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AOL, Time Warner announce merger by Seth Sutel Associated Press New York — Time Warner, the world’s largest media and entertainment compa ny, is being acquired by America On line for about $166 billion in stock in what would be the biggest corporate merg er ever. The merger, announced Monday, marks the biggest bet yet that the Inter net will be one of the most dominant fea tures in the media landscape of the fu ture. “This merger will launch the next In ternet revolution,” America Online’s chairman and chief executive, Steve Case, said at a news conference. “This really completes the digital transformation of Time Warner,” Time Warner’s chairman, Gerald Levin, said this morning. “These two companies are a natural fit.” At a time when traditional media com panies are struggling to reinvent their In ternet strategies, the meiger would give Time Warner a huge and powerful plat form for reaching people online. AOL is the nation’s laigest online company with some 20 million subscribers. The deal also gives AOL a key tool for distributing its services: access to Time Wimer’s laige cable network system, the nation’s second laigest after AT&T’s with 13 million cable subscribers. “It makes a lot of sense,” said Tom Wolzien, a media analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “AOL provides a huge platform for all of Time Warner’s con tent, and Tune Warner’s cable systems provide a good network for AOL’s online services.” Time Winner’s large list of media prop erties includes CNN, HBO, Time, Peo ple and Sports Illustrated magazines, and ' the Winner Bros, movie, TV and music properties. The deal also raises the stakes in the consolidation scramble in the media in dustry and comes just four months after another blockbuster media meiger, the proposed combination of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. The deal values Time Wkner at about $ 110 a share, a rich premium of 71 per cent over its price of $64.75 a share late Friday. Time Whmer shares soared after the news was announced, trading at $94.68 3/4, up $29.93 3/4, or by 46 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange by this af temoon. And in a sign that investors feel the deal is a good one for AOL, that com pany’s shares rose $1.75 to $75.50, also on the NYSE. Other Internet and entertainment stocks also got a lift on anticipation of other deals. Among them, Walt Disney jumped $3.87 1/2 to $35 by this after noon on the NYSE, while Lycos leaped $5.31 1/4 to $76.06 1/4 and Yahoo! climbed $28.68 3/4 to $435.62 1/2 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Time Whmer was created by the 1990 merger of Warner Communications Inc. and Time Inc. Time magazine was launched in 1923 by two Yale students, Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, and Warn er Bros, was incorporated about the same time. America Online was founded in 1985 kid has more than four times the net prof it of Time Whmer, earning $762 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, even though Time Warner’s revenues of $26.8 billion dwarf AOL’s $4.8 billion. AOL shareholders would own 55 per cent of the combined company, which will be called AOL Time Warner Inc. Time Warner shareholders will own the rest. AOL and Tune Warner would each name half of the board of directors of the new company. Case would be chairman and Time Warner’s Levin would be chief execu tive. Case said he first approached Levin about a possible combination in October. The new media giant would have com bined annual revenue of over $30 billion. The biggest U.S. deal ever before to MERQER see page A6 INS: No plans to force Elian to return to Cuba by Alex Veiga Associated Press Miami — The Immigration and Natu ralization Service said Tuesday it has no plans to forcibly return Elian Gonzalez to Cuba in the wake of a state judge’s de cision to grant emergency custody of the 6-year-old boy to his great-uncle in Mi ami. The INS last week ruled that the boy’s father in Cuba should have custody, and gave a target date of this Friday for his re turn. The ruling was endorsed by Presi dent Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno. On Monday, Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Rosa Rodriguez ruled that Elian should remain with his U.S. relatives until March 6 so the court can hear arguments from Lazaro Gonzalez, his great-uncle, who is seeking tempo rary custody. “We have no plans to take charge of him, and we have no plans to forcibly remove him from the home,” INS spokesman Mike Gilhooly said to day in Miami. INS officials in Washington said the notion of suddenly removing the boy from his great-uncle’s care was never an op tion. “We have never, from the very be ginning, considered forcibly taking this child into custody,” INS spokesman Russ Beigeron said. The INS was reviewing the judge’s ruling to see what effect it has on the agency’s decision last week to return Elian to his father in Cuba, Beigeron said. The agency may release a statement later today, he said. In Miami, Spencer Eig, an attorney for the boy’s great-uncle said lawyers planned to refile a petition today seek ing political asylum for Elian. An initial petition was withdrawn last week after the INS ruling. In her ruling Monday, Rodriguez said the boy’s Miami relatives had shown that Elian would face “imminent and ir reparable harm” if he were returned to Cuba, including the “loss of due process Euan see page a6 Primakov will not run, key ally says by Sergei Shargorodsy Associated Press MOSCOW — Former Premier Yevge ny Primakov, seen as the only poten tial competitor for acting President Vladimir Putin in upcoming presiden tial elections, has no intention of run ning, a key ally said Tuesday. “I’m aware of Primakov’s per sonal stance in tliis issue,” said Agrar ian Party leader Mikhail Lapshin. “We proceed horn the notion that the name of Primakov will be absent from the ballots.” If Primakov does not run, Putin is expected to easily win the March 26 presidential elections. Communist leader __-_-............—--i Gennady Zyuganov and two other minor candidates are given little chance of winning. Putin has a huge lead in opinion polls. Many Russians admire his strong leadership and are hungry for a young, energetic president after years of stagnation under Boris Yeltsin, who resigned Dec. 31. Lapshin, speaking at a meeting of top party officials, did not say what con siderations prompted Primakov to aban don the race, the Interfax news agency reported There was no comment from Primakov on the reports. The 70-year-old Primakov had said he would run for president, but that was when elections wot scheduled for June News Briefs ■ Report: Stabilizing ropes were cut before A&M bonfire collapsed College Station, Texas (AP) — St bilizing ropes were removed hours bt fore a stack of bonfire logs collapsed; Texas A&M University in a deadly acc dent last fall, according to a new repor Four of eight ropes used to stabiliz the center pole within the 60-foot stac were cut free from the pole two to thre hours before the collapse that killed 1 students, according to the report by Roge Engineering Services released on Mor day. The report, which relied in part o photographs taken before the collapsi also said the logs in the first tier appeare to be leaning as they were stacked ne; to the center pole. The report does not cite the sourc of the rope information or the reason tl ropes were cut. The report does not suj gest the ropes or the stack’s first tier cause the collapse. ■ Clinton plans to announce candidacy in February Rochester, N.Y. (AP)—Hillary Ro ham Clinton said Tuesday she will fo mally announce her Senate candidacy: early February and hopes to have the pre ident and daughter Chelsea at her sid “That’s my timetable,” the first lac said when asked if she planned to mai it official next month. “It will take a whi to get everybody organized to do it,” si said. Mrs. Clinton, who confirmed in N< vember that she intended to run. said ti day she wanted her husband and daugl ter on hand for the historic announcemer No first lady has ever run for public o fice. *. s | Based on survey data collected by the USC Office of Alcohol & Drug Programs from a random sample of USC students in November, 1998. Funding by SC DAODAS Eoforrir^L^derage Drinking Laws Project. trouble concentrating crying ♦ niahtmg^Q i substance abuse «• lack^pfojgilSf&iomusign* isoSatiom^ Ul ffjarrfe* ■ nfefwSsnesv mmges in appetite • ^jj^ydi^PuTbai'ces * trouble concentrating crying ♦ nightmares ♦ substance abuse * lack 01 tm«.t •» confusion * shame, a | ce; t * r • r s IWlMfiHiHiliM e n changes^^HHHipHHM|^HrDance c o n^^f^MaHUBfU^^Kt m a r e : usion isolation •:■ betraycflEH^^HHKr •> shock nervousness <• depres^^^^^Ks in appetite sleep disturbances ♦ tr concentrating crying •> nightmares * substance abuse <• lack o A