David Shaffer

The instrument of the young model's death is his own black belt. He appears to have hanged himself in a doorway. An unbuttoned white shirt and black blazer cling to his slender chest, which is covered in a film of sweat. A thin gold cross lies in the hollow of his neck. His pupils are dilated; his charcoal-black hair protrudes in oily clumps; his mouth flops open as if in a final, failed gasp for air. The image is sexually charged, suggestive of the aftermath of autoerotic asphyxiation.

Underinsured homes. Ever-rising premiums. Stealth changes. Intrusive satellite inspections. Blacklists of homeowners who have filed multiple claims. Policy cancellations. These are a few of the gripes that homeowners, consumer advocates and lawmakers are voicing over the state of homeowners insurance in California and across the nation.

Berlitz International Inc., a company whose name is synonymous with language instruction, was a jewel in the crown of Macmillan Inc. until Robert Maxwell came along and bought Macmillan for $2.6 billion in 1988. Now, with Maxwell dead and his empire in a shambles, the publicly traded company with operations in 28 countries is struggling to avoid being misunderstood.

The subject is teen-age suicide. And an Agoura film maker who has produced a $237,000 educational film on the issue for the state is accusing officials of trying to kill the movie. Department of Mental Health administrators have ordered producer Jerry Naylor to surrender all prints of the 28-minute film, "Give Yourself a Chance for Life," so it can be destroyed. State officials argue that the film contains a graphic suicide scene that could provoke troubled teen-agers to take their own lives.

In what would be one of the largest bias settlements against the federal government, the Justice Department is nearing final agreement on a deal to pay more than $4 million in back wages to about 800 current and past employees of the Immigration and Naturalization Service who say they were denied promotions because they are black. The proposed settlement--which also would require so-called remedial promotions for 26 African American INS staffers nationwide--is to be filed before U.S.

Eight current or former Secret Service agents who are black charged Wednesday that top officials are dragging their feet on ridding the agency of deep-rooted racial discrimination, which they said has also infected Vice President Al Gore's protective detail. The group, among 38 African American agents who so far have filed sworn declarations in federal court, appealed to Gore for help in getting the service to sit down with them to discuss a class-action lawsuit filed in May.

Sugarcoated Marshmallow Peeps chicks and bunnies have proved a habit-forming treat for Easter candy buyers over four decades, but manufacturer Just Born Inc. still considers itself in a race for sugary survival. So the company is hatching strategies to boost sales year-round.

It seems, on the surface, a reasonable response to the nation's teenage suicide problem: teach schoolchildren that life is better than death. But this deceptively simple concept has touched off an emotionally raw debate over whether suicide prevention lessons taught in thousands of classrooms--often without parental knowledge--help students or introduce the idea of self-destruction to susceptible young minds.

Traci Johnson believed it was God's plan for her to leave home to attend a tiny Bible college here -- and she prayed every day for the Lord to provide for her tuition. Then an unusual opportunity presented itself. Eli Lilly & Co., the pharmaceutical giant headquartered a few miles from Indiana Bible College, was seeking healthy subjects for a live-in clinical drug trial. The 19-year-old freshman told her friends back home in Pennsylvania that the study was her best hope to stay in school.

ABC Unified School District Board of Education (4 elected) *--* 100% precincts reporting Votes % Sophia M. Tse 2,688 14 Celia Spitzer 2,524 13 Armin Reyes* 2,365 13 Louise R. Dodson* 2,301 12 Maynard G. Law 2,292 12 Sally M. Havice 2,061 11 Paul Kahng 1,733 9 Howard Y. Kim 1,602 8 David N. Shaffer 1,285 7 *--* -- Agoura Hills City Council (2 elected) *--* Dan Kuperberg* 1,409 35 John M. Edelston* 1,371 34 Michael E. Forney 619 15 George C.