YVI~ ~Y~1~fVw~aVy ~W~fly V YY~a~y~ ~r'-- Alarms, education help Mexicans cope with tremor Los Angeles Times MEXICO CITY - Seconds after the tectonic plates jerked more than seven miles beneath the mountainous state of Guerrero at 8:07 am. yesterday, dozens of alarms went off hundreds of miles to the north in the Mexican capital. Triggered by 12 solar-powered seis- mic detectors along Mexico's Pacific coast, the alarm automatically ripped into the broadcasts of more than 40 radio stations here 50 seconds before the shock waves slammed into Mexico City, warn- ingmany ofthe20million residents about the powerful quake on its way. The sophisticated alarm system did little to curb panic in a city that was devastated by an 8.1 quake 10 years ago. But it was an indication ofthe level of earthquake preparedness and public consciousness in a city whose entire face has changed since the "Big One" hit. In the wake of yesterday's quake, Mexican scientists, intellectuals, labor .leaders and analysts said they sensed a world of difference in the city's re- sponse 10 years after Black Thursday - the Sept. 19, 1985, earthquake that killed at least 10,000 people and razed many parts of the city. In 185, nobody understood the meaning of the magnitude of an earthquake. This time ... pople Were prepared" -Homero Aridjis environmentalist "In 1985, nobody understood the meaning of the magnitude of an earth- quake," said environmentalist Homero Aridjis, an outspoken critic of the gov- ernment. "This time ... people were prepared." There are still reminders here of the official failures that followed the '85 quake. Damaged and abandoned struc- tures remain on the city's landscape, many further eroded by yesterday morning's temblor. But most Mexico City intellectuals now view the devas- tation of 1985 as a powerful wake-up call that shook this capital into activism and its government into creating early- warning systems that are now perma- nent features of Mexican life. The awareness - and fear - that drove millions of Mexicans to prear- ranged refuges within seconds of yesterday's early-warning signal was only one of many changes. The '85 quake affected tens of thousands of lives, but it also gave rise to hundreds of independent civic-action groups and labor unions, after it became clear that many ofthe dead were virtual prisoners in illegal structures, dilapidated hous- ing and sweatshop factories throughout the city. Though many are now splintered and diffused, those activist groups became powerful voices that helped create a new set of laws regulating construc- tion, requiring earthquake drills and improving workplace safety during the past 10 years. AP PHOTO Jose Villegas carries away a woman from the scene of the earthquake that struck Mexico City yesterday. The woman fainted during the tremor, which sent chidren running from classrooms and set off alarms hundreds of miles north of the earthquake. . ......... ...... 'IUSICAL SOCIETY + THE 1995/1996 SEASON 7T IL4 ALF P1R1CE S ALE 7 S 'I ', II1 I 3 I: The Boston Symphony Orchestra for $10! Marcus Roberts or the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre for $8! + Valid Student I.D. required, limit 2 tickets per event but choose as many events as you wish. """ Avoid Rush Ticket Sellouts. + Limited quantity available for each event. :" Visa & MasterCard preferred; checks and cash accepted. ($3 service fee for credit cardpurchases.) For more information on the 1995/96 season, stop by the UMS box office in Burton Memorial Tower behind Hill Auditorium. Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano Slide Hampton and the JazzMasters Australian Chamber Orchestra Master Musicians of Jajouka Central Ballet of China Paco de Lucia's Flamenco Master Guitar Sextet Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra Peter Feranec, conductor Boris Berezovsky, piano Marcus Roberts Trio and Septet The Choral Music of Arvo Part Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Tallinn Chamber Orchestra Thnu Kaljuste, conductor Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Tafelmusik The Complete Solo Piano Music of Frederic Chopin Garrick Ohlsson, piano (Recitals, IV, V and VI) Handel's Messiah Maurice Sendak's and Carole King's Really Rosie Gil Shaham, violin Orli Shaham, piano Juilliard String Quartet Boys Choir of Harlem St. Louis Symphony Leonard Slatkin, conductor St. Petersburg Philharmonic Yuri Temirkanov, conductor Pamela Frank, violin The Guthrie Theater of Minneapolis k. (Impressions from Kafka's The Trial) Harold Pinter's Old Times Wynton Marsalis/Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra Nonet Monk, Morton, and Marsalis Feel the Spirit - An Evening of Gospel Music, with The Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Clarence Fountain, The Soul Stirrers, and Inez Andrews The King's Singers Boston Symphony Orchestra Seiji Ozawa, conductor Latin Jazz Summit, featuring Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, and Jerry Gonzalez and The Fort Apache Band Moscow Virtuosi Vladimir Spivakov, conductor/violin SamulNori New York City Opera National Company Verdi's La Traviata Sequentia Tokyo String Quartet with Pinchas Zukerman John Williams, guitar San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Borodin String Quartet Ludmilla Berlinskaya, piano Guitar Summit 11 with Kenny Burrell, jazz; Manuel Barrueco, classical; Jorma Kaukonen, acoustic blues; and Stanley Jordan, modern jazz The Canadian Brass Bach's b-minor Mass Tallis Scholars Ravi Shankar, sitar Israel Philharmonic Orchestra -,tk- Rus fnn-Mr NATO halts Seib airstrikes amid talks SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -The United Nations announced a three-day suspension of NATO airstrikes against Serb targets yester- day after Bosnian Serb leaders agreed to withdraw heavy weapons ringing Sarajevo. The airstrikes will resume if the Serbs fail to withdraw the weapons, the United Nations said in a statement in New York. Bosnian Serb military and political leaders signed an agreement in Belgrade "in which they committed themselves to withdraw their heavy weapons from the 20-kilometer (12.5-mile) exclusion zone around Sarajevo,"the statement said. "NATO and United Nations military commanders have judged this to be an appropriate response to the demands the United Nations," the statement said. In response, NATO and U.N. mili- tary commanders declared the three- day suspension, the statement said. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and military commander Gen. Ratko Mladic signed the agreement, a U.N. official said, speaking on condi- tion of anonymity. TheBosnian government will be asked to refrain from any military offensives during the suspension, the official said. During the suspension, humanitarian aid convoys will travel to Sarajevo on two roads through Serb territory that have been closed and it is expected that Sarajevo airport will be re-opened with- out restrictions, the statement said. U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke raced across the Balkans for meetings with top officials, trying to clinch the agree- ment yesterday. Theagreement significantly ddvances the beleaguered effort to bring 3 1/2 years of bloodshed in Bosnia to an end and will allow NATO to move back from its openly aggressive stance, which has the Serbs bristling. It also eases tensions between the United States and Russia, which was enraged by the bombing campaign, and adds impetus to mediators' efforts, which gained momentum last week with an accord among Bosnia's warring par- ties over a possible future political ar- rangement. Muslim-led government forces and Croat alliespersistedmeanwhile in their ground campaign, easily capturing sev- eral key towns. Tens of thousands of Serb civilians were reportedly fleeing the advance. Earlier this week, Moscow accused NATO of committing genocide against the Serbs. Strobe Talbott, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, was in Mos- cow yesterday to try to mend relations. Home-alone adventure bagsburglar TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Step aside, Macaulay Culkin. Make way for sluggin' Anthony Smith. The 10-year-old decked a would-be burglar crawling through a window, popping him in the nose. The guy whacked his head on a flower pot and fled. But minutes later Wednesday, police alerted by Anthony arrested a bloody-nosed suspect two blocks away. Anthony even identified the suspect. "The kid is a hero," said police of- ficer Charles Robb. "The kid drilled him right in the nose and sent him back out the window on to his buns." Sgt. Sixto Molina said Anthony will be sent a letter thanking him for acting, and a police T-shirt. "He's a brave little kid, that's for sure. And he was able to think on his feet," Molina said. Anthony was home with stomach cramps after an allergic reaction to medi- cine for a kidney infection. His mother had gone to a drug store and then stopped off briefly at her nearby job. Shortly after 8 a.m., Anthony called her, frantic that someone was breaking in. Mom dashed home, but before she arrived, Anthony went to work. "I didn't want him coming in the house," he said. Anthony hid below the unlocked liv- ing room window as the man removed a screen. The intruder's head and shoul- ders were through when he saw the boy. "He said, 'Oh, oh,' and I said, 'Yeah, I'm home,"' Anthony said. Then, he h mc rr mii n N