George Cohen

It seemed like a simple and visual way to teach second-graders how to make a bar graph. Why not chart their bedtimes? Teacher Debbie Morris expected the exercise to produce a nice little arc starting about 8 p.m. or so and descending by 9 p.m. Think again. "The chart peaked at 10 p.m., and there were a number of kids who were going to bed at 10:30," said Morris, who teaches at Commonwealth Elementary in Fullerton. "I was amazed."

Investors rediscovered technology stocks Wednesday but cut loose many of the so-called defensive issues that had sustained them during the recent market downturn. Though analysts cautioned that the Nasdaq composite index, in particular, has a long climb ahead if it is to retake its March peak, the breadth of the advance and the day's record trading volume set a healthy tone.

Kamara Mayberry of St. Bernard High was the runner-up in the 800-meter run and anchored the school's 1,600-meter relay team to a second-place finish at the recent state prep track and field championships. But she doesn't have to fret about being an also-ran for the rest of her life. Mayberry will have three more chances at state titles; she was only a freshman last season. And her coaches, Aladrian Lewis of St.

Their losing streak really isn't as long as that of the Washington Generals, the Harlem Globetrotters' longtime patsy, but the lawyers for baseball's owners did take another whipping Tuesday. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York denied the owners' request to stay the injunction issued against them by a federal judge last Friday, apparently clearing the way for the season to start April 26.

After two days of mild optimism, NBA labor negotiations ran into bruising reality. The body language of the key figures said it all after talks between owners and players broke off Thursday, ending a three-day run in which 30 hours of discussions took place in New York with the attempted help of federal mediator George Cohen. NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver and San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt glumly assessed the damage at a news conference that was followed a few minutes later by an angry rebuttal from the players' union.

Twins Marcus and Markieff Morris are skipping their senior seasons with the Kansas Jayhawks, choosing instead to hire an agent and enter the NBA draft. The forwards from Philadelphia led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots this season, when the Jayhawks went 35-3, won the Big 12 Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA tournament regional finals as a No. 1-seeded team. The Morris brothers announced their intentions Thursday through Rival Sports Group and agent Tony Dutt , who will represent them during the draft and contract negotiations.

A strike that would have shut down many of the nation's major seaports on the East and Gulf coasts has been averted by a contract extension. The International Longshoremen's Assn. and the United States Maritime Alliance have reached an agreement on so-called container royalty fees, one of the most contentious issues in the labor negotiation, said George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which has been mediating the dispute. The agreement on the fees, which supplement dockworker wages, postpones any strike action until at least late January.

John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men" was embraced almost immediately as a Depression-era classic when it was published in the 1930s. When Steinbeck reworked it into a play in 1937, it was accepted as another important step in stage naturalism. A later movie version, though flawed, was also successful.