Distance

Federal Aviation Administrator Donald D. Engen said Thursday that his agency plans to propose new safety rules that will prevent the Boeing Co. from reducing the number of overwing passenger exits on its 747 airplanes. In a letter to the head of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Co. released by the FAA, Engen said he is concerned that the aircraft manufacturer's efforts to reduce the number of overwing exits from 10 to eight doors "may result in an unacceptable distance between exits."

LONDON - The U.S. is becoming a middle-distance and distance force at the Olympic track and field competition. Leo Manzano of Marble Falls, Texas, surged from sixth at the top of the stretch to finish second in the men's 1,500 meters Tuesday night, the first American man to win a medal in that event since Jim Ryun in 1968. Earlier, Americans Nick Symmonds of Eugene, Ore., and Duane Solomon of Rosemead had advanced to the finals of the men's 800, marking the first time the U.S. has had two men in that final since 1992.

Tel-Save Holdings Inc. said it won't acquire Communications Telesystems International, even though the company said last week that it planned to expand its long-distance telephone business. Tel-Save said it had been in talks to buy the closely held San Diego-based long-distance company, which had $325 million in sales last year, for $500 million to $600 million in stock. Tel-Save wasn't available for additional comment.

The dual transactions were aimed at strengthening the long-distance telephone services that both Telesphere International Inc. and Marmon Telephone Network supply mostly to the lodging industry. Telesphere, based in Oak Brook, Ill., will pay Chicago-based Marmon Telephone Network, a unit of Marmon Group, $5.2 million for its long-distance network business and telephone switching facilities in Carson, Chicago, Atlanta and Stamford, Conn. Marmon will pay Telesphere $3.

Coaches Dick Brown and John Moon are among four prominent contributors to the sport of track and field scheduled to receive the 1985 Jesse Abramson Award at the U.S. Olympic Invitational Meet on Feb. 9. Francis J. Heffron, a member of the executive committee of the United States Olympic Committee, and Bert Rosenthal, a track and field writer for the Associated Press, are the other recipients. Brown is the coach of star distance runner Mary Decker and an advisor to the Athletics West Track Club.

The stats Distance: 3.5 miles Duration: 1 hour Difficulty: 2.5 (on a scale of 1 to 5) Details: Park at Hermon Park off Via Marisol or take Metro bus No. 256.

Tiger Woods missed the cut at the rain-plagued Greenbrier Classic in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. And it sounds quite odd to hear him say, "It happens, you know? You miss cuts out here. " His second-round 69 left him at even-par 140 for the tournament, one shot too many to advance to the third round Saturday afternoon. Phil Mickelson joined him on the sideline, the two now having a few more days to prepare for the British Open, which begins July 19. It's the third time that Woods, who won the AT&T National last week at Congressional, has failed to make a cut a week after winning a tournament.

The following is from "Fatal Fascination: Where Fact Meets Fiction in Police Work," by Phil and Karen McArdle, published by Houghton Mifflin Co. this month. A test showing that it is difficult to stop a car with a gun proves reassuring in light of the recent spate of L.A. freeway shootings. IN LIFE AS in fiction, police officers often try to stop a fleeing suspect by shooting at the getaway car. To measure the effectiveness of such gunfire, the Sheriff's Department of Janesville, Wis.