The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 1

National Edition' Index, A2 Weather, B6 ON THE INTERNET: WWW.LATIMES.COM CIRCULATION: 1.095.007 DAILY 1.385.373 SUNDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1999 COPYRIGHT 1 999 THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY DAILY 50 CENTS AN EDITION OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES jl" COLUMN ONE Davis Sworn In, i Pledges 'Common Sense' Approach Inaugural: State's first Democratic governor in 16 years strikes bipartisan tone. He cites better schools and race relations as top priorities. By DAVE LESHER, times staff writer SACRAMENTO Promising an administration "propelled not by ideology but by common sense," Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. was sworn into office Monday as California's 37th governor. His hand on a 16th century A Honeymoon With Signs of Fragility Gov.

Davis kisses his wife, Sharon, Egypt Bets on Schools for Girls Cairo is trying to improve the nation by educating more women. The one-room buildings it's funding help allay conservative parents' fears. By JOHN DANISZEWSKI TIMES STAFF WRITER TANAN, Egypt In this scruffy Nile Delta town, where the narrow alleys are congested with men in robes, black-draped women carrying babies, chickens scrabbling for food and fly-specked carcasses hanging out for sale, it's easy for young girls to get mired. Caught in a rural backwater, held down by low expectations, they are mired most of all by ignorance. That was the fate that awaited Nadia Hosny, a teenager who was barred from attending school by her father, making her one of an estimated 73 million school-age girls in developing nations worldwide denied a basic education.

Nadia was bound for a life of illiteracy and limited skills because of conservative beliefs, prevalent in parts of rural Egypt and many developing countries, that school is vital for boys but less so for girls. Then, the government in Cairo started a system of all-girl schools. And at age 11, Nadia persuaded her father to let her enter first grade. "Before, I could not even write my name," she said recently, sitting primly in a classroom here. "Now, I can read and write, just like any other girl who is educated." Her father is "very proud of me," said Nadia.

Her eyes blazing with determination, the 16-year-old added: "I will go as far as I can go." In the Middle East, sub-Saha-ran Africa and South Asia, there is a gaping disparity between the proportion of boys and girls edu-Please see EGYPT, A6 U.S. Dispute Holds Up Covert Iraq Operation Gulf: Disagreement between Senate and White House blocks plan to foster opposition to Hussein, sources say. French Bible, Davis born to Re' publican parents and shaped as a Democrat while an Army captain in Vietnamtook the oath of office just before noon in Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium. In an eloquent and largely bipartisan inaugural address, the new governor called on all Califor-nians to work together to improve society and embrace "lasting values like duty, honor and service." He reached out to Republicans, pledging that he is "a moderate and a pragmatist by nature." And he sought to cool any expectations in his own party that lie will support a wish list of Democratic issues pent up since Republicans took control of the governor's office 16 years ago. "It matters not to me whether an idea comes from a Republican or a Democrat," he said.

"What matters is whether the idea is right or wrong and whether it will work. I pledge to you an administration that is at once tough-minded and big-hearted." Davis named a range of problems facing state government, such as a deteriorating environment, an aging infrastructure and the issue that got the strongest applause a health care system in need of reform. He also promised to sign tougher restrictions on assault weapons. And as he did during his campaign over the last year, Davis staked out two top priorities for his administration better schools and better race relations. "Our success in confronting two challenges in particular will largely determine whether we' prosper or decline," Davis said.

Please see DAVIS, A9 Associated Press Oakland's New Mayor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. greets supporters on the city's streets. 7 9t ROBERT DURELL Los Angeles Times left, administers the oath of office. Seniors to See Rise in Medical Insurance Costs By ROBERT A.

ROSENBLATT TIMES STAFF WRITER WASHINGTON The dragon of medical inflation is breathing fire again, with millions of senior citizens facing hefty increases for their Medi-gap supplemental insurance this year. United HealthCare the biggest single player in the market, is raising premium prjees about 9 this year. In its Southern California region, which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties, the price hikes will range from 4.8 to 19, depending on which of the 10 standard Medi-gap plans a customer has chosen. The price increases are drastically higher than the overall rate of inflation faced by U.S. consumers, which is running at a negligible 1.5.

But Medi-gap, the private insurance meant to pay for what Medicare doesn't cover, is a highly sensitive barometer of actual health care costs. And the fast-moving insurance prices reflect the reality of caring for the nation's masses of elderly: They are healthy and long-lived, but it takes tremendous amounts of money to keep them that way. The resurgence of medical inflation comes at a difficult political time, when a special bipartisan Medicare commission is grappling with ideas to assure the financial solvency of the massive program, which covers 40 million people 65 and older and the disabled of all ages. The soaring health costs mean that any solutions the commission fashions could be overwhelmed simply by the reality of demographics. The fastest-growing group of Americans is people age 80 and above.

Healthier than their counterparts in the rest of the world, they have access to new, less-intrusive surgical techniques that make it possible to replace a hip or a knee at a more advanced age than ever before. For baby boomers and their aging parents, greater longevity is a fact of life. And the old will keep Please see SENIORS, A8 Dateline California COURTS Keeping Ceiling on Rental Costs The California Supreme Court, by a one-vote margin, Monday upheld the right of cities to impose rent controls ending a lengthy campaign. The 4-3 decision, which came in a case from Santa Monica, was handed down even as a new state law goes into effect that scales back some rent controls. The ruling was a broad victory for city governments.

Story, ii 85944 00050 By ROBIN WRIGHT TIMES STAFF WRITER WASHINGTON An escalating dispute between the Senate and White House over U.S. intelligence strategy in Iraq has blocked a major covert operation designed to destabilize the regime of President Saddam Hussein, according to congressional and administration officials. The delays in the clandestine plan, which has been on hold since mid-1998, have undermined America's ability to cultivate members of the regime and to encourage other Iraqis inside the country to challenge Hussein, and potentially even oust him, according to sources familiar with the proposal. Administration, congressional and intelligence community officials all declined to discuss details of the covert plan, but it was de harangues blended Marxist-Leninist rhetoric with brave talk of a "free Kurdistan." The reply was always collective and robotic: "Long live the Leader!" Under his command, Kurdish guerrillas killed uncooperative Kurdish civilians by the hundreds while fighting the Turkish army. He had dozens of his comrades executed and his own wife jailed for disloyalty.

Now, Turkey's most wanted fugitivewho still leads one of the 30 movements blacklisted by the United States as terrorist groups has been cut off from the army he created two decades ago. The Limbo of Turkey's Most Wanted Man Fugitive: Kurdish separatist Abdullah Ocalan languishes in Italy without his army. 1 after Chief Justice Ronald George, scribed as an ambitious effort involving CIA operations inside the country. The dispute between the Clinton administration and Congress boils down to an argument over whether the most effective strategy to unseat Hussein is to work within Iraq, or to aid opposition groups headquartered mainly outside the country. Since the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, both the Bush and Clinton administrations have based most U.S.

intelligence operations on the belief that Hussein ultimately could be replaced by people with a major presence inside Iraq either dissidents or, more likely, disillusioned officials close to the Iraqi leader. But after a 1996 debacle in northern Iraq, when Hussein's military intervention closed down the CIA-backed opposition head-Please see IRAQ, A6 "We were unprepared for what happened," he admitted. "Everything was so sudden." Ocalan's forced journey from the Syrian capital, Damascus, to Moscow to Rome, where he surrendered to police Nov. 12 and asked for political asylum, is a watershed in the ethnic conflict between his Kurdistan Workers Party and the Turkish government. The fighting has claimed about 30,000 lives in 14 years, fed instability in the Middle East and hobbled the democratic and economic development of Turkey, a U.S.

ally and member of the Please see OCALAN, A14 7 f- is- v. By DAN MORAIN and AMY PYLE TIMES STAFF WRITERS SACRAMENTO-Even as Gov. Gray Davis renewed his call for an end to the "politics of division" on Monday, Republicans, Democrats and lobbyists here know that opportunities abound for this honeymoon to degenerate quickly into acrimony. Local, state and national politi- NEWS ANALYSIS cal figures who converged on Sacramento for the inauguration of statewide officeholders publicly echoed Davis' talk of inclusion. Bipartisanship and moderation were the bywords of the day.

But many issues that await Davis and the Legislature don't lend themselves to easy compromise. Democrats know that if they squabble and stumble, the Republicans who remain in office will be there to trumpet any failures. Adding to the potential pitfalls, if the state has a budget shortfallforecasters say it could be $1 billion Democratic interests, especially state workers hungry for a raise, will be forced to stomach lowered expectations. Please see ANALYSIS, A9 Associated Press Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura watches a musical performance during inauguration festivities.

By ERIC SLATER TIMES STAFF WRITER ST. PAUL, Minn Surrounded by the people who voted for him a gas station attendant who works the night shift, a young mother in a "My governor can beat up your governor" T-shirt-Jesse "The Body" Ventura placed one meaty hand on a Bible Monday, raised the other meaty hand in the air and took the oath of the highest public office in Minnesota. A cheer came down from the three-story Capitol rotunda, and the onetime Navy SEAL who became famous as a delightfully nasty pro wrestler with a taste for pink feather boas raised his arms and turned a slow circle, waving at 1,500 of his grinning constituents. Then, after a short speech unscripted as always, pledging hard work and honest politics and end-Please see VENTURA, A8 By RICHARD BOUDREAUX TIMES STAFF WRITER ROME One of the world's most autocratic and durable warlords sat under police guard in a small Roman villa, politely greeting visitors in a jacket and tie and fidgeting with plastic worry beads. His gold watch was still set on Syrian time, an hour ahead of Rome.

Until October, Abdullah Ocalan moved freely about Syria, Lebanon and northern Iraq in army fatigues, toting an assault rifle and barking at recruits who worshiped him as a god. His training camp yf It Perfect Ending And in This Corner, There's Brown and There's Brawn Oakland: Ex-governor of Minnesota: Jesse 'The Golden State now mayor Body' Ventura is officially of hard-knock city. Jesse 'The Gov' Ventura. 'jl V-. 1)1 it By MARIA L.

LaGANGA TIMES STAFF WRITER OAKLAND This, then, was the "other" inauguration, a sort of anti-swearing in of little pomp and everyday circumstance. On this bright Monday afternoon, 69 miles from the Sacramento Big Top, the 34th governor of the Golden State became the 48th mayor of this hard-knock city. Just before 1 p.m., Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. took the oath of office after three city council-men, three school board members and a choked-up city auditor, after a City Council meeting, a school board meeting, and a lengthy reading from First Corinthians.

Outside the historic Paramount Theater home to the unwieldy, free-form ceremony the marquee boasted movie classics. In-Please see BROWN, A8 7 Tennessee's Travis Henry bulls Bowl victory. Tennessee capped PAUL MORSE Los Angeles Times his way through Florida State defense in Volunteers' 23-16 Fiesta an undefeated season with its first national title since 1951. Bl.