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WRITER IN LIBEL SUIT FACES JAIL ON ARTICLE'S SOURCES

Date: 02 July 1984

By Jonathan Friendly

Jonathan Friendly

Richard Hargraves, a 34-year-old newspaper editorial writer in St. Louis, is due to find out early this week whether he must go to jail rather than disclose the identities of his sources for an editorial that criticized an elected county official. The case stems from a libel suit in which Mr. Hargraves is the defendant. According to lawyers who specialize in First Amendment litigation, the case, which is now before the United States Supreme Court, raises a number of unusual issues. Records kept by press groups indicate that no journalist has been sent to jail because of a civil libel suit since 1958. The defamatory article was an editorial, and editorial opinion is usually the most protected form of free speech. The plaintiff is a public official; the courts have said public officials have the least right to collect damages for injury to their reputation, however harsh or unpleasant the criticism.

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OCEANOGRAPHY FOR 'SMARTER' WARS

Date: 03 July 1984

By Charles Mohr

Charles Mohr

Two priorities of Navy ocean science these days are the southern oceans and the world's strategic straits, such as the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf known as the Strait of Hormuz. That area is in the news nearly every day and it is the job of the little-known office of the Navy Oceanographer to make sure that American ships have up-to-the-minute information on conditions there, along with all the oceans around the world. Unlike civilian oceanographers whose main pursuit is pure science, Commodore John Richard Seesholtz, the Navy Oceanographer, says his job is to help the Navy ''fight smarter'' by giving battle commanders a better idea of the hour-to-hour marine environment in which their units are steaming or flying; to ''turn pure science into a usable product.'' The ''character'' of the ocean and the lower atmosphere above it are of more than casual interest. Commodore Seesholtz cites several examples. Although it was once thought otherwise, the pings from sonar or sound-wave mechanisms meant to detect submarines are now known to be bent like pretzels by thermal layers in the water, greatly reducing, or sometimes increasing, detection range. A captain who has current data on ocean ''structure'' should be able to outthink and outmaneuver his adversary.

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POLL SHOWS DEMOCRATS FAVOR HART FOR VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION

Date: 03 July 1984

By Hedrick Smith

Hedrick Smith

Senator Gary Hart is well ahead of any competitor as the choice of rank- and-file Democrats for the Vice-Presidential nomination, and if he were on the ticket he would halve President Reagan's current substantial lead over Walter F. Mondale, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. With Mr. Mondale, the likely Democratic nominee, under mounting pressures to name a woman as his running mate, the poll showed Senator Hart, a Colorado Democrat, the preference of 23 percent of registered Democrats. Half gave no preference. Preferences on No. 2 Job The Rev. Jesse Jackson was the second Vice-Presidential choice, named by 9 percent. Mayor Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco got the support of 3 percent and Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro of Queens and Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles were cited by 2 percent each. In all, 10 percent picked a woman candidate or said they would like to see a woman on the ticket, while 12 percent picked a black or said they wanted a black on the ticket.

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Sequel to a Salvador Plot

Date: 02 July 1984

When the far right in El Salvador wants to eliminate a problem, it tends to do just that. One problem has been Thomas Pickering, the American Ambassador, who has spoken out strongly against one instrument of elimination: death squads. So it is wholly plausible that Mr. Pickering was recently marked for removal, especially since he was at pains to distance the United States from Roberto d'Aubuisson, the extreme-right candidate who fortunately lost last month's presidential election.

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SOVIET REPLY TO U.S. STAND ON WEAPONS

Date: 02 July 1984

AP

Following is the text of a Government statement issued today in translation by the official press agency, Tass, on the United States response to a Soviet proposal to begin talks on a ban on space weapons: The U.S. Administration has demonstrated more than once that it is not interested in ending the arms race, in holding businesslike, constructive talks to settle this problem. This is evidenced once again by its negative response to the Soviet Government's statement on questions of preventing the militarization of outer space. A statement, hastily released in Washington, makes an attempt to avoid considering the essence of the problem, grossly replacing the subject of talks with other issues. A precondition is being advanced that the discussion of space weapons should include questions related both to medium-range nuclear armaments in Europe and to strategic armaments.

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LEADING DEALS AND DEAL MAKERS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR

Date: 03 July 1984

BASS FAMILY . . . Texas clan, worth over $1 billion, headed by Perry Richardson Bass, 69 years old. . . . Younger generation of four sons led by Sid Richardson Bass, 42. . . . Family company, Bass Brothers Enterprises, is the parent of most of their oil and gas, real estate, and hotel holdings. . . . After what was perceived as a takeover bid for Texaco Inc., the family and a group of affiliates sold back their 9.7 percent stake to the company for some $1.28 billion, a 12 percent profit. . . . In 1981, the family began acquiring large amounts of Blue Bell Inc. stock, in what was seen as a move for control of the jeans maker. . . . In November, they sold back 1.9 million shares, and then this spring they sold back an additional 1.1 million shares, all for about $50 a share, or a total of $144.3 million. . . . Recently have amassed an 11.3 percent interest in Alexander's Inc., the New York-based operator of department stores, and a small interest in a St. Regis Corporation unit. . . . Trace their money back to the legendary fortune of a rich uncle, Sid Richardson, a colorful oilman. BELZBERG BROTHERS . . . Three multimillionaire Canadian businessmen: Hyman, 58; Samuel, 55, and William, 53. . . . Operate a network of real estate, trust and leasing companies, and financial services subsidiaries under the umbrella of the First City Financial Corporation, of Vancouver, British Columbia. . . . In early June, an investment group they head said it might buy up to 49 percent of Blue Bell Inc. - it already controls 9.2 percent. . . . In March, allied with the Mesa Petroleum Company's T. Boone Pickens in his bid for the Gulf Corporation, they attempted to buy the remaining shares of the Far West Financial Company, a California savings and loan holding company that had an investment in Gulf. . . . The bid was scuttled because their $33- a-share offer was considered too low, the value of Far West stock having skyrocketed as Gulf's shares increased when the Mesa group sought control. . . . The family began its rise by selling used furniture.

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Chinese Offshore Well

Date: 03 July 1984

AP

The China National Offshore Oil Corporation said today that it had completed a third producing well in the Bohai Sea. According to the official New China News Agency, the well is yielding 155,000 gallons of crude oil and 83,850 cubic yards of natural gas a day.

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Ambassador to France Criticizes Fed Policies

Date: 03 July 1984

By E. J. Dionne Jr

E. Dionne

The United States Ambassador to France, Evan G. Galbraith, held a highly unusual news conference today to call on the Federal Reserve to lower short-term interest rates and allow the money supply to grow. In a formal statement, Mr. Galbraith fell short of reproaching the Federal Reserve Board, and he said he did not mean to blame the board's chairman, Paul A. Volcker. But during a question-and-answer period, Mr. Galbraith explicitly criticized the board's tight money policies.

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BERRA'S REVELATION KEEPS SPREADING

Date: 03 July 1984

By Ira Berkow

Ira Berkow

When is a sportscast over? It can't be over until one of the announcers says, ''As Yogi Berra says, 'It ain't over 'til it's over.' '' This is the new commandment for sportscasters. This is the new, revealed wisdom. No need to mention the names of the apostles of this creed - but it is spreading, from the baseball broadcast booths to the canopied precincts of Wimbledon.

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CUOMO TO TOUR THE STATE TO TELL OF HIS SUCCESSES

Date: 03 July 1984

By Michael Oreskes

Michael Oreskes

With the 1984 session of the State Legislature behind him, Governor Cuomo said today that the people of New York were not aware of the achievements of his administration and that he planned to go out this summer to tell about them. ''It's clear to me I should spend more time explaining to people what we have accomplished,'' Mr. Cuomo said. ''I don't think they know.''

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