chose mr . legoux 's estimate over those of three other contenders . in november 2005 , mr . legoux took ms . jacobs shopping in nearby riberac . with the help of a bilingual houseguest , they went over the plans , deciding on quality of materials and where to put light fixtures , switches and electrical outlets . construction was to begin the following january . ms . jacobs hoped for completion by the end of 2006 mr . legoux figured it at just six months . then , his regular mason fell ill and the starting date had to be rescheduled so he could find a replacement . from february to april of this year , an outside staircase on the original house was demolished and excavation began foundations were laid for the new rooms and the pool . as the work took shape , mr . legoux updated his client by e mail . ''he was at the house every day and sent photos every week of what had been done , '' ms . jacobs said . ''i saw immediately how it was progressing . '' the builder also sent photos of different doors and the air_conditioning heating unit , as well as samples of various paints . when ms . jacobs arrived at the end of april , the walls were up , roof tiles were laid and work on the interiors was beginning . but by then , the builder had decided to find yet another mason . ''i 'm a perfectionist , maybe too much so , but i want to be proud of what i have done , '' mr . legoux explained . from may to october , work on the pool , which had been delayed , took off with the new mason reinforcing the structure . indoors , insulation , partitions and plasterboard were installed . mr . legoux painted the interior walls himself . floor tiles and then the bathroom wall tiles were placed . outdoors , the patio tiles were finished and roughcast was applied to the exterior walls . by mid september , when ms . jacob 's container of furniture arrived from her former weekend house in upstate new york , the house extension and pool were in the final stages . just before she arrived in october , however , ms . jacobs discovered ''the only hiccup , lost in translation . '' ''i wanted heating in the pool and he thought i did n't and was saving the money , '' she said . they are going over options to correct it . the price of the project was 15 , 000 for architectural plans and 200 , 000 in building costs . mrs . jacobs declared herself ''thrilled'' with her new domain . ''the quality is absolutely wonderful , '' she said , adding of mr . legoux '' ''he has been able to handle me and my french . that is a test of patience ! ''	has a location of france
france 's soccer coach , gerard houllier , resigned yesterday , eight days after the national team was eliminated from the 1994 world_cup . although houllier had a contract through 1994 , the resignation was considered imminent after france lost nov . 17 to bulgaria in the final minute and failed to qualify for next summer 's tournament in the united_states . ( ap ) sports people soccer	has a location of france
when christie welsh was a youngster , her father accidentally entered her in a beauty_pageant , believing he had signed her up to play baseball in the little miss little league . ''they gave me no . 13 and my mom kept telling me it was really bad luck , '' welsh said on her web_site . ''i ended up winning this beauty_pageant thing , and from that point on , i always wanted to wear no . 13 . '' until now , that is . in her new job playing for olympique lyonnais in france , welsh ''wears whatever jersey they give me because they just sort of toss them out , '' she said . as a junior at penn_state in 2001 , welsh , a striker from massapequa park , n.y. , won the hermann trophy as player of the year in women 's college soccer . she also played in the defunct women 's united soccer association for her hometown new york power . she has parachuted in and out of the united_states national team program the past couple of years . in landing softly in a field of clover last month , welsh scored five goals and led the united_states to its third straight championship at the algarve cup in portugal . she is part of a changing of the guard that is likely to transform the national team as it prepares for the 2007 world_cup in china without a domestic professional league as a backstop . on friday , greg ryan , who picked welsh for the team when he coached the united_states in the algarve , was named the coach of the women 's national team . ''training in lyon definitely helped my performance in portugal , '' welsh said recently in a telephone interview from france . ''it has been especially nice to have the other american girls here so we can all do things together . our practices with the team have been filled with a lot of playing , which i think has only benefited all of us . '' the absence of a women 's professional league in the united_states , and the unlikely prospects for resuscitating the w.u.s.a. , have sent american players to germany , sweden , england and france . lyon engineered a package deal in december , signing welsh , goalkeeper hope solo , defender danielle slaton and midfielders lorrie fair and aly wagner . last year , welsh and solo played for different teams in sweden . their six month contracts , which pay about 30 , 000 through the end of the season , include housing and two cars for the five women . they live in a residential hotel within walking distance of lyon 's stadium and first class training facilities . the men 's team from lyon , a city in eastern france , is on track to win its fourth straight title in the country 's top division and has advanced to the quarterfinals of the european_champions league . the lyon women are unlikely to win the french title this season , but the city is committed to building a top women 's team as continental club competitions become more important in europe . last summer , welsh was one of the last players cut from the united_states olympic team by april heinrichs , the former national team coach . the team went on to win the gold_medal in athens . ( welsh was also one of the final cuts in 2000 , when the united_states won a silver_medal in sydney , australia . ) on the long drive home from tryouts in california , welsh received an offer she could n't refuse . ''i was heartbroken , '' welsh , 24 , said . ''i thought i had played the very best i could . it was very hard . on the way home i got a call about sweden . my coach from penn_state once asked me about playing overseas , and i said that i did n't think that 's me . but when i got the call , i decided i was ready for something new . '' for many players first men , now women the notion of going to europe to play soccer has been like the holy_grail , confirmation that they have made it in the world 's sport . but leaving home , friends , family and familiarity may not be for everyone . welsh admits that she has struggled with the language and a different approach to the game at lyon . ''you can look at it two ways that we are being forced to go overseas to play soccer , but then at the same time it is great , a privilege to play soccer in europe , that we are wanted , '' welsh said . ''i am glad to have this opportunity , but i would love and hope that something happens with the league at home so i do n't have to keep uprooting my life to keep doing this . she added ''in sweden , english is like their second language . as americans , it 's hard for us to come over here . we 're used to having a set schedule and set plans . here things seem to be much more spur of the moment . that 's o.k. , but you have to be ready for it . things are slower . things happen , but only when they sort of get around to it . '' soccer	has a location of france
the criticism piled upon tim_mccarver during his 16 day stint as co host of cbs 's prime time winter_olympics broadcasts was unlike anything the lauded baseball analyst had ever experienced . the large chorus of disapproval said mccarver was miscast in albertville , france , that without previous hosting and olympic experience he lacked the right stuff for the job . but cbs did n't let mccarver be mccarver . his duties to read scripts off teleprompters , tell stories about athletes to fill time , manufacture immediate chemistry with his co host , paula zahn , and work in fits and starts until 5 a.m . conspired against mccarver 's talents for wit , analysis and spontaneity . " i expected some of the criticism , but i did n't think it would be to the degree it was initially , " mccarver said . " i do n't think anybody would have gone into that anchor position without realizing that jim_mckay was the dominant anchor and host of the olympics . the natural thing was to compare . " mccarver 's elevation to prime time anchor was cbs 's recognition of his popularity , of his attraction to female viewers . but cbs played down the importance of the roles of mccarver and zahn , keeping them on the air for no more than 15 minutes a night , using them as ports of call between events , features or commercial breaks . in praising their performance , howard stringer , the president of the cbs broadcast group , said they " were effective transitions . " what a geyser of praise ! imagine roone arledge , the former president of abc_sports , calling jim_mckay an " effective transition . " " from day one , " said mccarver , " we were told we would be venue oriented . we realized that people were n't tuning in to see paula and me , but to see the events . i knew what i was in for . it was n't a surprise . " his best work consisted of ad libbed interviews with analysts like john davidson ( hockey ) and scott hamilton ( figure_skating ) or athletes like hockey goaltender ray leblanc . " i ca n't say it was more enjoyable than looking into the camera or talking to paula , " he said . " it was just different . " mccarver , speaking by telephone from his pennsylvania home , had rested for a few days in geneva before his return thursday night . zahn , however , was back at her " cbs this morning " co host perch last tuesday . mccarver will not work again until saturday , a wwor broadcast of a mets exhibition_game in florida . " i kept an eye on the sports pages while i was in france , although i wo n't be as prepared as i normally would be , " he said . did he miss his wwor playmate , ralph kiner , master tale spinner and malapropster ? " there 's a certain amount of ralph i always miss when i 'm not with him , " said mccarver . mccarver did not return home noticeably numbed by the criticism of his performance in albertville . in fact , an exhibition baseball game seems puny in comparison . " it was the experience of a lifetime , " he said of the olympics . " the hours were killers . you do n't have a chance to kick up your heels . it 's not a celebratory type of fun , but the fun of realizing you 're doing what 's asked of you . everything was so new for me . i loved it . it was one of the great experiences of my life . " his lobster shift found him coming to the broadcast center between 4 p.m . and 7 p.m . meetings and studio work kept the prime time crew working until 5 a.m . mccarver and zahn 's segments were not always shown on the air in the order that they were taped . after completing each show , mccarver slept from 6 a.m . to 12 30 p.m . after lunch , it was a short time before he was back in the studio . he watched few events in person visiting the hockey arena twice and seeing some women 's downhill skiing from a window in his hotel room . he got out of the studio only to work on one feature , which was not aired . the hours and the flu circulating around the olympic venues laid low more than a few cbs staffers . " one night , " said mccarver , " i did n't know if i could get through the broadcast . i felt i would lose it . my stomach and head hurt . but when i woke up the next day , it was gone . then i got a bad head cold . " mccarver professes not to possess any lofty studio ambitions though he confesses to being fascinated by the ins and outs of studio production and says it 's too early to say whether he wants to repeat his olympics gig when cbs goes north to lillehammer , norway , in 1994 . mccarver 's mind has now shifted to remembering the difference between a slider ( of the luge variety ) and a slider ( of the john_franco variety ) . tv sports	has a location of france
does knowledge inhibit the imagination ? is a coherent thought necessarily true ? can a work of art be considered immoral ? or how about this one ? is passion compatible with wisdom ? o.k . now , over the next four hours , write a five page dissertation on one of these topics . year in , year out , the rite of passage from france 's senior high_schools is unchanged , and last month no fewer than 570 , 000 french students around the age of 18 set about trying to show that , while perhaps not yet budding philosophers , they already knew how to discuss an abstract subject . france is still the only country in the world that requires the study of philosophy in high_school . but , more than instilling a smattering of knowledge about hobbes or voltaire or locke or marx , this policy aims to teach young french men and women how to think to think in the french way . " at this stage , it 's a rhetorical exercise , a question of being able to present an argument , " said luc ferry , a philosophy teacher , " and , since victor cousin in the mid 19th_century , this has been done through the method of presenting a thesis , an antithesis and a synthesis . " in high_schools and , above all , in the " baccalaureat " examination , the topics are chosen to force young minds into new areas through analysis of , say , truth or conscience or freedom . " all my students want to discuss is love , " one high_school teacher said with a laugh . in the exam room they have to be ready for more . last year 's questions included , is reality always realistic ? among questions presented for dissection two years ago were can self knowledge be sincere ? and , more mischievously , how do you know that a problem is philosophical ? yet , in the land of descartes , it is the method that has had most lasting effect . as soon discovered by anyone who has sat in a smoke filled left bank cafe or around an elegant paris dinner table , good conversation involves taking a subject , examining it from all sides and conceptualizing it to the point that a conclusion becomes irrelevant . indeed , such is the fascination with philosophizing more than philosophy that each year newspapers publish the questions asked of students in their " bac philo " exam and invite philosophers to write their own model answers . and even years later , it seems , everyone remembers the question they answered and the mark they were awarded in philosophy . this cerebral and even ethereal approach to life 's dilemmas in turn affects the way french society as a whole works , including politics and diplomacy . and perhaps here lies the secret to why the french and " anglo saxons , " as they call americans and britons , have so much trouble understanding each other . " the french always go from the general to the particular , " said jack_lang , a former culture and education minister . he promptly recalled that his " bac philo " essay was on " happiness " and that he got 18 out of 20 points . " the anglo saxons start with a concrete fact and reason from that . they call a cat a cat . we like to blah_blah blah . " for mr . ferry , the anglo_saxon tradition of analytical philosophy can be summarized by the phrase we have a problem and must find a solution . " in contrast , in france , through voltaire and diderot and rousseau , ours is more of a political or social philosophy , " he said . " only the germans have created great metaphysical systems . " mr . ferry went even further . " we do n't have any true philosophers in france today , " he said . " we have intellectuals galore . we even invented the word 'intellectual . ' but what we have are intellectuals who call themselves philosophers and a host of professors who are more historians of philosophy . " dominique bourdin , who teaches philosophy in an underprivileged paris suburb , said she nonetheless enjoyed the recognition her expertise brought her . " my teaching colleagues are often intimidated by us , " she said . " they 'll come and ask us to discuss philosophical aspects of their disciplines . " the same enthusiasm is not always apparent among students , above all those studying mathematics , sciences and technical subjects . " the course was a waste of time , " said laurent delahaye , 18 , who plans to study economics in college . " still , perhaps it developed my critical faculties , who knows . " mrs . bourdin , whose students are unlikely to join the french elite , said she felt that even a couple of hours of philosophy lessons a week made a difference . " even if they do n't retain much , they have asked some questions and they know there are more questions to be asked , " she said . for the " bac philo " exam , france is divided into four regions and , within each region , there are three sets of questions , depending on whether the student specializes in humanities , social_sciences and pure sciences . each student can pick between two questions and a commentary on a philosophical text . humanities students , who take eight hours of philosophy a week , are expected to do best . this year , those in the paris area had to chose between the questions , " is a philosopher necessarily a man of his times ? " and , " is reason a guarantee against deception ? " or they could discuss a text by st . augustine on war and peace . diego bunuel , 18 , a humanities student who plans to major in political_science at northwestern_university , said his philosophy studies had taught him to question . " in philosophy , you can talk about everything , " he said . " the subjects i prefer are passion , religion , the state , law , violence , justice and death . " karen micmacher , 20 , who will study law at college , said her only regret was that she had not begun philosophy sooner . " it has changed my whole way of thinking , " she said . " i feel like it has been a voyage into history . " then , as if to stress she is now truly french , she added , " i have learned how to reason . "	has a location of france
s gol ne royal , the socialist candidate for president , took her campaign on tuesday to the tough parisian suburb that set off nationwide unrest in 2005 , assuring residents there that they were ''not a problem'' for france . it was in the suburb , clichy sous bois , that two teenagers were electrocuted in october 2005 as they apparently ran away from the police . the deaths incited a three week spasm of violence in which rioters throughout france torched thousands of cars , trashed businesses and ambushed police officers and firefighters . little has improved in the country 's troubled suburbs since then . but voter_registration in france has soared in recent months , and for the first time in french presidential electoral politics , the vote of the alienated and disadvantaged ethnic arab and black african citizens may be a factor . in clichy sous bois , for example , a town of 23 , 000 , the number of registered voters has increased by more than 25 percent since the unrest in 2005 . ms . royal is portraying herself as the mother protector of france , a healing force who cares about the underdog . by contrast , her main rival , interior_minister nicolas_sarkozy , the candidate of the governing center right union for a popular movement party , has yet to shed his image as the enemy of france 's underclasses . shortly before the widespread unrest in the fall of 2005 , mr . sarkozy was in the parisian suburb argenteuil when he called angry young suburbanites ' 'scum . '' that remark , combined with his huge deployment of police to return the country to calm after rioting broke out and his criticism of france 's immigration_policy as too lenient , has contributed to his image as a man who is feared rather than loved . he was in madrid on tuesday , burnishing his credentials as a statesman by meeting with prime_minister jos luis rodr_guez zapatero and other spanish officials . with the first round of france 's presidential_election only 54 days away , the two leading candidates are grappling with the stunning rise in the polls of fran_ois bayrou , the head of the centrist union for french democracy party and a former education minister who has been nicknamed ''the third man'' by the french media . mr . bayrou , 55 , who is a deputy in parliament , a farmer , a horse breeder and an author of books on french history and politics , visited another poor parisian suburb , mantes la jolie , last friday . he proposed ''a grand project of national unity'' for the suburbs , and stressed the importance of giving the town 's young people ''the same opportunities , the same options'' they could find in henri iv , one of the best high_schools in paris . according to a nationwide poll of 957 registered voters conducted on friday and saturday by ipsos , a survey based research group , mr . bayrou is expected to capture 18 percent of the vote in the first election round on april 22 . mr . sarkozy would receive 31 percent and ms . royal 26 percent , according to ipsos . jean marie le pen , the far right national front candidate who came in second behind president jacques_chirac in the first round in the 2002 elections , would trail with 13 percent . the margin of sampling_error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage_points , ipsos said . in a 90 minute question and answer session on tf1 , the leading french television_channel , on monday_night , mr . bayrou pledged to free france from the ''impasse'' of the ''perpetual war'' between the main parties . in a france inter radio interview on monday , the 53 year old ms . royal called mr . bayrou 's idea to bring the two main parties into a new coalition ' 'very dangerous , '' adding that he is sowing confusion and trying to prevent the french from choosing between ''two opposing political visions . '' on tuesday , during her carefully_scripted three hour visit to clichy sous bois , she pledged to create jobs and improve security and education for poor neighborhoods . ''nothing 's been done since the riots , '' ms . royal said at a meeting with community leaders . she added , ''discrimination , jobs and delinquency will be my first priorities . '' some people in the town who heard ms . royal 's message said they were unconvinced that she could deliver on her promises . ''we are not stupid , '' said a 32 year old rap artist and member of a group that promotes the suburbs , aclefeu , who identified himself only as axiom . ''it 's very smart politically that she responded to our calls . but we will stay watchful . '' wafika ouahhbi , an 18 year old student , said , ''i 'm not very convinced by her . '' she added , ''there are more registered voters , and she knows these voters are going to matter . these politicians if there were n't votes here , they would n't come . '' the closest mr . sarkozy has come to visiting a tough ethnic neighborhood during the campaign was a brief visit last friday to the southern city of perpignan , stopping in a neighborhood in which much of the population is of immigrant origin . the visit was kept secret from the traveling news_media until the last minute , and was held in a controlled setting in a community center , not on the streets . even now , mr . sarkozy says he has no regrets for his remarks in argenteuil . he told the american television host charlie_rose last month that he had merely repeated the term ' 'scum'' after it had been used by a female resident on the night he visited . ''she opened her window , '' he recollected . ''she was a north_african lady . and she said to me , 'mr . sarkozy , get rid of the scum . ' and i said , 'i 'm there precisely for that , to get rid of the scum for you . i used the same term as that of the lady . ' '' fran_ois hollande , the leader of the socialist_party and the father of ms . royal 's four children , said tuesday that it would be unwise for mr . sarkozy to visit the poor neighborhoods of france . ''he cannot go to certain neighborhoods without there being incidents , '' mr . hollande said in an interview with an all news cable channel .	has a location of france
lead a foreign exchange student has been ordered to return to france because she visited her homeland for christmas week instead of staying to watch americans celebrate the holidays . a foreign exchange student has been ordered to return to france because she visited her homeland for christmas week instead of staying to watch americans celebrate the holidays . ''it 's ridiculous , '' the student , nathalie dandel , 19 years old , said . ms . dandel , who had attended city high_school here , said she was homesick when she decided to fly to paris on dec . 27 . she returned jan . 3 . but her sponsor , american intercultural student exchange of tacoma park , md . , and the family she was living with say she had been warned against going home and now faces the end of her schooling in the united_states . ''nathalie was absolutely aware of the a.i.s.e . position on a vacation to france over the holiday , '' said cheryl poole of grand_rapids , who was ms . dandel 's host . ms . dandel , now living with another grand_rapids couple who support her bid to remain in the united_states , has hired a lawyer to fight efforts to send her back to france . american intercultural has withdrawn its sponsorship and ordered her to leave . ''she went home when repeatedly told that leaving was grounds to send her home , '' said carol merchant , american intercultural 's michigan coordinator . ''she has broken several rules , and we are doing what the government said in the guidelines we must do . ''	has a location of france
roland_garros is the house that the four mousquetaires built , and today their latest generation of successors stood at various stages of attention as the draw for this year 's davis_cup semifinal was conducted . henri cochet , jean borotra , jacques brugnon and ren lacoste are all dead , part of tennis lore , and in the case of lacoste a part of sportswear lore , as well . but their bronze statues ring a square at roland_garros that bears their nickname . and as the french and american teams gathered inside the world 's most famous clay_court stadium , there , in front of the tousle haired young stars like andy_roddick and s bastien grosjean , were borotra , ''the bounding basque , '' leaping high for an overhead , and cochet , stretching for a forehand . ''i knew all four of them , '' said georges deniau , france 's former davis_cup coach and one of many french tennis luminaries in attendance . ''and for me it is marvelous to see , 70 years later , that there is this mix of the past and the present for this ceremony . they were different men , but they had one common trait , and it was that they were very open and encouraging to young players . '' they wanted the bourgeois game they played to continue thriving , and they would surely have liked what they saw today . tennis might not rival soccer here or anywhere else in europe for popularity and attention , but it remains a vibrant crowd pleaser in france , where the 15 , 000 tickets to this semifinal were sold in a matter of days earlier this year . though the americans invented the davis_cup in 1900 and have won it more times than any other nation , the culture of this rollicking , oft dramatic team event is now more strongly anchored in this country , which has just 9 cup victories to 31 for the united_states . la coupe davis generates widespread interest and emotion here never more than in 1991 when the current french captain , guy_forget , and henri leconte shocked pete_sampras , andre_agassi and the americans in the final in lyon . but la coupe stirs up warm , nostalgic feelings , too , especially on these grounds , which were built in a hurry after the mousquetaires placed france more firmly on the world sporting map by defeating bill tilden and the americans in 1927 in philadelphia . the french needed a stadium worthy of the rematch , and though tilden would dispose of lacoste in the opening match in 1928 , the mousquetaires would defend the title in style . they then defeated the americans in the final the next four years . the last of those successes came here in 1932 , although it was a less gallant display . with france leading , 2 1 , and a match from victory , borotra served an apparent double fault against wilmer allison on match point . allison celebrated by smacking a ball into the stands and approached the net , only to realize that the second serve had never been called out . borotra went on to win the match , and the french won the cup . ''we 're hoping that wo n't happen this time , '' deadpanned the american captain , patrick mcenroe , today during a good humored news conference . his cross generational american team features the 20 year old roddick , the 20 year old mardy fish , the 22 year old james blake and the 32 year old todd_martin . it does not feature agassi or sampras , who faced off in the united_states open final less than two weeks ago , with sampras winning his 14th grand_slam_singles title . agassi 's and sampras 's commitment to the davis_cup has experienced gallic like mood swings over the years , and though the presence of either would have raised the profile of this semifinal , mcenroe and martin are philosophical and optimistic . ''i 've said it from the start , '' mcenroe said . ''it 's not worth it to have guys who are n't excited about it . it wo n't be successful in the long run . '' martin , who is part of sampras 's and agassi 's generation , said ''this is a completely , completely different composition of the team . we 've had more camaraderie this time than i can remember . in the past , everybody was still there as individuals . here , these three young guys seriously enjoy being together all the time . it 's like nothing i 've experienced in my time in davis_cup . it 's preparing me for parenthood . '' the actual competition begins friday , when roddick is scheduled to face arnaud cl_ment in the opening singles match . next , the fast rising blake will face grosjean in a replay of their second round match at this year 's french_open , which grosjean won in four sets . a doubles match is to be played saturday , followed by the two reverse singles matches sunday . the winner will face either russia or argentina . the french are the defending champions , and despite roddick 's and blake 's youthful enthusiasm and superior power , they deserve to be the slightest of favorites here if grosjean is healthy . while the americans are building camaraderie under mcenroe , the french already have it , and is n't it a french word , after all ? tennis	has a location of france
call these the spectator games , too . there has never been a winter_olympics spread over more than 600 square miles . in the bus , out of the bus . no , you ca n't get there by car . only official business . walk ? with inches to spare between you and the village 1 , 000 feet below ? even events nearby , as the crow flies , do n't count . the way these mountain roads twist , a mile or two can take 20 minutes by vehicle . so to call these the albertville games is like calling the football team the new york giants . on the map it appears close , but you ca n't walk to giants_stadium from broadway , and it can take up to two hours to try to get from albertville to other olympic sites . it will be different , much different , at the 1994 games in lillehammer , norway . there are seven athletes' villages here , which indicate how far it is from place to place . in lillehammer , there will be only two . the only events held in albertville which became prominent centuries ago as the gateway to france because of pilgrimages to the holy_land are figure_skating and speed_skating , except for the opening and closing ceremonies . it 's all spread out " we knew the games would be spread out over a region , not a city , " conceded michele verdier , spokeswoman for the international_olympic_committee . " it would be over winding mountain roads . " as the games drew to a close , she pronounced , " it has been a positive outcome to games that presented a very real challenge . " the guiding spirit behind having the games as a celebration of the savoy and all the extra travel that entailed was jean_claude_killy , the three time skiing gold medalist of 1968 who has adopted this area even though he was born in paris . his co chairman of the organizing_committee is a local politican and member of the national_assembly , michel_barnier . they wanted all of the savoy region involved . killy estimated that by bringing the games here , " the building of roads has been speeded up by 15 years . " no price_gouging here for the most part , prices have been kept down by killy fiat . the exception is the top level of living at courchevel , known as courchevel 1850 ( for meters ) , where the royals such as prince albert of monaco stay and the shops are as glitzy as fifth avenue . but 80 percent of foreigners who come to france to ski do it in the savoy . killy did not want to antagonize visitors . a typical price fixed meal in a local restaurant , at the height of the winter season and even during these olympics , is about 25 . americans are not accustomed to having the tip included in the meal . some local restaurateurs wanted to jack up the tip , but were ordered to leave prices stable . a bottle of the local wine , which no one ever sees in america because it is n't worth shipping , costs only 12 in a restaurant . visitors here will remember that . it is likely the games have lost money despite an estimated 900 , 000 spectators . certainly not every seat is filled at every event and there are empty stretches at lesser skiing events . hotels did not fill because tourists were concerned about reports of price_gouging . but making money would have been only a bonus to a man who wanted to show off to the world the mountains in his backyard . albertville	has a location of france
to the editor as i read ''new fabrics can keep wearers healthy and smelling good'' ( feb . 3 ) , about fabrics that protect against odors , bacteria , fungi and yeast , i thought of french farmers aggressively protesting against genetically altered agricultural products and beef with additives from the united_states . i applaud the french innovation in fabrics , but if american manufacturers tried to introduce fabrics that contained fungicides , perfume microcapsules , pesticides and ceramic particles into the french market , would there be protests about ''unnatural'' products ? howard whitfield madison , conn . incoming	has a location of france
the battle over the proposed law to ban religious symbols from french public schools spilled into streets on saturday as muslim demonstrators in capitals around the world voiced their opposition to what they say is a denial of religious_freedom . the demonstrations were largest in paris and other cities in france , where thousands of protesters marched against an anticipated law that would ban the wearing of muslim head_scarves , jewish skullcaps and large christian crosses in the schools . in an apparently well coordinated show of solidarity with muslims in france , protesters from london to baghdad joined in . but the demonstrations were far smaller than their muslim organizers had predicted . the center right french government has taken a hard line against those opposing the proposed legislation , saying that france must uphold the republican values that harken back to the 1789 revolution and preserve the country 's secular identity . in a speech in december announcing his recommendation for passage of a law banning religious symbols from schools , president jacques_chirac said that if france succumbed to the demands of its religious communities , ''it would lose its soul . '' on friday , interior_minister nicolas_sarkozy , who initially opposed the law as divisive but now supports it , predicted that protests would only harden the battle lines . ''if there is a protest one day , there will be a counterprotest the next , '' he said . the demonstrators in paris sought to portray the struggle as one of loyal french citizens demanding their rights . many waved french flags some women among the protesters wore the red , white and blue french flag as a head covering or as a shawl . ''the marseillaise'' was played . one banner displayed in the demonstration read , ''france , you are my country veil , you are my life . '' another said , ''down with the racist laws of the catholics and mr . chirac against the arabs and the head_scarf . '' a third read , ''secular fundamentalism is a danger for the republic . '' many of the marching girls and women were accompanied by men with long beards who wore white skullcaps and pants cut above their ankles , signs of adherence to a strict , conservative version of islam . sherazade trabelsi , 16 , a french citizen of algerian and tunisian origin , came with a group of mothers and daughters from nevers in burgundy to march . wearing a white cotton scarf tied behind her neck , a fake louis_vuitton scarf wrapped around her neck and high heels , she said ''i 've worn the veil my entire school life . this law is unjust and intolerable . '' the issue has divided the muslims of france . dalil boubakeur , head of the main mosque of paris and president of the officially_sanctioned umbrella_organization of muslim groups in france , supports the ban and discouraged muslims from participating , saying it would only aggravate their problems . ''we absolutely do not want confrontation , '' he said . many french feminists , including prominent muslim women , also support the ban , arguing that the head_scarf is often imposed on girls by their fathers and brothers and that the koranic verse discussing veiling is open to interpretation . but the union of islamic organizations in france , which preaches a strict , conservative interpretation of islam and is also part of the french council , urged muslims to demonstrate peacefully to show that ''the muslim population of france has faith in the republic . '' representatives of the organization distributed packets of materials that included postcards of protest that are to be sent to mr . chirac .	has a location of france
when bernard liautaud started business objects , a software company , he applied a simple formula that he naively thought might stir the imagination and shake the torpor of his country dump french habits and do things the california way . the results were spectacular . founded in paris in 1990 with 1 million of venture_capital , the company was worth close to 1 billion by early last year . from the french business world there oozed a collective gasp . such rapid growth in a country where fortunes tend to build over generations was unprecedented . intent on understanding the upstart who had so quickly created 600 jobs and such wealth , president jacques_chirac invited mr . liautaud to elysee_palace . the 34 year old multimillionaire 's pitch last july to the french leader was , he said , simple a summary of the silicon_valley mantra he learned while a graduate student at stanford and applied at his company . promote a shareholding culture . think global . think marketing . reduce taxes . the president listened . but no changes to france 's heavily regulated economy followed . and when business objects' shares fell recently because of delays in a new software program , there were some smug ''i told you so 's'' from the paris establishment . where other countries have embraced the global entrepreneurship that drives business objects , france tends to see its economy and very identity threatened by innovation a mood that provides a perfect feeding ground for peddlers of xenophobia like the national front party . france today is racked by doubt and introspection . there is a pervasive sense that not only jobs but also power , wealth , ideas and national identity itself are migrating , permanently and at disarming speed , to leave a vapid grandeur on the banks of the seine . rapid technological_innovation , radical strategic shifts , the internet and the global market have contributed to an optimistic mood in the united_states , as measured by the ever rising stock_market , an increase in jobs and public opinion_polls . but these same forces have cast an ominous cloud here . the old cultural antagonism between france and america , rooted in the fact that both countries aspire to represent some universal model , has been brought to a new level by the american victory that a market and internet driven revolution are seen to represent . there are now regular snipes at america 's ' 'velvet hegemony . '' profiting from this somber mood , the racist , extreme right national front party of jean marie le pen has swept to a series of victories in municipal elections , including the southern town of vitrolles on sunday . it has gained support precisely by attacking globalization portrayed as the death of national culture and the high unemployment said to stem from untrammeled market forces and immigration . with left and right , socialism and conservatism increasingly indistinguishable , the national front has successfully contended that it is the only group with a distinct message . ''if we want to send the arabs and africans and asians back to where they came from , it is not because we hate them , it is because they pollute our national identity and take our jobs , '' said bruno megret , the deputy leader of the party and husband of the new mayor of vitrolles . ''when we have power , we will organize their return . we will stop renewing their residence cards , and we will force companies to pay a tax on foreign workers that will eventually lead to the foreigners losing their positions . '' such statements have a widening impact . over a third of french people now say they sympathize with at least some of the national front 's ideas . even a large city like toulon has been won . the party 's effectiveness appears to reflect the simmering frustration of a france that has lost its way . as pierre birnbaum , a political_scientist , put it , ''our problem is that we have not found the way to modernize while preserving our imagined community . '' in other words , how do you leap into the age of the internet and remain french ? the breakdown an uneasy society haunted by ghosts france is still rich and it enjoys an importance beyond its wealth . its nuclear_bomb , its permanent seat on the united_nations_security_council , its central place in european security , its hold on the world 's imagination through its wines , its perfumes and its cheeses , and its universalist pretensions themselves all carry weight . the country has many excellent companies the bourse rose 27 percent last year . as its leaders never tire of repeating in these dark days , france is the world 's fourth biggest industrial power and fourth largest exporter . a stronger dollar , up 10 percent in the past month , bodes well for french exports . but france has a stagnant economy growth was slightly more than 1 percent during the last year . its unemployment rate has swelled to 12 . 7 percent , more than double the rate in the united_states . the corrosive anxiety pervading france is captured by a line from rimbaud ''nos horreurs economiques'' or ''our economic horrors'' that is now widely used . the horror is not merely economic . rather , the phrase captures the extraordinary collective angst of a people seemingly convinced that , as the philosopher alain finkielkraut simply put it , ''there is a crisis of the modern world . '' that crisis , as lived in france , is about cultural and political identity . market reform , the global panacea , tends to leave the french cold . a hankering for grandeur some reconciliation of poetry and politics remains . in the gathering debate between advocates of the untrammeled global market and those who argue that it accentuates social injustice , france tends to identify with the critics of globalization . indeed , it increasingly seems to equate its welfare_state with its very identity . the obsession with identity is particularly strong because france is on the verge of two historical steps that critics equate with an abandonment of sovereignty and a surrender to global forces . it is scheduled to adopt a european currency , the euro , by 1999 , thus yielding control over much economic policy to a european_central_bank and it has indicated that it will return to the integrated military command structure of nato , thus abandoning the most potent symbol of the gaullist ''non'' to washington . both moves , however , appear vulnerable to the present mood . ''the french are confronted by a lot of changes , '' said a senior adviser to alain_juppe , the prime_minister . ''are they prepared to accept them all ? france disappearing into the euro , disappearing into nato , at the same time as we demand more mobility , harder work and sacrifice ? an upheaval cannot be ruled out . '' france does not look prerevolutionary . the country 's manicured capital , impeccable roads , high_speed_trains , glorious food , seductive scents and deep_rooted savoir vivre provide a compelling image of wealth and tradition . but just as the golden statuary on the bridges of paris distracts the eye from the homeless sleeping beneath the arches , so the moving beauty of france tends to mask what amounts to a kernel of despair . in pantin , just a couple of miles outside the gates of paris , there is a housing development called les cortillieres , most of whose 5 , 000 inhabitants are immigrants from algeria , morocco and west_africa . into such places are emptied the human flotsam who cannot afford life in the showpiece capital . almost 40 percent of the population is unemployed . graffiti hurl insults at mr . juppe and the police . life begins in the afternoon because , for many young people , there is no reason to rise early . drug dealers hang around in doorways . at the jean jaures high_school , repeated scrubbing has not quite effaced calls to join the ranks of militant islamic groups that have carried out recent bomb attacks in paris . ''some of these kids have never seen the eiffel_tower , '' said boris seguin , a teacher at the school . ''they live on the margins of the city and the margins of society . if the french republican model stood for one thing , it was integration through education . so you see here how the model is threatened . '' mr . seguin recently completed a dictionary translating the language spoken in les cortillieres into standard french . a conversation with sabah benmimouna , a teen_age french girl of moroccan descent , reveals that a ''lascar'' is a guy and ''fatal'' is fantastic . boys talk of a ''passeport'' for a condom , ''kiffer'' for loving and ' 'dunker'' from basketball for smashing somebody . several of these expressions would not be widely understood in central paris . the spread of alienated suburbs matters particularly to the french because the revolution and the republic and their universal resonance were about the equal rights of citizens . indeed , the schoolteacher was the model republican figure , the person whose instruction turned waves of italian , spanish , portuguese , polish and other immigrants into french citizens . that system now appears to be cracking , and its decomposition is evident in the tours suburb of la rabaterie a drab expanse of crumbling five story apartment blocks that make the nearby chateaus of the loire appear infinitely distant . la rabaterie was built , like many poor suburbs , by north_african immigrants in the boom years of the 1960 's . unemployment then stood at 1 percent and france was in the midst of what is now nostalgically recalled as ''les trentes glorieuses'' the 30 glorious postwar years . la rabaterie now houses the jobless children of those algerian and moroccan workers . unemployed kids chant rap lyrics like ''what are we waiting for to light the fire what are we waiting for to no longer follow the rules of the game ? '' here , on oct . 23 , 1996 , a 22 year old frenchman of algerian descent , mohammed boucetta , was found in a coma with a bullet in his head . that led to a series of events that illustrated france 's current malaise . anger among mr . boucetta 's north_african friends that no assailant was arrested exploded into rioting the rioting was then apparently compounded when agents from the national front sought to exploit the situation to gain votes . the unrest started a week after mr . boucetta was found . shop windows were smashed . more than 40 cars were burned . the chaos lasted for four nights . after the first night , tracts distributed by the national front began to appear . some , emblazoned with the party 's torch symbol , attributed the vandalism to the ''immigration policies'' of governments of the left and and now of the right . ''with us , foreign delinquents will be sent back to their countries and french people will have priority for jobs , '' one said . others contained such messages as ''why do rats wear roller skates in tours ? to clean out the garbage_cans faster than the arabs . '' or ''what do you do when you see an arab on a mobylette ? run after it because it 's yours . '' those were found beside the national front tracts , but without the party 's symbol . to one of mr . boucetta 's friends , youssef sana , who is 27 and the son of immigrants from oran in northern algeria , there is no doubt that his friend was a victim of racist violence . ''we are at war here in the suburbs , '' mr . sana said . ''and we , the children of algerians , are already losers . it 's apartheid we do n't even figure in the system . ''if mohammed were a white french boy , the case would have been solved long ago . '' more than three months later , the police say the boucetta case remains a mystery . but michel mesmin , a local municipal official , said it now seemed clear that if the first night of violence was a spontaneous expression of outrage from the youth 's friends , the others were mainly the work of what he called ''provocateurs'' from the national front . ''the only thing that is really clear from all this , '' he said , ''is we are an increasingly uneasy society , haunted by specters . '' the paralysis out of touch and out of ideas that unease appears to be linked partly to the rigidity of a highly centralized system . france 's superb technocrats , who planned and managed the country 's remarkable reconstruction after world_war_ii , appear overtaken by the global economy , ill adapted by their formal training to its challenges . its labor_unions , parading the rags of an exhausted socialist dream , often seem equally fossilized . its political class is widely seen as a group of cloned eggheads mr . chirac , mr . juppe and the foreign_minister , herve de charette , all went to the same elite school out of touch with a population that consistently gives the president and prime_minister approval_ratings in the 25 to 30 percent range . at the same time , because socialism was long the source of idealism in france the sustenance of left bank intellectuals and a strong labor movement and that idealism was simply exhausted by the 14 year rule of francois_mitterrand that ended in 1995 , the country has found itself suddenly bereft of any meaningful ideological debate . a slogan of mr . mitterrand 's second seven year term was ''ni ni'' neither nationalization nor privatization . it translated into internal paralysis . it appears that it may now take the french left several years to fashion a new message for the electorate . france suffers in this void . it is a country traditionally driven by politics rather than economics to be deprived of a political dialectic is as painful as being deprived of wine . ''we have no more clear political markers , '' said christiane laporte , a headmistress . ''we feel lost . '' this sense of loss is evident in france 's reluctance to adopt the new . it is a society where fewer than 15 percent of homes have personal_computers and fewer than 1 percent are connected to the internet , figures well below not only the united_states but also france 's european neighbors . opening the new national_library in december , mr . chirac discovered the computer ' 'mouse'' for the first time and gazed at it in wonder . mr . chirac has spoken dismissively of the internet as ''an anglo_saxon network , '' although he did meet with bill gates this month . it is not surprising , then , that mr . liautaud and his partner denis payre of business objects are scarcely national celebrities . yet the extraordinary success of their company , which makes a software that sifts data in order to further corporate decision making , has thrown a sharp spotlight on many of france 's problems . ''what i realized in america was that there is a technological revolution going in , '' mr . payre said . ''today , i look at france our great conceptual thinkers and lousy doers , our brilliant engineers and lousy marketers , our risk averse culture that if you fail once it 's all over and i wonder if we 're not simply going to miss out on tomorrow . '' in 1982 france began offering people video terminals that were connected electronically to a phone line , allowing the transmission of text and simple images . the system , known as minitel , gave the country the lead in the race toward the information society . but it was never effectively marketed outside france and never taken much further . today it is outdated . business objects sought to build on this lesson . rather than concentrating on the french market , it immediately sought to expand worldwide . rather than relying simply on a good product , it opted for aggressive marketing . and in the place of the security of a state owned job , it presented employees with stock options that gave them a financial stake in the company 's success . at the other end of the spectrum from mr . liautaud stands lawrence bricogne . at 30 , he is four years younger than the entrepreneur and he has a qualification in computer sciences from a technical school , but he has not worked for almost a decade . he has a small paris apartment bought for him by his mother , a piano , a television , a personal computer and an answering_machine . he recently sold his car . every month , like about one million other french people , he collects what is known as the r.m.i . the acronym for the ' 'minimum revenue for insertion . '' it amounts to about 400 it is what the french_state reserves for those not receiving any other unemployment_benefits . ''the r.m.i . allows me not to work , '' mr . bricogne said . ''it 's bizarre it 's probably unhealthy . without the r.m.i. , i would have taken a job some time ago a night watchman , or a kitchen job in a restaurant . something menial . '' many artists in paris who once , like george orwell , did such jobs to survive now collect the r.m.i . instead . this rmiste ( pronounced air meest ) , as people like him are known , considered his situation and then added ''but i still prefer the french system to the american . everybody envies us our social_security . '' the r.m.i . was introduced a decade ago . it was supposed to encourage the ''insertion'' into society of the jobless by committing people to prove they were looking , or training , for jobs . but genevieve monnot , who works with the unemployed at the paris city administration , said only about 10 percent of rmistes were certain to find jobs . ''many are now just too far from society , '' she said . mr . chirac has recently tried to lay out a french ''alternative'' in which the energy of mr . liautaud and the solidarity that protects mr . bricogne are somehow married . official calls for a more entrepreneurial_spirit and streamlined state have been spiced with criticism of anglo_saxon ''flexibility'' in the workplace deemed antisocial . but this hodgepodge has fallen far short of the galvanizing message that french people habitually await from their leader in this , the most monarchical of republics . it has left the country hurtling toward union with europe even as a bloated state , overarching welfare , and cash hemorrhaging state companies like air_france and the credit_lyonnais bank make the competitive demands of europe and its german dictated budget discipline hard to meet . since succeeding mr . mitterrand in mid 1995 , mr . chirac has tried to battle the national front by embarking on long delayed reforms of the army , the justice system , social_security , pensions , state companies that are intended to give the country new momentum and adjust it to the realities of the end of the millennium . on a trip to tokyo in december , mr . chirac spent his time hustling to sell everything from french apples to airbus planes . for the man who personifies ''la gloire de la france , '' it was a considerable step . charles de gaulle , who stood for a ''certain idea of france , '' its civilizing mission and majesty , once dismissed the japanese as transistor salesmen . times change . gaullist grandeur no longer feeds the people . the numbers in france are not good and capital and jobs , in the global village , are not much interested in a ''certain idea of france . '' france cannot afford its welfare_state but is unwilling to abandon it . it has proved unable to create jobs even as the united_states for all its ' 'downsizing'' has created more than 10 million since 1993 . but it is loath to ease the mandatory health and social_security contributions that make hiring prohibitively_expensive . the minimum monthly wage here is about 5 , 000 francs , or 912 , but after mandatory contributions for pensions , health coverage and unemployment_benefits have been paid by employers and employees , it amounts to about 8 , 200 francs , or 1 , 518 . thus 36 percent of the wage cost comes from social insurance payments , compared with about 10 percent in america . french and international companies , many of which can now shift jobs to portugal or indonesia , have shown a growing reluctance to hire , particularly as dismissing anyone is , in the words of one paris based international economist , ''long , tedious and expensive . '' the arithmetic of france 's unrivaled social_security net is also bleak . already facing annual deficits of about 10 billion , the social_security budget will face enormous pressure as the number of pensioners increases from 12 million to 17 . 3 million during the next two decades , while the active population scarcely grows , according to official forecasts . yet labor_unions have recently suggested lowering the retirement age to 55 from 60 , in line with a government sponsored settlement reached last year with striking truck drivers . they have also mounted a bitter attack on proposals to introduce american style private pension_funds , saying they will lead to a system ''of every man for himself . '' similar resistance has met the beginnings of attempts to reform the cash guzzling state that has inspired generations of french parents to dream of their offspring becoming not doctors or lawyers but ''fonctionnaires . '' public spending here accounts for almost 60 percent of total national output , compared with an average of of 40 percent in major industrialized_countries . the crossroads sagging energy and hesitation as its domestic woes have deepened , france 's international policy has become more aggressive and more strident in its aspersions on the united_states . mr . chirac has recently argued forcibly for the euro as the only way for europe to ''fight effectively against american hegemony . '' and he has pressed unsuccessfuly for french command of nato 's mediterranean flank as a symbol of european emancipation from american military tutelage . the impact of all this on french american relations has been little short of poisonous . ''they want an original foreign_policy but they have recently gone a little overboard , '' said a senior american diplomat . ''we have been through a trough , a very aggravated period . '' france stands at a crossroads . full nato integration or the preservation of a uniquely french membership ? real market reform privatization , private pension_funds , a shareholding culture or preservation of the highly centralized , state heavy french welfare model ? america as firm friend or threatening purveyor of an undifferentiated global culture ? a european currency and a real commitment to building a federal united states of europe or the temptations of the national front 's nationalism ? hesitating before these choices , france quite palpably sags . to go to london or berlin today is to feel how flat , how lacking in energy , paris has become . the sense of living in a museum becomes almost tangible . ''we want to be an alternative , to show that if nobody resists america any more , at least we will , '' said the sociologist jean baudrillard . ''the problem is that because we are not sure which model to embody , we tend to offer simply inertia . '' what is left ? europe and the extraordinary postwar french reconciliation with its old enemy , germany . but this does not yet move the french as they want to be moved . the yearning for some uplifting solution persists and makes france far less predictable than germany or britain , as the national front 's victory this weekend underscores . the country is deeply unrequited , susceptible to a political lurch . the republic was founded on ideas ''liberty , equality , fraternity'' and the last two words retain a lingering resonance . wealth , personal enrichment , is still considered a dubious measure of success . such views are unfashionable , feeble dikes to the global tide , but they are a deep part of french culture . therein lies a profound problem the distinctiveness of france no longer has much international resonance . mr . chirac said this month that france should be ''exemplary , '' but candidates for its depressed example are hard to find . ''the ego is greedy , it needs to be nourished , '' said marek halter , a writer . ''but the french ego is not being nourished these days . that is dangerous and that is why i feel that anything could happen . '' liberty , equality , anxiety a special report .	has a location of france
to the sports editor there 's " no us or them " anymore , wrote dave anderson ( " the olympics do n't need us vs . them , " the times , feb . 16 ) . this sounds like a sportswriter 's version of the fantasy about the " end of history " no more patriotic nation states , no more international rivalry , only the " world community of nations " and state less " citizens of the world . " no one , of course , will follow anderson 's line . otherwise , generous monetary contributions by americans to our teams would end . the tears would dry up that run down american athletes' cheeks as the american flag is raised and they hear " the star spangled banner " in the prize awarding ceremony . justified pride in country will always be a worthwhile sentiment , whatever the time , whatever the country , whatever the state of the world . the patriotic fire that burns in some , if not all , athletes' hearts in international olympics competition is not inflammatory . it is an expression of gratitude and respect . albert l . weeks sarasota , fla .	has a location of france
when the two old friends first joined forces more than a decade ago to try to bring the winter_olympics to their native savoy , the fact that one of them was jean_claude_killy at least insured they would be noticed , even if they seemed to be dreaming of the impossible . now , less than two weeks before the opening of the 1992 winter_games here , killy , the 48 year old former skiing champion , who was a triple gold medalist at the 1968 olympics , is still drawing the greater share of public attention . but to those in the know , his partner , michel_barnier , has played no less a role in organizing the spectacular . indeed , from the birth of their idea in 1981 , during the long campaign to win official approval of albertville 's candidacy and the five years of intense preparations that will result in the lighting of the olympic flame here feb . 8 , they have proved to be a formidable team . as co presidents of the 1992 winter_olympics organizing_committee , known here as cojo , the acronym of its french name , they agreed to make all decisions together . " we had the same office and the same assistant , " barnier explained recently , " but we also exploited each other 's strengths . " with his star appeal and business experience , killy focused on marketing the albertville games , above all on finding commercial sponsors in france and the united_states . in contrast , it was the job of barnier , a young politician , to secure the french government 's support for the adventure . quick moving political career for more than a year , barnier had to carry the load alone . in january 1987 , killy resigned after his effort to reduce the number of venues for the games brought angry protests from the mountain village of les menuires . fourteen months later , he was persuaded to return to his post . this was a crucial period for barnier , however , because he won the admiration of savoy , the region in southeastern france on the borders of italy and switzerland , for his determination to press on . and for a man whose political ambitions stretch far beyond the valleys and ski_resorts of the tarentaise valley , this is no small asset . barnier , 41 years old , has had a quick moving political career becoming a local councillor at the age of 22 winning election to the french national assembly as a gaullist party deputy when he was 27 , and being chosen as president of the savoy general council at the age of 31 . his party affiliation was particularly useful in persuading the government to back albertville 's candidacy in 1986 because , at the time , the gaullist leader , jacques_chirac , was prime_minister . " but the olympic_games do not belong to any political_party , " barnier noted diplomatically . indeed , even though his party has been in the opposition since 1988 , barnier , as the committee 's " on site " co president , has been able to share credit for the 1 . 2 billion spent by the france state in preparation for these olympics on highways , railroads , hospitals and sporting centers . not always an easy job his job , though , has not always been easy . occasional squabbles between cojo and municipal authorities in some of the 13 different olympic venues , as well as technical problems and cost_overruns , routinely landed on his desk to be settled . also , the tall , slim politician pledged that the albertville games would be the first winter_olympics to be planned with environmental_protection in mind . and so far , he has been less than successful in convincing local nature conservancy groups that the results have been positive . " i listen to them , " he insisted , " but i am convinced that the games have been good for the environment . until recently , the drainage system of many communes went straight into local rivers . thanks to the olympics , we have had the resources to build treatment plants . we have 'repaired' the savoy . " but he concedes that construction and expansion of ski_resorts in the 1970 's and 1980 's took place without adequate controls . " the ecologists are right to complain about land speculation , " he said . " i say that we must now pause in our development . " defining environmental_protection barnier is understandably eager not to alienate nature groups because he has defined environmental_protection as the subject that he hopes will continue to advance his political career . indeed , he has already drafted his own version of a marshall_plan to save the devastated environment of eastern_europe . before then , however , his political future hangs on the success of these winter_olympics not only that they take place without mishap between feb . 8 and 23 , but also that he can balance the budget once they are over . and in that sense , of the two old friends , he now has more to lose . killy can go back to the highly lucrative job of being a sports goods and clothes promoter . but barnier is gambling on a place in a conservative french government that may well be elected as soon as next year . olympics	has a location of france
they call themselves the ultras . they are the hardest of the hard core soccer fans of france , the ones with the edgy reputations for being racist , right wing , anti semitic and even violent . for two decades , they have operated openly as fan associations without much interference from the police or soccer officials , who have claimed that they have limited authority to stop them . on thursday night , a group of these ultra right wing supporters of the paris st . germain team set off a chain of events that ended with one of their own being shot to death by a black policeman . the episode has set off nationwide soul searching and finger_pointing as the french government as well as soccer officials , analysts and fans have confronted the violence and hate that have poisoned the sport . nicolas_sarkozy , the interior_minister and a presidential hopeful , who describes himself as a fan of paris st . germain , has vowed to clean up the paris stadium , considered the most hostile in all of france , even if it means emptying it of spectators . ''we prefer to see stands that are empty than full of unwanted people , '' mr . sarkozy told journalists , after meeting with soccer officials and supporters' groups on saturday . ''we no longer want racists , nazi salutes , monkey noises in stadiums . soccer is not war . '' but there is sharp criticism that the government , the paris st . germain team and the official fan clubs that support it have not done enough to curb the phenomenon , for fear of driving away fans . fines have been imposed only sporadically for racist or violent behavior , and only a small number of unruly fans have been banned from stadiums . ''this problem has gone on since the 1980s , but there has n't been the political will to crack down , '' said dominique bodin , a sociologist and author of a book on sports and violence in europe . ''we 're a democracy , and there are laws on the books that have to be enforced . there needs to be better education of the young . '' the police knew in advance that the game on thursday evening at the parc des princes stadium on the edge of paris could turn ugly . the adversary was a team from tel_aviv . extra police officers were on duty . the trouble began outside the stadium , as is often the case , after the paris team was defeated , 4 2 . dozens of paris supporters pursued and cornered yanniv hazout , 25 , a french fan who is jewish . a 32 year old plainclothes transport police_officer , antoine granomort , who was guarding a nearby parking_lot , rushed to shield him from the crowd . ''the crowd hurled insults 'dirty jew , ' 'dirty negro' and monkey cries and raised nazi salutes , '' a paris prosecutor , jean_claude marin , said afterward . he added that they also shouted , ''le_pen , president ! '' a reference to jean marie le pen , the far right national front leader who plans to run for president in the election in april . according to mr . sarkozy , some fans shouted , ''death to the jew ! '' before attacking mr . hazout . when the crowd began kicking and beating officer granomort and apparently threatened to kill the fan he was protecting , he fired his service revolver , killing julien quemener , 25 , a home appliance technician , and wounding mounir boujaer , 26 , a truck driver , according to several witness accounts . a fan who called himself maxmax wrote friday on an ultra internet message board that someone shouted , ''jews to the ovens ! '' after the shooting . mr . quemener was identified as a member of the ''boulogne boys , '' a group of far right soccer supporters , some of whom are officially registered as troublemakers by the police and banned from the stadium . a judge must determine officially whether officer granomort acted in self_defense , although both french officials and police union representatives have thrown their support behind him . not all agree . ''i 'm telling you , the cop screwed up , '' said a witness to the shooting , who refused to give his name because he feared the police would put him under surveillance . ''this was n't self_defense . '' about 300 supporters of the paris team held a silent march on sunday in nantes in memory of mr . quemener , walking behind a banner that read , ''murdering authorities truth for julien . '' violence , some of it racially_motivated , is a ritual at soccer games throughout europe , and some french sports experts say the phenomenon is more dramatic elsewhere . last week , for example , about 600 italian supporters of the naples team , throwing stones and pieces of metal , clashed with police officers as they forced their way through security barriers to watch a game . three cars were destroyed and another was set on fire . one 25 year old fan remains in a coma . complicating the situation in france is that there are rival gangs of ultras that divide along racial and ethnic lines , but all support the paris team . last february , for example , members of a multiethnic group known as tigris mystic , some apparently wielding machetes and pieces of wood studded with nails , attacked members of an all white gang at a gas station near the town of angers after a match . five people were injured . but france , with its long history of secularism and official colorblindness , is particularly sensitive to racist , ethnic and anti semitic insults and acts , both on and off the soccer field . the fact that so many of the players on french teams are either black or of north_african arab origin has cut both ways . ( on france 's national team that played in the world_cup last summer , 17 of the 23 players were members of minorities . ) while the multiracial character of the sport has long been praised for reflecting diversity in france , some right wing politicians have criticized soccer teams for not being white enough . two weeks ago , georges fr che , the socialist president of the languedoc roussillon region , was quoted as telling a local council that he was ashamed that so many of the 11 starters on the french national team are black . ''it would be normal if there were three or four that would be a reflection of society , '' he was quoted as saying . ''but if there are so many , it 's because whites are no good . i 'm ashamed for this country . soon there will be 11 blacks . '' president jacques_chirac immediately condemned the remarks . mr . fr che said his comments had been taken out of context . before the 1998 world_cup , mr . le_pen called the french team ''artificial'' because of its ethnic and racial_makeup . last june , before the world_cup , he said france ' 'does n't totally recognize itself in this team , '' because there may be too many ''players of color . '' at a news conference on tuesday , mr . le_pen accused mr . marin , the paris prosecutor , of defamation for suggesting that he was somehow linked to the racism on display on the night of the shooting . he said he was filing a lawsuit . certainly , the message of mr . le_pen , who faced mr . chirac in a runoff in the 2002 election , resonates in france . in a poll published in le_monde last week , 17 percent of the respondents said they intended to vote for the 78 year old for president .	has a location of france
lead christophe tiozzo of france makes the first defense of his world_boxing_association supermiddleweight title friday night against paul whittaker of kenner , la . christophe tiozzo of france makes the first defense of his world_boxing_association supermiddleweight title friday night against paul whittaker of kenner , la . the fight , scheduled for 12 rounds , will take place in an ancient roman arena used for bullfights .	has a location of france
the general managers are staying six to a chalet , standing in line for their tickets , paying 30 or more for every lousy seat they get in the corner of the ice_rink . they are not complaining about it , either . the national_hockey_league executives pouring into meribel to watch the olympic tournament learned long ago that international scouting trips are short on luxury and long on rewards . if one unified team member can be signed , if one new czechoslovak star can be spotted , the trip will have been worth the inconvenience . " we 're just another business , as far as the olympics are concerned , " said nick beverly , assistant_general_manager of the los_angeles kings , who was denied admission to one game when he showed up late with his ticket . " that 's the philosophy worldwide , and it 's right . why should we get special treatment ? " nowhere where to hide by the weekend , n.h.l . executives were as easily spotted around meribel as the stars they were scouting . bill torrey of the islanders , harry sinden of boston , bob pulford of chicago , serge savard of montreal , cliff fletcher of toronto , glen_sather of edmonton , pierre gauthier of quebec , and gerry meehan of buffalo had all checked into overcrowded lodgings . " there are n't any more secrets , " pulford said . " i even know what time bill torrey goes to bed every night . " many were busy comparing notes , over pulford 's home cooked breakfasts . some were here with checkbooks in hand , ready for contractual number crunching . fletcher said he expected to sign canada 's sturdy forward kent manderville at the end of the tournament and bring him back to the maple_leafs immediately . " an adept , two way hockey player , " fletcher said of manderville . " i do n't have to scout him anymore to know we want him . " most of all , the officials were wishing they could go backward in time , and show as much foresight as teams like the nordiques and the winnipeg jets , who own the rights to the most impressive superstars here . bright future for jets the jets would seem to be the biggest winners here , owning rights to the russian star aleksei zhamnov and the finnish superstar teemu selanne . both are young , fleet , and looking to the west for financial security . selanne could sign next week , or wait until the summer . the jets also have the rights to keith_tkachuk , a tough checking american forward who is very close to signing a contract . but there are other n.h.l . teams sitting on a silo filled with talent . quebec has the rights to vyacheslav bykov , andrei kovalenko and andrei khomoutov of the unified team mikael johansson of sweden and , of course , a reluctant canadian named eric_lindros . boston owns the rights to the canadian star joe juneau , who already has five goals and six assists , plus american players steve heinze and ted donato . torrey is keeping an eye on scott lachance , the no . 1 pick in 1991 who has helped to anchor the rugged united_states defense marty mcinnis , an american forward , and vladimir malakhov , the unified team defenseman who will be difficult to extricate from russia . " i 've really been impressed by lachance , for a 19 year old , " torrey said . " he got beaten once by mikko makela , but that 's happened to a lot of n.h.l . defensemen too . " ranger pick seems rusty the rangers , represented for now by the msg and cbs network analyst john davidson , must be a bit concerned by the obvious lack of polish shown by their first round pick , aleksei_kovalev of the unified team . asked how the top international players slipped away from them to winnipeg and quebec , some of the general managers get a bit defensive . " part of it is philosophy , but part of it is where you 're picking , " said fletcher , whose maple_leafs have finished so poorly they have picked very high in the draft . " we just never had the picks to fool around with . " there are still a few unclaimed talents , but they are no secret any longer to anybody . on the unified team , yuri khmylev has two goals , four assists , and belongs to nobody . there is also the lithuanian defenseman darus kasparaitis , who is being watched closely by fletcher . " we 've kept an eye on him for a couple of years , " fletcher said . " he 's simply a decent player , and now with things more open over there , it could work out for somebody . " you 've got to grab these players before they get too old , and set in their ways , " fletcher said . " by then , you have a heck of a time getting them out and adjusted to a new place . " albertville	has a location of france
lead the sprinting jrivals ben_johnson of canada and carl_lewis of the united_states will compete head to head in the 100 meter_dash at a french meet on june 27 , their first showdown since johnson 's world record performance last september during the world_championships in rome . the sprinting jrivals ben_johnson of canada and carl_lewis of the united_states will compete head to head in the 100 meter_dash at a french meet on june 27 , their first showdown since johnson 's world record performance last september during the world_championships in rome .	has a location of france
a forecast of cloudy weather was good news today for officials here at the bobsled and luge track that will be used in the winter_olympics , which start saturday . low humidity has made the 1 , 500 meter run brittle . it cracked on saturday , opening up a fist size hole at one point in the frozen layer . after crews quickly worked to repair the ice , two hours of unofficial training runs this morning seemed to go without major problems . the first official practice runs for the luge were scheduled for tuesday . but brilliant sunshine did soften a few parts of the course , which some athletes say could alter results . " it 's not the sun . it 's the dryness , " said andre broche , the la_plagne site 's sports manager . " we expect clouds tomorrow , maybe even slight snowfall . that means the humidity is rising . " critics say the track , the most expensive construction for these olympics , catches too much morning sun because of its location . bobsledding and luge both are scheduled for the mornings . organizers proposed moving the second runs on medals days to late afternoon , but television officials rejected that idea . another solution would have been to put up sunshades at the exposed spots , but television officials did n't like that idea , either . the shades would hide parts of the course from the camera 's eye . luge teams including the united_states , european medal_contenders and an extreme long shot the two member virgin_islands team arrived today . " they 've worked a lot on it since december . the first impression is good , " said markus prock of austria , the world_cup champion . " we 'll see for real after the first training runs . " the art of making snow skiers and skaters here will benefit from the inventions of a company thousands of miles away in pennsylvania . york international corporation , a 118 year old refrigeration company , will make all the artificial snow and will chill the ice for four rinks at the winter_games in albertville . only speed_skating will be held on ice not handled by york international . " we 're able to very closely approximate mother nature 's snow , " said michael j . ricci , director of corporate marketing for york . " we pioneered snow making technology . " york snow will be available for 513 acres of downhill and cross country ski events . the international_olympic_committee requires snow making equipment to guarantee skiing conditions . computers regulate york 's snow making systems , and weather sensors tell workers how to adjust gauges when there 's a change in wind , humidity or real precipitation . york uses a mixture of cold air and water to create the snow and fires it from cannons onto the slopes . ( ap ) skating on outdoor ice the manager of the olympic speed_skating oval in albertville today defended the decision to stage the event in an open air stadium . organizers decided against building a costly indoor rink like the one used in calgary in 1988 , opting instead for an outdoor stadium , which means competition might be hampered by bad_weather . " speed_skating is predominantly an outdoor sport in which luck and the weather play a part , " said robert dureville , who is in charge of the oval . world_cup races in albertville last february on the new track were delayed a day after sleet made the arena almost unusable . " we have the same worries as any other sport held outdoors , " he said . " snow , rain or fog are factors we may have to deal with , but we can always delay races or move them to a free day . " ( reuters ) role for bush 's daughter dorothy leblond , president_bush 's daughter , will head the united_states delegation at the opening ceremonies for the winter_olympics , the white_house said today . bush also picked for the delegation his sister , nancy ellis the husband and wife movie stars melanie griffith and don johnson , and a business executive , osborne day . vice_president dan_quayle and his wife , marilyn , are also planning to attend the opening ceremonies on saturday . the quayles will be on a weeklong trip to eight european_countries . ( ap )	has a location of france
french teams in the tour de france surged to the front early_today , attacking left and right until a seven man breakaway took wing . even such teams as bigmat auber 93 and jean delatour proved they were not dead , only sleeping through the first two and a half weeks of the tour , which ends sunday in paris . one rider from each joined colleagues from festina , cr_dit_agricole , la fran_aise des jeux and ag2r prevoyance french teams all and a danish rider from csc tiscali of denmark . four of the french teams were represented by mercenaries jens voigt , a german bradley mcgee , an australian luis perez , a spaniard and aleksandr botcharov , a russian . the dane was nicki sorensen . all seven riders stood low in the overall standing and presented no threat to lance_armstrong , the leader , so were allowed to speed away on a blazingly hot 16th stage , 227 . 5 kilometers ( 141 miles ) over a rolling course with two small climbs . at the finish , voigt and mcgee were alone at the front and the german , who rides for cr_dit_agricole , passed his weary la fran_aise des jeux companion with 300 meters ( 984 feet ) left to win by five seconds . ''empty , empty , '' said mcgee , who added that in the last 500 meters ( 1 , 640 feet ) , he ' 'saw black . '' voigt had labored through the pyrenees in the hope of excelling once the tour returned to the plains yesterday . today , he had recovered his usual strength and powered the two man attack 25 kilometers ( 15 . 5 miles ) to the finish . he finished in 5 hours 27 minutes 11 seconds for the ride north from castelsarrasin to sarran , down among the sheltering chestnut trees of the corr ze region , the nut 's home territory . the speed translated into 42 kilometers an hour ( 26 miles an hour ) . botcharov , who rides for ag2r , was third , 1 59 behind , with sorensen of csc fourth , perez of festina fifth , st phane heulot of bigmat sixth and eddy seigneur of jean delatour seventh . disrupted by a mass crash , the main pack finished at least 25 45 behind the winner and there was no change in the overall leadership . armstrong , the leader of the united_states_postal_service team and the nearly certain winner of his third successive tour de france , remained first by 5 05 over jan ullrich , the german leader of telekom . before the pack got here , nearly two dozen riders were left sprawled on the road outside the city of tulle , 200 kilometers ( 124 miles ) into the stage . five of them had to be taken to a hospital with probable broken collarbones . of the 189 riders who started the tour , 146 remain . voigt also wore the yellow jersey for a day a week ago and was asked to compare that sensation with his victory in the daily stage . ''about the same , '' he said , ''but the stage victory will probably remain with me longer . '' a model team worker , the german is at the end of his contract with the team and is listening to offers to remain or to join postal_service or coast , a second division team in germany that is trying to bulk up and win a tour invitation . whatever happens , his price just went up . cycling	has a location of france
of all the spectators filing into center court today , bill clinton 's arrival had the strangest effect on andre_agassi 's mood ring . more than s bastien grosjean 's shirt flapping speed , clinton 's movements were linked to the bizarre end of agassi 's grand_slam buzz . maybe it was an absurd coincidence , but the charted ups and downs of agassi 's 1 6 , 6 1 , 6 1 , 6 3 quarterfinal loss at the french open had nothing to do with reason . before clinton was greeted with a standing_ovation by the french as he entered the stadium after the start of the second set , agassi had been unflappable while picking on the jangled nerves of grosjean . once clinton sat down in a box 25 feet behind the baseline , agassi came undone on grosjean 's home clay , losing six of the next seven games to the revived frenchman . for three games at the start of the fourth set , the former president departed briefly . in that time , agassi pulled out a drop shot on his way to breaking grosjean 's serve and taking a 2 1 lead . then clinton returned . agassi won one more game . ''sounds like you have it all figured out , '' agassi said in an edgy tone . several reporters saw him make eye_contact with clinton , but agassi insisted he did not see clinton arrive or notice he was there . milling near the players' lounge area at roland_garros a half hour after the match , clinton smiled at the odd parallel . ''i was bad for him , '' clinton said . ''i was bad luck . when i left , he won three games . i hated to come back . '' the weird corollaries aside , agassi was simply not himself on the court . he was not as methodical , as measured or as savvy as usual . with the vulnerable grosjean in front of him , hearing cries of ''do it for france'' from the crowd , agassi could not put him in a position to fold under the pressure . instead , agassi let grosjean off the hook with erratic form that led to 52 unforced_errors . ''do n't ask me anything , '' agassi 's coach , brad gilbert , snapped after the match . ''i said , do n't ask me anything . '' maybe there was no explanation for the way agassi 's brief flirtation with a grand_slam title ended . after winning the australian_open in january , agassi 's pursuit of the french open ended when grosjean served an ace on match point . in a group leap , the french jumped out of their seats like a jack in the box . ''it was amazing i saw everybody stand up , '' said grosjean , who is scheduled to play alex corretja in the semifinals on friday . ''actually , to play on this court , it 's like a dream . '' the center court scene was unreal for agassi , too . the tournament was not scripted to end like this . if agassi had lost a tight quarterfinal_match , it would have been more understandable . but agassi made his irritable exit without creating the least bit of suspense . in 1 hour 49 minutes , agassi 's french_open was over , severing his high expectations of a title . ''about three matches higher , '' agassi said . ''three matches would have been nice , three more . '' there was no chance of that . on every point that might have lengthened the match , providing agassi a chance to outlast grosjean 's deep pocket full of winners , he lapsed . in the third game of the fourth set , agassi , up a service break , lost his serve after a stunning double fault . suddenly , the same unfocused pattern of play he exhibited in the second and third sets resurfaced . he stopped moving and started missing . ''it was strange because sometimes he hits the ball really hard , but you know , it 's like tanking sometimes , '' grosjean said . ''i started to play better after that , so maybe he got mad . '' grosjean became more confident . in between points , the crowd chanted ''gros jean , gros jean . '' during the tense silence of an exchange , grosjean manufactured winners that left him pumping both fists . in the fourth game of the fourth set , he conjured a reflex volley to save a break point . then , he sealed his service game when he raced to retrieve agassi 's drop volley , scooped it up with a forehand and flicked it crosscourt for a winner . ''his speed puts a lot of pressure on you because you have to hit not just quality shots , but you have to hit a number of them , '' agassi said . ''the conditions today , i could n't come up with it . '' there was more to it than merely the wind whipping and dark clouds forming overhead . three games later , agassi tried an ill advised drop shot on game point . next , agassi pulled grosjean wide off the court , but on a floating defensive lob , he inexplicably failed to tuck it away . grosjean tracked the soft smash down , then magically brushed a topspin lob over agassi 's head . on cue , the cameras swung to catch clinton as he covered his eyes , prompting one french announcer to say ''do n't let him leave now . '' a few points later , on a backhand slugged into the net , agassi 's serve was broken . the same fans who usually act as agassi 's emotional support system were roaring for their hero , grosjean . he did not let them down as he served out the match . as grosjean bathed in the celebration , agassi rushed off the court . meanwhile , clinton shook hands until he worked his way to the stadium exit . the door could be closed on the bizarre day . but a few minutes later , when asked about the clinton effect on the match , a happy grosjean smiled and said ''we 're going to have to invite him back for the semifinals . '' tennis	has a location of france
lead acting at the request of its author , congress has killed an 8 million appropriation to build schools in france for north_african jews . acting at the request of its author , congress has killed an 8 million appropriation to build schools in france for north_african jews . on a voice_vote , the senate approved a measure to rescind the appropriation late tuesday , the day after senator daniel k . inouye , a hawaii democrat , said he had erred in originally supporting the project . the house earlier voted 384 1 to kill the project . critics said the united_states should not spend money to build religious schools in a developed_country .	has a location of france
just because the national_basketball_association does n't seem to want kelly tripucka anymore does n't mean the 10 year n.b.a . veteran is n't wanted . tripucka , a former detroit piston who played the last two seasons with the charlotte hornets before becoming an unrestricted and apparently unwanted free_agent , has signed to play with limoges in france . contract details were not disclosed , but a team offical told the french sports daily l'equipe that the deal represented " a financial effort without precedent . " ( ap ) sports people basketball	has a location of france
a strange thing has happened on the way to the world_cup final this fractious country , never in agreement about anything , eternally divided , deeply skeptical , has united around a soccer team that is now lauded by workers , politicians and even intellectuals . the world_cup had been approached with the usual grumbling . there was the cost 433 million for the main stadium alone . there were the predictable left bank comments about the inanity of 11 grown men chasing a ball . and there were the dismal pre tournament showings of the french team , confirmation , if any were needed , that an early exit was inevitable . there was also something deeper . this is a country that has traditionally been touched by the individual endurance of the tour de france bicycle race , by the rugged splendor of rugby and by the grace and elegance of the roland_garros tennis_tournament . as for ''le foot , '' it was foolish . but a shift has occurred , fleeting perhaps , remarkable without doubt . in the place of the dismissive ''bof , '' accompanied by a gallic shrug , a wave of enthusiasm has engulfed the french as their team , on home ground , has reached the semifinal , a stage it has reached on three previous occasions only to be eliminated . this time , said aime jacquet , the villain turned hero who coaches the team , ''we are going all the way . '' just how far france does go will be decided in wednesday 's semifinal against croatia . meanwhile , the team has already become the upbeat symbol of a country that is experiencing sturdy economic_growth for the first time in years and appears to be emerging from a protracted bout of the blues . during the quarterfinal_match against italy last friday , played at 4 30 p.m. , the country shut down . renault and citroen plants were closed . the employees of the ministry of employment and solidarity sat watching the match on a large screen with their minister , martine aubry . cafes were full of cheering fans . when the game was finally won in a shootout , the champs_elysees became the scene of joyous mayhem . ''i was not too enthusiastic at first , but then this strange fever grabs you , '' said frederique chevalier , who works for an airline company . ''there is a strange atmosphere at the moment . '' surveys suggest that women like chevalier have by no means shunned the world_cup , as expected before the tournament started . while most men have watched at least eight games , a majority of women have seen at least four , according to french media research centers . ''before the tournament started , i did not know anybody who believed we could reach the final , '' noel henoeque said . ''but i always thought we could do it , and i still do . '' henoeque has found one of more than 15 , 000 temporary jobs generated by the world_cup , serving coffee at a stand of one of the sponsors . with such enthusiasm prevailing , and jobs even being created , it was only natural that ''le foot'' be suddenly elevated to the realm of political debate and rivalry . jacques_chirac , the center right president , and his rival , the socialist prime_minister lionel_jospin , have engaged in a cat and mouse game about who should be present at which match , and who gets into the dressing room first to congratulate the players . ''i salute the unity of a team representative of french diversity , '' the prime_minister said this week . referring to the sons of north_african immigrants known as beurs , he added , ''when i see blacks and beurs , with the french flag , singing the marseillaise , i find that these are timely images . '' france has been deeply concerned for some time with the apparent fragmentation of its republican ideal , the model that allowed generations of portuguese , italian and other immigrants to be transformed into patriotic french citizens largely through an excellent public_school system . high unemployment and the spread of bleak suburbs populated largely by out of work immigrants have dented this ideal . but now there is a soccer team to suggest that integration still works in france . zinedine zidane , the star midfielder , is of algerian descent . marcel desailly and lilian thuram , two members of a four man defense that has conceded only one goal in five matches , are black . david trezeguet , a striker , was born in argentina . youri djorkaeff , a midfielder , is of georgian origin . the contrast with the monochrome german and italian teams had indeed been striking . ''this hybrid team thumbs its nose at the national front , '' francois armanet wrote this week in the daily liberation , referring to the xenophobic right wing party that takes about 15 percent of the french vote . ''one can admire it without chauvinism . these players belong fully to the modern world . '' even intellectuals , who once scoffed , have discovered that soccer is an area for exhilarating debate . where soccer was once dismissed as a mere opium of the people , it has been elevated to a higher plane . thus the writer christophe gallaz suggested this week that , ''when we applaud youri djorkaeff sprinting diagonally across the opposing defense and scoring , we are consoled about our impotence before our own objectives . '' the idea was intriguing . unfortunately , djorkaeff has in fact proved largely impotent before his own objectives , scoring one goal in the world_cup , and that from a penalty . but when soccer enters the realm of psychology , it is a fair certainty that it has penetrated the inner sanctum of french intellectual debate . several decades ago , the french writer albert camus observed that , ''all i know about morality and the duties we all have , i owe to soccer . '' until recent days , his was a voice in the wilderness , but now france has found a new popular identity . if the country can beat croatia and reach its first final , who knows what may happen . already jospin has portrayed himself as ''a mixture of the coach jacquet and the midfielder zidane . '' for a graduate of france 's elite national school of administration , this must have been a first . the floodgates , it seems , are open . world_cup '98	has a location of france
two police officers , imposing figures in futuristic white helmets and old school black boots , rode motorcycles ahead of the buses ferrying the international_olympic_committee 's evaluation commission through the streets thursday . the officers were ready to clear a path to the city 's proposed olympic sites through whatever chaos overflowed from a national strike by trade_unions . instead , with many parisians deciding to take the strike day off , the police needed only to sound a few sirens and wave a handful of cars out of their path . so paris pulled off its touring day of the evaluation commission 's four day stop seamlessly , the striking workers steering their 35 , 000 strong demonstration far clear of the commission 's path . the 13 commission members who had similar experiences during visits to madrid , london and new york , with moscow 's yet to come traveled easily in their well marked buses through a gray day in the french capital , the atmosphere cheered a bit by the eiffel_tower lit in sparkles and a sea of colorful paris2012 banners draping buildings and poles around every turn . all week , the city 's bid leaders had been calling the strike an unhappy coincidence , stressing that the unions had , by and large , expressed support for the bid despite the painful timing of the strike . on thursday , they pushed aside the issue the way the police had waved aside the traffic . ''nothing disrupted the work we did together today , '' bertrand delanoe , the mayor of paris , said . ''nothing . '' delanoe walked a fine line between sounding strident and appearing defensive , intent not to let this irrepressible bit of french society mar a bid that has carefully airbrushed the flaws that sank two previous bids , for the 1992 and 2008 games namely , that they were too french . stung by criticism that they had pursued the 2008 games with off putting arrogance , the french bid leaders have labored to soften their image as this race comes down to a decision on july 6 , when the full 117 member i.o.c . will choose the host city for the 2012 summer games . ''we know france is perceived as being a little arrogant , '' philippe baudillon , head of the paris bidding committee , said . ''this is something we have to cope with . we do n't want to be arrogant . '' until thursday , their efforts at humility were largely successful . they had coasted into the role of favorite , played up the benefits of having the 80 , 00 seat stade de france and promoted a plan to use less expensive temporary facilities for many of their sites to win over the debt conscious i.o.c . but just as they were about to show off that low hassle plan in person , the strike issue reared its head . delanoe tried to put it in a positive light , predicting that handling the demonstrations smoothly would reflect well on the city . still , they were left to hope that all went well . government officials estimated that 570 , 000 people participated in marches across france , 35 , 000 of them in paris . unlike a student protest earlier in the week that burst into fits of violence , this one proceeded peacefully . some of the paris protesters even wore 2012 t shirts . ''we ca n't hide from it abroad , france is seen as a country of strikes , '' baudillon said . ''what we have to do is show that we are capable of positive discussions to overcome the problem . '' so paris took its place in line with its rivals , who have encountered all the tumult that paris had been avoiding . london has endured a stream of it , from queen elizabeth reportedly predicting a paris victory to claims that even its bid committee had lost hope . madrid has been rocked by terrorist bombs and a skyscraper fire . new york seems mired in the political squabble over building a stadium on the west side of manhattan . moscow fights the image that it should not even be included among the finalists . during their turn with the evaluation commission , the paris bid leaders have painted a picture of their dream olympics . the tour included the proposed village site , a mix of open rail yards and unsightly warehouses , one of the last undeveloped spots on the edge of central paris . the plan relies on two clusters that encompass most of the event sites and are proclaimed to be a_10 minute drive from the village . the western one surrounds the roland_garros tennis complex and the parc des princes soccer stadium . the northern one is anchored by the stade de france , site of the 1998 world_cup and the 2003 world track and field championships . the committee 's stop there included lunch and a meeting with many of france 's prominent athletes , and a highlight film that cleverly included a clip of the sprinter frankie fredericks in the 2003 world_championships . fredericks is a member of the evaluation commission . ''i think that was one of the high points , really , '' jean_fran_ois lamour , france 's sports minister , said . ''it was a context that showed the stadium was ready to wake to its future as the olympic_stadium . it is a symbol that could tip the bid . it shows that we have 65 percent of the sports infrastructure needed for the games . the stade de france was the symbol of that today . '' paris tried to return to the themes that had made it the front runner . the strikers were far from view . and the police tried to clear the rest of the way . olympics	has a location of france
a mother gets up in the middle of the night to watch her son and to worry . typical story . only her son is a continent away . and he happens to have her heartbeat and her jump shot . boris diaw remembers playing pickup games with his mother , elizabeth riffiod , several years after she stopped playing center for the french national team . ''she was beating me really easy when i was so young , '' diaw said thursday in a telephone interview after practice in phoenix , where he is a reserve for the suns . ''once i got a little size and quickness and could have beaten her , '' he added with a laugh , ' 'she stopped playing with me . '' a mother knows when it is time to step away . still , even when diaw grew to match her 6 foot 2 height as a teenager , riffiod could not envision that he would reach the n.b.a . ''it was n't something i had as a goal for him , '' riffiod said thursday in a telephone interview from her home in talence , france , in bordeaux . she spoke in french , through a times interpreter . ''it was so selective for a french player , i never imagined it . '' now riffiod follows diaw 's progress in the western conference semifinals against the san antonio spurs over the internet , agonizing play by play . ''i cannot put up with that level of torture at that hour , '' riffiod said . or , if the games are broadcast live , she will awaken at 3 a.m . to watch diaw with the sound muted so she will not hear commentators drone on and possibly criticize her son . after a breakout season last year , the 6 8 diaw won the league 's most improved player award , then signed a 45 million contract extension . but he has been inconsistent this season , and his playing time decreased when center amare stoudemire returned from injury . ''boris has adapted for the team , '' riffiod said . she understands from experience . on the day of the interview , riffiod , nearly 60 , retired from teaching at the university of bordeaux , where she was a biology professor and basketball coach . she will still be the president of diaw 's charitable_foundation . for 13 seasons , riffiod played professional club basketball and participated in international competitions . diaw , 25 , never saw her play , but he remembers her uniforms from the 1970s hanging in her closet . they were vestiges of a time when women in europe predominantly from the soviet_union were slowly gaining acceptance for competing at an elite level . ''i want to be like my mom , but more like her career and the way she did it than how she plays , '' diaw said , reciting how riffiod won six french club championships . although competitive in the european championships , france never qualified for the olympics while she played . like his mother , diaw is an undersized center ( he has played every position with the suns , from point_guard to center ) . riffiod recently discovered that she and her son also share another trait they each have an extraordinarily low resting heart_rate . ''it 's a good thing for endurance , '' she said of her 32 beats per minute . ''in the morning during the season when i am in shape , it can be 35 , '' diaw said . he and his mother say that riffiod gained recognition as the first woman in france to shoot a jump shot . she learned the skill at 20 from watching a videotape of bill russell and the boston_celtics with her teammates in paris at the french national institute for sports and physical_education , known in france by its acronym , insep . riffiod was a quick study . as a child , she was prohibited to play sports because of a type of anemia . in her first year at the university of besan on , a teacher noticed her size and agility and directed her to insep . by then , riffiod said her blood condition had gone away . at the sports university , she met issa diaw , a high jumper from senegal . the couple were a contrast but riffiod said she never experienced bigotry because of her mixed_race relationship . ''as athletes , we were given a free pass , '' she said . playing basketball was her full time job , she explained , and she was paid by her country to train and compete , leaving no time to think about starting a family . finally , riffiod decided to quit , and she and issa had two sons , boris and martin , who is four years older . she and issa never married , and when he returned to senegal ( where he is a lawyer ) , she taught and raised her children as a single parent . ''i think all her life was a sacrifice , '' diaw said . ''when she was playing , she sacrificed everything for basketball . when we were born , she made a life for me and my brother and put everything else on hold . '' but she did not channel her basketball ambitions through her children . ''a lot of people said i should train my children , '' riffiod said . ''i said that 's too young nobody should be trained in a sport before 10 years old . '' martin was more interested in soccer . boris tried judo and fencing . neither loved basketball until the 1992 barcelona_olympics , when the united_states' dream team ignited the sport 's international popularity . martin 's sudden enthusiasm rubbed off on his brother . ''i think he identified with black american players much more than with a blonde french mother , '' riffiod said of martin , who played professionally in france 's second division . diaw went to insep 20 years after his parents met there . his roommate was tony parker , the spurs' point_guard and diaw 's opponent in this series . they are such close friends as captains on the french national team that diaw will be the best man at parker 's wedding this summer to the actress eva longoria . diaw is not the only player in the n.b.a . whose mother was a prominent basketball_player . yao_ming 's mother , fang feng di , was the top center on the chinese national team . ray allen 's mother , flo , played professionally in britain , and dwight howard 's mother also played . in france , riffiod explained that mother 's day is not celebrated today , but june 3 . if the suns are still playing then , that could mean they will soon be headed to the n.b.a . finals . ''yes , that would be a nice mother 's day gift , '' riffiod said . pro_basketball	has a location of france
two of the first three figure_skating competitions of the olympics , the men 's singles and the dance , have produced minor flaps over nationalistic judging . a canadian judge appeared to score the performance of kurt browning of canada too high , and a french judge helped isabelle and paul duchesnay in the dance by scoring the eventual winners , marina klimova and sergei ponomarenko of the unified team , too low . it would seem that the olympics , the most visible of international competitions , might be the last place a judge would exercise selfish tendencies . but the judging here , according to the chairman of the international skating union technical committee , is no worse than it ever is . " the quality of the judging has been normal , in the sense that i have n't seen cases worse than in recent years , " said ben wright of cambridge , mass . , the skating union official . complaining about judging in figure_skating is as old as the sport , because of the subjective nature of the system . nine judges watch a performance , then score it on a scale of 6 . 0 , once for technical merit and once for artistic impression . in the past , the skating union has looked for a better system and even considered the kind of scoing format used in diving , in which the highest and lowest scores are dropped and the remaining marks are added . " but that eliminated the majority rules principle , " said wright . " in our system , each judge is only one ninth , so no one can affect the result more than that . " in the absence of a better system , wright said the judges are urged to judge a skater on what happens in competition , not what the judge has seen in practice or what reputation the skater might have . for those judges who ca n't , another system awaits disciplinary . when a judge 's marks are beyond a reasonable range in comparison to the other scores , the judge must provide a rationale in writing . if the explanation is insufficient , the judge can risk varying_degrees of response from the skating union , including an advisory , a warning , a demotion or a suspension . in the case of the questionable marks here , wright said the judges might receive " one of the messages in the middle . " brief career envisioned paul wylie , the surprise silver medalist in the men 's figure skating competition , recently signed with the international management group to represent him in the brief professional career he envisions . unlike nearly all other skaters who join tours after their competitive careers , wylie intends to make use of his harvard diploma to pursue a legal or business career . asked how much he expects to make as a profesional , he responded in a manner hardly befitting an athlete , " enough to cover law_school . " failure of speed skaters except for bonnie_blair 's two gold medals , this has been a disappointing olympics for american speed skaters . the highest finishes by the men were dan_jansen 's fourth in the 500 meters and eric flaim 's sixth in the 5 , 000 meters . jansen was a favorite in the 500 , and flaim was hoping to improve on his 1988 four race peformance , when he finished second once and fourth three times . " we 've had a good world_cup season , " said peter mueller , the united_states coach . " if the olympics had been held two and a half weeks ago , we would have had a great olympics . but at least we have two gold medals . the dutch are so good , and they do n't have any . " we need a good development program . we have to get good young kids into the sport . good coaching has been a problem for us . funding has to be a priority . " touch of home the norwegian team has brought a touch of home to these olympics . the norwegians are eating their own food and sleeping on their own beds . their team arrived with smoked_salmon , caviar , pate and the norwegian whole wheat bread known as fullkornbroed . it also brought wooden slats for beds . the swedish team had problems with the beds here , too . the swedes asked the norwegians the brand name of the norwegian slats . the norwegians refused to tell them . hockey fights a concern la lechere , france , feb . 19 ( special to the new york times ) traditionally , the beauty of olympic hockey has been the fast , clean play . unlike national_hockey_league games , olympic_games are usually free of fights . but there have been several fights in games here , and the i.o.c . is concerned . " this is a question for the hockey federation , " said michele verdier , a spokeswoman for the i.o.c . " maybe we are opening a new era . this is not something the i.o.c . likes to see . maybe it 's time for the hockey federation to look into this . " albertville notebook	has a location of france
it was once the center of french political and social life , a 700 room , gilt and glass birdcage strategically expanded by louis_xiv to concentrate the nobility where he could keep an eye on them . it housed queens and mistresses , played a large part in the revolution and was the place where two wars officially ended . and now it needs help . the official , exquisitely illustrated web_site for versailles ( www . chateauversailles . fr ) is a royal feast . even the data page under ''versailles today'' is fascinating 27 miles of trellises , 200 , 000 trees , 210 , 000 flowers planted every year , 50 fountains with 620 nozzles , 26 acres of roof , 67 staircases , 2 , 100 sculptures and 6 , 000 paintings . but 10 , 000 of those trees , including marie_antoinette 's 1783 tulip tree and a corsican pine planted for napoleon in 1810 , were uprooted by 100 mile an hour winds , which also damaged roofs and windows , in a freakish storm last year on dec . 25 and 26 . the french ministry of culture , which estimated the damage at 238 million francs ( 32 . 6 million ) , is using the web_site to ask for donations ( 154 will replant one tree ) . the appeal is accompanied by pictures of the storm 's aftermath , described by an official as resembling the world_war i battlefield of verdun . the versailles site , which is available in french , english and spanish , began in 1998 , and half of its 3 , 800 daily users are english speaking , a site official said . it has all the expected online tourism information maps , transportation schedules , fees , hours , concerts , sound and light shows and special exhibitions . but the site 's home page also offers a quick immersion in versailles 's grandeur , with three , 360 degree moving panoramas of the chateau 's courtyard , the hall of mirrors and the king 's bedchamber . the latter is swathed in brocades and equipped with cushions for the roughly 100 officials who typically jammed into the bedroom to attend the king 's rising and retiring . the panorama also offers a view from his windows . throughout the site , the art allows zoom in examination . one page lists louis_xv 's recipe for chocolate it is illustrated by charpentier 's painting of the family of the duke of penthievre , all with chocolate cups in hand . there are descriptions of the royal dinners , a day in the life of the sun_king , louis_xiv , and tips on being a winning courtier . ( wealth , perseverance , strong will and skill were all required . ''depending on the king 's whim , however , '' the site says , ''greatest favor would probably go to the best hunter or billiard player . '' ) the places section covers the history of the chateau , starting with the hunting lodge built in 1623 by louis xiii . it was his son , the sun_king , who had his architect embellish the palace , which became the official_residence of the french court in 1682 . there are illustrated histories of the grand trianon and the petit trianon , the palaces within the palace , and the peasant village where marie_antoinette played at being a shepherdess . there are descriptions of the gardens , fountains and 120 miles of channels and aqueducts that kept the water flowing . personal profiles include louis_xiv ( who became king at age 5 ) louis_xv , who fathered 10 children by age 27 madame de pompadour , louis_xv 's mistress , whose support for the arts benefited the sevres porcelain works and voltaire , among others and the marquis de lafayette , who rejected a position at court for a military career and support for american independence . ( returning from the surrender at yorktown a hero , he danced a quadrille with marie_antoinette at the petit trianon . ) the profiles offer unusual anecdotal glimpses of french history . at the peak of his power , before his disastrous russian invasion , napoleon envisioned living at versailles and had the grand trianon and the petit trianon refurbished for his and his family 's use . versailles was used as a hospital during the franco prussian war , and for a few months served as the residence of the victorious king of prussia , who proclaimed the founding of the german empire in the hall of mirrors in january 1871 . ( france signed a peace treaty with bismarck there , a favor that was returned in 1919 , when germany signed the treaty of versailles in the hall . ) charles de gaulle , the site notes , referred to versailles 40 times in his memoirs . de gaulle had the grand trianon restored , and he preferred to entertain distinguished guests there rather than at his official_residence , the elysee_palace , the former home of madame de pompadour . ''the home of a queen seems more dignified than that of a favorite , '' he is quoted as saying . for those who want more french culture online , two other major english_language sites are www . smartweb . fr orsay , for the musee d'orsay , which is in a converted railway_station and covers art from 1848 to 1914 and www . louvre . fr louvrea . htm , the official site for the louvre . screen grab	has a location of france
they stared at us marathon runners as if we were exotic beasts shipped in from the jungle . some of the hundreds of parisians lining the streets near the bastille opera took photographs . others pointed us out to their children . most simply looked on in silence as we descended toward the narrow quai des celestins on the bank of the seine . there , at mile 15 or so last sunday , my mind was so focused on finishing the 26th paris marathon that it blocked out the few yells from the sidelines . later , my girlfriend , guillemette , told me that she could not help laughing at some of the taunts she had heard ''you 'd better run faster because they 're opening the street up to cars soon'' and ''only 500 kilometers left . '' when she registered us last fall for the race , she warned me that the french do not express quite the same enthusiasm toward sports amateurism as americans do . it was our first marathon , and though the paris run was not as competitive as the races in london and boston , both also this month , it was still considered a tough race , with about 26 , 000 runners jostling through the city 's narrow streets . so i needed all the fan support i could get , and i wanted to believe that guillemette 's seven years as an expatriate in new york had distorted her view of the french and of sports . but during the marathon , and in the months leading to it , i discovered that one of the most noticeable cultural gaps between americans and the french lies in the idea of mutual support , a difference that becomes apparent during amateur sports events . the french have no equivalent for the word cheerleader . after all , they invented the word blas . last year , guillemette gave me a wry book on new york life by the french cartoon satirist semp . one drawing shows a weak runner struggling to stay on his feet during the new york city marathon . from the sidewalks , enthusiastic americans yell out phrases like ''looking good ! '' even though the runner is on the verge of collapse . our culture of encouragement is as inflated as our national ego , and the fact that we call something ''great'' when it merits only a ''good'' is as alien to the french as s.u.v . 's clogging the roadways . our french friends regarded us with bemusement during our four months of training before last week 's race . they warned us at dinner parties that running too much could be dangerous to our health , or asked us with a sort of existential probing the purpose of such an endeavor . our american friends , on the other hand , gave us such ridiculously hearty pats on the back that we felt as if we were the second coming of frank shorter and joan benoit samuelson . there is something paradoxical in the french attitude toward sports . the french have a long tradition of embracing extreme pursuits , like the seven day marathon des sables through the scorching sands of the sahara and the grueling , monthlong tour de france , which is still the most celebrated athletic event in the country . but guillemette thinks those events reflect a french appreciation for expertise rather than any kind of american style go for it attitude , and she still has fond childhood memories of making fun of the laggards in the tour de france ( ''you have a flat tire ! '' ) . in early march we ran in a half_marathon in brooklyn as part of our training regimen . it was the second race i had done , and my first long distance one . the number of spectators was small , but i found myself buoyed by their enthusiastic cries of ''you 're almost there'' and ''you 're all winners . '' passing them , i raised my fist in the air and screamed , and they yelled even louder . afterward i asked guillemette what i should do to rile up the crowds while running through paris . she stared at me as if i had asked her how to turn water into wine . then she sent an e mail message with my question to her friends and family as a joke , and wrote about the shouts of confidence she had heard during the half_marathon , a discovery apparently as shocking as the fact that , yes , americans really do eat lunch at their desks . we flew to france a week before the marathon to get over jet_lag . one afternoon , while running in the countryside outside paris , we met an old man who warned guillemette that such exercise would leave her breathless . another afternoon , atop an old viaduct near the bastille , a young girl stared incredulously as we sprinted . and over dinner in an apartment above the rue du faubourg saint antoine , right on the marathon route , two of guillemette 's friends joked that they would throw food out the window to us during the race , but did not even seriously consider stepping out their door to cheer us on . after all that , i was actually surprised by how many supporters did turn out . true , most of the spectators stared in silence , there were fewer cheers per person than at the brooklyn half_marathon and some of the loudest supporters were americans . but i heard enough brass bands and cries of ''allez ! allez ! '' and ''bon courage'' from the champs_lys_es to the place de la nation to the bois de boulogne to spur me on . i finished the race with an official time of 3 hours 58 minutes 59 seconds . guillemette came in 1 hour 12 minutes later . her friend nadine was standing by the finish line and , having read guillemette 's e mail message about the brooklyn half_marathon , yelled out ''looking good ! '' in english . her brother , who had never run in his life , sprinted the last mile with her , pushing his youngest daughter in a stroller . a few days later , his legs still sore , he said he was going to start training for next year 's marathon . backtalk	has a location of france
lead french school reformers are calling for a law to prohibit anyone from adding new material to the school curriculum without at the same time eliminating something . french school reformers are calling for a law to prohibit anyone from adding new material to the school curriculum without at the same time eliminating something . ''this may seem funny to you americans who do n't believe in national legislation about the curriculum , '' said claude allegre , special adviser to lionel_jospin , france 's minister of education , in an interview . it does not seem funny at all to french school reformers . they realize that over the centuries more and more topics have been piled up until the curriculum has become very nearly unmanageable , leaving no room for new material without risking educational indigestion . ( in fact , many american school reformers , particularly in science , say they feel similarly hemmed in . ) while france is celebrating the 200th_anniversary of its revolution with pomp and publicity , its educational leadership is quietly , almost furtively , preparing an educational revolution intended to modernize the schools by freeing them from past requirements and methods . dr . allegre is a scientist and a member of the american_academy of science who has taught at the massachusetts_institute_of_technology and the california_institute_of_technology and expects to spend some time teaching at cornell this year . he hopes to guide the reform of french elementary and high_schools along ways familiar to many american educators making them less rigid , more child oriented . but as a pragmatist , he recalls the fate of radical reforms proposed in 1985 which not only ran into stonewalling opposition from the powerful teachers union but led to protests that threatened to tear the nation apart . ''our strategy this time is different , '' dr . allegre said . ''it is not to make big claims but to make a few key changes effectively . '' because the teachers union and the public have strong opinions about educatron , he explained , ''we must be more discreet . ''we have talked with the union , '' he said , and with ''old timers'' who might stand in the way of change . however cautious , the new route to the future would render obsolete the probably apocryphal story about the education official in paris who looked at his watch and told a visitor the exact page of a textbook that seventh_graders all over france were studying at that moment . local school_districts are to be given greater independence , dr . allegre said , adding quickly that nevertheless ''we must keep certain national standards . '' why the need for change ? france is experiencing the same educational difficulties that plague other urban , industrial societies . even though france has no major dropout problem , too many youngsters finish school deficient in reading and writing . the old methods of teaching , often by poorly trained teachers , are no longer good enough . in mathematics , the french schools face a crisis . ''we have virtually no french mathematics teachers , only math teachers from the third world , largely from north_africa , '' dr . allegre said . the priorities , he continued , are to raise teachers' salaries , to create new teacher training institutions and to raise the entire education budget , especially for university research . elementary teachers will no longer be trained separately in two year normal schools but will attend three year , university run academic programs , together with secondary_school teachers itself a revolutionary step in a rank conscious system . university professors are also to be given instruction in how to teach , a controversial idea even in the united_states . the use of television and cassettes will be part of modern teacher training . ''we are working on curriculum changes for the elementary and high_schools , with fewer formal lectures and more independent work by pupils , '' dr . allegre said . ''we want them to spend more time studying fewer things in depth instead of giving them a giant overview . we are still in the thinking stage about the new curriculum but have appointed the best scientists and educators to design it . ''we want teachers to know more about how children learn and how to do science rather than aiming at a vast amount of knowledge . or , when studying a language , it is important that the pupil can write a letter , not just know the literature . '' to keep track of how students are doing , french schools , beginning in october , will test children 's reading and writing at age nine or 10 . those who are found wanting will be given special instruction in small groups but will continue in their regular classes in all other subjects . looking at immediate problems , claude allegre , like educators everywhere , admitted that change does not come easily . ''i 'm not extremely optimistic , '' he conceded , ''but we have to do it . in my mind , we are not doing enough for education . '' education	has a location of france
the most anticipated and potentially heated match at the french open so far serena_williams against justine_henin fizzled nearly from the start tuesday . williams , an eight time grand_slam_singles champion , hit backhands long and forehands short . she stretched her muscular limbs to put a racket on some of henin 's shots , only to double over , nearly kissing the clay . she shouted , ''c 'mon ! '' as motivation , but never took her own advice in a 6 4 , 6 3 loss in the quarterfinals that lasted only 78 minutes . only once did williams look as fierce as usual . in the second set , she threw her racket with such force and anger that it landed several feet behind her . the crowd , otherwise polite , jeered and whistled . later , williams said her performance was ''hideous and horrendous'' and worse than ever . ''serena kept hitting the balls in the net and serena kept making errors , '' she said at her news conference , then flogged herself for playing ''like a maniac . '' for henin to win , williams said , ''i think all she had to do was show up . '' exiting in the quarterfinals was particularly deflating for williams after making such a spectacular comeback to win the australian_open in january . she was ranked 81st then , after missing several months with an injured left knee . she was no . 8 in the rankings and seedings entering the french open . for the top seeded henin , tuesday 's victory was a confidence boost in her pursuit of a third consecutive title at roland_garros . henin 's coach , carlos rodr_guez , said henin was surprised at how easy it was to beat williams . later , henin said she had been braced for a tough , unpredictable match . ''i knew that mentally , she 's a real fighter and she can come back in the match at any time , '' henin said , explaining why she stayed aggressive , even when williams seemed helpless . henin had seen williams falter before only to come back . in the final at miami in march , henin dominated the first set , 6 0 , but williams rallied to win the next two and take the title . henin , a tiny ball of power compared with williams , remained stone faced throughout the match . only after williams 's final forehand hit the net did henin let her guard down . she grinned and pointed to the crowd . afterward , as the fans cheered , henin and williams shook hands and left the court smiling . the scene was entirely different four years ago , when they met in a semifinal that ended in controversy . then , williams left the court in tears as the spectators booed . a dispute over henin 's gamesmanship and a hostile crowd left a mark on that match . this time , williams , the final american in the singles draw , left dry eyed but disgusted . she will return to florida to train in the heat before wimbledon , a trip she called penance for losing here . henin will meet jelena jankovic , the fourth seed , in the semifinals . she is 5 0 against jankovic , with three victories against her this year . jankovic defeated the sixth_seeded nicole vaidisova , 6 3 , 7 5 , in another quarterfinal tuesday . she will be joined in the semifinals by her serbian compatriot ana ivanovic , seeded seventh , who beat no . 3 svetlana kuznetsova , 6 0 , 3 6 , 6 1 . kuznetsova , who complained of abdominal pain , was a finalist last year . ''wherever you go , it 's just serbians all over the place , winning all these matches , '' jankovic said . ''it 's just incredible . '' ivanovic will play no . 2 maria sharapova , who defeated a russian compatriot , no . 9 anna chakvetadze , 6 3 , 6 4 . earlier in the tournament , sharapova said she felt like ''a cow on ice'' when she played on clay , but she has managed to remain smooth enough to reach her first semifinal at roland_garros . for the men , no . 1 roger_federer advanced to the semifinals tuesday , but showed that he could be beaten at least for one set . federer set the record for consecutive sets won at a grand_slam_tournament when he took the first set against no . 9 tommy robredo , then immediately lost the second set . federer had won 36 sets in a row , a string that began at the 2006 united_states open he broke the record held by john_mcenroe since 1984 . ''well , not looking for excuses , but it was windy , '' federer said of that second set . ''i did n't play well in that set , that 's for sure . but he played solid . did n't miss much , used forehand well . ''i was actually playing wrong in that point of time . '' federer came back to win the match handily , 7 5 , 1 6 , 6 1 , 6 2 , setting up a semifinal_match against no . 4 nikolay davydenko . in the only other men 's quarterfinal tuesday , davydenko beat guillermo ca as , 7 5 , 6 4 , 6 4 . davydenko has never beaten federer in eight meetings , but ca as has figured out the secret . he is 3 1 against federer , including two victories against him in march . ''against federer nobody feel comfortable , only ca as , '' davydenko said . then , he laughed . ''you need to play your best game , '' he said . ''that 's what i need to find . '' tennis	has a location of france
in 1968 , french students took to the streets and nearly made a revolution . in 1995 , they are taking to the streets again for more professors , bigger classrooms and better libraries from the government so they can study harder and find good jobs . that is the message from the barricades around the architecturally stunning cantilevered and glass paneled buildings of the new university here . and it is essentially the same in some 15 other french universities on strike this month for better conditions . not marxism , but more money for alma_mater is what french students want in these budget cutting days , reflecting a revolution of a different sort that began in higher_education in france and much of the rest of europe after 1968 . then , there were 300 , 000 students in french universities . today there are 1.5 million , and many of the 79 state financed universities are bursting at the seams . " there are 2 , 000 students here , but only 80 places in the library for them to study , " said laurence gallerne gregoire , a 29 year old bilingual legal secretary who is going back to school to learn to become a spanish_language teacher . " there are too few permanent professors on the faculty and too few administrative personnel , " she said . " and at examination time the lecture halls are packed so full that people can easily cheat . " the university administration agrees that the campus needs more nonteaching administrative personnel and more permanent professors . the strike here , and elsewhere , has been low key , with most classes continuing even though demonstrators are occupying university buildings . this week the lecture halls here were packed with students plotting the most effective strategy to get more money for their studies out of the education ministry in paris , where thousands of students are to converge next tuesday to press the minister , francois bayrou , to come up with more money . france will spend more than 8 . 6 billion on the universities this year , 4 percent more than in 1994 , though there are about 5 to 6 percent more students . they pay for room and board , books , and a 135 annual registration fee tuition is free . so when unemployment started hitting double_digit levels in the early 1990 's , many high_school graduates who might have pounded the pavements in a good job market started hitting the books instead . a result was explosive growth at new universities like this one , which opened in 1989 with 166 students and 14 teachers and administrative personnel . this year it has 5 , 903 students and 347 teachers and nonteaching personnel not enough , many students say . overcrowding is also a problem in germany and other european state financed university systems where the only admissions requirement is a high_school_diploma . france has some elite schools like oxford and cambridge that admit only a chosen few the political sciences institute and the national school of administration in paris , for instance . but the government established scores of new universities around the country after 1968 to make higher_education more democratic . socialist governments in the late 1980 's and early 1990 's increased the education budget by 10 percent a year in some years . but president jacques_chirac 's conservatives have limited the increases in the last two years to just above the rate of inflation . mr . chirac has now made reducing french government deficit_spending his main priority . so today the entrance halls of the main administration building at marne la vallee were festooned with banners like this one " spare some change to continue our studies . " " the demands are really pretty moderate , " said jerome gabillot goyat , a 23 year old economics student . he had not even been born in 1968 , when students tied paris in knots and had epic battles with the police for days . this time , he said , " we debated whether to sit down on the subway tracks and block the trains but decided not to because it would alienate people . " instead , mr . gabillot goyat said , the students here took over a toll barrier on the nearby paris rheims highway , but only after giving the police time enough to prepare for their arrival . " the police were great , " he said . " we stopped cars and asked people to make a contribution to improve conditions in the universities instead of paying the 10 franc toll . some people gave us 100 franc bills , " he said 20 . the student strikes this year began in rouen , where students occupied the university president 's office and demanded a supplement to the budget . mr . bayrou sent a mediator , who came up with half of what the students asked for , and for a little while it looked as if the strikes would end . instead , rouen inspired similar actions elsewhere . so far , there has been little violence . but strikers at the university of metz kept an aide to the education minister from leaving for several hours on thursday after she visited the campus to try to calm things down . the students at metz assert that enrollment of 17 , 000 students entitled the institution to more than it got in this year 's budget , and they want 300 more research positions created there to improve its academic standing . eventually the aide , nicole ferrier , made her way out by a back entrance . " i think we have a problem of budget growth , " said bernard dizambourg , a senior official of the conference of university presidents here . " but what the students want is unrealistic . five to six percent annual growth would be conceivable , but we also need to ask whether only the state should finance university education , or should families be asked to contribute more ? " there are a few private colleges and universities in france , but american style tuition bills might provoke a bigger revolution here than in 1789 . mr . bayrou , the education minister , says he will make his proposals , expected to be considerably less dramatic , when the students arrive in paris on tuesday .	has a location of france
when jim gieske retired for the first time 15 years ago , he and his wife , judi , bought a sailboat and went on a two year trip , sailing from chesapeake_bay to venezuela . in 2001 , after he retired again , they bought a century old converted barge and set out to cover some of the thousands of kilometers of canals and rivers around france . ''i had never been out of sight of land before we went on this sailing trip'' to venezuela , mrs . gieske said . ''but i loved it . so when jim came up with the barge , i thought , 'i 'd better not fight it . ' '' the gieskes bought the boat for about 200 , 000 euros , or 263 , 000 , from a retired dutch operator , who had transformed the barge into a home for his wife and later their two children , both of whom were born on the barge . over the past five years , the gieskes have spent the equivalent of about 46 , 000 on renovations , furnishings and enhancements . the barge , called joli coeur , or pretty heart , is moored for the winter in saint symphorien sur sa ne , on the canal du rh_ne au rhin near saint jean de losne , in the heart of burgundy . it is a hub for pleasure boaters , who converge from the main waterways of the rh_ne , the seine and the rhine through an intricate web of canals that run through the picturesque vineyard region of eastern france . instead of seeking a second home , the couple , who are from easton , md . , felt they would rather take their house along with them . ''we 're retired , '' mr . gieske said . ''we do n't want to get old sitting at home . there 's nothing like being immersed in a system . you just ca n't get it in a two week vacation . '' mr . gieske , 68 , was a surgeon his wife , 66 , was a pediatrician . with two bedrooms and a wood paneled living room brightened by a sunny , yellow couch , the barge gives the impression of a small , but well appointed cottage with somewhat low ceilings . the living area totals about 50 square meters , or 540 square_feet . despite its 103 year old history , joli coeur is deceptively modern . its 40 , 000 liter , or nearly 10 , 600 gallon , water tank and its fuel tank both are so large that they have to be replenished only once a year , which allows for worry free trips . satellite tv and an internet connection through a cellphone mean civilization is never too far , either . there is even a bathtub . the gieskes have spent about five months a year on the barge . they have used saint jean de losne as their hub , venturing onto the nearby sa ne river and many others , like the meurthe river . they loved the meurthe so much they stayed five weeks in the city of nancy . they have also traveled around the champagne region , and they fell asleep in the shadow of the eiffel_tower when they tied up at the grenelle port in paris . during their first summer aboard , in 2002 , they cruised from cambrai , in northern france , to bruges , belgium . ''when we bought the boat , we had intended to go everywhere in europe with it , '' mrs . gieske said . ''we wanted to go to st . petersburg and moscow and every country in europe . but we fell in love with france and we never wanted to leave . we fell in love with the food and the sights and the culture and the country . everything . '' the gieskes have discovered the french countryside gradually , almost by chance . ''i generally make a rough itinerary for the summer , that 's as tight as it gets , '' mr . gieske said . ''if we like the place , we just stay . otherwise , we leave the next morning . '' to get around on land , the couple use bikes that they keep on the barge renting motorized scooters is another option . the boat moves at about 5 kilometers an hour , or a little more than 3 miles an hour , so it is possible for one of them to go into the nearest town to pick up fresh bread and later catch up with the boat . the gieskes tell stories of becoming friends with strangers strolling on the canal banks , and of being recognized by people who crossed their path several years before . they describe their labrador , honey , swimming in the canals , and jim hugging a broken toilet bowl as he pedaled into the nearby village to look for a repairman . most of all , they tell stories about taking time to see where the river might go , of simple things enjoyed because they were not overlooked . on the water , the couple said , they mostly meet other foreigners . the dutch , britons and australians make up the bulk of their fellow barge dwellers , the gieskes said . ''you see more anglo saxons than you see french people , '' said bruno tirmant of the development department at voies navigables de france , the public authority in charge of the country 's 6 , 700 kilometers , or 4 , 165 miles , of managed canals and rivers . ''the river culture , going through the locks , it works for the british in particular . in all seasons , they love it . it 's a culture , a way of life . '' the agency is planning to take a census of houseboats in france , but the process will be tricky because most large ones are converted commercial barges and are not registered as houseboats . the disappearance of trade_barriers within the european_union also means that e.u . registered boats come and go unnoticed on the waterways of france . in fact , joli coeur , which was bought in the netherlands , is registered as a dutch ship , and the gieskes fly the dutch , french and maryland flags . perhaps the most unexpected part of the cruising lifestyle is its very reasonable price , even in light of the current strength of the euro . ''we find it is cheaper to live on a boat than to live at home , '' mr . gieske said . maintenance and improvements average 1 , 200 euros , or 1 , 599 , a year , and the barge burns through about 500 euros , or 666 , in fuel each season even though ''we travel more than anybody we know , '' mrs . gieske said . they also have to have a cruising permit , which costs 400 euros , or 533 , a year , to go through locks and to moor in designated areas . the couple says private ports charge a reasonable fee for example , the grenelle port in paris charges 30 euros , or 40 , a night . but living on a barge for an extended period may not be for everyone . ''you have to be self sufficient in every way , emotionally and mechanically , '' mr . gieske said . ''you have to be content with your companion because there 's not as much socialization as there is at home . and it 's not luxurious by the usual measure . '' the gieskes recently put the boat up for sale with a broker in saint symphorien because they want to spend more time in new york , where their first grandchildren , twins , were born this summer . ''i 'm afraid to sell the barge , '' mrs . gieske said , ''because i 'm afraid of what else jim might come up with next . ''	has a location of france
when jim gieske retired for the first time 15 years ago , he and his wife , judi , bought a sailboat and went on a two year trip , sailing from chesapeake_bay to venezuela . in 2001 , after he retired again , they bought a century old converted barge and set out to cover some of the thousands of kilometers of canals and rivers around france . ''i had never been out of sight of land before we went on this sailing trip'' to venezuela , mrs . gieske said . ''but i loved it . so when jim came up with the barge , i thought , 'i 'd better not fight it . ' '' the gieskes bought the boat for about 200 , 000 euros , or 263 , 000 , from a retired dutch operator , who had transformed the barge into a home for his wife and later their two children , both of whom were born on the barge . over the past five years , the gieskes have spent the equivalent of about 46 , 000 on renovations , furnishings and enhancements . the barge , called joli coeur , or pretty heart , is moored for the winter in saint symphorien sur sa ne , on the canal du rh_ne au rhin near saint jean de losne , in the heart of burgundy . it is a hub for pleasure boaters , who converge from the main waterways of the rh_ne , the seine and the rhine through an intricate web of canals that run through the picturesque vineyard region of eastern france . instead of seeking a second home , the couple , who are from easton , md . , felt they would rather take their house along with them . ''we 're retired , '' mr . gieske said . ''we do n't want to get old sitting at home . there 's nothing like being immersed in a system . you just ca n't get it in a two week vacation . '' mr . gieske , 68 , was a surgeon his wife , 66 , was a pediatrician . with two bedrooms and a wood paneled living room brightened by a sunny , yellow couch , the barge gives the impression of a small , but well appointed cottage with somewhat low ceilings . the living area totals about 50 square meters , or 540 square_feet . despite its 103 year old history , joli coeur is deceptively modern . its 40 , 000 liter , or nearly 10 , 600 gallon , water tank and its fuel tank both are so large that they have to be replenished only once a year , which allows for worry free trips . satellite tv and an internet connection through a cellphone mean civilization is never too far , either . there is a even bathtub . the gieskes have spent about five months a year on the barge . they have used saint jean de losne as their hub , venturing onto the nearby sa ne river and many others , like the meurthe river . they loved the meurthe so much they stayed five weeks in the city of nancy . they have also traveled around the champagne region , and they fell asleep in the shadow of the eiffel_tower when they tied up at the grenelle port in paris . during their first summer aboard , in 2002 , they cruised from cambrai , in northern france , to bruges , belgium . ''when we bought the boat , we had intended to go everywhere in europe with it , '' mrs . gieske said . ''we wanted to go to st . petersburg and moscow and every country in europe . but we fell in love with france and we never wanted to leave . we fell in love with the food and the sights and the culture and the country . everything . '' the gieskes have discovered the french countryside gradually , almost by chance . ''i generally make a rough itinerary for the summer , that 's as tight as it gets , '' mr . gieske said . ''if we like the place , we just stay . otherwise , we leave the next morning . '' to get around on land , the couple use bikes that they keep on the barge renting motorized scooters is another option . the boat moves at about 5 kilometers an hour , or a little more than 3 miles an hour , so it is possible for one of them to go into the nearest town to pick up fresh bread and later catch up with the boat . the gieskes tell stories of becoming friends with strangers strolling on the canal banks , and of being recognized by people who crossed their path several years before . they describe their labrador , honey , swimming in the canals , and jim hugging a broken toilet bowl as he pedaled into the nearby village to look for a repairman . most of all , they tell stories about taking time to see where the river might go , of simple things enjoyed because they were not overlooked . on the water , the couple said , they mostly meet other foreigners . the dutch , britons and australians make up the bulk of their fellow barge dwellers , the gieskes said . ''you see more anglo saxons than you see french people , '' said bruno tirmant of the development department at voies navigables de france , the public authority in charge of the country 's 6 , 700 kilometers , or 4 , 165 miles , of managed canals and rivers . ''the river culture , going through the locks , it works for the british in particular . in all seasons , they love it . it 's a culture , a way of life . '' the agency is planning to take a census of houseboats in france , but the process will be tricky because most large ones are converted commercial barges and are not registered as houseboats . the disappearance of trade_barriers within the european_union also means that e.u . registered boats come and go unnoticed on the waterways of france . in fact , joli coeur , which was bought in the netherlands , is registered as a dutch ship , and the gieskes fly the dutch , french and maryland flags . perhaps the most unexpected part of the cruising lifestyle is its very reasonable price , even in light of the current strength of the euro . ''we find it is cheaper to live on a boat than to live at home , '' mr . gieske said . maintenance and improvements average 1 , 200 euros , or 1 , 599 , a year , and the barge burns through about 500 euros , or 666 , in fuel each season even though ''we travel more than anybody we know , '' mrs . gieske said . they also have to have a cruising permit , which costs 400 euros , or 533 , a year , to go through locks and to moor in designated areas . the couple says private ports charge a reasonable fee for example , the grenelle port in paris charges 30 euros , or 40 , a night . but living on a barge for an extended period may not be for everyone . ''you have to be self sufficient in every way , emotionally and mechanically , '' mr . gieske said . ''you have to be content with your companion because there 's not as much socialization as there is at home . and it 's not luxurious by the usual measure . '' the gieskes recently put the boat up for sale with a broker in saint symphorien because they want to spend more time in new york , where their first grandchildren , twins , were born this summer . ''i 'm afraid to sell the barge , '' mrs . gieske said , ''because i 'm afraid of what else jim might come up with next . ''	has a location of france
nice , it was another stranger than fiction day in figure_skating , a sport that seems as drawn to the melodramatic as aleksei_yagudin does to the medal stand . ''skating never ceases to amaze me on or off the ice , '' said elvis stojko , canada 's three time world champion , shaking his head after tonight 's men 's short_program . off the ice on the second day of these world_championships , the french pairs skater stephane bernadis was slashed on the arm in his hotel room , a very short walk from the arena where this event was being staged . according to french skating officials , bernadis said he heard a knock on his door at about 3 30 p.m . and opened it , thinking it was his partner , sarah abitbol . instead , bernadis told the officials that he found a man wielding a razor . although he said he shut the door quickly , he said the assailant still managed to leave him with a long cut that required ''three to four stitches'' said didier gailhaguet , the president of the french ice sports federation . bernadis later practiced briefly with abitbol while wearing a bandage on his arm . the french pair , who have never won a medal in the world_championships , are in fourth place heading into wednesday night 's decisive free program and although gailhaguet at first indicated that the injury would not affect their participation , they are expected to make a final decision on whether to compete after practicing again on wednesday . gailhaguet said he had been given no indication that this incident was linked to attempted sabotage , and even though a complaint was filed with the nice police , no assailant had been apprehended by early evening . ''stephane is o.k . , '' gailhaguet said . ''he was shocked . the injury is not serious , but he was certainly psychologically shaken . '' the incident came two days after the reigning pairs champions yelena_berezhnaya and anton_sikharulidze withdrew from this event because berezhnaya had tested positive for a banned substance . the french skaters had been assigned body guards for the duration of this competition a move taken in the wake of telephone threats received by the french ice dancer gwendal peizerat in france before the 1998 world_championships in minneapolis . but gailhaguet said that bernadis had actually asked for security to be less strict because ''he felt safe and there were no problems . '' gailhaguet also said the guard assigned to the pair was not at the hotel at the time of the incident because he had left to provide security for abitbol during a shopping trip . security at all the hotels where skaters are staying was immediately tightened . ''they have guards now on every floor and in every elevator , '' the american singles skater tim goebel said . ''i do n't feel unsafe at all . '' goebel , who finished second at the united_states championships to michael weiss , did reveal that he was not healthy , however . he offered no explanation after performing poorly in the qualifying_round on monday , but tonight , after finishing seventh in the short_program , he said he had recently strained a muscle in his lower left leg and had been receiving treatment . ''yesterday was just an off day , and i did n't want it to sound like i was making excuses , '' he said . there was no need for yagudin to make any . the two time defending world champion was brilliant again , skating last and best to a jazzy version of the ''nutcracker suite'' and landing his quadruple toe_loop and triple_axel triple_toe_combination with relative ease . he received nothing lower than 5.7 for technical merit and nothing but 5 . 9 's for presentation and is the leader heading into thursday night 's free program , which counts for 50 percent over all . in second is his russian teammate and the reigning european champion yevgeny plushenko . figure_skating	has a location of france
lead pierre bernard , mayor of this working_class suburb on a hill northeast of paris , examined the four sheets of paper on his oversized desk . pierre bernard , mayor of this working_class suburb on a hill northeast of paris , examined the four sheets of paper on his oversized desk . ''let 's take this immigrant from mali , '' said the mayor , waving the sheets in the air . ''he has four wives . this wife has eight children , this one has seven children and this one has two . his fourth wife has none . that makes 17 children whose schooling our town has to pay for . '' mr . bernard has won quite a following among french rightists for his outspokenness on the most explosive issue in france today immigration . in his most pointed effort to halt the flow of immigrants to montfermeil , he has refused to allow the children of immigrants to enroll in two nursery schools in a neighborhood dominated by arab and african emigres . ''you see problems whenever there are such large concentrations of immigrants , '' he said . ''we all believe in integrating immigrants into french society , but how can you do that when you have 20 foreign children in a class and just 2 french children ? '' like two countries two frances intersect in this town of 25 , 000 , and the dividing line is boulevard bargue . on one side are modest prewar single family houses with tidy , geranium filled gardens and neatly painted black steel fences . that , mr . bernard asserts , is where the french live . across the street is a mass of dilapidated 10 story apartment blocks housing 8 , 000 people , 90 percent of them immigrant families from countries from algeria to zaire . high pitched arab music streams from the whitewashed buildings , and bright red and blue african robes are spread on balconies to dry . only a few trees sprout in this concrete and asphalt maze known as les bosquets , meaning the grove , a block of 1 , 550 apartments built in the mid 1960s . the elevators are usually broken , and the lights in many hallways do not work . the drug dealers and broken windows so common in american slums are not in evidence here . but les bosquets is considered one of the worst projects in a nation with a strong safety net . it is where the latest immigrants end up when they cannot find a better place . once led by communists for three decades , montfermeil was part of the ' 'red belt'' of communist administered suburbs surrounding paris , but in 1983 it swung sharply to the right . that was when mr . bernard , who does not belong to a political_party , ran successfully for mayor by pledging to halt immigration to montfermeil . immigrants now make up 30 percent of the city 's population . mr . bernard , who spent two decades in the french military , often serving in north and central africa , was easily re elected last year . he faced no opposition from the national front , the rightist party that seeks to deport many of the 5 million immigrants in this nation of 56 million . in 1987 , mr . bernard ordered town officials to reject immigrants seeking to enroll their children at two nursery schools in the shadow of les bosquets . the school directors ignored him , admitting any student who applied , as the law requires . in october mr . bernard threatened to cut off funding to the schools if they continued to accept immigrants' children . the schools again defied him , so in january he cut off funding for maintenance and for the school cafeteria while continuing to pay for heating . the national government pays teachers' salaries . overruled by government ''we 're not doing these children any favors by putting them in schools that do n't integrate them into french society , '' mr . bernard said . ''when these kids finish school , they end up unemployed . '' the national government 's representative in the area , the prefect of the seine saint denis district , which includes montfermeil , overruled the mayor and ordered that the town resume payments for meals and maintainance . mr . bernard also has been indicted again for racial_discrimination , a charge on which he was found guilty two years ago . rightists have hailed the mayor for taking a tough stance on immigration . the minister of education , teachers' groups and many parents have condemned him . ''if he wants to help the kids , why is he cutting off the cafeteria ? '' said nadia belmesaoud , an algerian immigrant whose 4 year old daughter , karin , attends victor hugo nursery_school , one of the two schools affected . ''if the mayor is unhappy about immigration , why does he have to take it out on little children ? '' halima , oumar and jean this school , with 269 students , is a collage of brightly_colored toys and stick figure paintings signed by students named halima , dynnah , oumar and jean . nicole erbani , the director , accuses the mayor of demagoguery . ''he claims that these children cannot develop well , '' she said . ''that 's not true . many of them do n't learn any french until they go to nursery_school , and later on they do just as well in school as other children . '' if mr . bernard 's action succeeded , she pointed out , immigrant children would end up staying at home , where they would continue to speak their parents' native languages . ''that certainly wo n't help integrate them into france , '' she said . many immigrants call mr . bernard a racist , but some privately express relief that he has brought attention to their decaying neighborhood . the national government is proceeding with a program to provide funding to improve education in montfermeil and to speed the integration of its immigrants . the government has also agreed on a far reaching project to demolish part of les bosquets and renovate other sections .	has a location of france
lead how does a staten_island native who speaks only english become a star of the french national basketball_team ? by having a mother who is a french citizen . that was enough to get geraldine saintilus , a junior forward for seton_hall and a former big_east rookie of the year , invited to try out for the french team in mid july . how does a staten_island native who speaks only english become a star of the french national basketball_team ? by having a mother who is a french citizen . that was enough to get geraldine saintilus , a junior forward for seton_hall and a former big_east rookie of the year , invited to try out for the french team in mid july . to her surprise , she made the team , and now plans to stay with it at least until the end of the european national championships , sept . 5 11 in spain . if france finishes in the top four there , it will move into a qualifying_tournament for the 1988 olympics . ''i do n't think i can fully understand what a great experience this is until i come home and have a chance to let it sink in , '' said saintilus , whose mother was born in french guyana and whose father is haitian . ''i have to admit i miss home , though , '' saintilus said . ''i have had a difficult time with the language . everything i do is affected by that , both on and off the court . the other girls on the team speak some english and they are very helpful , but it 's still very tough . ''	has a location of france
a jewish school in a northern paris suburb was burned early saturday in the first attack on a jewish institution in france in about a year . the french interior_minister , nicolas_sarkozy , visited the charred and smoldering school in gagny , an area with a large muslim population , and said afterward that the arson attack had ''evident racist and anti semitic connotations . '' ''when a jewish school is set afire , '' mr . sarkozy told a 24 hour news channel , ''it is difficult for me to believe that it is not a matter of anti_semitism . '' he said there was evidence that the building had been illegally entered and that at least two fires had been set , one in front of the building and one inside . the fires appear to have been set about 3 a.m . local time , when no one was in the building . violence directed at jews flared last year in france , which has the largest jewish population in western_europe , about 600 , 000 , as well as the largest arab population , around four million . commentators blamed anger at the increasing violence in the middle_east for the attacks .	has a location of france
there were concerns in this northern suburb of paris that michael johnson 's sore right hamstring might keep him from crossing the atlantic and headlining this grand_prix meet . johnson came and , with the crowd cheering him on wildly , he did not disappoint tonight , cruising in his uniquely rigid style to his 20th straight victory in the 200 meters in a meet record 20 . 23 seconds . but the texan was not the most impressive sprinter on the program . that honor belonged to a namibian , frankie fredericks . fredericks 's time of 9 . 95 seconds in the 100 meters matched the personal best he established in 1991 and re established him as a threat for olympic gold in atlanta next month . only three men have run faster this season ato boldon , the u.c.l.a . senior who ran 9 . 92 on saturday at the national_collegiate_athletic_association championships dennis mitchell , who ran 9 . 93 at the grand_prix stop in atlanta last month , and carl_lewis , who finished second to mitchell in 9 . 94 . but mitchell 's and lewis 's times were slightly wind aided . fredericks 's was not , and he might have gone faster if the nigerian olapade adeniken had been able to push him down the stretch . " i did not expect to run this fast tonight , but i got a great start , " said fredericks , an olympic silver medalist in the 100 and 200 in 1992 . in recent years , fredericks has had more success in the 200 , winning the world championship in 1993 . but at age 28 , he has regained his form over the shorter distance and gives some of the credit to the defending olympic 100 meter champion linford_christie , the 36 year old briton with whom fredericks trained in australia and florida in recent months . fredericks has not decided whether he will run both the 100 and 200 . there are no doubts about johnson 's intentions . the olympic schedule has been rearranged to make his unprecedented 200 400 double possible . but after dominating both events for the last two years , there have been whiffs of vulnerability of late . in atlanta , a fellow american , mike marsh , pushed him hard in the 200 , losing the edge down the stretch as johnson barely won in 19 . 83 seconds . johnson then pulled out of the prefontaine classic in eugene , ore . , with a sore hamstring . his time tonight was far from spectacular , but he said his right leg did not bother him and that he anticipated no problem when the olympic trials begin later this month . " this race let me know everything was fine , " johnson said . " the time was n't important . i was a little tentative coming out of the blocks . i did n't want to just blast out . i wanted to take it easy the first part of the race to make sure it would hold up , and it did . " in other events , marie jose perec of france won the women 's 200 in 22 . 30 seconds . lyudmila narozhilenko enquist , the former soviet who is now running for sweden after serving a two year suspension for using a banned substance , won the women 's 100 meter_hurdles in 12 . 61 seconds . derartu tulu of ethiopia won the women 's 5 , 000 in 14 minutes 50 . 89 seconds . track_field	has a location of france
lead corsican separatist guerrillas blew up about 40 vacation homes under construction today and pledged to continue fighting foreign investment on the french mediterranean island . armed and hooded members of the corsican national liberation front staged the attack on the oasis resort , a complex of 120 homes being built near the northwest port of calvi . corsican separatist guerrillas blew up about 40 vacation homes under construction today and pledged to continue fighting foreign investment on the french mediterranean island . armed and hooded members of the corsican national liberation front staged the attack on the oasis resort , a complex of 120 homes being built near the northwest port of calvi . no one was hurt but a third of the houses were destroyed .	has a location of france
you are fox_sports and you have a message your world_series demographics last year were better than nbc 's for the summer_olympics . so you take out full page newspaper advertisements that gleefully trumpet and , to some degree , distort your statistical side of the story . in the ads , you morph images of mets and yankees players in olympic poses ( mike_piazza hurdling in catching mufti , roger_clemens in a bodsled ) and tell your tale among men 18 to 34 , the world_series rating was 44 percent higher than the summer games rating , and for men 18 to 49 , the world_series won by 22 percent . ''to quote jack webb , we just wanted to get the facts out , to show how well baseball has done , '' david hill , chairman of the fox_sports television group , said . the campaign is part of a joint marketing effort by fox and major_league_baseball begun last year after fox_sports acquired five seasons of network and cable_television rights for 2 . 5 billion . ''advertisers look for the best way to spend their money , and if two or three advertisers' eyes are opened to the value of the world_series , we 've done our job , '' hill said . the newspaper ads , which have run the past week , oversell the message by distorting it slightly . headlines say , ''mlb demos 44 vs . olympics'' and ''mlb postseason demos more upscale than summer games . '' that implies that the demographics are for more than just the world_series , which they are not . ''we do n't believe a single media buyer would fall for this , '' said dick ebersol , the chairman of nbc_sports . ''it 's apples and oranges . '' while the fox baseball ads compare the two events' male demographics , those young males are not nbc 's olympic raison d' tre . ''they 're sold as the biggest event in sports television for the family , not just women , not just young men , and not just children , '' ebersol said . he added , ''this is all rather sad , silly and desperate . '' and serious enough for the united_states_olympic_committee to have demanded last week that fox cease using the olympic name . ''what escapes the notice of most people is that nbc is our most important sponsor , '' said matt mannelly , chief marketing officer of the u.s.o.c . ''this type of marketing takes money out of the pockets of our athletes . anyone who does anything to take aim at nbc is engaged in ambush marketing . '' lou d'ermilio , a fox spokesman , said that the network disagreed with the u.s.o.c . but that it would proceed with the campaign for two more weeks with mentions of olympics replaced by summer games . mannelly said fox 's alteration could evade infringement of the u.s.o.c . 's rights , but ''it still creates an association in the consumers' minds with the olympics . '' he also wondered why major_league_baseball was part of a campaign that questioned the impact of the olympics . ''major_league_baseball is one of our partners , '' mannelly said . ''it did a tremendous job putting together the gold_medal winning team in sydney . '' tim brosnan , an executive vice_president of major_league_baseball , said ''the campaign is not meant to disparage anyone . it 's intended to highlight good demographics for baseball . '' gehrig 's digital remake if a greater speech than lou_gehrig 's farewell to baseball exists in sports , find it . to a nearly packed yankee_stadium , gehrig delivered a short , impromptu and unforgettable oration . leave it to alcatel , a telecommunications company based in france , to use it for commercial gain . alcatel is pushing a campaign that asks what would happen if there were no audiences to hear the ideas in famous speeches . in its first commercial , it used industrial light and magic 's technology to empty the washington mall of the crowds that heard martin_luther_king_jr . deliver his ''i have a dream'' speech . starting monday , a new alcatel spot will do the same for gehrig 's ''luckiest man'' speech . part of the commercial will show him speaking to a digitally altered , empty ballpark . the campaign verges on the unthinkable can anyone imagine king or gehrig speaking to no one ? why would an estate license the rights of an icon 's best known words to alcatel ? ''it 's designed to make people question if those powerful words did not connect with people , '' said brad burns , senior vice_president for corporate communications at alcatel . the company understands , and even seems to relish , that by reimagining the king and gehrig speeches , it will generate renown and notoriety that will not hurt its image with its customers , investors and employees . ''it 's our intention to honor lou_gehrig 's legacy , '' burns said . george pollack , the executor of the estate of gehrig 's widow , eleanor , said he licensed gehrig 's name and likeness to bring more attention to the funds needed to research the disease named for the yankee , amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis . ''i 'm on safe ground in saying lou_gehrig would want his image and name used to help treat or cure a.l.s . patients , '' pollack said , adding ''on balance , we are not endorsing the alcatel product . no way . '' the estate received a six figure fee . the money will go to a fund in the gehrigs' name at columbia presbyterian hospital benefiting a.l.s . research and the rip van winkle foundation , which was founded by gehrig 's doctor and supports medical research . pollack said the notion of anyone gaining commercially from gehrig 's famous words can be viewed in different ways . alcatel is using the speech for its benefit , but a.l.s . charities also benefit . yet , he added ''when espn interviews me for three hours , uses the speech and sells commercials for a show about lou , a.l.s . does n't get a nickel . i know that doing this will help a.l.s . patients . '' tv sports	has a location of france
paris on sunday shut down the champs_lys_es for a huge street party in support of its effort to be selected as the host of the 2012 olympic_games . the event provided a poignant counterpoint to the gloomy political mood that has pervaded france since it rejected the european_union 's constitution last month . while madrid , another contender for the games , held a similar event on sunday , the daylong sports festival in paris carried more symbolism as both officials and citizens tried to look beyond france 's economic and political malaise toward what most agree would be a prize around which people could unite . ''the french have had it with politics , the social situation , everything , '' said rapha lle monteau , a television_producer watching a table_tennis match on the avenue with her two children . ''the games would boost morale . '' the olympic_committee will issue a report on monday evaluating the efforts of the five cities in contention . their decision will be announced on july 6 . many people regard paris as the front runner for the 2012 games , partly because the city already has about two thirds of the required venues in place and its plans to build the rest are neither prohibitively_expensive nor politically difficult . new york , by contrast , has yet to win 300 million in public financing for a stadium it would build on the west side of manhattan . if the stadium issue is not resolved , new york 's chances of landing the games may be diminished . on friday , supporters postponed a vote on the financing in albany when they appeared destined to lose . in new york on sunday , intense lobbying by mayor michael r . bloomberg failed to break the political logjam . the leader of the state_assembly , sheldon_silver , met several times with the mayor throughout the day , but said he remained opposed to the stadium proposal . madrid would have to do far more building than would paris one proposed stadium would cost more than all of the construction planned by paris combined . moscow , another candidate , has already been the host for more international championships in olympic sports than any of the other candidates and , plagued by power failures and organized_crime , is not believed to be the likely choice . london , which plans a new rail line to connect the city with stratford , where most of the events would be held , is considered the most serious competition to paris . there is a widespread feeling in france that this country needs a lift and that losing the olympics again the city lost the chance to be host for the 2008 games to beijing would only deepen the sense that it has lost its direction . france has been gripped in a torturous struggle between the government and powerful unions over the future of expensive worker entitlements that the government insists that the country can no longer afford . the economy has sputtered and unemployment has surged , while frequent strikes have played havoc with people 's lives . one result has been widespread popular discontent , which found an outlet in the may 29 referendum on the european_union constitution . the overwhelming no that voters delivered was less about the constitution , which few people read or understood , than it was about frustration with the status_quo . in response , president jacques_chirac reshuffled his already well shuffled cabinet in a vain effort to appease the public , but the national temper remains grim . that was the context to the festivities on sunday , which turned the champs_lys_es into a long series of sporting arenas , from a running track near the arc de triomphe to a swimming_pool near place de la concorde . olympic athletes and sporting clubs put on exhibitions of everything from fencing to baseball . children were invited to participate between events . of course , no one believes that if paris is chosen the host for the olympics , it will solve the country 's many problems . there was still plenty of pessimism to go around on sunday . ''the reality is that companies are moving to the countries in the east , '' said philippe wramour , a mechanic , when asked if paris 's being chosen would help france . the loss of jobs to the european_union 's new members in the former soviet_bloc is among the most emotional issues causing anger toward the government . ''it 's a mess here , '' mr . wramour said . many people worry that the country 's frequent strikes could cost paris its chance to be the host . unions angry at the government 's effort to loosen the rules around the country 's 35 hour_workweek called a strike the day that the olympic inspection committee came to town in march . but the olympics is a popular cause here . even many of the striking workers wore paris 2012 t shirts . ''to have the games would bring a little fun , as you say , a breath of fresh_air , '' said beno t g nuini , president of the french operation of accenture , a global consulting company , on a balcony of the louvre last week during an event to highlight the city 's cultural attractions as an olympic host . he remarked that the country was morose and that the city itself had become a sort of museum . ''the games would put paris back in the saddle and lead it into the 21st_century , '' he said , ''get it out of its stupor . ''	has a location of france
the surprise 400 meter champion won late at night while wearing sunglasses . a kenyan native won the steeplechase but ran a victory lap while carrying the flag of qatar . an american sprint phenom turned pro right out of high_school . expected champions wilted like tourists on an endless line at the louvre . few track and field meets have proved as bizarre as these ninth world_championships of the international association of athletics federations . the strangeness began last saturday , when an afghan woman who had never stepped on a track ran the 100 meters in a t_shirt and long pants . a day later , jon drummond of the united_states lay on the track and refused to leave in protest of a controversial false start rule . today , the weirdness continued . tyree washington of the united_states had not lost a 400 meter race all season , but he ran a sluggish race tonight , losing to his teammate jerome young , who took the world championship in 44 . 50 seconds . a look of resignation crossing his face , washington finished second in 44 . 77 , far slower than his world best of 44 . 33 , which he had posted in winning the national championship in june . he said he felt shellshocked at not winning . he returned to track this season after taking a sabbatical last year , in part because his sister was on trial and later convicted of killing her 18 month old daughter . washington appeared rejuvenated this season , ready to replace the retired michael johnson as the world 's best quarter miler . but young has that title now . ''i think i 'm tired , '' washington said . ''taking 18 months off and coming back , i think i felt it a little tonight . '' a native of jamaica , young grew up in hartford and was persuaded by a teacher to try track and field at prince technical high_school . he became an american citizen in 1995 and attended st . augustine 's college in raleigh , n.c . he won national titles in the 400 in 1998 and 1999 , but until tonight his greatest international accomplishment had come as a member of the gold_medal winning 4x400 relay team at the 2000 sydney olympics . now he has a medal he does not have to share . the gold was unexpected , given that young had not run under 45 seconds the past two years . ''i knew that if i stayed focused on myself and not worried about anyone else and stayed in contact coming off the turn , i 'd do good , '' young said . for odd occurrences , little can match tonight 's 3 , 000 meter steeplechase . the winner was saif saeed shaheen of qatar , who until a couple of weeks ago was known as stephen cherono of kenya . he changed his name and citizenship after qatar agreed to pay him a monthly sum of 1 , 000 for the rest of his life . the steeplechase has been dominated by kenyans , who had won the world championship six consecutive times . shaheen and a teammate rushed to the lead early , and the kenyans became desperate to keep up . first , shaheen 's brother , abraham cherono , tried to stay with shaheen , but he could not hold the pace . then ezekiel kemboi sprinted furiously to pass shaheen with two laps left , slowing down the race , trying to control it . exchanging the lead , shaheen and kemboi engaged in a riveting finish as a crowd of 54 , 340 cheered wildly at the stade de france . they cleared the final hurdle together with about 70 meters left , then kemboi edged into the lead , only to be passed in the final 25 meters by shaheen , who seemed to be grasping fistfuls of air with his hands as he sprinted toward the finish . he won in 8 minutes 4 . 39 seconds after running the last lap in 57 . 4 seconds . ''fifty percent of the people are so happy with my decision , and 50 percent are not happy , '' shaheen said of opinion in kenya . ''in qatar they are proud for the first gold ever won by a qatari . '' he did not speak with abraham before or after the race . ''my brother is a kenyan i am a qatari now , '' shaheen said . although perhaps not everyone believed him , kemboi , the silver medalist , said he was not upset that a qatari had won . ''he 's still a kenyan , '' kemboi said of shaheen . ''he has been in kenya since he was born until now . it 's like kenya won the medal . '' just as the kenyans fell , so did other favorites . gail devers of the united_states , a three time world champion in the women 's 100 meter_hurdles , clipped the fourth hurdle in the semifinals and twisted awkwardly as she landed . thrown off stride , she did not qualify for the final . one of the sport 's most dominant athletes , lars riedel of germany , failed in his attempt to win a sixth world title in the discus , finishing fourth . in the men 's 200 , the reigning world and olympic champion , konstadinos kederis of greece , withdrew with a hamstring injury . also today , drummond withdrew from the meet as the i.a.a.f. , track and field 's governing body , threatened to suspend him for his behavior on sunday . the americans' chances in the 4x100 relay seemed to dim further when tim montgomery , the world record holder at 100 meters , left after finishing a disappointing fifth in the 100 on monday . it was unclear why he left , a usa track and field spokeswoman said . in the women 's 200 , the high_school star allyson felix of los_angeles had posted the world 's fastest time this year , 22 . 11 seconds , in may . tonight , though , she appeared spent after a long season and finished sixth in her heat in 23 . 33 and did not advance to the semifinals . felix plans to enter the university_of_southern_california , but she will not compete for the trojans' track team . instead , felix announced today that she had turned professional , signing a six year contract with adidas that will pay her tuition at u.s.c . many consider college track harmful to the development of sprinters because they are forced to run too many races . this figured significantly in her decision , the 17 year old felix said . ''you have to take it into consideration because you do n't want your season to be too long in an olympic year , '' felix said , already looking to the 2004 summer games in athens . track and field	has a location of france
he is a frenchman who has always been tugged by his wanderlust first to new york , then back to france , off to hong_kong , before landing in california and then a summer stop here upstate . no matter where he lights , patrick biancone distinguishes himself as a horse trainer . some remember his two victories in the prix de l'arc de triomphe in the early 1980 's , or the jet setting filly and turf runner he campaigned on both sides of the atlantic named all along , who was named horse of the year in 1983 in the united_states . he even captured the hong kong derby twice in the 1990 's . but since coming to saratoga with his own stable last year , biancone , 50 , was committed to realizing an american_dream , one particular to the sport of kings , that he first tasted 20 years ago as an assistant to the hall of famer leroy jolley . ''the american_dream is dirt racing , '' said biancone , who until returning stateside was considered a peerless trainer of grass horses . ''if i wanted to train horses on the turf , i would go to europe . i noticed last year that if you want to have a very good horse at 3 , you have to be able to perform well at 2 . '' as his colt whywhywhy showed today by romping off with the grade_ii , 150 , 000 sanford stakes for 2 year olds , biancone has learned his lessons well . whywhywhy , a son of mr . greeley , may have failed to inspire bettors he paid a generous 11 . 80 for a 2 bet but he overcame a disastrous start to win by an emphatic 2 3 4 lengths over eight others in a rapid time of 1 10 . 40 for three quarters of a mile . asked his reaction when whywhywhy was pinched coming out of the gate by a colt named posse on the inside and hear no evil on the outside , biancone blurted out an expression that was neither french nor printable . he caught himself and with a wry smile explained that he believed that his inexperienced colt , who had persevered to capture the flash stakes last month at belmont , may have made another rookie mistake . ''when the gates opened , i thought we were done , '' biancone said before becoming buoyed by a wicked , 21 . 74 second quarter mile that hussar and run production were tossing off in the front of a strung out pack . ''but when i saw 21 and change , i thought now we have a good chance . the plan was to sit behind anyway . the first time he was beaten when we rushed him a little at the start and he forgot to breathe . he was just a baby . now he 's starting to be more mature . '' the colt 's rider , edgar prado , refused to panic when whywhywhy was better than seven lengths behind the leaders as they sizzled down the backstretch . instead , prado reflected on what biancone had told him about the rigorous training he had put the colt under . ''if they break slow , do n't rush him , '' biancone told prado in the paddock . ''he 's been working inside horses , outside and behind them in the mornings . '' so while jerry_bailey , aboard the favorite , wildcat heir , waited_patiently for hussar and run production to run out of gas , prado moved his colt four wide around the turn and staked out the middle of the track as the field hit the stretch . wildcat heir briefly held the lead . but bailey felt the power of his colt draining beneath him . ''he ran as good as he could , '' bailey said . ''he 's got a problem getting all of his air . i could feel it and hear it . '' when whywhywhy zoomed by in midstretch , biancone had another famous race to add to his r sum , as well as a 90 , 000 first place check to split as part owner of the colt . the sanford , after all , is the same race secretariat and affirmed used as a springboard to sweep the triple_crown . scarier still , however , is that whywhywhy is the trainer 's second string 2 year old . the star of his barn , as well as the juvenile division , is zavata , who just missed breaking the track record at belmont_park for five and a half furlongs when he rocketed to a 6 1 4 length victory in the tremont stakes last month . biancone decided to wait until the grade_ii saratoga special on aug . 14 for zavata 's next start . now , he has the kind of problem every trainer on the backstretch would like to have how to keep his two stars apart . he is apparently not worried . ''i think they will discuss it together between the two of them , '' biancone said . ''then , they 'll tell me what to do . '' of course , he 's counting on one or both of them to lead him to another destination that he has not seen much of louisville and the kentucky_derby . horse_racing	has a location of france
christmas chocolates were recalled from schools in the northeast french town of coudekerque branche because they violate the country 's ban on religious symbols in schools , le_figaro reported on its front page . the 1 , 300 chocolate figures , depicting st . nicholas , were recalled earlier this month after an elementary_school teacher unwrapped them only to discover that there was a cross on the miter worn by the saint . christian crosses , as well as other religious symbols , including islamic head_scarves , jewish yarmulkes and sikh turbans have been banned since september . for more than a decade , the mainly flemish region has celebrated the saint 's day , dec . 6 , by delivering chocolates to schools . andr delattre , the mayor , called the incident ''a politically unhealthy incident , '' agence_france_presse reported . he added ''st . nicholas was a bishop . he is always portrayed with his cross . '' elaine sciolino ( nyt )	has a location of france
in the inky blackness of the alpine night , 15 , 000 of jean_claude_killy 's friends roared their appreciation tonight for their olympics . oh , sure , it has n't actually started yet . but that was just a formality . killy , the man from nearby val_d'isere , is the hero hereabouts . he won the three men 's alpine gold medals in the 1968 olympics at grenoble , and was the mastermind behind bringing the winter_games to albertville . he serves as the co chairman of the organizing_committee . and tonight he gave a party by inviting every one of his neighbors from the savoy region in free to view the rehearsal for the opening ceremonies . " jean_claude wanted people from the savoy who did n't have tickets to be able to see the games , " explained a member of the organizing_committee . the cost for opening day will be about 250 a ticket . so they streamed into what has been dubbed the world 's largest temporary stadium , where 30 , 000 people on saturday will view the real opening ceremonies . killy did n't stop at inviting people to watch free , though . he brought in kids as participants in a ceremony that captured the imagination of the crowd and lent a tender touch to the rehearsal . the schoolchildren of albertville took the place of the athletes who will march on saturday . of course , the youngsters were too small to carry the flags . so , for example , an adult came out hoisting the flag of greece , traditionally the first country to parade . but instead of muscled young men and women following , children dressed in snowsuits , parkas and ski clothes marched in . then in alphabetical order , starting with algeria , more youngsters filed in while killy , beaming , observed the goings on with other french officials . he sat in the center of a private section , proud of what he had accomplished . this is what they think of killy here when the names of president francois mitterand of france and the head of the international_olympic_committee , juan_antonio_samaranch , were announced , there was no applause . after all , they wo n't actually be here until saturday , and this was just a rehearsal . but then killy strode out , and they greeted him as if he had just roared down the mountain at val_d'isere , 53 miles away , to take the downhill once again . the theatrical part of the ceremonies will feature young europeans , predominantly french . but there is one contingent of americans in the opening ceremonies show . the curtain raiser includes roller bladers doing some fancy skating while waving banners . " they brought them in from los_angeles , " explained toi pua la'a norwood of park_slope , brooklyn . " as far as i know , i 'm the only dancer they flew in from america . " norwood is part of a group of women who will hang from bungee ropes and dance with a partner on the ground . this is part of a series of airborne ceremonies , including musicians suspended over the stadium , that is designed to surprise the crowd and worldwide television viewers .. " i was traveling in europe last year and heard they were giving tryouts , so i went to paris and i got hired , " explained norwood . a more mature bowman ? once a child actor , christopher bowman remains a 24 year old enfant terrible , the united_states men 's figure_skating champion who is preparing for albertville with his third coach in 16 months . john nicks , his coach of the last three months , said today " in his value judgment , i 've instituted a very demanding self discipline that he 's not used to . but he 's responded very well . the other day he did 15 laps and a triple_jump . but if he had n't hit the triple_jump , it would 've been five more laps . little motivational things like that . " nicks also uses little strategic , if not psychological , things . like demanding that bowman work harder in practice . " it 's very apparent , " nicks said , " that the christopher bowman you see in practice is not the christopher bowman you see in competition . when the television cameras are on , when the judges are sitting there , when there are 10 , 000 people in the stands , you see a different young man . the higher the standard in practice , the higher he can raise the standard in competition . " nicks replaced toller cranston , who briefly succeeded frank carroll after bowman 's longtime coach had been annoyed at his protege 's improvised final portion of his free skating in winning a bronze_medal at last year 's world_championships . " it 's been very smooth , " nicks said . " in our three months together , i 've been agreeably surprised by christoper 's work habits and self discipline . at this point i 'm enjoying it very much . what the next 10 days will bring in surprises in the men 's competition here , we 'll have to wait and see . " kurt browning , the world champion from canada , is the favorite to succeed brian_boitano of the united_states as the winner of the olympic gold_medal . now an ice show skater , boitano prevailed at calgary four years ago in a showdown with brian orser of canada . bowman finished seventh in calgary . " john 's coaching style puzzles me , " bowman said . " it 's hard for me to understand why you have to work so hard . it 's not like sports like boxing where without it , you 're dead . but now i have a more positive approach . " in a sport that often caters to robots , bowman has a reputation as an individual who refers to himself as " bowman the showman " and " hans brinker from hell . " " i think they play important roles in my skating , as well as with my own psyche , " he said . " i think the emotional part of my skating is what gives me an edge and helps to take some pressure off . i think that 's why you see some people belly up after the competition . i do n't want to be taken away by the guys in the white coats with the butterfly nets . " but the question remains which bowman will appear when the men 's figure skating competition starts next thursday , with a saturday final ? " i 'm an emotional person and an emotional skater , " he said . koch to carry flag cross_country_skier bill koch will carry the american flag at the opening ceremonies . the united_states_olympic_committee said koch , 36 years old , who made a comeback to qualify for the olympics , was a unanimous choice of the seven american team captains for the ceremonial job . ( ap ) big sky country in france hotel le montana in la tania is a few yards from the united_states hockey team 's quarters . that may explain why people who telephone the hotel and are put on hold can hear " do n't fence me in " while waiting for their party . . . . there are 8 , 000 volunteers for these olympics , and all of them were promised handsome silver jackets and pants . each outfit was adorned with the olympic rings . but many of the newer volunteers are wearing their civvies . the factory of the company that made the outfits recently burned down . . . . vice_president dan_quayle is expected to arrive at the lyons airport at 7 10 p.m . on friday . on saturday morning , he will greet the united_states presidential delegation ( including president_bush 's sister nancy ellis ) and then have lunch with american athletes at brides_les_bains . in the evening , he will attend the opening ceremonies with president mitterand .	has a location of france